My List of Things to do Before I Die...

I am not going to write about how the Truth Really Hurts today. I am going to write about how nice it is to be alive...

I have a list of things to do, places to visit before I die. Hang gliding in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is on this list. Not just hang gliding, it had to be in Rio de Janeiro. I was watching a program, some years ago, on PBS, National Geographic, or Discovery, I don't really remember which one. On the show they had a man hang gliding IN Rio. I thought to myself, Wow! That is amazing! It was so beautiful, that must be one of the "coolest" things to do.

During a visit to Brazil, I was able to scratch this one off my list.

Click play on the Video's Below:

A couple of other items 0n my list:

• Watch Real Madrid play in Santiago Bernabeu (since I was 9 years old)
• Visit the Incan Ruins Cuzco, Peru
• Visit the Great Wall of China
• Scuba Dive in the Carribean
• Have a beer or two in Amsterdam
• Visit the Grand Canyon
• Dance to "Oiga mire vea" in Cali Colombia, Avenida Sexta, while drinking AguaArdiente
• Travel to Tierra de Fuego, Chile, and stare into the other side of the world
• Get as close as possible to the Pyramides in Egypt
• See the Mona Lisa in person
• Hang out at the Red Square
• Do the Bridge Climb of Sydney Harbour Bridge

Some of these items on my list are checked, some I might never be able to check, but this list could continue to grow.

What about you? What's on your list?

Nothing but the truth!

TTRH

Gang Bangers Attacking Innocent People

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DON'T RENT TO BLACK ANTS!!!

Black ants are Black People, at least according to my new neighbor. "DON'T RENT TO BLACK ANTS!!!"

After DanThePeoplesBlogger, his wife, my wife and I (business partners) finished our project of rehabbing an entire three flat brick building (which my wife and I decided to buy and keep), we set off to rent the two remaining apartments (we lived on the top floor).

Amongst many other people, we had an African American lady call and set up an appointment. My wife and I met with her and showed her both available floors. She liked the lower level and we indicated we would call her as soon as we made a decision, shook hands and she left.

Two minutes after she had left, our new neighbor Isabel, from across the street, came pounding on our door, "DON'T RENT TO BLACK ANTS!!! DON'T RENT TO BLACK ANTS!!" she was out of breath and seemed startled. We stared at her confused, not fully understanding what she meant.

Isabel: "Don't rent to ants, they will ruin your building, trust me, I know what I am telling you!!".

Us: "What do you mean? The ants will ruin our building?".

Isabel: "I mean don't rent to Black People, if you rent to black people, the WHITE people in the neighborhood will ruin your building! They will break all your windows, throw acid on your building, they might even burn your garage. I am not kidding, they will. DO NOT RENT TO BLACK ANTS!!! I will show you proof that I am not lying. I have lived in this neighborhood for almost thirty years, I have seen it all and I know what I am talking about!"

Isabel leaves just as quickly as she arrived. We just stood there scratching our heads.... HUH?

We decided to rent the apartment to the African American lady. She seemed to be the best candidate for the apartment.

Shortly after, I came home from work one day and found Hate-Mail in our mailbox. There was a letter which talked about not wanting Mexicans in their neighborhood, and how they were going to give us a deadline to leave.


When I read the mail, I felt furious, my heart started beating rapidly, I started sweating and my mind started racing. Who could have left such hateful mail? I closed the living room curtains and started pacing back and forth trying to figure out my next step. Should I call the cops? Should I stand in the front of my house and wait for the person who left the letter, and see if he, she or they, would have the courage to say something to my face? What do I do?

I showed the letter to my wife, and she did not seem as bent out of shape as I was. I was livid and felt like David Banner in the middle of his transformation. WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!??!?

Then I remembered Isabel.

She left the letter in my mailbox, it must of been her. I read the letter once again, and this time I noticed the dates, which I overlooked my first time reading as I keyed into specific "hate" words, the letter was sent May 1980. This was Isabel's proof. This is what she went through when she moved into the neighborhood. I also noticed the address on the envelope, it was sent to Isabel's home 28 years ago. Isabel is Mexican, but when I spoke to her, she always chose to speak English even though her English was not that great, and I responded in Spanish. I guess I can understand why she tried so hard to lose her Spanish and fit in.


