The Answer to the Question

Way back in January 2006 I posed the question Who the Hell Are You and What do You Want?
http://highwayview.blogspot.com/2007/01/who-hell-are-you-and-what-do-you-want.html

For the best answer I've seen anywhere to that query, I invite any and all to go to the following link and read Still My Hero!
http://www.newalbanyeyesores.blogspot.com/

If after doing so you still don't understand, then my friend you are just too damned dense to waste anymore time & energy on!

Even so, we're still going to be here when you get up in the morning dogging your every move, sound bite, and inaction all the while we are proceeding with progress.

Welcome to the NEW New Albany!

So Ya Think Ya Wanna Be a Truck Driver huh? (Part 3))

Following our lunch stop debacle (well ok..my debacle) Tommy and I motored on across southern Alabama & the top Florida to Orlando. We arrived around midmorning and got unloaded.

Once empty, I called dispatch and was told to head over towards Tampa and get a room for the night. Now this sounded like a deal 'cause we could park the truck, rent a car, go to Tampa Bay , and eat fresh seafood on the waterfront. Tommy had never seen an ocean and by the time we found a motel with truck parking, he was in a dither & I was tasting that Salt Water Trout from behind the steering wheel.

But such was not to be. We got a room and while he was taking a shower, I was burning up the phone lines to find a cheap rental car. Now this was late spring. Football season was over, baseball hadn't started yet, and spring break had come & gone. But honest to goodness there was not a rental car to be found in the Tampa area, cheap or otherwise. We considered a cab until we priced that and found that to be way too cost prohibitive.

Heartbroken and halfstarved, we settled for dining in the motel restaurant/lounge and spent a miserable evening watching and listening to a bunch of Florida crackers drink swill beer, throw darts, and lie to each other. After about an hour and half of that, we gave up, went to our room and watched Gunsmoke reruns till we dozed off.

The next morning I bounded out of bed and called dispatch. He told me we had a load of lumber coming back to Louisville to pick up in south Georgia either late that afternoon or first thing next morning depending on our travel time. I threw a glass of cold water on Tommy and told him to get dressed, we had to go!

Go where he asked?

To Tampa Bay! I still want that seafood!

In a semi? he quired?

Well I damned sure ain't gonna walk ! says I.

So soaking wet, half awake & the other half livid, he finally got himself together and stumbled out to the truck.

As we neared the Bay, Tommy got a increasingly worried look on his face. What's the matter T? See something that scares you?

It's just those signs about the bridge.

What signs? I don't see any signs!

The ones like that on right there that says "No Semis Allowed on Bridge"

Oh that! Those are just if you're going thru! You can cross the bridge to make a local delivery.

But we're empty already! Tommy offered with his face looking chalky.

I don't care, I responded. I drove all the way down here to see the Bay and eat fresh fish and I'm gonna do just that!

By this time, we were indeed on the bridge and one look at that green water was all it took to calm him down.

Once on the other side, our luck held true to form. None of the good restaurants opened before 11 AM and we dared not stay that long for fear of really aggravating the local authoritys so we ended up finding a wide spot on the shoulder next to, of all things, a Waffle House! Oh well, at least we are on the shoreline.

Which reminds me why I started this story in the first place. about halfway across the Bay Bridge, Tommy caught sight of a nice looking motoryacht and snapped a picture of it. So if you look real close out over the steering wheel and past my profile, you'll see that yacht!

Now that (three posts) was a long way around the mulberry bush to make a point even for me!

Anyway, we got fed (no fish, but the eggs were good) and I let Tommy drive back across the bridge while I looked a boats.

We proceeded on to Georgia, got our lumber on and rolled back into the yard at Sellersburg the next evening.

Tommy got to go on his own after that and althought he didn't set any land speed record with delivery times, he did ok!

