Last Saturday it was raining when I went to work. Hard, steady rain. Got in the car, buckled the seat belt, turned on the lights, turned on the wipers and went to work.
As is usual on my drive, I am relegated to some fairly busy roads and cross (actually pass under) a major freeway. As usual on a rainy day like Saturday, there were a large number of autos and trucks whose drivers didn't push the button or flip the switch to turn their lights on, rendering them practically invisible.
The invisible drivers weren't the only vexation. As usual, there were those who had seemingly thrown away their turn signals and rear view mirrors as useless accessories. Then there were those who had decided to drive impaired in other ways, either by using their cell phones or, even at that point of the day, drinking. That's not even mentioning those who might have been driving without insurance.
Whatever became of the idea of personal responsibility?
In Texas and in many other states there are laws which dictate how we drive. "Lights on with your wipers" is one such law... the law also dictates that we use turn signals, that we avoid using cell phones in certain situations and that if we have a certain amount of alcohol in our system we cannot drive.
We are also compelled to drive with insurance, drive with our seat belts on and to have certain equipment on cars built after specific dates.
The laws regulating the way we drive have been enacted by the individual states, but under a uniform set of laws provided to us by the people in Washington... you know, the same people who, on Sunday night set us on a path to reform health care.
One of the cries of anguish that I have heard about the proposal as passed by the House has to do with requiring people to buy health insurance. How dare our congressmen require us to buy insurance or be fined? Drive drunk without a seat belt and without insurance and see what happens. Congress set the limits of alcohol we have in our bodies before we are considered to be driving drunk (0.08%). Congress requires that states have seat belt laws in place and enforced. Congress has dictated that drivers carry liability insurance or be fined.
My friends on the right declare that health care should be a personal responsibility issue and that the government should butt out. I'm good with that as long as driving my automobile is considered a personal issue and that the government should butt out. I should be able to drive drunk without a seatbelt and no insurance. The government shouldn't fine me or imprison me or confiscate my automobile. How dare the idea of government intervention in our lives even be suggested!!!
With freedom comes responsibility. Without responsibility, limits need to be set. It goes with the territory. Driving without laws? Unthinkable. There are too many people out there bending the laws that we already have - having no laws would mean utter chaos. We've lived with utter chaos in regards to the health insurance industry for quite some time. Why grouse about having some order for a change?
Be Seeing You!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Buckeye Buddy
I was perusing my facebook account on Sunday and a fellow traveller had posted a picture of a group of officials dedicating what was known as the Elmdale Grange bridge in Ross County, Ohio. Included in the view were some noted politicians of the era (1972-74) who were quite active at the time but no longer with us.
One spotted was Grant McDonald, at the time a county commissioner and part-time sportscaster at WBEX. I worked as a part-timer at WBEX and got to know Grant fairly well.
I had sort of a love/hate relationship with the man for several reasons. For one, he paid my salary, such as it was, by his ability to go out and "sell" a county basketball game broadcast. Truman Morris, the owner of the station, was kept afloat at times by the money that McDonald pulled in. On the other hand, the list of sponsors he kept bringing into the station and the list of businesses doing non-contract work for the county were suspiciously similar. To say that perhaps McDonald was taking in money for his own use would be disingenuous as he seemed to have a genuine love of the game. He loved youth baseball, too, and had on a number of occasions taken the remote broadcast transmitter to Mary Lou Patton Park to broadcast Scioto Valley Youth League baseball games... continuously repeating their motto that a man never stands so tall as when he stoops to help a boy.
Personally, Grant was a likeable person. Perhaps a bit too likeable for his own good in that he believed that he would be liked by everyone, everywhere. I recall running into Grant as I was getting out of class at Ohio University in Athens one Fall evening - he was running for either State Senator or State Representative and had presumably been to a candidate's forum. We had a conversation where he indicated that he was unsure that he would even see one friendly face outside of Ross County until he saw me.