The next day I met with Isabel and she told me the horror stories and everything she went through just trying to fit in and be accepted, stories I might publish (with her permission) at a later time. I tried explaining that it would be unfair for us as a minority to discriminate against another minority, African Americans. I told her that her remarks were discriminatory and told her she was treating African Americans the same way White people treated her, but she would not have it. According to her, her concern was our safety, and that it would be at risk if we brought black people into our building.

I do not see her behaviour towards African Americans acceptable, but I understand her feelings, and understand she was just trying to protect us from harm.

That was the world she lived in, a world that needed fences, with anger, fear and uncertainty. Although times have changed, this is the still the same world, I can still see the generation that hates me because of who I am or what I have done. That generation has not died, and some continue to instill their beliefs from generation to generation, it is their inheritance. Hate.

This is my world, and and that is the truth.

TTRH

I will type and post the contents of the actual letter, tomorrow or at a later time.

Sitting Here Baffled/My Favorite Pastime

I am sitting here baffled... what the hell just happened??

Let me think, how can I compare this with something I might consider important in my life?? SPORTS!! Yeah, that's it. I love my sports; it is my favorite pastime... Baseball to be more exact. I love my baseball team. I invest a lot of time on my favorite team. I watch every single game, every single game.

When I am out of town, I pay for a subscription to MLB.com so that I can watch the games from the comfort of some hotel room with puffy pillows. When I am home and having dinner, I record (TiVo, Hard drive) the game so that I can watch its entirety, pitch by pitch. I fast forward in between pitches. I have timed it perfectly. After the pitch, I press the fast forward button 3 times, wait 500 ms, then press play. That will get me exactly before the next pitch.

If I am at my office (day game), I will time my lunch so that I can go to some local sports bar and at least watch the last 3 innings (unless they are losing by a bunch, then I just say to hell with them for that day).

We live 1 mile away from the stadium and catch as many live games as we can. Yeah, I'm the guy with the personalized authentic team jersey (thanks hun), team hat, team jacket, team slippers, you name it.

When my team loses, it bums me out for the following few hours. When they win, it makes me happy.

When someone talks about my team, I get angry. I argue, and argue, and argue, and if I have a drink or two in me, I might yell "Hey other team, you suck!!!!, Beer MAN, I need another light!!!". I am very defensive about my team, and I take it personal. I know its stupid right? How can I let me emotions be taken over by nine men on a field chasing a ball?? I know it's not logical, but that is the way I feel. That is my favorite pastime and I invest a lot of time in to it. Smart or not, I do.

If a stranger offends my team, well they can go to hell. However, if my SIL (who loves the opposing team) or my wife's cousins (who also love the opposing team) make fun of my team... I have to shrug it off right? How can I get angry and hold any resentment towards them, my family? At some point I have to draw the line right? Isn't family all we have? Family is family, strangers are strangers. I will not defend someone who is not my blood over my own blood.

I guess everyone has their own pastime and are just as passionate about their pastime as I am about baseball. I understand now.

So, with that said, I would like to publicly apologize to anyone I might have offended (intentionally or unintentionally) with my posts or comments. I don't really care too much about blogging, but just because I don't care does not mean it is silly, just like baseball to me is not silly.

So, I will dedicate my spare time to comparing stats, teams, observing the schedule, making mental notes on which teams we can beat 20 games in advance, eating peanuts, and chewing gum. I will leave the blogging to the bloggers. This is your world, and I was just momentarily living in it. There are more important things to me... like family.

That is the Truth.... according to me.

SC

Oh, one more thing... This is Arnold, I blacked out key identifiers as I would not like a mountain lion, snake or any other animal from Wyoming attacking us at our place of business. These are our new badges, I put mine on top so as to show the authenticity of the badge.

Arnold is real, and his comments are made by him, not some ficticious character from Venus.

Peace!!!

A Letter to "Jamie"

Jamie,

Sing me a song.