After about four months of being away from home, he decided that although Grandpa must indeed been a hell of a man, Tommy, wanted to be with wife & kids every night. So they agreed to the transfer with the lunch meat plant, and he hung up his spurs. By the way, he never so much as scratched another piece of sheetmetal after the chrome pipe incident.

We kept in touch for several months, but that finally slipped away into memories where it probably belongs. Funny thing though. Everytime I eat a lunchmeat sandwich, I get a vision in my head of Tommy standing at a payphone in Birmingham explaining the why & how of that bent chrome exhaust stack!

"And the Price Is.......!!

What follows is a short series of Email exchanges that Steve and I have had over the past few days concerning his recent blog posts. Read, learn, enjoy!!

Steve,

FOR THE RECORD ONE MORE TIME! The Neighborhood Forum’s DID NOT ask for a full time city attorney!

We merely agreed to investigate the possibility of one. Our research into the subject proved conclusively that a city our size could not afford to pay an experienced attorney what he would require to do the job, and more importantly a one man legal department (even with ONE paralegal assistant) could not possibly address the issues that brought up the discussion in the first place!

CM Coffey, for political reasons of his own, jumped the gun to propose such without having either done his own research or looking at ours!

Most of the enforcement problems we have now are due to the lack of a fully staffed law department, not for the lack of officers citing the offenders. Pam Badger and the police Department are doing their jobs, but the prosecutions are not happening due to an overloaded law department!

These are the facts and I can show them to you in black & white and point you to those who can confirm them!

Lloyd,

I am glad that you found your way to my email address.

For your record, I DID NOT say that Ms. Padger was not doing her job. What I said was the enforcement of violations are not being done.

I attended the meeting at the White House, and heard Greg Roberts say the number one priority was a full time city attorney to get the ordinances enforced.

Upon the first draft of the Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) was reporting to the Director of Building Services. Shane preferred to have the CEO to report to him. We gave him what he asked for.

Further more the ordinance also states that the Building Commission has the responsibility for enforcement as well.

With regards to Shane’s workload; he somehow finds the time for bond issuance as well as other avenues for making money. But, wasn’t it his choice to accept the position of City Attorney? I am almost positive he knew what he was getting himself in to.

One last FACT with regards to not having enough money to pay a full time attorney. Ask Shane the amount of money he makes through Contractual Services.

Next ….

Steve,

Thanks for responding.

For your record, I DID NOT imply that you said Ms. Badger was lax in her duties. I merely pointed out that her actions were just one step in a process that is not being completed. It is my understanding that neither the Building Commissioner nor his employees have any prosecutorial power. They simply write the citations. Following that, it is up to the city attorney’s office to process it through the court system! Albeit stated otherwise in the ordinance passed by the council, I doubt seriously that it would stand up in a court test.

Secondly, you are correct that Mr. Roberts said the full time city attorney was 1st on our priority list. He then created a committee to research how to start that process. Said committee, of which I was a member, found that a one man legal would be neither cost effective nor able to meet our city’s needs as to prosecuting code violations.

Finally, with regards to what Shane makes however & wherever else in his practice, what does that have to do with what we the city pay him for handling the city’s legal affairs?

By the way, may I quote you on your responses?

Next…!

Lloyd,

I am glad that we got the clarifications out of the way.

With regards to the monies received by Shane from the city … rather he is receiving monetary pay from his salary, board affiliates or from contractual services, he is still receiving money from the city to handle “legal affairs”.

Thank you for extending me the courtesy of asking for my permission before posting my response. Permission granted.

Well, there we have folks. One on one with the Counciman himself. There is another old country saw that goes something like this;

It's a total waste of time trying to keep a pig out of a mud wallow. All that's accomplished is that you frustrate yourself and piss off the pig!

'Nuff said!

So Ya Think Ya Wanna Be a Truck Driver huh? (part 2)

*Sorry to disappoint a few of my n'er do well readers, but this portion of our programming is family oriented. The juicy stuff we save for politics!

