Dear Friends,
It's not yet 6 a.m., and we've already been up for an hour working. We're moving from Bellingham, WA to Las Vegas today, and I'll try to post later from the road. Meantime, Donald Trump has some real 'splainin' to do to American women whom he'd like to see punished. More to come.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Big Move Coming
Hi from Las Vegas Friends,
So, I'm sitting here at my favorite Starbucks in the whole world, a photo of which is beneath, and I'm thinking how lucky I am to have made it here through 2,000 miles of absolute torture in a 45-year-old British roadster.
I now have my own 'Cold Mountain' story after suffering a genuinely cold mountain, driving to and through Flagstaff, AZ yesterday in the worst winter dust and wind storm I've ever been in...and I've been in some doozies. It equalled the blizzard that stranded me for two days in the Texas panhandle.
My little old red lady behaved fairly well after eating up two starters along the way, and now I have a genuine adventure to talk and write about.
One's mind really wanders when driving alone through endless desert. I thought a lot about an argument and bet I have with an expat retired American dentist we'll call George, who I became close to while living in the Middle East.
He hates this blog (although he usually reads it).
George is a curmudgeon. According to another mutual friend, he's best described as having "brittle charm."
Old George is a wingnut to the max and believes every anti-Obama conspiracy theory that comes down the pike. He emails me the latest and most outrageous, and like his preferred candidate, doubles down on them even after they've been thoroughly debunked.
He'll be a very happy camper when Donald Trump gets the GOP nomination. But George won't be so happy on the first Wednesday of November, 2016.
It's not because Trump will lose to whomever is up against him (America generally comes to its senses in important elections), but because the day before we actually went to the polls and voted.
You see, George is so convinced that America is on the verge of going to hell in a hand basket that he bet me President Obama will declare martial law and suspend the presidential election.
If the election doesn't come off on time, I bet that I would take George out to the most expensive dinner at any restaurant he chooses, anywhere in the world. I will fly back to the Middle East to do it, too.
Unfortunately for me, if I win, I still have to fly back to the Middle East to collect my dinner. But it will be worth it!
This afternoon, I hop on a jet back to Washington state, to drive back here tomorrow in our real car with the three loves of my life: my wife and two cats.
I'm working up a big appetite.
So, I'm sitting here at my favorite Starbucks in the whole world, a photo of which is beneath, and I'm thinking how lucky I am to have made it here through 2,000 miles of absolute torture in a 45-year-old British roadster.
 |
| This picture proves that even Starbucks can be politicized. |
I now have my own 'Cold Mountain' story after suffering a genuinely cold mountain, driving to and through Flagstaff, AZ yesterday in the worst winter dust and wind storm I've ever been in...and I've been in some doozies. It equalled the blizzard that stranded me for two days in the Texas panhandle.
My little old red lady behaved fairly well after eating up two starters along the way, and now I have a genuine adventure to talk and write about.
One's mind really wanders when driving alone through endless desert. I thought a lot about an argument and bet I have with an expat retired American dentist we'll call George, who I became close to while living in the Middle East.
He hates this blog (although he usually reads it).
George is a curmudgeon. According to another mutual friend, he's best described as having "brittle charm."
Old George is a wingnut to the max and believes every anti-Obama conspiracy theory that comes down the pike. He emails me the latest and most outrageous, and like his preferred candidate, doubles down on them even after they've been thoroughly debunked.
He'll be a very happy camper when Donald Trump gets the GOP nomination. But George won't be so happy on the first Wednesday of November, 2016.
It's not because Trump will lose to whomever is up against him (America generally comes to its senses in important elections), but because the day before we actually went to the polls and voted.
You see, George is so convinced that America is on the verge of going to hell in a hand basket that he bet me President Obama will declare martial law and suspend the presidential election.
If the election doesn't come off on time, I bet that I would take George out to the most expensive dinner at any restaurant he chooses, anywhere in the world. I will fly back to the Middle East to do it, too.
Unfortunately for me, if I win, I still have to fly back to the Middle East to collect my dinner. But it will be worth it!
This afternoon, I hop on a jet back to Washington state, to drive back here tomorrow in our real car with the three loves of my life: my wife and two cats.
I'm working up a big appetite.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Calling BS on the Hillary Campaign
Good morning again Friends,
I apologize for no post yesterday. After spending two days stranded in the no-stoplight town of Vega, TX with my little red car broken down with a bum starter, I was able to get her push started and back tracked 35 miles to a repair shop in Amarillo.
A lot of nail biting and $198 later, she's back on the road, and we should make Las Vegas by this afternoon.
