Friday, July 23, 2010

Happy birthday to me. Counting my blessings.


Today is my 58th birthday. It feels like 88, but that's because I have never BEEN 88. I am extrapolating without enough data.

Things I have to be thankful for:

Two days ago, my oldest daughter wrecked her mother's car. Fortunately, neither she nor her alleged boy friend (as opposed to boyfriend) were hurt. She was not paying attention, someone turned left in front of her, and she hit the ditch to avoid the rear end collision. She did manage to screw it upside the only concrete culvert for a few hundred yards. (Sigh.) Still, this is a cause for celebration. She was not hurt. Unfortunately neither was her attitude, but that's another story. Everything else is just money, and money isn't important (as God continues to remind me in all sorts of ways).

I am less invested with abject joy at the fact that her alleged boy friend escaped injury, viewing him as I do as a lizard-brained penis life support system typical of the teenage breed of the species. I have a similar jaundiced view of my youngest daughter's boyfriend (no attempt to shade THAT truth on HER part). Yet the danger that these creatures pose to my daughters is, for the most part, yet to realized, if at all, in the future. For this I am thankful. I will probably end up either

a. having them as sons-in-law, or, more likely,

b. trying to console my daughters on long distance telephone (with them at Southern Miss and me in Alabama) when the relationships with the faithless lizard brains fall apart (having already done this with my oldest daughter WITH THE SAME GUY a year or so ago, I know whereof I speak).

Yet, this too shall pass, and I am grateful -- and thankful -- that we have raised them to the point where they CAN both go off to college as well-rounded, independent (Oh, Lord HOW independent) young women.

I am also thankful that my hyperbaric oxygen treatments are done, as they took a huge chunk out of my days during the week and left me feeling wasted. My wounds remain, although much reduced and well on the way to healing. We will see how they fare without HBO.

My son Matthew is past the half-way point of his third tour of Iraq safely and I am very thankful for that. I am even more thankful for his wife, Nicole. After his awful experience with his first wife, the boy deserved a break and she sure has been that. A wonderful girl, a loving wife and the mother of my second grandson Gabriel, Nicole is real jewel. Like me, I think, this will be Matthew's second and last wife.

I am grateful beyond words, too, that Rosey and I have made it this far (our 25th wedding anniversary approaches in November) and that soon, with the girls off to college, we have a chance to just be the two of us again.

I am less happy about the state of Absolved, now almost out of editing limbo. It is obvious that I lied when told y'all back in April that it was done. I thought it was. It wasn't. No published work is done until the editing process is done and I was stupid (out of inexperience, surely, but stupid nonetheless) to think differently. There have been changes. I think they make the work better, although I will confess that some of them I had to be dragged kicking and screaming to. At present, it looks like I'll have hard-copies by October and I intend to set up at Knob Creek and thumb my nose with a great big smile at the ATF as they walk by.

Mostly though I am grateful for the success of Sipsey Street and for the continued attention or y'all to my scribblings. I think we have made some slight difference to the world we find ourselves in. I hope that we will make more of a difference in the future. Certainly being denounced by the serial perjurer Bill Clinton is an indication that we are pointed in the right direction.

I am also grateful for the catechism written for us by "Female III" the other day, who summed up how I am thinking at this particular moment:

We're conceived, we live this life and we die. Most die from illness or old age. Some from accidents. Others are given the chance to do great things for great reasons. How would you choose to live and die? On the golf course?

I am grateful to be facing the enemy of God and my country because it is a chance for me to inflict great damage upon them. Nobody gets out of this alive. I choose to live and die fighting the enemy. What a great time to be an American.


What a great time indeed. We are called to the greatest cause that men and women CAN be called to: the retrieval of liberty from the jaws of voracious tyranny.

History is watching. Let us fight, and win.

THAT would be the greatest birthday gift of all.

But, like most things worth having, it won't come cheap.

Mike Vanderboegh
III

70 comments:

MPA dragon said...

Happy Bday Mike. Good luck with the girls! And Absolved will be well worth the wait, so we wait.

George said...

Happy Birthday! I, too have 'diabetic issues', and will turn 58, in November. Thanks for sharing your blessings with us, reminding me, life is what we make it. My best to you and your family.

TPaine said...

Happy Birthday, Mikey! I found your site through "Absolved" and have been a fan since! Keep telling it like it is, and keep them remembering that "We are everywhere!"

Legal Alien said...