So Tommy had made it through his first ever DOT scale check just south of E'town and after satisfying myself one more time that he was going to steer straight & true all the way to Birmiingham, I crawled back in the bunk and took a nap.

Over time in a truck, your body developes a sort of sixth sense about time & distance. When we left the scales I made a mental note to myself that we were about 7 hours out from our destination and sure enough, seven hours later I stared to come out of the fog. Unfortunately it was about 5 minutes too late.

It seems that Tommy had got bored sitting up there all by himself so he did what all drivers do and keyed up the michrophone on the CB radio. Well as luck would have it, he got to talking to an Alabama local about where we were headed, this clown told him about a shortcut through the woods, and my man Tommy thought he would suprise me by getting us there early.

Unfortunately, or as I've always suspected on purpose, the local yokel forgot to mention a 12 foot underpass just immediately off the exit ramp. I shook the cobwebs out of my head just in time to see the nose of the tractor go under this bridge. To his credit, when he heard metal screeching, Tommy stopped. But then he blew all the brownie points he had just collected by throwing 'er in reverse and started backing up.

WHOA! I yelled at the top of my lungs. We'd better take a look see before we destroy any more sheetmetal! Turns out the the truck & trailer cleared by no more than two inches, but the boss lady's tall, shiny, chrome exhaust stack was now about a foot and a half shorter by virtue of the crease in it.

Tommy's looking like he's about ready to cry and I was in no mood to comfort him.

OK Funugie, says I, lesson #1; Look before you go under anything that's shorter than you are! Lesson #2:If you pull on thru we can save the stack by just making it shorter. However, if you back up, your gonna rip the whole exhaust system off the truck! And last but not least, Lesson #3: YOU get to call the boss lady in the morning and explain to her why her tall, shiny chrome pipe is now a not quite so shiny, short chrome pipe!

With that said, I took over the driving duties and banished my super trucker buddy to the bunk until we got to the customers dock at daylight. That was our first drop and we preceeded on to deliver in Montgomery, Greenville, & Andalusia with no further ado.

Except of course when he called in to report his mishap and was told not to worry. It would simply be deducted from his first check & his second check & his thir....!

Our next drop was in Orlando and we were making good time so I elected to let Tommy get some two lane experience under his belt by going on across the bottom of Alabama on US84. Enroute I explained to him about how that pretty red dirt on the shoulder of the road turns into super glue when it rains and it behooves one not to drop a wheel off of the hard surface.

He questioned what to do when he met another truck coming from the other direction, for the road looked awfully narrow. I told him that if he stays just inside the dividing line & the other guy does the same, the air that both trucks are pushing ahead of them will force them apart enough to clear each other. Believe it or not, it's true. It just takes a healthy bundle of nerves at first to put the theory to the test.

Somewhere between Andalusia and Dothan we came upon a Mom & Pop diner/truckstop so we pulled in to have a bite. I noticed they had one of my favorites (fried mushrooms) on the menu. I asked the waitress if horseradish sauce was available to dip them in and with a strange, wary, look, she said it was.

Tommy & I settled into a conversation with one of the locals and in due time our food arived.

The waitress set it in front of us and backed away to the counter with a slight grin on her face & poured coffee for the fellows there. As I picked up the first big juicy mushroom, dipped it in the horseradish, and popped it into my mouth I noticed that everyone at the counter was stareing our way. A millisecond later, I knew why. The dipping bowl was filled with pure freshly grated horseradish and I had a mouthful of it. Needless to say, water didn't help but the boys at the counter , the waitress and Tommy got a good bellylaugh at my expense.

It all worked out for she felt sorry for this poor dumb yankee boy and gave me a slice of fresh baked apple pie and a cup of coffee on the house. She said she hadn't been entertained so in months. I surmised they didn't get out much in that neck of the woods.

Tommy finally stopped laughing long enough to get back in the truck and we continued on towards Orlando.

