Meet you at Connie's, No More.

Another old time Sandpoint business
closed it's doors. Yes, I am sure some
day down the road, another new and
so called improved Connie's or some
other name, will open. But it just won't
be the same.

Those of us who have lived here for years,
knew of two places in town where you could
find your friends. Where you could say, I will
meet you at.... _ _ _. That was at Harold's
IGA cafe or Connie's. Both were like Cheer's
bar. Where everyone knew your name.

The waitresses would work there for up to 30
years. Many of them. And a few who were
in and out as high school students. So it
was a training for our youth.

Harold's IGA cafe, closed about 2 years ago,
and a steel building is raising in its place.
So the regulars shifted to Connie's. Along
with the regulars at Connie's. Some use to
travel between the two of them. Now there
isn't any in the downtown area that makes
you feel like home like the two of them.

There is one restaurant who will probably
catch the left overs, but to many it won't be
the same. That is the 5th Ave.

Connie's and the bar, will be greatly missed.
It was walking distance for every where and
everyone. You went to the theater, shopped
downtown during the holidays, after the parade.
You always met back up at Connie's.

So pardon us old timers of yesteryear, who
mourn the death of another home feeling
business, that I am sure will make way
for another "new and improved" place.
GOOD BYE, another piece of Sandpoint.

Life is rarely fair

Update.... the site I had listed has been removed.. so went to get it, and all I could get was the comment on it...which gives the idea anyway.
That $155 million house
By IR Staff - 01/30/07
Back another lifetime ago, when Valley Girl speak was way cool, the response to the $155 million house being built at the exclusive Yellowstone Club would have been automatic: “Gag me with a spoon.”Pure silver, of course.The 10-bedroom house, said by Forbes Magazine to be the most expensive home publicized on the market in the world, is being constructed by billionaire developer Tim Blixseth. It will be 53,000 square feet with a heated driveway, wine cellar, indoor/outdoor pool, and a ski lift that can be boarded inside the house.A common complaint about American society in recent years has been the ever-growing disparity between the very rich and the rest of us. If that is “class warfare,” well, guess who is winning.“You can’t believe the number of people interested in this thing,” Blixseth said. “And the guys who are calling aren’t going to have to borrow any money.”Blixseth is calling his spec project on a secluded and scenic site between Pioneer Mountain and Lone Peak near the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area “The Pinnacle.” A well-chosen name, don’t you think?


At this site you can go see a house
that is for sale for 155 MILLION DOLLARS!

It has a heated pool, heated driveway and
you can even be lifted from your home to
the slopes to go skiing. It has 10 bedrooms.
If you go to the site you can read all about
it. And it isn't in Palm Beach or Palm Springs.
It is in Bozeman, Montana.
It is even more expensive than Donald Trump's
home that he has for sale in Florida.

I am sure those who look ..wonder what
wages can you make to be able to afford
this. The builder says he has inquiries that
don't have to have payments.

I think first of all, I wouldn't want to have
to clean that house. But if I could afford
155 MILLION DOLLARS. I could afford
a maid.

But even more, it makes my heart ache.
I think of the families who are homeless.
Families with children. Families who work,
but the wages are too low for rent.
I think of the gluttony of having a 155 MILLION
DOLLAR home. One home. For one family.
When that money would buy 1550 families or
more, each a home. That is more families than some
towns have people.

I know the old saying of the Rich get Richer
and the Poor get Poorer. But this shows it
is reality. Sad, very sad...

It does one's heart good to read about
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Gates, they put their
money where their mouth is. God bless
them and all those they help. At least
there are some who will step up to the
plate.

Some things in life just leave you going...HUH?

In the paper this Sunday, a writer
Bert Caldwell, in the Business
section, wrote about the phone
company. Well, actually it was
about legislation to do with the
phone company. What we all
call land lines. Not Cell.

Seems it has been introduced
to Congress (both sides) to have
the companies raise rates to
more and 1/3 in the next 5 years.
THEN, after that, the companies
would be free to raise rates with
no say so from the state's
Utilities and Transportation
Commissions.

It seems the phone companies are
feeling the pinch of the cell phones
and the internet phone service. Which
I can understand that. I know several
who have dumped their land line for
cell. Even family members have been
considering this. But..............

