Leaf blower madness

                                SOB does stand for “Sweet Old Boys,” right?

 

Well, let’s see!  I wonder how many of my neighbors enjoyed sitting out on their back patios, or screened in porches, enjoying a nice cool or, perhaps, on a fine autumn day like this, a nice warm tea listening to the migrating birds sing their songs as they looked around for a tidbit or two in our or in one of our neighbors’ yards?  Well, I guess some might have enjoyed doing that, until, that is, one of those SOB’s decided he (or she) just couldn’t stand the thought of those leaves in their yard, regardless of how many or few there might be, and cranked one of those detestable noise makers they decided to invest in (for whatever reason.)

 

Years ago, when most of us moved into our newly constructed homes in my neighborhood, we used to spend just a bit of time looking skyward to see how many (or how few) leaves remained on some of our “Woodland Estates” trees.  The reason behind this would be, if the leaves were mostly gone from the tree limbs, it was time to do a bit of raking—collecting the leaves in piles that were destined to go either to a leaf pile, where they would rot and provide us with good material for our gardens the next year, or, for the occasional leaf burn that provided just a bit of material for the gardens, not nearly the same as the material from one of our rotted leaf piles, though.  Those were pre-leafblower days, for sure.  And, to my way of thinking, those days were preferable to what we have today. 

 

Leaf blowers are, for some of us, the curse of our daily lives on more than just a few occasions.  Of course those who use them are mostly denizens of a more recent “generation” than those of us who turned a bit of nature into a bit of a neighborhood for our earliest SRS employees, those whose work put us ahead of Russia in the arms race.  SRS, called the Savannah River Plant, SRP, at the time, along with Hanford on the west coast did what was needed for us to be able to out produce the Russians in the Nuclear Bomb department to the extent that they really did not want to go to war anytime in the near future (or, from their smart ones, anytime at all!)

 

This was done and we all are here today because of what America did back then.

 

And, thank God for that!

 

Now, about those “blowers…”

 

I’m not opposed to their use, so long as the SOB’s keep their darn noise on their own properties.  It’s quite possible, you see, the blower and it’s crew could do its blowing and they could at the same time tow around a wagon with a decent muffler to take care of the noise that their blower generates to the dismay of many of their neighbors.  And to the dismay of quite a few flights of birds passing through to get to their winter destinations. 

 

And consider this:  We still have a few shift workers in our environ.  Wouldn’t want them to band together and hire some enterprising attorney to make the minimalization of the noise those neighbors foist upon their neighborhoods a thing of the past. 

 

Pretty good idea?  Vote “yes” if you are a shift worker!  Or, of course, if you just value a quiet neighborhood. 

 

And why not?  Then, again, the city streets are carrying some advertisements to enforce the use of adequate mufflers on our vehicles.  Maybe the same could be made to apply to our leaf-blowing neighbors.  I suspect I’m not the only Citizen who would appreciate the Council doing something to cut down on this unnecessary noise.  And, by the way, I did check:  Our various hardware stores do still sell leaf rakes! 

 

And, those rakes are not nearly as expensive an those leaf blowers are.

 

How about it Council?  How about it!

Want to donate something that someone else just can't live without?

My next time will be:

 Dec 17, 2021 @ 1:00 PM

• Blood

Lessie B. Price Aiken Senior & Youth Center

841 Edgefield Ave NW
Aiken, SC 29801

Join me?  Give our American Red Cross a call!  (803) 641-4152

To be a writer--right

 

To be a writer—right

 

While walking Stella this morning, I happened to think about what I might be able to do to spend a little time being productive.  Seems like I often end up watching the same old things on the tube and getting nothing at all done.  Could I write productively?   I wonder. 

 

Well, I did do that autobiography.  Of course, that was an attempt to do something while being forced away from my home during the repair time that was needed after the house fire.  And, while I have not exactly raked in a ton of money from the sales of that book (I’m not named Benjamin Franklin is one possible problem here) I have proven to myself, if to no one else, that I can write.  I guess my main topic might be:  What to write next?  But before that, I should remind you that that first book is on Amazon.  Got a few dollars you might be able to spare?  Check out:  https://www.amazon.com/Stephen-V.- Geddes/e/B07F64V892%3Fref=

 

(And, before I go any further, this program does not allow me to simply post a reference.  I do—above—and then I try to put a period for punctuation and it includes the period in the post.  Ergo, no period!) 

 

The first thing that comes to mind is to put on my tennis shoes and head for the woods—Hitchcock woods, at that.  I have told myself that would be a topic worthy of exploring and have begun several times to give it a start.  The problem is that is all I have done—give it a start, several times, at that.  So now what?