(To be continued one more time)

So Ya Think Ya Wanna Be a Truck Driver huh? (part 1)

For any of you who have ever wondered about the picture on my blog page, there is a story behind it that needs telling. More because I'm racking my brain about something to write than because my readers are dying to know. So at any rate, here goes!

Back in the day when I still thought it would be neat to train wannabe's how to motor down the road in a big rig, along came Tommy.

Tommy was a likable sort who had gotten caught up in the mass industrial shutdowns & layoffs of the late 1980s. He was in his early forties and had spent his entire adult working career in a lunch meat plant in northern Indiana. The plant shut down due to competition and Tommy found himself without a job. He was given the option to transfer but the wife & kids rebelled so he had to make a change.

Turns out that his Grandpa, who had recently passed on, had been a truck driver and as Tommy was mulling over what to go for, he began to reminice about Grandpa's highway stories and decided he wanted to try. What the hell? He had to do something for a living!

I gave him his driving test and for someone who had never steered anything bigger than the family stationwagon, he did remarkably well. He was eager to learn and followed instruction better than most so we ran him thru a drug screen & DOT physical and put him to work.

Our first trip out was a multidrop load with the first stop in Birmingham. Now B'ham, Alabama is 8 hours truck travel time due south of Louisville. You just jump on I65 South, cross the Kennedy Bridge, and hammer down. Simple enough or so I thought.

Silly me, there I went thinkin' again. As I said previously, Tommy did rather well on his driving test so I was confident that once he got pointed in the right direction all would be ok. So we did our pretrip, fired 'er up, and headed for the interstate. Once we got onto 65 South, I asked him if he was good to go and he nodded in the affirmative. Allright said I, just head south and wake me up in about 8 hours.

I crawled back into the sleeper bearth, not so much because I was sleepy but because my experience had been that newby's had better luck concentrating on what they were doing if they didn't have the distraction of me sitting in the passenger seat stareing at them. From my pearch behind him, I could gaze out to take a look see if needed and we both could relax a bit.

Once I laid down, I must have been more tired than I thought and almost immediately half/dozed off. He crossed the bridge and I felt the the rig slow down and lean into a right hand turn but didn't think much of it because of the upcoming hospital curve. Not ten minutes later, I felt the same reaction and could sense that we were on another bridge. Time ta take peak.
Upon doing so I found us to be westbound on I64 headed for St. Louis.

YO Tommy says I! Why are we going west? Birmingham is south! Well, says he, I was in the right lane and the sign said I must turn! OK, says I, jump off here on I265 and go around again, only this time get in the middle lane and head SOUTH!!

Believe it or not, this same scenario played itself out twice more prior to me returning to the buddy seat to navigate. Now we've lost an hour going around in circles and I've been rudely rousted from a good catnap! Oh well, at least he now knows how to get to St. Louis. Or does he?

Nevertheless, I hung in with him until we got past E'town and went back to the bunk and slept lightly. (To be continued)

Hodge Podge ? (or perhaps frustration!!)

Ever notice how on certain blogsites (FOS & Steve Price-My Vision, to name but two) that questions are asked, or statements of alleged fact are issued but we are not allowed the opportunity to answer the questions or discuss the sources of the information presented?

Several cases in point follow.

On CM Price's blog on Friday the 19th he states the following; "Several neighborhood associations wanted a full time city attorney-when it was presented, they changed their mind." No Steve, we did not change our minds, we did further research into the subject to insure the feasability of the idea. We found that a full time city attorney was not the best course of action and thus opposed it when it came before the council.

On Freedom of Speech for Monday the 15th under the question "What do we do when we have a problem?" it is implied that we throw good money after bad and get absolutely no results.

For instance; "Delinquint sewer bills are not collected or liens filed." Wrong ! As per an article in the CJ on September 10, 2006 the mayor stated that some $80K of delinquint sewer bills have indeed been collected. Liens have indeed been filed on some properties but the legal processes of such action are painstakingly slow.