Grant was in and out of my direct line of thought for a number of years. He graduated from being County Commissioner to heading up the Senior Center on Western Avenue. That's where the likeable Grant McDonald met his Waterloo. There were allegations about money being stolen from the Center, that the books just weren't quite right and in the center of the hullaballoo was Grant McDonald. There was a trial and a conviction. A radio person I had once worked with had supposedly gone to the sentencing, sat and mocked Grant as Grant kept repeating that now he knew how Jesus felt.
I was sorry to see the man treated as he was by that former co-worker. Grant deserved better as Grant had paid his salary at some point, too. Grant served his sentence and passed as a broken man.
--------------------
To directly answer the question regarding the opening of the Elmdale Grange Bridge, I would put it at some point in 1973. I recall being approached at the LK by someone involved with Glenn Turner's "Dare to be Great" pyramid scheme while taking pictures there for the CHS yearbook in late 1971/early 1972 and at that point the old truss bridge was still being used. In the spring of 1974 I dated a girl who lived out on Possum Hollow for a short while and recall that it certainly was handy to zip in and out of town on the new bridge. Early Ted Fickisen in the lower right corner of the photo in question? It sure looks like him. I have one of Ted's prints of St. Paul's hanging in my living room at this moment.
Be Seeing You!
One spotted was Grant McDonald, at the time a county commissioner and part-time sportscaster at WBEX. I worked as a part-timer at WBEX and got to know Grant fairly well.
I had sort of a love/hate relationship with the man for several reasons. For one, he paid my salary, such as it was, by his ability to go out and "sell" a county basketball game broadcast. Truman Morris, the owner of the station, was kept afloat at times by the money that McDonald pulled in. On the other hand, the list of sponsors he kept bringing into the station and the list of businesses doing non-contract work for the county were suspiciously similar. To say that perhaps McDonald was taking in money for his own use would be disingenuous as he seemed to have a genuine love of the game. He loved youth baseball, too, and had on a number of occasions taken the remote broadcast transmitter to Mary Lou Patton Park to broadcast Scioto Valley Youth League baseball games... continuously repeating their motto that a man never stands so tall as when he stoops to help a boy.
Personally, Grant was a likeable person. Perhaps a bit too likeable for his own good in that he believed that he would be liked by everyone, everywhere. I recall running into Grant as I was getting out of class at Ohio University in Athens one Fall evening - he was running for either State Senator or State Representative and had presumably been to a candidate's forum. We had a conversation where he indicated that he was unsure that he would even see one friendly face outside of Ross County until he saw me.
Grant was in and out of my direct line of thought for a number of years. He graduated from being County Commissioner to heading up the Senior Center on Western Avenue. That's where the likeable Grant McDonald met his Waterloo. There were allegations about money being stolen from the Center, that the books just weren't quite right and in the center of the hullaballoo was Grant McDonald. There was a trial and a conviction. A radio person I had once worked with had supposedly gone to the sentencing, sat and mocked Grant as Grant kept repeating that now he knew how Jesus felt.
I was sorry to see the man treated as he was by that former co-worker. Grant deserved better as Grant had paid his salary at some point, too. Grant served his sentence and passed as a broken man.
--------------------
To directly answer the question regarding the opening of the Elmdale Grange Bridge, I would put it at some point in 1973. I recall being approached at the LK by someone involved with Glenn Turner's "Dare to be Great" pyramid scheme while taking pictures there for the CHS yearbook in late 1971/early 1972 and at that point the old truss bridge was still being used. In the spring of 1974 I dated a girl who lived out on Possum Hollow for a short while and recall that it certainly was handy to zip in and out of town on the new bridge. Early Ted Fickisen in the lower right corner of the photo in question? It sure looks like him. I have one of Ted's prints of St. Paul's hanging in my living room at this moment.
Be Seeing You!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Cello
My train of thought is difficult to understand, at times.
