A WORD ABOUT GRANDPARENTING

As awesome as being a dad has been, being a grandpa is as fun and challenging. Tonight was a especially so. Upon my arrival from a long week at work (boy, I love saying that after having not to say it for six months), I was assigned a pizza and a movie pick-up. Papa Murphy's was easy, The movie was a little more challenging. It was suggested (by Grandma) that The Little Mermaid be a choice and something else. I got a Little Mermaid, and chose a Curious George. It turns out both were good choices.

Our little one was a constant barrage of questions while watching the mermaids. She had to make sure that they had no feet and was uncertain as to the fate of a killed mermaid mom. While she was able to follow the movie, to a point, these questions continued to haunt her. As the movie progressed, it became a little too scary and Curious George replaced the mermaids in a flash. Fewer questions arose here and homemade chocolate chip cookies were shared and sleepiness began arriving. I just wish it had been from our little one. Another well-spent night with our precious one.

MORE POST ELECTION OBSERVATIONS

What a deference a week makes, well, actually, not even a week. Our state dictator, Diamond Jim Doyle, after having over forty-five Wisconsin communities vote to not fund a sales tax to pay for a train that was being forced on them had his Secretary of Transportation release a statement to the effect of stating that no more money or time is to be spent on the train until further notice. This came on Friday. And these were communities that would have been "served" by this boondoggle. Then, as is Doyle's modus operandi, a weekend press release is delivered and he has relinquished is control over all the choo-choo decisions, after having approved, all on his own, the spending of $97million the state does not have. He is letting "the next gubernatorial administration" decide how to proceed with the project. Doyle has never made me happier than by handing this over to Governor-elect Walker who vowed to stop this project in its tracks (pun intended).

The voters spoke, loudly, and for once, a dictatorial government listened. God bless America!

A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT THE ELECTION

It was another great day to be an American citizen yesterday. A major national election was held and another complete turnaround in governance was accomplished without firing a shot or overrunning a capitol. It is the essence of this representative republic (this is NOT a democracy).

This being said, elections themselves are civil, organized, well run (even considering fraud) and downright boring. It is the campaigns that are messy. These are allowed to have lies spread and can get utterly mean. These thirty-second radio and television advertisements may or may not be slick, depending upon the candidate's funds and target audience. The voter is ultimately on his own to ascertain the truth. Luckily, the internet makes this task easier, but here, too, there is inherent falsehoods to mire through.

Anyway, the results were, as is the case in all elections, mixed. Here in Wisconsin, it is a good day for conservatism, though some did not win, most did. The proof will be in the governing pudding, that is, will the conservatives in now back in charge in Wisconsin govern or dictate.

One more thing. On the literal eve of voting day, the lame duck Governor and the lame federal administration entered into an agreement to spend $810,000,000.00 neither entity has on a train on which neither has been officially authorized to move for a population that does not want it. This is what I see as dictating, not governing. the theory is that "if we build it, they will come". We live in the twenty-first century, not the nineteenth. Besides, I'm still waiting for the jet pack I was promised in the 1950's!