Thank God it’s Over.
I’m speaking of the incessant string of politial ads that have assaulted our ears over the past few months. And when you consider the spin and the ‘out of context’ sound bites, 90% of what we’ve heard from both sides was nothing more than a poorly disguised pack of lies. But it’s over now, and I hope all of you have voted, and voted for a loud repudiation of the Obama agenda.
Going from politics to reality, I must report on our reality during the last week of October in particular. We readied our travel trailer for removal from Spaulding Lake RV Park and storage until January.
This didn’t go without some minor problems.
I had purchased a new hitch with easy to use load levelers. The reason for needing a new hitch was the result of some moron moving the travel trailer (not very far) without the load levelers in place. This moron assumed since he didn’t have to go more than a ½ mile, what could possibly go wrong. So much for assumptions. Anyway, I like the new levelers. Very easy to put on and take off. Now I’m trying to rationalize my stupidity. How’d I do???
It took us awhile to hook up and get the load levelers in place. Of course we had to pull it for 12 miles to my favorite hitch store (Dan’s Hitch). Dan had to make the adjustments so that hitch, trailer and the truck were all in sync. It did give me pause when upon entering Dan’s, I was greeted with “hi Jim”! This may be something I would look forward to at Cheers, but not at Dan’s Hitch. Anyway, we left Dan’s and parked the trailer at our storage area. We said goodbye to the Sunset Trail until we ‘dig it out’ in January. Yes, I did winterize.
Well, the fun was just beginning. Early the next week we woke up to
discover we had no hot water. Our hot water heater isn’t even 2 years old. Of course Lowes told us it wasn’t under warranty. Whatever gave me the idea that it would be? Lowes told us to call the manufacturer, Whirlpool. We did, and they trouble shot with us to try and re-light the pilot. It wouldn’t light.
Whirlpool told us they would have someone come out the next day to diagnose the problem. But, the next morning when we awoke, we discoverd we had no heat. Mary Ellen had what I would call a “blinding glimpse of the obvious”. Of course this blinding glimpse never occurred to yours truly. Maybe, there was no gas coming into our house. Before the Whirlpool guy arrived, I called them and told them we thought we had figured out the problem. We called NIPSCO, our crack gas provider.
NIPSCO arrived and informed us (as Mary Ellen predicted) we had a problem in the gas line. The next thing we knew, there were four NIPSCO trucks out front. One of these was towing a back hoe. They marked the gas line and began to dig. So much for “curb appeal”.
They found the problem and replaced ‘something’. I didn’t know what he was talking about.
They turned the gas on to the house and we thought our problems were over. NIPSCO re-lit both the pilots. But not so fast, Buzzard Breath! When NIPSCO re-lit the furnace he discovered a gas leak. This meant turning off both the water heater and the furnace!
Furnace repairman came the next day and replaced what he referred to as a relief valve. It was a large part. I would never have called it a valve, but who am I to argue with an expert. He relit the furnace pilot and we again had heat. But, no hot water yet. The next day the gentleman from Whirlpool came to “repair” the hot water heater. Turns out there was nothing to repair. He simply relit the pilot and the hot water heater came to life. But WAIT. The saga continues.
While the hot water guy was re-lighting the pilot he noticed a separation in the vent pipe. Its that sheet metal pipe that removes the bad stuff like carbon monoxide and sends it away. Because we had this gap, he recommended we shut off BOTH PILOTS. I expressed my disbelief in a language I don’t think he understood. Of course this gentlemen didn’t
work on vent pipe!
Mary Ellen and I had had enough. After all of this we still had no heat and no hot water. We decided WE could re-attach this vent pipe and re-lite the pilots. After struggling with it for an hour and using various tools we finally closed the gap. We sealed it with an aluminum tape that held it in place and WE re-lit both of the pilots. So far we have both heat and hot water!
I’m proud to announce the opening of M&J heating and cooling repair shop. We’ll specialize in re-lighting pilots and taping vents! I know this is a small niche, but there is a need out there! Right?
It’s the day after the election, but I’m disappointed. In our own district, the democratic incumbent got back in, and on a national level I can’t believe that Reid, Boxer, Frank and several other of the ‘usual suspects’ were returned to Washington. But, at least we took back the House. Not nearly the massacre I was hoping for. There are far too many government dependent people being ‘bussed’ to the polls. Far too many morons being allowed to vote. Hopefully the majority in the House is able to put a stop to some of the socialistic agenda of the current White House. Let’s hope so. I’m already anticipating 2012!
On a brighter side, we’ve had four ‘lookers’ come through our house. One of these was very interested, but no offers yet. I’m not too optimistic on selling it during the winter. We’ll just have to wait until spring I guess, but at least there are some shoppers out there.
Well, as a great man once said, “I have had about all I can take of myself”.
jim
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Craigslist Expertise 101
For those of you who have gotten into the Craigslist craze, none of this will come as much of a shock. First of all I suggest you don’t get frustrated. Take it from one whose frustration level requires just a slight deviation from the norm to cause outbursts of a magnitude exceeded by few earthquakes. It was so frustrating that I actually quit trying to get connected and get a few items listed.
After a week of brooding about my lack of competence, I gave it one more try. This time I took great care with each step of the process, and it worked. I still think I did it correctly the first time (naturally). The reason for my thinking this way is a result of my going to the ‘customer comment’ section of Craigslist. There were numerous people who claimed they followed the process, but none of their items posted. The answer was the same in each case. I was advised to wait 45 minutes and attempt to re-post the items. Obviously, a lot of people had the same problem I did.
So Craigslist is a great and free way to advertise items. Thusfar I’ve sold five items, with six items that haven’t sold. I still have over ten items I haven’t posted yet. I like to do them in batches of five or six.
I’ve discovered what I consider a rather wierd phenomana or social commentary that I wasn’t expecting. One of the first items I listed with a picture (I always post a photo and complete description) was a three piece wicker furniture set. This included two chairs with cushions and a coffee table. I priced the three pieces at $30. The next morning, thirteen people said they were interested or actually wanted to know when they could pick it up. Great! I responded via e mail to each of these people. I told them what my phone number was and suggested they call me when they were ready to come over so that I could let them know if I still had it. I sat back expecting to spend the next hour fielding phone calls. Do you know that NONE of these people called or e mailed me anymore. I did sell the wicker to one of the guys who did some painting for us.
This scenario repeated itself with the treadmill I had for sale. As of this morning there were ten people who expressed interest. I responded to all ten as I always do. NONE of these people ever re-contacted me. I did sell the treadmill today. The guy who bought it e mailed me late this morning and was here by noon to pick it up.
I guess I’m basing my reaction to these people on my own, and I thought most people’s, method of Craigslist searching and buying.
If I see an item I want, and the price is right, I would contact the person selling it and arrange to come take a look at it. Oh no. This apparently isn’t the modus operendi of your typical Craigslist shopper. I don’t get it. I’m thinking of doing a study on the twenty five potential buyers that I’ve encountered. I frankly don’t get it.
My next adventure will be putting our house on Craigslist. I figure I’ll have 500 respondents, none of whom will ever come to look at it. I’ve written my experience with Craigslist for any of you that may want to take a crack at posting some of your items. Don’t get frustrated, and don’t get too excited when twenty people SEEM to be buyers. They’re just lonely people who need some hi-tech social interaction. They aren’t into hi-touch. They prefer the hidden environment of their computer.
Good luck.
jim
After a week of brooding about my lack of competence, I gave it one more try. This time I took great care with each step of the process, and it worked. I still think I did it correctly the first time (naturally). The reason for my thinking this way is a result of my going to the ‘customer comment’ section of Craigslist. There were numerous people who claimed they followed the process, but none of their items posted. The answer was the same in each case. I was advised to wait 45 minutes and attempt to re-post the items. Obviously, a lot of people had the same problem I did.
So Craigslist is a great and free way to advertise items. Thusfar I’ve sold five items, with six items that haven’t sold. I still have over ten items I haven’t posted yet. I like to do them in batches of five or six.
I’ve discovered what I consider a rather wierd phenomana or social commentary that I wasn’t expecting. One of the first items I listed with a picture (I always post a photo and complete description) was a three piece wicker furniture set. This included two chairs with cushions and a coffee table. I priced the three pieces at $30. The next morning, thirteen people said they were interested or actually wanted to know when they could pick it up. Great! I responded via e mail to each of these people. I told them what my phone number was and suggested they call me when they were ready to come over so that I could let them know if I still had it. I sat back expecting to spend the next hour fielding phone calls. Do you know that NONE of these people called or e mailed me anymore. I did sell the wicker to one of the guys who did some painting for us.
