Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sunday musings

Well that was quite the heat wave that gripped North America for the last week. Of course the news was filled with the usual silly reports of frying eggs (or pizza in one case) on sidewalks. Reporters sitting inside closed in cars with a heat indicator for 10 minutes to say how hot it was in there – duh! And then of course there is the comparison of a humid hot versus a “dry” heat that occurs in the prairies. 
I do not know about you, but hot is hot – period.
America has now lurched to the edge of the chasm of financial default. Politicians of both parties are behaving like school children pointing fingers of blame at each other rather than acting like adults who were elected to serve the people and solve problems by leadership. 
What the hell are they thinking of anyway?
They sit there in really well paying jobs with perks the average citizen can only dream of and piously say cuts must be made by the poor, the ill, the pensioners, the veterans who sacrificed in the cause of freedom, in order to “save” America?
No word on taxing the super rich, or even asking them to pay a little more, no mention of the fat cats on Wall Street, the Industrial Military complex, no, no mention at all – just trample the defenseless.
How noble, how heroic. 
I hope they sleep well at night.
Rupert Murdoch shutters News of the World paper in England to try to minimize a horrible phone hacking scandal – good luck in that.
Insanity reigns in Norway – how did this happen?And is it true this horror was the work of only one twisted person?
Famine marches in the horn of Africa – still the world shrugs.
Amy Winehouse, the tragic alcohol and drug afflicted gifted singer dies at age 27 – the high price of fame too early and greedy enablers
The era of the space shuttle is over – mankind is planetbound again, the dream of Ad Astra dims.
You know, sometimes a sense of history in the making becomes overwhelming. And rest assured that this era will be remembered in days to come as one of the most turbulent in modern history.
Went golfing the other day. 
It was a perfect day and I truly tried to fashion a round worthy of posting in the local newspaper. Shall we just say that course records were not shattered and no legion of fans/media went home excited? 
But then again, it still was a great day for golf, surely someone,somewhere had to have had a good game!
This year I was honoured to become involved with an author in the production of a book- albeit in a minor way, (I have mentioned this in a previous column) and this week got a printed autographed copy of the book from the author. As some may know, I was quite involved in the book publishing industry in my working career, and I must admit that I feel a sense of satisfaction with this book that I never did with others in the past.
Maybe that is one of the things that people that have retired miss the most – that feeling of a job well done and the approval of their professional peer group.
Interesting thought.
Had my cell phone stolen the other day. It actually was a good thing to have happened. After sitting down and really thinking long and hard about what I really needed in a phone, decided that it was time to turn into a semi Luddite in this matter. My replacement is a phone with no video, no web, no e mail no nothing at all except for the dial pad and a contact list. Heaven knows I have way too many computers to fill these functions and spend valuable time with.
Feels good, and also saves a few dollars in the process.
Hard to believe that we are on the cusp of the 8th month of the year and fall is on the near horizon. 
Where did summer go anyway?
Have a great week and take care out there,
Flatlander52

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