What has my logical head shaking
is....
you are getting less customers,
so you raise the rates.....

Does that make sense to you?
Sure doesn't to me. Do they want
the rest to go to cell phones? One
would think you would lower rates, so
people would come back and those
considering dropping... would stay.

But that is just my own humble opinion.

BRR....COLDDDDDDD

Life's Tiny Moments

One of my favorite books is,
Five People you meet in Heaven.
It is a great book. If you haven't
read it, you should. It is a quick small
book. It is about 5 people who interact
in your life, that you aren't aware of, or
forget until you meet them in Heaven.
Each important, yet slight part.

Today, I read in the paper of a passing
of one of those type of people. This man
over the years, and many of them at that,
made me smile, informed me of trivial
of information. From time to time, I would
be in a place where his writings were not
in the paper. And always a great joy when
I would find him again. His articles were
very short. Take seconds to read. But always
added a plus to my day.

God Bless and rest in Heaven, L.M. BOYD.

Cafeteria Party

As I read the paper, I see there are going
to be a lot of choices for the Cafeteria Party
this election year. We have all kinds of people
lined up.

We, of the Cafeteria Party, like variety.
We have many throwing in their hat,
one woman so far. One black man, one
Latino, and the door is still open.

So this should be interesting. And some
like the idea of having a American Idol like
television program for all of them to perform
their ideas for all of us to see. And vote on.
After all we have some time to do all of this.
And if we could weed thru them like the
American Idol in 6 months, then that would
make a short election year. Now that would
be worth it for sure.

Onward, CAFETERIA PARTY!!

New Television Program

I have got it... an great idea of
a show on television. It would
combine the best of two boring
shows. Or exciting depending on
how you look at them.

It would be showed for 6 months, every
4 years. It would be a combo of
the Presidential debates between
all of the people who throw their
hats in to the ring to be president.
And the American Idol show.

All the parties would put their
people who throw in their name to
be President. Then we would have
them do try outs. We would have
judges like Molly Ivins and Rush Limbaugh
and a guest judge. They would
run them thru each week. Then we would
vote on them by text message and online.
Until they get down to just 2 on each party.

And those are the ones we vote for. None of
this boring stuff... Oh, sure ..go ahead and
criticize my idea...you got a better idea??

STATE of the UNION

State of the Union is the name
of the speech. Every year the
President gives a speech, which
sounds like... blah blah blah blah,
to most of us. And then we get a
half hour after of telling us what
the President said. The news people
and the opposite party gives us their
version of it.

The speech is given to tell us what
the President is proud to have done
so far, and what he proposes to do
in the following year. The things he is
proud to have done is punctuated with
people in the audience who have some
thing to do with what he has done. And
of course, the usual applause. Which I
always wondered, do they have an applause
sign like the actors have?

The proposals of what is to come, seems
like it rarely does get done. It all sounds
good, kind of like political races every 4
years. Promises that end up broken.

But this year... State of the Union.
What is the state of our Union??
As we read daily about our troops
dying. As each one gets a little
closer to home. This week, having
one from Spokane and one from
Post Falls.. it is hard to listen to
the President brag about the good
he has done. It will be hard to listen
to him tell us why he feels like sending
21,000 more men and women over there.

This is not a war, this is a policing situation.
We rarely win a policing situation.
War is where we go over, and do hand to
hand combat, we bomb towns, until the
enemy gives up. We have been in wars
where the enemy value life. This is not
a nation that value life...only afterlife.

When explaining how this policing is
done to friends and family, I refer it to
being like sending you into a crowd of
tens of thousands, with camouflage clothing
on, with your gun, and figuring how
who is the terrorist. But only
1/10 is terrorist. And they are
dressed just like everyone else

So let us all hope that the powers that
be, can come up with a solution that
will protect our troops, and bring them home.

Legal Mafia?

I saw in the paper where they
want to make sure these payday
loan stores don't charge anymore
for interest than they do for the
servicemen.

I was horrified by the percent they wanted
to lower it. That was 36%.

My shock came from the fact I was raised
with Mafia in our state.
We had loan sharks. And that was not legal.
Also there was a Mafia run game called
Numbers. Usually each bar had some one
where you could place a bet on a series
of 3 numbers. That was also illegal.

