Let's put that in a little perspective, shall we?

But wait, the US Government is huge!  Much bigger than Microsoft.  It's not fair, comparing the US to Microsoft!  

So, some perspective from the CBO: 

• Our first recorded budget deficit was in the period from 1850 to 1900; the U.S. ran a 900 million dollar deficit in those fifty years.  They paid it off pretty quickly afterwards.
• Our first modern-era deficit spending began in 1931 (a paltry 462 million dollars), as the US Government begin trying to pull us out of the depression in earnest.  It has ballooned ever since. 
• The highest deficit spend, before George Bush, was 255 billion dollars by Clinton in 1993.
  
• The highest recorded deficit under George Bush was 375 billion dollars, in 2003.  CBO estimates that the 2004 deficit was 520 billion, although the numbers are final yet.

So far we're spending roughly double what Clinton spent in his worst year.

Now let's look at the public debt.  Worst case, we're going to add about 1 trillion dollars to it.  First of all, Congress - unlike car dealers - set their starting price low and work up.  Nobody's going to approve this bail-out until each and every Congressperson adds their pork.  So 700 billion is really about a trillion, give or take.  

It's hard to comprehend that number though - one is such a small number, and nobody really knows how many zeros make a trillion.  (12, by the way.)  So, how big is that, really?  Well, from 1850 (the first known budget deficit) to 2006, the last year that CBO has calculated the total public debt, we have run up about 8 trillion dollars in debt.  In a little over 150 years.  Now, in one, we're potentially adding 12.5% more on to that debt.   In one.

To be fair,  Paulsen and Bernanke don't expect the taxpayer to actually be on the hook for that whole trillion dollars.  In fact, they really hope that the taxpayers make a profit off this.  And there is some historical precedent for that.  In the 80's, S&L's that had given out mortgages suddenly started losing money because the housing market turned downward.  Sound familiar?  We couldn't just let all our neighborhood S&L's fail, so the government stepped in, and formed the Resolution Trust Corp., which took over bad loans, turned them around, and sold them later for a profit.  Yay! Economy: Fixed.  Taxpayers: Profited.  Everyone wins.  Paulsen & Bernanke envision this happening now.

The problem is, this bail-out so far is looking much different than the one managed by RTC.  First, nobody just lined up at RTC, handed over their bad loans, and got a check for 30 cents on the dollar.  The RTC was a liquidator, and most S&L's not only got nothing for their loans, but also had to chip in a little equity to make sure they learned their lesson.  So far, the bail-out that Congress has heard about this week doesn't do that.  

But Bernanke and Paulsen hope that they'll make a profit anyway, or at least not cost the taxpayers too much.   Maybe only half a trillion.  Half! That's an even smaller number!  Hell, it's not even an integer!

There's no clean wrap-up here.  It's still being hammered out.  But what we know is, the Fed & Treas would like the US Government to pretty-please front the Banking industry a trillion bucks, and hopefully we'll get it back.  That's 12% of 150 years of government spending.  

But there are support issues with Movable Type, for instance this version of Movable Type (the software that runs the blog) is very old, and Yahoo doesn't seem to want to upgrade it.  Instead, their users get constant upgrade reminders (which we can do nothing about), which interfere with running the blog.  Further, features like remembering commenters (so that their comments don't have to be approved every time) and properly dealing with SPAM comments just don't work.  

Worse yet, Yahoo charges a real premium for their hosting, which is fine for some folks with the services they offer, but not for me.

So when I was at Oscon, I talked to the guy who wrote Movable Type blog, and he pointed me to a few hosting companies that (1) charge  a lot less than Yahoo, and (2) actually support the blog product.

This is more of an FYI for my readers.  The blog itself will move easily to the new site, when we make the move.  The pictures section is going to be a different matter.  There's no way to migrate Gallery 2 from one site to another, I just have to download all the pictures and upload them again.  That's going to take time, and also all the links will change.  I also might just start over  with new pics. 

Well that's the latest news.  I'll keep you posted.  

Well anyway.  So.  Obama picked Biden as his running mate.  My initial reaction was positive, because as you know I really like Biden (as I supported him in his initial run for the White House.)  However, as I thought about it more, I was a little concerned... Biden would have made a great SecState, and Obama could have probably picked up more votes by giving the VP slot to Clinton.  This concern was furthered when McCain picked up a bump in ratings when he chose Palin as his running mate.

Now, though I'm a little less concerned.  Once Palin starts opening her mouth, McCain loses ground.  I'm not sure if the intention was to shore up McCain's centrist political position by choosing such a far right-wing running mate, but it's clear that the American people are losing interest.

