It seems like it was just yesterday when I was happily drawing kitchens.

I sure miss those days. Weekends off, daytime working hours, seven to eight hours of sleep – at night! in a row! – and now, I just seem to be losing track of the days. Sleep deprivation has gotten the better of me. My accountant tells me that I am losing money in this contract, with having to pay a helper seven days a week. My internal clock tells me I’ve just lost track of the better part of a week. My mind and my body are on the verge of mutiny (on the “plus” side, I’m down to 196) and I am physically unable to keep up this pace. A typical day:

0000 hours: I’m driving towards the dock, to pick up the papers. I may stop for gasoline, if the tank is thirsty. It’s usually thirsty.
Between 0100 and 0200 hours: papers loaded, headed to the first stop.
Between 0430 and 0600 hours: route finished, heading home.
0600 to 0800 hours: paperwork, updating the online database, filing, sorting, getting things ready for tonight’s run.
0800 to whenever little Miss wakes up: nap. Feed little Miss, help her learn how to play, read to her, wait for her gorgeous blue eyes to get heavy and fall down. Nap for about an hour, while little Miss also naps. Repeat as needed, per little Miss’s schedule. Shower when possible. Shaving is an option, but only until TMBWitW gets home.
1700 hours: TMBWitW is home! Family time, dinner, conversation, TMBWitW catches up with little Miss.
2100 hours: print out new run sheet for that night.
2115 hours: lay head down for another nap.
2345 hours: get up, try to jangle the body into awareness, slam some caffeine. Cold water works well, also. Make sure everything is in order for the run tonight.

Yes, this is seven days a week. Sundays are a bit different; I need to pick up my helper and get the trailer, so my evening nap is cut short by thirty minutes or so.

Your mind plays tricks on you after not getting enough sleep. It’s hard enough for me to type, since I am slightly dyslexic, and I have to concentrate on every word to make sure it’s spelled correctly so these entries are legible. Bad spelling makes my reading slow way down, because then I’m not sure if what I’m reading is spelled correctly or not. When I have enough sleep, this process is almost seamless and I can operate at the same speed as most of the world. When I haven’t had enough sleep, though, it’s way tougher than normal.

If the schedule were consistent (notice the variable at the dock – you can’t count on when the papers are going to come off the line, so you can’t really sneak a nap while at the dock), or if there were days off for recovery built in, I think it wouldn’t be so bad. But, here I am, with a sleep schedule so out of whack with what God designed, that my whole being is disrupted.

Which brings me to this point: I won’t be doing this much longer. I have caught myself taking naps at red lights. Not a problem when I’m the only one on the road, but sometimes it’s during the day. Or during rush hour. Phoenix area drivers are notoriously impatient, so don’t even delay them getting to their oh-so-important destinations. I’m getting pretty good at identifying vehicle make and model by the sound of the horn… Anyway, July 29 will be my last day as a contractor. I am so looking forward to maybe getting some sleep after that…

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, support Warriors for Innocence, and write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008!

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Note to self:

If I can’t see, I can’t type.

New starter in the QX4. I hate automotive engineers.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, support Warriors for Innocence, and write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008!

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Today in History:

1954 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower effectively placed the words “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.

The continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the National Ensign, making today Flag Day. (settle down, rosie, I said “flag”…)

Today could also end up being the day Bush twists the arms of the final GOP senators to force his twisted amnesty bill through. GOP senators who voted against cloture, and for the economy of the United States, have been told that they will need to vote for cloture if they want to be “relevant” in the final drafting of this bill.

Couple of points:
1) If the measure is defeated, there will be no need to draw up a final draft.
2) If the measure passes, you won’t be relevant at all after the following election.
3) If this country is sold up the river, We the People have no one to blame but ourselves. Call your GOP senators today, folks. Convince them that they need to keep this country sovereign, and granting amnesty to 12-20 million lawbreakers is not the path to follow. Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121. Go. Call. Take back this country from the power-hungry elitists who have their hand in your pocket!

In other areas:
The “Big Three” automakers are trying to back down the union. Good luck – that tiger was uncaged the first time you let THEM dictate the pay rates.

I have a little story for you. Once upon a time, a man named Fred discovered that he could build a pretty mean widget. He sold his widgets, and made a decent profit. He made more widgets, and sold more widgets, making more decent profit. One day, Fred figured that if he could train someone to make a widget as well as he could, then his output could double, allowing him to make more money. Fred trained a helper.

