This blog is about Gardening, RVing, Traveling, and more.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Donovan's 16th Birthday
Today is a big deal for my big man Donovan. He turned 16! For this monumental birthday, we gave him his own truck. Now he can get around as needed. Happy birthday my son. I love you.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Midway RV Park
Just a couple pictures of the park. There's a link at the top of the blog to campgrounds and it has the write-up and our thoughts on it.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Memphis - A Failed Rendezvous
Gina and I had another 3-day weekend and decided to come to Memphis to visit. Really just to get out of the house primarily and Memphis was the ticket this time. We chose to stay at Millington NSA--Millington Naval Support Agency's RV Park known as Midway RV Park. It's quaint and a great location to launch a visit to Memphis about 15 miles away. I'll try and get some pictures of the park tomorrow. Anyway, we got here late afternoon and went into town for groceries. I decided to make some gumbo. Turned out really good, but not like I'd expected. Already have plans to change it some more. After dinner, we chilled out with some drinks and dug in for the night.
Next day, headed into Memphis hungry for some of Rendezvous' famous BBQ. Closed! Seems the whole town closes on Sunday. Geesh.
Next stop...grub, 'cause we were hungry, but on the way to Mud Island, another attraction we wanted to see, nothing was open. So we asked if there was a cafe once we got to the park. "Oh, yes, we have a cafeteria." Yeah, right. This is the "cafeteria" at Mud Island. We both agreed that this is probably the worst meal we've shared as a couple EVER.
The attraction primarily at Mud Island is the River Walk. Memphis made a working full-length replica of the Mississippi River from top to bottom that you could walk on, through, and around. There were other things to see, but the walk is the main attraction for us. First pic is entrance, second is the rail ride to the island, and the remaining are the replica of the river.
Next day, headed into Memphis hungry for some of Rendezvous' famous BBQ. Closed! Seems the whole town closes on Sunday. Geesh.
Next stop...grub, 'cause we were hungry, but on the way to Mud Island, another attraction we wanted to see, nothing was open. So we asked if there was a cafe once we got to the park. "Oh, yes, we have a cafeteria." Yeah, right. This is the "cafeteria" at Mud Island. We both agreed that this is probably the worst meal we've shared as a couple EVER.
The attraction primarily at Mud Island is the River Walk. Memphis made a working full-length replica of the Mississippi River from top to bottom that you could walk on, through, and around. There were other things to see, but the walk is the main attraction for us. First pic is entrance, second is the rail ride to the island, and the remaining are the replica of the river.
We Will Turn Things Around
I've always thought that our country is best when it's balanced in it's beliefs. As we near retirement, our government pensions are on the table to be axed. As such, I've been involved with politics way more than I'd like to be. When the Dems took over and we started to spend out of control, I thought, oh shit, we are going down the wrong road shifting $$ from hard-working folks to hand-out folks. In-other-words, we're becoming a welfare nation of sorts. With this, I felt we'd eventually lose our capitalistic tendencies that make us great; our entrepreneurs would simply give up the fight after a time. I prayed the American people would wake up and realize what's going on. Leaving out many non-political issues that drove the 2008 elections, the American people did wake up in November 2010 with epic changes sending a clear message to the administration and Congress. So, what happens when 2 years of spending Dems meet a massive change in the political atmosphere--America's conservative republicans? Think the Dems would give up? No, of course not. It has to be a fight to change the culture. The part that bothers me most (now) is folks are "tired of the bickering and want compromise." So, I emphatically say at this point, "What the f...? Did you really expect it to be easy?" But, here's the great part, we, the American people, realized we goofed in some of our choices and have decided to make a change. And, we're starting to steer back to where we need to be. So, I say again...BALANCE is key. It is almost never that I see an article that reflects my views and I found one that I'll post here in case the link disappears later:
THE SYSTEM WORKS
Of all the endlessly repeated conventional wisdom in today’s Washington, the most lazy, stupid and ubiquitous is that our politics is broken. On the contrary. Our political system is working well (I make no such claims for our economy), indeed, precisely as designed — profound changes in popular will translated into law that alters the nation’s political direction.
The process has been messy, loud, disputatious and often rancorous. So what? In the end, the system works. Exhibit A is Wisconsin. Exhibit B is Washington itself.
The story begins in 2008. The country, having lost confidence in Republican governance, gives the Democrats full control of Washington. The new president, deciding not to waste a crisis, attempts a major change in the nation’s ideological trajectory. Hence his two signature pieces of legislation: a near-$1 trillion stimulus, the largest spending bill in galactic history; and a health-care reform that places one-sixth of the economy under federal control.
In a country where conservatives outnumber liberals 2-1, this causes a reaction. In the 2010 midterms, Democrats suffer a massive repudiation at every level. In Washington, Democrats suffer the greatest loss of House seats since 1948. In the states, they lose over 700 state legislative seats — the largest reversal ever — resulting in the loss of 20 state chambers.
The Tea-Party-propelled, debt-conscious Republicans then move to confront their states’ unsustainable pension and health-care obligations — most boldly in Wisconsin, where the new governor proposes a radical reorientation of the power balance between public-sector unions and elected government.
In Madison, the result is general mayhem — drum-banging protesters, frenzied unions, statehouse occupations, opposition legislators fleeing the state to prevent a quorum. A veritable feast of creative democratic resistance.
In the end, however, they fail. The legislation passes.
Then, further resistance. First, Democrats turn an otherwise sleepy state Supreme Court election into a referendum on the union legislation, the Democrats’ candidate being widely expected to overturn the law. The unions/Democrats lose again.
