Dobrindts dot com...again

Presidential Debate number 1
Thursday, September 30, 2004

<u>8:39 PM</u>: 21 minutes to show time. The anticipation is killing me. In about 20 minutes I am going to watch a stuttering near illiterate bully run forensic hurdles against an indecisive pedantic bore. I thought I?d watch some pre-game shows, like the Civic Super Bowl this thing is, but was surprised to fine news about war, Martha Stewart and dogs being throwing out of moving cars. Oh sure, there were some things on the new rules and if I see Richard Nixon?s sweating unshaven head and gray suite one more time I might decide to watch Clifford cartoons on On-Demand to make my night even more painful, but overall things are pretty quiet. But then again, I am watching Survivor and only turn to the news channels on commercials so who knows.

<u>8:52 PM</u>: Getting a beer so I don?t have to move. This is going to be a good debate. Plus the female redneck on Survivor is about as much fun to watch as a doctor giving my infant son a shot so a beer is a fit right now.

<u>9:05</u>: Yeah Lehrer, you tell them the business. Do not take any crap from these two suits.

<u>9:06</u>: Give it up Kerry, your insincere well wishing and ass-kissing is not going to win you points.

<u>9:09</u>: Vociferously? Someone has been using his presidential thesaurus.

<u>9:11</u>: Where do you want me to begin? Let?s start by wiping that smug look off your oddly shaped face.

<u>9:16</u>: Hey boys, Saddam Hussein is the one with the bushy mustache in jail. Osama Bin Laden is the tall one who was responsible for Sept.11. Let?s try to get them right.

<u>9:25</u>: You?re struggling Bush, you?re struggling. You?re starting to look like Mike Tyson at a spelling bee.

<u>9:27</u>: Stop with the ?Help is on the way? nonsense. We heard that enough during the DNC.

<u>9:52</u>: Sorry, I passed out. I am back though.

<u>9:58</u>: I kind of like Bush?s sarcasm. Wish he would drop some F bombs now and again.

<u>10:01</u>: One thing I wanted to mention was that I think we should outsource our trial and judgment system to Yemen.

<u>10:06:</u> Now now President Bush, making faces is against the rules. Oh, sorry, that is your normal face. My mistake.

<u>10:07</u>: Hey Kerry, why the long face?? Thank you, I am here all week. Try the veal. Tip your waitress.

<u>10:08</u>: Hey Lehrer, don?t push your agenda at this debate. YOU are not running for president.

<u>10:10</u>: YEAH BUSH. You mentioned my homeland, Liberia. YEAH. YOU GO!!

<u>10:12</u>: What in the world could they be writing down? Seriously. What are they writing? Notes?

<u>10:14</u>: The Yankees win, Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees Win. Thanks Unc for pinging me with the score. Another AL East title.

<u>10:16</u>: I just realized that ALL of the discussion has been about war and terrorism. Then I realized this debate is about foreign policy.

<u>10:19</u>: At my next meeting when there are conflicting opinions, I am going to say ?30 seconds Mr. Jones?, then cut him off 5 seconds into it.

<u>10:24</u>: What do you expect from Putin, he used to be a high ranking KGB officer.

<u>10:25</u>: Bush is done with this nonsense. He is tired of using long words and reciting what his speech writers wrote for him. He?s starting to act like me during church was I was 7.

<u>10:29</u>: My wife said this ?I know he rehearsed his closing statement but he always sounds like he is making things up as he goes along. He sounds like he doesn?t know what he is going to say next?.

<u>10:30</u>: Right ON TIME Lehrer! Good job. Shake hands. Kiss the wife. Wave. Frat brothers? Didn?t know.

Overall the format worked well. No embarrassing exchanges. No broken noses. Not sure who won because I kind of had trouble focusing, but I?m sure the left will say the right won, and the right will say the left won. This is David Dobrindt from Milton signing off, Goodnight and God Bless.

Posted by David at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Let me do a quick recap of the Red Sox season so far.

In April, the first month of baseball, the Red Sox were mowing down the opposition like the reigning World Series winners they were. They were beating up on Seattle, Tampa and Baltimore like they were last place teams. They spanked the Yankees and made them look like they just got back from a trip to Japan. They were flying higher than Brett Favre with a full bottle of vikes.

Then the season started and they played three months of 500 ball. They would win one, lose one. The team was not happy, the media was all over them, fans were a tad upset. I was feeling pretty good. The Yanks had a 10 game lead and the joy of April seemed months behind them.

August came and Johnny Damon let his hair down. They started beating up on Tampa, Detroit, Chicago, Toronto, all very good teams with winning records, and gained some ground on the Yanks. Joy and bliss behold, they closed the gap with the hated Yankees and were now only 2 games behind. Sweet mercy, they might take the division.

