Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Is it "HALF EMPTY" or "HALF FULL"?
...or, sometimes, "less is more", but mostly, "less is just...less"...

One of the nicest little pleasures in my life is to have a cup of coffee and hunker down with a newspaper. Every day without fail, a fresh crop of stories designed to inform and enlighten readers; I'm always wondering, "what will be in today's paper", and after reading the paper, I feel like I've got an "inside track" on 'what's happening'. Or, at least, that's the way I WANT to feel after reading the paper.

My main source of newspaper info, the Spokesman-Review, recently underwent a design change. The paper is narrower (in appearance, if not in outlook), and new, rather strange typestyles are being utilized. One of that paper's editors said the paper now specializes in shorter, briefer stories for those "on the go" who don't have time to absorb longer, more detailed stories. In a way, that might be good, that way, one isn't bogged down with all the details. But, if you're in a mood to really explore an issue, well, sorry, what you see is what you get! Let me remind you, the paper I read was a WEDNESDAY issue, not a smallish 'Monday' issue, where, understandably, there might not be a lot of news available.

In that paper's "Idaho" section today, there were no specific articles about Coeur d'Alene, or indeed, Kootenai county, unless you count the article about the ASSESSOR running again. Ha! The Kootenai County Assessor is about as popular as the "Parking Nazi" in his little tin cart, so who gives a rip about that? There were articles about Idaho, but most of those were "legislative" reports that anyone can get from Associated Press or wherever. I used to read the S-R almost exclusively; I can't do that anymore. There is a better chance, now, that the Coeur d'Alene Press, that bastion of fractured journalism, will print stuff that's not in the S-R. And that...is sad.

What's wrong with this picture? dept.: It could be that my life is so dull nowadays, that I notice every little thing. It could also be, that I am such a Neanderthal, that I just don't understand a lot of things people do these days. Okay, I accept that. But, while trying to read what little news is in the newspaper these days, I looked up briefly, and saw a man and woman sitting at a small table in the coffee shop, and each was having separate cell-phone conversations with someone else while sitting together. Huh? What? Is life really that complicated, that you can't afford to put away the damn phone for a few minutes? So that kinda hit me wrong, but maybe it's just me. I don't know...

It's a good thing I waited dept.: I've seen gas rise, and I've seen gas fall. Then, I've seen gas rise some more, and I've seen it fall again. And so on, and so forth. Well, I've been needing to put gas in the tank for a couple of days now. I noticed that gas prices were falling again, though. It had fallen to about $2.20, then to $2.14...I don't know, maybe you need the prognosticating abilities of a stockbroker so you can accurately "speculate" when to buy gas. Anyway, I waited "one more day", and got gas today, and it had fallen to $2.09, so I guess I did good! Of course, with my luck, tomorrow it'll drop another ten cents, right?

A $340,000 drop in the bucket dept.: That's the amount that the Coeur d'Alene School district got from the Idaho State Lottery. Initially, I wondered, "wow, $340,000 dollars, and still the school levies keep coming and coming". Then, the more "rational" side of me realized that when it comes to our ever-ravenous education system, $340,000 would be spent faster than I could part with $20 at yer average sleaze-mart. It makes me think, though, that even though the School District may "need" the money from levies, don't worry, without the levies, there's still money coming in from all directions. Just not as much.

Turning over a new Leaf dept.: He had tremendous natural ability. He was a born leader. He could have been something really special. And he blew it, big time. I'm talking about washout quarterback Ryan Leaf, and the way he quarterbacked the Washington State Cougars was something to behold. Problem is, underneath that tremendous ability, he was a spoiled brat. Had he conducted himself with even a smattering of diplomacy, he'd be right in there with Peyton Manning and many other of today's fine quarterbacks. Hah! Leaf was as ineffective, if not more, as the San Diego Chargers' starting QB as Brian Bosworth, the "mighty-mouse on steroids" was with the Seattle Seahawks. Anyway, Ryan is now the QB coach at Texas A&M. Things could be worse, I guess. It's a good thing Leaf won't be teaching "football player etiquette" anytime soon.

Let's hope this thing just DIES dept.: I read today that a bill that proposed a 75mph speed limit for semi-trucks in Idaho has been withdrawn, for now, anyway. GOOD. Half the time, those damn big rigs try to blow me off the highway when I try to enter. The last thing I need is a big rig, who won't get into the other lane for me, doing 75 when I'm still trying to get my car up to speed. I have a fairly powerful car, but I'm sorry, there isn't an on-ramp long enough for me to hit 75 by the time I'm entering the freeway! I think on-ramps are one of the most dangerous features of the interstate highway system. Why can't the NATION impose a 65 mile-an-hour speed limit for cars and trucks and be DONE with it?

I don't think we're done yet with winter dept.: You can tell the weather-people are just rubbing their hands together while smacking their lips..."oh boy, some REALLY SEVERE winter weather is coming our way, with a whole bunch of DANGEROUSLY LOW temperatures which could set ALL KINDS of MISERABLE winter LOW TEMPERATURE records!!!" Chris Crocker must be in absolute HEAVEN these days. Ack!!! Well, go ahead, Mother Nature, give it your best shot!!! Winter's almost over, so go ahead, MAKE MY DAY! You'll be gone soon; March isn't all that far away. Hit me with your BEST SHOT! (psst...don't say that to Dick Cheney!) In the meantime, you can gaze at this old picture of a warmer day on Coeur d'Alene Lake...

This is an old "linen postcard" obviously drawn from an old black and white photo, and it shows the "point" on the southwest corner of Tubbs Hill. The Ebay merchant who's selling this card says, "it sure doesn't look that way now"; after all, this card is about 50 years old. The thing is, this area STILL looks like this. (Although if the City hadn't bought Tubbs Hill years ago, it wouldn't...you'd probably be seeing a 13-story CONDO on the "point" instead!)
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Before I go, a bit of cautionary advice: If you haven't thought about it, it might behoove you to let the proverbial "pencil stream" of water flow from your faucets so your pipes don't burst. Especially since plumbers charge almost as much as brain surgeons these days!

2 Comments:

Blogger Idaho Dad said...

Leaf is actually at West Texas A&M, a tiny Division II school where he couldn't possibly get in trouble, or be noticed. He's at the very bottom... Wonder if he's grown up enough to work his way up.

8:39 PM  
Blogger Lil ol' me... said...

Well, as long as Leaf is languishing in the desolate wilds of Texas, he's where he deserves to be. Actually, I hope he's successful; we all screw up 'cos we think we know it all. Stuff happens. But Leaf had the opportunity of a lifetime and he squandered it. He's a tragic, if ignorant, figure...

9:49 PM  

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