Quiet, Too Quiet, and Politicians Who Should Be

So I must say thanks to all who commented on my last post. Very interesting I thought. Now I have a few snippets of thought and observations.

First, it's funny how tastes change. I used to get all excited looking at sports cars and racing, as far back as I could remember. So much so that I actually raced cars and rebuilt them, too. I'm really glad I did it, but I specialized in vintage racing, so even with all the safety equipment installed, it wasn't that safe.

Well, tonight I was with Lost at the bookstore, and saw an issue of Octane Magazine from England. It had my all time favorite race car, a Ferrari 250 GTO on the cover. I got all the usual sensations: shortness of breath, tingling hands, and even could almost smell and hear the one I raced several times. I couldn't wait to leaf through the issue and devour all there was.

I leafed through, but about halfway I read a column I always enjoy, and it made me think. The short version is Niki Lauda had a huge almost fatal accident 30 years ago at Nurburgring Germany. He almost burned to death, and fortunately another two drivers stopped and one actually risked his life and got Niki out. He was quoted as saying he would have gotten Niki out or died trying, and his hands were so burned he basically ended his career.

It was at that moment I realized I have no passion to own or drive a vintage car again. It was risky, and I had a few accidents, but always went home with only bruises. Yes, it was fun driving multimillion dollar cars that weren't mine, and I had many great times. But I just have no desire to be involved anymore. Or even follow it. Funny how that works sometimes.

On to less thoughtful topics. I'm back on my bike again so I can lose the weight I've been slowly gaining. So keep it tuned here. Believe it or not, I'm about 175-180 lbs at 5'11". I should be about 169. At least I have all winter to work on eating better and staying fit.

Last Tuesday I rode 50 miles with my riding buddy from work, and she was thrilled because she had never ridden more than 50 miles before. Tomorrow we're going to fredericksburg to ride in the hills. Truth be told, I was hurting for a few days afterwards. Almost felt like my quads were bruised. How quickly we fall.

Today I rode the same route but it was much windier, and about 5 miles from the end I bonked. Big time. I just tried to keep an even pace and finally got to my car. On the way home I was enjoying the election signs all over. And here we go into the next topic I aim the crosshairs at.

First, some humor. A local sign says to elect some guy named Fleece. Think about it. Fleece. Like I'll have any confidence in him. Then I was looking at my hometown paper online. Not so long ago my father was one of the 9 city council members called Aldermen. He ran twice before being elected the third time. (It's a two year term.) When he went for reelection, a big mouthed moron beat him. People told my dad they didn't see his name in the paper enough, so he must not have been doing anything.

If they said he never helped them, he asked if they called him. No. Wrote a letter? No. Email? Uhh, no. Stopped him in the street? Nope. You get the idea. My father kept a log of every issue brought to his attention. In two years he had over 600 issues come up. As he said, each issue was at least a phone call to the proper department and then a return call to the constituent. I used to love how people would kind of slump down when they heard that.

Once the people of the neighborhood got fed up with the idiot who replaced my father, they asked me if he was going to run again. I told him his quote. "Screw them, they don't want me, I don't want this damn city." With that he and my mom sold the house and moved to Hilton Head, SC. And they're much happier.

The idiot is still in office, as no one ran against him the last two times. Two days ago his wife and him were front page news as she was arrested for threatening another woman who supposedly is having an affair with the idiot. Great choice the citizens of Kingston, NY made there.

I guess I get upset because I saw how much work my dad put into a part time elected position and the fact he actually wanted to make the city a better place. It just goes to show how if you do a good job in politics it gets you out of office, if you just get all kinds of press, no matter what kind, you're good to go. It's a sad state of affars this country is in when that's the case. Jayne Mansfield used to say "There's no such thing as bad publicity", and I think she'd be surprised just how true her quote is outside of showbiz 50 years later.