Politics

Lately I have had some "discussions" with a friend on FaceBook. She thinks Obama will make a change and will make everything ok. I, on the other hand, don't think it really matters who won. In my opinion the President is really not much more than a puppet. Congress writes the laws, not the president. And in my view people care too much about which president is elected and not enough about which congress person is elected. People can normally spout out at least 2 ro 3 reasons why they vote for this president or that president, but when it comes to congress I don't think most people can even tell me who their congress representatives are, much less what they stand for on different topics.

So this brings up a couple of thoughts:
1) Why don't we know more about our elected officials?
2) Why would anyone want to run for president?

The first one I think is because people are generally too lazy to find out about who their elected officials are and think that everyone else will jsut do it for them.

The second one I think about often. Why would anyone want to become President of the United States?
1) The salary, $400,000/yr, may seem like alot, but compared to other people in high profile jobs it is really pretty small. There are other perks, helicopter/airplane rides as well as a $50,000 expense account.
2) Nobody notices anything you do right, but they do notice everything you do wrong.
3) You have no private life.
4) If you made any mistakes in the past, no matter how small, they will be blown out of proportion and made as if you were the only person to ever have such indiscretions.
5) People want to kill you.

Most of this can be eliminated by just telling the press to STFU. But that won't happen because apparently we have the right to know everything about everyone.

Powerful and smart people don't generally get to where they are by being goodie too shoes. So they will probably have at least one thing that they aren't proud of. so the smartest and best suited for the job will not apply. So you are left with second tier candidates. I am not saying Bush, Clinton or Obama are bad or unqualified people, I jsut think there are probably MUCH better qualified candidates who wouldn't dare run simply because they have a skeleton or 2 in the closet.

OK that wasn't a well thought out as I was hoping, but hopefully you get my point.

Thank you officer....

Last night I had to go pick up Jackson from my mother's house. On the way over I noticed a police car travelling in the opposite direction. So after I picked up Jackson, I was trying to figure out the least likely place he would sit and then go that way home. I did this because I have a brake light out and I know that with my luck they will spot it and give me a ticket.

Well I am apparently very bad at figuring out where police will sit. I drove right past the police officer. And even though I didn't hit my brakes, he still pulled out behind me. CRAP! So now I have to go down a hill and maintain 45 mph without using my brakes in an automatic car. Just not doable, so I figured better to get a ticket for a burnt out brake light rather than one for speeding, so I hit the breaks to slow down. And then I waited....and waited....and waited. He never flicked his lights on, hmm... OK so I become a little more at ease and then FLASH, the lights go on. So I pull over and he tell me my brake light is out and asks for license, registration and proof of insurance. CRAP, again! I left my house in my pajamas which have no pockets, so I don't have my license on me. I explain to him this and he seems ok with it. He then asks for the registration and proof of insurance. Dag gone it! I can't find any of it. He then asks if I have been drinking. I tell him, no I am just always this unorganized. He says no problem he is just going to give me a warning anyway. Great I am thinking. So he goes back to his car for which feels like 3 hours but in actual reality it was only 5 minutes. And come back with a 5 day warning card that says I need to fix the brake light and show proof of insurance. Man this guy was great, he could have been a big prick and given all kinds of tickets and stuff, but he was nice the whole time. This hasn't always been my experience with the men and women in blue.

When I was younger(16 yrs. old) I was the most responsible drive in the world. Let me run you through some of my highlights of dealing with the police.