A big shout out from Grants, New Mexico to my wife Lana and my close friend and dedicated follower Bonnie, who lives about 40 miles up the road in Gallup. She's a genuine conservative and true patriot, and is digging deep trying to find something about the presumptive GOP nominee that she can like. So far, no luck.
As for Hillary Clinton's campaign, with the FBI investigation of the candidate's private email server reportedly ramping up, and she having been decimated in four out of the last five contests against Bernie Sanders, now her campaign is trying to dodge a debate before the delegate-rich New York primary.
It's not negative to poke holes in your opponent's record. It is pretty much the standard.
What Hillary objects most to is that she has no plausible reason for not releasing the transcripts of the three speeches she gave to Goldman Sachs for $675K. I, personally, would like to know what she said to the kings of Wall Street.
Not releasing the transcripts leaves it open to my imagination, and I can tell you I have a pretty big one.
Bernie is not negative. If you want to see negative, just look across the aisle.
Hillary is vulnerable, and she's in damage control mode trying to plug the ever-increasing holes in a sinking boat.
Ducking genuine issues may make it easier for the candidate to stick to her narrative, but obviously the public isn't buying it judging from Bernie's recent landslide wins.
Hillary's strategy sounds like whining to me, and a whiny president is not an image that this country can afford to project.
I apologize for no post yesterday. After spending two days stranded in the no-stoplight town of Vega, TX with my little red car broken down with a bum starter, I was able to get her push started and back tracked 35 miles to a repair shop in Amarillo.
A lot of nail biting and $198 later, she's back on the road, and we should make Las Vegas by this afternoon.
A big shout out from Grants, New Mexico to my wife Lana and my close friend and dedicated follower Bonnie, who lives about 40 miles up the road in Gallup. She's a genuine conservative and true patriot, and is digging deep trying to find something about the presumptive GOP nominee that she can like. So far, no luck.
As for Hillary Clinton's campaign, with the FBI investigation of the candidate's private email server reportedly ramping up, and she having been decimated in four out of the last five contests against Bernie Sanders, now her campaign is trying to dodge a debate before the delegate-rich New York primary.
 |
| C'mon, you don't really want to know what I told Goldman-Sachs. I didn't mean it anyway. You know, I just say things sometimes. It's all about making the audience like me. |
What Hillary objects most to is that she has no plausible reason for not releasing the transcripts of the three speeches she gave to Goldman Sachs for $675K. I, personally, would like to know what she said to the kings of Wall Street.
Not releasing the transcripts leaves it open to my imagination, and I can tell you I have a pretty big one.
Bernie is not negative. If you want to see negative, just look across the aisle.
Hillary is vulnerable, and she's in damage control mode trying to plug the ever-increasing holes in a sinking boat.
Ducking genuine issues may make it easier for the candidate to stick to her narrative, but obviously the public isn't buying it judging from Bernie's recent landslide wins.
Hillary's strategy sounds like whining to me, and a whiny president is not an image that this country can afford to project.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Cruz Using My Material is Sleazy
Welcome to the bold new week Friends,
Yesterday turned out to be one hell of a day on the road. The MGB started right up, so I pulled into the Circle K across the street to gas up.
I got back in and turned the key...nothing.
To make a long story short, my 45-year-old baby needed a new starter, and I got to spend a really wonderful day in Oklahoma City with a tow-truck driver and good ol' boy named Dwayne...who after towing me to a recommended mechanic who treated him shabbily for not putting my car in the right spot, decided to fix my car himself.
It turned out, Dwayne was a really fine mechanic who's restored more than 35 vehicles, several of which have won awards around the country. He determined I needed a new starter, and managed to have one delivered to the local O'Reilly Auto parts for me.
We had to wait several hours for it to arrive, and Dwayne and I spent hours looking through his massive collection of cool stuff: cars, trucks, bikes and birds (exotic and very verbal).
After spending most of his Saturday with me and my ailing ride, he had me back on the road before 3 p.m. He wanted to charge virtually nothing for his services. I didn't let that happen, and we were both extremely happy when I left--that is, until I hit a blizzard at dusk just west of Amarillo.
Near zero visibility forced me off the road in a little town with a motel called Vega, TX. And here I sit this morning, writing from the Bonanza Motel.
With a 42-in.brand new flatscreen with DirecTV and 200+ hi-def channels, a hot shower and comfy California King, it turned out to deserve the name.
But Lyin' Ted deserves a different one.
