Shooting, Big Weekend and Losing it

Good Morning. It must be something about the end of the week around here. I really tried hard this morning, but I couldn't keep my voice from cracking up. I feel fine, but my voice is just giving out. A quiet weekend would probably help but I am emceeing a fundraising event tonight. Hopefully I can rest enough between now and then to make it work.

The News:

Shooting

A Des Moines native is among the injured yesterday when an Army Major opened fire in a crowded room at Fort Hood Texas. 13 people died and another thirty plus were injured. You'll hear more details all day on this but some of the comments in the articles and online about this shooting kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

The comments say something to the effect of: This is more evidence of the continuing toll the war in Afghanistan is taking on soldiers.

I disagree. This man had never deployed overseas, and this is just my opinion, but I feel like it's an insult the the men and women who ACTUALLY ARE stressed from their deployment to compare this act with what they're going through. Those soldiers served, sacrificed and are finding out what it's like to live with that experience. This man volunteered, used the army to get a degree, and could have taken steps to get out of his military commitment. He didn't, and when he came up for deployment, he balked. That is not sacrifice, or bravery and to equate it with the legitimate issues soldiers are facing overseas is ridiculous.

Purple Matters

With apologies to my friend Dave Price (his radio show is Purple Matters on Macsworld live Tuesdays from 8-9), I wore my purple to support the hometown team and my wife's Alma Matter Northwester University this week. I enjoy watching Iowa's college teams win but for one weekend a year, I've got to root for the Cats. I know they're heavy underdogs so this isn't going to effect the inevitable outcome for Northwestern v Iowa, but I think Hawkeye fans can appreciate team loyalty over bandwagon jumping. Go Cats!

Random Tips

Dan Winters emailed me yesterday asking for ideas for his Money Savers segment and I pointed him in the direction of my sister-in-law. If you saw Dan's story last night you saw Amy Dix, my brother's wife. She is the Queen of savings and has parlayed that into a blog called Housewife Hacks. Check it out. It's all about saving locally and even making money online.

On a secondary note, if you're looking for savings and would like to0 enjoy a good cigar this weekend, I passed by David's Briar Shoppe in Merle Hay Mall yesterday. I've played golf a couple of times with the owner Greg David. Good guy. He told me he's doing a special right now. Basically the more cigars you buy the more discount you get. Any of you tailgaters who like to smoke a cigar may want to stop by before you head to Iowa City or Ames this weekend.

Pottery for Prevention

That's the name of the event I'll be hosting tonight at the Masonic Temple. It raises money for Prevent Child Abuse Iowa. I think the whole Today in Iowa team would agree the stories that bring the room to dead silence are the ones about abuse of children. If it's one thing I've learned as a new parent, it's that I need the support of a good partner, friends and family to help with the sometimes frustrating life of a new parent. I had a class before our boys were born to help me anticipate some of the red flags that could tell me when I needed to take a break or back off. All of these things are important part of the work Prevent Child Abuse Iowa provides. If you have the time tonight they're selling tickets at the door. We'd love to have you come down.

I posted a link above to more information about the event.