Good grief

Maybe I'll be working tomorrow, maybe I won't. Of course if we aren't working tomorrow, they'll ALL be out of a job come the next election...(that's my wishful thinking)

They had 4 months to work it out, they didn't. Then they got called back for a special session~that they get paid for, even though they didn't do what they get paid for when they were supposed to. Then they use up the whole special session not getting it done. Really, where else can you work and get paid NOT to do your job. I mean, I goof off sometimes too, but the consequences aren't going to be SHUTTING DOWN THE STATE GOVERNMENT!

*sigh*

June 30, 2009

Dear Co-Worker:

I apologize that I am only just now communicating with you, but I have held off at the request of state legislators who are working to reach a budget compromise before the fiscal year ends tonight. When midday arrived with still no formal agreement, I informed the General Assembly that in fairness to state employees I could not wait any longer. So, it is with great regret, I write to inform you of the unfortunate possibility that as of midnight, our state government will be forced to shut down and suspend many of its operations.

I have done everything in my power to avoid this outcome. When the legislature failed to pass a budget in April, I called them back into session a week earlier than expected, to give them extra time to reach an agreement. I revised my original January budget proposal to incorporate numerous compromises, including the use of a significant portion of our state reserve funds. Some observers felt that I had gone too far: the Indy Star, on June 7th, even described our concessions as potentially “foolhardy.” The Senate subsequently produced a budget that made even greater compromises, which again, in hopes of a reasonable solution, I agreed to support. Additional concessions were made late yesterday in a final attempt at compromise and early reports suggest that perhaps these last changes have resulted in a deal although no vote has been taken and no budget has yet passed. At my request the Senate also passed a stop-gap measure to keep government open even if a budget still did not pass in time.

Please note I have a greater sense of optimism today that the members of the Indiana General Assembly have agreed to a budget and will vote to pass it before the deadline of midnight tonight than I did yesterday. However, in the event that a budget is not passed by midnight tonight, it is my responsibility to notify you of the potential interruption of all state government activities except those of a public safety, life and death nature. Attached is a memo, detailing the particulars of the shutdown process as a precautionary measure in the event the General Assembly fails to pass a budget.

Though the potential for closure remains a possibility, I still hope for another conclusion. Over the next 12 hours I will join you in watching the General Assembly as they consider and hopefully pass a responsible, 2-year state budget which I can sign. You are delivering the finest state government service Indiana has ever seen and I thank you sincerely for it.

Sincerely,

Mitch Daniels

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Astounding

On Saturday, Mom, Bill and I went to the King Tut Exhibit.

http://www.kingtut.org/home

It was here, at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. It was astounding! First of all, it was beautifully done ~ the exhibit. Very impressive. As for all the artifacts...I think it's something you just have to see in person. It's so hard to express what it feels like to be standing a foot away from something that is thousands of years old, created by another human being. Whoa. It's wondrous, to say the least. Everything is so detailed and intricate. It's just so hard to imagine that such beautiful and amazing work was created by relatively primitive humans! At every turn, I was struck by the time and obvious great care that people took to create jewelry, clothing, statuary, everything related to the Pharaohs. It was really amazing. I'm so glad we went.

Sunday, we just lazed around like lizards. It was delightful! Bill watched a lot of racing and I read all day. We had all the windows open and there was a breeze blowing through the house all day.
And Pepper spent hours outside, toad hunting. She played with one to death! But she didn't eat it. Icky. In between, we watched The Dark Knight and Horton Hears a Who. You know I loved Jim Carrey's elephant butt :-)

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Silly Hoosiers

I took this from the Indianapolis Star newspaper this morning...

"In the last two or three days," Mitch Daniels said, "it has occurred to me it isn't bad to be a boring governor."

We must be easily entertained in Indiana. Because despite the lack of a scandal worthy of a TV movie, most Hoosiers -- supporters and critics alike -- find Daniels anything but boring. Who needs a sex controversy in a state that gets riled up over time zones?

That last sentance made me laugh out loud at my desk!

