Things I Didn't Do

Listening to a friend talk about all the things they do when they travel got me to thinking about my aversion to partake in the usual tourist activities. I’ve never been a touristy person, preferring to see the countryside instead of the designated pay-to- view places.

Here are a few things I didn’t do in places with lots of things to see and do…though I suppose I should have done some of them.

I lived in Western Washington for 30 years and never once made a trip to the ocean, or rode a ferry boat. If not for carting visitors around, I might never have ridden the elevator to the top of the Space Needle, or cruised the Pike Place Market. Eating fish and chips at Ivar’s and feeding the gulls is far more fun than fighting crowds at those other places.

I lived in the Dallas area for ten years and never visited the Texas Book Depository. As best I can recall, I only entered downtown Dallas once, and that was one time too many. I like Fort Worth, but Dallas is not for me. Eating a chicken fried steak in the stockyards easily beats the heck out of dodging the nutty Dallas traffic.

I spent four days in Orlando a couple of years ago, and never saw Disney World or any of the other theme parks. Didn’t even drive by. Take that, Mickey!

Visited San Francisco and didn’t see either the Golden Gate Bridge, or Alcatraz, though I guess they were somewhere out there in the fog. A few minutes strolling among the fruits and nuts in cold, gloomy, foul-smelling, downtown San Francisco had me more than anxious to leave town.

I recently spent three days in Nashville and didn’t visit the Grand Old Opry, or even enter the downtown area. Forty-nine years ago, before the confusing freeways were built, I drove by the original Grand Old Opry in the middle of the night. I wasn’t impressed then, so I didn’t think I’d be impressed now.

Drove right by the Clinton Library in Little Rock and didn’t even take the van off cruise control. It was early afternoon, and there were two cars in the parking lot, so apparently I wasn’t the only one unimpressed by the monument to the lecherous felon from Arkansas.

Spent 30 months in Europe and never left Germany…but that was partly because my security clearance made travel difficult. I did get to the top of the highest mountain in Germany, from which you could see mountains in seven countries, and that was all I cared to see of them.

I suppose some folks would be terribly disappointed to have been to those places and not taken in all the sights, but I don’t feel I’ve missed anything. I guess I don’t hear the same tunes everyone else does, or if I do, I’m not in step.

Tax Time is Around the Corner

Haven’t had much time to blog lately, as I’m trying to catch up on a bunch of long delayed projects around the house. Between building the last couple of kitchen cabinets and trying to organize the garage, I’m also getting our financial records ready to file income tax.

By this time next month, I’ll be chained to the computer, working with Tax Cut, and trying to figure out the confusing income tax rules. I’d really rather take a beating, but when I recall how an accountant overcharged us last time, I’ll do my best to struggle through it one more time. Since Judy retired from her Realtor career last year, it shouldn’t be quite as bad as it’s been in the past.

I guess I could be like our new Treasury Secretary and wing it...to our financial benefit, of course. If a tax cheat can be in Obama’s cabinet, I shouldn’t have any problem. Yeah, right! A few years ago, I made a mistake on a return and the $75 I shorted the IRS had to be paid immediately, plus a penalty of $35. Obama’s guy owed thousands, but apparently got by just paying the overdue tax.

Last year I had a problem identifying where and how one source of income should be entered on the 1040, so I called the Fort Worth IRS office. The answer I got just didn’t sound right, so I called again and talked to another “expert”. He gave me a different answer, but something still didn’t seem right, so I called a third person and he gave me yet another answer. If the IRS employees can’t understand the tax code well enough to give good instructions, I don’t know how they can expect normal taxpayers to figure it out.

Fog

The only things missing tonight are the London Bridge and Jack the Ripper. It’s foggy, cold and eerily quiet. No wind, no moon and the lights in the houses across the street are a gloomy yellow and barely visible. I was outside earlier and the absolute stillness gave me the creeps. Wait!...did I just hear the fog-muffled sound of leather heels clicking on cobblestones? Why did the dogs just run for the house?

A Short Civics Lesson

We often hear that the government of the United States referred to as a Democracy and then when you point out that it's a Republic, some will accuse you of nitpicking. They are not the same, and this little video does a great job of explaining the differences.

Our Government

The Aloe Vera is Croaking!

No,it’s not dying…seriously, it's actually croaking!