I had a Facebook friend request the other day from someone whom I vaguely remember who had a last name of someone else who I knew well in High School who had a sister with whom I played in a string quartet the summer after the summer we arrived in Chillicothe some forty something years ago. I was the lone male in the group and it was the only incident I can ever recall playing music for money.
When I was in the fourth grade the music teachers conspired to get as many of us as possible to learn an instrument other than those ever-annoying flutophones everyone was forced to play. A few of us were told that we had it in us to play a stringed instrument, so, following my logic at the time I calculated that the cello would be my best choice as I would not have to stand to play it. Never mind that I found out in later days that there are those who consider playing the cello one of the most difficult instruments to play in terms of being a physical challenge, I was going to be sitting down. Not like the kids in Japan who were pictured in a book who were standing and playing their violins. No sir. I was going to sit down and play the cello.
To say that it was an interesting choice is to understate the whole deal. My parents dutifully rented a 3/4 size cello and designated a storage spot at the bottom of the stairs. For the next couple of years, at least, there was a battle of wills in our house. My parents insisted that I practice half an hour a day and I got my revenge by driving them mad with my inexperience.
But I got rather good at playing the darn thing. We were blessed by a city school system which encouraged students in the string program. The teaching was top-notch and there were other kids in the program who were just as good if not better than I was in certain aspects. I found myself selected to participate in an all-district orchestra as a sixth grader. Not bad, really. There were others from my school who were in that orchestra and there were new people to meet, like the girl who sat next to me in the cello section. It wasn't until after the concert that I learned that the girl's father was a professional football player of note and it wasn't but a few months later that I would be in posession of the cello she played. The other football crazy kids in the neighborhood were perplexed as to why, when I had access to Lou Groza and played in an orchestra with his daughter, I didn't get even as much as an autograph.
Playing the cello, you see, was a nerdy thing to do, even before the term "nerd" ever reached our lexicon.
Still, I kept at it, partly because of my parents and partly because of some of the kids who were in orchestra when I entered Junior High School. Debbie, who played the violin, became one of my first girlfriends... sort of took her to the 7th grade dance and had, for quite some time, a photo of my first "slow dance" with an actual female of the opposite gender. Then there was Eric, one of my best friends in the whole world who played the piano and the violin. He lived close enough so that I could spend afternoons with him in his basement learning to read music and turning pages for him as he played the piano. Those were delicious days.
I got a private teacher, too. The woman was busy and had such a reputation that if one was a cello student, she was the person one would really, really want to give you private lessons. I came to appreciate her. There would be contests, and I would go to the contests and consistantly rank as being one of the best. Eric was eventually drafted to play the cello, too, when we were in the 8th grade. When my family was being moved from Berea to Chillicothe, my slot with Mrs. Hiller opened up, quite briefly, because I gave Eric the "heads up" which was taken advantage of.
We moved to Chillicothe and there was a huge difference in the string program. The city's orchestra director, Bev Bolen, quickly assesed what was being thrown in her lap and had me participating in a contest with the High School kids less than 2 weeks after we had moved in. I took a lot of ribbing from the older kids in the bus, but at the same time I was forging ties with a number of people who would duck in and out of my life for several years. The girls with whom I played in the string quartet were among those on that dreary bus ride.
I continued to play through most of High School and had a good time (at times) with some of the other people I played with. I was frustrated with Doug Reeder - Doug had "perfect pitch" and I was admittedly (at least as an adult) jealous of his talent. Beth Stevenson sat behind me in the cello section and we would drive Mrs. Bolen crazy with the little "embellishments" we would add to our instruments in practice and in concert. She tied a ribbon around her cello's peg box and I had a plastic goat which resided in my cello's peg box. Twenty twenty hindsight says I should have dated the girl. Then there was Mike who played the bass. Mike seemed bored with the whole thing and gave the impression that he was bound for something better.
