Have You Ever Wondered?

Have you ever wondered why people run for political office? Depending on what office they are running for there are many different reasons, usually the last one being to make a difference. If you run for a position on the school board it usually means that you have a child that is entering junior high or high school that you just know is going to be a problem and that is going to be the only way that you can keep them in school. A State Senator recently told me that the best way to kill a political career is to win a seat on the school board. I must agree. City Council......well there are some guidelines that are followed. First you must be at least one hundred ninety years old, semi-successful to a total failure in anything else that you have ever done. You must realize that you will not actually run the city, all decisions will be made for you by three people who are the richest in your small town. You must be afraid of everything. You must be afraid of change, outsiders, spiders, fish, and some stuffed animals. Constable, well that is so you can carry a gun have a badge magnet on your personal vehicle and jeez who knows what else cause it is a useless position that should have been done away with years ago. Sheriff, well you need a Sheriff don't you? Understand that our country started with people elected that were farmers and farmers and farmers with no experience in anything but farming. So if think your not qualified to run for office go outside plant a flower seed if it comes out of the ground and a flower appears your qualified, get in the mix and shake things up. It is too late this year but two years is not that far away and you have to start somewhere don't you. Enjoy your flower.

Second chances

Well, I guess everyone deserves a second chance. So I was ready for another vehicle I went to one of the Local "Big Box" dealerships. Pulled into the parking lot walked in and announced that I was in the market for a new vehicle. Now understand I never said anything about trading in a vehicle once again cash transaction. Now understand as well I had only two weeks earlier paid cash for a house yes a house, and the broker I had purchased the house from had heard the story of my first attempt to purchase and called the dealership to tell them I was coming so they were expecting me. Suddenly I see my vehicle drive away without me. Where are you taking my truck I asked of course and they said to do a trade in sheet on it. Well why would you do that if I am not trading it in. Good question I thought. Thirty plus minutes later and without one person saying one word to me or trying to show me one single vehicle my truck returns with another local car dealer driving it. Not one of their sales people techs or employees but a totally other car dealer. I wont name names but his dealership is south of town by a trailer park and seems to have no purpose other than to lower the property value of the trailer park and I didn't even know that was possible to do but it seems that it is. So now they go on about my truck needs this and that and yes I know this but I don't want to trade it I want to pay cash for a good used vehicle. See I don't put a lot of miles on vehicles I don't drive all over the country rarely out of town so good used is good enough. Guess I should have learned the first time. So fast forward two months and I am driving by Dickerson Auto Sales and what do I see, another shiny red Chevy truck. And guess what I was driving forty five minutes later. Yep, you guessed it. I have learned my lesson and it is as follows Bigger is rarely better, cash still spends in a few places, and never again will I go anywhere else. Thanks Allen. I will be seeing you again soon.

Oh My

Yes ladies and gentlemen, it is me. Back again after a long long long vacation from blogging. I have had all I can stands and I can't stands no more. Tell your friends tell your enemies and hold on tight the ride starts soon.

What were they thinking?

Really I don't know and I figure they didn't either. Of whom do I speak? The parks commission of course. These unelected unofficials who have decided to ask the city council for another sack of nails to finish the coffin of economic ruin we seem to be building. Folks understand something, years of poor city planning and pure neglect are coming back to haunt us. Water lines are breaking constantly, streets are in disrepair, old water meters are costing the city thousands or more in revenue daily. Should funding for the community center project be limited? Well considering the fact that we have fireplugs that won't supply water and sewer lines and water lines leaking everywhere I say of course. The center is a great thing but let me explain something our old water lines are asbestos coated, they break and crumble and leak and push that asbestos into.........you guessed it your house. Good old asbestos on tap in thousands of homes waiting to be consumed by your precious snowflakes. That fireplug on your street or in your yard, yeah about that it may work, it may. It is time to do some serious remodeling. We are living in a house of cards that hasn't been maintained since the invention of the wheel. Did you know that when a new business builds here in town and gets ready to tie in to city services folks just kind of guess where the sewer and water lines that will support the load are? Did you know when Huddle House came here no one knew that the only sewer line that was large enough to hands them was on Hyatt street, that's right not under the highway twenty feet away but under Hyatt street two hundred yards away. Think they would have liked to know that ahead of time? There used to be people who worked at the water department that could walk into a field stand on a buried water or sewer line and tell you everything about it. You know what they call all those old timers now? DEAD. Go look at the old hand drawn service line maps if you really want a laugh. We need a real remodel folks. GPS mapping of water and sewer services. Replacement of broken safety equipment. Water meters that log usage correctly so the city can get paid. Wonder how long it would take to make what is needed to fill the gap on funding for the community center if our water meters were billing at one hundred percent instead of the current average of forty percent. Hell the company that wants to do the work said they could make us a profit immediately and are willing to pay us hundreds of thousands back if it didn't. Sounds pretty confident to me. Lets get this stuff done. it only gets more expensive the longer we wait.