Black Oak Arkansas

That was the name of a band in the 70's.


Their lead singer a was dude named Jim Dandy, he was SO hot!!!!


That was then...

This is now...

I feel much happier today for some reason.

LMAO

Woowee Cake Wrecks is funn-eee today!!!!

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

Yesterday's visit to the dentist was exhausting. No Novocaine. In my head I kept telling myself it wasn't going to hurt...but the rest of me just kept waiting for the pain to come. It was weird. Plus, it's never an easy fix it for me. I'm used to that now though. So, there was so little of my real tooth that he had to build up a post out of the root. I have a temporary on now, which is actually nicer than the original crown. It's a better size too ~ which means I have to learn how to bite my hang nails off all over again! funny how the smallest little difference in something in your mouth is a big deal. The new one won't be here until the 20th of July though! It's going to be hard to bee careful for that long.

Before I went to the DDS, I had to stop by the lab, so they could get a super great color match for me. I've had to do this before. Same lab, same guy. When you walk in, the first thing that grabs your attention is the two giant candy bowls on the counter, filled with caramels, tootsie rolls and licorice. So you know right away what kind of guy you're going to deal with. The first time I saw him, I thought, "he needs to get out more" Really, he had books and pictures and stories at length about all the different colors in one tooth. He did that again with me, but this time when I walked out, I couldn't help but be delighted. It's not very often that you run across someone who is so passionate about what they do. He really loves what he does. I'm glad ~ he's going to make my smile much better!

Poo

Today I get to spend another 2 hours at the dentist. This time it's to replace the old crown on my front tooth. It lasted 17 years! I guess it's time for a new one. And I had a root canal on that tooth, so it won't hurt...but still...blech. It will be prettier though, especially now that I've had them whitened :-)

Is it hot out there? It looks pretty out the window. It's supposed to be 92 today with a heat index of almost 100 ~ because of the humidity. That stinks if you have to be outside to do your job, or walk the dog. Yeah, I know, I'm a sissy. The guy on the news this morning said he turned his AC on for the first time yesterday. WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! Geez, ours has been on for over a month! Yep, uh huh, I'm a sissy.

Nostalgic

I didn't have a reason, but last night I was feeling a little nostalgic. That doesn't happen to me very often. Perhaps I was thinking about the grand baby and Saturday morning cartoons. Yep, that must have been it.

I loved Saturday morning cartoons! Especially these;

Hey Boo Boo! And that park ranger was such a clown!

Tom and Jerry were so funny. Jerry always out smarted Tom.

And the Jetsons showed us what the future was going to be like! Pretty cool. I'm still waiting...

Quick Draw had the best dog.

The George of my youth was much better looking than today's George.

Johnny was the best! Always getting into trouble.

And Bandit was so cute.

Tooter and Mr. Wizard were so adventurous. "Time for this one to come home"

Right up there with Underdog as an 'unlikely' hero was this little guy ~ do you remember him?

Then there were these truly awesome TV shows!

Here Come the Brides. Starring Bobby Sherman!!!! My first crush. Mom took me to see him in concert when I was 13. Ahhhhhhhhh. Seriously, Justin Timberlake had NOTHING over Bobby!!

You must remember this one?

And THE BEST TARZAN EVER was Ron Ely, of course! Man he was a cutie!!! And 1/2 naked all the time! What could be better for a young girls dreams? :-)

Good day sunshine...

Today is summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Here in Indiana, the Midwest, where we are in the Eastern time zone, it won't get dark until about 11:00. My official start of summer comes with the first lighting bug sighting. That was last week!

It's toad season again. Little tee tiny toads are all over the place.

Also...

Vacation conclusion...

Thursday morning we headed to Bowling Green Kentucky. It was about 4 hours away. We ran into some pretty heavy rain on the way, but by the time we got to Mammoth Caves it was sunny and steamy. Mammoth Caves are the largest in the US. 300+ miles have been mapped so far. It took us 2 hours to do 2 miles. And our guide really only stopped a couple times. It was fascinating. I didn't know that there was a difference between wet caves and dry caves. Wet caves have decor...you know, stalactites and stalagmites and other fancy formations. Dry caves are just rocky. The history of these caves is very interesting. Lots of people would NOT like this tour though. There were some very tight spaces and super low spots. We liked it though, it was kind of an adventure!



