This Is Why There Are No Jobs in America

By Porter Stansberry
Saturday, August 21, 2010

I'd like to make you a business offer.

Seriously. This is a real offer. In fact, you really can't turn me down, as
you'll come to understand in a moment...

Here's the deal. You're going to start a business or expand the one you've
got now. It doesn't really matter what you do or what you're going to do.
I'll partner with you no matter what business you're in - as long as it's
legal.

But I can't give you any capital - you have to come up with that on your
own. I won't give you any labor - that's definitely up to you. What I will
do, however, is demand you follow all sorts of rules about what products and
services you can offer, how much (and how often) you pay your employees, and
where and when you're allowed to operate your business. That's my role in
the affair: to tell you what to do.

Now in return for my rules, I'm going to take roughly half of whatever you
make in the business each year. Half seems fair, doesn't it? I think so. Of
course, that's half of your profits.

You're also going to have to pay me about 12% of whatever you decide to pay
your employees because you've got to cover my expenses for promulgating all
of the rules about who you can employ, when, where, and how. Come on, you're
my partner. It's only "fair."

Now... after you've put your hard-earned savings at risk to start this
business, and after you've worked hard at it for a few decades (paying me my
50% or a bit more along the way each year), you might decide you'd like to
cash out - to finally live the good life.

Whether or not this is "fair" - some people never can afford to retire - is
a different argument. As your partner, I'm happy for you to sell whenever
you'd like... because our agreement says, if you sell, you have to pay me an
additional 20% of whatever the capitalized value of the business is at that
time.

I know... I know... you put up all the original capital. You took all the
risks. You put in all of the labor. That's all true. But I've done my part,
too. I've collected 50% of the profits each year. And I've always come up
with more rules for you to follow each year. Therefore, I deserve another,
final 20% slice of the business.

Oh... and one more thing...

Even after you've sold the business and paid all of my fees... I'd recommend
buying lots of life insurance. You see, even after you've been retired for
years, when you die, you'll have to pay me 50% of whatever your estate is
worth.

After all, I've got lots of partners and not all of them are as successful
as you and your family. We don't think it's "fair" for your kids to have
such a big advantage. But if you buy enough life insurance, you can finance
this expense for your children.

All in all, if you're a very successful entrepreneur... if you're one of the
rare, lucky, and hard-working people who can create a new company, employ
lots of people, and satisfy the public... you'll end up paying me more than
75% of your income over your life. Thanks so much.

I'm sure you'll think my offer is reasonable and happily partner with me...
but it doesn't really matter how you feel about it because if you ever try
to stiff me - or cheat me on any of my fees or rules - I'll break down your
door in the middle of the night, threaten you and your family with heavy,
automatic weapons, and throw you in jail.

That's how civil society is supposed to work, right? This is America, isn't
it?

That's the offer America gives its entrepreneurs. And the idiots in
Washington wonder why there are no new jobs...

Progressivism -- What is it good for? Compare Hiroshima after the atomic bomb with Hiroshima now. Similarly, compare Detroit in the 1950s with Detroit now, following years of control by progressive city and state government. Here's a good series of photos to have a look at.

Slotted Soap

From mezzacotta
22 June, 2010 | Posted in Good Ideas by David Morgan-Mar

You know how the old soap turns into a skinny little sliver until you can no longer use it any more, then you have to start with a whole new bar of soap? Some people recycle those unusable slivers by putting them in a cloth bag and using them to make suds when washing clothes or dishes or whatever. Other people (me included) smush the old sliver of soap on to the new bar and hope it sticks so that it will become integrated and can be used along with the new bar. And sometimes it doesn’t stick properly and splinters into dozens of little soap shards that get all over you and you don’t notice them there until you try to dry yourself off with a towel and then you have these soapy lumps stuck to your legs. And some people just throw it away.

So here’s the idea: slotted soap! New bars of soap come with a thin slot in the side, and you just slide the old sliver into the slot when it gets too small to use by itself! Voilà! It’ll get melded into the new soap and used efficiently, and you don’t have to worry about smushing it together and the possibility that it might fall off the new bar.

Rather than put the slot in the middle of the bar, which would run the risk of the soap wearing down to the same old sliver each time, put the slot 1/3 of the way through the thickness of the new bar. This guarantees the old sliver will get used before the new soap turns into a sliver itself.

06/24/2010

All golf, all Obama, all the time.

