I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!!

Not long ago, I received my statement on both of my IRAs, and just like everyone else, I was sickened by how much money I lost. To date, I have lost about $10,000 in the past year. Now I realize that others have lost more than that or all of their savings and are far worse than me. However, my quiet commiserating becomes choked when I read about executives getting big bonuses with the federal bailout money that we, the taxpayers, have extended to them. Yes, this is old news, but it should not be allowed to be shelved and forgotten.

The New York Times has an article on the bonuses that some Wall Street execs received.

Then, we have Mr. Madoff. Doesn't this make you mad? If I tried to pull off something even close to this, St. Louis County Police would be on my doorstep in no time with those lovely fashionable bracelets they like to give all criminals.

Corporate greed has always been around - but stealing from hard-working people who are just trying to get by day after day just isn't right. I'll be 47 this spring and my job prospects are pretty slim. The odds of my earning back that lost $10,000 are not good. If the government can make some of these companies and executives pay back some of this money, great. Make my check payable to me for $10,000.

"Mac is Back!"

In today's edition of The Washington Post, there is an article about Arizona Senator John McCain returning to his old maverick ways. Wow, what a relief. I really worried about this man, even though I didn't vote for him. One of many reasons why I didn't vote for him was because I wasn't seeing the "poo-poo" disturber that he was portrayed as being. I ought to know about "poo-poo" disturbers, my father was one. A big one - all the way from New England.

You see, these maverick types don't back down from anything. Throughout the campaign, I saw Senator McCain being pushed and pulled in every direction except the right direction. I wondered, what is wrong with this man? Is he too old to get fired up about anything anymore? Is he listening to all the wrong people? When I read articles about Senator McCain's past, I still had trouble putting it together with the man on the campaign trail. I would like to think that my dad, who has been dead for over 20 years, might have liked the younger John McCain. Then again, both men were so bull-headed in their youth that they may have disliked each other intensely. We will never know.

I'm pleased to see that Senator McCain appears to be getting back to his old self. Hopefully, others in the Republican party will follow his example and work for the good of the country. We the people have spoken and we need strong leaders who are fighting for us. Welcome back, Senator McCain! We missed you terribly.

HICKEN TRIPS AND PEED IMIT

No, its not a clumsy hoosier with no bladder control. What we have here is a fun road trip game guaranteed to leave you laughing until your cheeks hurt. My two teenagers came up with this game after we passed a Denny's restaurant where the "D" in Denny's was burned out and I commented on the sign reading "Enny's."

Any road sign is fair game. For each word, remove the first letter and try to say the new "word." What's so great about this game is that it's so unstructured that you can go anywhere you want with it. Take the new "word" and use it in a sentence. Make a snappy response to the word and/or sentence. A word of caution - some words may become objectionable (i.e. Pass becomes - well, you get the idea), so as long as you know the rules, have fun with it. "Kirkwood" becomes "Irkwood" - my cabinets are made out of the rare Irkwood. Or, people who live in Irkwood must be in a constant state of annoyance. Webster Groves becomes Ebster Roves. Take it from there, folks.

The above title translates to: Chicken Strips and Speed Limit.

Girl Scout Cookie Sales - Mercenaries in Beige

Tomorrow, January 17, is Go Day for Girl Scouts throughout the Eastern Missouri Council area to start selling Girl Scout Cookies. This is an exciting time for these girls, especially the younger ones. Little do these poor, unsuspecting innocents realize that the older Scouts (Cadettes and Seniors) have already plotted their strategy - strategies that could rival anything coming out of the Pentagon. In fact, I'll bet some of our best military generals really learned their battle strategies from their Girl Scout sisters, not the military academy. Oh, sure, West Point will be a little irked, but the truth hurts.

My 13-year-old daughter is a Cadette and we have been talking about how to increase her sales in the midst of a difficult economy and the price increase of the cookies. Several of our neighbors have been laid off from their jobs and money is tight everywhere. This means, that if they order at all, they will reduce what they have ordered in the past. To make up for the likely shortfall of our regulars, we will have to go farther afield in our search for cookie customers. Her goal is 260 boxes - last year she sold just over 200.

This may mean infiltrating the streets that have been typically scoped out by other Girl Scouts in the neighborhood. The caring and compassionate mother that I am would instruct my daughter to respect the other girls and let them have their sales. My daughter is saying, "You snooze, you lose, Mom." Therefore, she will take no prisoners; all Brownies and Juniors are fair game. Note to other parents - I have talked her out of ambushing the other Scouts.

Girls, you have been officially warned.

Despite the cold weather, we will go out tomorrow armed with our order sheet and two pens in search of elusive sales and will beat the competition. As we march through the streets of our community, we will be watching for the younger Girl Scouts and move ahead of them to each house. We will be bold. We will be daring. We will be there first.