After all that, we just went and checked into our hotel and pooped out. Until the tornado warning that is...
This was a doozey of a storm and it lasted for hours! The tornado warning was only about 20 minutes though. Whew.

Everything was bright and sunny the next morning. We went downstairs and had breakfast, checked out and drove across the street to the National Corvette Museum. I'm sorry I don't have a real appreciation for cars but here are some pictures :-)

This was just a concept car, but it looked cool,

This was his fav. I like the sting ray body style best too,

This is just like the one he had when he was a young man,

We were only there a couple hours. Then we headed home. We pulled in the driveway about 3:00 and boy were the girls excited to see us! We even got the little "hurry up and pet me" howl from Pepper. She does that a lot though :-) It's funny as hell.


We pretty much just lazed around all weekend. We were both suffering from vacation hangovers.

Now we're back to work, trying to catch up. Mom's bee day is Friday and Father's Day is Sunday. We aren't going to do anything though. Stay in, watch a movie, take Mom out for Chineese. It'll be a nice weekend.

Gatlinburg

The only mountains Bill and I have ever seen are the Rockies. The Smoky mountains are very different. They are a lot more dense, with trees. And the trees go all the way to the tops of the mountains. It was really nice to be in the mountains. We saw a Golden Eagle outside of our cabin, a deer and a coyote. But Gatlinburg in general is all about the black bear. Black bear stuff is everywhere! Our cabin was even full of black bears...

There were little bears sitting in the potpourri... There were little bears on the kitchen window sill...

This little guy was stuffed in the bottom of the coat rack...

This was one of several bear decorations on the fireplace mantle...

And this guy sat by and watched as you played pool...

There was even a list of do's and don'ts in the cabin. You know, DON'T FEED THE BEARS! Don't put your trash outside, etc.

It all made me so excited about SEEING a real black bear!!! I was disappointed to say the least, when we left Gatlinburg I had not seen one single bear. And we were staying in a cabin...in the woods!

Anyway...Wednesday, we went to the aquarium. It was a truly, unexpectedly nice aquarium too. I especially loved the underwater tunnel. There was a giant saw fish laying across the top of it. I didn't know they just lounged around like that.

And these were the funniest looking fish. They were called Cuttle fish.

And this guy had his dukes up the whole time we were there. He looks mad doesn't' he?
But not nearly as mad as this creature! Ewwwwww...check out those teeth.
I even got to go deep sea diving! Man that suit is heavy ;-)

We walked a lot downtown, went into a lot of shops. It was hot and humid, not a good combo for Sister Mary Menopause! I was so desperate for some cool air and a seat that I went into McDonald's and actually ate a burger! My first McDonald's burger in over a decade. Even Bill was shocked. They are just a yucky as they've always been.

Then we did a really fun cheesy thing and went to the Ripley's Believe or Not Museum. We laughed out loud several times!

We both had the same favorite part though. There was this big round tunnel, with a bridge through it. The top 1/2 of the tunnel was painted like the sky and the bottom 1/2 was painted like a ravine ~ that a bridge might go over. The tunnel moved, a little clockwise and then a little counter clockwise. When you walked through it, on the bridge (which was stationary mind you) you had to hold on to the rails because you might fall! We had to walk through it 3 times because it was so wild. I mean, even though you know you aren't moving, you still start to tip over when the tunnel moves. I LOVE that!

Here's Bill in Robert Wadlow's chair. Robert was a big dude!

(Don't you love that face??)

All in all, we had a fun time in Gatlinburg but we wouldn't go back. It's a terrific place for families though. It's like a ginormous carnival. Lots and lots of things to do for kids. It's a little too commercial for us old folks though. One day downtown was plenty.