Things sure have changed... because
Numbers sure sounds like Lottery run by the state.
And loan sharks sure sounds like PayDay Loan Stores.

Inside weekend

The cat and I have been playing hide and seek... do you think she will see me up here in the King's lap?



Doesn't look like a good day for ourside......

Where is that dog? Oh, Misty .....

Misty, you aren't suppose to be playing... you are suppose to be looking for me... (I'm in the box behind you)

Just a blurry day....................

Winter time again or still...

Mystery of Night Snow

TICKET TO RIDE????

Life is a Wonderment

You know the routine. If you have
flown anywhere in the past 6 years,
and several times.. you know what
to do.

First as you head to the security
gate, you have to show your ticket
to some one of authority. Proving
that you have the right to go thru
the security gates.

Second, put your coat in the container,
then take off your shoes, put them
in there too. If you have a purse, it
goes in there to. You are down to just
your underwear, shirt and pants, and socks
and ticket.

Next you put your change and wallet in
the round container. Send it all thru the
X-ray machine as you are going thru
the metal detector. Hoping you and
your containers arrive at the end of the
conveyor belt at the same time. And if
you set off a alarm on the metal detector,
then the magic wand is run all over your
body.

And that is way before you even
get to the area where the boarding
gate is. Then to get on the plane,
you give your ticket to the airline
employee.. who runs it thru the
bar on the machine, before you go
on the plane. This is all thanks to the
Homeland Security System. The
system that is to protect us. We
have even had people have to deplane,
because someone has run thru
the security area without being check.
Spending another hour having everyone
go thru again.

YET...YET...LADIES AND GENTLEMEN...
A 9 YEAR OLD...YES, A 9 YEAR OLD...
was able to go thru all of this WITHOUT
a ticket, without an adult. Tells them he
is 12 years old, and they believe him.
There is no adult in sight to hand him
over to the airlines. He goes thru security
like hair thru a fine tooth comb.....and get
this Ladies and Gentlemen....NO ONE...
NOT ONE PERSON...questions this kid.
He just tells them, he was the one with the
ticket they just announced. Excuse me, but
the rest of us have a paper ticket of some kind.
The child DOESN'T have a TICKET

He not only made it thru the Spokane
International Airport, but he also success
in getting thru an Arizona airport. Again
with out ticket... and makes it to San
Antonia, Texas. Before some one FINALLY
question this kid's lack of ticket, lack of
an adult.

Now, I don't know about you....but I don't know
if I should be laughing my head off at our taxes
and Homeland Security being blown... ... or should
I be scared?

Time...we never seem to have Enough

It seems we never have enough time..
but then there are other times..that time
drags on. Waiting, sure drags time..

But today, I got 3 envelopes with, of
course, the spring time ads of whatever.
Printed on the outside of the envelope is
the message of concern and urgency....

LIMITED TIME OFFER!!
and two with the words of....
TIME-SENSITIVE INFORMATION ENCLOSED.

You know these are just words to get
you to open the envelope and fall into
the wonderful world of money. Wanting
yours, of course. 2 were credit cards,
the other was a charity. Of course, they
feel you must be close to getting your
tax refund, so let's put in for the money
early... send us your money..

Yep, right!! Either that, or they know
something about how much time I
have left...and they want the money
before I go... Nah...lol

One of my Pet Peeves

I am a champion of education. I
don't care how old you are... if you
can further yourself with more classes,
go for it.

But I got to tell you, listening to my
daughter explain about her new class
has surely got me shaking my head.

You see I have a button that says:
"If you think education is expensive,
Try Ignorance"

Well, I am here to tell you, education
is damn well expensive. My daughter
is taking a class to do with Excel.
Cost of class? $385.
Cost of books for class? $185.
That is dang near $600, and that is
just so far. And this is an online
class. What in heavens name
cost so much?

This is no teacher coming out in
the winter weather to teach the
class after hours. This is no teacher
to answer quick questions. This is
no heat for the building that the class is in.

It is just a teacher who post the
lessons for all. Answer questions
when ever they look at the questions.
Sends out the questionaire, and gets
the answers back.

I could live with the $185 for the
books, but almost $400 for a class?

