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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October 17, 2011

Since my eyes are beginning to focus again after a visit to my Ophthalmologist (who happens to be named Barber), and since I have a little over an hour until I visit with Elaine at the Health Care Center, I will do my fun thing again, namely reveal some of my inmost thoughts to the world.. that is, to the one or two of you who actually read these blog entries.

1.  Stinkies

Our Representative, Roscoe Bartlett (R:Maryland), has managed to garner a grant of money to try to find a way for farmers to rid themselves of the dreaded stinkbug. These odiferous rascals have been causing havoc with Maryland produce this year.  They also killed my squash and cucumber plants.. and feasted on a lot of my tomatoes.  I'm sure that the money that Roscoe has obtained will help our farmers.  Great job, Roscoe!

For many years,  Representative Bartlett has reigned this Republican enclave, in the midst of Democratic Maryland.  I'm not sure about what he has done to be elected every two years for ages, but I guess it must have been of benefit to his constituents.  My only knowledge about his activity in Congress has been listening to some of his one-minute Republican speeches at the beginning of Congressional Sessions. 

I did try to contact him once to tell him I didn't agree with something he had said in Congress.   Someone from his office wrote me that the Congressman was pleased to see that I agreed with him on the issue.. whatever it was that I can't remember.   I guess they sent me a form of the "bedbug letter," hoping that I would give up and not contact him again.  Well, it worked.

I kind of feel sorry for Representative Bartlett now because the Maryland Democrats are about to Gerrymander his district so that he would have powerful Democratic opposition in the next election. 

2.  Hey, Dude!

I've talked a number of times about the phrases that people use in everyday communication, and how some of them clang in my ears.. such as,  "like" and "I mean, you know".  There are other phrases and words that people use that can let others know when they were brought up, such as:

"23 skiddoo!" ..  popular in the 1920's and early 1930's

"Katey, bar the door!" .. popular in the 1930's and 1940's (I have a friend who is in his '80's that still uses that phrase when he is excited by something....which isn't too often)

"Cool!" .. came into usage by musicians in the 1940's.. and resurfaced in the '60's.. and is used even today, mainly by people under 30.  I have heard people in their 50's and 60's using this word and feel that they should let the younger folks use it.

"Dude!" .. Once again, used by musicians many years ago.  I believe that it popped up into common usage in the 1970's.  Besides it's usage by Michael Moore and other celebrities, it is very popular with folks under 30.  (Recently, at the local hospital, Elaine was being transported by a 24 year old guy named Jordan.  Every few feet, someone would yell at him: "Hey, Dude!")

Of course, I could be wrong about all of this.. but as a curmudgeon, I am allowed to comment on everything, even without doing appropriate research.

3. Alzheimers

The Week magazine mentions a new study by the Mayo Clinic that found it is possible to greatly reduce the chances of developing Alzheimers Disease by lifestyle choices.

a. Become more physically active.
b. Treat depression.
c. Stop smoking.
d. Exercise your brain.

4. Pretty Betty

Good news for us old timers:  Betty White topped Kate Middleton and even Oprah to become the most trusted popular celebrity, according to a recent poll.  At 89... she's still going strong.  I'll bet she joins Bob Hope and George Burns in the Comedians' Centenary Club.

5.  Dick's Book

As I've mentioned before, I'm reading Dick Cheney's book: In My Time.  I'm over half way through and have spent a lot of sleep time with the book in my hands.  BORING!  But that is my opinion.  I lived through all of the events and thought about all of the issues he has brought up.  He tells us why he did some of the things he did.. and I still don't agree with him.   However, from his words and his numerous pretty color pictures, he has always been a dedicated family man, when he wasn't working 20 hour days in the West Wing.  He probably would be a nice guy to have a beer with.  But frisk him first.

That's enough, my hour is up.  See ya!