State Fair

I went to the fair today. I have a food list for the fair with "A" selections and "B" selections. Every year, I eat a polish sausage with onions and peppers, followed by a pineapple whip. If I have time [I mean, if I stay long enough], I also have a funnel cake and some roasted almonds. I also have an "A" list for events. I go see the animals and the commercial exhibits.
I spent a lot of time today watching people. I noted a lot more young kids than before. I wonder if the economy or the day was to blame. I did notice that people are much nicer than at previous fairs. Families were friendly and all the vendors I met were the same way.
We used to go with bacon and tomato sandwiches; early to beat the regular prices; and visit all the free stuff. We would sign up for every thing and then spend the next six months dodging window salesmen. Now. just to get in and park costs more than we used to spend all day long. The fair is still a window to the real Kentucky. Not only the animals and the hams, but the people looking for a good time[cheaply] in hard times. Go if you can.

Pick up trucks and bikers

Everyone has driven a pickup truck; either you've owned one or borrowed one to move dorm furniture, or mattresses, or storm damage. There is something about a truck that I like. First is the seating position; you're up high and you can see down the road. A truck should be driven slower than a car. The windows should be open; air conditioning is OK for a car but seems sort of out of place for a truck. A truck causes you to be patient; take your time; and allow others the same.
Today, I drove a truck. Borrowed Sonny's pickup and cleaned out a storage unit. Took a painting home; took another to Hay's auction; took a mattress to DAV only to learn that they didn't want it. Took the mattress to the dump site .
In the course of all my driving, and driving slower than usual [as suitable for driving a truck] I noticed some fine examples of bike riders in our fair city. Let me say at the outset, they deserve part of the road. They deserve the bike lanes carved out for them throughout the city. Having said that, let me talk about what bike riders do the undermine that sympathy. The first two bike riders approached a traffic light and promptly drove through a red, apparently because they could. Having a red and darting through the intersection is an accident waiting to happen. The third bike rider appeared at third and Broadway. Waiting to turn from Broadway to third, I sat with my blinker on. When the left turn light came on, I looked in my rear view mirror to see a spandex-clad, helmeted mike rider, passing me on the left, by riding the wrong way in the center of the east bound lane. If I haven't glanced in my rear view mirror [a usually unnecessary action when making a left turn] I would have run over the bike rider. So, why do people drive by bike riders and shout. or even throw things? I wonder if it is because they flaunt the rules of the road so blatantly. Are they all guilty? No, of course not, but a few can ruin it for the many. The fourth rider I encountered was going south on 3rd street and he suddenly darted from the bike lane into mine. Of course, the reason he swerved was a man and a woman, jogging in the bike lane, the wrong way on a one way street.
Did I get angry at any of these bike riders? Of course not; I was driving a pick up truck!

ice cream and impossible promises

Met 4 out of 5 siblings to day at Rocky's. Short drive to Widow's Walk for ice cream. Nice Saturday.
Face book debates seem to jump from the issues to the past. I worry about the burden we are putting on the next generation; the erosion of the values of our country; and the slide toward socialism. rather than discuss those issues, liberals seem to want to invoke "Bush" as justification for dismantling a way of life. Yes, Bush was not the ideal president, but then neither was Carter, or Taft, or any number of past mistakes, both Republican and democrat. I find it interesting the the President's popularity poll numbers are lower then Clinton's when he was being impeached.
Even the most die hard Dem will admit that we are undergoing a drastic change in America; we part company in that I am concerned while others seem indifferent. They are willing to accept any cost for change. Will be be able to continue the bailouts by borrowing money from China? They already own more to them then we have ever owed anyone before.
I honestly hope that all this works. I hope that the Banks repay all the bailout money; that the Auto Industry survives and repays all the bailouts; and that universal health care is free and well-managed. I hope. I hope the He can do all this and not tax anyone making under $250,000 a year. In three years, we will have a reality check. Right after we pay the 2011 federal taxes. This is not to "save" me money: I live on a fixed income; enjoy social security; and have a government-run, single payer health plan. In 3 years, we will know.

, Rain. go awayFinally got all the doctors in the same place and consensus is that I am in the same [cardiac] condition I was after my by-pass surgery in 2001. I guess I have No excuses now. In fact, I'm cutting out one drug for a month to see the effects.
I sat in the Dr.'s office and watched the rain, safe on the third floor. I know it rained almost 6" in one hour and it was the 100 year storm. No system could be designed to handle that much water, particularly after a week of soaking rains. Hundreds of homes and cars found themselves under water, full of raw sewage and no one knows what else. The clean-up will take months.

Sarah goes to stay with Rob and Cassie and the twins are spending Saturday night with us. Bill and Brenda will be alone. good time for a prank call although you do so at your own risk.

Obama's ratings are lower today than Clinton's was when he was being impeached. This is 200 days into his term. I wonder if he will be a one-term president or will he be able to persuade the American people that all of this is good for us?

Good news on the stock market: 5 more years of increases at this rate and I'll be where I was in 2007.

I am not a bank; don't own a clunker; and have yet to feel any stimulus.