This scenario repeated itself with the treadmill I had for sale. As of this morning there were ten people who expressed interest. I responded to all ten as I always do. NONE of these people ever re-contacted me. I did sell the treadmill today. The guy who bought it e mailed me late this morning and was here by noon to pick it up.
I guess I’m basing my reaction to these people on my own, and I thought most people’s, method of Craigslist searching and buying.
If I see an item I want, and the price is right, I would contact the person selling it and arrange to come take a look at it. Oh no. This apparently isn’t the modus operendi of your typical Craigslist shopper. I don’t get it. I’m thinking of doing a study on the twenty five potential buyers that I’ve encountered. I frankly don’t get it.
My next adventure will be putting our house on Craigslist. I figure I’ll have 500 respondents, none of whom will ever come to look at it. I’ve written my experience with Craigslist for any of you that may want to take a crack at posting some of your items. Don’t get frustrated, and don’t get too excited when twenty people SEEM to be buyers. They’re just lonely people who need some hi-tech social interaction. They aren’t into hi-touch. They prefer the hidden environment of their computer.
Good luck.
jim
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
LUNACY
“There is a tide in the affairs of man that taken at the crest leads on to greatness”. This quote is one of my favorites. As a metaphor it speaks to much of what we are facing now.
When the current occupant of the White House began his regime in January of 2008, he had the opportunity for greatness. His choice was to focus on his ideology rather than listening to the people and applying common sense to his agenda items. In other words, what we now have is a “tsunami of idiocy” eminating from the White House and rubber stamped by a moronic liberal congress.
The major cuprits are of course Obama, Reid and Pelosi, or ORP. Orp puts me in mind of someone throwing up, and that’s what I feel like doing whenever I hear whatever they have to say. To remind you of some memorable sound bites from the wicked witch of the west, I can’t help but think of her now famous quote prior to the healthcare bill passing. She said, I kid you not, “we have to pass healthcare for you to know what’s in it.” Can you believe it? These people represent us! Believe me I would rather represent myself. I certainly have said some stupid things in my life, but I don’t think I’ve ever come close to this outrageous comment.
There are thirty mosques in New York City. I have no problem with having thirty one. I do have a problem with it sitting on the graves of thousands of victims of 9/11. I really believe the guy (eman) who is spearheading this mosque is “flipping off “ the U.S.A. Of course Obama endorsed this mosque prior to denying he had endorsed the wisdom of its location. Why did he have to get involved. This is a NYC issue. The White House should have remained silent. Why didn’t he? Cause he loves to talk. And, whenever he speaks without a teleprompter he puts his foot in his mouth. Of course I could site some examples of ‘foot in mouth’ even with a teleprompter. What’s with his apologizing for the U.S. Has he ever said what he is proud of about the U.S.? NO. When it comes to leadership this guy doesn’t have a clue.
Obama is “managing” the United States, rather than behaving as a leader. There is a great quote that says, “managers play checkers, leaders play chess”. Obama is playing Chutes and Ladders with our future. God knows what he’ll do before we can get a leader in the White House. He has more than two years left. Getting rid of his “rubber stamps” in congress is our only hope for surviving the next couple years.
God bless the U.S.A.
jim
When the current occupant of the White House began his regime in January of 2008, he had the opportunity for greatness. His choice was to focus on his ideology rather than listening to the people and applying common sense to his agenda items. In other words, what we now have is a “tsunami of idiocy” eminating from the White House and rubber stamped by a moronic liberal congress.
The major cuprits are of course Obama, Reid and Pelosi, or ORP. Orp puts me in mind of someone throwing up, and that’s what I feel like doing whenever I hear whatever they have to say. To remind you of some memorable sound bites from the wicked witch of the west, I can’t help but think of her now famous quote prior to the healthcare bill passing. She said, I kid you not, “we have to pass healthcare for you to know what’s in it.” Can you believe it? These people represent us! Believe me I would rather represent myself. I certainly have said some stupid things in my life, but I don’t think I’ve ever come close to this outrageous comment.