In Friday's post. I used the adjective "sleazy" to describe the way the top two GOP candidates are trying to frame each other's marriage. Each is trying to one-up the other on just how sleazy their respective marriages are.
This morning, and mind you no one else in media has used the term because they don't have the same journalistic latitude of my blog, Ted Cruz has co-opted my word.
Look, I know I'm just a blogger, and I know that as of this morning I have just 2,100+ readers, but Ted, if you're going to use my material, at least give me some props.
Bernie, the same goes for you. In your Seattle speech on Friday, you used three of my lines verbatim.
Though I'm extremely flattered you're paying attention, you guys should give credit where credit is due.
Yesterday turned out to be one hell of a day on the road. The MGB started right up, so I pulled into the Circle K across the street to gas up.
I got back in and turned the key...nothing.
To make a long story short, my 45-year-old baby needed a new starter, and I got to spend a really wonderful day in Oklahoma City with a tow-truck driver and good ol' boy named Dwayne...who after towing me to a recommended mechanic who treated him shabbily for not putting my car in the right spot, decided to fix my car himself.
It turned out, Dwayne was a really fine mechanic who's restored more than 35 vehicles, several of which have won awards around the country. He determined I needed a new starter, and managed to have one delivered to the local O'Reilly Auto parts for me.
We had to wait several hours for it to arrive, and Dwayne and I spent hours looking through his massive collection of cool stuff: cars, trucks, bikes and birds (exotic and very verbal).
After spending most of his Saturday with me and my ailing ride, he had me back on the road before 3 p.m. He wanted to charge virtually nothing for his services. I didn't let that happen, and we were both extremely happy when I left--that is, until I hit a blizzard at dusk just west of Amarillo.
Near zero visibility forced me off the road in a little town with a motel called Vega, TX. And here I sit this morning, writing from the Bonanza Motel.
With a 42-in.brand new flatscreen with DirecTV and 200+ hi-def channels, a hot shower and comfy California King, it turned out to deserve the name.
But Lyin' Ted deserves a different one.
 |
| Shhh! There's even more about us that you don't know yet. But please don't tell Donald Trump |
In Friday's post. I used the adjective "sleazy" to describe the way the top two GOP candidates are trying to frame each other's marriage. Each is trying to one-up the other on just how sleazy their respective marriages are.
This morning, and mind you no one else in media has used the term because they don't have the same journalistic latitude of my blog, Ted Cruz has co-opted my word.
Look, I know I'm just a blogger, and I know that as of this morning I have just 2,100+ readers, but Ted, if you're going to use my material, at least give me some props.
Bernie, the same goes for you. In your Seattle speech on Friday, you used three of my lines verbatim.
Though I'm extremely flattered you're paying attention, you guys should give credit where credit is due.
Friday, March 25, 2016
By Name, By Nature
Dear Friends,
Driving through Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma today, I was truly in awe of just how big this country is. I can't say it's all beautiful, but huge swaths of it are absolutely astounding.
I got to see the Flint Hills of Kansas for the first time--miles and miles of untouched rolling black and green hills that comprise a unique national wilderness.
Drivng through Kansas City, I witnessed one of the country's most beautiful cities resplendent in springtime. And I was totally impressed by the magnificent wind farms on the border of Kansas and Oklahoma that seem to go on forever.
Yes, this country is really, really big. But by contrast, the Republican presidential campaign has become really, really small. It is not befitting of a country of such greatness.
It's now boiled down to a pissing match between the party's two leading candidates over whose marriage is sleazier.
Today, The National Enquirer broke a story claiming that it has evidence that Ted Cruz has had at least five affairs while unhappily married to wife Heidi.
In a normal election cycle, this revelation, if true, would sink the candidacy of a bible-thumping right winger like Cruz. This, however, is not a normal election cycle by any stretch of the imagination, and the story may just pass.
Of course, Cruz denies the report and blames it on Donald Trump's close relationship with the editor of the Enquirer--and this is true--by the name of David Pecker.
I'd love to make a hundred off-color remarks about this guy's name, and I'm sure he's heard them all by now, so I won't.
Let's just say that this incredibly mean-spirited attack was stamped for approval by a guy named Pecker.
By name, by nature.
Driving through Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma today, I was truly in awe of just how big this country is. I can't say it's all beautiful, but huge swaths of it are absolutely astounding.
I got to see the Flint Hills of Kansas for the first time--miles and miles of untouched rolling black and green hills that comprise a unique national wilderness.