Happy 58th (fellow) Dutchman.
Adult children are a double-edged sword . . . .but we love them none-the-less. Rest easy that you did your level best to give them a good start in life - what they make of it going forward is up to them, but what they were taught at your knee, will be their guiding light.
Hope your Diabetics don't act up any further and that you will be with us for another 58yrs.
Waiting patiently for "Absolved"

Anonymous said...

Bless you, amigo. Congrats on defying the reaper and his agents for another year.

CA

drjim said...

Happy Birthday, Mike.
May you live (in good health!) to *really* find out what 88 years old is like!
Jim
UMSC
III

Kevin Patrick said...

Happy Birthday, Mike.

Thanks for all that you do.

I'll see you at New Lexington, if not before at the next RTC Rally.

In Liberty,
--- Kevin Patrick

Sean said...

Happy Birthday, Hopalong! N' be careful you hang on to your topknot.

David Codrea said...

Happy birthday, youngster. I have you beat by over 2 months.

I have some gun shows happening in my neck of the woods in late Oct so you know you'll have a place to stay, plus I am one hell of a cook--just ask me. In lieu of a well-heeled publisher financing a book promotional tour, suggest we form a IIIper hosting network, where you can come up with a list of gun shows, locations and dates, and we can put you up to make it doable.

root@localhost.localdomain said...

Happy Birthday Mike! Thank you for everything you do. May you and your family be healthy, happy and successful in everything life has to offer.

Anonymous said...

let us hope that you find out first hand what 88 feels like 8-)

Dakota said...

Happy Birthday Mike! I hope that all you do is blessed ... I can assure you that there are always many things that I celebrate when I get to feeling overwhelmed,(almost daily).

My daughters(26 & 22) have both recently avoided matrimony with boyfriends that would have been a mistake also. My son who just graduated High School is blessedly more into sports and shooting than chasing after girls... (who says they don't listen) so no worries other than saving the Republic.

Again blessings and Happy "B" day and many many more.

Charlie said...

Happy birthday, old man.

Nairb said...

Happy Birthday! Hope you have many more.

parabarbarian said...

Fifty eight is not so bad. I reached it four months ago and I survived it.

I hope your's was a happy birthday.

Dennis308 said...

You really are blessed. A Good Wife, a Fine Son, Smart and Independent Daughters. Health that is Improving, AND The Wisdom to be Thankful of these Blessings.

So all anyone else could do is wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Dennis
III
Texas

Joe Hinds said...

Happy Birthday Mike! Your post makes me glad I have an only son...I only have to worry about one penis, instead of all of them! Best wishes to you and your family. Glad to hear your daughter is ok.

Doc Enigma said...

Happy Birthday, my friend!

May all you hope for and more be yours; may you live to see your yet unborn grandchildren bouncing on your knee; may your son return home safely from his duties, and may your marriage bring you even more joy after 25 years!

Dedicated_Dad said...

Regardless of what may come of our Republic, I Thank G*d for you.

Daughters... As I've said to boys' parents: "When you have a boy, you have to worry about ONE penis -- with girls you must worry about **ALL OF THEM**..."

Can't wait for Absolved either...

Dedicated_Dad said...

Crap. Forgot the other thing I wanted to say...

The truth is that - Given a choice - I *WOULD* rather spend my life on a golf-course, or more accurately an IPSC/USPSA/Etc course.

I use "The Rifleman's Prayer" as my "tagline" on a lot of sites:

"Oh Lord, I would live my life in freedom, peace and happiness, enjoying the simple pleasures of hearth and home.

I would die an old, old man, in my own bed, preferably of sexual overexertion.

But if that is not to be, Lord, if monsters such as this should find their way to my little corner of the world on my watch, then help me to sweep those bastards from the ramparts, because doing that is good, and right, and just.

And if in this I should fall, let me be found atop a pile of brass, behind the wall I made of their corpses.


For me, this pretty much sums it up.

I've known since I was a young man that I would not live to be an old one. I can't explain how I know this, but it's as real to me as the sun in the sky.

Until very recently, I had no clue HOW such might come to pass, but I now believe I'm to die at the hand of tyrannical "government" thugs.

I still can't say I'd prefer this to dying in my own bed as an old, old man - ESPECIALLY of overexertion - but what I'd prefer is irrelevant. I simply **CANNOT** sleep through life while tyrants machinate to enslave my children, their children, and theirs.

God help us -- and God Save Our Republic!

DD

catfish said...

Happy Birthday Mike. Thank you for all you've done. When Absolved arrives, it arrives. It will be worth the wait.
Good luck with the daughters, I had all boys myself, girls scare the heck out of me. LMAO
Remember Moses lived to 120, so you haven't even reached Middle Age yet! lol

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday Mike.