And people get upset with me when I
say we need more AFFORDABLE
(there goes that word again) price
education. Let's not get excited about
swimming pools, and videos and etc.
for clubs. Let's get education clubs.

Because these prices are surely for
the rich. And this is for ONE CLASS.
God help the ones who take 3 or 4.

No New Ideas?

Life seems to be in reruns..
We just came off a month of
reruns on television. Which will
come back again after the February
sweeps.

Then we have the reruns of movies.
What the first movies weren't made
well enough? About 6 or 8 rerun movies
came out of Hollywood in the past 2 years.
Among them..Rocky, Casino Royale and
Charlotte's Web.. then you have the movies
of number 3 or 4 and etc.

I was at the grocery store today and saw
in the "NEW" section of the paper backs..
The Omen, and Son (about Kevin Coe) and
a few others... These books are 20 or more
years old.

Don't we have any new ideas? We have to
rerun the old?

We need Civil Rights

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY.....

When I was growing up in R.I. we didn't
seem to have racial problems. I am sure
there were some type of racial classification,
but growing up, I wasn't aware of them.

In school, we had blacks. We had friends
who were black. My mother use to leave us with
a black lady, who was a fantastic cook. Still
can almost smell the great smells of entering
her home.

But when I went to stay with my grandfather,
in Florida, it was different. He had a lady who
cleaned his house once a week. Her name
was Mildred. She was a no nonsense type
of a woman, but very nice. So I went to
entered the bus, I saw her there.
I went to sit in the seat next to her. As we
visited while she worked at my grandfather's
and became friends.

What happen next, totally shocked me.
She got the look of almost terror as I start
to sit. Of which the bus stopped. And the
bus driver yelled at me. He told me I couldn't
sit there. I asked why, while she was telling
me, almost pleading with me, to do as the bus
driver says. She said she would explain next
time she came to my grandfather's house. That
I would get her in trouble. I stood up quickly,
because I surely didn't want her to get in trouble.
I went to the front of the bus as I was directed to
do so.

It was later, at my grandfather's house, she told me
that whites sit in the front of the bus and blacks
sit at the back. I asked her why, and she said, that
is just the way it is in the south. She also told me
about eating at counters and using public bathrooms.

As I went downtown Miami (my grandfather lived in
Miami Beach), I saw the signs that said "White Only".
And read in the paper how Louie Armstrong was not
allowed to stay at the very hotel that he was performing
at. See all black people had to be out of Miami Beach
by 7 p.m. unless they had a special permit for that
night to be serving food at private homes or such.

This was quite a surprise to a Northern gal, who treated
the blacks like anyone else. Who sat in a restaurant
across from our high school, drinking Coke and laughing,
with her black friends. Yes, this was quite a shock.
The year was 1958 and I was not quite 18.

Dinner with the Cat?

What do you mean, I'm not invited to dinner... here is my plate.

Baby, its cold out side...

It is way too cold to go out.... I think I will just nap in this nice warm area.

Just for Fun

I got this in the email.... and it was just for
fun..... so I figured I would throw it out there
for you.... you don't have to answer..but just
do it for yourself... it brought back a few memories.
If you are a blogger, maybe you can do one too..for fun.


Just for the fun of it - place an X by all the things you've done,
or remove the X from the ones you have not!
(x )Smoked a cigarette
( X ) Drank so much you threw up
(x) Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back
( ) Been arrested
(x) Gone on a blind date
(x) Skipped school
(x ) Watched someone die
(x) Been to Canada
( x ) Been to Florida
(x) Been to Mexico
(x) Been on an airplane
(x) Been lost
(x) Been on the opposite side of the country
( ) Gone to Washington, DC
( x ) Swam in the ocean
(x ) Felt like dying
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Recently colored with crayons
( ) Sang karaoke
(x) Paid for a meal with only coins
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(x) Made a prank phone call ... (but not since I was 8 years old)
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( x ) Danced in the rain - and the snow
( x ) Written a letter to Santa Clause
( x ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
( x ) Watched the sun rise with someone you care about
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Made a bonfire on the beach
(x) Crashed a party
(x) Gone roller-skating
(x) Gone ice-skating

