Zany Wit - 3+ weeks in Kansas

I am in Salina Kansas.  I’ll be here until mid September and I am getting to catch up on all the values and things I’ve lost or forgotten since moving away from here 40 some odd years ago.

One of the really basic precepts in living here is that if one wants to do an activity away from the house (or sometimes perhaps in the house) if one wants to do something, one has to ‘get ready’.  This can mean anything from changing to more appropriate clothes to getting some money to carry.  As is commonly known here, credit cards are fine but you never know when there will be a credit melt down or some such crisis requiring you to have money.  Changing clothes never used to be a problem back when everyone dressed like Ward and June Cleaver, but nowadays its different. 

Another thing about getting ready is making sure the car has enough gas, has a recent oil change, has enough air in the tires and knowing who is going with you on your activity and are THEY ready. 

As I sit in the guest bedroom at the back of my mom’s house listening to Fox News and the start of the Republican convention on volume level 45 across the house in the living room, I’m reminded of all the new knowledge that awaits my edification.  Gosh, you know, I’m actually looking forward to 25 more days of nothing but Fox News.  I’ve already heard quit a lot of their programming and have to say what a joy it is to listen to such a marvelous blend of downright zany wit, and unbridled caustic hatred towards all those not like us.  And we know who we are, don’t we?

Yes we do.  And we’re in Kansas.

More to come….

Squashed Like a Bug

Yeah, squashed like a bug over at Redmond District Court. 

You see, when I went in to file my protest I asked – specifically -  asked the clerk, “…hey, this is after the 10 day filing deadline.  Will I be ok with this?” 

“Sure, the judge is pretty understanding.”

And by golly the judge was pretty understanding.  He explained to me that he understood he had no say in the city 10-day rule or waiver of such.  The city legal counsel got up and summarily dismissed me like I was an insignificant piece of pet waste that had somehow tracked into the courtroom on someone’s shoe.  I asked for some understanding but, (and I’m sure I’m right) they really had no case so the counsel dismissed me with smug aplomb and great personal satisfaction using the 10-day rule.

I asked the judge if I could at least have a public say.  He said, “No, you may not.”  And that was that.  So I left the courtroom feeling a little like a US citizen in the 21^st century. 

I went over to City Hall.  Went up to Traffic engineering to at least tell them their sign was misleading (we’ve been through that).  They were all out.  I was invited to “wait around”, but the steam was beginning to emit from my ears again and I just left.  So I went home and sent the engineer an email with the twenty seven eight-by-ten color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one stating what the crime was and how I was so sorry for following the sign.

So, lesson learned.  I made two fatal mistakes.  One was obeying a sign.  The other was believing a law clerk.  Let this be a lesson.  And, if you believe a politician, well, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.

It’s always something