Another FOS statement from the same date: " Unsafe buildings are not demolished." Wrong again! Steve Laduke, president of the NA Building Commission, reported at this weeks Common Council meeting, that several unsafe structures have indeed been demolished recently and listed several more that are on their worst of the worst list to be addressed soon. He also asked the council for the funds to put the Demolition fund back in the black as well as additional funds to pay for more demolitions. Of course he was met with the standard protocal of suspision and enuendo by some council members.

Yet another from the same FOS post; "Junk cars are not towed away." Wrong yet again! At the November meeting of the Uptown Neighborhood Association, Cheif Harl reported that the police department had finally found a facility to store said vechicles and many had recently been towed. Again, there is a legal protocol that must be adhered to prior to hooking on to a car and towing it away. To not follow those procedures sets the city up for even more legal costs in form of lawsuits. That is indeed a waste of $$$!

Finally, one more from FOS that I'm going to tie into CM Price's latest post; "We hire engineers and pay for a study." as though once again money was spent irresponsibly. I'm not sure whether they are referring to a past study or one that may be forthcoming.

However I do know that at a recent Sewer Board Meeting, Todd Solomon recommended that the city have an independent study done of the 15th street lines in particular to determine, amoung other things, the costs involved in correcting that potentialy disasterous situation.

Now here is where I link this to CM Price's post on Saturday January 20, 2007 in which Steve poses the question " While the issue of the railroad is being addressed, what about New Albany's role?"

I follow with questions of my own. First, not if but when this proposal does come before the council, are the members going to view it as a part of the solution in conjunction with CSX's contribution, or are they going to dismiss it out of hand as being just another handout to the spoiled child?

Secondly, if the study is indeed authorized, funded, and conducted, is the council going to follow the recomendations that come forth from said study and appropriate the monies needed to do the actual needed repairs? Or are they once more going to do the politically expedeint thing and reject this information again, out of hand, as being yet another handout to the spoiled child?

Finally, shall we all stand, bow our heads, and hold our breath as we wait for these answers?

Damn! I didn't realize a coin had so many sides!

Conumdrums all Around...

Conundrum-Any puzzling question or problem. (**New World Dictionary of the American language)

There appears to be a whole slew of these "puzzling questions" in these here parts all of a sudden.

For instance, on the January 13, 2206 post on CM Price's blogsite entitled 15th Street http://stevepricemyvision.blogspot.com/ he discusses the ongoing travails of the infrastructure surronding the rail crossing at 15th & Elm and then poses the question "Did we, when the water main broke at this location back in August, take a proactive or reactive approach to this problem?

My answer to his query is a question. why did you not Steve, along with your fellow councilmen, take a proactive stance on this and other infrastruture maladies by voting for the proposed 19% sewer rate increase which would have, long term, given the city the rainy day fund money to address these ongoing disasters in the making?

Or another case in point, In his current post entitled Points to Ponder, he points out that with a smoking ban looming on the horizon, New Albany stands to make $3,221,846 from Cigarette Tax Distribution in 2007.

Now here comes my question. Steve are going to vote for the smoking ban thus causing the city to loose that 3 million plus dollars per year that could further add to our rainy day fund for such emergencies as train wrecks or vote against it and appropriate those monies toward updating our infrastructure?

Note that I was going to pose these question to him via email on his blogsite but alas, I can't get to his email address. I guess E Blogger is having problems again!

Ah well, such is life in Nawlbany!

Perhaps a Two Front Battle?

I originally posted this on the Tribune forum but elected to put it up here also to get more coverage.

OK the truth is I don't have two topics a day in my repertoire. So fire me already!

Many of us have for over a year struggled with the code enfoercement issue, or the lack thereof with very minor sucess.

Should we give up or should we perhaps get equally aggressive with another important aspect of the battle while we continue the first? Should we wage a two front offense?

