The Day after Black Friday 2011

Well, it looks as though people have finally decided that it is useless to save their money in the bank for almost zero interest, and have given it to department stores instead.  Yesterday, at the height of Black Friday, I drove by WalMart, Target, Belk's, Sears, and Kohl's.... all of their parking lots were filled, and this is in Carroll County Maryland, where conservative folks normally are very careful with their spending. 

Or.. maybe, as I mentioned in a prior blog entry, this year, folks believe that the Aztec calendar is right and the world will end in 2012... therefore, they can charge as much as they like now and never have to worry about paying for it.  Whatever is the reason,  I have never seen people so excited.

Carroll County is a great place to live.  Beautiful countryside to enjoy and probably the safest County in Maryland, if not in the Nation.  The people who have lived all their lives here are either devout Conservative Republicans, or Democrats who changed affiliation to allow themselves to be elected to public office in the County, a Republican bastion in Democratic Maryland. 
This may change now that Representative Roscoe Bartlett has seen his district gerrymandered.  Soon, we will probably be represented in Congress by a Democrat.  For one, I will miss listening to Mr. Bartlett make his 5 minute speeches before the Congressional sessions get underway.  I will also miss his Office's notes to me that he is glad that I agree with his point of view.. which I have never done.

In this County there is a great newspaper that I love.  It is the normally quite liberal Carroll County Times.  However, the newspaper does post letters and articles  representing all sides of vital questions, and I find that very refreshing.  As an Independent voter, I want to learn as much as I can about what each side says about an issue. 

So.. having said all that, I now want to gently pick on the Carroll County Times.. but just on page one of their issue for Friday, November 26, 2011.

01.  Weather:  SUNY

I know we are not in New York State so SUNY  does not stand for State University of New York... what does it stand for?  I asked Elaine, and, of course, she knew the answer.  The prediction is for sunny weather, but not too sunny.. rather SUNY.  And the prediction was right.. early this morning, the sun was brightly shining, and it got cloudy as the day went on.  It was SUNY.    I like it!


02.  Beautiful shoppers

The newspaper has an interesting front page color photo by staff photographer, Dave Munch.  It shows three, maybe four, beautiful young ladies with brown coats, grabbing bargain boxes at Target in Westminster, Maryland.  This picture should be picked up by the news services and broadcast around the Nation to show what kind of good-looking folks we have in this County.

I hope that the picture was not staged.. that is,  I hope that Dave did not grab some "upscale" blondes from Reisterstown or Pikesville  and have them pose for his purposes.  Whatever..  I think it is a good advertisement for the "great lifestyle" represented by the beautiful people in Carroll County. 

03.  Poor Bambi!

The headline for a page one article says:  "Deer season off to strong start".  Today starts the two-week deer firearm season.. during which up to 50,000 deer are expected to be ""harvested."  Just today, the toll should reach 15,000 deer killed by rifles and shot guns.. which, Brian Ireyler (Maryland Deer Project Leader) says "...are our most efficient weapons.  They also have the most impact."  (my underlines)

Don't get me wrong, I realize that the deer population is out of control, and they are starting to gobble up home-owners' shrubbery..  I would hope that the meat is made available for eating by the hunter or by the homeless.  Can the meat be eaten if the deer is shot with a shotgun?  Do they just aim to shoot off its head?  I'm sorry, since I have never been a hunter, I am ignorant of all this.

At the age of 16, some of my friends asked me to go "coon hunting" with them.  I had a bad cold and couldn't go.  During the hunt, one of my 16-year old friends accidentally shot and killed another of my 16-year old friends.  I decided that I would not become a hunter.

In a lighter vein, I would like to point to other words attributed in the article to Mr. Ireyler: "This weekend are the biggest days of the year." (my italics)

04.  Happy Anniversary!

In 2011 we are celebrating 100 years of the Carroll County Times.  I don't know what I would do if I didn't have that wonderful newspaper to devour each and every day of my life.  I hope that they stick around for another hundred!



