Thank God It's Tuesday

Let's give it up to Tuesday, the most under-appreciated day of the week. People at least hate Monday. Wednesday is Hump Day, Thursday gets you College Night drink specials at the bars, and Friday got its very own restaurant. What did Tuesday get? Nothing.

It gets even worse for Tuesday if you assume that the seven days it took to create the earth in the Christian creation story were literal days. Sunday got light and Monday got water, pretty important. On Wednesday the weather was clear and we got stars. Thursday and Friday saw the start of life and Saturday was the original weekend. Tuesday? Well, Tuesday got dirt.

I find that Tuesday is the real start of the week. Come Tuesday, you have survived slogging through the haze of Monday and come out the other side. The coming weekend still stands far off on the horizon, too distant to draw your mind away from the reality of being mired in your week. Tuesday is for facing reality which makes Tuesday the most important day of all.

It is easy in life to become distracted. Most of us spend our time dreaming of the future or thinking over the past. Rarely do we see what is right in front of us. In the present we apply the lessons of the past to achieve our dreams for the future. So go ahead and mourn the coming of Monday and smile at the thought of the coming weekend on Wednesday. But remember, Tuesday, the least respected of days, is where you'll get things done.

My Child Is A Better Sniper Than Your Honor Student

Thirty years ago, being concerned with your child spending time killing Nazis or Zombies was not a huge parenting issue. What a difference a couple of decades can make. Today video games depicting violence are as much a part of youth culture as soccer practice and Saturday morning cartoons. With this change comes questions and challenges for parents.

Many parents fear that the exposure to violence through these games can result in all sorts of things. Concerns can range all over the place. Some may fear that the violence can teach their children to be violent. Others fear that it will desensitize children towards real violence. All these concerns are valid and are something that each parent will face and answer in their own way. As a parent myself I have recently had to take a look at this issue.

I take a little bit more liberal stance on my son's exposure to video games. For those familiar with the titles, he has been exposed to several editions of the Call of Duty franchise including the most recent installment Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. These are exactly the types of games that most people would say are inappropriate for children. This can be evidenced by the fact that they receive a rating of "M" for mature.

So why do I let me son play these games? Well, for a lot of reasons. To start with, it is a video game. The violence is not real no matter how well the graphics render. To treat the game as real violence would be to confuse that distinction with my son and to give the game a power that it does not possess on its own.

Secondly, whether I like it or not my son is already being exposed to the game. I would be a fool if I were to think that I could completely control what my son is exposed to. There are a lot of kids that already play these games. When I told my son that we were going to get the new release he already knew what it was. The buzz was there with him and his peers.

I could forbid him to play these games. He'd still be exposed to them though. His understanding of them and their context would come from his friends not an adult. I'd rather maintain his trust in my experience, especially for down the road when he comes up against serious issues like drugs, sex, and real world violence.

Now, I'm not suggesting that parents should work at being the 'cool' parent just to keep their kids on their good side. I'm not going to sit my son down with a 40 and a bong to teach him the dangers of drugs or feed him Playboy magazines to learn about girls. But I know where to pick my fights. There is no use throwing video games into the same pool. Narrowing down exposure restrictions to the things that really matter reinforces the fact that they really matter.

Lastly, I don't just plop my son down, hand him the controller and then walk away. I sit down and play with him. These are games after all. I enjoy them as much as he does. By doing so I feel I help to take the mystery away from them and again reinforce the fact that these are games. I don't let the games make me more violent and through that I hope he understands that playing them is not an excuse for being violent. Besides, how often can you be a role model and have fun doing it at the same time.

In the end every parent is different. We all have varying senses of what is permissible for our children. Children are different too. My second child is due in a little over a month. As he grows older I might find that he needs a different approach. Only time will tell. But in any case, I hope that by sharing my perspective I have given some food for thought to parents that are coming up against these issues.

Everyone Has One And Everyone Is One

If you ever want to see what kind of an ass%@!& you look to those that tick you off. Chances are that you too infuriated someone in the very same way. It'd be nice if we realized those moments and abstained from future ass%@!& behavior but we won't. We'll find ourselves frustrated, fed up, or just plain mean. We will again say something hurtful, or fail to speak up for someone when we should. We will belittle someone or boast endlessly of ourselves. We will do these things and then we will go back to being our normal cordial self, often without even noticing the harm or hurt we've just committed.

