Not About Politics

Every year is unique and there's always a lot of things that happened in a specific year and 2017 is no exception to that.  After my first couple posts I had someone tell me they would read my blogs unless they had to do with politics.  I could tell you that this would be a "safe place", but I really don't believe in that.  From time to time I will probably go on the fringe of politics, without talking about politics

They say that the two things you shouldn't talk about at work is religion and politics.  I'm not very interested in talking about religion but since I majored in political science, politics has always been one of my favorite subjects.  But this post is not about politics, it's about people.

People are different and they have different views on everything from Star Wars and Harry Potter to the Kardashian's and going out to eat.  I think what makes life interesting is having a dialogue and finding out why people think the way they do and act the way they do.  You may still scratch your head after a discussion with someone who has a different view, but at least you have some information that you didn't have before.

This post isn't about politics, but the person who was voted "the most admired man in the USA", was former President Obama.  In his farewell speech earlier this year he talked about how important it is to go "outside your bubble."  So in 2018, go outside your bubble a little bit, it won't hurt you.

Happy New Year!

Traveling The Day After Christmas

If you have a choice of traveling on the road on December 26th you should reconsider.  Some people know this and if you didn't, you now do.  We knew there would be some traffic on our six hour drive close to Richmond VA., on our way to South Carolina, but we didn't realize it would take an extra four hours.

The first clue was towards the end of the NJ Turnpike which was backed up to go over the Delaware Memorial Bridge.  It looked like a mass exodus, which it may have been.  Not only were there people on the way home from the holidays but there were people going on vacation.

When we finally arrived at the hotel at 11 pm I was still surprised to find people in the lobby checking in and the next morning I realized there were people who checked in after us.  Keep in mind in the future that Dec. 27th is a much better day to travel on the road.

IT'S SNOWING IN NEW JERSEY!

I just saw the picture and the white stuff is on the ground in that blue state we used to live in.  I want to go grab my shovel right now.  We had two shovels in New Jersey and I couldn't get rid of both of them, so I brought one to South Carolina just in case.  If it snows I'm going to be one of the only ones with a shovel.

I had many people comment that I was leaving New Jersey to get away from the cold and snow, but I love snow.  As a kid I used to sit in front of a large window and watch the snow fall.  It was so peaceful and all the flakes were different and they blew in all different directions.  I still like watching the snow fall, but now I'll have to travel north to see it happen because the odds are not in favor of seeing much down here.

Shoveling was great too.  First of all it's good exercise, maybe not the blizzard type snow, but most snowfalls.  Secondly, except for the snowblowers noise it's always peaceful when you're out shoveling and everything is white.  I feel I should be holding my shovel while I do this.  I'll just put on my very warm NY Giant winter hat instead.  Thirdly, I made a fair amount of money shoveling in the past and maybe in the future?

For those of you in the snow, enjoy it-for me.

Why Write A Blog?

I like to write is the simplest answer.  I've written newsletters and poems and songs and letters to the editor and I even wrote an autobiography in 2001 which I just printed up and gave out to some of my,  family.  I've also been working on writing a political book since the beginning of the year, but don't tell anyone.

The blog is also a way for a few people to keep in touch and maybe I can even make them chuckle or smile a little bit.(see it worked)  I've always lived in New Jersey so moving to South Carolina is a very big change so I'm going to be doing some things I've never done before or have rarely done, or don't like doing.(I watched some MSNBC last night)

I've always been doing a lot of driving and at the same time a lot of thinking about a bunch of things so this way I can actually put them down on paper(the computer) and bore anyone who reads this or even get a laugh out of them.  You never know what I'll write unless you check out this blog on a somewhat regular basis.(okay, I've got a long way to go before I promote like the President)

GRITS

Do you have to eat grits to be a "real" southerner? I doubt it, but what is grits really?  My only recollection of grits was from the movie, "My Cousin Vinny" and they didn't look real good on that breakfast plate.  I thought it looked like pancakes with some kind of liquid which was not syrup, but I may be mistaken.

The week before re-locating to South Carolina from New Jersey my son took me to a Southern Barbecue place and one of the sides was "grits."  I had a couple bites, but it looked more like rice and I'm not sure I can describe what they tasted like.  I didn't finish them, but my son ate the whole thing, maybe he should be the one re-locating down south.

I'm ready for the challenge and someday soon I will come face to face with grits again and maybe things will end differently, but maybe not.  Grits may not be for everyone, but I'll give it another shot.  And if I don't like them, there's always Schlumpia.(see Uncle Larry's Schlumpia.com for further explanation)