SC

Gun Laws in the State in Which I Live

Part 1

The state in which I live in has the strictest gun laws in the nation. We are one of the few states which does not permit CCW (Conceal Carry). The city in which I live in has a total ban on handguns. This means that if you are a law abiding citizen, you will not be able to protect your family in the event that a "non-law abiding citizen" were to break in to your home and threaten you in the sanctuary of your own home, your temple, your castle.

Picture this, it's three o'clock in the morning. Thug gang banging criminal breaks into your home, YOUR HOME, with an illegal unregistered handgun . You wake up because the dog is barking and you hear foot steps heading towards your bedroom. Terrified, you try to lock the bedroom door, grab your wife, hold her close, and ask her to be as quiet as possible as you stumble through darkness looking for your cordless phone. The thug knows you probably keep your most valued possessions in your bedroom and begins to kick the bedroom door down. He yells and says that if you do not open the door immediately he will harm your children who are terrified, holding a blanket over their heads, in their own beds, crying and calling your name.

You hand the phone to your wife and ask her to dial 911 as you try to reason with the heartless, ruthless, sadistic, piece of shit thug. He has finally kicked the door down and showing no mercy puts two rounds into your chest... he sees your wife trembling in the closet with the phone in her hand....

Forty minutes later the police arrive, it's too late, they are forty minutes late.

This might never happen to you or anyone you know, but it happens, and quite often too. Just watch the news, read the paper. The reality is that only the bad guys in my city are armed. They are surrounded by that shield of invincibility which makes them scared of no one. They walk around looking for someone to intimidate with a look on their face that truly, only their mothers can love.

The city in which I live in does not protect the law abiding citizen. They leave you at the mercy of these delinquents, felons, thugs.

Part 2 will be posted later...

TTRH

Tenant Pains! Damn it!

Yes, all of them, they all are a pain in the ass in a different way. We have the united nations so race is not an issue (White, Italian, African American, Chinese....) and they all hate each other.

The White/Italians:

"Can we have a service technician come out and take a look at our furnace? We can't seem to be able to get it above 75 degrees, that is really concerning us."

What??? Who the hell wants their apartment above 75 degrees???!!! Are they walking around nude??? This particular apartment has two levels with lofts and vaulted ceilings, it is hard to have the thermostat reach 75 degrees when it is -10 outside. Are you people nuts? During the winter time, my wife does not turn on the heat until we are close to Christmas, and only because my niece visits us, it is like her Christmas present to me... turning the heat on. Otherwise she asks me to "man up" and put on some warm socks and a sweat shirt. When it's 65 degrees in our house, I will say something like "man, is it cold in here", she will answer "well of course your cold, look, you are wearing a simple t-shirt, go put on a sweatshirt and run up and down our stairs, that'll warm you up". She also bakes so that the heat from the oven can propagate throughout our house.

The Chinese People:

Tell us they are moving out. We ask when. They say they are not sure, but that as soon as we find a tenant to give them 2 weeks notice in order for them to move out. We find a tenant and then they say they can not move out and would like to extend their lease for another year. This they say, after we've showed the apartment to 10 different possible tenants, after we adjust our schedules in order to meet with these people, after we have gone through the process of choosing the right tenant. She then complains that her electrical bill has increased from $35 to $50 and asks me to check all the electrical wiring to see if there is a possible "electrical leak" somewhere. I tell her she is on crack.

Our African American Tenant:

Ah man, I really run from her. Every time she calls I feel like someone has just punched my stomach. She HATES, and I mean HATES the Chinese tenants. When she complains about them I really feel the hatred grinding out of her teeth. She wants to me install carpet on the hardwood floor so that she does not have to hear their "animal like" (according to her) bodies stomping around the house. She is the least annoying as she hardly calls me, but when she does, look out, I am on the phone with her for 2 hours. It seems she writes a list and goes down item by item with bullet points and all.

We wish we could just sell the building and get rid of the headaches, however with this buyers market, we would not get close to what it's worth. We will have to wait and put up with all the complaints and hopefully sell it at a later time.

Nance, this post was light, however TT still H.