David Michael Bruno

Piper's Dream Come True - A Bunny

A neighbor of ours is traveling for Christmas and, since bunny rabbits don't do well on car trips, we have volunteered to bunny sit. This is a thrill beyond measure for our eight year old, who has longed for a rabbit for years. Unfortunately some very close family friends have Leporidae allergens and would explode when visiting if we owned a hairy rabbit (or furry hare). So grief-upon-grief, we've never actually bought a bunny.

Piper, the mutt we rescued from the shelter a few years ago, has been quivering since the bunny (named Mo) came over to stay with us. His issue is this. For years he and I have been going for romps in the fields behind our house. He runs like a lunatic, chasing every smell he can sniff -- coyotes, mule deer, gophers, and rabbits. Piper loves chasing rabbits more than life. I know this because he has several times nearly killed himself leaping headlong through thicket and over boulder in his reckless pursuit of a bunny. He's not stealthy enough to actually catch one. Great dog. Not smart. In fact, I question if he's ever even been close to catching one. I think he has just smelled bunny and seen dashes of cottontail disappearing among the shrub, then chased a phantom of his imagination hundreds of yards to nowhere. Piper isn't a strategist. He's mostly instinctual.

Anyway, he's been quivering, literally shaking in his boots and licking his chops. He whimpers and whines. He just cannot believe that one of these mysterious creatures has actually come to live with us!

We have high hopes for their relationship, though. We locked up Piper and let Mo play with our guinea pig Ebony. Watching those two buddy around the living room was like seeing a promo for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Since Piper and Ebony are friends (Ebony sits between Piper's front paws and let's Piper nibble her back and belly), we think that eventually Piper's disposition will overcome his instincts. Then he will have his dreams come true in time for Christmas: bunny play time.

Three New Things for 2010

Just a quick note regarding what is going on at guynameddave.com next year.

New 100 Thing Challenge. Here's the quick explanation: 100 hours, 100 days, 100 things, 100 people. I'll be writing more about the new 100 Thing Challenge soon. Basically it is an extension of what I already did. The new 100 Thing Challenge incorporates some important lessons learned over the last year. It's also more doable for more people.

$10,000 Challenge. Here's the quick explanation: In 2010 (maybe longer) I am going to take you along on a journey as I attempt to protect $10,000 from the impending collapse of the U.S. dollar and world economy. Lighthearted stuff ;-) In all seriousness, the journey of my $10,000 is a little look into what an average American can do with a small portion of nest egg in very scary economic times. I'll explain more soon.

America in the Red: National Debt and Citizen Responsibility. Here's the quick explanation: Our government is not acting fiscally responsible, and since the U.S.A. is a representative government, we citizens have responsibility to do something about it. America in the Red is going to be an ongoing grassroots conversation and call to action regarding America's debt problem.

Thanks for reading and sharing guynameddave.com - At least for me, the best part of all this is the great people I've gotten to know and the insightful comments people have shared. Looking forward to much more in 2010.

Blessings, Dave

Troubled Assets and the Recovery

A quick post.

I am wondering how it is that government is claiming and media are reporting that the economic recovery is under way.

How is it that Citi can announce they have decided to pay back TARP, the media can report this as if it is a done deal, and then a day later sort of ignore a crucial point, namely, that Citi is having trouble finding buyers to fund its payback scheme? Shouldn't Citi have figured that part out first?

I read a lot of news these days. I listen to NPR a lot. Not one reporter that I have found has investigated the crucial question: do Citi, BofA, Wells, and other banks still have loads of troubled assets on their books? Are they just paying back Treasury with funny money so that they can pay themselves big bucks again and get back to business as usual? There is no reason to believe otherwise.

As for the recovery, here's a sober piece about the financial state of the four big mortgage backers.

Be very careful. Don't start acting like 2010 will be the year to break your credit card back out. Stay frugal!

UPDATE: Just saw this answer to my question about BofA. Looks like there is still some accounting to be done in 2010.

Why iPods and iPhones aren't that exciting

Quick rant. My daughter's iPod Touch came yesterday. My parents bought it for her birthday. Just like everyone says, it is really cool.

We only had a few minutes before bedtime to setup an iTunes account for her and get the iPod talking to our WiFi. The rule is that she needs to buy whatever games or apps she wants. But since we are nice parents, I offered to buy her one starter game.

We started browsing. Sex Quiz was the game that jumped out. It's little icon blazed "sex" on the screen. While we've talked about the birds and the bees with our kids, they aren't too interested right now, so I doubt it made much of an impression.

My daughter takes horse riding lessons and loves all things horses. So we decided to search for a horse game. There are a handful. All of them are pretty much aids for horse race betting. But one seemed like a real live horse game. We downloaded the trial version for free. Oops. It's a game where you bet on horses and then watch the iPod race them around the track, hoping for your trifecta.

Obviously not all iPod/iPhone games/apps are nonsense. Even the ones that are nonsense can be a little bit of fun, I'm sure. But the other day our daughter read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets because she wanted to take a quick break from reading The Lord of the Rings. She and her sister are helping our family support the village of Muzye in Burundi with their own money. They love the fact that we support and pray for a little girl in India through World Vision. They love to go outside and play.

In some ways I'm happy that she has an iPod. She needs to loosen up and enjoy gadgets and have fun (she's our serious, rule-following child). But I'm also aware that the world of iPods is overwhelmingly stuffed full of junk. Mindlessness. Un-virtue. Distraction. Escape. I don't think we live in a world where we can ignore such things. It's just a tiny bit sad as a parent to get to that point when your kids have to start dealing with them.

That said, I'm excited for the opportunity to parent well. For the opportunity to walk along side my children as they grow up into adults. Help them make good decisions and use stuff to do good things.

Title Title on the Shelf

Trying to figure out what to title the 100 Thing Challenge book. Suggestions?