I eventually drifted out of playing the cello as I progressed through High School. By the time I became a teenaged vampire (as recounted in an earlier blog), the cello was for all intents and purposes a thing of the past. Sure, I got laughs by being the jokester playing the cello and tossing out one-liners for our High School Review for a couple of years, but I was essentially out of the game. We'd had a good run, but I had other interests, interests which would hopefully make me less nerdy.
I kept up with some of those with whom I was associated for a number of years afterwards. For a couple of years after High School, I wrote to and occasionally went to visit Debbie when she was home from College. I particularly recall one letter where she told me about this fellow who lived in her dormitory, a cello player who had gained some noteriety with his skills and who would be asked to play with various orchestras on the East Coast. It was because of his constant back and forth that this Asian fellow who was attending Harvard earned the nickname Yo Yo... a name which sticks with him today.
Beth went to become a nurse, I believe. Ran into her when she was visiting Chillicothe some years ago. I believe that she and her family were living in California.
Mike did go on to something better. After High School, he went on to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York as did my friend, Eric. Yes, they met and yes, they probably swapped stories about me. Mike swore at one point that he would never come to Chillicothe again and as far as I know he never did. He passed at an early age of what was at the time was an unknown malady... I would suspect AIDS.
I met with Eric about 4 years ago. The fellow with whom I shared hours of time learning music was, and is, still teaching. He credited me with being a co-composer of his first composition of which there are many. He teaches composition at a school in New York called Julliard and has had his compositions played by groups and orchestras around the world. Not bad for a cello player.
Son Stuart attempted to try to learn the cello about 3 years ago, but without dad in the household (the divorce was pending at the time) the effort was an exercise in frustration for him.
As for me, dropping the cello was one of those things I have come to regret in later life. I will go with the step-son from time to time to the music store and have toyed with the idea of renting a cello and learning the skill all over again. Somewhere in there is the possibility of a PBS reality show - middle-aged man drops everything for an intense training course in order to play with a professional orchestra. Sounds interesting, has a lot of class which should appeal to the PBS crowd... besides, I've played professionally once before. Can't miss.
Be Seeing You!
I had a Facebook friend request the other day from someone whom I vaguely remember who had a last name of someone else who I knew well in High School who had a sister with whom I played in a string quartet the summer after the summer we arrived in Chillicothe some forty something years ago. I was the lone male in the group and it was the only incident I can ever recall playing music for money.
When I was in the fourth grade the music teachers conspired to get as many of us as possible to learn an instrument other than those ever-annoying flutophones everyone was forced to play. A few of us were told that we had it in us to play a stringed instrument, so, following my logic at the time I calculated that the cello would be my best choice as I would not have to stand to play it. Never mind that I found out in later days that there are those who consider playing the cello one of the most difficult instruments to play in terms of being a physical challenge, I was going to be sitting down. Not like the kids in Japan who were pictured in a book who were standing and playing their violins. No sir. I was going to sit down and play the cello.
To say that it was an interesting choice is to understate the whole deal. My parents dutifully rented a 3/4 size cello and designated a storage spot at the bottom of the stairs. For the next couple of years, at least, there was a battle of wills in our house. My parents insisted that I practice half an hour a day and I got my revenge by driving them mad with my inexperience.
But I got rather good at playing the darn thing. We were blessed by a city school system which encouraged students in the string program. The teaching was top-notch and there were other kids in the program who were just as good if not better than I was in certain aspects. I found myself selected to participate in an all-district orchestra as a sixth grader. Not bad, really. There were others from my school who were in that orchestra and there were new people to meet, like the girl who sat next to me in the cello section. It wasn't until after the concert that I learned that the girl's father was a professional football player of note and it wasn't but a few months later that I would be in posession of the cello she played. The other football crazy kids in the neighborhood were perplexed as to why, when I had access to Lou Groza and played in an orchestra with his daughter, I didn't get even as much as an autograph.
Playing the cello, you see, was a nerdy thing to do, even before the term "nerd" ever reached our lexicon.
