You’ve heard of puppy eyes, right? Tinker is the expert in that department. She knows how to pull my heartstrings. I have to resist her spell to avoid giving her too much vegetable treats. Of course those eyes are there again when I’m eating, watching TV or just walking. She aims to please so she always checks if I approve.

Raoul’s Two Cents: March 7, 2025 Looking Forward to a Better World Did you notice people walking around with black smudges on their foreheads last Wednesday? Actually, it wasn’t dirt. It was ash/charcoal. This strange beauty mark was supposed to come from the burned palm leaves that was used in Palm Sunday of last year. Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, …

Raoul’s Two Cents: February 28, 2025 Time Waits for No One WARNING: Unplanned spiritual topic at the end. Move on to the jokes if you’re not interested please. I am preparing this TGIF edition early Thursday morning. It’s gonna be a wild ride of activities today — a perfect storm of appointments starting at 8 am. FYI, if I can …

So my question is how deep should DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) go? Should they stop at kickbacks of one million dollars? Five hundred dollars? A dollar? And what about those who blindly followed orders … orders they knew were questionable?

Today is Valentine's Day. Let's celebrate with that special someone who added the spice to our lives. He/she deserves it. Remind yourself of the moment you got hit by that lightning bolt and how thankful you were to have been chosen over all the other competitors out there --- two losers joined to become a winning team!

It's been a fast paced political frenzy here in the U.S. There's been a lot of firing, a lot of scandalous revelation and a lot of screaming going on. Here are some general (anecdotal) observations.

I thought about that for some time. Many people are so awed by the supernatural powers of angels that they even pray to them. Nope! I don't think they should do that because in this verse it clearly states that angels exist to serve us --- angels are not the boss of us … WE are the boss of them!

Raoul’s Two Cents: January 24, 2025 An Exercise in Excercise It’s almost midnight. Almost time to send this email out and I’m not feelin’ that well. Earlier I decided to fulfill one of my New Year’s Resolution — to get back in shape — so I went to the gym. Did some brisk walking … upper body exercises and squats. …

Raoul’s Two Cents: January 17, 2025 The Gift of Music Woke up in the middle of the night. This isn’t the first time. I guess I’m gettin’ old. It’s becoming to be a regular occurrence. And, as usual, music is playing in my head. Sometimes it’s a popular song and other times it’s a song that’s waiting to be composed. …

Raoul’s Two Cents: January 10, 2025 The Mission Field WARNING: Religious topic. Move on to the jokes if this isn’t your thing. Everybody’s talking about the Los Angeles fires. Who? How? Why? It’s not complicated. This state is shaped by shared ideologies, a shared vision and one political party. Enough said. But let’s not talk about the obvious. Let’s talk …