(x, why?): Self-Promotion

Very nice cartoon today(x, why?): Self-Promotion

Java java java

Well, I just completed my first week of college classes since my 1984 graduation from Centenary College. I'm taking "refresher" courses to get ready to start on my Masters Degree in Computer Science. Both classes are based on Java programming language, which is in turn based on C++. I have, once many years ago, but after college, studied C programming language, the non-object-oriented precursor to C++. While in college, I took formal classes in FORTRAN 77 and COBOL, and did a lot of programming in Basic on Apple ][+ computers. Technically, one of the classes I am taking is supposed to be a prerequisite for the other, but since I do have programming in my background, just not Java programming, the advisor OK'd it. Anyway, it's going to be interesting, since I never studied any object-oriented programming techniques.

major move

We left Oregon City on Wednesday, November 18th in a 10-foot U-Haul truck towing our Civic on a dolly. After somewhat more than 1900 miles of driving spread out over 5 days, plus a day to relax in Monticello, UT, we arrived in Midland, TX on the evening of Monday, November 23. The dogs don't know what to think.

We drove through Roswell, NM on the last driving day. It was basically pretty boring. The only alien-related things we saw were: a billboard for the "International UFO Museum", an alien figure on the front of the Wal-Mart store, a flying saucer on the Community Credit Union sign, and one other cartoonish alien figure on the sign of one other business. Granted, we passed through on the US-285 and US-380, and didn't see a whole lot of Roswell. Still, I kind of expected more. It's close enough for us to make a weekend trip there to look for touristy alien novelties.

I have applied for admission to University of Texas, Permian Basin in Odessa, just about 25 miles from where we are living. Terri and I decided it was time for me to use my GI Bill eligibility. If all goes well, I should have a BS in Computer Science in 2 or 2 1/2 years, since I've already got a BS in Math behind me.

"Obama's advisors think the answer to every problem is more cowbell, if by 'cowbell' you mean 'Obama.' It's like Obama guru David Axelrod is the Christopher Walken character from the 'Saturday Night Live' skit about Blue Oyster Cult (if you don't know the reference, Google 'cowbell'). Every time someone comes up with an alternative to throwing Obama on TV, Axelrod says, 'No, no, no. Guess what? I got a fever, and the only prescription ... is more Obama!' ... But what is lacking is not cowbell, it's substance the American people can support. Obama will reportedly be 'more specific,' but he won't commit himself to any particular piece of legislation. This suggests that the White House still thinks it has a communication problem, and if only it dispels the cloud of 'lies' belched up by the opposition, there will be nothing but blue skies ahead. Funny how the people who run the most sophisticated communication operation in the history of the presidency keep concluding that their difficulties stem from their inability to get their message out and never from what their message actually is. And so, rather than change the substance of the message, they're grabbing an even bigger megaphone: an address to a joint session of Congress. ... Just seven months into Obama's presidency, the White House is turning up the speakers on the cowbell as loud as they will go. And, heck, if you love cowbell, it's going to be a real treat. But in all the ways that matter, it may just end up being more noise." --columnist Jonah Goldberg

44 things

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
No.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
May 14, when our dog Diego had to be put down due to illness.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Bologna

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Five dogs and eleven cats.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Maybe.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
Occasionally.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
I would think about it.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Super Sugar Crisp. But since that doesn't exist any more, Honey Crisp.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Yes

12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Mocha

13. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Their gender.

14. RED OR PINK?
Red.

15. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
Procrastinating.

16. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
Recently passed dog, Diego.

17. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
If they'd like....

18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Blue jeans, dirty gray running shoes.

19. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
TV...I don't even know – ads are on at them moment.

20. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Purple.

21. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Chocolate

22. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
President of the pet rescue group I keep foster dogs and cats for.

23. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Do cooking competitions on Food Network count?

4. HAIR COLOR?
Dark brown, turning gray and getting thinner.

25. EYE COLOR?
brown

26. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
no

27. FAVORITE FOODS?
Today? Cinnamon toast.

28. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy endings

29. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (for about the 10^th time)

31. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer

32. HUGS OR KISSES?
Both

33. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
Terri

34. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
My Dad who never checks his Facebook account.

35. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Atlas Shrugged

36. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
A 2008 calender advertising Qwest phone service.

37. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
CSI...House...Chopped...Medium

38. FAVORITE SOUND(S)?
Boomerang, the lab/beagle mix, howling.

39. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Beatles

40. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
More than 10,000 miles. I've circled the globe.

41. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Annoying Terri.

42. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
In a hospital.

43. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
everyone's

44. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER?
In church, about 9 months before we married.

