I don’t think anyone can really wrap their brain around the scale of one trillion anything. But, I think it’s important that we give it a try, especially in light of the scale of our government’s budget.

Check out this site. Remember: The U.S. deficit is currently over $14 trillion and we just raised the limit to almost $17 trillion.

The federal budget is roughly $1.7 trillion in the red every year. Keep in mind, the Democratic congress has failed to pass a new budget in the last two years, so they broke the law two years in a row. What that means is that the government is spending whatever it thinks it needs without anyone telling them they’re over budget.

US debt problem visualized.

Here’s a hint:

A scientist whose famous drowning polar bears research armed global warming nut cases with their strongest, bleeding-heart, emotional and illogical claim has been placed on leave while the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement investigates possible “scientific misconduct.” (Full story)

Meanwhile, NASA climate data shows that over the last 10 years or so, the dreaded carbon dioxide supposedly killing our atmosphere has had very little green house effect. “There is a huge discrepancy between the data and the forecasts that is especially big over the oceans.” (Full story)

So the polar bears are not drowning and carbon dioxide is not causing green-house-effect global warming*. But, I’m sure you won’t hear about any of this on CNN.

What will the next hysteria-inducing plot be? You know they’re probably already working on it. I expect it will hit the news sometime in the next five years or so. Check out this previous post and read the secret recipe so you can spot the next one.

*Carbon dioxide is not a green house gas. Nor is the freon that used to cheaply run your air conditioner. Nor are the CFCs that used to cheaply pressurize your hair spray and dry clean your clothes. All these have now been regulated or flat out outlawed by the eco-nuts and replace with more expensive, less effective options. But, of course, we know exactly why, don’t we?

In this Work From Home Friday vlog, I give some advice to me in the past. Yeah. It’s weird.

Oh! And the sun is trying to kill me.

P.S. Post your comments on YouTube! (Follow the link.)

P.P.S. If you’ve got the bandwidth to handle it, you can view this video in 720p HD!

It’s hot. Daaaang hot. DFW is up to 13 consecutive 100+ degree days and the forecast is all triple digits. So what’s a body to to when it gets this hot?

Well, according to HolidayInsights.com, for that very reason, July 14th is National Nude Day. That makes sense to me.

Only problem is, I rode my motorcycle to work today. Potentially deadly road-rash aside, have you ever been hit on the bare skin with grasshopper going 60 miles per hour?! Neither have I, and I’d like to keep it that way! Yeeouch!

The next time someone asks me how I’m feeling, I’m totally using this!

They took my mood ring! I don’t know how I feel about that.
-Tracy Jordan (30 Rock)

It’s been a long time and I’m bored on Work From Home Friday, soooo….

BASICS:
001. Real name: Trinity Lance Ladd
002. Nickname(s): Trint, Honeybear, Ninny, Uncle Trint, Laddy
003. Zodiac sign: Neon
004. Male or female: Really? Ok. Male.
005. Elementary: Highland Park, Pucket, and one in Washing DC were I got bussed to the ghetto, but I don’t know the name.
006. Middle School: Highland Park
007. High School: Highland Park
008. Hair color: Brown with natural white highlights 😉
009. Long or short: Short
010. Loud or Quiet: Oh so very loud
011. Sweats or Jeans: Cargo shorts!!
012. Phone or Camera: Dude. It’s 2011. They are one.
013. Health freak: I wish
014. Drink or Smoke: No thanks. I prefer breathing and not falling down.
015. Do you have a crush on someone: Yes!
016. Eat or Drink: As much as possible
017. Piercings: NEEDLES??!! NOOOO!!
018. Tattoos: My name, my heritage, my God (all in one)

HAVE YOU EVER…
019. Been in an airplane: Yes
020. Been in a relationship: Yes
021. Been in a car accident: Yes
022. Been in a fist fight: Yes

