Springtime Rediscovered

Recently we passed the six month mark of living in our new home.  We've accomplished all the required chores of a re-location:  new drivers licenses and car registrations, new bank, voter registration etc.  Changing address isn't as easy as it used to be and I'm not certain if that is because state laws have become more complicated or, more likely, we're just getting too old for this crap.  Nonetheless, it is done.

Having spent the last thirty plus years in California, it has been a pleasant surprise to realize the savings we now enjoy on everything from gasoline to groceries, insurance, taxes, utilities, and more now that we call Idaho home.  The air doesn't smell like benzine either and the water is tasty and plentiful.  The move was a good one.

In 1973, after spending just one more miserable winter in the Midwest, I promised myself to never "do" winter again.  That summer we headed for Florida and have lived either there or in Nevada, California or the Puget Sound area ever since.  As a consequence neither of us knew quite what to expect as winter approached the Inland Northwest last year.  Fortunately we had a mild one and were not inconvenienced or at all uncomfortable.  A big fireplace and radiant heat helped us make the adjustment  quite nicely.  Skiers hated it but we were grateful for the "welcome newcomers" kid glove treatment.

Now officially it's spring and the two of us have been startled to discover how much we have missed this season of re-birth and awakening.  Seeing the new leaves, flowers, warmer temperatures and green grass has taken us back to childhood and the excitement of coming warm weather and good old summertime fun. I almost feel like it's time to start goofing off in school because summer vacation is coming.  (Who am I kidding?  I goofed off all year long in school.)

As we walk in the mornings and evenings I find I'm taking a ton of pictures because the world looks so clean and new.  In California spring meant maybe a shower or two (not this year) to wash some of the dirt from the palm fronds and give them a dull green instead of their usual gray/green color.

Here are some shots taken as we walk the shores of Lake Coeur d' Alene in the panhandle of Idaho.

"My sun sets to rise again."  --Robert Browning

Canadian geese stop long enough to have babies and poop on our boat before heading north.

Not That You Asked...

But, here are a few things I've been missing lately:

Popcorn made in a pan, not the microwave

chocolate bubblegum cigars

actual mail from a real person

cars that have NO computer

movies featuring stars I recognize

homemade fried chicken

baseball games that last less than three hours

TV sitcoms that are actually funny

dogs that eat table scraps

clerks who can count change

people under 50 who can put a sentence together without using the word LIKE

teachers who dress like grownups

Democrats like JFK, Scoop Jackson and Harry Truman

Republicans like Ronald Reagan, Ike and Abe Lincoln

comfortable furniture

comfortable underwear

actors who don't mumble

30 cent gasoline

Holidays; not meaningless three day weekends

standard time

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

George Carlin

Ernie Kovacs

Phil Silvers

Nat Hiken

Joan Rivers

Sinatra

Clark bars

convertibles

booze (I still miss the taste)

No fine dining here

A freaking nightmare

STUFF I CAN DO WITHOUT:

Basic training

C rations

High school algebra and geometry

Kansas

my annual prostate exam

pro basketball

college basketball

ABC news

NBC news

MSNBC

Al Sharpton

Dancing with the Stars (more like has beens)

all reality shows

Hillary & Bill

Harry Reid

Income tax

Rap music

people who've had their teeth whitened just a little too much

cats

people who ask me how I'm "doin'"

SUVs

Heart Smart butter (tastes like Gliden's paint)

plastic water bottles

idiot bosses

popular culture

People Magazine

plumber cleavage

guys with their hats on backward (We get it.  You're a moron.)

winter

variety shows of any kind

 James Blunt singing anything
same goes for Cat Stevens

This could go on forever, but it's a nice spring day in the Inland Northwest.  Time to go outside and yell at those kids on my lawn.

No computer onboard

Free Speech at Berkeley?

I am so old I actually remember having college professors who were openly conservative.  For you youngsters this will no doubt be nearly beyond belief but it is an indisputable fact that once there was free speech and a plethora of opinion espoused in higher education.  Somewhere along the way, probably while enterprising conservative faculty was busy embracing capitalism, the liberals got the keys to the campuses and began turning them into re-education camps for the nation.  These days American colleges are hellbent on cramming political "correctness" into our culture and care not a fig how that sits with the rest of us.

