Celebrity mania

Can we PLEASE bury Michael Jackson and be done with it? Achmadinejad must be very happy that Michael Jackson has taken attention away from what he is doing in Iran. We Americans are sure fickle creatures. Can someone put Al Sharpton away, while we're at it? What a megalomaniac! He has to be seen whenever an African American gets a headline. I wonder who pays for all his plane fares. Remember Anna Nicole Smith. I didn't even know who she was when her death took over the news media. And speaking of maniacs, have you heard about my Napoleonic assistant secretary who now has three female deputies surrounding him? A definite case of small man syndrome! You girls know what that is! But, I don't want to see or hear anything else about Michael Jackson. And Daddy probably should be put into stocks on Hollywood Boulevard so people can throw rotten produce at him. I am simply not amused! Bury the man and be done with ALL of it, please! And get those children into a "normal" school. By the way, how many lawyers does it take to rip off whatever they can get? Now that would be really disgusting to follow! I'll take ONE lawyer's fee and live confortably for the rest of my days. Yes, That's what I want to know - how many lawyers and every penny of every fee that each one of them collects!

Politics ain't pretty

With no effort on my part, I have seen more of the truth about politics than I would ever care to see. If the public knew the stuff I see, they would be outraged. The more I see, the more I understand it is about controlling the money and making sure your associates can take care of themselves and make you look good in the process. Government is slow to change, not because of unwieldy bureacracy, but because those who have the ability to make change don't stay around long enough to make necessary changes. Those who know how are in a holding pattern by those who temporarily hold the power, and those who hold the power are about self-aggrandizement, so they can move on to a better appointment. It's all about improving the resume. The number of persons that I know who have jobs in name only continues to grow and I am consistently amazed. I am at a place in the state personnel system where the only way I can get a promotion is to take a job that serves at the pleasure of the governor. While more money is always a nice thing, I don't want to be subject to the whims of politicos. The truth is, however, even at my station, if the politicos want to get rid of you, it can be done; it's just a little bit more difficult than if one serves at the pleasure of the governor. This is the big disadvantage of working for the government. Every time there is an election or other movement of polticos, one never knows how it will all settle, and by the time it does settle, there is a new election. No wonder government is so slow to accomplish anything. And when federal money is involved, the pace is lethargic! It's simply amazing!

The firey-footed steeds gallop apace

Remember Juliet? The fiery footed steeds continue to gallop apace much too quickly. Father Time is always more fleet than I. Hie me to Phillie. Hie me to Lancaster. Hie me to mighty Hopkins. Rest a while with the acupuncturist. Back to work. Off to Salisbury one day. Off to Elkton the next. You mean I'm getting paid for all this? Are they paying me enough? NOT! And let's not talk about the co-pays, tolls, and parking fees. But there is divine justice. Enter -Summons for jury duty on July 30. Oh, golly gee-willikers. Sorry. No can do. Required medical confinement post surgery two days prior to appointed day. Yes there is documentation. Can you lose me this time? and never crowd my mailbox again? I will NEVER sit on a jury in Baltimore City circuit court! I'm prejudiced against the defendant because if he/she got that far in Baltimore City it is a guarantee of guilt. I'm prejudiced against anyone who works for the City state's attorney's office because I think she is a moron and I wouldn't trust anyone associated with her. I'm prejudiced in favor of cops because I believe if they dragged you in, they know what they are talking about. I cannot be impartial, most especially in Baltimore City. And there is evening and morning, yet another day! Can someone put the brakes on those damn steeds?

History repeats itself

The Atlantic magazine reminded me this month that I am now old enough to have a historical perspective that younger people lack. There is an article about how the US tried to go green 30 years ago with the encouragement of President Jimmy Carter. That all went to hell in a hand basket with the election of Ronald Reagan. How well I remember the problems of the Carter years with high inflation and then the benign neglact of the Reagan years where he just kept smiling and saying everything is OK while the rich got richer and the ordinary people struggled to survive. And here we are again, though a bit in reverse. We just had years of neglect for ordinary people while the rich got richer at unprecedented rates and now the new administration wants the country to go green. I am amazed that my 16 year old Honda still gets 32 miles per gallon when it used to get 36 on the highway and they are trying to advertise new cars that get 23 miles per gallon as a new model of efficiency. My next car will need to get about 50 miles per gallon, or I'm not interested! I know that what will kill the Obama administration is the enormous debt that it is piling up on bail-outs and the old republican saw inveighing against tax and spend liberals. I don't like to think how the poltical pendulum will swing and bring about another rise of conservatism. I don't want to face it in old age - especially as I arrive at the portals of Social Security and Medicare! And I'll indeed be blessed to go back to my North Carolina farmer roots and just work until I can't work any more all the time remembering my grandmother telling my father, "I just can't do like I used to." Creeping decrepitude is already making those words more familiar than I might wish. And the promise of a green economy leads the way to the future, for now. Yes, I've seen this one before.

Victory over Verizon

I knew it would come. When I got home there was a bill from Verizon for the last of my service with them. Naturally, I called immediately to complain. It took 58 minutes - my new phone tells you how long you have been on a call since all calls now are timed to fit into my " minutes" plan. I got transferred 5 times. Finally, after complaining that they did not even have the history of my calls for service correct, they agreed to drop all charges. They went down to defeat still clinging to the erroneous claim that I had a malfunction at my junction box - after I have repeatedly explained that there is no junction box. They would not accept that the problem was outside based on the experience of worsening conditions influenced by wind and rain. I've had no wind or rain inside my house that I can remember. SO according to their records, my first call for srvice was April 10 - it was actually March 25 or 27, I'm not sure which. But anyway, since I've had no reliable service since April 10 according to their records, by crediting me for non-service the bill was wiped out. Good thing, because I swore they would not get another dime from me! I also reminded them that thye have lost me as a customer actually twice - once for internet service and once for phone service - both times because they refused to repair the service and tried to blame their lack of repair on something wrong with my equipment. When Comcast hooked me up for internet, magically my computer worked just fine - but Verizon tried to blame it on my computer. To add to the malaise, Dad told me he had talked to a woman at church who works for Verizon who told him that complaints about static on the line are received daily. Still, apparently Verizon believes its only future is in FIOS. Obviously, they have no interest in maintaining telephone service outside their FIOS package. A woman I work with had experience very similar to mine and decided to go to FIOS, just so she could have service. I told Verizon that I am going to be a recurring bad dream for them because I will advertise their lack of service broadly.