 

A good question, wouldn’t you say?  I know what I want to do, and I know what I have done so far, and nothing seems to be enough.  Well, perhaps what I need to do is write out a detailing of what I need to do to write that book. 

 

The first thing is the title: “Xxxxx xxxxxxxxx.”  (And I will fill in that name, as soon as it is done to the point where its confidentiality need not be protected.)  Easy, right?  Well, you might guess it would be easy if you had been thinking about it for several months.  Which is what I have done.  Now what?  Again, just a bit easy, but not anywhere as easy as I believe at this point.  Nothing to do but begin, I guess.

 

1)  Table of contents

 

So far so good, right?  Wrong—the work starts here.  Which is why I will continue this on another post. 

 

Work?  WORK!! Or so Gilligan would have said.

 

Hah!

 

 So, I’m done for the day.  You can continue on with the next post, though, in a few days, anyway, or so I hope!

 

Cousin John is gone

 My question is how and why, cousin?  Was it something in your past that we were not aware of?  The main problem with your leaving is your grandchildren will know nothing about the good man you were.  And your children will not have the benefit of your council from time to time (something we had for many years from our parents, thank God) something they will miss terribly, even if they don't know what it is that they are missing.   And, your cousins will miss having you on those occasions when we all might come together for whatever.  Well, I'd prefer not to get to hug my cousins, your sister, your brother, in the very near future.  Some things are better put off as long as possible, or so I think.  I will miss you.  Even though we did not correspond at all for many years.  My misfortune.  Sorry.  Will pass on to your siblings the fact that I am here if they have any reason to question an old relative.  Sometimes, though, we might be one anothers' best listeners, helpers, comisserateurs.  Sorry.  What else can I say?

Goodbye, cousin John.  Tell your mom and dad I miss them too!

My thoughts on a friend's column

Hope you had (or will have) a chance to read Jack DeVine's column in the AikenStandard this week.  He could use a few thoughts from the field, I think, and the AikenStandard would benefit by passing on those thoughts to its readership.  My add-on follows:

Good column.  I agree totally with the implication that our congress is not working properly for the American public when they fail to work together to agree or disagree and make changes to obtain a modicum of agreement on its legislation.  Everything in America is not top-notch, and that is a fact.  I have a very intelligent friend who lives in New Zealand and who is intent on staying there till he passes on.  Why not?  Good medical care, at reasonable prices, good food, good neighbors, and a beautiful environment.  We could do well to send a legislative delegation there, people who need to see how things could be changed here for the better, and people who  are disgusted with this two-sided standoff, failure to work reasonably together, that is our congress.  

If that congress cannot come up with reasonable ways to work together, I think they ALL need to be sent out to pasture and a new group returned to do the work we need them to do.  Republican, Democrat, or whatever be damned!

LIke I said, good column.  What we need, though, are thoughtful people in those positions of power who are dedicated to doing things RIGHT, not just in winning for one side or the other.  Hell, if that one side or another approach were what we took during WWII, we would be living under some sort of Hitler in Europe today.  And wouldn't that be something different?

Considered compromise is what those monkeys in congress have to learn how to do to give all of us a little bit of the benefit of our system of government.  Lacking that, we all are indeed going down the tube--one flush at a time!

Costs to mail today

 OK, so here I go again with something most of you already know, but old, retired me just noticed, thanks to a USPS delivery to me of a letter (one page at that,) for $0.58 for first class delivery.  Why is it that I am still thinking the rate should be in the high '30's?  Guess some of us are just not that cognizant of things like postage rates, and who knows what else.  Oh, well, so long as our postal service can get along with this increase in rates, I guess I will have to also.  (Shows how often I send something as opposed to what comes in the daily dispatch.  No problem, I hope!)

I wonder how long it's been since my rate remembrance might have been the norm.  There was a time when I mailed out letters fairly regularly, thanks to a little job I had that I felt needed a bit of advertising.  But that time has come and gone and here I am finding an issue that is probably at least ten years having been changed from my remembered costs.  Huh!   Wonder what Judge Judy would have to say about that, especially if one of her cases revolved around postal costs.  Whatever it might be, I'm sure her viewership would understand.  Now I'm wondering how much it costs to get one word of that ladies' daily dictates on the air.  God knows, it is just a bit more than it costs for me to write and publish this little document to the internet, and who knows who might read this and take exception (or find it so interesting that they immediately go to their organization to instruct someone to call and offer me an ungodly number of dollars to join them in their travails!)  Humh...I wonder, indeed!