To be politically correct is to be sensitive to the needs, real or not, of all citizens with the natural exception of white males, Christians, and anybody promoting freedom.  It's a place where ISIS just needs a hug and waving the American flag is considered bigotry.  In other words, it is an insane, morally reprehensible dumbass philosophy.  Stupid people are drawn to it like flies because it allows them to "feel good" about themselves.

Well, just when you thought it impossible for PC to become any more infuriating and insipid, here is another hairball coughed up by the comrades running the University of California , Berkeley.  They have now decreed that "in an effort to make the campus more INCLUSIVE, freshman students who are admitted for the spring semester will no longer be referred to as "spring admits".  Apparently the educated dolts in charge sense that students admitted in the spring might feel that "their admission was significantly different" from other freshman and therefor may have hurt feelings.

Yes, I can see where this might be a problem as a student embarks on what is now a six to eight year trek toward a degree from a zoo like Berserkly.

What am I missing?  Is this not the same Cal Berkeley that was home to the free speech movement of the 60's?   And, perhaps even more important,  WHO GIVES A RAT'S ASS WHEN THEY STARTED THEIR COLLEGE EDUCATION?!!  Isn't that whole "finishing" thing the one to concentrate on?

We have students graduating from high school, and probably college, who can't read, write or even balance their checkbook yet the idiots running Berkeley think that this is an issue they need to tackle?  The country has unsustainable debt, a constipated congress and a complete incompetent in the White House and this is what passes for a pressing situation in higher education?!

My wife and I have started a college fund for our grandson.  There are no strings attached and he can use the money to attend any school he wishes (I may amend it to exclude Berkeley).  Right now I'm inclined to think that welding school might be a better investment for the lad and I'm damn sure the faculty would be a whole lot more entertaining and certainly more open minded.
If he's lucky, maybe he can be a spring admit.

Free speech at Berkeley?  Nah, that's so 1960's.

Bend Over, It's Your Uncle Sam

Very typically at this time of year I am scrambling to find all the relevant tax materials I should have been keeping track of during the year...but didn't.  My accountant grows impatient and mildly put off by my lack of financial acumen.

(Here is where I had carefully crafted a lengthy diatribe against the IRS, Congress, Obama and every thieving (oops, there I go again) uh…caring member of the federal and state elites who, in their infinite wisdom, know far better than we how to spend  money they have stolen.)  How could I be so inconsiderate?  They have votes to buy and dopes to assuage with my money.  Symbolism and sentimentality, paid for by their productive constituents, insures the loyalty and support of an increasingly moronic and growing segment of the electorate.  (see liberals)  

There, I feel better now.  Still can't find those damn receipts I was looking for.  Perhaps its time to throw myself on the mercy of the IRS.  (Made myself laugh.)  Oh, that's right, they aren't answering their phones these days.  All we can do is hope that the mass mugging (drat!)..uh, free will offering due on the 15th will be sufficient to keep Lois Lerner in champagne and Grey Poupon during her, no doubt, lengthy retirement.  Just remember:  The government knows what's good for you.  Hand over your money or the kid gets it!

Speaking of kids…I have an idea.  

Seemed like a good idea at the time.

If you want to make sure your nursing home is a good one, get your kid or grandkid into a program that teaches tattoo removal.  I predict buckets full of dough in the not too distant future for individuals with that skill.  Most of the ink sported by what seems like half the populace should be looking like leprosy or a science project gone terribly wrong in a decade or two and the walking wounded will be lined up out the door to get this ill conceived "art" scrubbed from their hides.  These trend setters are living proof that the world is a freak show and we, as Americans,  have a front row seat.  Someone should be able to make some money on the deal.

Now, where was I?  Oh yeah, looking for tax stuff.  Hey, what if I tried telling them that all of the information they're seeking was on my computer and the hard drive has been erased?  You're probably right.  NOBODY would buy that one.  Or, I could mention that, according to the latest GAO report, federal agencies wasted $125 BILLION last year.  No, that would make me just another selfish, right-wing hater.  

I need to put this off for a few more days.  It's Easter weekend and really no time to be angry.  We can maybe wait until the 15th to drive the money changers from the temple in D.C.  

JELLY BEANS AND CHOCOLATE BUNNIES FOR EVERYONE!!