What I Did On My Summer Vacation
Back finally from all of my mini-vacations. (Hence the lack of blogging over the past three weeks.)
A short trip to the mountains of North Carolina to pick up my daughter from camp, along with a bike ride to the top of Mt. Mitchell (Yeah, I'm a stud!), then a trip to Oregon to visit my family. Took my oldest daughter to college in Ohio (one down, two to go) where we were almost killed when our rented SUV almost overturned on the Pennsylvania Turnpike (bad SUVs!) Did a Century (that's 100 miles) on my bike for my birthday weekend (as I move past the half-way mark to my own personal century.) Then to Minnesota to visit the inlaws.
Observations:
Met a lot of people who really don't like Bush -- but they also don't like Kerry, so they'll vote for Bush because he's a strong leader. (That's probably what people said about the head lemming.)
I saw not one single Bush sign in rural, conservative Ohio where I dropped my daughter off at college. I'm sure they'll vote for him, but the lack of signs may speak to lack of enthusiasm (he said hopefully).
While visiting my family in Oregon, someone made the mistake of asking me about my blog and I spent the next half-hour spewing forth about the state of occupational safety in this country and how employers get away with killing workers in trenches knowing full well that they need to be shored. My cousin's partner, who is a very well-informed person, remarked how odd is was that he knew a lot more about bride-burning in India than trench killings in his own country.
I stopped at a convenience store deep in the mountains of North Carolina where a guy in overalls at the counter asked "Who owns that mini-van out there." (That would be the one with the Maryland license plate and "Kerry" sticker on it.) "Uh, it's mine," I said. "Oh, well I sure hope he makes it."
By the way, for my birthday present, I'm asking for the thing I asked for last year: GET GEORGE BUSH OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE.
Thank you.
