Friday, April 30, 2010

Soldiers will Always be Soldiers

This is one of the reasons I miss the Army. Soldiers, no matter the situation, no matter how bad it sucks, can always find the time and energy to play a little grabass. I pray for the safe return of all of our soldiers in harm's way. I hope making this video brought some levity to them in an austere environment, thousands of miles from their loved ones.

God Bless America!



(For those with the email dispatch, go to www.doughuber.blogspot.com to watch the fun)

Sunday, April 25, 2010

A Wonderful Piece of Journalism

I have written about Matthew Tully's journey through Manual High School in this blog before. He continues his quest to explain some of the challenges that the young men and women of Manual High School face.

His matter-of-fact portrayal as told through the stories of these children is heart-breaking at times and inspiring at others. This latest work is both.

You can find the article here. Be sure to read the entire thing. Bravo to Matthew Tully and the staff at the Indianapolis Star.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Accuracy, Redefined

This is the most accurate portrayal of the war in Iraq, aside from Generation Kill. I am not kidding. It is scary how true to life this is.

(if you get the email blast, go to the blog for the video).

Ultra-Realistic Modern Warfare Game Features Awaiting Orders, Repairing Trucks

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

One Third Gone

As I was walking Mason into school this morning, I came to the sad realization that a full one-third of my time with Mason as a child is gone. I love spending time with him and will miss him when he is attending Ohio State. It made me understand how precious the time with the children truly is.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Earth Day

Today is Earth Day. Zionsville, Indiana celebrated with a small festival/awareness campaign at the Zionsville town hall. The kids got to learn about snapping turtles, owls, cicada killers (quite a nasty insect) and how water cycles throughout nature.


Mom and dad were treated to information on how terrible phosphorus is for the water supply, how Zionsville may vote to hold ourselves responsible for the quality of our water runoff (good luck with that), the fact that we live in the Eagle Creek water shed, that six in 10 streams in Indiana have dangerous levels of mercury (whooda thunk? Note to self: stay out of streams) and how a geothermal HVAC system can save you money (in the loooong run). As the kids travelled from booth to booth, they earned tickets to redeem for facepainting. Clearly, the most rewarding part of the day.

Tooth #2

This weekend, Mason lost his second tooth. This time with a bit of help from Mommy. Mason, like his father is cursed with adult teeth that don't want to see to wait their turn. So, adult tooth number two was being a bit pushy coming up behind its counterpart. So, we helped the first tooth out, literally.


Thursday, April 15, 2010

A Sad Day for Higher Education

From a dispatch at Inside Higher Ed, a professor was removed from her class for failing too many students. It appears that she tested them everyday with multiple choice answers that had 10 possibilities (no guessing here). How dare she hold students responsible for learning the material!

You can read the entire, sad tale here.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Dandelions

This weekend I declared war on the dandelions. Not one for chemical warfare (that is sooo WWI), I hired a mercenary. Mason Huber is his name; Baron von FlowerSlayer is is nom de guerre.

His price was right. $.01 for each dandelion plucked from the yard. After the battle (in which the dandelions were wiped from the lawn ... or so we thought), we had a bucket full of dandelions, leaves and grass. Unwilling to count dandelions, I struck a deal with Mason. I asked him how many he thought were in the bucket. "Thirty-five!" he shouted.

"Let's try again," I suggested. "How about 300."

"Three hundred cents!?" Mason exclaimed. "Alright!"

Mason was rich and the yard was cleared.

Sunday morning, we went out to get the newspaper. Reinforcements had arrived on the front lawn ...

Friday, April 9, 2010

An Unpreventable Tragedy - Courtesy of the Onion


Boy’s Tragic Death Could Have Happened To Any Family With 20-Foot Pet Python

(For those of you on the email blast, jump to the blog to view the video)

(Hat tip: GT)

More questions about the 1900s

Today Mason asked me if there was food in the 1980s.

Yes, I explained. Except beef. In the 1980s, everyone kept asking, "Where's the beef". We'll see what he does with that information.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Feeling Old

Here is a conversation I had with Mason on the way home from school.
Mason: Daddy, did they have roads in the nineteens?
Daddy: Do you mean the 1900s? Like last century?
Mason: Yes.
Daddy: Yes, we did.
Mason: Where could you go?
Daddy: The same places we could go now. Florida or Texas.
Mason: Did you have cars in the nineteens?
Daddy: Yes.
Mason: What did they look like?
Daddy: They didn't look as cool as they do now.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Obamath

CNN reported today on President Obama's trip across the nation to extol the virtues of his health care law. In a speech in Maine he said:

"This health care tax credit is pro-jobs, it's pro-business, and it starts this year," Obama said.

"For small-business owners who don't currently provide health insurance, they'll be able to factor in this new benefit in deciding whether to do so. And with that savings, employers may be able to cover an additional worker or hire that extra employee they've needed."
Sounds awesome! In the very next paragraph, the reporter expands on Mr. Obama's point.

Under the new health care law, small businesses are immediately eligible for a tax credit covering 35 percent of the premiums paid to help cover their workers. The credit is set to expand to 50 percent of premium costs in 2014. Firms can claim the credit between 2010 and 2013, and for any two years afterward.
Let's recap. Say it will cost a small business owner (that doesn't currently provide health insurance) $10,000 to cover her employees. She would get $3,500 back on her taxes. So, by Mr. Obama's logic, this business owner (who just spent $6,500 covering her employees) will now be able to take this 'savings' and hire an additional worker.

If Michelle O. came back to the White House with $4,000 worth of clothing and exclaimed, "I found an awesome sale at Nordstrom. Look at all the money I saved!"; would Mr. Obama agree? Apparently, he would.