Now, if I could only find one of those "smiley faces," I just might be able to say, "fini!"

Where to look?  That is the question!

Sydney Harbor, and then some

 

Memories, anyone?

Watching Ocean Trek with Jeff Corwin this morning gave me the opportunity to revive a memory or two from my time in the military—in particular, that time I found myself in Sydney, Australia.  (And a marvelous time that was, believe me!)

 

When Jeff and his crew climbed that bridge over the river feeding Sydney Harbor, it was as if I was transported back in time.  The view today isn’t quite what it was when I was there, but much of it was familiar.  Like that Sydney Opera House, for example.  Not exactly the same, it was still under construction when I was there, but quite recognizable.  And what a view there was from that top of what was then one of the most recognizable bridges in the world. 

 

Today there are quite a few more bridges resembling that notable one—and why not?  One good bridge deserves more than just one (or a few) copy (or copies,) that’s for sure.  Giving credit where it is due would require researching the annals of our engineering community, though, and that would be one job that I will pass on to someone else, anyone who has the time and energy such a job would require.  There always is something else to think about, that’s for sure.

But back to Sydney, something that could take up much more than one blog entry, that’s for sure.  Sydney was and is quite a marvelous place to visit.  Given its bridge, its Opera House, swimming in the summer in the South Pacific, getting to know some of the best cooking in the world, and some of the best beers, if that’s one of your pleasures, Sydney is one place to spend a week or a month, whatever time you might have and want to spend.  I would return there in a minute were I one of those financially well-endowed individuals like many of our Aikenites can claim to be.  But, lacking that, I guess memories are well worth spending some time with.

 

And, if you know anyone who you might think could use a memory or two like mine, why not point out how we still have a military who just might give them an opportunity to see the world.  Just like it did me.

GG time, for sure

 

 Morningbrain time again!

 Well, here we are, again, friends!  Interestingly enough, I am happy to be here this AM, writing this little piece for my current Blog, “Morningbrain-“Deux…”, and happy to be doing what I am doing.  You see, I think I’ve discovered something about my grey matter, something that bears mentioning.  It seems to work as good as ever, just not at the times it used to be top-notch, but at these times, which today is beginning at 3 AM. 

 

So, that being the case, I guess I know what I should do.  In the military, we would call it, “continue the march!”  Whatever the time might be so to do is not something I seem to have much control over, though—so, here goes (it seems the time is right!)

 

I awakened today about an hour ago.  The cause is a bit noteworthy, if a bit more down-to-earth than I would like, but whatever it takes is what it takes:  a drain the lizard break!  (Which is how an old ANG friend, "Bill" from Oconee County, would have put it!) 

 

And so, having done what was required, I spent about a half hour ruminating on my inability to return to la-la-land as quickly as I might have liked and finally realizing what was happening:  “Morningbrain strikes again!”  (Welcome back, old friend!)

 

So what’s so good about waking up and not being able to get back to sleep very easily?  Well, following the realization of what my old “grey ghost” seems to want (a good name for it, wouldn’t you say?), I guess the smart thing to do would be to acquiesce to his doings and do something useful—like write a bit, today about my dear old friend, now “named” my old “Grey Ghost!”  Hmmmm?  Maybe an abbreviation would be in order here?  “GG” okay?  (I like it—“GG” it is!) 

 

And, I don’t know about you, but I can only wonder what GG might come up with tomorrow.  As for today, having made this discovery, I only wish I hadn’t taken that melatonin about a half-hour ago.  Had I not, I would be beside myself and probably at the top of my game now.  Which I am not! 

 

Maybe the sleep will come.  GG will have to wait (and, hopefully will be happy to wait,) wait till tomorrow AM!

 

Bonn soir, guten nacht, good night!  AM night, at that!

English anyone

 

                                       English, anyone?

Reading today’s newspaper reminds me of something English teachers of mine, not sure which, (could have been more than one or two) reminded their classes from time to time.  The line in my AikenStandard read: “Aiken High School had 7 face-to-face student cases and less than 5 employee cases.”  Similar items were reported for all area schools with the same questionable wording (questionable to me and my English teachers, for sure!)

 

What would have been considered proper when I passed through Aiken High School would have been “Aiken High School had 7 face-to-face student cases and fewer than 5 employee cases.” 

 

The reason given by my English teachers was when you are discussing something that may be counted (in this case the number of employee cases) the correct wording would be greater than or fewer than.  If, though, your reference was to something that required a quantity designation, something that was not countable, like an amount of milk, the correct designation would be more than (amount) and less than (amount.)

 

Don’t ask me why the difference, I just remember there was a difference. 