The next day we drove around the Arts and Crafts Community. That was much nicer. All about real artisans and craftsmen. I'm always amazed by the talent some people have. Being an arts and crafts dabbler, I can appreciate the work that goes into some art. I like that.

Then we went back to the cabin and just hung out. We've been pretty busy so far so it was good to have some down time.

For our anniversary dinner, we went to a fancy place called The Park Grill. It was awesome. Our waiter, Dave, was top notch and the food was scrumptious. Bill had prime rib and I had fillet Mignon! We felt like we were being so extravagant! It was perfect. They even put a candle on our table for the occasion. Ahhhhhhh, life is good.

Travelin'

Before I go any further...all this stress free, don't need no stinkin' map, travelin' was brought to us by G.G. That's our Garmin GPS, an anniversary gift from Mom. G.G. ROCKS! She knows everything! I have twinges of "Big Brother", but the convenience far outweighs the personal I know where you are creepiness. We love G.G. Who says women don't know directions? I am a little curious as to the research that was done to determine why a GPS should have a female voice. I think that's kind of curious. Anyway, G.G. is the greatest invention. And when we stopped and were hungry, I said, "let's ask G.G. where to eat!" And she listed dozens of places near us. And when we were low on gas, I said, "let's ask G.G. where the next station is!" I'll never get lost again! WOOHOO!

After Nashville, we drove 3 hours to Birmingham to go to the Barber Motor Sports Museum. In case you didn't know, it is the largest collection of motorcycles in the world...clear back to the dawn of time. Bill has always wanted to go there and I wanted our vacation to be fun for both of us ~ since he was a good husband about all my county music stuff, I was a good wife about Barber.

He was totally ecstatic!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FIVE floors of 1100 motorcycles!!!! It really was a beautiful facility. We walked them all...TWICE. Over 300 pictures were snapped. Now he has the best screen saver ever :-) I had no idea there were so many different kinds of motorcycles...and scooters. Let alone so many makers. I wish I could write more about it, but I am NOT a gear head so what do I know?! OK, I know that Bill was super duper happy, so that made it all worth it.


Check out this side car! It's like an RV for motorcycles. It had 2 bench seats in it...one for me and one for the dogs :-)

After that, we drove 5 1/2 hours to Gatlinburg. We didn't get there until about 8:30. We were pretty pooped. Plus, the cabin was hard to find in the dark. It was great though, just like the pictures!

First stop...

Nashville Tennessee. Actually, it was the Wild Horse Saloon for lunch.

Then we walked up and down 2nd Ave. and checked out a couple shops and the Charlie Daniels store/museum. That was fun, I think he's a hoot. Then we checked into our hotel, which was GR8 because it was smack downtown Nashville, so we could walk to almost everything. Saturday night we walked up and down Broadway. It was fantastic! There's 4 or 5 bars or honky tonks on every block, all of them with live music and the doors open. I loved all the music and neon! And I got to go in the Ernest Tubb's Record Shop. It was pretty cool for me :-)

Sunday, we were super busy. First stop, The Country Music Hall of Fame.

The history of country music is down right inspiring! BUT…Garth Brooks is not in the County Music Hall of Fame? What's up with that????? No bronze plaque for him! Humph. Contrary to what some people say, I am observant about some things...like the floor. It was pretty neat. Made out of end cut wood.

Then we went to The Lane Motor Museum. It's full of wacky cars. It was fun but I didn't enjoy it as much as Bill did. Go figure.

After that, we went to the Parthenon. Yup, Nashville has the worlds only full scale replica of the Parthenon. It's one of those "why" things. You know, like the biggest ball of string or the world's largest non-stick frying pan…why? I still don't know.
After that we drove out to the Grand Ole Opry ~ which by the way, is nowhere near downtown Nashville. I think that’s silly. But for a country music fan ~ me ~ it was awesome just to be there!!!! Same for the Ryman Auditorium. Lots of great history.

I loved Nashville! It's full of wonderfully kept old buildings full of memories.