Can It Get Worse

It snowed in New Orleans yesterday and it shut down the area. It must be terrible to live someplace where it’s so rare to see snow. We are buried up to our knees right now with more on the way.

The Senate refused to give the auto makers a bailout, the Governor cut the budget for Human Services, unemployment is pushing thirteen percent in some parts of the state, and the cost to heat your home has gone up at least ten percent. Can things get much worse for Michigan? The answer is yes they will get a lot worse before they get better.

Every day on the news there is a story about someone’s house or business being robed, or someone embezzling from their employer. People are tight for cash and it must seem like easy money, but in the long run they do get caught.

There is a song that goes “if it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all”. Tighten your seat belts, keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times, and enjoy the ride.

I Remember When

The difference between Baby Boomers and today’s youth is experience. Not what you know, but what you have seen in your life time. If you are over fifty there is a long list of things that have come into your life and then disappeared. Running the gambit from the smell of mimeograph fluid, to the can openers that were used to open your dad’s beer before the advent of pop top cans. We remember them and the kids have never seen them.

Reel to reel tape recorders, forty five rpm records, and the taste of library paste. Most of our life was spent with out computers, calculators, and cell phones. They have never known anything else. We have seen the steady loss of pay phones, our light bulbs are fast becoming florescent lights, and now we are about to change over to digital television. This means the few black and white TV sets that have managed to exist will be gone. One more thing that will only be a memory.

That is what gives us the right to look them in the eye and say “I remember when”.

Driving In The Snow

If you live in Michigan in the northern part of the state you have two things in the winter that are equal to any other part of the country. You have deep snow and rugged terrain. In lake effect country you can get twelve to thirteen inches of snow over night, and there are roads as steep as you will find anywhere.

I say this because I want you to realize that I grew up driving in deep snow. I had snow tires on my car, but like all Michiganders that is all I had. No one I know would let five or six inches stop them from driving. Sure I spent my share of time stuck in the snow, but that was just the price one paid for living in God’s country.

So I want to know is what's the big deal about a little snow on the road? Some parts of the country shut down at the sight of a snow flake and others won’t let you drive without tire chains. In Michigan you can have chains as long as they don’t make contact with the surface of the road. I can’t think of a single person that even owns a set of the things.

You put a shovel in the trunk along with a blanket and some kitty litter for traction and you’re good to go. If you get stuck to deep to dig out, well that’s why they make tow trucks. Only wimp wouldn't drive in the snow around here.

Cat In The House

We have a house guest. She was not expected, but now she is here. She is a calico cat. I have not seen her since she got here; I think she is hiding under the bed. Oh well she will come out in her own good time. A friend of our nephew just moved back to town from down state and has no place to keep her. I swore I would never have another cat in my life, but somehow there is.

Don’t get me wrong, I love cats. I just don’t want to get attached to another one. I am one of those people who seem to attract stray cats. I can think of at least eight in my life, but there may be more. The trouble is they come into your life, you get close to them, and then one day they are gone. Cats are conditional creatures. They let you get close and love them, but only on their terms. When they decide they have enough that’s it their done.

She is only here temporarily. We will not get attached. Just like Fray David, Fur Ball, and Fluffy. Oh boy, I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens.