Elopement!

Philip and I have been planning our wedding for some time now, but each of us has had some health issues and family things that keep taking time. We want to be able to spend as much time together instead of apart on different family visits and trips, so we decided to drive from Eugene down to Las Vegas and get married! We have both been married before, so we don't feel like we need the big church wedding. We were still technically married in a "church" (re: Chapel of Love). It was a beautiful, albeit tacky, ceremony with a fantastic Elvis impersonator reverend. After the ceremony we walked up and down the Las Vegas strip. Here are some of our favorite things:




I am now Phyllis Alexander!

This is the Only Thing Keeping My Heart Beating

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2PUgDa1jy4

Besides Philip, of course. Philip, you are my rock.

My World is Upside Down

I haven't been able to collect my thoughts this week. My heart is broken over the loss of one of the greatest actresses in a generation. Shakespeare has never been graced with such a star as Bea Arthur.

Oh, the Miracles of Science!

I have, for some time now, been having some issues with my hearing. I didn't want to get a hearing-aid as they are uncomfortable. I tried most things on the market, including these:



That was challenging to travel with, as you can imagine. Luckily, I was watching reruns of the Golden Girls and I saw this infomercial:



This has been a couple months now, so I now have the 2001 model.

Getting With the Times

I feel like I have stayed up on technology on the computer front, but I have never ventured into the mobile phone world. Being in academia, we always had the newest technology and computers installed in our classrooms and offices. I just never felt like I would need a mobile phone. With my accident this summer and the potential for more traveling in the near future, I finally decided to take the plunge. I saw this commercial on television and ordered it:



I love it! The keys are large so it is easy to handle and the speaker is of a high quality so I never have a problem hearing Philip on the other line.

Open Letter to Conservatives

To all conservatives:

Conservatism is not dead in America. This week 52% of the voting population voted for a liberal president. One the other hand, conservative propositions throughout the country passed. So, are we a liberal country or a conservative country? President Elect Obama ran, for the past month or so, on a conservative principle: lower taxes. It appears that we are still, as a nation, conservative. How then do we go about promoting and teaching conservatism?

Here in Eugene, Oregon I am a fish out of water. Being a former professor at the University of Oregon I ostracized for my support of Reagan and later, Bush I and II.

Here are some of my positions:

Keep taxes low for people and businesses. Low taxes for businesses allow them to do research and development and hire more people.

Shrink the size and scope of government. The United States was originally formed as a Union, but with the individual states having more authority than the federal government. Each state is unique and has individual needs. Allow the state to govern.

Eliminate redundancies in government. Is it still necessary to have so many different branches of domestic crime fighting? We have FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, and others I am sure that I am not thinking of. This relates to the size and scope of the Federal Government.

Eliminate the IRS. Apply a flat tax - the same percentage for all income groups, or a flat sales tax. Oregon currently does not have a sales tax, but we have higher income and property taxes. I would happily trade that for a sales tax. Under the current tax structure we are taxed when we: I. Make the money; II. Save the money and make interest; III. Spend the money; IV. when we die. The Boston Tea Party was due to a 3% tax. We are close to 60% of our annual income when we add all taxes together. Surely the American people would not be struggling as much with credit and mortgage issues if they had most of the money in their pockets or bank accounts.

Allow businesses to grow or fail according to their own quality and skill. When a business does not have a superior product, the company fails. It is replaced by something superior. This is simply the way the market works. When we switched from VHS to DVD, VHS manufacturers failed if they did not switch over to making DVD's. Other markets need to function in this same way. If the auto makers can not make a superior product for a competitive price, then they fail. We do not need the tax payers to bail them out.

Keep socialism out of government. The House, Senate, and President Bush have already passed a $700 billion bail-out plan into law. This uses tax payer money and money borrowed from China to save investment and mortgage companies that made bad loans. What does this really mean? It means that the government own them and YOUR mortgage. Estimates now show that 70% of all mortgages are owned by the government. How do YOU feel about the government owning the home you live in? When you invest in a company, you get dividends if the company does well. We now have a situation where your hard-earned money is being used to bail out companies that gave loans to people that can't pay them back. You are paying for people to get their homes for free; you will not see a payout or a dividend from this "investment".

"Stimulus packages" don't work. Why should we accept the government raising taxes just to give us an "economic stimulus" package? Wouldn't it make sense to lower taxes so that money isn't taken from you in the first place?

On social issues:

I believe marriage is between a man and a woman.

The Government should not regulate religion.

Welfare should be a work-study or temp-to-hire program, not a free give-away.


I am sure there are more things I will think of later. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Let me know via email or in the comments.

x Retired English Professor

Election 2008

Today has finally arrived. I am looking forward to this election more than any other since 1980 when Reagan won. Philip and I are having a little election get together with our Bocce group. We plan on playing some penuckle, drinking cognac, and watching election coverage.