Favorite Drink? Marqurita or how ever you spell it.
Tattoos? one small one on my shoulder
Body piercing? Ears
How much do you love your job? I retired...but do like my part time job
Birthplace? Newport, R.I.
Favorite vacation spot? I guess I would say Seaside Oregon... but it could be any ocean side town in Or. or Wash...don't get to vacation just for vacation sake..seems always to be relatives homes.
Ever been to Africa? No
Ever eaten cookies for dinner? Yes
Ever been on TV? Yes, that is funny, hadn't thought about that, for years. I was taking some extra office skills class in Miami, Florida... and they had us go to the tv station (this was 1958) and set up a class room... for some reason the camera guy liked me... and show me twice. Which is wierd as I was such a dweeb...
Ever steal any traffic signs? Yes, kind of... was with my brother when he stole a street sign with my fathers name on it....in Xxxxx state...took it to R.I... he wouldn't display it as he thought he might get arrested for it.. lol... like Xx. state police were going to come to R.I. to arrest him.. of all the Gilberts in the world.
Ever been in a car accident? Yes, 1960 more a fender bender, a taxi cut in front of me... I got his back bumper and tore my front bumper and fender. He talked me out of calling the police. I was 20 and dumb in San Diego.
Do you like a 2 door or 4 door auto? 4 Door
Favorite salad dressing? Blue Cheese
Favorite pie: Apple
Favorite number? Seven or three.... I go back and forth between the two
Favorite movie? Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Still laugh when the car catches on fire and they still drive it.
Favorite Holiday? 4th of July
Favorite dessert? can't think of one...not big on desserts...
Favorite food? anything Mexican
Favorite day of the week? Everyday...when you are retired...it is like that...
Favorite brand of body soap? Irish Spring
Favorite toothpaste? Crest ...cinnimon
What do you do to relax? check blogs on line
How do you see yourself in 10 years? Being I would be 76 going on 77... I hope alive and very healthy..
What do you do when you are bored? the computer, it kills time fast, .

Hodge Podge of Life

Judges wages in Idaho $110,500
Who has to make decisions, some
times life and death ones. Who tries
to have justice for all...

A quitting CEO in a big box
company gets a 220 million dollar
good bye package ? Even though
the company has had money problems.
Where is the justice of that?

And police officer gets reinstated
even though, he exposed himself to
a coffee hut clerk? So morals is not
a requirement for that job, I guess...

I went to get gas Tuesday night.
I went to start my vehicle after
I had filled it with gas. Which, by
the way, had dropped 11 cents.
The vehicle would not start. Not
a big problem, after all I am only
mile and half away from home.

Searched my pockets, no cell
phone. Not in the vehicle either.
Left it on the table. So grabbed
a quarter and a dime and went to
use the pay phone at the gas station.
Now when I use a pay phone last,
which is quite a while. It was a
quarter. So figured it might have
gone up a little. A LITTLE!! It was
50 cents!!! 50cents to call a mile
and half away. An no, the gas
station will not let you use their
phone. (make note..to self...
NEVER EVER FORGET YOUR
DANG CELL PHONE)!

Pay phones were a dime
when I was a teen. That is
why we wore a dime in our
loafers. It was called our
mad money. If we got mad
at our boyfriend, we could
call a friend or parents and
have them come get us.

The King came down and got
the vehicle going. It was a loose
cable. But I am too short to open
the hood, and way to short to lift
it up.

50 cents for a phone call. Ridiculous.

You be the Judge..What is the Answer?

I would say I am ticked to the max.
But how can you be ticked at the
weather...

I couldn't post my blog early last
night. (I like to, as they do their
repair work or it is down usually in
the mornings).

But even more than that, I missed
my show...Boston Legal last night.
We had the power go out 3 times.
The last time was 9:30 p.m. and it
was out until 2 something a.m.

I especially wanted to see Boston
Legal as it had to do with a subject
of great interest to me.

3 of the lawyers were going to New
Orleans to defend, I believe, a doctor.
It could have been a nurse. But why
they were was based on a true story.

During the hurricane, there were some
elderly who were left behind. There were
caretakers left with them. I thought they
were nurses aides. But the program had,
like I said..a doctor or nurse. Who was
charged with murder.

This person, as in real life, (the promo said)
had to makea decision. The water was
rising in the nursing home. The elderly were
mostly in their 90's. As the water rise to 3 feet,
the person in the program, help the elderly
die in bed, rather than leave them to drown.
I don't know if it was by shot or what.

