Monday, November 19, 2012

It Was The Weekend Before Thanksgiving...




...and all I did was work, so sorry I haven't posted anything.  I plan to post a Thanksgiving one shortly.

Above are two folks I am very thankful to call my children.  (Can't you tell?  They look alike, then both look like me!  LOL)

To tide you over, check out some of my previous posts on the Index by Topic page.  The Top Ten list that runs down the side of this is out of kilter because I have had many, many new readers in the last few months (another thing for which I'm very thankful!  Bless you!)  Please go to the index for links to the posts below:)

A few of my favorites on the humor side (in no particular order):

"Harley & Me-- The Story of A Girl and Her Hog"

"Ask A Stupid Question..."

"Does Anyone Know Of A Shady Park Bench With WI-FI?"

Crash Test Dummy Series

"On Your Mark, Get Set, OH No!"

"Out Of The Mouths of Babes"

In case I can't make the post before Thanksgiving, here's wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving!  See you at 4:30 a.m. on Black Friday @ Lowe's!

Until next time,
Gale

PS:  It probably wouldn't hurt to read the "Be Kind To Salesperson" post either LOL!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Election Post-Mortem: Elation and "Much Ado About Nothing?"

(Welcome!  If you are new to The 'Creek, be sure to check out a variety of posts at the Index By Topic in the upper right corner!  Also there is a 2016 post! Enjoy!)


Tuesday Night, November 6, 2012 at 9:30 p.m. (waking up from a 20 minute nap with the election report on TV as it literally put me to sleep):

I stood with the millions of Americans (and children crying on You-Tube) begging for an end to the election.  It couldn't come soon enough.  Tonight is (almost) as exciting as Christmas Eve except I'm not staying up late and I know that the gift will be peace (if not on Earth, at least on the airwaves, phones, internet (especially Facebook) and in my mailbox.)  I got rid of my landline and the house was blissfully quiet after that.  But, at the end of the day, all of the notable races ended up with the incumbents winning, so why did we bother?  I'm hoping it was at least a wake up call for them that they had better get on the ball!  I fear it will just wind up being the status quo.

I am deeply grateful to have a DVR, which I use to zip through the commercials, but there were so many that even fast forwarding them I still was overwhelmed.  It seems they start advertising earlier every election.  By the time they've torn each other apart, I know (if it's even true) way more than I care to know and am not sure any of them will be any count.  Aside from the presidential race, we in Ohio had a nasty U. S. Senate race.    As you may have heard a few million times, Ohio was the biggest "jewel" in the race crown, so we were bombarded with campaign stops, commercials, calls, etc.  NBC news reported there were 40,129 (presidential only) TV ads in Ohio since October 1st.  Talk about "battleground fatigue!"  Apparently both sides had a lot of money.

Speaking of which, NBC reported that Obama and Romney's camps spent around $900 million.  Well, apparently someone in this economy has money!  Those who wax poetic about how awful that is and that the money would've gone so far to help the poor, yada yada... Number 1--That money wouldn't have gone there anyway.  There's not a default mechanism for that in campaign spending that I know of. 

Number 2--The money spent could be thought of as an economic boost to several industries such as food, lodging (candidates, staff, reporters), transportation, broadcast stations advertising income, printers for all of the propaganda and so on...

BTW, Obama did nothing wrong by using Air Force One to get around the campaign trail.  That is a presidential perk that every one of them has used and it's a perfectly legal benefit for the incumbent (perhaps annoyingly expensive to the taxpayers.)  Who really wants that job anyway?  They all (except Reagan and Bush #41) were young-looking in the beginning, then gray-haired by the end of their terms!  (Bush #41 and Reagan started out old, only Reagan must have had a huge supply of hair dye:)

I am impressed that so many folks went out and voted.  Many, many have died for that right and it is our duty to participate.  In my precinct there were lots of people, but no wait.  It went very smoothly.

Well, off of my red, white and blue soapbox.  I now look forward to endless holiday ads to replace the campaign ones....

Until next time,
Gale



Saturday, November 3, 2012

This Gale's Storm Thoughts...

Hello,

I hope this post finds my Eastern Seaboard friends safe and well.   I send my thoughts and prayers to those who have suffered great losses in "Frankenstorm Sandy's" path.  I certainly don't want to minimize its devastating effects on many lives.   I promise not to get "windy," but a few things caught my attention that I would like to vent on.

It was the worst of times, it was the best of times:  My husband Mark made a post on Facebook as he was delivering generators and supplies to NJ and other potentially damaged areas last weekend.  He said he saw what makes the USA a great place to live.  There was convoy after convoy heading East to get staged for the aftermath, as well as busloads of folks and supply trucks.  The weather was already getting crappy and Mark got the call at 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening to leave immediately and drive without sleep 10 hours.  Believe me, he (and they) didn't do it for the money.  Nobody was going to get rich fighting the wind, rain and cold.

I applaud all of the folks there helping their neighbors and the agencies and private citizens who are on the ball donating what is needed.  Those power crews are gonna be working insane hours for a long time.  Not to mention those trying to keep the peace, pumping out water or trucking supplies in to crucial spots.  I hope the complaining doesn't get them down because you will never please everyone.  I kind of feel sorry for President Obama because he was accused of using the storm for political purposes by going and doing what a sitting President is supposed to do.  If he hadn't gone to survey the damage and meet the local officials, they would have said he wasn't doing his job because he was more concerned about the election.

So, now is where I will vent.  Since it was all that was on TV, I watched several stations report on the impending storm.  There were newscasters hanging onto trees, beach piers and standing in the middle of the street with water up to their knees in mandatory evacuation areas, perhaps not setting a good example in safety.  There was a guy dressed as Santa running around Battery Park giving interviews as to why he was doing that (I still didn't get it) and off of Coney Island, there were people bobbing in the water apparently surfing as folks were to be leaving.

There was what, a week of warning?   So, why were some people still not prepared?  I am not talking about the elderly and ill.  Just regular folks.  Generators, batteries, non-perishable food items, clothes, water, etc. are sold all year around, but people wait until an impending disaster to get them creating long lines and/or shortages (if they even go get them then.  I believe in miracles too, but in this case I would hedge my bet by getting supplies.)   When authorities tell them to evacuate, some people are bound and determined not to leave their house.  Duh.  These people put our first responders in harm's way to save them unnecessarily.  I heard the governors told them not to expect to be rescued until after it's over.  Good.  I think they should be fined if they have to be rescued even then.  They didn't obey the law.

Their excuses run from "I want to protect my house"--really?  If a wave, tree. barge, (in this case, possibly roller coaster/ferris wheel) or whatever hits your house, how is your being there gonna stop it???  to "I can't leave my animals"--sorry, I have several animals and used to run a kennel.  Never have more animals then you can evacuate without anyone's help and have a plan.  We have a crate for every pet.  Getting them out before is a heck of a lot easier then in a canoe later.  (IF they will take you...)

I am stunned that the captain and crew of that Disney ship would attempt to sail around a storm that was 900 miles wide at one point to sail down to FL.  It wasn't even a modern vessel, but a copy of a sailing ship used in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.  Probably not a technological marvel.  Why?

The moral of this post is "Don't Mess With Mother Nature!  She always wins."  Our house was a direct hit from an albeit small tornado a few years ago.  We were very fortunate as we were safe even though we had no idea it was coming at 5 a.m. on a Sunday.  But that was quite a wake-up call to take weather seriously.

They say nature is unpredictable, but hurricane season comes every year, followed by blizzard season, then tornado season, then fire season.  So we might as well get used to it and be prepared.

Stay safe until next time,
Gale