Drivng through Kansas City, I witnessed one of the country's most beautiful cities resplendent in springtime. And I was totally impressed by the magnificent wind farms on the border of Kansas and Oklahoma that seem to go on forever.
 |
| At rest for the night in Oklahoma City, this little 45-year-old cream puff has seen a lot in two days. |
Yes, this country is really, really big. But by contrast, the Republican presidential campaign has become really, really small. It is not befitting of a country of such greatness.
It's now boiled down to a pissing match between the party's two leading candidates over whose marriage is sleazier.
Today, The National Enquirer broke a story claiming that it has evidence that Ted Cruz has had at least five affairs while unhappily married to wife Heidi.
In a normal election cycle, this revelation, if true, would sink the candidacy of a bible-thumping right winger like Cruz. This, however, is not a normal election cycle by any stretch of the imagination, and the story may just pass.
Of course, Cruz denies the report and blames it on Donald Trump's close relationship with the editor of the Enquirer--and this is true--by the name of David Pecker.
I'd love to make a hundred off-color remarks about this guy's name, and I'm sure he's heard them all by now, so I won't.
Let's just say that this incredibly mean-spirited attack was stamped for approval by a guy named Pecker.
By name, by nature.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Driving through Driving Rain Dampens Thoughts
Good evening Friends,
I drove a 45-year-old convertible two-seat MGB through a driving rain for more than 150 miles today. I witnessed the aftermath of two tractor trailers colliding, rolling, and completely blocking the other side of Interstate 70, due to that same rain.
My morning was a real nail-biter, but I made it to my hotel in Columbia, MO safe and sound; cold, slightly wet, but safe and sound.
My thoughts, this evening, are for those who did not make it home safe and sound yesterday in Brussels. Their day probably started a lot like mine, anticipating and preparing for a trip.
But for the grace of the supreme being of the universe, my day did not end like theirs.
When you drive alone for eight hours, you have a lot of time to think. But no matter how hard I thought, I couldn't come up with a solution to the world's problems.
And you know what? I don't think any of our presidential candidates really have that solution either, no matter how hard they try to convince us they do.
Donald Trump says he wants to nuke the terrorists. Yeah, that would work...not.
Other candidates want to recruit more middle eastern forces to fight the battle. Sure, just look how they're flocking to fight the terrorists now. Expecting an about face is like expecting GOP voters to all-of-a-sudden change their minds and back an establishment candidate.
So, I guess expecting any candidate to make our problems go away is about as realistic as thinking that a world without problems can exist.
I just spent three years living in the middle east, and I can tell you first hand that the situation is complicated beyond any one person's complete comprehension.
Beware of any candidate who says he has the answer.
I drove a 45-year-old convertible two-seat MGB through a driving rain for more than 150 miles today. I witnessed the aftermath of two tractor trailers colliding, rolling, and completely blocking the other side of Interstate 70, due to that same rain.
My morning was a real nail-biter, but I made it to my hotel in Columbia, MO safe and sound; cold, slightly wet, but safe and sound.
My thoughts, this evening, are for those who did not make it home safe and sound yesterday in Brussels. Their day probably started a lot like mine, anticipating and preparing for a trip.
But for the grace of the supreme being of the universe, my day did not end like theirs.
 |
| My drive was just like this, only with water dripping everywhere from the convertible top (even though it's not 45-years-old like the rest of the car). |
And you know what? I don't think any of our presidential candidates really have that solution either, no matter how hard they try to convince us they do.
Donald Trump says he wants to nuke the terrorists. Yeah, that would work...not.
Other candidates want to recruit more middle eastern forces to fight the battle. Sure, just look how they're flocking to fight the terrorists now. Expecting an about face is like expecting GOP voters to all-of-a-sudden change their minds and back an establishment candidate.
So, I guess expecting any candidate to make our problems go away is about as realistic as thinking that a world without problems can exist.
I just spent three years living in the middle east, and I can tell you first hand that the situation is complicated beyond any one person's complete comprehension.
Beware of any candidate who says he has the answer.
Thanks to my 2,045 Followers
Good morning Friends,
I'm on the road this morning between Fort Wayne, IN and Columbia, MO, my stopping point for the evening. I'll be posting from there later today.
Meanwhile, I'd like to thank my 2,000+ followers for making this the fastest-growing blog on the worldwide web. I'll keep posting, if you keep reading!
I'm on the road this morning between Fort Wayne, IN and Columbia, MO, my stopping point for the evening. I'll be posting from there later today.
Meanwhile, I'd like to thank my 2,000+ followers for making this the fastest-growing blog on the worldwide web. I'll keep posting, if you keep reading!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)