"The Whole World's Goin' Crazy"

Today's blog post title is also the title of a song and an album that April Wine released in 1976.  That album, I think, is one of their best, and the song itself is a whimsical light hearted commentary.  "The whole world's goin' crazy........hey baby would you like to go crazy with me?"

As I write this posting this evening, it seems as if things are going crazy both at the personal level and on the world stage.

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I don't want to get into what's going on at work.  All I will say is that the future is very uncertain.  Changing job conditions may or may not be forcing me into a relocation somewhere down the road.  I don't know what's going to happen.  It's too early to tell.  But I've had to devote a lot of mental energy lately to wondering about some changes that could (or could not) be happening for me.

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Over in Egypt we recently saw mass demonstrations force longtime president Hosni Mubarak from power.  Over in Libya, we see Moammar Khadafy (or however that's spelled) on the brink of being forced from office.  There is unrest in Bahrain and in Yemen, and over in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the royal family is very concerned about things right now.

I'm no fan, of course of Khadafy.  There is concern though about his eventual successor.  My best guess is that once Moammar is gone, there will be a lot of celebrating in Tripoli, but I think we'll also see a lot of turmoil as those near the top fight for "King of the Mountain".  The new guy may not be the improvement that we hope he is.

This could have serious repercussions on the economy.  For good or bad, oil is the lifeblood of the world economy, and rising oil prices are being seen here at the gas pumps and also where you are.  The cost of energy gets folded into the prices of all commodities as that petroleum is used to get that food to your supermarket.  And in an economy where anyone who is not a CEO gets a 2% pay raise (if they get one at all), it seems as if the vise that's squeezing you is going to be squeezing you a bit more this year.

At the White House, I'm reading where the President is partying up a storm about celebrating Motown, while Detroit is closing half of its public schools.  The White House is also issuing pronouncements that they are not going to defend or uphold legislation that they don't like.

Seems as if the whole world is going crazy.

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In Wisconsin we have an interesting legislative battle going on.  The new governor and the new legislature, all controlled by Republicans, is trying to get some budget legislation that will be taking aim at the public sector unions.  It has led to several of their Democrat senators fleeing the state.  Democrat legislators have also fled Indiana, and I expect that we'll see a similar occurrence in Ohio.

In a sick way, this is amusing.  The Democrats for the past few years have enjoyed labelling the Republicans as the party of "No".   As these Democrats flee their job duties, I can't help but ask, who's the party of "No" now?

Don't get me wrong.  I favor the currrent filibuster rules in the U.S. Senate.  And if a bunch of Democrat state legislators want to flee their state (and the people they represent), let them.  Really.....I'm all for it.

I will never stand in the way of legislators or a party that wishes to make themselves look stupid.  The more they do that, the greater the chances of them being remembered at the ballot box.

And if you don't mind, I'm going to remind you that I'm a registered independent and I have issues with both Republicans and Democrats.  My own view is that the established leaders of both parties need to be run out of town on a rail, so that some average Joes from the real world can rise up and take over, and start making some fixes.

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If in the event you happen to be someone who prays, I'm going to ask that you remember the following people in your prayers:

1.  Robin W of Tennessee, who has some medical issues that I can't disclose, nor could I since I don't know what they are.  She's been an angel of mercy to a great many people, incluing me.  It's time for those of us she's prayed for to return the favor.

2.  Karin F of Colorado, another angel of mercy, who has been a big help in encouraging me thru the latest series of setbacks that I've had lately.  She's been trying to find some gainful employment in her field for over a year now, and her good spirits never cease to amaze me.  Please pray for her.

3.  Marge M and Karen M of Tucson.  Marge is the mother of Karen, and Marge's son who is in another state is undergoing some difficulties that I won't make public here.  This has to be a strain on both of them, and I ask that you remember them.

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Yep, I think it's really easy to say these days, that the whole world is going crazy.

But someone else also said, centuries ago, that "there is nothing new under the sun".

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.

Son of a [Female Canine]! It's Cold!

Tucson and the rest of southern Arizona right now is in the midst of record cold temperatures.  We hit a low of 18F, and we were below freezing until about 2:30 PM.  We are in for more of the same.  My citrus trees do not look like they will be living for too much longer and I likely have lost some other plants as well.

There was no running water this morning.  Online comments in the web page of the local viewspaper indicated widespread water and gas outages.  The City of Tucson, which owns the water company, reported that 1000 customers were without water but the plumber that I talked to said the figure is more like 4000.

Down in the Rita Ranch subdivision, they are without gas and will be until Tuesday.  I've already passed along an offer of help to Birdman and his wife to come over here if they need a hot shower as that my water is now back on.  I did have a plumber out here to confirm that I didn't have any leaks and to give me tips on proper preparation.  I got off lucky but one house on this street did not.....they have a broken water main.

I've seen two service trucks arrive to service heaters.  My next door neighbor had someone out and so did the house across the street.  I've had heat, gas and electricity.  I don't think there are any electrical outages in Tucson as that I haven't seen any reports.  It's mainly the gas and water that we've had problems with.

It ain't over yet.  We're in for a low of 20F tonight and the next night after.  Nature is dealing us an even more cruel blow than she did four years ago when I lost an evergreen and a lemon tree.  I'm thinking right now I might have to have my replacement lemon tree dug out, as well as my tangerine and grapefruit trees.  As for the fruits themselves, their only use right now is for target practice, or to take them out to some canyon somewhere and splatter them against the rocks.

Workwise, I took today off as that I did not have my morning shower, and didn't want to be bringing attention to myself with any malodorous conditions that I might be suffering from.  My truck is in the shop right now for another problem which may be aggravated by the cold; it had been acting up upon starting for two or three weeks and if anything I was finally able to demonstrate the problem to my trusted mechanic.

I guess if Todd wants to go out rabbit hunting, only the healthy ones are alive right now, but I'm not sure that there's that many of them.  I've seen more coyote sightings these past two weeks than usual, and someone I know spotted some javelina a few days ago, so the critters just might be coming into the neighborhoods as that we're at a slightly lower elevation than to the east and north of us.

We could use some relief from this, and my suggested remedy is that we get the Inventor of the Internet into southern Arizona to spout off about global warming.  If he keeps his mouth open enough, it might warm things up here by ten degrees.