FIRSTS:
023. First piercing: NEEDLES??!! NOOOO!! (still)
024. First best friend: Galyn Black
025. First award: 2nd grade pinewood derby (awarded for style not for speed)
026. First crush: Jennifer Shipley (kindergarten)
028. First big vacation: Red River motorcycle trip (18 months, I have video proof)

LASTS:
029. Last person you talked to: Tammy
030. Last person you texted: Tammy
031. Last person you watched a movie with: Tammy (Is this getting redundant yet?)
032. Last food you ate: Strawberry banana yogurt (We’re out of milk, so no Cheerios today.)
033. Last movie you watched: Knight and Day (Didn’t like it)
034. Last song you listened to: “I Am Free” (Youth worship last night)
035. Last thing you bought: Oneida Forks (I know, weird, huh?)
036. Last person you hugged: Tammy

FAVES:
037. Food: Freebirds! Carnitas and refried beans baby! Yeah!
038. Drinks: Grape G2, Mountain Dew when I’m feeling naughty
039. Clothing: Duh. Cargo shorts and funny T-shirts. It’s all I own!
040. Books: Only if they read themselves (audio books are teh roXXorz)
041. Music: U2, Christian rock, 80s punk, and Weird Al
042. Flower: Not so much
043. Colors: Black mostly
044. Movies: Yes and lots of them (but no chick flicks are stupid teen movies please)
045. Chips: No! Cheetos!!
046. Subjects: Religion and politics of course

IN 2010 I …
047. [x] kissed in the snow (Yea snow!)
048. [ ] celebrated Halloween
049. [x] had my heart broken
050. [ ] went over the minutes on your cell phone (Unlimited is the only way to go!)
051. [ ] someone questioned my sexual orientation
052. [x] came out of the closet (What? We have a walk-in. 😛 )
053. [ ] got pregnant (Heh. Now THAT would be impressive.)
054. [ ] (Not even going to allow that question on my blog.)
055. [x] done something you’ve regretted
056. [x] broke a promise
057. [ ] hid a secret
058. [ ] pretended to be happy (Never! Always be true to yourself!)
059. [ ] met someone who changed your life (Unless you count new youth kids. I do that every year.)
060. [ ] pretended to be sick
061. [ ] left the country
062. [x] tried something you normally wouldn’t try and liked it (I’ll try [almost] anything once.)
063. [ ] cried over the silliest thing (Well, my mom died, but I don’t suppose that qualifies.)
064. [ ] ran a mile (Har har har. I haven’t run more than 50 yards since college.)
065. [ ] went to the beach with your best friend(s) (Blech. I don’t like the beach.)
066. [ ] stayed single the whole year (Duh. I’m married.)

(Dang, this is long!)
CURRENTLY:
067. Eating: Nope
068. Drinking: Nope
069. I’m about to: Take a shower and have lunch
070. Listening to: The hum of my ancient desktop computer
071. Plans for today: Oversee the youth mowing my yard, go shopping for youth camp supplies (Oh! And work from home, of course.)
072. Waiting for: Lunchtime!!

YOUR FUTURE:
073. Want kids: No thanks. I’ve got plenty.
074. Want to get married: Not again!
075. Careers in mind: I’ll stick with web developer, thank you.

WHICH IS BETTER WITH GIRLS/GUYS
(I’m going to go with girls, although it might get me in trouble.)
076. Lips or eyes: Lips
077. Shorter or taller: Taller, but not as tall as me.
078. Romantic or spontaneous: Yes
079. Nice stomach or nice arms: Arms? Really? Stomach
080. Sensitive or loud: That’s a tough one… loud
081. Hook-up or relationship: Relationship
082. Trouble-maker or hesitant: Trouble-maker >:)

HAVE YOU EVER:
083. Lost glasses/contacts: Sunglasses, many many times
084. Ran away from home: No
085. Hold a gun/knife for self defense: Yes
086. Killed somebody: No, and please, God, I hope not ever
087. Broken someone’s heart: Probably
088. Been arrested: No
089. Cried when someone died: Yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
090. Yourself: Absolutely
091. Miracles: Very much yes
092. Love at first sight: Very much NO!
093. Heaven: Yes
094. Santa Claus: HA!
095. Sex on the first date: Oh, come on. Really? NO!
096. Kiss on the first date: No

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
097. Is there one person you want to be with right now: Yes
098. Are you seriously happy with where you are in life: Very
099. Do you believe in God: Yes! Jesus is my homeboy!
100. Who would you like to see answer these 100 questions: Steven Hoyer (#1)

[ed. Fair warning: I was in a very weird mood when I wrote this, or possibly having a heat stroke. Read with caution.]