1) My first time. The first time I ever got a ticket, i actually got 3 at the same time. I was driving down the road with some friends and ran a stop sign that I didn't even see, it was behind a tree, They have since moved the stop so it is now in front of the tree. So I ran the stop sign and wouldn't you know a police man was coming the other way so of course he saw it. So I see him turn around and for some stupid reason I decide to try to out run the police man, did I mention I had a 1979 VW Rabbit. Not the 1st choice when attempting to out run the police. So anyway I took a bunch of turns through a neighborhood and and thought I had lost him when BAM! He was right in front of me, I thought he was telepathic or something. He comes up to my car very rude, I guess I can understand now that I look back on it. He says to me, "I got you this time". I was like this time? This is the first time I have ever tried to do this. He says something smart like I was lieing. Anyway, I ended up with 3 tickets, 1 for running a stop sign, 1 for speeding, and 1 for trying to elude a police officer.

2) 2 times. I used to drive to school and would pick up my friends and give them a ride as well. Well one morning on the way to school I was driving too fast and got pulled over. So I got a ticket and I was on my way to pick up my friend, who shall remain nameless, but let's just say her name is the name of month and begins with A and it's not August. Anyway i get to her house she gets in and we head back. Now we are running late because i just got a ticket and you know how long it takes to write one of those things up. So I might be speeding a little bit. Well i was apparently speeding too much, because the same police man who gave me my ticket about 15 minutes prior was once again pulling me over. He asked what the rush was, i felt like saying, "You took so long with the first ticket that I am now late for school", but I didn't. I just explained that I was trying to get to school. he of course was nice enough to give me my second ticket of the day, actually of the hour. When I get to school, late of course, they start writing me up for detention, when I explain what happened they said that they guess I have been through enough this morning and let me go.

3)The circuit. One night a bunch of friends and i were cruising the circuit, the only thing there was to do, OK? don't go making fun of me. Well anyway, apparently it appeared like myself and another car were racing. We just both happened to be going over the speed limit next to each other. If you want to call that speeding then so be it, but i disagree. Well the policeman pulls us both over, impressive i might add. And ask us why we were racing I explained to him that i never met the guy, don't know him, and we weren't racing. he goes along with it and gives me a driving at an unsafe speed ticket. However, in the back seat is my friend, let's just say her name rhymes with Cindy, but has an M in it somewhere. She is starting to hyperventilate or something and is panicking because apparently I had a little knife under my seat that I didn't really even remember was there, nor do i even know why it was there. Anyway the police officer wasn't too much of a jerk, but i thought for sure "Cindy" was going to get us in trouble. But all ended well.

4)High beams. One night on the way back to college Allison and I drive past a police officer heading in the opposite direction. It was about 1am and it was in the middle of no where and very dark. So I had my high beams on and forgot to turn them off when I drove past the car. So next thing you know the police man turns around and pulls me over. First thing he asks is how much I have been drinking. I tell him nothing, I just forgot to turn the high beams off. He seems very displeased with this answer and after getting my license and registration he heads back to his car. He then comes back with a ticket, a ticket? I didn't think they had tickets for such things, but apparently they do. A ticket for forgetting to turn my high beams off. That isn't all I forgot, read number 5)

5)High beams continued...well probably 2 weeks passed since I got the ticket for the high beams. I was living at a hotel at this time, since on campus housing was full. Allison was over at my room, we were studying for a MicroBiology test I had. When I here someone knock on the door. I thought it was the maid, but to my surprise it was a police officer coming to take me away. Did I ever mention I ma very forgetful? Well I forgot to pay that stupid headlight ticket so they came and arrested me. I told Allison to get pat and meet me at the magistrates office. When I got there , in handcuffs, they sat me down and started asking all these questions. Eventually it got to the point where if I just paid my ticket I could go. Well Allison and pat finally show up and we are able to get the $94 some odd dollars together and they finally let me out. This brings up Pat....

