Pessimism vs. Optimism vs. Faith

My father was an optimist. He always felt that you could accomplish whatever you wanted to achieve. My father-in-law was a pessimist. He raised a family during the deepest part of the Great Depression and felt until his dying day that the world was in for a day of reckoning. They were both very smart men and they were both right.

Now, we are confronted with one of the most difficult times, economically, of the last 80 years. Things are literally falling apart when it comes to our home values, IRA's, 401K's, and the value of anything we have always thought was going to be the ticket to our financial security.

So, what do you do? I've been watching a lot of CNBC, reading the WSJ, and checking the value of my retirement accounts on the Internet. It's all out of my control and it's like I'm watching a movie reel in slow motion that I can't stop from playing to the end I don't want to watch.

Or, should I just have "faith" that everything is going to be OK?

Maybe, I should.

It's Starting to Rain

Remember how your parents told you to save money for a rainy day? Well, it has started to pour.

If you haven't started to save-start!
If you haven't eliminated unnecessary spending-cut! cut! cut!
If you aren't giving your employer your best efforts-begin tomorrow!
If you want something you do not really need-forget it and donate the money instead!
If you really need something-buy it! The economy needs your business.

Most of all, take care of the ones you love and they will take care of you...even on a rainy day!

Hand Guns

I read in the newspaper today about another senseless killing of a young man and the wounding of his brother on the near northside of Indy. Evidently, it was some type of dispute over a young woman. I don't know the details, but was the dispute worth someone's life?

What made this one different was that both boys were my next door neighbor's sons. The son killed was 27 years old. Now, his mother and father are spending this afternoon with friends and family grieving over a loss that takes my breath from my chest at the thought of ever having to experience such a tragedy.

I know the gun advocates will just bristle at the thought of another softie like me thinking that guns are responsible for this murder, but wouldn't things have been a lot better if these guys had just duked it out in the front yard until someone had a bloody nose, called each other some names, and then sulked back to their homes? No, I guess they think guns make 'em tougher.

I'll tell you what the perpetrators are. They're cowards. Oh, by the way, they are also in jail now for a long, long time. Now, they're going to find out what tough really is...soon enough.

So, on the day that our nation is going to elect a new president which more than likely will be Mr. Obama, may he not only change the way our nation exerts its power on misbehaving nations, but may he also take away some of the unnecessary force available to our youth.

Now, that would be about "change".

Wrigley Goes for a Walk

It was gorgeous outside yesterday! So, I invited the Mrs. and Wrigley, our Westie, to go for a walk. We took the Lockerbie route with the hope that there would be enough leaves on the ground. My lovely loves to walk through the leaves in the fall. But, the season is arriving late and the leaves are hanging on for at least another week.

We then took a left onto Mass Ave. It doesn't matter which route we take. It always eventually ends up going by the Starbucks. Mrs. AskIndyTed loves her tea and Wrigley likes the activity outside whether it has two (humans), four (dogs), or six (bugs) legs. I've never seen him go for a spider (eight), yet.

Anyway, there is a little shaded park just outside with a brick wall to sit on while you enjoy your beverage. That's when Chandice, a retired lady with bright red hair who lives above Starbucks in an apartment, walked up. She loves Wrigley. I know why. You can't keep from smiling when you see him. She lives alone and for whatever reason, Wrigley lights her up. We were soon caught up in conversation about the election and downtown churches. You know you are in for some conversation when Chandice shows up.

Meanwhile, I kept Wrigs on the leash so he wouldn't wander off during our chat when a homeless man stopped about 20 feet away. I normally try to avoid any interaction with the homeless. I am uncomfortable denying requests for anything from money to bus fare, so I just avoid making eye contact. Well, Dr. Wriggleby has no such limitations to prospective friendships. So, he walked right up to the man and gave him "the look". You know. It's the one that cute little dogs give you. That's when I noticed out of the corner of my eye, the man asked me if he could offer some of his dinner to Wrigley. It was nothing special. It was some kind of cake in a box. But, it was "his" dinner and he wanted to share it with Wrigs.

I was touched. Here I have the means to help him and he is offering his food to my dog. This Thanksgiving, I will be thinking of him and giving thanks for all of my blessings. I have many.