 

I guess memories like this might explain why my College, Georgia Tech, allowed me to exempt all their English courses.  My thinking here is that they thought their courses would not add to my mastery of the subject, something that my English grades and my SAT numbers supported.  Fortunately, those exempted courses were added into my grade point ratio as “A’s,” something that allowed me to stay in the college a bit longer than I did, initially, since I seem to have majored in Wesley Foundation much more than the Chemical Engineering that was officially my designation, and my overall grade point ratio would have reflected this quite quickly with a note from the regents to me saying I needed to find something else to do with my time than attend their classes.

 

It took a stint in the Air Force, to include Vietnam (anyone remember TET of ’68?  I certainly do,) to bring me to my academic senses allowing me to do Deans List work on return to my Academic leanings.  11 years was a bit long to get that BS, most will admit, but that was what it took me.

 

Which says a good bit about my stick-to-itive inclinations if not much about my academic abilities.  The diploma is at the end of our hallway above a small bookcase.  Each to his own, I guess, or chaqun a son gout, as Mrs. Butler would have said.

 

(One day, hopefully, I will try to find an alphabet to use that includes those diacritical markings.  Just not today!)

Just a bit (a BIG Bit!)

https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/news/johnston-woman-representing-team-usa-in-paralympic-fencing/article_251209a2-fba2-11eb-9874-73c8cf743536.html

Just a little something I think all my blog readers will appreciate!  Take a look and let me know if you think I was right!

MY niece, Ellen T. Geddes is competing in the Olympics in Tokyo as I write this (well, maybe not JUST now--time differentials and all, but she is competing.)  Take a look at the referenced news article and see what it's all about!  

PC Steve

Interesting--when I look at the article (in blue, above,) clicking on the referenced item does nothing.  To see the article, you will need to copy the item in blue and let your computer find it.  Works fine on Google!

 

Morningbrain again

 

Morningbrain is a thing I continue to have more often than I would like.  I can only wonder what it would be like to sleep through the night and awake refreshed.  It seems this is not something that will be my lot, though. 

So, type I must, or simply lie in bed listening to those voices in my head bring up idea after idea about which to write.  But do I write?  No, not all that often.  And when I do get up and give writing a try, often those oh-so-important ideas are found to have vanished.  Good grief, Charlie Brown!

I wonder if there is some medical help that may be available here.  I don’t really want to take anything, though.  Alcohol was my crutch for many years—too many years—and it changed from a reliever to an addiction.  Not something I would wish on anyone other than an occasional “worse enemy.” 

If you have found yourself in a similar rut, two things I might recommend are melatonin and valerian root.  Both come in tablet form and both seem to work, when I remember them.  Melatonin comes in a soluble form, meant to be placed under the tongue, and may be just what I need.  Unfortunately, the last time I bought a bottle of this, I thought I was buying the 5 mg. tablets I had used before.  Not so lucky—got tablets, not the kind that would be usable under the tongue, though. 

The valerian works fine if I take three or four tablets before going to bed.  Don’t know if it comes in an under the tongue variety like the melatonin, though. 

Guess another trip to Walmart is in order. 

Don’t you just love Wally world?

Boston Blackie?

Boston Doggie?  Well, close!

While walking our new dog “Stella,” this morning, we passed one of our neighbor’s properties and were greeted by one of their dogs.  He (she-it?) greeted us in the usual manner and Stella returned the greeting!  Not a problem for any of us thanks to neighbors’ subterranean fence that whats-its-name respects. 

 The only reason for the post is we have decided to begin calling our neighbordog by a one-time radio hero’s name, albeit it slightly modified, something few of our up and coming neighbors probably remember, unless they are in the over 70ish crowd.  You see, doggie is covered (excepting for one chest spot) with splendid curly black hair.  And, given the knowledge of a name that was used on one radio program for its hero, our doggie friend now will be known to us as “Boston Barkie!”  Heh, heh, heh!!!

 Let’s see if that might just catch on. 

Seems appropriate!

Hee-Haw! For Stella

 Anyone remember Hee-Haw?  Well, I certainly do, and every morning, given a nudge by my new "friend" Stella, I get to use one of their stellar offerings.  Will put it to tune sometime later, (see my YouTube performances) but before that, here 'tis:  (Guess I'll use Hee-haw's tune!  It fits perfectly!)

    Dog Walkin’ Mimcir Today!

 

 Stella and Daddy goin’ for a walk,

We don’t have to run, don’t have to talk,

Don’t much matter which way we go

Neighbors all smile and give a sweet “hello!”

