Just popped in to my blog to give a shout out to all my blog pals. I hope everyone in the UK and other parts of Europe are having a good evening, and that my fellow Americans and my "neighbour" in Canada, are having a good afternoon.
Well, managed to get through four hours of talking...barely. At two hours I was starting to struggle, at three hours I began coughing, by four hours I was basically in abject misery. Damn, telemarketing's a b_itch when one has a sore throat and rattily chest. (Is rattily even a word? Don't think so--hey, I just made a new word! Far-out.) 
So, just put a frozen pepperoni pizza in the overn, and then I have to shower and change, lace on my trusty jameson boots, turn up the corner from the Presbyterian church, and make the hike to go and vote. I decided to try and walk there..but likely will take a cab back. As some of you know, I've been hemming and hawing for months over whether to bother voting or not.
You see, really, I only like Joe Biden. As much as I like the man--I don't think Obama will be a strong president--he seems to be a good man, just very...wishy-washy, and certainly as much as I actually do like McCain (as much as I can like any republican) as a person, he has too often proved himself to be a brown-noser. (That's the less-polite American term for a jobsworth) And don't get me started on Palin! Yikes! Scary stuff--but sadly too typical of the people in this country...which is why I'd sell my soul to become a citizen of some other country...to save myself the embarrasment of admitting I'm a Yank.
I did have my eye on a woman named White for mayor, but I didn't like the way she handled a family crisis that was made public--no problem with the crisis, you can't usually help what a spouse does when you're not around--but, in the aftermath...well, if she can't deal with the press and public scrutiny while campagning, what's she going to do if a crisis develops while she's in office. Mind you, that leaves only the choices for mayor of Jack Diamond---a two faced hypocritical liar (and yes, I have proof of that)--a typical republican who says something to someone, then either will deny it or conveniently forget it later. And then there's yet another republican, "Bud" Taylor--a mayor whose nickname sounds like a brand of beer, and who is yet another brown-noser and a party line toer.
Problem with my city, Glens Falls is, they want it to be modern and quaint at the same time. They want it to attract tourists--much as Saratoga Springs does now, with their quaint shops, trendy chain stores, art galleries and charming cafes up and down Broadway--but, the people who run Glens Falls, don't want to sit down and really think about what they're doing. They also really don't seem keen on asking any of the natives what they want, either...or at least, none of the working class natives. The wealthy-trendy, they LOVE to hear from--'cos, basically, that's who they want to come to the city.
But, the blokes and broads who run Glens Falls, don't live in 2008. They live in 1960. The run this city more like a small town than an actual city. And, unlike Saratoga Springs, which has a two century old history of being the playground of the posh, Glens Falls was--and still is to some extent, a mill town. A blue collar, working class town. To try to turn Glens Falls into another Saratoga, is like trying to compare an apple to a kiwi.
The changes in this city are very haphazard, and at no time is any real consideration given to the safety of pedestrians outside of the two-block downtown, and nothing is done to make the city safer, or to appear nicer, outside that two block area. People are allowed to not mow their lawns, or shovel their walks, some walkways in the city are so bad, that the concrete slabs are heaved as much as 6 inches from the ground, sticking up in the air. The city does not maintain ANY crosswalks outside of downtown, except for churches and schools. There are NO pay phones downtown. If there is an emergency at night, and you are alone without a mobile phone--you're basically screwed.
And what happens when people complain? The city makes excuses...or just shrugs and says, "Meh, that's just the way it is, and always has been, if you don't like it here, why don't you move?" That's pretty much what a city worker once told me, when I rang up to complain about the horrid state of the city's sidewalks one winter (so bad, that one had to walk out on the road in traffic, in order to walk anywhere at all).
So, you see? There's really not much point in voting for a mayor, because, quite frankly, the deceased mayor (whom died this summer) could probably do just as good a job, lying cold in his grave, as any live mayor can, in this city.
You know, I often wonder, if these republicans are so terrified of things like change and common sense, why do they even bother running for office? Cushy job, good benefits, prestige...certainly not to actually make life better for people, not in this city anyway.
So, it really doesn't matter whom I pull that lever for, does it? It'll just be business as usual (as in as usual back in 1960), no matter whom I vote for.