Consider the following;

There are over 7,000 residences in the inner New Albany area. One very smart fellow told me there were as many as 3,000 substandard units. We know there is about 60% rental properties.

So while code enforcement might be able to address the most egregious of violations, how long do you think it will take a superman Building Commissioner, who never sleeps, to address even a fraction of these effectively? (New Albany Building Commissioner's office is another understaffed and underfunded entity by the way.) If he successfully corrected two or three every month (no easy task), that would be about 1% of the estimated problem in a year.

Code enforcement is needed for sure, but it is not the only answer and perhaps not the best answer.

Nor is city government that is unwilling to stick its neck out gonna be an answer any time soon.

Cops don't stop speeding, traffic design does.

Code enforcement won't stop slumlords, but higher property values will. We need plans that bring investment and demand to downtown New Albany.

That's where the neighborhoods and opinion leaders should be putting some of their energy.

The slumlords are laughing that everyone is struggling to pursue a solution that will only take care of 1% of the problem.

Strike any bells?

Is It Just Me or Is It Getting Hot 'round Here?

Well boys 'n girls, it appears that election season is upon us once again. Candidates, potential and otherwise are strategizin' and jostling for position.

Self proclaimed "Progressive-Not bound by traditional ways or beliefs" Steve Price has his own blogsite :

http://stevepricemyvision.blogspot.com/ ,

And many other names are being bandied about for both Common Council & Mayoral positions. The one constant is that none, other than CM Price and he only vaguely, are being publically forthcoming as to what their intentions or platform consists of. It would appear they all went to the same school as the party leaders of our community, "Speak not at all and smile a lot"

So how are we to make informed decisions about whom to vote for? Oh, that's right, we aren't. We are to just blindly follow tradition and vote for the incumbent. Barring that, they'd just as soon we didn't bother to show up at the polls.

Not that this has been either publically or officially stated, mind you. That would require a statement of position and again we haven't heard any.

So again readers, I implore you to read the lines, read between the lines, and if you are not registered to vote, by all means do so. Then after you have verified that you are indeed registered in the precinct in which you currently live (as opposed to the one you lived in prior to moving) , continue to read, ask candidates hard questions, demand honest answers, analyze it all, and ultimetly GO TO THE POLLS & VOTE! Vote 'till it hurts.

To clarify my comment about follow up of your registration, when you change your physical address, even if you were previously registered, your status will not be automatically updated. You must verify your current status and make sure you aren't registered in more than one location. If you are, your vote will be VOID! They will gleefully toss it out the window onto that evergrowing pile of trash in the alley.

Above all, remember this. For most recent elections, only 25% or less of the legally registered eligible voters have bothered to do so. In real life terms, that equates to 1 out of 4 are making decisions that 100% of us have to live with until the next election cycle rolls around. The political machine is more than happy with these figures because they can easily influence enough of that 25% to vote their way without breaking a sweat. I on the other hand, am not happy with 1/4 of the population dictating the lifestyles of the other 3/4 of us.

A disclaimer here. I, at this point, am not expousing one party nor one candidate over the other. Vote your conscience, vote they way Grandpa did, vote straight, vote split, or best of all be an informed voter, but vote nonetheless.

Responsible citizenship! I know, I know! It's a bitch, but it is the ONLY sure way you have a voice in the who and how your government works! It's like going to the dentist or that boring ass job you have to face when you climb out of bed every morning, just put down your purse and DO IT! You will thank yourself afterwards.

Welcome to the furnace!

Who the Hell Are you and What Do You Want??

My name is Lloyd Wimp and I am a mortgage paying, tax paying , voting citizen of New Albany. My background varies from construction trades worker, to auto/diesel mechanic, to vocational school instructor, to truck driver, to semi-professional beer drinker. I believe the general catagory is "Jack of all Trades & Master of None!"

