Show Me the Money!

If you'll recall in some of my past blogs I questioned what happened to all that federal stimulus money the Obama administration was going to throw around to 'stimulate' the economy and save us from ruin. I have yet to see evidence of any of it finding its way to little old Connecticut.

Well, guess what? I found it. As I sit here with my laptop in Butler, PA, I can see some guy riding around his lawn on his new John Deere lawn tractor. Last night we were with some people who were talking about the projects they have going on around their houses, e.g. finished basements, in-ground pools, additions, etc.

It's not the federal governments money that's doing this directly of course but it is because these folks and many others are employed and prosperous.

All across the state as we drove across Route 80 and as we drove around various other regions there were construction crews all over. New bridges, old railroad beds converted to 'rails to trails', new hospitals, schools, public water lines, resurfaced roads, etc. You name it. It's being done.

But why Pennsylvania? Were they worse off then Connecticut? What makes them so special?

Simple, my dear Watson. Pennsylvania is politically a very important state. It can make or break someone's election.

Don't believe it? Go back and look at the election figures for the last presidential election. Obama carried Pennsylvania which pretty much put him over the top.

Connecticut? First, there's the mistaken belief by Washington that we have plenty of money and, second, we have all of 3 electoral votes. Big deal.

So, you want some of those federal dollars? Move to PA.

A Conversation With Courtney

First, a little back ground.

Yesterday, Courtney, Brooke and Cole were in town to see the horse show at Fairfield Hills and then go swimming at our house. Later, at home, Courtney & Brooke were instructed by their father to go to the bathroom before getting in the pool.

In the mean time Courtney needed to have her swim goggles adjusted but when she asked her father to do it he said not until she went to the bathroom as previously instructed.

Herewith to the best of my recollection is the conversation that followed between Courtney and me.

Courtney: Grandpa, do you feel bad?
Me: Why, no. I feel fine. Why should I feel bad?
C: Well you should. Daddy hurt my feelings.
Me: How did that happen?
C: He told me to go to the bathroom first.
Me: Well, I guess you better do that, don't you think?
C: Well, I think you should feel bad for me. Now you hurt my feelings!

Then she brushed past me and went into the bathroom.

Moments later of course all was forgotten.

Life with an almost-four year old.

More from (Fox) Faux News

Immediately after Shirley Sherrod's remarks were taken out of context and posted, she was roundly criticized. Calls for her resignation came from everywhere: Dept. of Agriculture, NAACP, Fox News, you name it.

Then of course it was discovered that she was falsely accused. Remarks out of context are absolutely useless and in fact harmful.

Following this, everyone who initially jumped on her apologized profusely-except dirt bags Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham and the rest of the crew at Faux News. They've refused to back down.

Do you believe this? Why is that station still on the air? Why would anyone watch it?

By the way, for the record, I did NOT get this information from Fox. I got it from other news programs.

A Look Back

Let's take a little stroll back in time, shall we?

Here is a partial list of what we have seen:
1. President Obama is elected under the slogan "Hope and Change".
2. He repeatedly warms Americans that given the unbelievable mess he's handed, there will be no quick fixes.
3. He pushes for an economic stimulus package to shore up failing financial institutions and the auto companies.
4. He changes the direction of the 'war on terror' to where it should be.
5. He appoints two 'right' thinking Supreme Court Justices.
6. He pushes for health care reform and gets it passed.

There's more but that's the important stuff.

Here's what we see now:
1. The largest American presence in Afghanistan/Pakistan ever to fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban--the guys by the way who brought us 911.
2. Health care reform that now promises health insurance to millions of previously uninsured Americans.
3. The financial institutions are still functioning; the auto industry is recovering and the recession is in fact easing considerably.
4. A reasonable balance is being restored to the Supreme Court.

All in all, not too shabby. For sure, there's more to do. The housing market is still pitiful, unemployment remains stubbornly high and Obama has yet to address the key issue of illegal immigration. But we're getting there.

The icing on the cake is that BP, given the latitude to get the job done, has finally put an end to the worst environmental disaster in US history. I owe a lot of that to the way Obama handled it.

The big question is now what are the Republicans going to whine about?

They've already answered the question. It seems Obama and his family took a vacation! And you wonder why I get frustrated with their unbelievable hypocrisy???? What a pack of losers!!

A Top Gasbag Writes Another Book

I turned on the Today show this morning and who should appear but conservative gasbag Laura Ingraham peddling her latest book. Then on my way to the dump, I tuned into the Imus in the Morning show on my radio and guess who was on? You guessed it. Her again.
The fact is Ingraham has a couple of pretty sound ideas but she's so obnoxious and full of herself that it's all but impossible to take her seriously. She needs to stop trying to be so witty and clever and just say what she has to say. Maybe more people will listen. But not me!

Glitches

So, here we are at our condo in Naples, FL.

We needed to furnish a bedroom and a dining room and we needed a ton of odds and ends that weren't here at the time of purchase-even though this is supposed to be a turn-key deal.

Anyway, most of what we've been doing has gone fairly smoothly...except the condo community manager who gives out gate codes and clubhouse keys and stuff like that decided to take the day off. He's only here on Mondays and Fridays and we're returning home Sunday so I had to drive to Bonita Springs to his office to get this stuff straightened out. The lady at the condo management company couldn't understand why I was a tad annoyed.

Florida people definitely work at a different pace then what I'm used to.

The second little glitch involves furniture. What was supposed to be here before noon didn't arrive until about 4 P.M. and there were 6 dining room chairs missing.

A call to Rooms To Go customer service resulted in nothing good. They can't possibly deliver Saturday morning. So that means we have to get them to deliver the chairs on Thursday, Nov. 18th or 10 people are going to be sitting on the floor on Thanksgiving.

The third glitch involves the air conditioner which as it turns out was functioning as it should but it cost me $60 to find that out.

Everything else has gone fairly smoothly. The place is comfortable. I've met some very nice people who live in other closeby condos and I think in the long run it's all going to work out.

Now it's back to Walmart for more stuff. Stay tuned. This story is far from over.

Happy Birthday

Happy 234th birthday to the United States of America. And a big thank you to all veterans as well as those of you serving now who made this day possible.