Tammy Faye

Growing up in Charlotte in the early 80s, my teenage channel-surfing would occasionally land me on the PTL Club program. Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker were over the top, larger than life. I found myself mesmerized (Messnerized?) by their cheesy show. When it happened that the PTL was ripping people off, though, I wasn’t the least bit sorry to see Jim Bakker go to jail.

I thought that would be the last I’d hear of the Bakkers but Tammy Faye remarried, becoming Tammy Faye Messner and moving on with her life. In her post-Bakker activities I wound up having far more respect for her than I’d ever imagined I would. I was sorry to learn that Tammy Faye lost her long battle with cancer Friday at the age of 65.
Continue reading →

Home From Pennsylvania

I arrived home at 11:45 last night. The trip took ten hours, rather than the seven I’d hoped. Traffic south of DC was, as expected, stop and go all the way to Stafford county. I spent the majority of the trip loudly singing along with my Barenaked Ladies MP3s.

I took a pit stop at Fredericksburg, where Chris joined me for dinner (or more correctly, talked as I ate dinner). It was good putting a face with a name, though I was sorry the driving forbid me from enjoying a tasty malt beverage during my visit.

I’m thinking I’ll skip the driving to Annapolis for this upcoming week. Or dust off my flight training books and get serious about becoming a pilot. The driving wasn’t so hard on the driver as it was for the driver’s car.

I was also invited to visit the Naylors at the lakehouse, but it was 11 by the time I drove by. The whole family will head over there tomorrow and enjoy the day. We don’t plan to put the boat in the water, though, as the next few weeks will be very busy for us and the interwoven weekends are too valuable to spend them packing, unpacking, rigging and unrigging.

Last Day In Amish Land

I’m headed back to NC sometime this morning. It’s been interesting being here. Almost like going to another country.

I wish I’d had some more time here to look around, because the countryside is beautiful. There are lots of cornfields on either side of the highway, and the corn is tall. Coming back from the customer site yesterday Chet and I passed by our first (and only) horse and buggy. Later, we walked into Applebee’s behind a gaggle of Mennonite girls, all dressed in pastel-colored full-length dresses. I don’t see that everyday.

I hope to swing by the Harley Davidson plant on the way home and perhaps get a tour. Then its a seven hour drive back to NC (if traffic behaves). I do the whole thing over again Monday for another three days in Annapolis. It will be good to be home today, even if its a short while.

Whad’ya Do That For, Mister?!

I was waiting for my coworker, Chet, to meet me in the hotel lobby so we could grab dinner at the neighboring restaurant. He arrived just as the elevator door opened to reveal a large family: parents about my age and four kids, maybe 10 years old and younger.

“Are you going down?” I asked.

“Yes, we are,” the mother replied, somewhat reluctantly.

“Good,” I answered cheerfully, “so are we.” Chet and I stepped into the elevator.
Continue reading →

Cheap Thoughts: Acoustics

I have good hearing. I guess I come by it naturally, since my mom (at least) has good hearing, too. One of the reasons I never snuck out of the house as a kid like my brothers (and sister, so far as I know) did was knowledge of my mom’s hawk-like hearing. Then again, my hearing could also be a product of my former employment, once as a recording engineer and again as a code-copier in the Navy.

Yesterday, I commented to my office mate how the air conditioning sounded like one of those annoying cars with a thumping bass amplifier. I could hear the blower units above my head resonating, producing a deep bass beat frequency. “Wow, you must have sensitive ears,” he commented. Apparently he didn’t hear it as well as I (and I wished I didn’t!)
Continue reading →

In Ephrata: Amish Paradise

I just arrived in Ephrata, Pennsylvania: the heart of Amish country. In honor of that and Weird Al coming to Raleigh, its appropriate that I bust it (fool):

Amish Paradise
Weird Al Yankovic

As I walk through the valley where I harvest my grain
I take a look at my wife and realize she’s very plain
But that’s just perfect for an Amish like me
You know, I shun fancy things like electricity
At 4:30 in the morning I’m milkin’ cows
Jebediah feeds the chickens and Jacob plows… fool
And I’ve been milkin’ and plowin’ so long that
Even Ezekiel thinks that my mind is gone
I’m a man of the land, I’m into discipline
Got a Bible in my hand and a beard on my chin
But if I finish all of my chores and you finish thine
Then tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 1699
Continue reading →

Money And Politics

Having just read how North Carolina’s “Bottle Bill” that would put a refundable deposit on canned or bottled drinks was shelved due to intense corporate lobbying in spite of its popularity with the public, I’m brought back to my idea of making some political television and radio advertising free.

Corporate interests are calling the shots in today’s political landscape. Legislators fear the stink that corporations might raise should these corporations not get their way.

Who can blame them? When it comes to politics, money talks. Money means speech. If a bill’s opponent has a large bank account, that opponent is formidable. Joe Public doesn’t stand a chance of receiving the same attention from his representative in the face of such resources. Ergo, Joe Public’s interests do not matter in the politician’s mind.

Somehow, money needs to be removed from the equation if our governments are ever going to serve the needs of their citizens and not just their corporate “citizens.” How can this playing field be effectively leveled? Is the dubious Santa Clara vs. The Southern Pacific Railroad case to blame for this mess?