This continued for the first two weeks of September. There was hope again in Red Sox Nation. They WERE going to win the division, and get home field advantage in the playoffs, and WIN THE WORLD SERIES. After all, this team is not a bunch of misfits who do what they want, complain to the media about playing time, celebrate on the field and give more hugs than closing day at Little Princess Pre-School in Cambridge. No, this team was a bunch of professionals who were stoic after each win as if they were just doing their jobs. Winning was not a surprise, it was a given. Yes, this was the yank?sorry, the Red Sox.

Then things came to a screeching halt. The Sox lost two out of three, in very bad ways, to the Yanks. They lost to Baltimore and when they did win, it was by last minute heroics. Then Pedro pulled a Pedro, and did we expect anything less, when Terry left him in too long in the game (hmm, let me think, when did that happen before to Pedro, hmmm, nope, can?t remember), and the Sox lost the first of the final three games against the Yanks. Pedro kept his back to the team manager and did not even look at him when he handed over the ball and walked off the mound. Yes, this team is full of class.

Oh sure, they will pull it together. They will enter the post season on a high note I am sure. When they clinch the wild card spot I am sure they will celebrate like last year. Run around like a bunch of morons on prom night yelling ?I LOVE BEER?. Then, if a butterfly in China lands on the right flower, the Yanks and Sox will meet again in the post season and we can see who the true winners are.

NOTE: If you are a Red Sox fan, most of this blog was sarcasm. Just thought I?d spell it out for you because I don?t think they taught sarcasm in 6th grade, your final year of structured schooling.

Posted by David at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

<b>Emily</b>

Emily is 2 years 5 months old but going on 3 years 4 months. Other than normal 2 year old monster-like behavior, she is doing great. We have her fully off the diapers and so far so good. We started potty training her when she was about 18 months and after initially being into it, she lost interest. Since she was not that old, we kind of let it slide. But after Ethan came along in August, we said enough with two kids in diapers. For a while we had her wear only underwear during the day and a diaper at night, but then we realized she was waking up with a dry diaper. So last week we started with underwear at night as well. It is not totally without our involvement since we need to help her out and stuff, but it really does beat changing diapers all the time. She likes the fact that she can wear underwear and so far the daytime accidents are very rare. There are times at night when she wakes us up to go, but that is a good thing for now.

When we knew we were having another kid, we were wondering how she would react to a little baby around. So far it is far better than what we expected. She is very sweet to Ethan and the only fault is in the fact that she wants to kiss him, hug him, hold him, pat is back, etc. all the time. She still gets plenty of our attention, especially with me since I ?own? Emily most of the time while I am home, so I think the attention seeking thing was less impactful then we anticipated.

The rest of Emily?s development is about where a normal 3 or 4 year old would be. She is pretty tall and looks much older than her true age so it is not surprising. Her language skills are good, motor skills, athleticism, all good. She loves being active outside so the winter should be interesting, but hopefully as she matures a little she will get used to sitting and playing for long stretches.

She is not without fault since she is pretty bratty and acts like a little monster. It can be frustrating but we keep telling ourselves that if we stick to our true beliefs, try to instill our principles and morals in her, she will grow out of it. Or we could beat her. Or lock her in a closet. Or beat her and then the closet. But for now we use the penalty of losing privileges (no TV, no books read to her before bed, etc).

Overall, she is doing great. She is bratty at times, a lot of times, but is also very sweet and considerate. She loves being around other people and other kids and likes laughing so hopefully will grow up with that same attitude.

<b>Ethan</b>

Ethan was born on August 5 so he is about 6 weeks old. He makes this kind of grunting sound a lot unless he is in a deep sleep so sometimes it is hard to figure out if he is fussing or not. But he seems to be growing out of that and is much easier to handle then Emily when she was an infant. It might be the fact that we know what to expect and are more relaxed, or he might just be a calmer baby, but it really is much easier the second time around.

He sleeps for about 3 or 4 hours at a time and one night last week slept from 12:30 to 6, so we think he is getting close to sleeping through the night. It takes a while for a new born to adjust to regular hours and Emily slept through the night at 7 weeks, so hopefully it will be the same. Patti is getting up with him now because he is not really into bottles yet.

He is about 14 pounds and is starting to lose that ugly newborn look. His complexion is clearing up, his face is starting to form a normal shape, his head is starting to form a more round shape and he is starting to interact a little. He smiles every now and then for Patti or if Emily is singing to him, but not yet for me. Understandable.

Overall, things are going well. He is of course a newborn so needs constant attention, eats, sleeps, cries and poops with very little fun for me or Patti, but this time is a necessary step. When he is asleep on my chest while lying on the couch, not sure if there is really a better feeling.