Goodbye to Diego

Rough day in the household today. It's time for Diego to go. He has been sick with pancreatitis for about 1 1/2 years, and been treated for that with enzymes and prescription food. Several weeks ago, he had an acute bout of pancreatitis, and has been losing weight since. At a vet visit last week, we learned he also has lymphoma. He should weigh about 45 pounds. Last week he weighed 28 pounds. He is about 9 or 10 years old, so "heroic measures" for treatment that, at best, would extend his life another couple of years but would also risk further pancreas problems aren't really viable. So we brought him home and did our best to make him happy and comfortable. I'm pretty sure he has lost more weight over the last week, he looks like a skeleton with fur. In the last three days or so, his legs have been getting weaker and weaker. He can only stand for a minute or two at a time, and then only when I lift him up and put him on his feet. He still enjoys eating canned Mighty Dog food, but he hasn't wanted his prescription food for a couple of weeks. I have to hold him up when he goes to pee, so that his legs don't give out causing him to collapse where he just peed. I missed that fact on Saturday, and his legs actually gave out before he started to pee, so he just lay on the ground and peed.

Because Diego isn't very mobile on his own, we've been able for the last couple of days to have a continuous food dispenser available for the other dogs in the house to eat whenever they feel like it instead of on a schedule. Hopefully none of them will take too much advantage of that and make themselves fat.

Anyway, we have a 1pm appointment with the vet for Diego's final goodbye. That's made it a particularly rough morning, as we try to go about our routine while also knowing we'll be taking him to be put down later. Every little slight is magnified out of proportion.

Ghostly Powers

Have you ever wondered why in fiction and superstition, a mere human, once dead, suddenly and unquestionably gains tremendous superpowers? Powers such as the ability to fly, pass through walls, write messages in blood, launch hundreds of loose household objects, control household appliances, possess living humans, produce ectoplasmic ooze, and exist forever? It seems tremendously unfair - and what's even more unfair is that it's only the bitter, cruel humans that tend to get these powers. Maybe the ordinary wandering soul has to make a pact with Satan or some other entity in exchange for this deluxe power set. -- written by Leon Arnott for webcomic Comments on a Postcard.

A little something from "American Thinker"

A terrific article I found at American Thinker:

March 10, 2009

What the government worker unions know

By Greg Richards

The government wants to take over the provision of more and more services. Those who know the government best have a warning for the rest of us.

The budgets submitted so far by the new Administration show that the central theme of Obamanomics is the expansion of government. Indeed, if the 27% share of GDP projected by the 2010 budget actually materializes, this will break all previous constraints on government spending absent world war.

There is a theory behind this spending that liberals consider so self-evident that they feel they don't have to articulate it. This is that government is (a) benevolent, meaning it has everybody's best interests at heart and can act in accord with those sentiments; and (b) that it is omniscient, or, if that is too argumentative, that it is at least knowledgeable about the activities it undertakes.

There is a whole school of economics called "Public Choice" devoted to debunking the first point. Public Choice economics demonstrates that government is populated by self-interested utility maximizers just as are other sectors of the economy, and, as Thomas Sowell has observed, the primary self-interest of politicians is to get reelected. That is Job One.

We have another channel of insight into the competence and benevolence of government through the existence of public sector unions, the fastest-growing part of the union movement.

What does the demand for public sector unions tell us?

The purpose of a union is to interpose itself between the employer and the employee to the benefit of the employee. The existence of public sector unions tells us that the people most intimately familiar with government, those who experience it every moment of every work day, don't trust it!

And yet the basis of liberalism in general and Obamanomics in particular is that we should turn over to government some of our most important, intimate and consequential activities, such as retirement, education and health care.

But the significance of public sector unions is that the people who know government best and deal with it most often don't trust it to be either benevolent or knowledgeable in dealing with their interests.

The prescription of Obamanomics is that we, the public, should do what government employees refuse to do! Turn over our destinies to the government! As the Romans would say, note bene (pronounced know-tay bay-nay) -- note well -- this discrepancy. It can save us from the grief of lying for hours or days in our own excrement waiting for medical attention, or having our children indoctrinated with the latest Leftist (anti-American) fad in our schools, or....well, you fill in the blank.

Maybe the public should form a union. Oops. We already have one. Obamanomics is trying to bust our union.

Diego is having a rough time

Poor guy had an acute bout of pancreatitis in August 2007, and we've been extra-careful since then about what he eats, and he gets enzyme supplements with his food daily. Saturday, he threw up a couple of times, and had a fever. By bedtime, his fever had come back down, and we fed him some food Sunday morning, and a regular meal Sunday evening. Monday evening the throwing-up started again, and his temperature has been going up again. Our biggest concern right now is that he may get dehydrated. Anyway, it's bedtime now. Hopefully things go ok tomorrow.