6) Hard Rock Cafe - One spring break a bunch of us decided to go down to Atlanta for spring break. I know it's not the hot destination that some people go to, but we were poor college kids and could stay with my dad for free. So my mother rented us a car and we were on our way. We arrived in the ATL without any issues, believe it or not. About 1/2 through our spring break we were downtown sight seeing. We stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe to get a souvenir. There were any spaces, so I thought well this will be a quick trip so I will just pull over and run inside. Allison and when we come out we find Pat talking to a police officer. Apparently they were waiting for the driver, that's me, to come out to give me a ticket for double parking. No big deal you might say, well did I forget to mention I didn't really have a license at this particular moment, more on that later. So instead of a) Pat moving the van or b)getting a ticket for double parking. I get a ride to Fulton County Jail for driving without a license. Now in PA you don't go to jail for such an offence, but apparently things work differently in the ATL. So I get a nice ride in a paddy wagon with my new best friend, a bum named James. Who tell me he's in here for asking a white guy for a penny. I think to myself, Great he hates white people. But nope, James very cool. And when we got to the holding area he seemed to know everyone. So i figured it was good to know James. When mealtime came around it looked nasty, but james offered his little debbie snack cake in exchange for the rest of my food. How could I pass up such an offer. I don't think I have ever been so frightened in my life. This was an experience I neither forgot nor ever want to go through again. Did I mention my cell mate had boobs, but peed standing up?

7)Weekend in New England. Allison brought me to her sister's wedding in Ct. After the wedding we were hungry and want to go get some snacks. So me, allison and her cousin, Lenore, went to the local gas mart to get some snacks. Now we were in there for a long time, but we got alot of things. We brought everything up to the cash register and paid for it. When we walked out of the store there was a cop standing there waiting for us. He said that the clerk said we were stealing. I showed him the receipt, but the clerk said that Allison put a slim jim in her pocket. Now 2 things here don't make sense. 1)Why after just paying for all that other stuff would we steal a slim jim? 2)Allison was in her pajamas and didn't' have any pockets. Now please keep in mind we weren't allowed to get in our car, but they still felt the need to search the car. Now if we weren't in the car how could whatever we stole be in the car. I asked them if they could search the car somewhere else because of past dealings with the police I didn't really trust them. I wanted it searched in a more public forum. But I was told to be quiet or I would be charged with obstruction. So I said fine go ahead and search the car. They searched the car and found nothing. I think they were just looking for drugs or someone to harass that night. Then finally a police lady showed up to search Allison and Lenore. And wouldn't you know it they found nothing. So there was 3 hours of my life wasted. I told my father about the situation and he called the police department, who had no record of such a thing happening. I believe lit some fires because he said I may want to avoid that town for a while. By the way the town was Simsburry and it was officer Tinsdale or Tinsley.

Well I guess that is the end of my highlights. There are actually plenty more, but I am sure you are getting sick of reading this. So I will leave you with some statistics

In 1994 I had a file which totalled $8000 + in traffic fines.
This file contained tickets from 1989 to 1995.
If the average ticket was $160 that would mean I would have received about 48 citations.
My license was first suspended in 1989 and I did not get a PA license back to 2000.
By the time my license was suspended the first time I had accumulated 31 points.
11 points is where they suspend your license.
I had my license back briefly in 1995, long enough to go to NY and get a license before PA requested it back.

The above is not something to be proud of, but it is what it is. I can not change what happened in the past only try to learn from it. I am apparently very thick headed or a slow learner.

I know there are people who will think I am exaggerating or just lieing about the whole thing. Trust me I am not, if anything I am underplaying some of the things.

Taco Bell.....

Recently a group of us went to Taco Bell for lunch. Although the trip was terrible, service was pitiful and the food was gross, there was one funny thing that happened(besides it taking mike 1/2 an hour to get a taco). We noticed that Taco Bell now has the Fruitista, it's a "fruit" drink. It actually wasn't bad, but then we looked at the small print. Please look at the picture and play close attention to the disclaimer at the bottom right, if you can't read it click on the picture and it should get bigger. And please explain how this is possible.

I am open for business

After months of preparation the Kim's Karate West karate school is open for business. This did not come without some blood, sweat and ...well I don't believe there were any tears. I would liek to thank all who came out to help and those who came for the Grand Opening. I really owe a lot of thanks to Brian, who almost cut his finger off.

