A Bird In Hand Is Better Than Two Stuck In Your Grill

I never cease to be amazed by the suicidal dives and swoops birds take in front of my speeding hulking Suburban Z71.

They swoop in from the left or right, mere feet in front of my truck, and I always check to see if the idiots made it through the other side.

I have to watch, since the truck is so big, and I always have the music cranking, so I wouldn't feel or hear anything if they didn't make it.

When I don't see a clear escape happen I know what I'll be doing when I reach my destination- on more than one occasion I've had to peel cute little birdies off the grill.

Yesterday on the back home from a post office run a bird got whacked by my truck. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw the feathery lifeless lump in the road.

This morning on the way to the gym I looked to see if it was still in the road where I hit it. As I looked- whack! A bird hit my antenna and ricocheted onto my window, then fluttered up and over my roof and into the windshield of the car behind me.

Stupd birds.

Daniel Hannan- My New Hero

Wow. This guy unloads both barrels on the UK Prime Minister. Holy Cow. I don’t know much about this gents politics, but his willingness to stand up and speak boldly and plainly about the WASTE that is government, and the pressure the wasteful, inefficient and unproductive government sector is putting on the productive private sector to soak up wealth in the form of more taxes and fees to then feed to unproductive segments of our society is deserving of long sustained applause. It’s also a call to arms.

Oh- one other note. Notice he doesn't need a teleprompter.

Thank you Westhaven

I live about 10 minutes west of Franklin TN in a horse farm community called Leiper’s Fork. Or at least I used to. I mean, used to be 10 minutes from Franklin. Now it’s 15-20 or more.

We moved here for the serenity, land, creeks and rivers and wildlife. A stable plot of land to live on that I never had growing up- my father was in the air force and we moved about often always living in military housing.

The commute from our country home to the places we shop, meet and do business (Franklin, Cool Springs and Brentwood) has always been a quick drive away using Highway 96. The 55MPH speed limit (meaning of course everyone drove 60 or 65) allowed quick access to the “outside” world.

A couple years ago a new development/sub-division popped up nearby called Westhaven. It’s a lovely area packed tightly with semi-custom built homes and a promising close community feel ahead as they begin to attract little shops and stores to the area. With this development, and the increasing population from this future town-within-a-town, has come a new speed limit on Highway 96 that runs parallel to Westhaven.

Franklin city has deemed it necessary to drop the speed limit to 40MPH. Now, as I drive this stretch for several miles, seeing little more than trees, cows, a few other cars, and an occasional hawk flying by, I am pained by the creeping speed that adds valuable minutes to my commute.

As for the benefit to Franklin there is no doubt. I would estimate its paying for the new downtown facelift with revenue from speeding tickets. As locals struggle to adjust to the new ridiculously low speed limit after a generation of 55MPH or greater on the road, the local police now hang out there more frequently that the local donut or coffee joints. It’s not uncommon to see 2 cars pulled over driving one way on the road, and 2 more on the way back in the afternoon.

I must admit- to anyone outside this area that deals with real traffic issues and commute times (my sister drives an hour and a half each way to work), these paltry 5-10 minutes must sound absolutely ridiculous.

Sickness Comes On Horseback

… and departs on foot. An old Dutch proverb. And a truth we’re living in our family right now.

The sickness began more than a week ago. The youngest feeling tired and wanting to go to bed early. A fever the next morning. Continues fever for a week. Flu. My wife with a very bad case of sinus infection.

Then the fevers, ear infections, missed church and school continued. And to one degree or another its all still here in the household.

It’s been a very bad week and a half around here. And I have personally evaded all the bugs. I hope I make it through unscathed.

AWOL

I’ve been absent without leave from my blog for several weeks now. Very simple reason… anger and frustration with what’s going on around me. And…

My wife complained that my blog’s gone too political. I take that feedback very seriously because she and my four girls are the only readers I write for. So… I haven’t had much to say that isn’t politically tinged…

My heart and mind has been filled with awe (in the bad sense) and anger at what is happening before my very eyes. Our economy is teetering, our taxes will increase dramatically, my friend (a policeman) has mentioned increases in local suicides, people have lost half their wealth/retirement, the flow of friends and acquaintances letting me know they lost their job and to keep an eye out for them for new opportunities has now hit about 2-5 per week.

How quickly things change. And I doubt this is the change anyone hoped for.

The latest example to me of how insane things have got is the thousands of people protesting government cuts in NYC and California. Loud are the screams when the slop in the public trough dries up. But not to worry- Congress is dipping their ladles into our wallets and future right this very moment and are ready to spread a fresh heap of steaming wealth into the old wooden, cracked and broken trough.