Still, I kept at it, partly because of my parents and partly because of some of the kids who were in orchestra when I entered Junior High School. Debbie, who played the violin, became one of my first girlfriends... sort of took her to the 7th grade dance and had, for quite some time, a photo of my first "slow dance" with an actual female of the opposite gender. Then there was Eric, one of my best friends in the whole world who played the piano and the violin. He lived close enough so that I could spend afternoons with him in his basement learning to read music and turning pages for him as he played the piano. Those were delicious days.
I got a private teacher, too. The woman was busy and had such a reputation that if one was a cello student, she was the person one would really, really want to give you private lessons. I came to appreciate her. There would be contests, and I would go to the contests and consistantly rank as being one of the best. Eric was eventually drafted to play the cello, too, when we were in the 8th grade. When my family was being moved from Berea to Chillicothe, my slot with Mrs. Hiller opened up, quite briefly, because I gave Eric the "heads up" which was taken advantage of.
We moved to Chillicothe and there was a huge difference in the string program. The city's orchestra director, Bev Bolen, quickly assesed what was being thrown in her lap and had me participating in a contest with the High School kids less than 2 weeks after we had moved in. I took a lot of ribbing from the older kids in the bus, but at the same time I was forging ties with a number of people who would duck in and out of my life for several years. The girls with whom I played in the string quartet were among those on that dreary bus ride.
I continued to play through most of High School and had a good time (at times) with some of the other people I played with. I was frustrated with Doug Reeder - Doug had "perfect pitch" and I was admittedly (at least as an adult) jealous of his talent. Beth Stevenson sat behind me in the cello section and we would drive Mrs. Bolen crazy with the little "embellishments" we would add to our instruments in practice and in concert. She tied a ribbon around her cello's peg box and I had a plastic goat which resided in my cello's peg box. Twenty twenty hindsight says I should have dated the girl. Then there was Mike who played the bass. Mike seemed bored with the whole thing and gave the impression that he was bound for something better.
I eventually drifted out of playing the cello as I progressed through High School. By the time I became a teenaged vampire (as recounted in an earlier blog), the cello was for all intents and purposes a thing of the past. Sure, I got laughs by being the jokester playing the cello and tossing out one-liners for our High School Review for a couple of years, but I was essentially out of the game. We'd had a good run, but I had other interests, interests which would hopefully make me less nerdy.
I kept up with some of those with whom I was associated for a number of years afterwards. For a couple of years after High School, I wrote to and occasionally went to visit Debbie when she was home from College. I particularly recall one letter where she told me about this fellow who lived in her dormitory, a cello player who had gained some noteriety with his skills and who would be asked to play with various orchestras on the East Coast. It was because of his constant back and forth that this Asian fellow who was attending Harvard earned the nickname Yo Yo... a name which sticks with him today.
Beth went to become a nurse, I believe. Ran into her when she was visiting Chillicothe some years ago. I believe that she and her family were living in California.
Mike did go on to something better. After High School, he went on to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York as did my friend, Eric. Yes, they met and yes, they probably swapped stories about me. Mike swore at one point that he would never come to Chillicothe again and as far as I know he never did. He passed at an early age of what was at the time was an unknown malady... I would suspect AIDS.
I met with Eric about 4 years ago. The fellow with whom I shared hours of time learning music was, and is, still teaching. He credited me with being a co-composer of his first composition of which there are many. He teaches composition at a school in New York called Julliard and has had his compositions played by groups and orchestras around the world. Not bad for a cello player.
Son Stuart attempted to try to learn the cello about 3 years ago, but without dad in the household (the divorce was pending at the time) the effort was an exercise in frustration for him.
As for me, dropping the cello was one of those things I have come to regret in later life. I will go with the step-son from time to time to the music store and have toyed with the idea of renting a cello and learning the skill all over again. Somewhere in there is the possibility of a PBS reality show - middle-aged man drops everything for an intense training course in order to play with a professional orchestra. Sounds interesting, has a lot of class which should appeal to the PBS crowd... besides, I've played professionally once before. Can't miss.