Last night was my first night of classes. I think it went well, and only 2 people were a no show. As of right now I believe I have 7 students, 1 Adult, 1 Child and 5 Grasshoppers. Hopefully more will sign up soon.....hint hint to anyone thinking about signing up.

Anyway I am open for business, please come by and check it out if you find yourself on Rt. 30. My hours are Monday through Thursday 5pm - 9pm.

5k is a long way.......

This past weekend, May 24th to be exact, I ran in a 5k race. A friend of mine, Rich, asked me if I would be interested in running a 5k. I said sure, how hard can it be.......Well let me tell you it's hard. At least for someone who doesn't run, ever. However, I did finish and didn't throw up like some of my fellow runners,granted those people all crossed the finish line well before me. And you know since I am writing about it something fun must have happened.

Well to run in the race you need a number, to get the number you need to go to the local elementary school, to get to the school you have to drive down and alley, or in my case the wrong way down the alley. So I start driving the wrong way down this alley when I see a police man sitting at the other end. Oh, crap! OK I pull into the school parking lot followed by the police man with his lights flashing. Great! So I get a ticket for $108.00 dollars, then police man goes back to where he was and waits for his next victim. BINGO he gets another, then another, then another. It turns out that the police on the main street were directing people down the alley the wrong way and everyone they directed down there got tickets. Sounds sneaky to me. Especially for a town that has a mayor who really isn't the mayor.

At the beginning of the race Rich hears the person organizing the race on the bull horn say something about getting the tickets fixed. (Rich is blind in one eye, so one of his ears must be bionic) After the race I see an organizer named Amy, she sends me inside to find Missy. I find Missy and tell her what happened. She takes my ticket and says she will take care of it. Thank you Missy!

Never a dull moment

This is a long read, but worth it, I think.......

You may recall that recently we had to take my son Jackson to the emergency room, then my car was stolen, and then I was in an accident in the other car. Well this week brings more fun. On Monday Mackenzie had Oral Surgery. She was supposed to get 5 crowns, 4 fillings and a root canal. To do this she would have to be put under, it was that or make 7 trips to the dentist office and another trip to an oral surgeon for the root canal. We figured if we picked the make 7 trips one, that we would make 1 trip and then Mackenzie would never go back to the dentist again, willingly. So we opted for 1 and done version. So on Monday at 6:30am we arrived at Apple Hill Surgical Center where they would be doing the surgery. At 7:00am they took her back to get her ready and start the surgery. We were told she was very good and had no problems going back and getting knocked out, with gas of course, not with a punch or anything like that. The surgery started on time and every 30-45 minutes a nurse would come out and give us updates. The surgery was supposed to take 4 hours. Well about 1 hour into the surgery the nurse comes out and tells us that 2 of the teeth are too bad to get fillings so they will need crowns. We said ok, go for it. Then about 2 hours later the nurse comes back out to tell us that her 2 front teeth, which were supposed to get fillings, were loose and it didn't make sense to fix them since they are just going to come out soon. So our options were 1) Pull them 2) Fix them anyway 3) do nothing. Well we opted for option 3. We didn't want to pull them because it was bad enough she was getting all this other work done, we didn't want to add to the trauma. We didn't pick option 2 because we agreed it doesn't make sense to fix them if they are just going to come out soon anyway. So with the 2 additional crowns it added an hour to the surgery time.

After the surgery was complete Dr. Dave, a very nice oral surgeon, came out and gave us the 411. Everything was fine, she did nicely and as soon as she begins to wake up we can go back and see her. Well while he was talking to us a nurse came out and said Mack was awake and really wanted to see us. So she took us back to recovery. As soon as the doors opened to recovery we could her Mack crying for her mommy, of course no one cares about daddy. We head back to where she is and there are about 4 nurses trying to calm her down with puppets, and various other things. Once again I must add everyone we met was extremely nice and helpful. Once Mack saw her mommy she wrapped her arms around her and started sobbing. We were told before all this that she would be very irritable for at least 15 minutes after she woke up, and let me tell you she was. She didn't want to hear any of my funny jokes. Well about 45 minutes later Mack had calmed down enough for us to take her home. She had eaten a flavor-ice, which was a requirement before she could go home(why can't i get requirements like that?)

