et ceteras

It's been a couple weeks since I blogged and I feel the need to get back at it, so here are some of what the great Thomas Sowell might call "random thoughts on the passing scene":

There is no greater feeling than the one you get when you see that your child is excited to see you.

When Sarah is clamoring for my undivided attention and talking a mile a minute without giving me a chance to think, I sometimes wish for some "me time" -- but as soon as she is not here, I miss her terribly. She spent last night at her Grammy's, and it felt like there was a void in my home when I went to bed without checking on her first.

Right now I feel another void, albeit a much less important one, when it comes to outdoor activities. I went on major hiking trips in 2008 and 2009, but the one that was tentatively planned for 2010 never came to fruition. I will make sure to do an overnighter this year, no matter what.

Really cutting government spending and regulation (as opposed to raising them by lesser amounts than previously projected) should be the biggest general goal of the new Republican-majority Congress -- but repealing Obamacare should be its first specific goal.

Speaking of Obamacare, it annoys me to no end when I hear people attempt to justify it by saying that other industrialized nations have government-run health care. That argument is lame not only because it ignores the fact that those nations' care is not as good as ours, but because it ignores the fact that the only reason their governments can even think of providing health care is they know we will pay the cost -- both in dollars and in blood -- of defending them against enemies. Canada is a ripe target for attack because of its vast resources and unmanned borders, but its government knows we will protect them so it has no military worth speaking of, and instead throws its dollars toward medicine with an embarrassing degree of ineffectiveness. The same is true for all of western Europe.

And totally switching topics: Holy moley! Check out the size of this freshwater catfish that was recently caught in a river in Italy.

And on to college football, a topic that has consumed many of my posts over the last four months: No, I will not be opining about the BCS Championship Game until after it takes place, even though I am an Auburn grad. I can think of a dozen rational reasons why Auburn should win and a dozen rational reasons why they should lose, and none of that thinking brings me any peace, so I will withhold comment until all is said and done.

And finally: Speaking of college football, I love the following quote that appeared two days ago on the Auburn blog Track Em Tigers: "The bowl system needs a total reworking from top to bottom because it's becoming a mockery of itself and is seriously diluting the product. Bowls have ceased being extravagant post season rewards for deserving teams and have morphed into something resembling pre-packaged sub-prime mortgages sold to Fannie Mae, or in most cases, to ESPN. And all the foreclosures are about to tank the whole neighborhood."

Until next time, take care.