We've become a nation of self-absorbed pansies, liars, pussies, cheats and thieves 'led' by a bunch of say-anything to-get-elected politicians. Regardless of how November goes, I weep for our future. (old line borrowed from Ferris Bueller so as not to take what follows below toooo seriously....)
The economy that made this nation great has almost been eradicated from the face of this Earth. If you don't believe that, you haven't been to Pittsburgh or Detroit recently. Our future as an economic power is firmly hinged upon the US dollar. And, the dollars' saving graces appear to be, currently and logistically, housed in the Bay Area and New York. Soon, perhaps Manhattan goes the way of the steel and auto industries...If one of these major banks "fail", batten down the hatches and reopen those long dormant bunkers, folks. We've got all the ingredients of a catastrophic, self-fulfilling "prophecy cake" laid out on the counter. It just needs to be mixed and put in the oven to make it happen. We're that close.
/// Sidenote for those of you that are investors: If Charlie Gasparino doesn't shut his G-D mouth (every time he opens it, he sells 300 more of his books and the markets find something else to worry about...) I am going to fly up to Manhattan and...well...I've heard people can get prosecuted for internet threats and he's just the type to track me down so that he can sell some more books and make another headline, so I'll let discretion be the better part of valor today... ///
While I'm not favoring either of the two candidates, check this scenario: Americans are so fed up with all the current administrations' b.s.--and I am not downplaying that at all--Obama gets elected in November because we all blindly and desperately yearn for change; and gasoline continues its meteoric rise (both are not only possible, but perhaps likely...), so real estate continues to languish. Then Obama starts slapping the already beleaguered American public with taxes they already can't afford, due to overspending and irresponsible fiscal policy (don't start with the "it will only effect the top 1% of incomes" argument. It doesn't ring true.) or removing current incentives, and we will be in a tailspin this generation, and perhaps the one before it, has never seen. I'm not kidding. The consumer accounts for 70% of our GDP. You think Ma and Pa Jones are still gonna be able to tap their home equity lines (WHAT home equity line???) to pay for the gas in their 9 year old Ford Explorer...nevermind to pay their taxes??? Start saving your pennies, friends. This doomsday scenario may ultimately not play out, but the likelihood is growing every single day. This is one nasty storm headed our way if something doesn't change soon...
Further, if McCain somehow gets in, I'm far from convinced that we would be saved. I am absolutely not touting him as our saviour. He's not. But, for me, he's the lesser of two evils. Obama is not the answer to what this country needs. Sorry, to my predominantly liberal Voxhood, but he's just not. All we know is that we want change, so anything opposite the Bush 'legacy' will solve this country's problems. And, thus, it appears I will once again vote from my silent soapbox, stationed firmly in Purgatory (and home to the hanging chad) for the candidate that I feel LEAST uneasy about...*sigh* Obama brings hope to the American public. I share that hope. I want this to be a better country. I've just never been one to employ hope as an effective strategy for anything...
If you are early for an appointment at your client's office, take note of your surroundings and NEVER decide to clean out your car while in the same parking lot as an abortion clinic...
...especially if your backseat has wire hangers in it.
Not a fun morning for me. At all.
As of this week, I've lived in the same general area for 20 years. Draw a 75 mile radius around where I live now, and I've called it home since the late 1980's. Ahhhh, South Florida....Paradise for a bazillion people; hell for a handful. Guess which side I weigh in on?
I'm not going to turn this into another rant, as the most recent themes of my posts have been ranting and negative. I believe it has alienated much of my already small hood. With few exceptions, I don't think anyone would really care if I vanished into just another Vox ghost on your member page anyway. But, I digress...
My first career as a Naval officer brought me to Florida initially. As a young and brash Navy pilot, Pensacola, home to the Navy's officer flight training school, was my first introduction to this state. I loved Florida then. I lived on Perdido Key, just a couple of miles from the Alabama state line. The area was beautiful, pristine and calm. And, Skynyrd was always on the radio! Florida was a Godsend to me then. Well, it was, at least through the spring and summer months. Then, I was introduced to the bizarre concept of "snowbirds". By October of my first year here, my once peaceful single lane highway that took me to and from Pensacola NAS became clogged and crowded with these "birds". They would descend upon all of my places in flocks...my grocery store, my eating establishments, my hangouts, my beach. They'd leave their feathers and dung all over my corner of this world and then they'd be gone, as quickly as they came. (though the brevity of their stay never seemed quite so short at the time...) Their migrations were nothing more than a curiousity at the time. It is a source of neverending consternation now, 20 years later.