Well Well Well

Deep subject yes I know. So lets see what has been going on lately. 250,000 more for the Sadie Johnson center, yeah just right them a check. The main opponent of the location of the new fire station has now moved her "historical ass" from her "historical home", and we still can't get it done. Drew Central Principal arrested. Local Judge arrested and censured. Seems that the "destructified" building on the square is under repair finally, should be a good view from the rear view mirrors of our local industry as they hastily abandon the sinking ship that is our lovely hamlet here in South Arkansas. Does it seem strange to anyone that a certain person announces his candidacy and generosity in the same week, or should I say is it obvious to anyone else. And what has happened to our mayor? Can't even break a tie vote. Suck it up buttercup, you have to at some point piss someone off. Read this blog if you don't believe me. So as you can see I have returned if just for a moment, leave a comment or a question. What would like me to talk about? I'm out of ideas.

Once upon a time.....

Once upon a time there was a small town in Arkansas, we will call this town Montijello. Now Montijello had many problems. It had a fire department that was unsafe to sit in. It had a police department that leaked like a submarine with a screen door. Now this city was governed by a group of people who spent thousands of dollars to decorate the city square for Christmas and then two weeks later dug up the entire square with a beautiful Christmasy backhoe. So needless to say the town had issues. Now it isn't the fact that these wise men and women decided to spend all this money on a piece of property that the city doesn't even own. It isn't that they spent all this money for beautiful decorations for something they knew only a few weeks later would be a construction site. No folks this wasn't the problem. See with everything that is going on the real problem are the residents of Montijello themselves. See with all this happening the citizens of Montijello were outraged. Not at the misuse of their tax dollars, not at the yet unfinished and probably over budget splash pad project. Not at the outrageously expensive pavilion with air conditioned bathrooms and free internet. No they are outraged yes outraged I tell you because their beloved stop lights have been removed. The injustice, the madness they exclaimed. We must request more studies we must ask the highway department to tell us no again cause we didn't get it the third time. Well I must ask someone to draw it for them in crayon. CITIZENS OF MONTIJELLO HEAR MY HUMBLE WORDS. GET THE HELL OVER IT AND MOVE ON. There are problems in Montijello that could not be fixed by a thousand stoplights. It is part of our history you say. Well good, you will have something to look back on when this town dries up an blows away like Burlington Industries. And for all of you who seem to be scared of a certain woman on main street, don't worry she is just mad because some body dropped a house on her sister and stole her ruby slippers. Build the damn fire department where you spent the money to build it for the love of god. Yes beloved Montijello where a church can build a building over a city street. Where you can play softball in the pool because it won't hold water and swim at the softball field because it will. A town with the need to preserve its past that runs so deep that it will sacrifice its future. Welcome to Montijello, where fast food places go to die.

If you build it......

Wow and boy howdy. New Mayor and same ole story. Well I had hoped that things would change and for the most part they have. Now we must have softball fields. If you build it they will come, and we will be rude to them and they will leave. What is going on with business owners these days. Recently I was attempting to purchase a vehicle and as bad as the economy is you know I couldn't give anyone my money. Let me open my theater. Me: Yes I would like to purchase a vehicle today. Them: We can finance a vehicle for you. Me: No I would like to pay cash. Them: I don't think we have anything in your price range. Me: Well you haven't asked me what my price range is. Them: I don't think we have anything for you. I called one gentleman who had a truck for sale and told him that I had cash in my hand and would not even try to talk him down I would pay his asking price. He said he would call me when the truck got out of the detail shop. I still have not heard from him and that was last April. But there is one dealer in town that had no issue with cash. Lucky him because that is what I had. So TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS LATER there is a happy me with a nice bright red truck and a very happy car dealer with a nice down payment on a house sitting on his desk. Maybe it was the way I was dressed, I had taken off work early it was warm I had been sweating and I had been working so I can only guess they took one look at me and said we don't have any 99 dollar cars. Well good for me cause I didn't want one. So yes please shop the big name dealers first, then go down to Dickerson's and get you a vehicle. They will have no problem taking your money.