Ahh summertime in Texas. Huddling in our homes, curtains drawn to keep out the burning light of day, basking in the cool breeze from our air conditioners, and praying our lawns do not spontaneously combust. Good times.

That is, until your AC can’t keep up with the hundred-n-somethin’ oven outside.

When Tammy and I bought our wonderful home, we knew that the AC was old and perhaps past its prime. We told ourselves, “No matter! For we shall save our pennies and dimes that on that fateful day when the system succumbs to the sweet here-after, we shall easily purchase a new one!” (For some reason, my more naive memories always have Elizabethan accents.)

If you saw my last WFHF video, you know how all that penny and dime saving has been going this year. Yyyyyyeah. So, anyway.

Last Friday (This Friday? This last Friday?? The Friday that was before today last time happened???), we noticed that it was strangely warm as we huddled in our home (see first paragraph for further description). The thermostat said 72, but the thermometer said 80. Well, that can’t be good. Being the manly man of the house that I am, I ventured outside (risking my life in the full heat of the late evening) and found the loud-noise-box-thing wasn’t making it’s customary loud noise that cools the house. After giving it a manly kick that didn’t fix it, I knew I needed help.

Thankfully, we have a friend from church who works on loud-noise-box-things-that-cool-your-house. He came by and found that a part had overheated. (What? In this weather?? Noooo.) He looked through the similar parts rolling around in the back of his truck, but could not find an exact match. Instead (and I’m not making this up), he found two smaller parts and some extra wire and made the part we needed. So where we used to have a 60 amp thingy, we now have a 25 amp thingy wired to a 35 amp thingy wired to where the busted thingy once was. Seriously.

It’s working so far, but the above mentioned friend did have a hard conversation with me. The kind of conversation that usually leaves you looking at your bank account balance and quietly weeping. Basically, our air conditioner is living in hospice care. We’re doing what we can to keep it comfortable and quietly making arrangements for its ultimate demise. And you think funerals are expensive! You should see the estimate for a new AC!!

And so we are taking measures to try and squeeze another couple of months our of our hospice care AC. For instance, on Saturday, we turned the thermostat up to 80, making the house very uncomfortable for us, but much more comfortable for our poor AC unit. Then, we spent the entire day away from the sauna that would normally be our house and drove all over town going from free AC to free AC. Bookstores, restaurants, malls, you name it. It was actually a lot of fun. It was an adventure!

So, please be in prayer for our hospice care AC. Pray it lasts long enough that we can pay to replace it without paying the premium rate (that I feel is completely fair and well earned) for doing the replacement when it’s a hundred bazillion degrees outside and twice that in our attic (where the less-noisy-make-cold-box-part lives).

[ed. See? I told you it would be weird.]

Working from a home office certainly has its perks, but until you’ve actually done it, you may not recognize the many pitfalls. This week’s white board quip is from my full-time-work-from-home friend, Randypants to explain his … ahem … apparent distance from societal norm.

I’m often in my basement and the noise of the usual is deadened by concrete and the internet.

Texas State Senator Chris Harris (R-Arlington) earned his reelection this week. He sits on the Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security. This committee was hearing testimony against SB9, the “Sanctuary Cities Ban” which establishes Texas law allowing (not requiring) law enforcement to ask for proof of immigration status. This law would trump local laws in so called “sanctuary cities” that tie the hands of law enforcement in those towns, preventing enforcement existing immigration law.

The important bit is just after 0:35, so you can skip ahead if you want.