There are thirty mosques in New York City. I have no problem with having thirty one. I do have a problem with it sitting on the graves of thousands of victims of 9/11. I really believe the guy (eman) who is spearheading this mosque is “flipping off “ the U.S.A. Of course Obama endorsed this mosque prior to denying he had endorsed the wisdom of its location. Why did he have to get involved. This is a NYC issue. The White House should have remained silent. Why didn’t he? Cause he loves to talk. And, whenever he speaks without a teleprompter he puts his foot in his mouth. Of course I could site some examples of ‘foot in mouth’ even with a teleprompter. What’s with his apologizing for the U.S. Has he ever said what he is proud of about the U.S.? NO. When it comes to leadership this guy doesn’t have a clue.
Obama is “managing” the United States, rather than behaving as a leader. There is a great quote that says, “managers play checkers, leaders play chess”. Obama is playing Chutes and Ladders with our future. God knows what he’ll do before we can get a leader in the White House. He has more than two years left. Getting rid of his “rubber stamps” in congress is our only hope for surviving the next couple years.
God bless the U.S.A.
jim
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Reign of Audacity Continues
This has been the busiest summer I can remember. We’ve been soooo busy de-trashing the house. Yes, we’re still at it. It’s endless. On the positive side, we’re making progress. The family room and kitchen have been painted. We’re having a new front door installed and the house power washed. Coming up shortly we’re planning to have a ‘tag sale’. We’d like to have the house on the market by mid September. We have decided on our apartment. It’s not at the location I originally said. Not that it really matters to any of you. But, I’ll tell you anyway. It’s called the Highlands. It’s owned and managed by the same company that manages Arbor Lakes. This one is almost identical, but in a better location. Closer to Wal Mart!!
With all the house stuff going on, we’ve managed to squeeze in three trips to Ohio. With Mary Ellen’s sister having a stroke in the Phillipines, my sister moving from her home to a wonderful retirement community with lots of activities, and our house of course, there hasn’t been a lot of time for anything else. Carol is recovering nicely. My sister has started to feel better about her decision. She had a little trouble leaving her home of 50 years, but now she loves where she is.
With all that, we’ve managed to have a couple months of camping. The month of June and again in August we had our camper at Spaulding Lake in Niles, MI. It’s only 20 miles from home and we’ve spent a lot of time commuting. At least it seems like a “summer home” that we can escape to, but we probably shouldn’t have booked the month of August with everything that’s going on.
I’ve told you all of the above as an excuse (to myself) for not doing any writing this summer. But I can no longer remain silent.
What is happening? The United States isn’t what it was just two years ago, and it’s getting worse by the hour. Did you hear about the young people who were told they could not sing the ‘national anthem’ on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial? If that’s not enough, how about another group who were told they could not say the Lord’s Prayer on the steps of the Supreme Court.
We have a resident at 1600 Pensylvania Ave. who couldn’t attend the national prayer breakfast in Washington. I can’t remember any previous president who has opted out of this. Yet, he did have time to attend a Ramadan Dinner!! What’s up with that? During that dinner he made time to express his support of building a Mosque at the site of a radical Islamic attack in September of 2001. Of course when this president didn’t have his Islamic audience giving him a standing O, he started to backtrack on his previous statement. This guy is a disaster.
In November we all have a chance to rid the country of ‘his’ rubber stamps in congress. Throw them all out. I pray that California and Nevada have the votes to get rid of those two morons, Pelosi and Reid. I’m not totally confident since I have no control over this. However, I do have some say in Indiana. Donnely won’t hold on to his seat if my vote counts for anything.
Let’s get involved and turn things around. I really don’t believe we can tolerate the spending and taxation that’s only going to get worse for us, our kids, and our grandkids.
More to come....I’ve only just begun.
jim
With all the house stuff going on, we’ve managed to squeeze in three trips to Ohio. With Mary Ellen’s sister having a stroke in the Phillipines, my sister moving from her home to a wonderful retirement community with lots of activities, and our house of course, there hasn’t been a lot of time for anything else. Carol is recovering nicely. My sister has started to feel better about her decision. She had a little trouble leaving her home of 50 years, but now she loves where she is.
With all that, we’ve managed to have a couple months of camping. The month of June and again in August we had our camper at Spaulding Lake in Niles, MI. It’s only 20 miles from home and we’ve spent a lot of time commuting. At least it seems like a “summer home” that we can escape to, but we probably shouldn’t have booked the month of August with everything that’s going on.
I’ve told you all of the above as an excuse (to myself) for not doing any writing this summer. But I can no longer remain silent.