 

Mimosa Circle is a fine place to be…

And all our old neighbors are out workin’ you see,

It‘s not really a circle, it’s just what we got,

Either workin’ for the man, or workin’ on our lot!

 

There’s only one thing causin’ trouble for me.

Some of our drivers need a ticket or three

One of these days, someone’s gonna get hit;

Years of jail for the driver wouldn’t bother me a bit!

 

Speed bumps in our roads would be a good thing;

The more bumps the merrier unless you’re insane…

Every couple hundred feet would do it don't you know.

The speeders somewhere else would have to go!

 

Then Stella and Daddy could go for their walk,

We wouldn’t have to run, we wouldn’t have to talk,

Wouldn’t matter a bit which way we would go,

Neighbors all would smile and give a sweet “hello!”

Dog walkin', dog walkin', dog walkin', da-da-da-dah!

                  Copyright Stephen V. Geddes  05August2021   And, if anyone wants to use it, say "Lady Antebellum," (or whatever they call themselves today) tell 'em to go right ahead--so long as the customary fees are transmitted to me on, say, a monthly basis!

Weekend, again?

 

Weekend, again?  A good thing.

Well, one more time, I guess.  What's interesting is, being "retired," every day is just one more day--no time off from the nine to five for us--and that could be a problem until we come up with a foolproof method to be sure we know exactly what the day might be.  So far what I've found in the stores are items that give the date and time.  Fine, I guess, but the day of the week is what I really need to see when I awaken.  Why?  Well things are just a bit different on the weekends: different TV, different people walking down the street, different whatever.  

Walking in the morning, I am liable to see the usual bunch of older (well, "old," if that's better) people I see almost every day.  Add-ons are also there in the AM, though, there on our weekends, people who I usually see in the early evening at the end of the workday of those 5 day periods that we usually have every week.  Which, I guess, is one way a "retiree" might use to recognize the advent of that weekly weekend.   

A problem?  Not at all!  Most of us enjoy the working crew who might be up a bit earlier than we might expect, those that will be in that group will usually have a child or two in their walking group.  Those who do not walk with their children just may be the ones who will enjoy their sleep-ins after a Saturday (or Friday) night that everyone just "Loves!"  Not really a problem to we usual morning walkers, of course.  And, unless we happened to be among those who got married very early after our High School careers, this just may be something we would not have noticed at all.  “Live and learn” is a quote many if not most of us can relate to quite well.

In any case, that’s just the way it is, most weeks, anyway.

Things for my plate

 

     Every now and then, usually in the wee hours of the morning, when I seem to wake with all sorts of oh-so-important thoughts, I write things down hoping that I might be able to do something about them when the for-real AM rolls around.  Last night the following came to mind: 

 

          1)  Strip of foam

 

          2)  Writing tablets

 

          3)  Help from kids for mom and dad

 

          4)  Strip of aluminum for roof                      

          5)  Dear family and hiking books

 

          6)  TV antenna

 

          7)  Grass trimmings

 

          8)  Holley tree lower branches

 

    How’s that for a list of things to do in the morning.  Well, in retrospect, all of the items are things that need to be done.  Add to this a visit to my friend Richard’s to discuss some work he needs done next week while he visits his son in Colorado, and my day just might be a bit full. 

 

     Interestingly enough, here I am at 4 in the PM having just finished item 1, above.  Well, not exactly.  Seems my wife has problems walking because of some cartilage growths on her feet.  I just put together something that might help here, using a couple of 2-inch thick foam “soles” and a couple of socks of mine.  Now I am waiting for the glue to dry, after which I will give them to my sweetie to see if the idea had any merit.  Should know something in a couple of hours.

 

     Item 2 was easy.  Actually, I guess I was on top of things, having picked up a 67 cent writing book 4x6 by about 60 pages that I will leave next to bed with a pen.  Should give me something to write on the next time I have those nocturnal thoughts about what I need to do the next day.  No problem!!

 

     Item 3 is a bit needed for the future.  Seems the “kids” just may need a bit of help to see what help they may be to their aging parents, perhaps something they may do to keep us out of one of our old folks homes for just a bit when we get just a bit older.  Of course the “kids” currently are not all that available, since their “kids” are still at home with them and will not be away to college for several more years.  Will have to think on this just a bit.

 

     Item 4 is rather simple.  What I need is a 12” or so strip of aluminum to hang from our roof in the front.  Something we had before the fire and something we need to replace (our contractor did not think so to do) to divert water from the roof to the yard proper to keep it from causing a puddle atop our front sidewalk during rain events.  Can do, will do, probably next week.