The dilemma is .....You are in your 40's. You
have family at home. People who depend on
you.

Do you leave when the water is 3 or 4 feet
high?
Do you stay with the elderly and drown with
them, so they won't be alone?
Do you, if you have it in your power, give them
a shot that you know will let them die in
minutes. Staying with them until they die,
and then leave.

You know there is no hope for these
people. No one can come get them.
You hope you can swim to safety
after you leave the building.

I don't know what I would have done.
As a nurses aide for years, you love
your residents. I would not have the
decision to help them die with meds.
Aides in nursing homes don't give meds.
Do I leave the elderly who are close
to death anyway, and save myself?

In all honesty, I don't know. If it had
been one or two, many I would have
floated them outside and hope some
one comes in a boat. But in the real
story, that wasn't an option, as there
were many. No one wants to play God.
I would be the last one to judge the aide
that left.

What do you do? And what will the
law do to you, if you leave?

The Wharves of Old

After reading Atmospheric Ruminations
yesterday, it brought back memories of
the wharves of Newport, R.I.

When I was a kid, one could walk down
any of the wharves. You can't now. Because
of condo's and yacht clubs. Most of it, you
look thru the chain link fence to see the Bay.

But when I was a kid, you could walk from
wharf to wharf. Until you got to King's Park.
Which was one of the local beaches.

Sitting on the barrel at the wharf that my
parents had their boat at, I would watch
the fishing boat come in. There was
the Champion owned by Ernest Coggeshall.
And this was Commerical Wharf.

They would go out into the Atlantic, not too
far off the coast. They had what they called
trap fishing. That was huge wings that came from
each side of the box. The wings would guide
the fish in to the box that had a scone like
hole. Where fish went into the box and could
not get back out. The small boats would
surround the box which was held up by corks,
that were sewed into the netting. They would
raise the box up and there was a scoop that
came over from the big boat. It would scoop up
the fish and put it them into the holding hole.
As far as I know they would go out daily. My
parents took my brother and I out one day so
we could watch. They were close friends of
Ernest and his son Ernie who did this for a living.

As I would sit on the barrel and watch the catch
brought up from the hole in the boat, and emptied
on to the table. There were several fishermen on
each side, who would sort the fish. They would
sort by size on which side of the slide the fish
would go, and the small ones thrown back in
to the water. The fish were sent down the slide
to boxes full of ice. There would be fishermen who
would man the ice boxes, and throw a new box in
as they nailed the tops on the full ones. Then they
were loaded on to the truck, to be taken to market
in Providence.

As a teen kid, watching fishermen, most of them
Portuguese and some Italian.. I learn some of the
not so good words. lol... But it was great to
watch. And the sea gulls would fly around in
hopes to catch a fish that was thrown to the
waters.

The fishermen were always so happy, but it was
a very rough life to live. If anyone has seen the
movie The Perfect Storm, they would see how
rough it really was. The sea claims a boat a year.
And several fishermen.

Affordable? In whose eyes?

Affordable? In whose eyes?

I see affordable homes.
Affordable vehicles...
Affordable products.
Affordable colleges??

By whose standards?
I don't think the person
who is making $5.50 is
going to afford a home
that is "affordable" by
advertisement standards
of $220,000.

They say that middle class wages
are at $125,000, that is a hoot.

Being I never earned more that
$20,000 in the 17 years of work
at the last place I worked at. And
that was only in the last 2 years.
All the other years were way lower.
I am classified as poorer than dirt, I
guess.

Rokon watching the weather

You know....I don't think I like the looks of this... looks like a long winter

Excerising with Misty

Rokon said I had to do push ups... suppose to be good for keeping the tummy flat. Guess she thought I ate to much over the holidays

Tough MidWestern's

You know those Mid-westerns are tough.
Have you seen those pictures of the cattle
out on the range with no food...but the
National Guard is there throwing out
bales of hay from their helicopters.

You see trees down, electric is out for
thousand and more people. There
is driveways snowed close for many
places. Farmers trying to get
their cattle feed and water. Losing
10 cattle per day...

Wires down, road closed. People
staying at home because of the
weather and even stores are closed.

