When you look around certain areas,

you can practically see a house for sale

on every street.

For me I am glad that we are not trying

to sell our house right now, as it probably

would not be easy.

I heard that even some of those nice

Martha Stewart homes over in Cary, NC

are having trouble selling.

People are just not sure of what the treu

value of real estate is these days.

People can’t get a mortgage because

nobody is lending money (what did

the banks do with all that rescue money).

Also, people who are self-employed,

which is alot of us in this state, have to

jump through extra hoops with the bank

these days. Far more than a few years

ago.

You would think now that things are

stabilizing in the gov’t that all this

would be getting better and improving.

It is almost as in North Carolina is

lagging behind the rest of the country.

The only place we are not lagging behind

is South Carolina, as their unemployment

is worth than ours.  That in itself is not

a good fact, becuase the economies of

NC and SC tend to run hand in hand as

a general rule.

I am wondering what the gov’t is planning

to do next, specifically to help the South

out of its lull.

into the Raleigh airport. 

It was late at night as we had had plane

delays. 

Man, I was hungry for some good old

North Carolina food. 

So after we got a little close to home

we pulled into a Burger King.

You would not believe it.

We ordered up a bunch of hamburgers

from the car. 

Not only were they not hardly warm,

but the checker had this real limp hand

and just placed the change on the counter

like she couldn’t be bothered saying

thanks for giving me a job or anything.

Rotten food.

Rotten service.

Nothing like a cold hamberger late at

night to help you appreciate home cooking.

team from Duke is all over the national news.

That school likes to keep their nose clean

and really fly under the radar, unless it

happens to be basketball season or something.

I can just imagine all the parents who are

paying all this big money tuition cringing in

their boots as they see their children’s college

on the national news, and all the bad things

that the reporters are saying about some of

the students.

Duke is a beautiful campus, and they have

quite a nice temperament there I have to

say.

There is a very nice botanic garden that I

enjoy walking in when I’m in the RDU area.

Very relaxing.

It is a shame of what all has been happening

in the press.

I do not think it will discourage any kids

from wanting to attend there, but if I were

their parent I would be thinking twice

about paying so much money for a school

that has become the fodder of the tabliod

press.

things in my ever so routine boring way.

That’s just how I am.

Always have been.

There’s this guy named Kevin somebody that

my friend has started taking her taxes to.

He’s over in Apex, NC.

I can’t imagine why anyone would be worth

driving that far to see, but she said it is only

once a year or so, and that he’s really good.

She has been going to him for a couple

years now.

So I am thinking about this.  When you

want things done right you need to consult

a specialist, is what my friend says.

on a string of hounds from my granddaddy’s

side of the family.

I think he’s like 7th generation or something.

Mostly all he does is sleep and he doesn’t

bother anybody, even if a truck goes by in

front of the house.

Lately he’s been scratching his ear something

terrible. Makes sense that he might have an

infection in the ear, since his shaggy ears hang

over the ear itself, and since it’s so humid

here.  Something could have gotten into his

ear and infected in.

We tried to get a hold of the vet but he’s

gone fishing this afternoon.  Imagine that.

So, hopefully it can wait til tomorrow.

coast for lunch.

Haven’t done that in a while.

When we had a niece in school in Wilmington

we used to get over there in that direction more

often.

We also used to stop by an pick up a lamb

roast for Easter from this really nice family

over thata way, but haven’t done that recently

either.  Just a bunch of lazy bums, we are.

I used to love the blue crab at a little place

over near theWright Brothers museum. 

If you have been to the Wright Brothers site,

you really should go.

The fact that they started out just with their

little bike shop is pretty amazing.  Way back

then bicycles were an oddity in themselves. 

You would think they would have been

satisfied with that.  The fact that they actually

thought they could learn to fly, at a time in

the world when nobody had really done it

just boggles my mind.

It is pretty inspirational to see Kitty Hawk

and the little hill that they actually took off

from.  It’s a piece of history that I think

anyone with the slightest interest in aviation

or science should see.  Even anyone not

interested in those  things should go— it is

such an inspirational story of American

motivation and ingenuity.   

is a pretty close approximation to the original.

