Do kids get those crystal radio kits for Christmas anymore? I didn’t think so. * * * We’ve gotten an early exposure to digital TV. Every once in a while the picture will pixelate, and our TV picture turns into little checker board squares. I hope this is just part of tweaking the signal; otherwise we’re in for some fun in February. * * * Can you imagine that? Now what am I talking about, you ask? President Richard M. Nixon. People looked at President Nixon in the 1970s and said, "Now there’s a crook." Nixon didn’t believe he was. Today there’re people in this country crawling out from under rocks that pose a bigger threat to us than President Nixon did. We’ve got more crooks in our government, corporations, and financial institutions than we know what to do with. Why do we have so many of them? History will be kind to President Nixon because of comparisons to what we’re seeing today. What President Nixon did seems more like a misdemeanor to me. For every lousy President or bad situations we find ourselves in, Nixon climbs one more rung up the ladder. We survived Richard Nixon…I’m not sure we can survive these modern day crooks. The new motto for this country that once served as the title of a Johnny Carson day time show. "Who do you trust?" * * * The Indianapolis Colts are playing in a new stadium this year. Their old stadium has already been imploded and turned into nothing but rubble. I said old but I shouldn’t use that word. The stadium was only 24 years old. That’s what we do in this country now. Things become not good enough in a hurry. Team owners claim they need more revenues from the stadium, from such things as luxury boxes and more restaurants in order to make the team’s payroll. I can’t believe that. The Detroit Lions left the Silverdome in 2001 after 25 years and probably for the same reason. The stadium was bankrolled by Michigan tax payers. Don’t we wish we had that money back now? My problem is with the exception of Calvin Johnson there’s no Lion player worth more than a million dollars a year. That’s just not possible. We’ve put sports ahead of what America really needs. More attention to things that really count in life. * * * Now for a bit of holiday advice, don’t keep your hands in your pockets when you’re walking on ice. Happy New Year! Until the next time . . .
I got a new toy for Christmas. Already you ask? Yup, already. It’s a negative scanner, the perfect gift for a guy who has hundreds (sometimes I think it’s thousands) of negatives ranging in size from 35mm all the way up to 4x5 inches. I have bigger negatives that are an oddball size by today’s standard, but they won’t fit in any of the negative holders that came with the scanner. I have a darkroom in the basement and have in the past relied on that to do my film developing and printing pictures. I’ll still have to use an outside source for the big negatives (4-1/2x6-1/2) unless I can come up with a handmade negative holder. There is such a thing as an 8"x10" negative, but I personally have never seen one. Can you imagine the size of the enlarger to handle one of them if you wanted blowups? Me, I would just make a contact print and be happy with that. I also received another early Christmas gift from Jean, a book. The title of it is The Best of Barry, and it’s full of photos I took this year that Jean picked out. You can’t go to the library and check it out; you can’t find it on a book store shelf. It’s a one of a kind book with photos from cover to cover. It’s looking at my world through the eye of my camera. I had to say eye because my camera’s a Cyclops. [Editor’s note: In our year-end issue we will share Barry’s photos with our readers.] * * * For as long as I can remember the UAW has used their PAC money to support a Democrat for office; otherwise they supported no candidate at all. I’m not aware that they’ve ever supported a Republican. Well, guess who’s trying to even the score? I really don’t admire the Republicans for doing that in face of what’s going on in this country. What they’re doing is petty. I’ve said it many times before; our government does not represent We The People anymore. They aren’t simply elected by the people to get into office; they have to be bought and paid for before hand by special interest or foreign interest. Once they’re elected they make sure the special interest groups are taken care of. Thus the combination of two words, Pork Barrel, was invented. That part is obviously more important to them because they can get rich after their time in office either by giving speeches or working as a lobbyist. Just look at Bill Clinton. I’m still wondering how We The People get on their list of people to represent. Remember, Obama turned down public financing. Public financing…that’s us folks. When a politician rejects that, they’re rejecting us. * * * We’ve got our Christmas tree up and finished it off with Clark Griswold’s favorite Santa Claus ornament. For me it wouldn’t be a tree without it. There’s no Uncle Lewis to set fire to it while lighting his cigar so hopefully the ornament will survive another Christmas at our house. * * * George Bush wanted Iraq and he got it, shoes and all. It’s surreal to watch the news coverage of Bush’s surprise visit to Iraq and see a reporter from Egypt throw not one but both of his shoes at him. Lucky for Bush he ducked them. My big question is where was the Secret Service? * * * Do you wonder if the St. Johns School Board is still going ahead with their plans to build more schools and make improvements to existing buildings? I think they’ve scrapped some of their ideas for school upgrades such as artificial turf on the football field or as some of us call them, frills. Do they still feel we need it at a time when the nation’s economy is crumbling? I wonder too. As for classroom size just wait a few years and that too will change for the better. People are moving out of Michigan seeking employment wherever they can find it. Some of the words I think describes what we’re seeing from them are irresponsible, out of touch, current events challenged, and unconcerned. Take your pick. * * * I finished reading the book, Lone Survivor. It takes me a while some times, but I enjoyed the book very much. It’s an insight into what these young men went through in Afghanistan and how brave they were under fire. I thank Walt Thelen for the opportunity to read it. My next book? I’ll have to see what Santa brings. Until the next time . . .
