???????

The area I live in seems to get an inordinate amount of power outages. I'm not really sure why. It kinda pisses me off though.

They let you drive?

One of the biggest rites of passage for all teenagers is obtaining a driver's license. Yet there is no law in effect anywhere in our country that makes it a right for you to have a driver's license. In fact, it is my belief that far too many people have a license in part due to the fact that it is far too easy to obtain said license. Most people who read this post will not agree and some while get downright angry. I'm warning you now. Are you interested in cutting down on traffic, pollution and potentially fatal accidents? Let me share with you a few ideas that just might help. First, raise the minimum age for a license. You have to be 18 to vote, you should have to be 18 to drive. Second, set a maximum age for a driver's license. I think more people would have a problem with a maximum age limit than a minimum one. It's hard to say what that max age should be but unfortunately it is an inexorable fact of life that as we grow older our faculties and reaction times diminish. If you have trouble walking unassisted or tremble or just plain do things slowly, I'm sorry but you should not be behind the wheel of a car.
Perhaps the best step to take though is to have everyone--EVERYONE--re-test for their driver's license at most every 10 years. I just lost 99% of you, didn't I? I admit even I would be a little nervous about having to retest for my license. But that mostly stems from the fact that it has been 20 years since I had to. I likely don't even remember 3/4th of the information I had to remember for my test. And I'm sure many laws have changed without my knowledge. Add to that the fact that I moved to a new state and didn't have to test either. Now, I think I pretty well represent the status quo here in the good old U.S. of A. If so, that means we have a whole lot of potentially unknowledgeable drivers out there. On top of that we have many drivers with diminishing reaction times. Then finally, we have the teenagers. We've all been there. How much attention did you pay to the road as opposed to your friends or the radio when you were 16? I know there is no chance in hell that this would ever happen. Hell, the automobile and oil lobbies in Washington would never allow it, much less the average U.S. citizen. But that doesn't mean it's not a good idea anyways.

Election Year Blues

Is anyone else sick of our presidential candidates yet? I'm sure most of you are. The problem is that most of their campaigns seem to have started shortly after the last one ended. Can't we pass a law that says no one can start campaigning until January of the year in which the election is held? That's plenty of time for these blowhards to spout their political views and wage personal attacks. If I want to hear people being insulted, I'll watch American Idol, thank you very much. While on this subject let me encourage anyone out there who is uninformed about the issues or individuals in this race not to vote. Yes, you read that right, if you don't know anything about the candidate or their platforms, please do NOT vote. Of course I realize it is your right as a (legal) U.S. citizen. But honestly, to vote just because you can is irresponsible. I mean, you have the right to bear arms as well but it doesn't mean you should. Does being informed necessarily mean you will vote for the "right" person? No. And not just because there is no "right" person (that being a subjective idea). But being uniformed sure will make you more likely to vote for the wrong person. There IS such thing as a wrong person (anyone remember Ross Perot?). So please, if you don't know what the hell is going on or don't know Obama from Huckabee find something else to do on election day. Maybe you could watch American Idol...(not that I condone that either).

Still Kicking

Not that it's likely anyone has been paying attention, but...I'm back. Where have I been you may ask? If you even are checking this blog anymore. There are a number of factors I could cite. Just suffice it to say it all boils down to laziness and short attention span. So, now I am back and ready to devote myself all out to making this the best blog I can, right? Not exactly. But if you are like me and only occasionally check your e-mail or favorite websites, then this blog is officially for you. I promise to update my blogs once in awhile and try to freshen things up if you promise to check in once in awhile. So, here we go. A new year, a new start. God help us all.