At lunch today I walked through Noah's Ark.

On Second Life.  It was fun.  If you have a Second Life account, log on and search for Noah's Ark.  It's actual size, with animals on the second level, living quarters on the third level and storage on first level. I took a screenshot...

Well, Uncle Sam is sending us "rebates" so we can stimulate the economy.

How do you plan to stimulate?

I think I'll buy and Ipod Touch.

Then, I'll get a full tank of gas.

It cost me over $10 a day just to drive to work and back home. 

If you had told me 5 years ago that in my lifetime I would be paying $4 a gallon for gas, I would not have believed you.

$3.55 a gallon.

That's the price for gas at the station by my office. 

Oil hit a record $120 a barrell today and may rise to $200 soon.  What then?

What can we do?

I read (on average) a novel a week. Until this year I would read a 'classic' every year or two.  Late last year I decided that 2008 would be my first YEAR OF CLASSICS.  Nothing but classics this year. 

I decided this after reviewing my Book Journal.  I've been keeping that journal for the past ten years.  In my journal I use a rating system to rate each book I read.  My rating system is a simple 1 through 5 system.  1 for terrible books, 5 for awesome books, ect.

Each book gets a 1,2,3,4, or 5. There are two exceptions: I have given two books a 0.  These both were books that should not have been published.  No plot, flat characters, lousy writing, ect.

On the other hand, every once in a while I will rate a book '5' and put a square around it.  I call those "Five Square" books.  Five Square books are books that I think everyone should read. They move me in a special way. Those are very rare, maybe one every couple of years.

So last year, as I was reviewing my journal, I noticed that almost all of the classics I have read have been a five, and some have been Five Square.  None have been below a four. That's when I decided to have a Classic Year.

I've read seventeen books so far this year.  Nine have been 5's and two have been Five Squares (The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Crime and Punishment).

Classics are Classics for a reason.  There are a couple of things I have noticed about the classics.  First, most of them contain NO GRAPHIC SEXUAL SCENES.  That is awesome.  Great stories you could share with your kids.  I love it!  Most modern novels have at least some graphic sexual scenes, and some have a lot of them.  Second, a lot of the classics I've read have MAJOR CHRISTIAN THEMES, and most of them mention Jesus, Christ and God the Father. Fydor Doestoevsky is considered by many to be the greatest navelist of all times, and he always incorporated the Gospel of Jesus Christ in his books.  I have a book entitled The Gospel in Doestoevsky that tells the whole story.  If these classics were published today they would be placed in the 'Christian' book section and would probably never become classics.  But that's  a whole different rant....

I'm sitting in a meeting RIGHT NOW blogging!

It's a teleconference from Atlanta about our new insurance policy.

Blah-blah-blah.

I know all of you medical folks must hate insurance companies!  This stuff is SCREWED UP!

I wish we could go back to the days before insurance when you paid your doctor and that was that!  This whole ball of wax has grown to horendous proportions!

And Socialized healthcare is NOT the answer.  That will just add hundreds of layers to the ball of wax. 

I wish a bunch of you guys would start a new type of Doctor's Office.  Just like the old days.  NO INSURANCE ACCEPTED.  Maybe we could even trade out services.  Need a new logo? GREAT! I need a shot! Lets trade!