Be Seeing You!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Conservative
With a day off and a cold rain in North Texas, it was a good day to sit at home, do laundry, pay bills, organize the dishes and do some blogging. This is my third blog of the day, the second on this particular blogging location. (I maintain a seperate blog where I am collecting radio stories.) While the lovely Miss Carol is off doing her calls as Nurse Carol, I've taken the time to turn on the radio and listen to one of the local news stations.
This being the day before an election, not a good idea.
Tuesday, March 2nd is Primary Day in Texas. Time to roll out the voting mat (which had been out for "Early Voting" for at least a fortnight) and select the Party Candidates for next November's general election.
Here in Texas, the focus is on the Republican candidates and the Republican candidates are out in full force on the radio hoping that you and I will vote for them. And to secure your vote, all of the candidates seem to be trying to position themselves as the most "Conservative" candidate available.
That's been the buzzword, "Conservative".
There are three candidates for Governor on the Republican ticket and each of them is emphasizing how much more conservative they are than their opponents. U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson has been defending Texas' "Conservative" values in the Senate... "but yes, you've also voted for the evil Obama's stimulus package" chimes in Rick Perry, the man who has been living in the Governor's Mansion for the past 10 years. While that cat fight has been going on, Debra Medina, a candidate either endorsed or put up to running by archconservative Ron Paul has been parroting the same tired conservative lines, to the point of not eating the left wings of chickens at chicken barbecues.
I'm more conservative than you are!!!
It's not just the candidates for Governor. I've been bombarded with radio ads for local office holders from dog catcher to county commissioner, all with the same lines. "I'm a pro-life conservative and that's why I should be elected!" Sort of sad that the judges who swear that they are against legislating from the bench are also telling us that they are pro-life... if a case were to come along which would help out the pro-life cause, do I really think that a pro-life judge would be entirely objective and not be tempted to legislate from the bench? Heck, there was an ad played by one of the candidates for Texas Railroad Commissioner this afternoon in which the candidate said that he was proudly pro-life! So what does being pro-life have to do with the regulation of mineral resources and transportation which is in the realm of being a Texas Railroad Commissioner anyway?
Just as absurd are the cards we've been getting in the mail asking us to vote for local judges, telling us that we should vote for them because they haven't imposed new taxes upon the innocent citizenry. Thank God for that piece of news... I mean, other than enforcing Homeowners' Associations as legitimate entities and allowing them to levy fines and demand taxes (HOA fees are taxes, plain and simple), how can a judge impose new taxes anyway... unless, of course, he's legislating from the bench.
And apparently, one of the candidates for County Judge actually does legislate from the bench, as he claims that not only has he cut taxes, but he's slashed government growth! So, the logic here is that it is OK to legislate from the bench, but only if you are either a Republican or a Conservative. I really don't buy into that line. By the way, the piece of mail that that particular candidate sent showed a photo depicting animal cruelty. He had dressed up a poor little Chihuahua in cotton balls with the line that his opponent is a "Wolf in sheep's clothing". The indignity of it all!!! For one, no self-respecting sheep would be caught dead wearing cotton! For another, using a Chihuahua for a prop insults the dignity of the Chihuahua and could be an indication of latent racism... Chihuahuas being Mexican dogs, and all.
Thankfully, Tuesday is less than 24 hours away. Actually, even less, as I am finishing this blog on Tuesday morning. Results in the evening, followed by a sigh of relief. Only 8 more months until the general election.
Perhaps I'll remember not to listen to commercial radio from now till then.
Be Seeing You!
This being the day before an election, not a good idea.
Tuesday, March 2nd is Primary Day in Texas. Time to roll out the voting mat (which had been out for "Early Voting" for at least a fortnight) and select the Party Candidates for next November's general election.
Here in Texas, the focus is on the Republican candidates and the Republican candidates are out in full force on the radio hoping that you and I will vote for them. And to secure your vote, all of the candidates seem to be trying to position themselves as the most "Conservative" candidate available.