Just as important is the idea that you don't let the behavior of others bring out your bad side. When someone acts like an ass towards you, you usually too caught up in the moment to realize that your reaction is equally bad. In real time we have a hard time remembering to turn the other cheek when we'd rather exact an eye for an eye. Often we'll turn the other cheek to the one that has wronged us and exact the eye from someone else. Later you'll look back and realize what an ass you've been. Instead, learn to trust yourself. Don't let the actions or words of others bring you to committing harm to others. You'll still fail, but be aware that you are predisposed to failing in this light, hopefully you'll be even more wary of your responses.

Watch What You Say

There is no lack of rules regarding speech. The Bill of Rights seeks to protect its freedom, slander is punishable by law, and religions note it as a way in which, if abused, we become unclean. Speech, more than any action, belies our intention. It goes to say not only what we will do, but what we would do if we were left unfettered. As such, it shouldn't be any great surprise that the misuse of ones words is the basis for some of our most embarrassing and regretful moments.

I cringe when I find myself speaking without being cognizant of the implications that the words may have. Often I speak as I think, openly, without thinking about how it reflects up on me or those I know. Soon after such a conversation ends I find myself reeling at the things I've thought and said. Did I really mean that? Did I really say that? The answer to both is yes. It is at that point that I step back and have a chance to realize what otherwise goes unnoticed in my head. I have many thoughts and words I'm not proud of. If there were anything I could do to better myself personally and socially it would be to watch those thoughts and reflect up on them instead of offering them up so easily.

One Week Tobacco Free

Will it last? I hope so. Here's to the day by day.

Southern California Dove Season

Its nearing the start of September and while that means the start of school and the end of summer it also means that hunting season is in full swing. While there are seasons for something during anytime of the year September 1st has a special place for hunters. It marks the opening of dove season. Now dove are not the biggest game animal but they are the most commonly hunted. Many a hunter had their first outing on an early September morning.

Dove season means different things to hunters. Some 'serious' hunters look down on it, seeing it as hunting that's done by riff-raff; when every serious hunter should be out scouting for the coming deer season. For others it may be the only thing they hunt all year long.

Dove hunting in California makes for an interesting proposition. Decent public land is available but getting there is a whole other story. In southern California, no place competes with the Imperial Valley for attracting dove hunters. Getting to this corner of the state can be interesting though. For most the schedule goes as follows: wake up at 1 AM, drive four hours, sit in the 100 degree sun, then turning around, drive another four hours, get home and clean birds. It is easily a 15 hour endurance run. Yet, year after year droves of hunters descend on the valley. So either there must be something about dove hunting that makes it worth it or hunters are just crazy...okay fine, maybe its a little bit of both.

I know I'll be there.

If you go, please remember:

- Pick up all your trash and empties
- Save the beer till after the hunt is done
- Don't hunt private property without written permission from the landowner
- #7 1/2 shot can travel over 200 yards, don't "rain" on someone else's hunting day
- Be safe and have fun

For those of you looking for more info check out:

Desert Wildlife Unlimited

An Easy Way To Save On Finance Charges

Next time you get one of your credit card bills take a look at how they calculate the finance charges. If you happen to have a card where the finance charges are calculated by the Daily Periodic Rate being applied on a daily basis you can actually save money on finance charges without increasing the amount of money you pay over the course of a year.

As an example, lets say you have a credit card balance of $3000.00 with an APR of 15%. That gives you a Daily Periodic Rate of .04%. Now lets assume you're paying $300 a month towards this card. Typically you wait for the bill and send the $300 dollars all at once.

However, if you were to split this into two equal payments of $150 every two weeks, you'd save $0.86 the first month.

Now I know that isn't get you any closer to being debt free anytime soon. However, over that same 28 day period, the credit card company is making an average of $1.28 per day on you. While minor, $0.86 cents just might be the minor victory you need to help you feel like you are in control of your debt.

Since it isn't obvious I'll go ahead and say it, if you pay by mail you'd be better off paying the one payment considering the postage.