I have no political ambitions for myself, I'm not seeking any political office, and I am curently not supporting any particular political party or platform, although I might look strongly at at a platform if anyone would lower themselves to coming forward with one. So far that has not happened and I've yet to see ANY indication of such.

What I and AN EVER INCREASING NUMBER OF NEW ALBANY CITIZENS want is a local government (administrative and legislative/fiscal alike) that is willing to;

A) look past what has been to what can be (think outside the box)!

B) work together which means open lines of communication, cooperation and sharing information with each other and the public. Both branches need to quit forcing each other and us, to beg, borrow or steal whatever documentation or verification is needed to make an intelligent,informed decision on a given issue!

C) work with the public in spite of how angry or crazy we may seem at times. Stonewalling and excuse making has created this monster that you folks find so distasteful. You have forgotten somewhere along the way, that YOU work for US at OUR pleasure, not the other way around.

Cain't like ain't is not in the dictionary. There is "I don't know how but I can learn." Or there is "I'm not going to!" which denotes a negative attitude and as my dear old Dad was so prompt to remind me, atitudes can be adjusted.

Too strong? I don't think so. Fighting words? Possibly, but only if they are ignored. Too uppity for mere citizens? Don't know, do you feel lucky?

So this in a nutshell without the flamboyance of multisyllable words is who we are and what we want & expect from our elected officials and their lackeys. Got any ideas on how to accomplish this feat. If so we are having a Greet & Meet at Richo's this coming Monday evening at 7PM.

For those of you who look to be running for election in 2007, this would be a great opportunity to hear our hopes and fears as well as for us to put a face to your name up close & personal. Don't worry, beer is optional (they have non alcoholic beverages)! We also promise to give you a 10 minute head start for the parking lot before the lynchings begin.

If you can't make this one, we loosely plan on a series of these events over the next several weeks. The bottom line is, we need an exchange of information concerning what potential candidates and voters have mind for New Albany's future and that future is NOW!

A Leash is a String, a Rope, a Steel Cable, a.......???

I just spent an interesting evening at the first of ??? public hearings on the proposed Floyd County Animal Control Ordinance. If nothing else I came away with a newfound appreciation for what the writers of our Constitution went thru to reach the point of a final draft. And they walked in the room hating each others guts! Neither did they have email to exchange between themselves. If they were still around, I'd remortgage my home to buy them all the progressive pints they could drink.

We walked into the room with a 57 page document. Mr. Lohmeyer offered that in the interest of time, we should skip the first 11 pages because they contained only definitions of terms used throughout the text. Silly boy! Only Rabbits eat tricks!

We devoured the first hour on pages 12 thru 15, much of which was spent going back to pages 1 thru 11 to define terms. Well, it sounded like a good idea going in!

The next hour considered pages 16 thru twenty something (again that definition of terms thing).

During the last 45 minutes, the general consensus was to treat "livestock" (farm animals) as a seperate issue at a later time.

I'm really not making fun of anyone here. It was just an interesting exercise in watching a room full of people trying to agree on what is really is!

At any rate we made a lot of progress and some very good points that had not been previously brought to the table were shared. The next session is next Wednesday @ 6PM at the same location. Bring a seat cushion as the metal folding chairs are rough on a million mile backside!

I offered to Mark Seabrook that if he thought the NA Sewer issue was tough, he ain't seen nothin' yet!

I missed nearly all of the NA Common Council meeting but a little mouse told me that Larry Kochert is the new council president. I also heard that CM Price & company had a successsful evening in that no monies were awarded to the petitioners present. Whatch those pennies Stevey boy!

2007 is off & running. By the way Roger, did you say something about some lubricant for that squeaky wheel??

Lassie---Come Home!!