What is happening? The United States isn’t what it was just two years ago, and it’s getting worse by the hour. Did you hear about the young people who were told they could not sing the ‘national anthem’ on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial? If that’s not enough, how about another group who were told they could not say the Lord’s Prayer on the steps of the Supreme Court.
We have a resident at 1600 Pensylvania Ave. who couldn’t attend the national prayer breakfast in Washington. I can’t remember any previous president who has opted out of this. Yet, he did have time to attend a Ramadan Dinner!! What’s up with that? During that dinner he made time to express his support of building a Mosque at the site of a radical Islamic attack in September of 2001. Of course when this president didn’t have his Islamic audience giving him a standing O, he started to backtrack on his previous statement. This guy is a disaster.
In November we all have a chance to rid the country of ‘his’ rubber stamps in congress. Throw them all out. I pray that California and Nevada have the votes to get rid of those two morons, Pelosi and Reid. I’m not totally confident since I have no control over this. However, I do have some say in Indiana. Donnely won’t hold on to his seat if my vote counts for anything.
Let’s get involved and turn things around. I really don’t believe we can tolerate the spending and taxation that’s only going to get worse for us, our kids, and our grandkids.
More to come....I’ve only just begun.
jim
Thursday, July 15, 2010
CAROL
July has been an incredibly busy month thus far. So busy I haven’t even thought about blogging. And then I thought how sad all of you must be. Today I decided to change all that by sitting down at the old laptop and cranking out another blog.
We finished up our June/July camping expedition at Spaulding Lake. We really enjoyed our month there, even though we had a few tornado warnings and one real nasty storm that managed to miss our camper. We plan to return for another month probably for the month of August.
Even though I think we know where our apartment will be, we did check out several other possibilities. Mary Ellen always tells me that we have to ‘shop’. She has accused me (unfairly) that I don’t ‘shop’, I ‘buy’. This may be the case, but it’s interesting that we seem to end up buying whatever I originally wanted to buy. However, I have to admit we did find another apartment complex that we liked as much as Arbor Lakes. It’s called the Highlands. The Highlands is in NW Elkhart, Arbor Lakes is in SE Elkhart. They are both managed by the same company, so the apartments are very similar. They both are well shaded. The grounds are manicured. They both have security and full time maintenance. We are slowly getting the house ready to put on the market. The next step is to have some repairs and painting done. We’re gradually de-cluttering. It seems I mention de-cluttering every time I write. Some day I hope to write that it’s DE-CLUTTERED.
We’ve been to Stow, OH a couple times in the past few weeks. My sister, Pat, fell and got a few bruises; nothing broken. However, she has complained the last few months about weakness in her legs. This is obviously why she fell. She now is at a rehab facility getting some physical therapy. Hopefully this will allow her to get around much better.
While we were in Stow last weekend, we got another shock. This time it was my sister-in-law, Carol. Some of you know Carol. She spent a couple weeks with us at Emerald Beach the last two years. Anyhow, she has been in Manila the last few weeks. Her husband, Larry, died 11 years ago. He was from the Philippines. Carol has been back there several times. This time her daughter Mary and her husband, Doctor Marty invited her to go with them. Both of Mary’s kids also made the trip. Elizabeth is 16 and her brother, Daniel, 14. Last Saturday, Marty returned to the U.S. He could only stay for two weeks. On Sunday, Mary Ellen got a call from Marty saying that her sister had a stroke. Needless to say we were very upset by the news. When Marty called he didn’t know any medical details. All we knew was the Carol’s speech was slurred and she had some weakness on the right side. They began running all sorts of tests as you can imagine. They all were normal. The only test they hadn’t done was probably the most diagnostic, the MRI. The reason for not doing the MRI immediately was that this particular hospital doesn’t have an MRI machine. They would have to schedule it at another hospital. Carol’s speech and movement improved. She no longer has any symptoms of a CVA. This hospital sounds like something we’ll have here when “Obamacare” takes over. Cash up front. They won’t see you in the ER until you’ve paid. Mary got Carol a deluxe room. A deluxe room provides you with a cup and two other minor items. Mary had to bring a towel and soap from the Hotel!! The MRI was scheduled for last Wednesday, but didn’t come to pass. Manila was under a typhoon warning! It turned out to be a tropical storm, but sounds like it was a nasty one. Forty million people had no power. Roads were flooded and trees were down. Phone service was dead. Needless to say the MRI could not be done as scheduled. The hospital and hotel were without power or phones for a short period of time. NO AIR CONDITIONING! Manila is a tropical island. Can you say HOT? The latest communication (yesterday) sounded very promising. The MRI has been done, but no results as yet. This will determine when Carol will be discharged and how soon she can fly. You can imagine how anxious she is to get back to Stow, OH. She feels fine, and wants to get out of the hospital. Better yet she wants to get on Delta and get home. The kids are headed home. Mary flew with them to Hong Kong and put them on a plane for home. Mary is now headed back to be with her Mom. I can hardly wait for the stories Carol will tell. None of us ever know when something like this can happen. My advice is not to be in Manila when it does. Being sick while being away from home is never good, but being out of the country is a whole different ballgame. We’re all hoping to see her soon in Stow, OH.