Yet, I haven't seen Bush in a helicopter
flying over to see how bad it is.
I haven't heard of a celebrity going
there to help out.

No outrage on TV about Fema hasn't
showed up there to help these people.
No one screaming about the government
not coming in fast enough to help out
or rescue people.
I haven't even hear any of the 3 states
Governors asking for help.

These people just hunker down and do
what has to be done. They are use to this.
They don't ask for money ...no one is looting
the others.. No one is asking the Federal
Government for a handout. There isn't news
stories other than the direct evening news,
talking about how horrible it is.

The farmers are making due. They are making
lemonade out of lemons. They are use to
the electric going out. It goes out during
storms from time to time. They get snow
storms every year. Some worse than others.
They melt snow for water. The guys pull each
other out of snow banks, or plow out the
neighbor with their tractors. No one charges
anyone for any of it.

The restaurant give food to the police, fire
department and electric guys who are on
duty for 12 and 16 hours at a shot.

Families take in others, even if they
are strangers, to give them a roof over
their heads. Have the wood stoves going.
And none of these people act like the world
owes them a living. If anything, they open
their hearts and cupboards and sometimes
home to all. Just as they have in the past
150 years.

Too bad Louisiana doesn't know that lesson.

Preview of Retirement Husband

Having the King home for 4 days
was kind of a preview of what his
retirement is going to be like.

He washed the dishes, and
he did a lot of the cooking.
But he also vegged out. With
the weather like it was, I can't
blame him. So it was old movies,
playing with the puppy, and
tinkering here and there in
our Some Day Soon Room.

I look forward to when he puts
his time in.. see I have at least
a years worth of 'HONEY-DO's
for him to do.

Among them is the 47 Ford.
He has told me in the past,
that he would do it in the winter.
It is winter project because you
can't do anything outside. And
he has a great heater in there.
But winter comes and goes..

Then it is a summer project.
We can have the doors open for
fresh air and the days are longer..
But summer comes and goes...
And so has 5 years....

And I want to tear the kitchen apart.
Every time I go past the wall that
I want to cut in half, the temptation
is calling me...

Oh, yea, I can keep him busy for
at least a year. And all I have
to do is tear apart the wall and
he will have to fix it. See, I am
great at tearing apart things. But
I just don't know how to fix it back.
See the post about our front porch
in 2005.

Geesh, he hates that.

Passing of the President

As I watched the funeral process
this early morning, I thought about
Ford. No matter how anyone felt
about his politics.. you had to like
the man. He meant well, he tried
to be fair, and he did what he thought
was right for the country. He was just
a nice man. Not too many of those in
politics.

I watched later as the other Presidents
sat there listening to each speak about
Ford. And I wondered what was going thru
each of their minds. Especially Bush senior
and Carter. Where they wondering which of
them were next? Were they thinking, is
this how it will be for me too.

Clinton is too young to be thinking about it
but then again. He might be thinking about
which producer and director Hillary could
get to do his funeral...............I am joking..
really... I was joking...geesh, some people
just can't take a joke.

Wages and the Economy

I read the paper to day with some
interest and not being able to
understand.

You see they said it was a slow
news day, so Judge Roberts was
made a proposal of a raise for
Federal judges.

As it went along it told about
how Congressmen voted them
selves a $3,000 + raise from
last year and the Judge thinks
the judges should have a raise
too.

When talking about the minimum
wage, most of the congressmen
say that it is a bad idea. Because
it could effect the economy. That
some business wouldn't be able
to afford the minimum wage if it
went up to say $7.50 like a lot
of states already have it.

They say it would also raise the
prices of products and services.
All of this does seem reasonable.

But what I don't understand is how
it hasn't effected the State of
Washington and Oregon and
other states who already have
the $7.00+ wage for minimum in
their states. They seem to have
people still buying the product
at a reasonable price. But cause
ours in the state of Idaho is NOT
cheaper because of our $5.50
wage for minimum.

But even more to my puzzlement is
the fact, that raising the judges,
and Congressmen wages by $3,000
a year does not effect the economy?

Why is it when the common man
gets a raise where it is sorely needed,
it has great effect? Especially when
the common man gets the smallest of
raises.

Guess someone smarter than I, will
have to explain it to me. And it will
have to be in common sense language,
not the razzle dazzle language.