The farmer arrives on the scene in time to see that one of his sheep is down and a blood stained collie is running away from it! Meanwhile, back at the farm, Lassie arrives covered in blood and cowering as if she's in trouble. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

We're back-The farmer has rounded up the sheriff and they descend on the farm to find Mom & Timmy trying to clean the offending stain off Lassie's coat. The farmer immediately points an accusing finger and demands that the sheriff dispatch her at once! Dad emerges from the barn to see what the commotion is all about and is told the damning tale! He suggests and the sheriff agrees to pen the dog up until the mystery is solved. the farmer doesn't like it, but has to abide by the sheriff's decision for now. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

We're back again-The farmer goes to check on his other sheep, while Dad & the sheriff go back to the scene of the crime to look for clues as to what may have happened. Meanwhile Timmy is agonizing over the delima while Lassie is getting more agitated by the moment. Unable to cope with her discomfort, Timmy opens the gate and Lassie bowls him over and heads lickety/split for the farmers place. Timmy yells for Mom and they take of in hot pursuit of her! (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

We're back yet again-The farmer looks out from his barn and sees Lassie bounding across his property heading straight for the sheep pasture. He grabs his rifle and takes off after her certain that she has come back for more killing. Meanwhile, Dad & the sheriff have discoverd another set of dog tracks that are not Lassie's and begin to follow them. By now the farmer has caught up with Lassie and has her in his sights at close range. She barks, growls and leaps around him just in time to intercept another dog which is sneaking up from behind to attack the farmer! Just then Timmy, Mom, Dad, & the sheriff arrive on the scene, the sheriff dispatches the stray dog, Timmy collects Lassie and the farmer comes to the realization that his bacon has just been saved by the very animal he was so bent on destroying. Handshakes, hugs,& kisses all around as Timmy & Lassie take a tumble in the grass. (WE FADE TO CREDITS)

First of all, my apologies if I've infringed on any copyrights in the above. It was unintentional and I did so only to illustrate a point.

I am not a graduate of any psychology, philosophy, or sociology schools or universities. As a matter of fact, I've never taken a class on any of the aforementioned fields. I am however a product of my environment. My formative years as a lad were filled with Lassie & Timmy. All their dilemas were solved, start to finish in about 23 minutes of air time. (I guessed at the length of the commercial breaks)

From my teenage years to adulthood I was been bombarded, as we all were, with the expectation of just in time; I want My way it right now! The older we got, the faster we wanted action and solution. Somewhere along life's long, slow road, we came to accept Lassie as reality. To be fair Mickey D's, Burger Chef, Walmart, and Micrsoft have done their fair share to support this notion.

Fast forward to the 21st century, and we find ourselves being impatient with those people who really are there that really do want to help, serve and protect us. We expect them to be there to put out the fire before it starts, catch the bad guy before he appears, have the ambulance on scene prior to our heart attack beginning, and enforce codes that they are unaware of being broken, with no budget, limited staff, & outdated equipment. All the while, we envy and berate them for their take home vehicles, their salarys, and their overtime. Furthermore we refuse to gather & report the information they beg us for because it is not our job, it's theirs. Finally, we decide to just give up and bitch!

If I offend anyone here I'm kinda, sorta sorry about that. If I appear frustrated by the whole issue you would be correct. Am I gonna go away and quit banging on this drum? Probably not, save to re-energize my battery with a progressive pint or two or three from time to time.

We're gonna continue to gather information and politely relay it to those who can and in most cases will try to resolve the issue. We're gonna continue to aggravate those who have the responsiblity and position of authority to resolve the issues but refuse to act, for whatever reason. And finally, We're gonna continue to hound those who still think Lassie is for real and everything can be solved & absolved in 30 minutes minus commercials without them having to hit the preprogrammed fast dial button of their cellphone.

And just who do I think I am you ask? Just an ole farm boy who grew up choosing to believe the American dream. That it doesn't get any better than this and that all things are possible with focused, consistent, persistence used as the driving force. I still choose to believe that there are others likeminded in our midst.

So something tells me I'm gonna be drinking a lot of those progressive pints! And who knows, maybe one day we will learn the art of pushing a logchain uphill. Won't that be a kick in the pants?