Life was good. Fred trained more helpers, and expanded his business to meet the growing demand for his widgets. Pretty soon, he had a formidable workforce. Fred took care of his employees, and made sure to increase the companies goodwill bottom line by spreading the wealth that the entire workforce was generating.

One day, Tom, a representative of the Brotherhood of Widgetmakers, visited Fred’s widget factory. Tom talked to the widget makers in Fred’s factory, and told them of the wondrous benefits of belonging to the union. Tom convinced the workers in Fred’s factory to vote for joining the union, making Fred’s widget factory a union shop.

The union, after gaining the upper hand, started making demands of Fred. First, the union demanded more pay for the widget makers. Fred was already paying his widget makers pretty good money, but to keep the peace he agreed to an increase in pay. In order to make up the difference, Fred raised the price of the widgets he was making. Fred’s customers weren’t real happy about the increase, but since Fred was the closest supplier of quality widgets, they went along with the price increase. Since the customers needed to increase the cost of their goods to accommodate the more expensive widget, the cost of living in the area rose.

The union, seeing the cost of living in the area go up, demanded another raise for the workers – this one to compensate for the rise in the cost of living. Fred agreed, and raised the price of the widgets once again.

This went on for a while, each time the increase in wages was accompanied by an increase in the cost of the widgets, which caused other goods to increase in price, which increased the cost of living – which caused the union to negotiate another COL raise.

Finally, Fred’s customers could not absorb the increased cost anymore, and stopped buying Fred’s widgets. They started buying widgets from overseas, where the quality was almost as good and the cost was much lower. Fred, having no customers left, closed his shop. The unemployment rate in his area went through the roof, since Fred’s factory was the only one around that had provided steady employment. The cost of living went way down. The union, no longer having any workers to band together, left town.

The moral of the story is: Let the free market work. If Fred hadn’t been paying a decent wage, he wouldn’t have been able to keep his workers. If Fred had charged too much for his widgets, he would have lost his factory. Oh, wait – that happened anyway. If the union had kept it’s nose out of Fred’s factory, everyone would still have their jobs.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, support Warriors for Innocence, and write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008!

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Here it is Monday again, and my supporters are probably saying to themselves, “Didn’t Cary say he would have this to me by Friday, so I could look it over before posting it?”

Well, yes, I did say that. I also said to a friend a while back that I thought I could handle being a Dad, involved in the church, work full time, AND campaign for president – never mind actually be president – without running into overtime.

Overtime has been run into. My apologies. Life has a habit of getting in the way of living sometimes, and for a working stiff like me that means that sometimes my goals have to be modified.

One goal I will not modify is that of getting the Career Politicians to pay attention to We the People. Last week, the Senate failed to pass the “comprehensive immigration reform” measure – or, as I like to call it, the “giving away what so many wait their turn for” measure – and President Bush has the gall to claim that he will “talk to the GOP members” who voted against the measure. Funny, but it seems to me that those who voted against the measure were doing something a lot of people on the Hill haven’t been doing – they PAID ATTENTION TO THEIR CONSTITUENTS – you know, the people they supposedly “represent” – and decided that maybe the American People really don’t want to give away the farm.

I have been accused of being against immigration. Quite the contrary, I am all for immigration – legal immigration, within the boundaries and quotas that are currently in place. I have been reminded (see the comments) that my ancestors were immigrants. I have reminded right back that they were LEGAL immigrants. Oh, and they were self sufficient, created value from the natural resources, provided employment for others, were involved in government, and generally added to the country, instead of taking away.

I say all of that to say this: I care very deeply for this country. I will not allow this country to be sold up the river, given away in an immigration scandal dressed up as “reform”, or corrupted any more from within. It is time for We the People to once again wrest control of this nation away from those who are making their living from the political machinations of the Hill and hand it back to the general populace, where it can be safeguarded better than it has been.

If you feel you are Out of Voting Choices, then choose to Make a Difference – write in Cary Cartter for President in November 2008. Please help me get the word out.

If you would like to know more about my stand, please look around my blog. If you have any questions you would like to see addressed, or if you would like to help spread the word about my campaign, you can e-mail me here.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, support Warriors for Innocence, and write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008!

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I received this e-mail from a close friend after he listened to the Political Pistachio Radio show from Saturday, June 2. Douglas Gibbs had invited me on as the primary guest. My friend (I’ll call him “Toby”) has some good points, and I will address them throughout:

Cary,

Thank you, Toby. I’d like to succeed, also.