That is it for an update on both kids. It is challenging at times and can be very frustrating, but alcohol and hope get us through those times. Overall is it very rewarding and I look forward more good times.

Posted by David at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If anyone is reading this and wants to do me a favor, please register to win a chance to purchase tickets to the Red Sox post season games.

Because the Red Sox have a huge fan base, and because games in October are pretty freakin rare, the Sox are having a drawing to win a chance to purchase tickets. Strange, I know, but if you live around here you would understand how hard it is to get tickets. The deadline to register is end of day on Wed Sept 22.

So go to the red sox site (www.redsox.com) or <a href="http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/bos/ticketing/alds.jsp?loc=form" target=_blank> click here </a> and register.

This does not mean you have to buy tickets. It only gives you a chance to buy tickets. If you are selected, I'd like to actually buy the tickets.

Thanks,
Dave

Posted by David at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Thursday night is great TV. It really is. You have the new season of Survivor, and I?ll be up front about it, I love Survivor. It doesn?t give me that pitter patter like it did in the first 24 seasons, but I still like it. But I do have to admit that after sitting through the first 7 minutes of tonight?s series debut I thought I had turned on National Geographic. I like knowing about the local tribes and shit, but it was a bit much. The local ?tribe?, who really work at WalMart on the other side of the island, came running up with spears and grunting and stuff. It was kind of embarrassing because for a second I thought they would actually spear the contestants and let them bleed to death on the shore and it would have been the best reality TV show ever. But that didn?t happen and I was stuck watching the beauty contest plod through its predictable first episode.

So then came the Apprentice and once again you had a bunch of media whores who hired an expensive trainer the minute they found out they were going to be on the show so they could bulk up and look good for their one chance at getting out of their small town and sad life. Pathetic, but I watch. So tonight begins a two month ritual of watching TV or taping the shows every Thursday night because I am a ?reality TV? junkie. It?s not true reality TV because the show are scripted and they have planned events, not like cops or the MTV things called fly-on-the-wall TV, but it sure is entertaining.

Trump picked awful and terrible people to prove a stupid point. Bad decision but GREAT TV. Bye-bye goatee boy, maybe now you?ll take off that stupid necklace you wear. And no, you are not a general. Tool.

Posted by David at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You might not realize this, but the major newspapers, like the NY Times, Boston Globe and Washington Post actually have people on their payroll whose sole responsibility is to go out and look for damaging information on President Bush. Yes, it?s true. They are paid by the newspapers and they are tasked with finding bad stuff on old Georgie. They?re called Reporters. It is no secret that the major news outlets are run by the liberal folks among us. They focus on bad news against the republicans and bury bad news on democrats. It follows a basic trend of liberal zealots who are more focused on negative campaigns. Money spent by groups trying to attack Bush is 5 times as much as money spent by groups trying to attack Kerry. But that?s ok. It?s the way this country works and level headed citizens, both liberal and conservative, pretty much see through it and form their own opinion.

But this nonsense with Dan Rather is crossing the line. Hey Dan, your reputation as a reputable newsperson is like my 32 inch waistline. A thing of the past and not likely to return. Treating Saddam Hussein with more regard than Bush was fine. After all, you are a nut. But fabricating a document that disparages Bush, reporting on it, getting caught in your lie, then embarrassing yourself by trying to talk your way out of it is?pathetic. It is almost sad to watch you flail and dry heave your way out of this mess. CBS can?t be blamed for sticking behind the story because they need to save face and stick to what they backed. In all likelihood, the execs that run the network probably considered throwing you under the bus but decided they like your Christmas parties and summer barbeques too much and wanted to remain on your mailing list.

This is not a big deal because Kerry is screwing things up enough without Dan adding to it. His stunt just backfired like my 78 Ford Fiesta in its final days. I might be wrong, but I have a feeling we are in for another 4 years of Bush. Not a bad thing.

Posted by David at 09:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony."

And my political voice continues.

Posted by David at 03:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This passage is from a <a href="http://www.brokentype.com/" target=_blank> blogger </a> I read often, describing his protest experience at the RNC.

If there were any actual delegates nearby the police were keeping them sequestered, and we were forced to vent our rage at the blank face of Madison Square Garden. �You�re destroying our nation!� Sarah cried to a concrete column. It remained indifferent. Addressing the �s� in "Madison" Brenden yelled, �Don't throw your party on our tragedy!� I turned on the light fixtures: �You bastards. You liars. You warmongers." Chris was going hoarse yelling "No War" at the reflection of George Bush in the bulbs of a giant electronic ticker that flashed, idiotically, �Thanks New York!�

Posted by David at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)