My little sister is transferring from community college to Southern Miss this fall, and being just north of Jackson I am ready at all times to get down there and "deal" with ne'er-do-wells she may cross paths with. Let me know if you ever need reinforcements. Note, C-17s are at my disposal as well if you need to take a tank down there or drop in during the dark of night.

Godspeed,
Michael in MS
mdavidbryant@gmail.com

MikeH. said...

Happy Birthday, Sir.

It seems to me that back in the day, folks from our generation proclaimed we shouldn't trust anyone over thirty. It's funny how, at this age, it's nearly impossible to trust anyone under 50. I suppose then, when you think about it, we're not only getting older, we're getting smarter too!

MikeH.

Bill (Bad Cyborg) Mullins said...

Happy Birthday, Michael. Have my 59th coming up in 10 days with 38th anniversary 2 days later (how's THAT for planning? No way I can forget anniversary).

Got a daughter m'self so I understand. Caught one young plss in her room early one morning. Tossed him into the front yard. Told him if I ever caught him in my house again I'd cut his d**k off. He replied that if I did that I'd go to jail. I told him "Sure, but I'll get outta prison 'fore your d**k grows back!" Never saw him again. Still kept my skinning knife razor sharp just in case.

My (now departed, bunking with Dad at Ft. Sam Houston) Mother used to say "When they're little, children step on your toes. When they're grown they step on your heart." Reckon that old woman was right.

How are those of us who live a long way away from Bama gonna get "Absolved"? Who's going to publish it?

Hang in there Your (gray) Eminence.

Bad Cyborg X

Brock Townsend said...

Happy Birthday, Sir! I don't have them anymore......

Pickdog said...

Happy Birthday Mike! And thank you for your continued efforts here at Sipsey Street.

Pickdog
III

Warthog said...

Happy Birthday Mike and continued blessings to you and your family.

rexxhead said...

HB2U, Dutchman.

Someone recently suggested I let M$Word proofread my own scribbling and boyohboy did I ever get a shock! ~400 redlined words, so I know whereof you speak...

triptyx said...

...lizard-brained penis life support system typical of the teenage breed of the species...

Love it Mike. Nicely said. :)

Happy Birthday, keep slugging, we're out here learning and prepping as we can.

Looking forward to Absolved. It'll be done when it's done, we'll wait for it. :)

Anonymous said...

From one of your faithful readers who is a Member of the Tribe, Mazel Tov on your birthday! May you live to 120 (though I sincerely hope that "Absolved" comes out on this side of your 59th birthday).

As for the "lizard-brained penis life support systems" - if they get out of hand, well, let's just say that hogs gotta eat, too. My daughter is about to turn 9, and I cringe when I think about what I'm going to have to go through when she starts going out with those creatures. I have resolved that each and every one of them is going to have a nice talk with me the first time they come to the house...while I'm cleaning guns. They'll be informed that my daughter is my most precious possession, and that I wouldn't mind going to prison AGAIN for her (even though I've never been - they won't know I'm bluffing). I'll also be sure to have a few targets in the immediate vicinity that are decorated with the results of handloads from my Remington 700 at 100 yards, but which will be purposely marked as "500 yards, high wind." :>)

typeay said...

Happy Birthday, and may you have many more, sir !

Pericles said...

Best wishes on your birthday, and I hope we can meet someday in a land that has citizens that are mindful of the legacy of liberty that has been bequeathed to them.

Female III said...

Happy Birthday, sir. I pray you the very best for this day and always.

Crustyrusty said...

Happy Birthday, Mike, and many more (on 2 feet, no less.)

doubletrouble said...

Happy Birthday Mike!

wv: "bangl"

May you receive shiny new bangls on your b'day...

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Mike, and many more to come.

Godspeed with your healing.

Pat H. said...

I'm tempted to post the "Birthday Song from Marilyn" sung to Kennedy all those years ago, but I'll refrain.

I'm 5.5 years older than you, which explains my greater understanding of politics and, since I'm a native Southron, my greater understanding of the South.

I think I'm safe in saying we both want this "problem" solved before we're unable to deal with it.

Anonymous said...

Mike, isn't fatherhood fun? bwahahaha :)

Congrats on reaching the 29th anniversary of your 29th birthday, and has already been said here, I hope you have many more. And happy anniversary to both of you. Salute!

I'm looking forward to getting a copy of your book when it's published, will you be selling it here? Amazon? let us know.

As for your health issues, it's good to read that you're improving.

Your daughters will, as LA said, make the correct choices because of your teachings, even if they'll always be your little girls. Have faith in them.