Un-official Un-KFC Un-Coleslaw:

One finely chopped cabbage
1/4 C shredded
1/3 C brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 C of milk
1/2 C of mayo or Miracle Whip
1/4 C of buttermilk, if you have it
1 1/2 T of white or cider vinegar
2 1/2 T of lemon juice.

This recipe also works of you use the chopped

up cabbage from the grocery store.

Mix it all together or use a food processor.

Mix well.

Cover it and cool in refrigerator for 2 hours

or more before serving.

but on the other hand, they never hesitate to

stick their noses into our business.

This is just one example, and it is turning to

a big food fight in the cafeteria of life.

Everyone here is opposed to a new coal

plant on Great Pee Dee River. 

We figure we will get the smoke even if

we are some distance away.

They are saying that it will emit mercury,

nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide, particulates,

and carbon dioxide.

I am really upset about this myself, as I

have enough health problems w

someone endangering my health.
 
It doesn’t even work to meet energy needs,

as I understand it.

Not energy efficient.

ithout

Not renewable clean energy. 

Just because we live in the Carolinas people

think we are backwards and that anyone

can do anything they want without consulting

the people.

The coal doesn’t even come from in-state.
 
If they know what is good for them Santee

Cooper had better abandon these plans for

constructing a plant, otherwise they are in

for a very big fight on their hands.  Once

the state legislature gets a whiff of this, they

are going to know that their political seats

are on the line.  If they support this, they

will for sure be voted out come the next

election, so they had better halt the

construction of this plant.

Just when you think things couldn’t get

any more ridiculous down here, they

come up with an idea like this.

warm, I can’t get going.

Feel one single limp noodle.

When the weather is cool, I do okay,

but as soon as we start getting some

humidity in the air, my ambition departs.

You would think that I have lived here

long enough to have adjusted, but it’s

not that. 

It’s just how moisture in the air affects me.

The one thing I did do didn’t work out. 

Went to the ATM, and the ATM said

it was kaputt, so then I went on into

the bank and said it looked like the

ATM was broken.  The teller said she

could check my balance, which

was fine.  But the ATM kept saying

I couldn’t withdraw.  That took a

good while to get straightened out,

but I did have a nice chat with all

my friends at the bank.

Yesterday my plan was to head out to the

store but I was somewhat concerned that

I didn’t have enough gas.

Didn’t want to risk running out of gas.

A guy in the neighborhood came over looking

for work.  Said he wants to move to Florida

(oh pa-leeze).  It may be cheaper in FL, but

when you have to pay for air conditioning

almost all year, I don’t think it really is cheaper. 

Besides that tourism is down and everyone

there is getting laid off from what I hear.

Even at Disney. 

So today I still need to do all the things from

past days, but I just don’t feel like it at all. 

Can’t seem to get started.  

Not to mention that a headache has been

plagueing me and Advil isn’t touching it.

I was going to work on the screen door,

n I figured that it would take all day to

fix since that jerk kid nextdoor ripped it

so hard, but turned out to be easy.

Pretty soon I will either have to get to work

or starve.  Need to cook some food.   

I am pretty much the least motivated when

I should be being the most motivated. 

I have time to ponder many great thoughts. 

This is one of them.

Tell me if you agree or disagree.

I’ll tell you in advance, no use disagreeing, because you are wrong. Ha!

More and more I am convinced that strong character and strong values

from a strong family are the source of power and strength for our

country. 

These are something like our greatest asset when you think about it.

Just look at all the soldiers at Fort Bragg.  They didn’t get to where

they are because of being lazy.

Now, we all know, that there is the occasional soldier who was

“encouraged” to go into the military by a friendly judge or justice

of the peace after being picked up for some minor crime.  But I

am talking about the majority. 

Basically the strength of the churches directly influences the strength of

the community.  I can see this as a perfect correlation.