 

      Item 5 are two books that just may be salable.  Will do—sooner rather than later will be better (or best!)

 

      Item 6 is, again, something we lost by the fire.  Need to do to improve reception from our local transmitters, which transmitters provide about 20 channels at exactly the right price.   It’s FREE!

(How much do you pay, annually, for your TV service?)

 

     Item 7, again required by my house fire, is needed to provide grass on the areas our contractor left a garbage container to use while they were “fixing” our house.  Dummies—anyone who has a similar problem, a house fire, just may want to find a contractor other than PDR to restore their building. 

 

      And, the holley tree, item 8, is one that our across-the-street neighbor provided to my dad quite a few years ago.  It was very small.  Now it’s 50 feet tall, and the lowest branches shade out the grass that used to grow under it.  Could cut it down, but our neighbor has gone along with my dad and mom to whatever afterlife we will have and I doubt he or my dad would like that.  Neither would his widow who still resides across the street.  Guess I can do this trimming myself.  I do have a pole saw that should do the job.

 

     So, how is that for waking up in the middle of the night and coming up with just a few items that need a bit of work?  Sleep isn’t supposed to bring on work, now is it?  Guess it’s just a good time for the brain to think about things I’d rather continue to put off.  Now comes the hard part. 

 

    Hah!  (Thanks, Alf!)

One more time--DC Spending make sense?

 

Does anyone in DC make sense?

In 2010 it could be said that ten years earlier the two great parties got together and came up with a compromise to provide a tax cut.  They said, let's give the people a tax cut, one that would let our economically more endowed citizens keep (tax) funds to enable them to provide jobs, grow the economy, (provide for the common welfare, etc.,) and would, at the same time, give everyone else at least a little tax relief.  This tax reduction would last for ten years, and then it would expire. 

Well, it's eleven years later and what has happened?  The jobs aren't there--many of them have been sent overseas (by those more endowed citizens?)  The economy has tanked--our government has tried to bolster it but there seems to be a lack of tax income to allow for much more from the government (those tax cuts have gone to further endow our more endowed citizens at the expense of what, our national debt?)  Our banks (and some major industries) have been saved but, while there were funds to bail them out, those same banks are unwilling to release funds to provide loans to bail out small businesses or people wanting to continue to own their own homes (they say we are a Christian nation--but the applicable Christian parable apparently does not apply to those well endowed individuals, the bankers.)  Meanwhile, while most worker pay is being cut (as are, also, many workers themselves,) CEO and upper level executive pay continues to rocket skyward (paper pushing, policy making, and deciding who to give raises to and who to fire is really hard work) and overseas accounts have become such a problem that legislation to address them has caused some to hire more overseas investment counselors to find other ways to avoid keeping that money in the USA.  Send the money overseas, send the jobs overseas, and spend more time on the seas on the yacht.

And a year ago, with the tax cuts set to expire (by law,) some said let them expire, others cried that would constitute a tax increase, and still others said a "for real" tax increase is exactly what is needed.

But wait, along came a slight problem with funding the government, one that threatened the triple-A rating of the USA, and one party said they would only agree to a resolution to permit the government to continue its operations (and at the very last minute, at that) if the other party agreed to extend the tax cuts for two more years.  Aside from the fact that this was simply blackmail, on a grand scale, a blackmail agreed to by both the blackmailers and the blackmailees, does this make any sense at all?  Why did the Republicans make such demands?  Why did the Democrats agree to those demands?  Intransigence from one side would seem to require the same from the other, or at least some modicum of mutual benefit in the resolution.

Question:  Since the tax cuts did not, in any way, shape, or form, do what they were purported to do, how is it that some expect us to believe them when they tell us what we need now is more tax cuts (and cuts in government spending, throwing countless government workers and contractors into the job market, to boot, not exactly providing more jobs and growing the economy?)  Someone must think the American People are all dolts, or worse.  That being the case, perhaps those "dolts" should speak loudly in the next general election.  And they might, if the premise "If you tell the same lie over and over, soon it will be believed to be the truth" fails to hold water--and it will fail to hold water if the American People are not, in fact, dolts.