I still think Biden, with his deep foreign policy credentials, would have made a better SecState.  But  I'm willing to see how it all works out. 

Meanwhile, McCain and Palin can't seem to keep their feet out of their mouths.  A couple weeks ago, Palin told a cheering audience that it's time to "fix the economy" (I think she actually called it "brokin'", and said it needed "Fixin'".)  Then, she went on to talk about how the financial markets have run roughshod over the economy, then realized where she was going with that, and backed off and ended the speech with a "and we need to get out of business' way and let them fix this."  Huh?  Then, this week, McCain said that the economy was "fundamentally strong."  Again, huh?  

Tax breaks or not, McCain doesn't know what he's doing, and he won't know until he gets into the White House and hires aides and cabinet members who do.  Meanwhile, we can't wait.  

We're OK for now.  We took about an inch of water in the basement, but it was a fairly small section of floor and I was able to bail us out with the shop-vac.   For now, we're holding dry.  The street outside our house, however, is now known as Lake Trumbull, part of a chain of lakes including Lake Lee and Lake St. Louis.  I just moved our cars to high ground, a few blocks away.

Now, we've just got to prepare for the after-effects of Ike.  Gustav dumped three inches of rain in six hours on Chicago.  We're hoping for the best, my shop-vac is ready :)

So we rented a locker ($10 full day for a "medium" which is actually their smallest locker), shoved all our stuff in it, and went and had fun.

The only thing that isn't automated is tube rental - seven dollars and you have to keep your tube with you at all times (or someone else will grab it).  This is really only usefull though if you want to use the tube in the lazy river or wave pool - all the rides that require tubes provide them.  It would be nice if they had a wristband for this, and you could pick up a tube when you needed it and drop it off when you're done.  

That said, both the lazy river and the wave pool can be enjoyed without a tube.  This is the first time I've seen a lazy river that allowed people to walk (or float) without a tube.  That was actually a lot of fun, we put lifevests on the younger kids and held their hands while they floated around the lazy river.  (Lifevests of varying sizes are also provided free, BTW).  

After a few rounds around the park in the lazy river, we went to the wave pool, which promptly shut down.  Oh well, next on our list was the kids area which was basically a big jungle gym with sprayers all over.  The younger kids had a blast while the older kids got bored.  

We moved on to "Boogie Beach" which basically provided a surfing-type wave for boogie boarding (boogie boards provided).  Basically you launch, lay on the boogie board on your stomach, and then work your way up to your knees.  Standing is not allowed, although advanced boogie boarders were doing that without punishment.  Aaron and Rory both tried it, with some success. 

After boogie beach, the kids waded in a shallow pool while Marla and I took "The Wedge", which is basically a big "half pipe" wide flat slide that you swoop down in a tube and then come to rest.

Then we went back to the wave pool (operating now), a couple more times around lazy river, and we were beat - and didn't want to spend the outrageous costs for food at the park, so we left and went to a Sonic for burgers.  

Overall, a great day was had by all - kids (young and old) and adults. 

You enter.  You grab a tray.  You ask for your food: BBQ of course, it's usually either Pork, Beef (brisket), Turkey, or sausages.  "The Guy" slices off what you want, puts it on a plate, and you move on.  Then you pick your sides.  

A NOTE ABOUT SIDES

You shouldn't have to go through a line to get sides.  THe BBQ should be good enough, that the sides are just a... hmm, second thought?  Dunno, but certainly the "slop line" should not justify the good or bad BBQ that the establishment serves.  Unfortunately, in most cases, it does (or at least, they hope it does.)

THE FINAL ANALYSIS

Everyone who we asked for suggestions always said we should try the local slop line BBQ house.  We usually did, and we were always disappointed.  The BBQ is the key, and the slop line restaurants are more interested in providing a variety of sides than a great BBQ experience.  The table service restaraunts were much better, provided better BBQ, and delivered whatever sides you wanted to your table anyway.

 

On our recent trip, we had our choice of BBQ restaurants along the road and by far the best was a MO chain called Rib Crib.  The sliced brisket was absolutely perfect: slightly red in the middle with plenty of smoke flavor and a nice crust on the outside.  

Their sauce was absolutely to die for.  Both the mild and the hot had the appropriate mix of flavors, smoke, and heat to keep your lips burning with that "I want to remember this dinner for hours" flavor, whether you are a BBQ veteran or a newbie.  

