Random Musings of a Ramblin' Fool Pt. XI

Hey Folks, I'm Back

Well, after getting away from blogging for a bit of late I'm back and don't plan to pause again for the foreseeable future with all that there is to talk about coming up from shows to economic meltdowns to elections to changing of the seasons to October being upon us which is typically the most disastrous month of the year for California along with a host of other things to talk about. 

Be sure to go back and check my blogs about the recent Paso Robles Gem & Mineral Show as well as the Monterey Gem & Mineral Show as well as a recent Useful Tip column. 

Also, you can follow the Big Sur Jade Festival from day to day right here. 

Kimmer News

I've learned that I've been accepted as a new member of the Orcutt Mineral Society so now I'm a member of all three local clubs with the other two being the Santa Lucia Rockhounds and theSan Luis Obispo Gem & Mineral Club. 

Today, Estelle from the Santa Lucia Rockhounds contacted me and asked me if I'd be willing to take on the role of Vice President of Education for that club to which I said I would but needed to know more about it first before I could firmly commit so I will soon be given relevant literature towards that end. 

I'm already Vice President of the SLO club so my time is already more stretched than ever before so I'm enthusiastic but a tad reluctant about this but am going to keep an open mind for now. 

In that role I have extremely busy of late doing publicity for the upcoming Cayucos Gem, Mineral & Jewelry Show which I will not even be in while having to prepare for the Big Sur Jade Festival the week before which I will be in and then prepare right after that for the Placerville show the same weekend as the Cayucos show. 

Add to that the fact I've been working on getting the SLO club's website up and running of late and I'm pretty much maxed out. 

So How About That Weather

Last night (Tuesday night the 7th) I was able to leave the windows open throughout the house for probably the last time until next May or June.

Tonight is a bit iffy about repeating that as I feel a slight chill building. 

Today certainly was rather Indian Summer-ish if not technically thus.  

Last night at the monthly meeting of the San Luis Obispo Gem & Mineral Club it was very warm well after dark due to the downslope/offshore winds coming from the northeast over the Santa Lucia Mountains and into San Luis Obispo. The effect was a warm, dry wind leaving the day rather scorching in SLO and very mild and nice after dark. 

Today was another hot day in Atascadero as was yesterday.

When I was out walking the morning of day before yesterday, I was buffeted by one of the strongest offshore winds I have ever experienced in Atascadero. 

This does not bode well for what this Autumn will bring wind wise and by extension, fire wise, to California but it is yet early in the season and much too soon to say what will happen.

The Economy Stupid

It's getting so bad I'm afraid to check the news, especially when I first start the day.

When will this end and will it end well for us?

I sure hope nobody is taking a good ending for granted.

I'm also damned tired of the two parties blaming each other for the mess when there is plenty of blame to go around for everybody from top to bottom and both sides of the politico-cultural divide.

I wish everybody would just shut the heck up and focus on where we go from here. 

I admit that emotionally it feels good at the first impression when one hears that Big Momma Gummint is going to come in and prop up this and prop up that.

However, the more I wrap my head around this the more uneasy I feel about our government getting itself so involved in our economy and by extension becoming so much bigger and so much more a part of our lives. 

Furthermore, we are going into tremendous debt in order to try to achieve instant gratification relative to how long it would take to fix this in a more economically sound fashion.

The problem is that we Americans are a spoiled and petulant and impatient and ADHD-afflicted people and can't stay focused on anything for very long and on a steady pace. 

We want to have our cake and eat it, too. 

We are unwilling to pay significantly more in taxes but are unwilling to face significant austerity measures so the debt piles up and the beat goes on.

We have no self-control as a people and no sense of responsibility so why would our elected representatives do otherwise: they perfectly represent and reflect us. 

The problem in Washington DC is that it is functioning exactly as designed.

Would Both of You Please Tell Us Why You Should Be President?

Is this the most distressing Presidential election cycle you can remember?

I feel awful about our two options or is it just me?

I'm an Independent and don't really agree with either guy terribly much but my gut feels better about McCain than Obama whom I deeply distrust whereas McCain merely fails to inspire me. 

At least McCain has been in the fiery furnace and passed the test but not so with Obama.

Also, Obama nakedly lies and obfuscates and flip-flops much more than McCain.

McCain has had a reformer pedigree since long before Obama-Cum-Lately hit the scene and became the latest Flavor Of The Month. 

I still fail to see how Obama is going to bring change and reform when he himself has participated in and done the very things that are the problem and has selected as his Vice President a man whom one can reasonably consider the consummate Washington INSIDER. 

On the other hand, McCain for all his great service for his country over the course of his life just seems to lack that certain something that distinguishes great leaders.

Also, like Obama, McCain has NO Grand Vision for America and how we proceed from here in realizing that Grand Vision.  "Where there is no vision, the people perish". 

A Fate Accompli?

It has been distressing watching the Fifth-Column/Fourth-Estate in conjunction with the Entertainment-Industrial Complex act like a bunch of blushing and swooning schoolgirls with mad crushes fawning over and falling all over themselves to anoint Obama as some sort of Messianic figure who will come to the Beltway and after healing the waters of the politically-poisoned Potomac River then walk across them and right into the White House wherein a New Millennium will be ushered in wherein all Mankind will beat their swords into plowshares and our sickly economy will be made whole again. 

This week I have come to realize Obama will win the election due to McCain's pathetic weakness as a candidate combined with the free-falling economy and folks needing a scape goat which the Republicans will conveniently serve as for this election.

Combine all that with Media and Pop Cultural Anointment the likes we have not seen since 1992 when Bubba was anointed by the same folks while also using "change" as a mantra.

The inevitable result is that the lemmings are going to elect an even weaker man than Jimmy Carter who turned out to be the very worst President of the second half of the 20th Century. 

Prophetic Palmist

Innumerable times over the years I have driven by the palmist's office here Atascadero as it sits right on the main drag of town and the store always seems to be closed. 

I believe I've figured out why: she can accurately predict when there will be no customers. 

Kimmer