That's been the buzzword, "Conservative".
There are three candidates for Governor on the Republican ticket and each of them is emphasizing how much more conservative they are than their opponents. U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson has been defending Texas' "Conservative" values in the Senate... "but yes, you've also voted for the evil Obama's stimulus package" chimes in Rick Perry, the man who has been living in the Governor's Mansion for the past 10 years. While that cat fight has been going on, Debra Medina, a candidate either endorsed or put up to running by archconservative Ron Paul has been parroting the same tired conservative lines, to the point of not eating the left wings of chickens at chicken barbecues.
I'm more conservative than you are!!!
It's not just the candidates for Governor. I've been bombarded with radio ads for local office holders from dog catcher to county commissioner, all with the same lines. "I'm a pro-life conservative and that's why I should be elected!" Sort of sad that the judges who swear that they are against legislating from the bench are also telling us that they are pro-life... if a case were to come along which would help out the pro-life cause, do I really think that a pro-life judge would be entirely objective and not be tempted to legislate from the bench? Heck, there was an ad played by one of the candidates for Texas Railroad Commissioner this afternoon in which the candidate said that he was proudly pro-life! So what does being pro-life have to do with the regulation of mineral resources and transportation which is in the realm of being a Texas Railroad Commissioner anyway?
Just as absurd are the cards we've been getting in the mail asking us to vote for local judges, telling us that we should vote for them because they haven't imposed new taxes upon the innocent citizenry. Thank God for that piece of news... I mean, other than enforcing Homeowners' Associations as legitimate entities and allowing them to levy fines and demand taxes (HOA fees are taxes, plain and simple), how can a judge impose new taxes anyway... unless, of course, he's legislating from the bench.
And apparently, one of the candidates for County Judge actually does legislate from the bench, as he claims that not only has he cut taxes, but he's slashed government growth! So, the logic here is that it is OK to legislate from the bench, but only if you are either a Republican or a Conservative. I really don't buy into that line. By the way, the piece of mail that that particular candidate sent showed a photo depicting animal cruelty. He had dressed up a poor little Chihuahua in cotton balls with the line that his opponent is a "Wolf in sheep's clothing". The indignity of it all!!! For one, no self-respecting sheep would be caught dead wearing cotton! For another, using a Chihuahua for a prop insults the dignity of the Chihuahua and could be an indication of latent racism... Chihuahuas being Mexican dogs, and all.
Thankfully, Tuesday is less than 24 hours away. Actually, even less, as I am finishing this blog on Tuesday morning. Results in the evening, followed by a sigh of relief. Only 8 more months until the general election.
Perhaps I'll remember not to listen to commercial radio from now till then.
Be Seeing You!
Cast
I've been somewhat busy in the past several months and/or years with a number of diversions which you may or may not be familiar with. Lately I have been doing a lot of stuff on Facebook, looking up and hooking up (in an old fashioned sense, mind you) with quite a few people I have not had contact with in a number of years. Naturally, amassing a large number of Facebook friends could mean doing a lot of Facebook posts to bring people up to speed as to what I've been doing over the past several years. With that in mind, I have decided to provide a capsule, of sorts, of the ever-changing cast of family and friends I have surrounded myself with.
The Basics:
I'm old enough to know better. I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. I still have no idea as to whether or not I will ever grow up. While I have some grey hair, it's still pretty much just a touch... and I won't panic when it all goes grey. I have two adorable children of my own, Sarah and Stuart. Sarah is free, white and 21, likes being an artist and has a great group of friends who are just like her. Stuart is as tall as I am or maybe taller by the time you read this. Stuart is and always has been charismatic, is soon to be 15 and loves sports.
Sarah and Stuart live with their mother. I no longer do. As I did not create this blog to speak ill of anyone, that's where I will leave the matter.