jim
We finished up our June/July camping expedition at Spaulding Lake. We really enjoyed our month there, even though we had a few tornado warnings and one real nasty storm that managed to miss our camper. We plan to return for another month probably for the month of August.
Even though I think we know where our apartment will be, we did check out several other possibilities. Mary Ellen always tells me that we have to ‘shop’. She has accused me (unfairly) that I don’t ‘shop’, I ‘buy’. This may be the case, but it’s interesting that we seem to end up buying whatever I originally wanted to buy. However, I have to admit we did find another apartment complex that we liked as much as Arbor Lakes. It’s called the Highlands. The Highlands is in NW Elkhart, Arbor Lakes is in SE Elkhart. They are both managed by the same company, so the apartments are very similar. They both are well shaded. The grounds are manicured. They both have security and full time maintenance. We are slowly getting the house ready to put on the market. The next step is to have some repairs and painting done. We’re gradually de-cluttering. It seems I mention de-cluttering every time I write. Some day I hope to write that it’s DE-CLUTTERED.
We’ve been to Stow, OH a couple times in the past few weeks. My sister, Pat, fell and got a few bruises; nothing broken. However, she has complained the last few months about weakness in her legs. This is obviously why she fell. She now is at a rehab facility getting some physical therapy. Hopefully this will allow her to get around much better.
While we were in Stow last weekend, we got another shock. This time it was my sister-in-law, Carol. Some of you know Carol. She spent a couple weeks with us at Emerald Beach the last two years. Anyhow, she has been in Manila the last few weeks. Her husband, Larry, died 11 years ago. He was from the Philippines. Carol has been back there several times. This time her daughter Mary and her husband, Doctor Marty invited her to go with them. Both of Mary’s kids also made the trip. Elizabeth is 16 and her brother, Daniel, 14. Last Saturday, Marty returned to the U.S. He could only stay for two weeks. On Sunday, Mary Ellen got a call from Marty saying that her sister had a stroke. Needless to say we were very upset by the news. When Marty called he didn’t know any medical details. All we knew was the Carol’s speech was slurred and she had some weakness on the right side. They began running all sorts of tests as you can imagine. They all were normal. The only test they hadn’t done was probably the most diagnostic, the MRI. The reason for not doing the MRI immediately was that this particular hospital doesn’t have an MRI machine. They would have to schedule it at another hospital. Carol’s speech and movement improved. She no longer has any symptoms of a CVA. This hospital sounds like something we’ll have here when “Obamacare” takes over. Cash up front. They won’t see you in the ER until you’ve paid. Mary got Carol a deluxe room. A deluxe room provides you with a cup and two other minor items. Mary had to bring a towel and soap from the Hotel!! The MRI was scheduled for last Wednesday, but didn’t come to pass. Manila was under a typhoon warning! It turned out to be a tropical storm, but sounds like it was a nasty one. Forty million people had no power. Roads were flooded and trees were down. Phone service was dead. Needless to say the MRI could not be done as scheduled. The hospital and hotel were without power or phones for a short period of time. NO AIR CONDITIONING! Manila is a tropical island. Can you say HOT? The latest communication (yesterday) sounded very promising. The MRI has been done, but no results as yet. This will determine when Carol will be discharged and how soon she can fly. You can imagine how anxious she is to get back to Stow, OH. She feels fine, and wants to get out of the hospital. Better yet she wants to get on Delta and get home. The kids are headed home. Mary flew with them to Hong Kong and put them on a plane for home. Mary is now headed back to be with her Mom. I can hardly wait for the stories Carol will tell. None of us ever know when something like this can happen. My advice is not to be in Manila when it does. Being sick while being away from home is never good, but being out of the country is a whole different ballgame. We’re all hoping to see her soon in Stow, OH.
jim
Sunday, June 27, 2010
CREEPING CHANGE WITHOUT MUCH HOPE
It’s Sunday, and it’s raining again. Any time there’s a thunderstorm, there’s a good chance of it being SEVERE! At least that has been the case of late. This has been the wettest June ever in Indiana. It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the nasty humidity and high temps. Well enough of my complaining about the weather and onward to complaining about something more important.