Words that start with...

Rules: It's harder than it looks! Copy to your own note, erase my answers, enter yours, and tag some people. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real. . .nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Have Fun!!

1. What is your name? Lee
2. A four-letter word: less
3. A boy's name: Larry
4. A girl's name: Lisa
5. An occupation: librarian
6. A color: lavender
7. Something you wear: long-johns
8. A food: Limburger
9. Something found in the bathroom: Listerine
10. A place: Lawrence
1. A reason for being late: lookie-loos
12. Something you shout: Look out!
13. A movie title: Last Action Hero
14. Something you drink: lemonade
15. A musical group: Led Zeppelin
16. animal: lion
17. A street name: Long Lp (I lived on that street once)
18. A type of car: Lincoln
19. A song title: Lola
20. A verb: live

Person before me was Karen, so there's no chance of duplicate answers. "L" doesn't seem very hard.

You and Your SpouseShare

You and Your SpouseShare

What are your middle names? Nathan / Rae

How long have you been together? Married almost 11(!) years.

How long did you know each other before you started dating? Dating? What's that? ... We met about 9 months before we married.

Who asked who out? I think we just sort of mutually started hanging around together.

Whose siblings do you see the most? We don't really want to see any of them. And haven't for quite a few years.

Do you have any children together? yes

What about pets? Dogs - Sandy, Diego, Charger, River, Sally; Cats - Zelda, Frankie, Eric, Rosey, Casey, Meisha, Matisse, Sam, GQ, Jack, Zane

Did you go to the same school? Not even close

Who is the most sensitive? I'm not entirely sure

Where do you eat out most as a couple? McDonalds and IHOP

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Driving from Maryland to San Diego by way of Pensacola

Who has the craziest exes? We're over 2,000 miles from any exes and never hear from any

Who has the worst temper? Terri

Who does the cooking? Pretty much equal

Who is more social? Definitely Terri

Who is the neat freak? Neither

Who is the most stubborn? Hard to say - we're both pretty stubborn

Who hogs the bed? the dogs

Who wakes up earlier? Usually me

Where was your first date? Not sure anything we did qualifies as a date.

Who has the bigger family? Terri. By a large margin.

Does your wife/husband buy you random gifts? No

How long did it take to get serious? about 6 months, half of which I was in Bosnia

Who eats more? Me

Who sings better? Me

Who does the laundry? me

Who’s better with the computer? Depends on the software

Who drives when you are together? Usually Terri

Who picks where you go to dinner? Usually a mutual decision.

Who is the first one to admit when they’re wrong? We're never wrong abut anything....

Who wears the pants in the relationship? I'm going to go with Yvette's answer on this one (slightly modified)....I do but Terri tells me which pants to wear!!!!! LOL

Who has more tattoos? Neither of us has them.

Who eats more sweets? Me

Who cries more? Terri

Movies (I've seen 74 of them)

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 movies, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. There are 216 movies on this list. Copy this list, go to your own facebook account, paste this as a note. Then, put x's next to the movies you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click publish at the side.

(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
( ) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
(X) High Anxiety
(X) Young Frankenstein
(X) Blazing Saddles
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
(X) Joe Dirt
( ) King Kong (the original)


( ) A Cinderella Story
(X) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(X) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(X) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(X) Flubber


( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
(X) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(X) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
(X) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards


( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
(X) Gothika
(X) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son of The Mask


( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
( ) Ocean's Eleven -again, the original with the Rat Pack
( ) Ocean's Twelve
( ) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremacy
( ) Lone Star
(X) Bedazzled
(X) Predator I
(X) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George


(X) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(X) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Boss's Daughter
(X) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
(X) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2


( ) Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(X) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3


(X) X-Men
( ) X2
( ) X-3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
(X) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
(X) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
( ) Shrek 2


( ) Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th Street
(X) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Kippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-Year-Old Virgin
(X) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(X) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
( ) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
(X) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull


(X) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(X) Elf
(X) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
(X) Chronicle Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 Days Later
(X) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(X) Waterworld

( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator

(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor

(X) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix Reloaded
(X) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
(X) Evil Dead
(X) Evil Dead 2
(X) Army of Darkness
(X) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
( ) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal

( ) Battle Royale
( ) Battle Royale 2
( ) Brazil
( ) Contact
( ) Cube
(X) Dr. Strangelove
( ) Enlightenment Guaranteed
( ) Four Rooms
( ) Memento
( ) Pi
( ) Requiem for a Dream
(X) Pulp Fiction
( ) Reservoir Dogs
( ) Run Lola Run
( ) Russian Ark
( ) Serenity
( ) Sin City
( ) Snatch
( ) Spider
(X) The Sixth Sense
( ) The Village
( ) Waking Life
( ) Zatoichi
( ) Ikiru
( ) The Seven Samurai
( ) Brick
( ) Akira

Literary (English-language) Classics

Apparently the BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 of the books listed here.

