The Rambling Insomniac

Well, I went and cast my vote today to elect our next president of the United States. If one were to pay attention to current polling data, I guess you could say that I was wasting my time, as one nominee clearly has a lead on his opponent. The media tells us that the lead in the polls is so large that any likelihood of a comeback on election day would be nearly impossible.

Knowing all this, I cast my vote anyway.

I must agree that it would certainly be exciting for this country to elect its first minority president. I can also see that given our country's current economic crisis, it would be easy to blame it all on the current administration. By way of deduction, it would then make sense to me why the particular candidate that is leading in the polls is so popular. But, to those that have been polled, and for those that plan to cast their vote on November 4th to this poll-leading candidate, I must ask you....Really America? Do you have any clue who you are really voting for?

Do you really support his plan of socialism to “spread the wealth” of all Americans? This means lazy free-riders can now kick back and relax as us hard working Americans will be required to support them with our paychecks. Are you aware of his complete lack of ever accomplishing anything in his political career? Are you aware that his only experience in politics came from the corrupt Chicago political machine? Are you even aware of his close ties to numerous anti-American radicals throughout his lifetime, most of which stand against everything that is truly American? Do you beleive in statements such as "It's not God Bless America, it's God Damn America"? Really America? You're going to elect this guy as our president?

I've always stressed to my friends and family that voting on election-day is what I consider to be a patriotic duty. However, voting for someone just because you “don’t like the other guy” flies in the face of this patriotism. I’d rather see someone cast a vote for their spouse, their dog, their Mom or even Elvis before voting for someone they truly do not know the facts about. "But he's so articulate and well spoken, we need change, and he says he'll fix all of our problems". Really America? You really believe that?

Please vote on November 4th, but please don't cast a vote for someone you know nothing about.

G’Night G’Town!

"Really America? Really??" ~Tom White, the morning of November 5th

After a full morning of yard work last Saturday, my wife and I decided to get out for a bit. So we loaded the kids into the SUV and went for a cruise to enjoy some of the fantastic fall scenery. We drove out west from our house on Monches Road, and drove past Plat Elementary (which is where our daughter Lyndsy goes to school). From there, we headed out on Hogsback Road, St. Augustine Road, and well, you locals know what I’m talking about. We cruised all through the Holy Hill area, and the colors were spectacular! We then took the kids to one of their favorite parks, which is Glacier Hills Park, off of Hwy 167. The place was packed. I couldn’t help but notice that most of the people there weren’t locals, but simply “tourists”. Not sure why, and despite the fact it’s a public park, I couldn’t help but feeling like they were invading our own private property. After playing at the park for a couple hours, we headed back home. Hwy 167 had become pretty much a parade by this point, with countless gawkers driving slowly and carelessly through the scenic turns. As we passed the roadside apple stand by Holy Hill, we noticed it was packed with what I can only assume were “city folk”. Not that I have any problem with people from the city, but again, I sort of felt like screaming, “Go home and give us our county back!” I realize that sounds selfish, and I should simply be proud that Washington County is our “stomping grounds”. After all, these folks are just here to enjoy it, just as we do day-in and day-out. I guess I’m just not much of a host when it comes to that.

Later that evening, once we had put our kids to bed and all the tourists had gone away, I was sitting out on my porch enjoying my evening smoke with a Beam and Coke. As I looked up into the moonlit sky to see a flock of night-traveling geese fly overhead, a shooting star split right through what seemed to be the middle of the flock. The peace and tranquility of that moment reminded me why so many people come out simply to visit our area. Thank goodness they don’t know what a dream it is to live out here, or the place just wouldn’t be the same.

G’Night G’Town!

I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world. ~George Washington

A few weeks back, my wife Stephanie and I decided to buy a laptop computer. Our goal was to simply have a laptop with wireless capability so we could use the Internet throughout our home.

Egad…we’ve spent nearly $2,000 thus far, and I still don’t have the ability to surf the Internet from our new laptop! Let me explain…..we bought the new laptop and wireless router, and we were all set to hook it up. When I tried loading the wireless router disks onto our computer, I got several error messages. So, we had that checked out, which led to us having to purchase a new computer, since the one we had (that worked just fine, thank you) apparently had a corrupt “mother-board”. Since Steph is a stay-at-home-mom, she has a lot more time to deal with these sorts of things, so I agreed to have her work on getting us a new computer. On the advice of a friend, she purchased a Mac instead of getting a Windows based model. Bless her heart for doing this, but let me tell you, having been a Windows user all my life, converting to being a Mac user is no easy task. Even the simplest things like viewing pictures or videos ends up like being on a safari (which is ironically what Mac calls their web browsing program). Additionally, it seems that NOTHING is compatible with the Mac. So far, we have already had to buy a new printer, a new router and several “Windows for Mac” programs.

Well, enough whining. We have had the Mac for about 2 weeks now, and we are learning how to navigate through the various programs it has. Many of these are quite “feature rich”, and seem nicer than Windows, but learning how to use them is no easy task. When I think about it, having this Mac has been sort of like raising our children. Until you have done it, you have no idea what to do or what to expect. And just like children, the more time you spend with the Mac, the easier it seems to get. Each day thus far has been an adventure with our baby Mac, and I just hope that as its Mac Daddy, I can give it the time and attention it deserves.

G’Night G’Town!

“Computers, huh?  I've heard it all boils down to just a bunch of ones and zeroes.... I don't know how that enables me to see naked women, but however it works, God bless you guys.”
 ~From the television show King of Queens, spoken by the character Doug Heffernan