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[watson1962]

Taxes!

I pay taxes.  I don’t “do” my taxes.  I “pay” them.  Or more accurately, I adjust them after paying my taxes quarterly throughout the year.  For the record, the State of Ohio’s estimates are almost always wrong….really wrong…which sticks me with a big chunk of “owed” at the end of the process.  Then they “recommend” next year’s payments which, inevitably, will be wrong.  My point is that this…

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[watson1962]

Easter, Eggs, and Excitment

Easter, Eggs, and Excitment

Someone once accused me of liking the “off” holidays. Not Christmas or Fourth of July or even Halloween. I like Thanksgiving and Easter. And, if that is all I get accused of this week then guilty as charged. It is absolutely true that I could go through life content never again worrying about the debate between Holiday and Christmas or eating a burnt hot dog. Don’t get me wrong, we can keep…

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[watson1962]

A Profound Mystery Solved

A Profound Mystery Solved

There are mysteries in the universe.  Ones that seem beyond our mere human comprehension.  Like why, for instance, we as a species crave chocolate and peanut butter in combination but think chocolate and mustard is disgusting.  Or why wearing anything white will, unfailingly, cause a coffee spill.  Or why Duck Dynasty, The Kardashians, or Honey Boo Boo ever got popular.  But the deepest mystery…

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[watson1962]

The Real Cookie Monster

The Real Cookie Monster

Oh he is adorable, in that shaggy dog, nondescript, unapologetically devoted to a single cause sort of way. You always know what he wants and likes. He tells you so, in clear and concise terms: ME WANT COOKIES! And he gets them. And he stays thin.

Well, I want cookies too. All the time. And I am blessed with the financial means to get them. However, (and this is the real crux), I don’t stay thin…

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[watson1962]

Death Doesn't Take a Holiday

Death Doesn’t Take a Holiday

My sister lost a friend and parishioner this week. I could tell she was grieving…and I grieved with her. Our nation lost a Supreme Court Justice this week. Before they could even pick out a casket the congressional majority party, acting in their usual role as the put upon minority, was already announcing proudly what they WOULDN’T do. All I could think about was the man’s family who, regardless…

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[watson1962]

The Almighty Dot Com

The Almighty Dot Com

I like church signs.  I think it is a wonderful invention.  Churches have an opportunity to be clever, cute, uplifting, or in some cases, ominous in a way that no other lighted block letter marquee can.  Things like “God would like to hear from you more than once a week!”  Or “Got God?  And drink your milk!” Or, “Lost faith?  We have your back!” and “Don’t believe in God?  He believes in YOU!”

St…

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[watson1962]

Super Bowl Monday

I admit, I am not much of a football fan.  It is ironic that I don’t really care about football but will listen to and watch baseball.  Football fits my gnat like attention span much better than slow paced and sedate baseball.  Plays in football last seconds and change constantly (unless you are the Cleveland Browns.  Then you have only four plays, three of which are guaranteed to lose yardage).…

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[watson1962]

Polling my Life

In this time of political debate and fact checking we are inundated with polling data. Most of these polls are junk, however, perpetrated on unsuspecting (or incredibly willing) victims with questions that are “push” or point making.

“Do think President Obama is either, A) a secret worshiper of Islam or B) hates America?” “Do you think obvious signs of global warming are either, A) a man made…

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[watson1962]

12 Marines, 10 Sailors, 1 Veteran

12 Marines, 10 Sailors, 1 Veteran

I rarely speak out and identify myself as a “veteran.”  Most of the time that just leads to a bunch of attention, good or bad, that I don’t want.  I think that is true for most of us who are veterans.  We served, we survived…blessing enough.

This week 10 sailors spent some time in Iran…not as guests.  The whole thing was a grandstanding stupidity and ultimately resulted in…well…nothing. Thank God.

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[watson1962]

He's Back!

He’s Back!

I am afraid it is all over Bernie.  It was a good run and you forced Hillary appropriately to the left but you are toast.  And to whoever that other Democrat guy is it was mostly over for you from the beginning.

That isn’t all.  Republicans, you are dead meat.  You do not have a single candidate…not one…not the overweight guy from Jersey, certainly not the brother, not the slick guy from Texas…

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[watson1962]

The Year in Review

The Year in Review

I love year in review magazines. My favorite is Discover’s top 100 science stories. And yes, Pluto was number one. After all, we took high res color photos from…you know…Pluto. Not gonna beat that. I also love those awful top 100 shows on MTV, VH1 and other cable channels. You know the type. Name the top 100 summer hits from bands where English was their second language. Those kind of shows. I…

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[watson1962]

Drone for the Holidays

Drone for the Holidays

The other day I decided I wanted a drone for Christmas.  I posted on Facebook, “Is it wrong to want a drone for Christmas?”  One of my older sisters was all in, no questions asked.   A friend responded that it was no more wrong than her wanting out of her hypocritical family.  My brother weighed in and stated that the wrongness depended on who I wanted to “take out”.

Let’s start with the fact…

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[watson1962]

Any Given Friday

Over the last month sporting events have been taking place of great importance.  They are defining moments in the lives of the participants, their families, and their communities.  These events happen in each and every state.  They are big…really really big deals.  For many these seminole athletic competitions represent the culmination of hard work, family support, dogmatic determination,…

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[watson1962]

Mostly Thankful

I say it every year.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  Nothing comes even close to this day. I love everything about it.

Mostly.

Over the last two Thanksgivings I have had to come to grips with some new realities.  Thanksgiving will now always be tied to the passing of my mother and the passing of my marriage.  Both occurred two years ago within 30 days of each other.  Thanksgiving was the…

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[watson1962]

Royal Blue

It was actually a pretty good series, as World Series go.  Two of the five games went into extra innings.  That is always fun.  It was late of course, actually stretching into November.  But the weather cooperated, probably due to global warming (how did that get into a sports related essay), so everything was fine.  And, most importantly, the series showed just how self involved we have become…

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[watson1962]

Veterans Day

Listed below is a link to an article I was privileged to write for a Toledo area publication.  It is rare in my writing career to get to write what I want in the way I want it.  Most publications have no interest in my “essays”.  Every now and then the planets align and allow me to do a little essay writing and get paid for it.  The following is part of the month’s issue of M. Living News, a…

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[watson1962]

The Vast Halloween Conspiracy

The Vast Halloween Conspiracy

There has been much ballyhooing, which is a word I never thought I would use, about “Christmas”.  Started originally by Fox News, the undisputed and unchallenged champion of ballyhooing, this so called “war” on Christmas came because some people…presumably evil people who don’t hang on Bill O’Reilly and Megyn Kelly’s every angry utterance…refer to Christmas time as “holiday.”  This, of course,…

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