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September 30, 2011

A beautiful, coolish, sunny day in Carroll County Maryland.  Lots of little problems to fix this A.M., such as:  the medical technician lost my urine sample..  !?  I had even drawn a smiley face on the container....  also:  oh..never mind.  It's all unimportant in the scheme of things.

1. "Power corrupts.. etc."

Four out of the five (count 'em) Commissioners for Carroll County have voted to extend the contract for a Conservative Media Consuting Service (consisting of one person, named Simpson, I believe... no.. it couldn't be, could it?)  When a Carroll County Times reporter tried to discuss this contract with him, he refused.

Haven Shoemaker, the dissenting Commissioner said, and I quote from the CC Times: "This notion of having a person specifically dedicated... to handling media seems to me to be a frill..."  I agree, Haven. However, it could become less of a "frill" if the Commissioners would see fit to paying me the paltry sum of  $500 per month (instead of the $6,000 that Simpson is getting) to see that all of the Maryland newspapers and magazines receive news items and articles that would make Carroll County shine forth as a tourist heaven (Haven) and a place where all business money, not just for Conservative businesses, could find a good home.  What other "access" is needed, Commissioner Rothschild?

I must repeat again, that closed administration sessions (like the one in July, where the Commissioners decided on Mr. Simpson) generate a false and dangerous feeling of power.. a feeling that certain activity does not need oversight by the public..  in my humble opinion.  We will be hearing a lot more about this shortly in letters to the editor of the CC Times.

2.  Druggies?

The Carroll County Times also reports that a pair of persons has allegedly robbed a victim of some Oxycontin while trying to sell him some of theirs.  The female part of the pair may have even threatened the victim with a knife.  In Westminster!?.. by all reports, the least crime-ridden place east of the Chesapeake Bay.

This reminds me of the time when I was browsing at a used furniture store in Westminster.  Seated in front of the store were two of the workers, resting after lifting a heavy bureau.  A friend walked up and asked them if they needed something to get their breath back.  They thought that would be a good idea.

The friend reached into his pocket and brought out a prescription bottle, opened it, and offered a few pills, which were accepted.  The friend said to them: "This is good stuff, I got it from my doctor yesterday and it's already making me feel good."  I don't have the faintest idea what the medication was, but it doesn't matter.  I hope they all survived.

3.  More druggies?

I heard an NPR report preceded by a warning... it concerned six bodyless heads that were found in Acapulco, Mexico.  Do any Americans vacation in Mexico any more?

I constantly hear from Massachusetts relatives that they would definitely not want to visit Baltimore because of the crime and violence.  It doesn't help for them to watch TV shows like Homicide and The Wire.  I try to tell them that the Baltimore area is a great place to live.  Of course, there are parts of the city and county that you must avoid to stay alive.. or at least connected with your pocketbook.  But on the whole.....

There are horror stories.. such as, my fellow worker, Lou, who got lost in the city and when he asked for directions, was badly beaten up and robbed.  However, once my car broke down in a very "bad" part of town.  I expected trouble, but instead, people came right over and helped me get fixed up and going again.

4.  Optimism after pessimism

Robert Wack once again wrote an interesting column in the CC Times today, about our current "tough times."  If I might, I would like to quote part of his final paragraph, which, as usual, "nails it."

"...Things will eventually get better, but perhaps not before they get a lot worse.  Which way they go depends mainly on what we hope for and are willing to work toward."

5.  One can't always be "The Best"... why not?

Sadly, the 2011 Carroll County's Best award for a Continuing Care Community went to Fairhaven, in Sykesville, rather than Carroll  Lutheran Village,  (where I live)  which only got "honorable mention."  I guess we will just have to try harder next year.

6.  More Good news for Dick Tracy!

The October 3, 2011 issue of that bastion for truth, the Sun magazine, published by American Media, Inc reports that scientists have  now been able to fuse the genes from goats and spiders, to make bulletproof skin for our policemen, soldiers and heads of state to wear instead of those bulky bulletproof vests that they are used to.