There Is Water

At The Bottom Of The Ocean!

Jim's My Homeboy!

Go get'm Jim! This guy makes me proud to be an Oklahoman!

Nativity in a Sleeper

As I was driving today, I had the great pleasure of seeing a unique nativity scene. Actually, it was pretty normal. Except, instead of using the traditional stable, this person used the sleeper off a yellow semi. I did see this today, and yes, it is the middle of June. It's not necessarily "normal" to have a nativity scene up year round, but personally, I see nothing wrong with it. We need to be reminded of Christ's birth year round. Now, would I have a nativity scene in my yard all year? Ehh...I need job. Does anyone out there need a band director?

A Chinese HUMMER?

The 4x4 behemoth that once descended from the original Humvee, the flagship of the American military, may be heading for China. First of all, just in case you've never noticed, Chinese automobiles are hard to find here in the states. This may have something to do with it.



As you can see, Chinese companies aren't too shabby at copying the designs of popular automobiles manufactered around the world.



The car in the first video may be an older year model. I'm not really sure. In the end, it doesn't matter. Chinese companies are still having problems meeting the crash test standards here in the states. I'm sure they're desperately hoping to break into the American car market at some point, and I have to admit I'm desperately hoping they never do. Quality is my main concern. It seems like everything is going the way of the Chinese. What happens if I don't want to buy cheap junk? There must have been a time when products from China saved consumers money, but I'm not so sure this is the case today. For instance, I bought a good ol' American-made leather belt a long time ago. (The brand was Levi's.) It had to be almost ten years ago. I wore that belt all the time for nine years or so and still received compliments on it. It held together and showed near no wear. (I wore that thing two to four times a week while in college. Once I started teaching, I wore it almost everyday.) Unfortunately, it disappeared around six months ago. Now how a belt disappears is a mystery to me, but it did. I began a search for a good leather belt, but I simply couldn't find one. Granted, it was around Christmas, but all I could find were those junk belts from China. You know the ones that say "Genuine Leather," yet fall apart as soon as you put them on. No joke. A couple of months after losing my favorite belt, I was heading off for a concert. I still wanted to replace my belt, so I stopped off hoping to remedy my belt deficiency. It was around February, so it seemed logical that stores would have recovered from the Christmas rush. I was wrong. They had the same junky belts that I had found months earlier. I thought, "What choice do I have?" So, I bought one. As onlookers gazed with wonder, I put my new belt on in the parking lot. "Wait. What is this? ...the belt I just bought (which is made of 'genuine leather') is cracking and falling apart?" Needless to say, as I was heading home the next day, I took that belt back. I would have taken it back right then, but I was in a bit of a rush. Finally, a couple of months ago, I found a good leather belt by Fossil. It was maybe five to ten dollars more than the junky belt I had bought months earlier. In essence, a junky belt that didn't last one day somehow managed to cost almost as much money as a real leather belt that seems to be holding up quite well. Of course, this is just one story about one product. Maybe this isn't the case with all products. But what if this is the case with all products we buy? Are we paying more for cheap junk? Or did the cheap junk force companies to lower prices on the well-built expensive stuff? Either way, I plead with you America, please stop buying cheap junk. You're only encouraging them. Someday we all may be buying cheap new jalopy cars. Above all, buy American-made products, and while I'm at it, stop voting for crazy people. It's just wrong.

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