For several mornings, just at sunrise, I’ve heard a strange, squawking noise while I’m in the office surfing the Net. I attributed it to some unidentifiable bird in the big tree outside, so I didn’t pay much attention to it. This morning, I happened to be standing near the aloe plant that resides in a big pot on the dining room table when I heard a loud croak emanate from inside the plant. When I checked, I saw a medium sized toad crawl back under one of the leaves and attempt to hide.

I brought this plant in from the patio before the first frost last November, so it’s been sitting on the table since then. I guess the toad hopped into the pot and burrowed into the soil while it was outside. Except for a few spiders and a lady bug or two, I haven’t seen any bugs in the house, so he must have been awfully hungry after two months inside.

There are a couple of huge flower pots on the patio that are empty except for dirt and a few leaves that have blown in since I took the flower bulbs out last fall. Well, that’s now his new home. Nothing much to protect him from above, but it’s the best I could do. The temperature reached 78F today, and there were a few bugs out and about, so he probably found lunch under the leaves.

Last summer, we discovered a chameleon in an artificial plant hanging on the wall. I have no idea how he got in the house, but I hope no other wild critters find a way to let themselves in. Two years ago, we had a copperhead in the house, so we’ve had our share of uninvited visitors.

A few years ago, I wrote a story about a toad that sat by our back door every night. The story was published in the local paper as a guest feature. I'll see if I can find it one of these days.

Not Everyone Loves a Parade

I didn’t watch the swearing-in today, but I did spend some time watching the parade. I actually felt sympathy for those in the reviewing stand who had to stick around in the cold for a parade that lasted about four times as long as it should have.

Forgive my insensibility, but fire trucks belong in a small town parade, not the inauguration parade. We’ve all seen them…many times. There must have been twenty of them today, and bleating air horns don’t excite me. Carpenters don't take their belt sanders to a parade, nor do loggers fire up their chain saws. Ban fire trucks and marching firefighters. Ditto for any group that plays the bagpipes.

High school bands desiring to attend should be judged by a panel of judges with the gall of Simon Cowell, and only the best five in the country get to enter the parade.

All college bands wearing oversized furry hats or gold lamé pants should be banned from attending. That would eliminate several of today’s participants, and give our eyes a rest from institutionalized bad taste in fashion.

The parade should have one band each from the president’s and vice-president’s home town, and the rest of the parade should be made up of the winning high school and college bands, plus marching units and bands from the five military branches.

That would reduce the parade to about the right size, and it would give the president time to go home and take a nap before making his appearance at all the inaugural balls.

One last thing. Any band director who makes his band play “We shall overcome”, as they pass the reviewing stand, should be neutered.

A Suggestion for Obama

Now that we are about to swear in the first African American President of the United States, the fears, expectations and questions about what he wants to do, and what he can do, are running rampant. The Internet forums buzz with speculation, and everyone I talk to eventually gets around to discussing the issue.

I expect that President Obama and I will be diametrically opposite on nearly everything political, but I’m hopeful that we can walk arm in arm on a few social issues. He’s in a unique position to do wonderful things for the country if he can keep his ego controlled and his left wing supporters at bay. If he can set a positive example for young black men, and convince them to follow, it will do far more good for the country than any legislation he signs.

In a culture where more children are born to unmarried women than to married women, if his example of being a father to his two girls makes even a small percentage of young black men realize they have responsibilities to their children, imagine the effect it would have on generational welfare and the crime problem.

If dressing neatly becomes the fashion for young blacks to emulate, the entire country will benefit. How I’d love to see those baggy pants, unlaced shoes, and sloppy team jerseys disappear, to be replaced by clothing that fits. Maybe he could even wear a baseball cap now and then, to show that the way it’s designed to be worn is with the bill pointed forward.

If Obama continues his derision of rap and hip-hop, perhaps the gangsters will be purged from modern music and talent once again rewarded. Blacks have always set the country’s musical trends, but how could you ever compare the drivel they call music today with the work of Nat King Cole, The Platters, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Pride, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Ray Charles, and Marian Anderson, or hundreds of other talented black performers.

If Obama can convince black children that an education is the best path to success, what a difference it will make in our schools and our labor force.

Yes, the new president can do for his country something that no white president could ever do for minorities...he can lead by example. America proved that while racism might not be dead, it’s no longer able to prevent anyone from reaching the highest office in the land. Let’s hope he can rise to the challenge and focus on the good he can accomplish, and not waste time pandering to the extreme demands of the left.