Does anyone else feel there is far more commercial time and far less program time on both TV and Radio? It wouldn’t be bad if the same commercials weren’t repeated at each break. On average, there are 5 minutes of commercials for every 10 minutes of programming. It’s making Tivo more and more attractive. There is no Tivo for radio. Damn! It may reach a point where no one is seeing or hearing what these advertisers have to say. Is it possible the radio and TV stations are getting a bit greedy and overselling commercial time. They wouldn't do that! If they keep this up, there will be 24 hour a day infomercials. Oh I forgot. Some stations already have back to back to back infomercials!!
I saw some good news on Face Book. I follow the Navarre Beach comments. Today they showed pictures of Navarre Beach from yesterday. They show a large number of people in the water and on the beach. No sign of oil or tar balls. I’m a little confused. I’ve heard there is oil on the beaches of Pensacola and Destin. Since Navarre Beach is right between Pensacola and Destin I’m curious how Navarre was skipped? What am I missing here?
Most of the news of the oil spill is not good. If any of you have seen MSNBC’s comparison of the oil spill off Mexico in 1979 and this year’s oil spill off the coast of Florida, you should check it out on You Tube. It’s fascinating. The exact same attempts to stop the oil and clean the beaches are being used today. Was nothing learned? Silly question. Obviously not. The technology for digging deeper has improved dramatically. The technology for dealing with an oil spill is the same as it was in 1979. Pretty sad, but not surprising. When do we ever learn from history. Another silly question. Perhaps it has something to do with the re-writing of history?
This is a warning. It’s incremental! It’s a little bit more loss of freedom each day, week, month and year. Hopefully none of us wake up one day under a dictatorship. If we all keep saying, “oh well, it could be worse”, tyranny will slip in the back door. Those of you familiar with events leading up to the holocaust will know what I mean. The Germans told the Jews they could no longer have radios. The Jews said, “we can deal with that”. As we all know, that was only the beginning. Get involved. Make sure this doesn’t happen for the sake of our children and grandchildren. I won’t be around to witness this, but my kids will. Remember, I said it’s incremental.
jim
Does anyone else feel there is far more commercial time and far less program time on both TV and Radio? It wouldn’t be bad if the same commercials weren’t repeated at each break. On average, there are 5 minutes of commercials for every 10 minutes of programming. It’s making Tivo more and more attractive. There is no Tivo for radio. Damn! It may reach a point where no one is seeing or hearing what these advertisers have to say. Is it possible the radio and TV stations are getting a bit greedy and overselling commercial time. They wouldn't do that! If they keep this up, there will be 24 hour a day infomercials. Oh I forgot. Some stations already have back to back to back infomercials!!
I saw some good news on Face Book. I follow the Navarre Beach comments. Today they showed pictures of Navarre Beach from yesterday. They show a large number of people in the water and on the beach. No sign of oil or tar balls. I’m a little confused. I’ve heard there is oil on the beaches of Pensacola and Destin. Since Navarre Beach is right between Pensacola and Destin I’m curious how Navarre was skipped? What am I missing here?
Most of the news of the oil spill is not good. If any of you have seen MSNBC’s comparison of the oil spill off Mexico in 1979 and this year’s oil spill off the coast of Florida, you should check it out on You Tube. It’s fascinating. The exact same attempts to stop the oil and clean the beaches are being used today. Was nothing learned? Silly question. Obviously not. The technology for digging deeper has improved dramatically. The technology for dealing with an oil spill is the same as it was in 1979. Pretty sad, but not surprising. When do we ever learn from history. Another silly question. Perhaps it has something to do with the re-writing of history?