I got a new toy for Christmas. Already you ask? Yup, already. It’s a negative scanner, a perfect gift for a guy who has hundreds (sometimes I think it’s thousands) of negatives ranging in size from 35mm all the way up to 4x5 inches. I have bigger negatives that are an oddball size by today’s standard, but they won’t fit in any of the negative holders that came with the scanner. I have a darkroom in the basement and have in the past relied on that to do my film developing and printing pictures. I’ll still have to use an outside source for the big negatives (4-1/2x6-1/2) unless I can come up with a handmade negative holder. There is such a thing as an 8"x10" negative, but I personally have never seen one. Can you imagine the size of the enlarger to handle one of them if you wanted blowups? Me, I would just make a contact print and be happy with that. I also received another early Christmas gift from Jean, a book. The title of it is, The Best of Barry, and it’s full of photos I took this year that Jean picked out. You can’t go to the library and check it out; you can’t find it on a book store shelf. It’s a one of a kind book with photos from cover to cover. It’s looking at my world through the eye of my camera. I had to say eye because my camera’s a Cyclops. [Editor’s note: In our year-end issue we will share Barry’s photos with our readers.] * * * For as long as I can remember the UAW has used their PAC money to support a Democrat for office; otherwise they supported no candidate at all. I’m not aware that they’ve ever supported a Republican. Well, guess who’s trying to even the score? I really don’t admire the Republicans for doing that in face of what’s going on in this country. What they’re doing is petty. I’ve said it many times before; our government does not represent We The People anymore. They aren’t simply elected by the people to get into office; they have to be bought and paid for before hand by special interest or foreign interest. Once they’re elected they make sure the special interest groups are taken care of. Thus the combination of two words, Pork Barrel, was invented. That part is obviously more important to them because they can get rich after their time in office either by giving speeches or working as a lobbyist. Just look at Bill Clinton. I’m still wondering how We The People get on their list of people to represent. Remember, Obama turned down public financing. Public financing…that’s us folks. When a politician rejects that, they’re rejecting us. * * * We’ve got our Christmas tree up and finished it off with Clark Griswold’s favorite Santa Claus ornament. For me it wouldn’t be a tree without it. There’s no Uncle Lewis to set fire to it while lighting his cigar so hopefully the ornament will survive another Christmas at our house. * * * George Bush wanted Iraq and he got it, shoes and all. It’s surreal to watch the news coverage of Bush’s surprise visit to Iraq and see a reporter from Egypt throw not one but both of his shoes at him. Lucky for Bush he ducked them. My big question is where was the Secret Service? * * * Do you wonder if the St. Johns School Board is still going ahead with their plans to build more schools and make improvements to existing buildings? I think they’ve scrapped some of their ideas for school upgrades such as artificial turf on the football field or as some of us call them, frills. Do they still feel we need it at a time when the nation’s economy is crumbling? I wonder too. As for classroom size just wait a few years and that too will change for the better. People are moving out of Michigan seeking employment wherever they can find it. Some of the words I think describes what we’re seeing from them are irresponsible, out of touch, current events challenged, and unconcerned. Take your pick. * * * I finished reading the book, Lone Survivor. It takes me a while some times, but I enjoyed the book very much. It’s an insight into what these young men went through in Afghanistan and how brave they were under fire. I thank Walt Thelen for the opportunity to read it. My next book? I’ll have to see what Santa brings. Until the next time . . .