My partner-in-crime these days is Carol, or as I refer to her, the lovely Miss Carol. Carol, as I, had been previously married and has four children of her own. James, her eldest, is living with his long-time girlfriend Samantha and their child, Virginia. Virginia will be getting a sister at some point this coming June or July. Jaclyn, Carol's elder daughter is married and living with her husband Juan. We learned this past weekend that Jaclyn is expecting a child in October.
If you are keeping count, I will have 3 step-grandchildren by the end of this year.
Carol's daughter, Mary is six months younger than my Sarah. Mary lives with someone named Kenny and as I did not create this blog to speak ill of anyone, that's where I will leave the matter.
Carol's youngest, Warren, is less than 6 months younger than Stuart and Warren lives with us in a comfortable house in Allen, Texas. This is where I mention the dog, Chico, and the Cat, Morticia-High priestess of the underworld.
The lovely Miss Carol and I both have siblings who are scattered from New Mexico to Ohio. Both of the lovely Miss Carol's parents are living, my mother is still in Ohio and my father has been missed for a number of years.
I work at a Lowe's home improvement store selling flooring to unsuspecting victims... a heck of a change from the days I worked in radio making minimum wage and all the records I could eat. The lovely Miss Carol works as a visiting nurse. We are both Episcopalians, attending St. Peter's in McKinney, Texas and both of us have been on Cursillo (for the benefit of those of my Facebook friends who have also been pilgrims in Cursillo or one of the other renewal programs).
Both of us have had interesting lives and are looking forward to having more interesting times to come. We have had moments, good and bad and will probably have more like them.
And that's really about it.
Ordinary people with ordinary lives with some interesting friends both on and off the internet. Hope to see you around.
Be Seeing You!
The Basics:
I'm old enough to know better. I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. I still have no idea as to whether or not I will ever grow up. While I have some grey hair, it's still pretty much just a touch... and I won't panic when it all goes grey. I have two adorable children of my own, Sarah and Stuart. Sarah is free, white and 21, likes being an artist and has a great group of friends who are just like her. Stuart is as tall as I am or maybe taller by the time you read this. Stuart is and always has been charismatic, is soon to be 15 and loves sports.
Sarah and Stuart live with their mother. I no longer do. As I did not create this blog to speak ill of anyone, that's where I will leave the matter.
My partner-in-crime these days is Carol, or as I refer to her, the lovely Miss Carol. Carol, as I, had been previously married and has four children of her own. James, her eldest, is living with his long-time girlfriend Samantha and their child, Virginia. Virginia will be getting a sister at some point this coming June or July. Jaclyn, Carol's elder daughter is married and living with her husband Juan. We learned this past weekend that Jaclyn is expecting a child in October.
If you are keeping count, I will have 3 step-grandchildren by the end of this year.
Carol's daughter, Mary is six months younger than my Sarah. Mary lives with someone named Kenny and as I did not create this blog to speak ill of anyone, that's where I will leave the matter.
Carol's youngest, Warren, is less than 6 months younger than Stuart and Warren lives with us in a comfortable house in Allen, Texas. This is where I mention the dog, Chico, and the Cat, Morticia-High priestess of the underworld.
The lovely Miss Carol and I both have siblings who are scattered from New Mexico to Ohio. Both of the lovely Miss Carol's parents are living, my mother is still in Ohio and my father has been missed for a number of years.
I work at a Lowe's home improvement store selling flooring to unsuspecting victims... a heck of a change from the days I worked in radio making minimum wage and all the records I could eat. The lovely Miss Carol works as a visiting nurse. We are both Episcopalians, attending St. Peter's in McKinney, Texas and both of us have been on Cursillo (for the benefit of those of my Facebook friends who have also been pilgrims in Cursillo or one of the other renewal programs).
Both of us have had interesting lives and are looking forward to having more interesting times to come. We have had moments, good and bad and will probably have more like them.
And that's really about it.
Ordinary people with ordinary lives with some interesting friends both on and off the internet. Hope to see you around.
Be Seeing You!
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