And then last Tuesday, recall elections for six Republican state senators, three being needed to return the Senate to Democratic control and restore balance to the universe. Yet despite millions of union dollars, the Republicans hold the Senate. The unions/Democrats lose again.
The people spoke; the process worked. Yes, it was raucous and divisive, but change this fundamental should not be enacted quietly. This is not midnight basketball or school uniforms. This is the future of government-worker power and the solvency of the states. It deserves big, serious, animated public debate.
Precisely of the kind Washington (exhibit B) just witnessed over its debt problem. You know: The debt-ceiling debate universally denounced as dysfunctional, if not disgraceful, hostage-taking, terrorism, gun-to-the-head blackmail.
Spare me the hysteria. What happened was that the 2010 electorate, as represented in Congress, forced Washington to finally confront the national debt. It was a triumph of democratic politics — a powerful shift in popular will finding concrete political expression.
But only partial expression. Debt hawks are upset that the final compromise doesn’t do much. But it shouldn’t do much. They won only one election. They were entrusted, as of yet, with only one-half of one branch of government.
But they did begin to turn the aircraft carrier around. The process did bequeath a congressional super-
committee with extraordinary powers to reduce debt. And if that fails, the question — how much government, how much debt — will go to the nation in November 2012. Which is also how it should be.
The conventional complaint is that the process was ugly. Big deal. You want beauty? Go to a museum. Democratic politics was never meant to be an exercise in aesthetics.
Not just ugly, moan the critics, but oh so slow. True, again. It took months. And will take more. The super-committee doesn’t report until Thanksgiving. The next election is more than a year away. But the American system was designed to make a full turn of the carrier difficult and deliberate.
Moreover, without this long ugly process, the debt issue wouldn’t even be on the table. We’d still be whistling our way to Greece. Instead, a nation staring at insolvency is finally stirring itself to action, and not without spirited opposition. Great issues are being decided as constitutionally designed. The process is working.
Notice how the loudest complaints about “broken politics” come from those who lost the debate. It’s understandable for sore losers to rage against the machine. But there’s no need for the rest of us to parrot their petulance.
THE SYSTEM WORKS
By Charles Krauthammer,
The process has been messy, loud, disputatious and often rancorous. So what? In the end, the system works. Exhibit A is Wisconsin. Exhibit B is Washington itself.
The story begins in 2008. The country, having lost confidence in Republican governance, gives the Democrats full control of Washington. The new president, deciding not to waste a crisis, attempts a major change in the nation’s ideological trajectory. Hence his two signature pieces of legislation: a near-$1 trillion stimulus, the largest spending bill in galactic history; and a health-care reform that places one-sixth of the economy under federal control.
In a country where conservatives outnumber liberals 2-1, this causes a reaction. In the 2010 midterms, Democrats suffer a massive repudiation at every level. In Washington, Democrats suffer the greatest loss of House seats since 1948. In the states, they lose over 700 state legislative seats — the largest reversal ever — resulting in the loss of 20 state chambers.
The Tea-Party-propelled, debt-conscious Republicans then move to confront their states’ unsustainable pension and health-care obligations — most boldly in Wisconsin, where the new governor proposes a radical reorientation of the power balance between public-sector unions and elected government.
In Madison, the result is general mayhem — drum-banging protesters, frenzied unions, statehouse occupations, opposition legislators fleeing the state to prevent a quorum. A veritable feast of creative democratic resistance.
In the end, however, they fail. The legislation passes.
Then, further resistance. First, Democrats turn an otherwise sleepy state Supreme Court election into a referendum on the union legislation, the Democrats’ candidate being widely expected to overturn the law. The unions/Democrats lose again.
And then last Tuesday, recall elections for six Republican state senators, three being needed to return the Senate to Democratic control and restore balance to the universe. Yet despite millions of union dollars, the Republicans hold the Senate. The unions/Democrats lose again.
The people spoke; the process worked. Yes, it was raucous and divisive, but change this fundamental should not be enacted quietly. This is not midnight basketball or school uniforms. This is the future of government-worker power and the solvency of the states. It deserves big, serious, animated public debate.
Precisely of the kind Washington (exhibit B) just witnessed over its debt problem. You know: The debt-ceiling debate universally denounced as dysfunctional, if not disgraceful, hostage-taking, terrorism, gun-to-the-head blackmail.
Spare me the hysteria. What happened was that the 2010 electorate, as represented in Congress, forced Washington to finally confront the national debt. It was a triumph of democratic politics — a powerful shift in popular will finding concrete political expression.
But only partial expression. Debt hawks are upset that the final compromise doesn’t do much. But it shouldn’t do much. They won only one election. They were entrusted, as of yet, with only one-half of one branch of government.
But they did begin to turn the aircraft carrier around. The process did bequeath a congressional super-
committee with extraordinary powers to reduce debt. And if that fails, the question — how much government, how much debt — will go to the nation in November 2012. Which is also how it should be.
The conventional complaint is that the process was ugly. Big deal. You want beauty? Go to a museum. Democratic politics was never meant to be an exercise in aesthetics.
Not just ugly, moan the critics, but oh so slow. True, again. It took months. And will take more. The super-committee doesn’t report until Thanksgiving. The next election is more than a year away. But the American system was designed to make a full turn of the carrier difficult and deliberate.
Moreover, without this long ugly process, the debt issue wouldn’t even be on the table. We’d still be whistling our way to Greece. Instead, a nation staring at insolvency is finally stirring itself to action, and not without spirited opposition. Great issues are being decided as constitutionally designed. The process is working.
Notice how the loudest complaints about “broken politics” come from those who lost the debate. It’s understandable for sore losers to rage against the machine. But there’s no need for the rest of us to parrot their petulance.
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