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....................