Serious? I’m serious about getting attention paid to what We The People are trying to tell our so-called representatives. They don’t seem to be listening, and if my campaign gets their attention, and they think about what they are doing to this country, then my job is finished. No, I don’t enjoy campaigning – especially since I have a daughter I would rather be spending my free time with – but it is for her sake that I want this country to correct it’s course back to the conservative roots it was founded on.

How does one act in anticipation of uprooting his family, living in two places, and trying to run the country when one’s wife does not wish to travel? I am constantly struggling with what the future might bring. If I do end up in the Oval Office, what effect will it have on not just my family, but my church family? As you know, I’m involved in the leadership of the church – what will happen if I need to take a long break? How will the exposure affect my family and my church? Will the media dig into all the past details of everyone involved? They tend to have less compassion for past acts that have been forgiven than we as Christians do.

I can’t guarantee that voting for me would not be throwing away your vote, anymore than voting for any of the candidates would be throwing away your vote. I know that voting for me would be taking votes away from career politicians, which is a good thing in the long run, but my hope is that enough dissatisfied people in both parties, the ones who have common sense, and don’t like the direction the country is headed, will vote for me – and if that’s enough to land me in DC, then so be it. God is in control, and places our leaders in position. Maybe this latest iteration of leadership is God’s way of issuing a wake up call to this country – “See what happens when you don’t pay attention?” I don’t know.

Locally – I don’t use day labor. The majority of the day labor pool is in this country illegally. Yes, there are some legal residents who make themselves available through day labor, or Home Depot curb service, but I can’t see taking that chance statistically. On a state level, I communicate with my representatives on the issues. On a National level, I have managed to get Ed Pastor to send me a note saying he wasn’t going to respond to faxes that I have sent through a third party system – especially since he has made his position clear. So much for letting your “representatives” know how you feel. No, I didn’t vote for him – but since he does “represent” my disctrict, shouldn’t he know how I feel? I make my feelings known on my blog, http://www.itisobvious.blogspot.com (I’m Thinking of the “O” Word) and through comments left on other blogs.

Again, no guarantees. But, since I don’t have the clout, I also am not subject to influence by major factors – corporations, money funds, whatever. I am an average working joe – and I think that my outlook on politics is pretty close to what the rest of the working nation is – that this country is not the first concern of the Career Politicians.

Like I said before, Thank You – not only for believing in me, but for caring enough to give the feedback you have.

You are absolutely correct – political savvy goes a long way – in the environment that is in place now. But like I asked on the program, Why don’t WE THE PEOPLE know what it takes to run this country? Why the secrecy? Why the back-room dealings? Why can’t the average concerned citizen step up and take part in the representative republic we call The United States of America? I think it needs to change back to being a government OF the people, BY the people, and most importantly FOR the people.

I’ll let Doug know. I’m sure he’d appreciate the feedback – but it is his show, and he loves to talk. That’s why he has the show.

I also think I disagree with you on one fundamental point – once a society accepts law as having a place in that society the only thing that law can do is legislate what actions are acceptable in the legal sense – which is a form of morality. Law cannot by its very nature control one’s thinking of murder or theft, but can only hope to curtail such socially unacceptable behavior by enforcement of restrictions and punishments. Crime may not necessarily be a sin, but our legal system is without a doubt based upon a view of the morality portrayed in the Bible.

Good point. There is also the philosophy of “societal legal agreement” – that is, once a set of rules has been agreed upon, with agreed upon consequences if said rules (or laws) have been breeched, then all in that society must abide by the same laws. If authority allows certain segments of the population to ignore the rules, or if a certain segment of the population does not receive the agreed upon punishment for not following the rules, then you have other segments of the population that will start testing which rules are enforced. Once this starts, then the segment of the population that has the moral backbone to continue to follow the rules in spite of them not being enforced will start to get very upset with authority – and either revolution or replacement is the next step.

Thanks for taking the time to voice your concerns, “Toby” – without feedback, I am not sure if I am leading a parade or marching to my own drum solo.

For my loyal readers, a reading assignment. I’ve already alluded to the topic a couple of paragraphs ago. Swing over to Bill Whittle’s site and read “You Are Not Alone” (part one). Bill is a very good writer, even if he’s not regular, and he has been instrumental in inspiring some of my framework.

If you feel you are Out of Voting Choices, then choose to Make a Difference – write in Cary Cartter for President in November 2008. Please help me get the word out.

If you would like to know more about my stand, please visit my blog. If you have any questions you would like to see addressed, or if you would like to help spread the word about my campaign, you can e-mail me here.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, support Warriors for Innocence, and write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008!

Tag: Write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008