Well, all I know is...
SOMEONE is gouging SOMEONE somewhere!

How comforting it was to read in the newspaper today that the oil companies have been cleared of GOUGING charges in a report issued today by the Federal Trade commission. Aren't you relieved to know that? Now the fatcats in charge of the oil companies can sleep nights. In my view, the taxpayers have paid for a fruitless investigation into an industry that faces no sanctions for sucking all the money it can out of motorist's pockets. Further on in the article, I read that "in the week after the hurricane, retail gasoline prices leapt 46 cents to a record nationwide average of $3.07 per gallon." Let's see...hurricane, increasing gas prices, followed by news of record-breaking-profits...PROFITS!!! by the oil companies. Along with that, we have Prezzident Bush not wanting to divert fuel reserves for domestic use, saying that the reserve was being used to fight the nebulous war on TERROR.

So we pay more for fuel here, while we're gobbling up fuel overseas and getting our soldiers killed in the process. According to the FTC, there has been no "widespread effort by the oil industry to manipulate the marketplace." But the record-breaking PROFITS the fuel companies are making ARE widespread. The period of time which was analyzed by the FTC was between August and September 2005, right after Katrina smacked its way into the Big Easy. Perhaps a brief fuel-price "spike" might have been understandable, but we're nine months out from Katrina and gas prices are STILL high. Why? After 9/11, fuel prices went down, but they certainly didn't STAY down for 9 months! Someone is gouging someone, SOMEWHERE. I suppose I could chant the mantra, "Bush...oil...Bush...oil...Bush...oil..." but that doesn't apply. Or DOES it?
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Three Coins in the Fountain dept.: Maybe that's all that's left in the mostly ugly new water fountains which stand guard on various street corners here in our humble towne. It seems that kids are reaching into the fountains and swiping "coin"! And probably using skateboards as get-away vehicles. The coins in the fountains are being donated to charity, the monies that the kids don't steal, anyway. This could be a mixed blessing, though, because maybe the kids who steal coins aren't terrorizing people in the City Park! The world is such that I cannot wish for a crime-free society. I have formally lowered my expectations; I'll take small crime over threats to my person any day. Better yet, where are the COPS when you need them? Hint: now that the PD office is in the northern part of town, they're stationed closer to Davis DONUTS!

I'll Come Running Back To You dept.: (That's the title of a really great Sam Cooke song)...there was an article today about a local lady who is preparing to run her 200th MARATHON! She doesn't run 'em fast, but she runs 'em. I understand she finishes in close to 6 hours; it takes quite a few folks even longer to do 'em, and age does take its toll. I ran 11 Marathons; my fastest was 4 hours 12 minutes; my longest was 4 hours, 55 minutes, and that was one MISERABLE run...the run that would not end! Once, I ran 2 marathons inside of a month's time. I don't recommend it. But I survived. An accompanying article stated that chocolate milk can be a good way to nutrify yourself after the depletion a marathon causes. I don't think I'd drink milk DURING a marathon, but once, I had a GALLON of milk AFTER a marathon...and afterwards, I noticed less leg-cramping and soreness. I do know this: without Chocolate Milk, the world would be a truly evil place. Whoever invented chocolate milk indeed had divine inspiration.

It's kinda like pulling weeds dept.: It looks like the proposed condo building, Fernan Towers, ain't-a-gonna be built. I guess the developer has spent about 70 grand trying to get this project together, but the city of CDA won't provide sewer hookups. Let's see...the city of CDA not helping an outside developer...yet it seems one "local businessman" with a LOT of influence here in CDA gets tall buildings built at the drop of a hat. No connection THERE, I'm sure. (Yeah, and the Pope reads Penthouse, too.) So while a condo bites the dust (for the time being, anyway), a proposal for a 107-home development at the foot of Canfield Mountain (or actually ON the mountain?) has been proffered forth. Yep. Another 100 homes (read: 400 more residents), and our infrastructure can't handle the traffic it has NOW. When you pull out one dandelion, another one pops up. And as the Rolling Stones sang: "Dandelions don't tell no lies...Dandelions will make you wise". I guess we need to make all the new suburbanites who move up here feel at home. So we create new suburbs for them to live in. That must be it!

Yep, they've turned the corner, all right dept.: The Baltimore Orioles have scored 9 runs in the top of the 9th inning in tonites Orioles-Mariners' game. The new superstar Mariner Catcher DROPPED a throw coming from third base, allowing a run to score. Then, a grand-slam homer by the O's. And then, a HIT BATTER. Yep, the M's have really turned a corner. They've found yet ANOTHER way to lose. Seattle's bullpen has fallen apart tonite. I bet Ichiro can't wait 'till his contract expires. He was on WINNING teams in Japan, after all. Pinstripes on Ichiro someday? I wouldn't be surprised. Prior to this, baseball fans were excited about the M's winning 4 games in a row. They beat teams who were similarly struggling. I like baseball. And I don't take the M's too seriously anymore. That's how I survive. Maybe I watch baseball in place of soap-operas? Could be.

Maybe, just maybe, it's worth it after all dept.: As I've bored you with before, yeah, I've been doing the "medical thing" the last few months. A lot of my money just flying away. I guess that's the way the system works. Except...I had the attitude that doctors were ALL money-grubbing so-and-so's. Well, they might be that, but I have also run into some VERY caring health-people as I've been getting treated for arthritis, a bad back, and at a recent eye exam I also had in Ironwood. I have seen first-hand, people excited about what they're doing, and feeling really great that they're helping someone get their health back. My rheumatologist is excited that there's a case-study coming up for my kind of gout; the lady who gave me an eye exam was really impressed that my eyes are in such great condition, and the people over at Northwest Specialty Hospital in Post Falls, where I get my steroid shots in the back, are all caring and very warm folks. So I've had my attitude adjusted a bit towards the Medical Profession. Yeah, I still think they're all overpaid, but maybe, just maybe, they EARN it.
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Is It Safe To Come Out Yet?: Oh, the political debates have been a-ragin'. The fur has been flyin'. The "tinfoilers" and the "wingnuts" have been battling away. Numerous "reminders to vote" messages have mysteriously appeared on my answering machine. Mysterious, because, I have an UNLISTED phone number. Placards and campaign signs everywhere. Politics, schmolitics. I'm tired of it all. I have enough experience and life-longevity to know that what's gonna happen is pretty much gonna happen no matter WHO is elected, and all we can do is hang on and endure things the way they are. After tonight, the primary elections in our area will be over, and the rest of us can poke our heads out as we emerge, finally able to breathe easy again. Here's my take on all of this...



I am probably a traitor to the American way. ALL politics just make my eyes glaze over. I used to try to care, but I just don't wanna debate or get into issues. Political campaigns are sorta like seagulls flocking around 2 or 3 loaves of bread left on the ground. A feeding frenzy, with all participants elbowing, nudging and squawking. I can understand waterfowl being that way, but PEOPLE? Oh well...
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Mariners update: They somehow could not overcome a 10-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth. So they didn't try to. Three up, three down, the M's lose. I suppose losing 90 games in a season is a sort of goal...