No Get Out Of Jail Free Card, Thanks.

I woke this morning, listening to the radio with its report on the upcoming vote on the "bailout" to "help save Wall Street". I admit I was still bleary-eyed; full of Autumn congestion due to allergies, more than a little fuzzy-brained as I tried to get a clear breath of morning air but I had a feeling strong in my gut: DON'T DO IT. I knew I had to get up, look one or two things up on the innertubes, and then write to the current Senators from Wyoming. DON'T DO IT. Actually, I can't recall hearing a word in the two weeks from Senators Enzi and Barrasso. Are they around? What do they have to say about this mess? Did they know it was coming? Senator Enzi has been able to tell us in the past, as one of the few if not only accountants in the Senate, an accountant's perspective of the goings-on. Have I missed his statements? Would my accountant or any accountant in Powell, given the choice of this "bailout" plan, vote in favor of it? How about my financial advisor? Are all these decisions by our leaders based on current research or just a pass along of debt to my children so all involved can get home to campaign. Oh, holy moly I hope not.

I know I don't have any bargaining power here. I'm strapped for money like so many others. I want a strong future for my children. I want some of the financial pain of the last many months to lessen. But, I also want answers. I think that we all deserve them. I want culpability. I want someone in a leadership position to accept responsibility and come forth with a viable plan that doesn't sound like a scene from the game Monopoly with a "get out of jail free card". Stop calling this a "bailout" and start calling it a future plan. Show some realism and some pragmatism. Put away the tubes of lipstick to dress up a stinking pile of double-triple-and quadruple talk. Tell me what it, this pile of zeros that may or may not be enough, means for Wyoming.

There has to be a solution to this that doesn't involve an "old boy's network" of back-slapping and bait-and-switching. I am not asking for perfection but I can't settle for the tossing around of numbers that I can't fathom... billion trillion grumpzillion ... with no explanation, no paper trail, no ACCOUNTABILITY. "Do it now, buy it now, get the money now..." all smacks of high pressure sales and not thoughtful analysis of economic indicators and the black and white of a balance sheet. Why do the "little people" get locked out of the La-La Land of Wall Street when it comes to CEO payouts with buckets of benefits for bad management? Who is holding the ring of keys for these folks now? Who will have their futures piled on with mountains of debt to help these badly managed institutions? Isn't it time for the "little people" to stop answering the call for more, more, more money?

It is definitely time for change. Call your Senators. Call them today. Demand an explanation and their plan. If you don't get it, tell them to pack their bags and we'll get someone in that can and will explain. We all deserve a better future than what is looming on this unexplained horizon. We all need to trust our gut feelings on this one.

Tales From Sleep

Okay, so Scott has a cold and I have an impressive onset of allergy symptoms. We overate last night, I had a beer (shouldn't), the house was stuffy and we're just a little stressed... but all that must make for cool dreams.

Early this morning:

I'm at a political rally of some sort, and the crowd has moved away. I'm left behind, fiddling with my camera and trying to keep Charlie from wandering away. Just then, Barack Obama walks up, with a huuuuuuge security detail, and asks if everything is okay. Charlie says "HI! I got the BUBBLES!". He is picked up by Senator Obama and placed on his shoulders. Charlie looked as though he was 40 feet in the air. It was like a dream in HD — the vivid color, or lack of color, in Charlie's white hair on the shoulders of the sharply dressed Democratic candidate with a glorious wide, white smile and lush skin and black hair. Everyone was smiling, even the security guards. And I say, "but I can't get my camera to work!"

... just figures.

And no, Charlie wasn't wearing his "My Mama's For Obama" shirt. He was wearing his much loved Bob the Builder shirt. Figures as well.

No Training Wheels

No Training Wheels from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.

A New Jump Rope from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.

Rainy Day Cake

The Ghost's Favorite Cake from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.

Perception, Part Deux

In a week of near-disasters by nature and the gathering of people in the Midwest that I don't share a worldview, with "Maverick"-this and "Governor Mother"-that, I can't help but wonder if I'm the first to realize that the GOP candidates should be heretofore referred to as the "McPain Ticket".

November can't come soon enough... Can I get an amen?