If you want to get a bunch of quizzical looks just situate yourself in the middle of a crowd of people and yell at the top of your lungs, "Go Lions!" It really works. If you try this make sure you have an escape route because the guys in white will be coming after you. * * * The more I talk about the economy, the worse it gets. Do you suppose I should just shut up? I don’t think so, Gram. Where did the notion come from that the executives of the auto companies mismanaged their companies any more than the executives of the financial institutions? I think they both share the same blame. AIG got their bailout almost immediately and without question. Once the deal was cut they held a $400,000 weekend retreat for their executives. It kinda looks like we’ve been had — at least by them. I know the Senate and House committees have been having fun with the auto executives over flying to Washington on corporate jets. I have two sons-in-law that fly for their companies; and even though they don’t fly on corporate jets, there’s still an expense involved and it’s necessary. Even President-elect Barack Obama has jumped on the band wagon’ and he, too, is bashing the auto executives. Do any of us common folks really care how they traveled to Washington? Isn’t why they’re there more important? The country is folding around Congress; and all they can say is, "Hey dude, how’d you get here?" I don’t believe any members of these committees could withstand the kind of scrutiny they place these guys under. And furthermore, who are they to point fingers? They’re all a bit shaky. Let’s get to the real question and bypass all of that political rhetoric. Isn’t the viability of the auto industry a matter of national defense? That’s all I would ask because it sure as hell was during World War II. I think we do what we have to do to make the auto industry whole again. If we have to ask for some resignations along the way, so be it. We’ve had the right people in charge during times of need, and we’ve had the wrong people in charge. At this stage I want the right people. As for the economy as a whole, I’m all for what some people have suggested. If the American workers have to sacrifice during hard economic times, so should Congress. A reduction in their numbers and a reduction of their benefits only seem fitting during these times. Maybe they should have to co-pay their health insurance or maybe cut it altogether like some people are experiencing now. If that actually happened to the members of Congress, what do you want to bet things will get better in a hurry? Just like the price of gas. Meanwhile, I’m not going to change my spending habits, at least not for now. I’ll just keep doing what I do. I’m not going to take our money out of the credit union and stuff it in our mattress. With my luck the house would burn down the same day and that mattress would go up in flames. We don’t have to stuff our mattresses anyway thanks to our money being insured. If we really want to have an economic recovery in this country, let’s get rid of that made in China tag or labeling on almost everything we buy. * * * I just learned that our youngest granddaughter, Brooke, rolled over from her tummy to her back while playing with her dad. Are we missing things? Not really. We keep in touch via phone almost daily and through the internet with pictures, and I’m sure Walt and Bernie do too. They are Brooke’s other grandparents who are just as interested in her growth as we are. * * * I keep hitting the horn button on the keyless car door opener on my key chain. It drives me nuts! Its purpose is to help me find our car in a large parking lot. In the ten years we’ve had our car we have yet to lose it. That doesn’t matter; I keep hitting the button anyway. Monday morning was one of those mornings. The horn started honking and I hadn’t even left the house yet. I felt like yelling out to Betty, "Honey, I found the car," to which she’d say, "You hit that button again, didn’t you?" "Yup." Until the next time . . .
Do you ever wonder if they lie about it? I’m talking about the Detroit Lions. Did they really sell out all the tickets to the Thanksgiving Day game against the Tennessee Titans? I can just see the guy in charge of tickets sales waiting outside William Clay Ford’s office behind a long line of people looking for a free Ford. They have to be giving them away because they can’t sell them anymore. When he finally got in to see Ford, he had to tell him they only sold three tickets for the game. William, being the astute owner of the team says, "Oh crap, I guess I’ll have to buy the remaining tickets; otherwise we’re not going to be on national TV on Thanksgiving Day. After we fought the NFL over the rights to that game we can’t lose it now. "Maybe I should give that guy in St. Johns a call. What’s his number? With him we wouldn’t have this problem. People will go to the game just to see what that dummy does. Where the hell’s my Scotch and water?" That’s the first smart thing ol’ William said since he got his first driver’s license. About the Scotch and water? Nope, that I was a dummy. I would have the entire offensive line report in as receivers. The rules don’t allow that, but what the hell — it’s worth trying to sneak it past the referees. They’re easily fooled sometimes. So we get penalized; at least we’re moving the ball. Our offensive line couldn’t stop their mothers-in-law, but they could go out short for a pass. Let the quarterback fend for himself. He does now anyway. I’m not going to get up in a press conference and tell those guys it’s all on me. I’m going to tell the truth and say that we’ve got too many dumb football players. They peaked in college, and we shouldn’t have drafted them in the first place. It seems kind of silly to imagine things like that, but our imagination helps us do what the Detroit Lions can’t do. It gives us an occasional win. * * * It’s been a different Thanksgiving this year. It was the first Thanksgiving without Betty’s Mom, Genevieve Motz. Over the last eight years we’ve gotten used to her being here with us. Mom had a way with the English language. That’s to say, she used it a lot. If you had something to say, you’d better squeeze it in sideways because we’d have to interrupt her from time to time. As a person gets older they’ve earned that extra patience from us. We don’t have Mom around anymore to ask her the question of how things were when she was younger. The stories about relatives coming to live with them during hard times were right out of the Reminisce magazine. They survived the Depression and got to know their relatives all at the same time. She was like a history book to us, and we miss that. We’ll be there someday, and all too soon; and I hope we can also remember things to tell our kids (that includes our sons-in-law) and hopefully we’ll be able say to them, "I remember when." That’s the stuff that’s always a joy to hear and a joy to talk about, and just maybe that’s the stuff this country is made of. I certainly hope so. * * * Why do they call the day after Thanksgiving Black Friday? That makes it sound like Doomsday. Good Lord. We use to go shopping that day and eat dinner out. One of the few opportunities we had in those days. Betty’s Mom used to baby-sit for us, and we always bought her a box of chocolates as thanks. She never expected money for helping out. She did that for all of us, and we were lucky. I’m not going to tell the story about Renee and a box of chocolates one Christmas. I don’t know for sure if she even likes them anymore. We did get past the Scotch pudding, and now she likes it. It’s a family joke. I’ve eaten so much turkey since Thanksgiving Day that I’m starting to gobble. Does that sound familiar? Until the next time . . .
