"RANDOM THOUGHTS"

A spokes person for the Michael Jackson family was being interviewed on national news the other evening and made the following comment: "I have been telling the family for years that Michael was going to wake up dead one morning."
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I think living on top of Mt Mitchell in the summer would be great! Our daughter Wendy and her family went up there this past Saturday and it was in the 60s. That is only about 40 degrees cooler than it was in Lexington. I could stand some of those temperatures during the summer.
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Our ice maker went on the blink about 2 weeks ago, and I have replaced the ice maker & water solenoid valve to the tune of almost $200.00. We still don't have any ice and the refrigerator started making a noise yesterday so last night Kathy and I went to Lowe's and fixed the problem -- we bought a new refrigerator.
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Kathy and I went to a wedding in Greenville Saturday for the son of some good friends that we have known for several years. In fact Kathy and I were married in their house 28 years ago this coming November. We were at the same church 20 years ago for their daughters wedding. Our good friends were married in this same church 40 years ago. A long family history of being married in the same church!!
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"GOD IS GOOD"

"AMAZING STUFF" Just reported on MSNBC

Citigroup plans to raise employees’ base pay
Increases by as much as 50 percent to offset small bonuses

Citigroup Inc. is increasing base salaries for many of its employees, with some getting as much as a 50 percent boost, to help offset smaller bonuses, according to a New York Times report published Wednesday.
Citi faces restrictions on bonuses as part of a new government compensation oversight plan because it received bailout funds from the Treasury Department. By shifting the mix in compensation packages, it will allow Citi to pay most employees as much as they received in 2008 while adhering to bonus caps, according to the Times report citing anonymous sources.

I AM VERY PROUD OF MY DAUGHTER HOPE

My daughter Hope is an Assistant Professor of math at Western Kentucky University and she has been burning the midnight oil for several months working on obtaining a grant from the National Science Foundation. I am a very proud father this evening after learning that all her hard work paid off. Check out the following link.
http://www.bgdailynews.com/articles/2009/06/23/news/news4.prt

FATHERS DAY -- WOW!!!!

This Fathers Day had to be one of the best I have ever had. First of all I got a card from my Kentucky grandson's Jacob & Mason and another card from my daughter Hope and her husband Bruce. Sunday morning my other two children Scott & Wendy along with their families came to church to worship with us. What a treat it was to have all of them in God's house together. Sunday afternoon Hope called from Kentucky and wished me a Happy Fathers Day, and we chatted for a while. Sunday evening we went over to Wendy and Nathan's for dinner, and I must say they outdid their selves with a delicious steak meal. I just don't think Fathers Day can get any better than this one. Thanks to all my children and grandchildren.

CLEMSON - They can implement these changes, but give a coach a $350,000 raise per year..WOW! See my blog from yesterday.

CLEMSON, SC (WIS) - Clemson University says they will be eliminating 450 positions and raising tuition 4.5 percent to deal with a $45.7 million funding loss.
In a meeting Thursday, the Clemson Board of Trustees voted to raise tuition for its students and cut some employees' jobs.
For in-state students, there will be a 4.5% tuition increase, and for out-of-state students, a 7.5% increase.
The trustees are using federal stimulus money to keep that hike from going any higher for now.
The university will eliminate 450 jobs, either through not filling open positions or offering early retirement.
Clemson President James Barker says the cuts go deep, but called the budget "a responsible, strategic plan that protects academic quality and minimizes impact on students."
We don't know specifics yet, but departments and majors will be reorganized and consolidated to deal with the shortfall.

Could our priorities be screwed up???

Does this remind you of how our banks and big companies have been managed in the past several years? Maybe this is where our current flock of CEOs got their training.

CLEMSON SPORTS not effected by recession

People all over the world are experiencing tough times now due to the economy. We have millions of people here in the United States that have lost their jobs. Companies are filing bankruptcies left and right or our government is using our money to bail them out. School systems all over the country are having to let teachers go, and cut back on programs due to a shortage of funds. Universities are raising tuition because of limited funding from state governments. In other words the news is full of doom and gloom with a bleak outlook for the future........

Wait a minute, Wait a minute!

There seems to be a ray of hope on the horizon.

It was announced this week that Clemson basketball coach Oliver Purnell has agreed to a two-year extension on his contract that will boost his salary from 1 million to about 1.35 million. I realize that I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but it seems to me that the money could be better spent in other areas of education during these lean times. I am not picking on Clemson -- just over paid coaches in general.......

Zoo Similar to Prison System

Friday morning 6/12/09, at 9:25am, one of the gorillas broke containment at Riverbanks Zoo.

Since I am employed by a prison facility I can see the similarities in operating procedures of the Zoo and most prison facilities. First of all I find the phrase "Broke Containment" very interesting, because it was a plain and simple case of "ESCAPE" - we need to call things what they are and stop using all these fancy words. When there is an escape in the prison system the institution is locked down --- so was the Zoo. The Gorilla was back in the exhibit within 5 minutes, but Saturday the exhibit was still closed or locked down....the same thing happens in the prison system. I think the reasoning for the continued exhibit lock down is to punish the gorillas by not letting them have visitors....they also do this in the prison system.

Riverbanks Zoo has 3 gorillas (Chaka, Mike and Kimya). I can just imagine the conversation that is going on between these 3 now. The one that escaped is probably being called a big fat hairy knuckle dragging dumb ape by the other two because they are not getting any visitors due to his escapades....you see they are having to punish all three of them, because the Zoo Police don't know who the bad gorilla was.

THE RAINBOW

Genesis 9: 12-17
12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

GOOD WEEKEND

Hope and her family came in from Kentucky Thursday night staying until Sunday morning, and we thoroughly enjoyed their visit! Our grandson's Jacob & Mason are growing up way to fast. We all visited Riverbank Zoo Saturday and had a real good time along with the other 10,000 people that were there.

All of the other children and grandchildren came over Friday night for dinner --- That was a good time, but you can imagine how loud that got at times with six grandchildren running around. There was also a watermelon killing after dinner.

Saxe Gotha had their church picnic Sunday at the Saluda River Club with approximately 500 people attending. It was a great time, and also a special family time since Nathan, Wendy and the boys were there. God has certainly blessed Kathy and I with a wonderful family!!!!!