This is a warning. It’s incremental! It’s a little bit more loss of freedom each day, week, month and year. Hopefully none of us wake up one day under a dictatorship. If we all keep saying, “oh well, it could be worse”, tyranny will slip in the back door. Those of you familiar with events leading up to the holocaust will know what I mean. The Germans told the Jews they could no longer have radios. The Jews said, “we can deal with that”. As we all know, that was only the beginning. Get involved. Make sure this doesn’t happen for the sake of our children and grandchildren. I won’t be around to witness this, but my kids will. Remember, I said it’s incremental.
jim
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
POWER OUTAGE?
So much has happened since my last blog. Mary Ellen and I drove to Carlyle, IL for Diane & Jeff’s 25th anniversary party. We had a wonderful time meeting some of Diane and Jeff’s family and friends. We’ve heard so much about them while with Diane and Jeff in Navarre, FL. I got to meet Diane’s sister who is a nun. We’ve referred to her in FL as ‘sister-Sister’! I asked Jeff where she was in the crowded banquet hall. Jeff told me to look for someone who looked “nunly”. I found her!
Since Friday night the power has been out at the RV campground in Niles, MI. This is day 4! No one seems to know when the power will come on. I have a feeling I & M is somewhat disorganized. I heard from one of the campground workers that a crew that came in from OH had pulled out because they got no direction from I & M. The OH crew said they were ready and willing to help, but found no one who could or would tell them what to do. Another example of disorganization might have been what I witnessed this morning. There were SIX I & M trucks parked at one spot. None of the workers seemed to be doing anything. What’s that about?
Keep in mind that anything I write is my perspective. I don’t expect all of you to agree with me. I apologize in advance if I offend any of you., but do you sense that the White House is somewhat lacking in leadership. This is especially evident in their handling (or lack thereof) of this oil spill in the Gulf. The criticism of the president is now coming primarily from those who supported him. People like Oberman, Carville, Matthews and many others on the Left. If this doesn’t wake up the White House I believe the situation is hopeless. Gallup conducted a poll asking people to rate the handling of Katrina and the oil spill. Fifty one percent of the people said Bush handled Katrina better than the current administration handled the oil spill. Thirty one percent said the oil spill was handled better than Katrina. The other 18 percent were too dumb to have an opinion. Either that or they hadn’t heard about either one! I could go on with other examples of incompetence, but I’m sure you’ve heard them all by now. When Bush was in office he waved the Jones Act so that foreign ships could help with the rescue of people. With this administration the Jones Act is being used as an excuse for not allowing foreign tankers to assist with the skimming of oil from the waters of the Gulf. The Dutch were one of the first to offer help. This came a couple days after the spill. Unbelievable! If anyone can give me an example of ONE THING that has been handled well during the spill, please let me know. I think the more serious ‘power outage’ has occurred at the White House.
jim
Since Friday night the power has been out at the RV campground in Niles, MI. This is day 4! No one seems to know when the power will come on. I have a feeling I & M is somewhat disorganized. I heard from one of the campground workers that a crew that came in from OH had pulled out because they got no direction from I & M. The OH crew said they were ready and willing to help, but found no one who could or would tell them what to do. Another example of disorganization might have been what I witnessed this morning. There were SIX I & M trucks parked at one spot. None of the workers seemed to be doing anything. What’s that about?
Keep in mind that anything I write is my perspective. I don’t expect all of you to agree with me. I apologize in advance if I offend any of you., but do you sense that the White House is somewhat lacking in leadership. This is especially evident in their handling (or lack thereof) of this oil spill in the Gulf. The criticism of the president is now coming primarily from those who supported him. People like Oberman, Carville, Matthews and many others on the Left. If this doesn’t wake up the White House I believe the situation is hopeless. Gallup conducted a poll asking people to rate the handling of Katrina and the oil spill. Fifty one percent of the people said Bush handled Katrina better than the current administration handled the oil spill. Thirty one percent said the oil spill was handled better than Katrina. The other 18 percent were too dumb to have an opinion. Either that or they hadn’t heard about either one! I could go on with other examples of incompetence, but I’m sure you’ve heard them all by now. When Bush was in office he waved the Jones Act so that foreign ships could help with the rescue of people. With this administration the Jones Act is being used as an excuse for not allowing foreign tankers to assist with the skimming of oil from the waters of the Gulf. The Dutch were one of the first to offer help. This came a couple days after the spill. Unbelievable! If anyone can give me an example of ONE THING that has been handled well during the spill, please let me know. I think the more serious ‘power outage’ has occurred at the White House.
jim
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