Grog
III

Yippeya said...

Happy Birthday Mike!! Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

A very Happy Birthday wish for you. And thank you for all you have done, especially your work on Absolved. I enthusiastically wait for its release. And dam the editors! They know not what they do...
}:-]

Jimmy the Saint said...

Many happy returns!

MamaLiberty said...

Happy Birthday, Mike!

You never know what life is going to hand you. I moved to Wyoming when I was 58, and so far have survived the experience! I'll be 64 in September. :)

And I sympathize about the book. Editors can be such a pain. LOL

CJane said...

Best wishes to you! Have been enjoying your blog for many months now. Thank you for the sanity.

Keep in mind that those with lizard-brains don't usually venture in where they aren't invited. Sadly I can say that, as in my youth I did a good share of that inviting myself. Oh we don't know we're doing it. We just think that's what we are supposed to do. And that was THEN. I can't bear the thought of what goes on in the minds of a teen today. Lord, have mercy!

j said...

Happy Birthday.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Mike. I hope that you have many more! God Bless

Anonymous said...

Thank you Mike. I pray you have many more Birthdays. You remind us of what it means to be a human being and live free.
III.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday!!!
Louis

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday Mike. We're celebrating my 43rd tomorrow with 20 or so close friends and 1000 rounds of ammo at my private range. I myself feel 58...

We are (still) everywhere!

Legion7actual. Out.

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday, Mike. May you be blessed with many more, as you'veblessed us with your wit and wisdom.
God bless.
Shy III

Moe Death said...

I will now sing you the song that I've sung to myself every birthday morning for the past 15 years or so, with some minor paraphrasing to make it rhyme:

Happy Birthday to thee,
You old SOB.
You're not getting younger,
And you're over 40!

Many happy returns of the day, Mike. I'll hoist a Bushmills or two for you. Of course, there is that persistent rumor that I'd do that anyway.

God bless you!
Bill
III

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday, pops! This is also my mother's b'day, but she's got a few on you.

III

aughtsix said...

Happy Birthday, Mike and many more!

I'm 67, living proof that a life of experimental living is not necessarily fatal... when tempered with a steady learning curve and a sense of self preservation!

At my age however, I wish that the coming storm would go on and break while I can still participate. I do not want to leave it to my grandchildren to solve and I will not pass this life knowing we let Liberty be consumed by pathological narcissism and false ideology.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for giving me insight I had found nowhere else, and for all you do in the most Noble Cause of Liberty.

Jon

III

^Hawk^ said...

Happy Birthday Mike!

^Hawk^
III - We are Everywhere!

Female III said...

I know I already gave you my birthday blessings but...

Mike, you are who makes me hit that high note when I sing the Star Spangled Banner.

God bless you, Michael Vanderboegh. You are America.

Dan said...

Happy Birthday and many more.
Dan
III

johnnyreb said...

Happy birthday Mike!
Hope you have 58 more. We all apreciate your efforts.

DC Wright said...

I've got four years on you and celebrated mine the 12th by being in surgery.

Glad yours is better!!!

Happy birthday!

Scott J said...

Congrats on making another year. I pray you have enough left ahead of you to see The Republic restored.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday!

A bit late but that's just me catching up on reading. Here's to looking forward to many more!!!

Gmac

Sedition said...

10 Rules For Dating My Daughter

Rule One:
If you pull into my driveway and honk you'd better be delivering a package, because you're sure not picking anything up.

Rule Two:
You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off of my daughter's body, I will remove them.

Rule Three:
I am aware that it is considered fashionable for boys of your age to wear their trousers so loosely that they appear to be falling off their hips. Please don't take this as an insult, but you and all of your friends are complete idiots. Still, I want to be fair and open minded about this issue, so I propose his compromise: You may come to the door with your underwear showing and your pants ten sizes too big, and I will not object. However, in order to ensure that your clothes do not, in fact,
come off during the course of your date with my daughter, I will take my electric nail gun and fasten your trousers securely in place to your waist.

Rule Four:
I'm sure you've been told that in today's world, sex without utilizing a "barrier method" of some kind can kill you. Let me elaborate, when it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you.

Rule Five:
It is usually understood that in order for us to get to know each other, we should talk about sports, politics, and other issues of the day. Please do not do this. The only information I require from you is an indication of when you expect to have my daughter safely back at my house, and the only word I need from you on this subject is "early."

Sedition said...

Rule Six:
I have no doubt you are a popular fellow, with many opportunities to date other girls. This is fine with me as long as it is okay with my daughter. Otherwise, once you have gone out with my little girl, you will continue to date no one but her until she is finished with you. If you make her cry, I will make you cry.