The testimony here was given by a man who has lived in Austin for over twenty years… in Spanish. Now here’s the real kicker and what makes Sen. Harris so right. When challenged by Sen. Harris, the man responded in English! His use of Spanish despite the fact that he can speak English was a shameful stunt.

This is exactly what is wrong with the amnesty movement. They don’t want to be Americans. They want to be Latinos living in America. This nation is a melting pot. We appreciate your culture and would love to include it into ours, so long as you follow our laws and show desire to melt into our culture. But these people don’t want to be included. They want to be separate. They want to be apart. They want our social programs, our higher wages, our superior health care, but they don’t want to learn English. (Even when they already know it!) They want to leach off America’s prosperity but want nothing to do with being American.

Now, go ahead and call me a racist and an ignorant white boy. That’s exactly what I expect. In fact, it’d be even better if you did it in Spanish because that would perfectly prove my point. (And I would still understand you. I know all the good Spanish insults because I’ve heard them all before.)

I have worked with Mexican nationals who spent years working to get legal immigration status and eventually citizenship. I have also done mission work across the border in the “outer limits” where even most Mexicans won’t go. Where people live with dirt floors and canvass roofs (or worse). When I talked to real Mexicans about the suffering in these areas I was told (and I quote) “They have no water or electricity because they choose to live outside the city.” That is the party line in Mexico. That is the government stance. If you are suffering from poverty it is your choice. Why don’t you just hop the fence or swim the river and let America feed you.

The next time you meet a La Raza chanting the racism lie, ask them if they know what Mexico’s immigration policy is. Ask them if they know that, in Mexico, you are required to show your papers every time you speak to law enforcement. Ask them if they know that illegal immigrants in southern Mexico are arrested on sight; no trial, no questions; and deported across the southern border as soon as possible. Ask them if they know how many Mexican citizens hate and abuse Guatemalans, Hondurans, and any other Latinos who try to make their way north to prosperity. Because I do. I have seen these things. I have heard these things from the people who lived it. Am I still an ignorant white racist? Or are the La Razas the ignorant ones?

*Deep breath* Ok. I’m done.

It’s that time of year again. The weather is hot. School is out. And the young and stupid are aimlessly roaming our streets.

I am more than a little concerned (if not fully horrified) that I have increasingly heard words generally associated with grumpy old farts coming from my own mouth (and even from my wife).

“Pull up yer pants! No one wants to see yer drawers!”
“When are ya gonna get a haircut, ya hippie?!”
“What’s with all that metal hanging off yer face? Did you crash into a fence?!”
“Stay off my lawn!!”

Ok, I’ve never actually said that last one. But still…

I’ve worked with the youth in our church for eight years now.  (Holy cow! Eight years?!) We loved and guided dozens and dozens of kids through the trials of youth. We call them our “chi’ren” (a bit of a nod to Shirley Q Liquor and her 19 chi’ren). A few of our chi’ren are now married with kids, thus we even have grand chi’ren! So I feel that I am well qualified to talk about this segment of our population: The Young and Stupid.

I read a quote once:

“To be old and wise, you must first have been young and stupid.”

It might be a stretch for me to presume that I have achieved “old and wise”, but let there be no doubt, I did get here via the long and painful road of “young and stupid.” Still, I don’t think this statement is universally true. Here are a couple more quotes that I feel are good rebuttals to the above:

“A wise man learns from him mistakes. A wiser man learns from the mistakes of others.”
“I don’t have to get hit by a truck to know it hurts.”

And thus, there is always hope for the young. There are ample opportunities for them to gain wisdom without experience, to be both young and wise. In fact, a couple of my chi’ren are shining examples of this. However, they are in the minority.

So, if you are old and wise, be patient. When you hear the music thumping from a car behind you. When you see clothes that used to be reserved for strippers and prostitutes now worn openly at the mall. When you are confronted with the Young and Stupid, remember! You were once young and stupid too.

Oh, and if you are young and stupid: Pull up yer dern pants and stop poking holes in yer face! You’ll thank me when your old.