Potpourri

It's been crazy at the Lifehiker and Good Witch house lately. The place had become a bit shabby and dated, but nothing $10,000 (or so) worth of paint, carpet, and "this and that" couldn't cure. But restoring a home is most inconvenient. Maybe, just maybe, everything will be calmed down by the end of November. In the meantime, I've been contributing a lot of sweat equity on the tasks where professionalism is not required.

While all this has been going on in my home, the cretins in Maine have voted down gay marriage rights, the pointy-headed, pedophile-loving Catholic bishops have put down the gauntlet on abortion rights, and a pissed-off Army psychiatrist has shot up Fort Hood. Not a good couple of weeks!

On the plus side, a few days of beautiful weather have descended on Rochester, New York. Any clear and sunny days in the high 60's or low 70's are called "bonus days". I painted my new garage door so that it now matches the primary color of my home, and I happily swept and raked the gajillian leaves from my yard. Maybe some golf is coming up before it's over!

My presbyterian church is slowly dying as aging members or those who lost jobs in the recession relocate, not to be replaced by new members. People seem to be too busy to give God the respect God deserves. I'm not saying this theologically. It just bugs me that so few people these days seem to wonder what it all means, and most of these think they will live forever. And then there are the republicans, who seem to believe in economic evolution while denying natural evolution. I hope God has a sense of humor about being dissed!

As liberal as I feel about many public policy topics, I'm still a bit miffed about the lack of accountability that we tolerate. If you fire somebody who doesn't give a crap about their job, the somebody can find plenty of government people to torture you. Both the Wall Street criminals and their union counterparts have got off pretty much scot-free after torching our economy. Far too many students and their parents think that paying no attention to education is OK, but expect somebody else to take care of them. Can't we have a society that rewards people who put in a full day's work and tells the others to live in a barracks and eat rice and beans once a day? Yes, the rich are too rich - but so are too many of the poor!

Tonight is "Dancing With the Stars", which Good Witch and I watch regularly. We love the incredible coordination of the pro dancers, and we appreciate the effort and achievement that the non-pro's exhibit as they strive to learn these very difficult dance moves. This show beats sit-com's hands down!

Tiger Woods got his hat handed to him this past weekend in Shainghai by Phil Mickelson and a few others. Woods has got a bit spoiled, I think, allowing himself to be distracted by spectator behavior and such. Don't you remember hearing how his father created giant distractions when Tiger was learning how to excel? Seems like Tiger's forgotten how to disregard what's happening around him and just hit the golf ball...but he's still the best.

As much as I like my home, I'm still a bit uncomfortable with all the "stuff" of life. I can identify with those Eastern religion adherents who believe that older folks should shed their stuff and simplify, simplify. I might be happier with a lot less. Something to ponder.

Be kind; do something selfless; say "thank-you" to whatever God you worship; savor the moment; learn something. The days go rushing by, and soon they will be over.

p.s. Get your swine flu shot when you can. If you die of the flu, I'll stand on your grave and tell you "I told you so!". This EMT has seen some ugly bad flu - don't take a chance.