After flight school, and a year or so abroad with my first squadron, I returned to Florida, stationed in Jacksonville NAS. I didn't like or dislike Jax. I was growing in my Navy career, flying missions in Gulf 1 and, with flight pay and hazardous duty pay, I was beginning to save some scratch for the first time in my life. I was too distracted to notice the comings and goings of my neighbors since I was doing a good bit of coming and going myself. But, Jax was a military city if their ever was one, with three major bases within 20 miles of each other. The snowbird effect was not as pronounced in Jacksonville as Pensacola, but the transient nature of its many military 'residents' added a different source of the migrating flocks that swarmed around my burgeoning life in this state.
I'll condense the next 10 years or so in a few choppy and perhaps non-sensical (to you) phrases:
Met my (now ex) wife
Left military to be with her more than 6 months of the year
My post military career grows like a sewer-fed Florida gator
Realized I didn't like my wife quite as much I first thought (the feelings were mutual)
A late marriage/separation 'error in judgement' turned myself into the ex's baby-daddy
Fatherhood becomes number one priority (no regrets--K is and always will be the best thing in my life)
I grow accidental and somewhat reluctant roots here in South Florida, to afford K some non traditional semblance of a family unit.
*sigh*
I've got a lot of history here in Florida now, and yet, like the many migratory birds that make it temporary residence (and the millions of people that curiously personify and mimic the avian species), I do not call it home. Perhaps few actually do and that is why there is no community pride or civic involvement here.
There are few, if any, organized adult athletic leagues. There is little support for our sports franchises, even those with some history. And, you want to talk about bandwagon fans??? Holy crap. As a lifelong Red Sox fan, I suffered through a lifetime of mediocre teams, crushing defeats and heartbreak seasons (Its obviously easy to be a fan with their recent success). But, I was always a fan and always supported them. Yes, even when they were in last place. Florida Marlins games are rarely more than half full, despite a good bit of young talent, a winning team and two World Series rings in their short existence. Why? Because there are so many like me, that live here and don't call it home. It may have taken me 20 years to figure out why I don't like living here, and the answer was simple....This just isn't home. The word itself connotes comfort, contentment, and peace. I'm sure I'm the cause of my own discontent, but nevertheless, I possess none of these here, and likely never will. Boston is home...even if I am relegated to living out the rest of my life here in the Swamp, also known as God's Waiting Room.
Some of you may say, "So quit yer bitchin and change it!" This does not fall on deaf ears. I am usually the first person to stand up and tell people to change their life if they don't like it. It won't change by itself, and I am not one of those people that "allows things to happen". I make it happen, or it doesn't happen...period. Maybe I am no different than the previously mentioned and forsaken snowbirds. I am, perhaps, the beautifully colored bird that dreams of flying away, never realizing that its wings have been clipped and there is little possibility of doing so. I am, to a great extent, mired in the Everglade-muck marsh that is the circumstances of my life. I can't leave my clientele, who have depended on me for 15 years now. Morever, I simply can't leave my K. My devotion to both, but predominantly to K, is beyond question.
I'm really not sure where I'm going with this post now. I started this post wanting to reflect upon my own personal growth over 20 years...Having become a much more accepting, unselfish, tolerant, and giving human over 2 decades...I am a great partner in the law firm of life: Deus, Pater, Populi and Greenberg, LLC. haha Now? Pfft. *shaking head* Well...
In short, I know there are indeed many worse places to have planted some accidental roots. And, the (crab)grass is always greener in Colorado. (right?!) These roots may ultimately be nothing more than some deep seeded weeds that happened to have sprouted a couple of beautiful blooms from their unremarkable stems over 20 years. Only time will tell if these unique and gorgeous flowers will thrive here and are indeed worth the current sacrifice, but, it sure feels like it is. (I am referring metaphorically to K and my career, the two positives that keep me here.) The hot Florida sun shines down on them every day, and brings them life that reflects back upon me. That, is the sole reason behind my reluctant smile...
Perhaps another 20 years in the Swamp won't be so bad after all...