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
2) Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE.
3) Add a '-' to the ones you didn't like, but read anyway
4) Star (*) those you plan on reading.


( ) 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
(X+) 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
( ) 3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
(X+) 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
(X) 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
(X) 6 The Bible
( ) 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
(X) 8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
( ) 9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
( ) 10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
( ) 11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
( ) 12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
( ) 13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
(¾) 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
( ) 15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
(X+) 16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
( ) 17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
( ) 18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
( ) 19 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
( ) 20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
( ) 21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
(X) 22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
( ) 23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
( ) 24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
(X+) 25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
( ) 26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
( ) 27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
(X) 28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
(X+) 29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
( ) 30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
( ) 31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
( ) 32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
(¼) 33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
( ) 34 Emma - Jane Austen
( ) 35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
(X) 36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
( ) 37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
( ) 38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
( ) 39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
(X+) 40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
( ) 41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
( ) 42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
( ) 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
( ) 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
( ) 45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
( ) 46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
( ) 47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
( ) 48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
(X) 49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
( ) 50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
( ) 51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
(X) 52 Dune - Frank Herbert
( ) 53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
( ) 54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
( ) 55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
( ) 56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
(X) 57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
(X) 58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
( ) 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
( ) 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
( ) 61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
( ) 62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
( ) 63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
( ) 64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
( ) 65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
( ) 66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
( ) 67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
( ) 68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
( ) 69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
( ) 70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
( ) 71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
( ) 72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
( ) 73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
( ) 74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
( ) 75 Ulysses - James Joyce
( ) 76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
( ) 77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
( ) 78 Germinal - Emile Zola
( ) 79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
( ) 80 Possession - AS Byatt
(X) 81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
( ) 82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
( ) 83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
( ) 84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
( ) 85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
( ) 86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
(X) 87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
(½) 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Alborn
(X+) 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
( ) 90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
( ) 91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
( ) 92 The Little Prince - Antoine De SainT-Exupery
( ) 93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
(X) 94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
( ) 95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
( ) 96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
( ) 97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
(X) 98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
(X) 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

I find it odd that Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra isn't on the original list. I've read that too. I've read 21 of them, plus parts of three others on the list, plus one for Don Quixote.

Does it seem odd to anyone that there is a listing for "Hamlet" separately from Shakespeare's complete works, and listing for "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" separately from Chronicles of Narnia?

One of the foster dogs that was adopted a couple of weeks ago is going to have to come back to us :-( His name is Tate (also known as Tater or Tater Tot) because he is a brown chihuahua and looks a bit like a potato when he lays on the floor, usually tucking his feet under his body.

His return may be only temporary. His new owner has to go to Chicago due to illness in the family. Depending on the circumstances, the new owner may or may not be returning to Oregon, and if they return they will again give Tate a home.

The Qwest technician finally arrived at 4:30pm Tuesday. Some great timing, huh? This was after promising to be here between 8am-5pm Monday, and then at 5:30pm Monday promising between 8am-5pm Tuesday. Anyway, after checking at the network interface on the side of the house, he found there were more errors in the line than there should be (thank goodness. We were worried, because our connection had been working steadily for 3 days by the time he was there.). After checking further at the distribution box across the street, he determined that the pair of wires we had been connected to on the line under the street had a partial ground on one side. An unused pair in the same line was clear, so he hooked our house up on that pair, and then promised to put in an order for a contract crew to come out and replace the line under the street. That won't happen until the second half of February at the soonest, but hopefully our connection will be more stable until then.

Qwest currently provides our internet service via a DSL phone line, but without phone service. Almost since it was installed there have been intermittent unexplained outages. When the installer was here in September, he found that there were some bad connections for not only our house, but also our neighbor's house in the green connection box across the street. The outages seem to be weather-related, so I think the connections in that box are to blame again. A technician was supposed to come Monday between 8am and 5pm, but didn't make it. Scheduled again for Tuesday. I hope he can find something. Intermittent outages are notoriously hard to track down.