The only thing that could cause problems with this line of thinking is the possibility that that premise about the lie might be just a bit true.  It should be remembered that the Roberts (Supreme) Court has ruled that corporations, unlike real people, may spend as much as they wish to influence elections in any way they wish.  Of course, we know how those well endowed individuals, the ones who own and/or otherwise control the large corporations in our country, will direct the funds from those corporations.  The tax cut lie, and lies supporting those who are running for election to maintain that tax cut lie, and, of course, the Big Lie that our current President is not doing his job, just might be told in advertisements on almost every web site, on almost every channel, on every TV set, and over every radio incessantly from now till the next election (try Fox News for a preview) making the message from those well endowed individuals the de-facto message of the land.  How will Mr. and Ms. Taxpayer come close to matching funds being spent by those well endowed individuals acting under the cover of their Supreme Court enabled corporations?  One man, one vote may be true, but some well endowed individuals will obviously have much, much more control than anyone else in the land when it comes to spreading their message and promoting their candidates.   

Doesn't the Constitution have provisions for recalling individuals that fail to perform their duties in reasonable manners?  Should our Supreme Court Justices, the ones who voted to enable the control of our elections by our well endowed corporation controllers, be brought to task under those provisions? 

Should they be required to step down?

If so, when?

I know one thing for sure:  If I keep spouting off like this, it will be assumed that I am a card-carrying Democrat--not the independent I claim to be.  The truth is, I maintain that claim, even while writing things like this that appear to contradict that claim. The problem is, my independent assessment is that the party of no is doing the country, as a whole, no good.  And, it appears to me that their current mantra--no taxes for the wealthy, less government for everyone--will soon be serving their masters and themselves poorly, too.  Checks and balances in government are needed.  What is not needed are terminal checks to government and interminable balances to the rich.

It is often said that the rich use their money to buy votes.  Considering campaign expense requirements, it appears some voters on the hill may also be using their votes to buy donations. Symbiosis made in political heaven, I'd say.  And, are the Republicans the only ones in this hunt?  No--they are just the most obvious.

Lieberman for President!

"Summertime, and the livin' is easy..."

 Summertime.  If you are a bit older, close to my age, you recognize this as a favorite song of many Americans.  If you are a bit younger, you may never even have heard it.  I could Google it to find out who wrote it and who first performed it, but I will leave that to any of you who might be interested.  I do know one thing--it was not performed by anyone interested in doing a dance routine with or without a background of copacetic dancers doing their act in perfect synchronization and without a single difference from one dancer to the other and, you know what?  The song was the thing we came to hear to have ourselves transported to whatever our minds might bring to the fore whenever we thought about what we would be doing in such a time, in such a place, and in such a manner as to always remember such whenever that song was performed by any of several oh-so-perfect crooners.  

Do I like what I see on TV today when people who call themselves "singers" get up and sing (I guess they are singing--I don't see how, though.  My thinking is you cannot do a gymnastic routine and come close to being able to sing all that well.  In my opinion it's one or the other--not both.)

Am I right here?  Who knows--certainly not I.

Emigrants in Texas

 

Yes, they are there, thousands and thousands of them.  What can be done?  What should be done?  What would be the best for them and, for that matter, for the United States?

 

The situation reminds me of a movie some of us may remember:  “Titanic.”  And, while the circumstances of those trying to come to America are quite a bit different, the outcomes of some are probably the same—some made it, some didn’t.  And the times certainly are a bit different.  The only thing that has not changed is the implication that America is where one should go to experience a change, and a good change at that.  And in many cases, that is what is needed. 

 

Have you seen pictures of children rummaging through a garbage pile in the hopes of finding something, just a little bit to eat, perhaps, for themselves and their families?  This wasn’t staged for some American photographer, believe me.  This is reality.  How many of those children do you suppose were brought North by others in their family in hopes of gaining the same benefits that many of our ancestors came across the Atlantic to gain so many years ago?  How many are piled up on the Mexican side of that “border wall” just looking for a way, a chance, to come across that Rio Grande and gain the life they dreamed of before they began that thousand mile (plus) journey to get here?  And, having almost made it to that place of their dreams, how many have been languishing just beyond that wall wondering what will become of that dream. 

 

Awakening can be anything but agreeable to most of these unfortunate travelers.  Is this what they deserve?

 

Every trip had two points:  A point of departure, and a point of termination.  Or so the traveler hopes.  These people, Americans all (just not North Americans, you see,) are in search of their dreams—frustrated at virtually the last few steps.  What if my ancestors had experienced a similar fate?  Would I be here today, or would one of my ancestors have carried my genes to the bottom of the North Atlantic ocean having chosen that “Titanic” as their vehicle of choice? 

 

These people deserve more from we Americans. 

 

But what?

Keeping up with the Queen

Well, what do you suppose happened today?  Let’s see: Again, up we were (I was?), around 5ish, and that being the case, that’s when the thinking kicked in. 