The service was great, and I tipped our server well.   I hope to find a Rib Crib near us (even if I have to drive four hours to St. Louis) soon, so we can enjoy it all over again.  I strongly recommend Rib Crib for anyone who wants to try authentic southern BBQ for the first time, or veterans like me.

The full review after the jump.

Holiday Inn was founded by Kemmons Wilson  in 1952 because he was not happy with the lack of services provided by hotel chains for families in that era.  He founded his hotel with the goal of providing a family vacation hotel for road travelers. 

Now granted, if you go to Holiday Inn's website today and try to book adjoining rooms, it will tell you that these are "special requests" handled on a "best effort" basis.  However I don't think this is what Kemmons Wilson had in mind when he founded Holiday Inn to meet the family road travelers needs.   They need to do better in the future, if they are going to keep my family road trip business.

Rant mode off.

The hotel was fine.  The breakfast was outstanding as usual.  Everything worked.  Plenty of towels and pillows.  The outdoor pool was a bit cold, but on our visit it was around 100 degrees F so we didn't care.  The only downside is that this hotel does not have a jacuzzi.  I really need one after a long drive.  I picked it even though it didn't have one, but if I return to the Dallas area I might look for another hotel that has one.  Still, I wouldn't tell anyone NOT to stay here... it's a fine hotel in a great location near everything (including my cousin's house).

I'll catch up posting about days 6 through 10, however here are some statistics from the Humphries-Dolnick Summer Vacation 2008:

• We drove a grand total of 2598.5 curb-to-curb;
  
• About 600 miles were in Texas and Branson, MO
  
• We stayed in three hotels (Springfield, MO; Lewisville, TX; and Lebanon, MO)
• We got a free breakfast for the entire family 8 out of 10 days
• We ate barbeque at least once per day

First, "and you thought you paid a lot for gas"

And this one: Lord Vader.

Yesterday, day 4, Tuesday - we got together with Morgan, Aaron's best friend from school who moved to Keller Texas (near Fort Worth) last year.  Finding this place in the boondocks was interesting, but then we went to a place called "Main Event" near our hotel which has laser tag, games, glow-in-the-dark mini golf, and of course Pizza.  A good time was had by all.  After that, we drove to my cousin Lisa's house in Coppell and hung out for the evening.

Today we got together with Lisa and Rory again and went to see Clone Wars.  That brings us up to now, we're resting up and getting ready to go swimming.  Ah, rest.  Soon the whole Humphries clan will be here and it will be just a sweet memory.  

Some preliminary pictures are up here.   The pictures in a playground are from the Limestone (Illinois) rest stop near Normal, where we also stopped off at the beginning of the summer on our trip to Normal for the Special Olympics.  Yeah, I still owe you pictures for that one too.  For those of you joining us in Dallas this week, we'll see you soon.

Upon check-in, the hotel staff were friendly and very quick.  We have a family suite on the 2nd floor, and our room is very clean and well maintained.  There is a large room with two beds and a tube TV, plus the only bathroom (but with a whirlpool tub) and separate room with toilet and shower.  Unlike other Holiday Inn "family suites", they actually expect a family to stay here - and provide enough towels for everyone. 

The small-ish separate room for the parents has one "king" bed, although I've never trusted the bed sizes anyone quotes -- this one is definately more like a queen, and the two "queens" in the other room are more like double beds.  But hey, I'm used to that.  There's a microwave, fridge, and sink in the parents room.  The only complaint I have about the room is that there is not enough light - a couple of lamps but you can't see in the closet at night, even with all the lights on.

We really need a pool when we travel.  The kids are very good about travelling, but they do end up sitting in the car six to eight hours per day, and they need this to burn off some energy.  This hotel has a pool and Jaccuzzi, although the Jaccuzzi is pretty lame.  It's very small - OK, I can live with that, but the jets aren't very powerfull and the water is lukewarm at best.  They need to warm up the Jaccuzzi a bit.  Fortunately, I have a whirlpool in my room, so I can sit in a proper soak after driving all day.

The restaurant is OK ... the greeter sort of ignored our kids, who were very excited to try to talk to her.  The waitress was better.  The food was standard Holiday Inn fare - nothing great but not bad - and was served promptly and hot.   They made a big deal about having to "check" on whether we were guests, in order to give us our discount (kids eat free!)

Overall I like the hotel and might stay here again, although I would first look around for a hotel with a better Jaccuzzi  .

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=Chicago,+IL&daddr=Springfield,+MO+to:Branson,+MO&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=34.396866,79.101563&ie=UTF8&z=6