Rule Seven:
As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter to appear, and more than an hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. If you want to be on time for the movie, you should not be dating. My daughter is putting on her makeup, a process that can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of just standing there, why don't you do something useful, like changing the oil in my car?

Rule Eight:
The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter: Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a wooden stool. Places where there are no parents, policemen, or nuns within eyesight. Places where there is darkness. Places where there is dancing, holding hands, or happiness. Places where the ambient temperature is warm enough to induce my daughter to wear shorts, tank tops, midriff T-shirts, or anything other than overalls, a sweater, and a goose down parka - zipped up to her throat. Movies with a strong romantic or sexual theme are to be avoided; movies which features chain saws are okay. Hockey games are okay. Old folks homes are better.

Rule Nine:
Do not lie to me. I may appear to be a pot-bellied, balding, middle-aged, dim-witted has-been. But on issues relating to my daughter, I am the all-knowing, merciless god of your universe. If I ask you where you are going and with whom, you have one chance to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a shotgun, a shovel, and five acres behind the house. Do not trifle with me.

Rule Ten:
Be afraid. Be very afraid. It takes very little for me to mistake the sound of your car in the driveway for a chopper coming in over a rice paddy near Hanoi. When my Agent Orange starts acting up, the voices in my head frequently tell me to clean the guns as I wait for you to bring my daughter home. As soon as you pull into the driveway you should exit your car with both hands in plain sight. Speak the perimeter password, announce in a clear voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early, then return to your car - there is no need for you to come inside. The camouflaged face at the window is mine.

Sedition said...

Rule Nine:
Do not lie to me. I may appear to be a pot-bellied, balding, middle-aged, dim-witted has-been. But on issues relating to my daughter, I am the all-knowing, merciless god of your universe. If I ask you where you are going and with whom, you have one chance to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a shotgun, a shovel, and five acres behind the house. Do not trifle with me.

Rule Ten:
Be afraid. Be very afraid. It takes very little for me to mistake the sound of your car in the driveway for a chopper coming in over a rice paddy near Hanoi. When my Agent Orange starts acting up, the voices in my head frequently tell me to clean the guns as I wait for you to bring my daughter home. As soon as you pull into the driveway you should exit your car with both hands in plain sight. Speak the perimeter password, announce in a clear voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early, then return to your car - there is no need for you to come inside. The camouflaged face at the window is mine.

Anonymous said...

I too, look forward to Absolved. Can't help with boy friends or daughters because there is a learning curve there as you know. Sometimes you just have to get banged up.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

And thanks for your daily benefit to our society, and the cause of liberty. Finish that book, and I promise you will be remunerated.

Sounds to me like a good movie, that Commiewood will never produce but you never know who else is out there. We are getting more sophisticated all the time. If there is any time left. Hate to doom & gloom but reality is what it is and the enemy is who they are. They will get their's and maybe some extra frosting with it.

Nebraska Sentinel said...

I never imagined the joys (and heartaches) I would experience when I was busy “making babies”. Nor the gratitude and yes, pride, I would feel when I see my grown children living honest and decent lives with an unwavering sense of right and wrong.

You as well, Mike.

Happy Birthday

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday !

DAN
III

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday, Mike!

I have no children-- I'm 25, so I'm a little closer to the "lizard-brained" side than the fatherhood side-- but I can sympathize with the complaint about the caliber of "boys" that our education system turns out. Just trust in God that he has the best plans for your kids.

Anonymous said...

Wow. One humble patriot who speaks the TRUTH and he gets 65 birthday wishes in a tiny little online blog. Wonder how many Potok got? Including from all two of his friends. ROFLMAO

Must really suck to be evil.

Happy birthday to one of the Good Guys!

skybill said...

Hi Mike,
Happy Birthday!! I turned "65" on the last one! My bones tell me every day! Thinkin' bout' followin' Brock T's advice and not having them anymore!! hahahaha! Meanwhile, back at the ranch, glad to hear "Absolved" is coming along. 'Am looking forward to a copy. And again,"Happy birthday!!"

Blue Skys!
III%,
skybill-out

Grayman said...

appologies for not wishing you a happy birthday sooner as I was working in the field up till friday night, saturday I celebrated my 24th birthday as well as my friends 43rd birthday with our good friends and probably 1000 or so rounds of ammunition. I may be 24 but I feel 43....

happy birthday and may your life continue to be long and filled with happyness

Ted N(not the Nuge said...

Happy Birthday Mike!

God willing, we'll all have many more!