 

Initially, though, that “up” is just a supposition.  “Awake” would be more like it, which often is the case (you do remember where we are and what we are doing in Blogger, right?), and awake in bed, in this case, would be entirely accurate.  Never happen to you?  Well, perhaps it may be an age thing.  I wonder about Queen Elizabeth.  The TV is saying she is celebrating her 95^th!  Well, how about that?  In just a very few years (under twenty), I might be able to understand what it feels like to be able to say that myself if, of course, that is in the cards for me.  Which, if I consider my own personal family tree information, I would have to say the odds are definitely against.  As a matter of fact, I’d have to say my present seventy-six in that category is pretty good one for we “Geddi!” 

 

No problem today, though!  I wonder how long I may be able to say that and, I expect if you are anywhere near the same number as am I (and if you might enjoy that trombonish theme song from the movie, “Sound of Music”, from whence it came) or if you are just a bit over that number, I again suspect you may be able to say the same thing.  Age is one thing that is a pretty personal thing.  Follow my lead here if you don’t believe me—after you read that newspaper headline and follow up on a few articles, turn a page or three to get to those “obits.”  In addition to seeing pretty quickly if any friends happen to have left without giving you the required notice, you will see the range varies pretty extensively.  Some older, some younger, some considerably on either side, depending on where your personal profile might be taking you.  

 

Watching that TV again might tell you there are quite a few personalities who are just a bit younger than you.  I know this will be the case if you are anywhere near my personal time frame, and if not, congratulations either on your relative youth or longevity.  In any case, I hope, you may consider yourself to be blessed just a bit regardless of whichever side of this spectrum you may find yourself on. 

 

Age—it is what it is.  We all need to learn to enjoy it, whatever ours may be.  And, as for the Queen, well, at 95, she is doing fine, wouldn’t you say?

76 Trombones

 

“To everything, turn, turn, turn…

There is a season, turn, turn, turn…

And a time for every purpose under Heaven.”

 

Or so goes an old folksong (old to me, in any case,) that sometime seems to apply to me and my life as it is going today.  My everything today, though, is my thinking of another song I learned in my youth and knowing how it applies to me here in my seventy-sixth year.  

 

That other song is a bit applicable since it is the song I’ve picked out for this year, it being appropriately named “seventy six trombones” which works out quite well for me this year.  This will be the last time I use this song as my own, though, since the second line continues with “and a hundred and ten coronets right behind.”  Which, you see, probably is not a line I could ever utilize along with my age, like it or not.

 

Seventy-six is a bit more than I would ever have aspired to as a much younger man.  Men in my family have typically taken leave of such things a bit sooner than their late seventies, something I am fortunate to be able to not have followed them on.  How much longer I might be able to say this is anyone’s guess.  Feel pretty good today, in any case.  Just lucky, I guess.     

 

My seventy-seventh year, should I make it to that time, will require another song.  I guess I will have to work on that a bit.  Let’s see….

 

“Seventy-seven aardvarks sittin’ on a fence, uh huh…,

Seventy-seven…,” well, guess I could go on, plenty of things rhyme with “uh huh,” of course.  Then, again, maybe the best thing at this point would be to just drop the whole thing.

 

Yep—that’s it!  Bye for now.  (Check back in another week?) (J)

Is publicity for the perpetrators of violence a good idea?

Our media is guilty here.  And we need to let them, our media, know just how much we appreciate what they are doing in bringing story after story of this carnage by these degenerates to our attention.  Sure, tell the story but DO NOT give the degenerates what they want.  Do not give them their publicity until what you are reporting on is their execution and then, only publicize them by putting their name in print.  And do this minimally.

 And, to repeat for emphasis:

When what you get is not what you want, what do you do?  

Publicize these guys?  What were we thinking?  The more we give publicity to “perps” who have done these terrible things, these killings of as many as they can, the more we will find who will do the same hoping to get the same publicity for themselves. 

What we need to be doing is publicizing the acts without giving the actual perps the publicity that THEY want. 

 As long as we give these people what they want, the more killings we will have.  Sure, give their names, but only when publicizing their executions.  And, only the names and where they lived.  No photos of these sickos.  Only the names AND only after they are sent to THEIR maker!

 

Here we go again!

 Interestingly enough, I do believe I need this, numero Deux, blog.  It just seems easier to continue on with ideas of all sorts by allowing the initial morningbrain to end with the first hundred posts.  Could be the problem is with me not knowing how to lengthen the blog beyond 100 posts, and if that is the case, guess maybe I need to learn a bit more about Blogger.  For now, though, think I'll use both blogs--Morningbrain (the first) for ideas I had up to the time I felt I needed "Deux," and "Deux" for the more current additions in thought.  Weird, right?