So we headed off for home, but had to stop by the grocery store to pick up some yogurt and popsicles for her to eat. We finally made it home and Mack and her mommy went inside to lay down. Mackenzie was still very groggy and we were told she would be until around 6:00pm. While they napped I ran up to Lumber Liquidators to get some flooring for my new karate school.

When I returned home there was an extra car in the driveway. Allison's parents had driven out from Long Island to help Allison.

So the next day Mack is still a bit groggy, so we are a bit worried, but the nurse says that it is ok. Ok if you say so. So that night we had made plans weeks ago to go out to dinner with a bunch of people from my work. My boss would be in town so we all thought it would be good to go out for dinner. We went to a place called Shady Maple in Blue Ball, PA. It's a very good place. There were about 25 of us and originally we were going to leave the kids home with Allison's parents but then decided to bring them. About 1.4 of the way through dinner we get a call from Allison's brother Lenny. He tells us that Allison's dad needs to see a doctor for his condition. I wasn't aware he had a condition so I gave the phone to Allison. She talked to him for a bit then came back to eat. Then he called again telling her that they had spoken to a doctor and we need to get her dad i nto see a doctor right away.

So we excuse ourselves and head home. The problem was that we were in Blue Ball, PA about 45 minutes - 1 hour from our house where Allison's dad was. And the ReadyCare unit closes at 9:00pm and it was 8:00pm now. So we about an hour to make it home get her parents and get to the ready care facility, we really didn't want to spend another night in the emergency room like we did with Jackson. So we raced home, at times exceeding 100mph. Man the new car has some pick-up and go. We got home, got her parents and were to the ready care unit by 8:50pm. In time for him to see the doctor. However, it turns out that what he needed done they could do here and could only be done at the hospital....crap! OK off to the emergency room we go.

We check in and around 10:30 pm Allison, takes me and the kids home so I could get them to bed. So she drops us off and heads back to the hospital. Around 1:00am I think Allison and her parents finally arrive at home. Her dad looks better and seems to be feeling better. He still needs to see his family physician, but he at least has be relieved of any pain.

So that has been my last 2 days. How has yours been?

Liars!

The other day I was in a car accident. It happened on Camp Betty Washington Rd. There are 3 lanes at the stop light there. Lanes 1 and 2 are left turn only lanes and lane 3 is a straight or right turn lane. I was sitting at the stop light about 6 cars back waiting for the green so I could go. Finally I got the green arrows. I start to go when all of the sudden a person in the straight/right turn lane cuts in front of me. We hit each other, my headlights hit in front of the drivers side door. WTF! Then he yells at me? I am not sure what he yelled but when we pulled into the parking lot he apologized. No biggie i thought. We exchanged insurance information and we were on our way. I call GEICO, my insurance company and tell them what happened. It turns out the other guy had already called and told them a slightly different story. They agree that this is not my fault.

Now today State Farm calls me and asks for my side of the story. I again tell them what happened. Now they tell me this guy is saying that I crossed a double yellow line and ran into him after he was already in the lane. What?! I never crossed a double yellow line. I was in the second lane, how could I have crossed a double yellow line. And he says he has pictures of my skid marks. Skid marks I was going all of 10 mph if that. I tell this to State Farm and now they say they are going to send out their investigative unit.

I can't believe this guy. Not only is he lieing, he changed the whole configuration of the road. Man I am pissed now. If anyone out there knows anything about this crap and can tell me anything useful or anything please let me know.