A royal Egyptian passing gas is a toot uncommon
Time for an update...
Hmmmm.
Great! Thanks and goodnight folks.
Actually, I've decided to take a short break on trying to post the last of the Ren photos. Maybe until this weekend. I figure there will be around a 1000 more that I need to process and post. But I can't seem to keep my focus which means I have finally reached a burn-out. Instead of trying to fight it and possibly extend the burn-out, I'm just going to take a short vacation from the computer, relax and try not to feel guilty about it. I hope all my Ren friends are Ok with that. I promise I'll get them all online.
Other than that, I finally finished my random act of kindness and got all the packages sent off to the soldiers. In doing this I started to examine why I felt so compelled to do it. I like to think I'm a generous enough person but I've never been overly fond of giving to charity groups. I finally realized that some part of me just doesn't trust the corporate-like charities. I want to know that what I give goes directly to someone who needs it and not into a big charity bank account. I know they do good things with it but I still don't trust them. So I think I'll start looking to charities that are more direct to the people. Of course, I still absolutely, flat-out will NEVER give to the beggars at the street corners and highway ramps. If anyone is curious why I'm so opposed to that its because chances are they are scamming you. About 10 years years ago I had a radio scanner that could pick up some of the range used by mobile phones at the time so occasionally I ended up overhearing conversations. (The really interesting ones were always around noon when married people would call their lovers for a lunch time quickie.) Anyway, one night I picked up a conversation between two men and found out that they were beggars like you see at the street corners or highway ramps. Turns out they're not as poor as you might think. From what I heard, each of these guys owned several small businesses a piece and along with their begging (tax free) per year made $100,000 to $150,000. These guys talked about the best ramps to beg at, where the police tended to chase them off from, what were the best ragged clothes to wear, what to write on the signs to get the most sympathy from people, the pros and cons of having a little puppy or one of their children with them and their latest BMWs. And from what they said, a lot of the others you see are just as poor as they are. Since I had regularly given a dollar or two to people like that - I was pissed as Hell and refuse to give them money now.
Well, I guess its time to go do some stuff around the house - or just plant myself on the couch and relax a little. I got the chance to catch up with gwrestler on the phone for a bit and as he would put it "that makes me smile". All in all, its been a good day.
Final thoughts... "Preserve wildlife... pickle a squirrel."