Okay…I’m sure you’ve read about the concerted effort from the right to say that the most important thing for the economy right now is to address the deficits and the fear that inflation may be on the horizon. If you’ve studied economics at all, you know that in a recession, what needs to happen is that the government deficit spends to stimulate portions of the economy that the private sector can’t. This has worked in every recession/depression that the tactic was tried but what I see now is the repubs from David Brooks to Boehner and their ilk are calling for cutting government spending and have categorically rejected the latest call for federal funding to states and cities who are laying off people and cutting back services. Now, they may say that this is perfectly consistent with their conservative views but I see it as a plan for them to ensure that the Obama administration fails so they can go back to the tax-cutting, reward the rich policies that have led to where we are today. And they have done a great job of convincing the man on the street that government intervention for any reason is a bad thing. They use for the underpinnings of their argument that the stimulus package is not adding millions of jobs but only 41K in the last month but what they don’t say is that employment is always a lagging indicator, especially in a recession as severe as this one.
I’ll bet you didn’t believe I could work up any outrage today…I’m glad I could prove you wrong…
One thing I can believe is that these guys are using the misery of the unemployed for their own political gain…geez…
Well…not much to say this morning..spent all Sunday just lazin around here and getting rested from the traveling along with laundry, etc. The bike is the cleanest it has been in a year after the power wash it got on the back of the car coming home. Yeah…the brain is a little sluggish today…maybe one too many manhattans last night or the combo of two types of sleeping pills…not a good idea so don’t try that at home…more later…
Well…need to say a few words about the USA/England match from Sat afternoon…walked over to a local bar owned by an Irishman who, when he saw that my son-in-law was English, gave us pretty good service. But, we were there at about 9:30 for the 1:30 game so that was a long wait; especially for me since I could only have a couple of beers with coming back home later in the aft. Had corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast and it was some of the best I’ve had…not the weird tasting stuff you get from a can but really tender, home-cooked corned beef.
Oh, the game, I thought it was a good result for the USA to come away with a tie 1-1, but my son-in-law and the other Englanders were despondent that they could tie with the lowly US. I have to say congrats to Tim Howard, our goaltender, who took what I thought was a red card play when the English player came in studs up and put both feet into his chest. This was early in the match and he stayed in and made so many game saving plays it was hard to count them…doesn’t say much for our defense, though….
Now we just need to beat Slovenia Friday morning and we might get to the knockout stage…..
I just remembered this little tidbit from the trip….while I was on the Indiana Tollroad in the huge rainstorm that I told you about in the last post..(just look down…it’s easy), I had just cleared a group of cars and it was great to get out of the spray since you couldn’t see a thing. Well…I’m in the left lane, starting to make some pretty good time and came on an Explorer that was in the center lane of three, I’m probably 5 or 6 car lengths back and a deer comes flying over the center dividing wall and lands in my lane. The guy in the Explorer locks up his brakes and starts to swerve toward me….I see his headlights pointing at me, the deer is staring at me (in that split second), and the only thing I can think of to do is floor it…..worked out pretty well….
Well…was going to write when I got back into GR last night but by the time I got the wreck unloaded, laundry in the washer, and my first drink, I just didn’t feel like it. The trip back from Chicago was interesting; at least crossing the Indiana toll road where it was raining so hard it was just about black at 6 pm…and then you had the idiots in the left lane (yeah, the one that I own) going about 45 on the e-way and plugging up the whole works. That continued onto I-94 (the rain and the idiots) so I just had to slow down and let the traffic clear before I could get going…needless to say there was no record time for the 184 miles…maybe next time.
All of the walking we did gave me blisters and re-injured my shins so I’m a little sore today but the ibuprofen seems to be working…going to take today off and just watch racing all day along with a few naps…I am old after all…more later…
Well…slept a little better last night since my daughter gave me some prescription sleeping pills to try….that or the beer worked. Just trying to get moving to get ready for the USA England match this aft….and need to pack my stuff up so I can take off after the match. I am kind of looking forward to getting back to GR but I’m not as antsy as I thought I’d be…well, not now, since it’s the last day. Yeah, I know, I’m a pretty screwed up individual if I can’t enjoy hanging out with my daughter…but I really do think it’s the whole getting used to being alone thing….who knows? Going to watch the last half of the Korea/Greece match so I’ll end here…maybe more later when I get back to GR, my couch, and manhattans…
Well….it has been kind of a long day but had quite a bit of fun….my daughter and I rode our bikes from out here in the west side of Chicago downtown to the spice shop; the last time they were in GR they brought me some great spices like Jamaican Jerk spice and one called “gateway to the north” which is a maple flavor with some kick to it. I had to buy a big bag of each since I use them on almost everything and it was only about 20 bucks for both and a new one that has lemon and lime flavor. Can’t wait to get home and cook some chicken….
Then we came back here and took the train downtown and saw the end of the Blackhawk’s parade and some fireworks they had on the river on the way to the blues festival at Grant Park. Didn’t stay too long since it was really hot and we were drenched before we even got there. Plus, all the walking used new muscles that now hurt like crazy and I have blisters on my feet even with wearing my running shoes. Oh, well….going out for sushi for dinner in a few minutes and then not much else since we are all kind of worn out. Probably not more later but I promise more after I get home tomorrow evening…it’s going to be manhattans when I get back…
Oh, and I promise some topical outrage or some more life stuff that is not as mundane as I’ve been writing lately…
Well….I did get a bunch of music ripped last night but didn’t sleep very well….never do when I’m away probably because I don’t travel much anymore. It has stormed here in Chicago already this morning, and there is more coming to look at the radar, so the blues fest may be out. Not sure what is on the agenda for today if that goes away but I’m sure we can find something to do; need to say away from downtown, though, since the Blackhawks are having the Stanley Cup parade today. Don’t know why I’m so uncomfortable staying in my daughter’s place but I think it’s that I spend so much time alone now that it is strange when I’m with people for extended periods of time. Trying to just live in the moment and enjoy the time here and I hope I’ll be more successful doing that later today and early tomorrow…but I will be going back to GR Sat aft….more later….
Well…made it to Chicago pretty easily…almost without a map but not quite…have already fixed my daughter’s bike (put new fenders on it) and walked to the hardware store to get some parts. The car ran great all the way here…I think better than ever and turned over 280K on the way here…now if the duct tape will hold up on the door and windshield post back to GR, I’ll be pretty happy. Looking at her music collection right now to see what she has that I can rip…more later…
Well…it was good to see the Blackhawks win the cup last night but I think the parade is going to screw up my going to the free blues fest in Millennium Park since the route goes right by it….maybe it will be fun to see it but probably not. I’m sure we can find something else to do until the parade is over. Getting ready to go out for coffee…more later…