I've learned two lessons in life:
1) Never say never.
2) Given the right circumstances, we're all capable of doing things we thought we'd never do.
Everyone has heard these cliches before, but they're very true. I'll explain in more detail if I know you well enough.
I'm a regular guy who likes things simple. For instance, I'll take a good, old-fashioned hamburger over a steak any day. A perfect evening could be something as simple as ordering out a pizza, spreading a blanket on the living room floor, sipping a glass of wine, while enjoying a movie in a dimly-lit room with someone I care for. I also enjoy watching OU football. I like to study the stock market and do a bit of trading, read (if it's something that is especially interesting to me), listen to music, etc. I also enjoy keeping up with national, world, and political events, and am absolutely fascinated by the current Presidential race. When the weather is warm, I like riding my bike at the lake.
I was born and raised in Oklahoma, and have spent nearly my entire life in or near OKC. The only exception was when I was in the Air Force for 8 yrs., 4 mos., 23 days. Go Air Force!
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While in the Air Force, I desperately wanted to be a Hurricane Hunter, but events led me in another direction. In spite of not reaching that major goal, I had some absolutely fascinating jobs while in the Air Force. I'd still love to fly into hurricanes for a living, though. In fact, I have some rather odd goals in life: be in a Category 5 hurricane, be in an F5 tornado, be in an earthquake, see an erupting volcano. Nature at her worst (or best?) is just plain awesome and inspiring!
Severe thunderstorms, lightning, tornadoes, blizzards, ice storms, hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes, forest fires, etc. all have, in my opinion, a real beauty. Yes, they are all destructive and can kill many people. But, just looking at the cloud formations, the snow, the ice coating trees, the earth ripped apart, the fire—each of them has a unique kind of beauty. The reason I find them so inspiring is because it is a reminder that we humans are ultimately NOT in control. We think we have the world conquered and all is under our control, but ultimately, there is something greater than all of us that is truly in control.
I have two favorite seasons, storm and Oklahoma Sooners football, in that order. The others are boring, too hot, or too cold.
I have a demanding job but enjoy every minute of it. If you are interested, I recently wrote an article for our agency's Annual Report called Garbage: The Black Sheep of the Family.
I hope to visit New Zealand one day. NZ must have the most gorgeous landscape of any country on Earth.
If you're a real glutton for punishment, you can find out a lot more about me on my brag sheet.
Several musings about the Constitution:
Our safety, our liberty, depends upon preserving the Constitution of the United States as our fathers made it inviolate. The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. (Abraham Lincoln)
Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government. (James Madison)
Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties. (Abraham Lincoln)
The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests. (Patrick Henry)
It can not be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ! (Patrick Henry)
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. (James Madison)
Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpation. (James Madison)
The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home. (James Madison)
The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation where the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. (James Madison)
I also wish that the Pledge of Allegiance were directed at the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as it is when the President takes his oath of office, rather than to the flag and the nation. (Dr. Carl Sagan. Not bad for a liberal athiest.)
Our Constitution was not written in the sands to be washed away by each wave of new judges blown in by each successive political wind. (Hugo Black)
The Constitution shall never be construed...to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms. (Samuel Adams)
If the Constitution is to be construed to mean what the majority at any given period in history wish the Constitution to mean, why a written Constitution? (Unknown, but makes sense)
[I]f we and our posterity reject religious instruction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the political constitution which holds us together, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us, that shall bury all our glory in profound obscurity. (Daniel Webster)
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