Thursday, January 29, 2009

Political Overload


I need an intervention to counter my addiction to news coverage. Between watching the stock market bounce up and down and keeping up with the action on the over-spending bill, I am saturated with news. Yesterday, I even tuned in to C-Span while the super bill was being debated. It was like watching a sports event where the teams are totally unmatched; you know who is going to win; but you keep hoping you are wrong. My team lost yesterday - and so did our country. Hopefully, some sanity will prevail when the bill goes to the Senate. The more details I hear about the specific spending detains in the House bill, the angrier I become. The only people for whom this is a stimulus bill are those in the special interests groups who are being paid back. I will keep watching Fox News and C-Span as the bill goes to the Senate. Let's all hope that the final version is a Stimulus Bill rather than a Spending Bill.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

A DAY WITH NO CELL PHONE

I thought my handbag felt lighter as I went into our Smyrna office today. I think it was a psychological lightness, an omen of something missing. Alas, I had left my cell phone at home. Not being as technologically adept as I need to be, I also don't know how to access my cell voice mail remotely. Of course some days I have no calls at all on it. But not today. Fortunately, one person trying to call had also e-mailed to ask if I could introduce the speaker at today's Rotary meeting. Not only did I not have my cell, the phone in my office is working only for outgoing calls. The office suites manager is calling our phone company on that one. It is amazing how quickly we can feel out of touch without our simple luxuries. Looking back, I marvel that we could publish a weekly newspaper for so many years with no cell phone, no fax machine, no personal computers, no digital cameras, no e-mail and no internet. Put into that perspective, I can work today with no in-coming calls and no cell phone. Perhaps that's how I have time to update my blog.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

A DAY AFTER INAUGURATION


It's the day after inauguration and the country still functions. The sun is shining and the stock market, after a terrible day yesterday, is once again rallying. Yesterday was a day of pomp and circumstance; a day when masses of people stood in the bitter cold to see a new president sworn in. Although not my choice, he will be my President. And now I, like many others wait to see if he will choose to be our President. Will he be the leader of all, or only for those of color? Will he be the President for all, or only for those who are on the lower rungs of society (and those who are Hollywood celebrities)? Will he support small business owners, or will he, as he did with Joe the Plumber, belittle those who try to succeed as entrepreneurs? Will he increase employment through more government or through private enterprise? Will he realize that lower taxes for all (not just for those who pay no taxes) can bring in more long-term revenue or will he be the stereotype tax and spend liberal? Since it's only been a day, I'll wait optimistically to discover how the new President will lead.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009


I've found that starting a blog is much easier than actually continually updating a blog. Since my original post was written last year, I knew it was time to add a something new. I have made many changes to my blog since its inception, changing the template about a dozen times. This is the latest, although perhaps not the last, template change. But now, in addition to template change, I have actually written something new.

I discovered that I can add a photo, which presents a whole new set of changes yet to come. If you're reading this soon after it's posted and before I make future changes, you are seeing a photo I took at Hilton Head Island on our last whole family vacation the summer of 2004. At the end of our time on the island, Katie headed back to Davidson to begin her senior year and Peter went along with Allan and me to Savannah, where we were making a presentation on working with the news media to the Georgia Association of Community Services Board Association. Peter had just finished working with Dylan Glenn's congressional campaign, one that ended in a disappointing loss. Soon after the Hilton Head trip, however, Peter was still headed to D.C. where he would soon began his career with Koch Industries. Those few days at the beach were a relaxing time of being together as a family before we once again went off to different cities.