Noise and American Pride, All Rolled into One Show

Front Porch Friends,

I'm sorry I was not on my porch this weekend. I was inside hovering, waiting for the bombs to land. Did you hear all the noise from the Air Show? Why, my poor fish were shivering from all the vibrations of those gigantic planes bellowing overhead.

Can you imagine what it must have been like for the poor people during World War II when those bombers were flying overhead? Why, they must have thought the world was coming to an end. I guess it did for some of them.

The Air Show is really a fun thing to do in Peachtree City. Seeing all those men in uniform and listening to them as their pride spills over and out about their flying machines and our country just brings tear glistens to my eyes. I also like to see all the stunts and the cheers from the folks on the ground.

Now, if I could just stop the noise.

Have a good day, my friends. It's gotta get better-- I hear the stock market is feeling a bit better today after it tried its suicide run last week.

Miss Etta

Casting My Vote

Well, girlfriends, I went to vote yesterday. First time I've done
anything early in a long, long time. They were kinda' busy there, and
when I commented to one of the gals who works there about the brisk
business they were doing, she said it wasn't nearly as busy as usual.
It was raining yesterday, and I guess hubbie and I are 2 people who
know with absolute certainty that we aren't going to melt. Plus it
actually makes my hair look better when I'm out in the rain.

Let me tell you: they had the cutest pens there - you know, writing
pens - ready for us to fill out the form. Somebody (perhaps in the
days before they got so busy) had taped colorful fall leaves to the
pens. Not only will the pens likely stay there, saving us taxpayers
some money, but they were just adorable. So much more fun to write
with than plain ole' unadorned stick pens. You should've seen it: all
those leaves blowing in the wind as people wrote.

Anyway, we went from that room to the room with the voting booths, and
once again, we were greeted in a friendly, smiling manner and we
didn't have to wait in line. Walked right up to a booth, popped that
yellow card in, and voted. Quick and easy. Felt good to have it done.

The only thing that frustrated me about the whole process is that at
the end of the ballot where there are all those long, indecipherable
questions, there were only options for "yes" and "no". Me, I wanted to
be able to vote "HELL NO".

Have y'all voted yet?

Miz Vul

Houses, Houses Everywhere Today

Today, at the Barack Obama concert/rally/voter registration drive held
on the campus of Ohio State University, Bruce Springsteen told the
crowd: "Despite the terrible erosion to our standing in the world, we
remain for many people a house of dreams, and 1,000 George Bushes and
1,000 Dick Cheneys will never be able to tear that house down."

Quite interesting to read that tired, old, rearview mirror statement
while watching an Extreme Home Makeover show in which an entire
community - also in Ohio - came together to rebuild a house for the
Jason Thomas family. Before the show, the Thomas house was in such a
dismal condition that it barely provided shelter for the family. After
this show, it was a house of strength, just like its owners and
inhabitants.

And why this particular family? Because on 9/11/2001, Jason Thomas was
a Marine who worked long and hard (and has the melted boots to prove
it) to extract people who landed beneath tons and tons of building
that had once been the Twin Towers. Two of the men who were extracted
by Thomas were interviewed on the show. As best I remember, one man
was trapped for 13 hours, the other for 22 hours. Both men thanked
Thomas and all the other heroes who were ordinary citizens before that
day.

Jason Thomas is a man who keeps his love of country no secret. The man
flat out loves this country. He does.

The show brought many tears. The family cried, of course, when they
first saw the house. Crew members cried when local Marine recruiters
presented them with flags (one American, one Marine) to fly at the
remodeled house. The Marine Sergeant teared-up as he explained to
Jason Thomas why the Marines were honored to be part of this project.
Ed, one of the carpenters on the Extreme Home Makeover crew, cried
openly as he spoke of his love of America and said, in his heavy
foreign accent, how he could not wait to become an American citizen.

Ed also cried when he cut his hand badly while carving an American
flag to decorate the Thomas' new home. When Jason Thomas saw the flag
and was told about Ed's injury that occurred while carving the flag,
he quietly commented that people bleed for the American flag every
day, and to know that Ed bled for this flag would make it the
centerpiece of the house. Forever.

Two stories of houses. Two stories of people coming together in Ohio.

Just goes to show, doesn't it girls? Just goes to show.

Miz Vul

No Trash, Just the Gas Please

My, My, missy, you've gone and gotten yourself all worked up. Be careful it doesn't mess with your delicate constitution and all. I just worry about your health and all. Don't get yourself all riled up because of the trashy people. And I'm here to tell ya, I haven't seen them yet.

My friends, I had to leave the porch with its delightful cool morning breeze to go for gasoline. Gotta tell ya, I just love Kroger. Not only did they have gasoline in Peachtree City this morning, I waited all of 2 minutes, maybe, to get my gas. The guys are out there directing traffic, and they are pleasant, and they've got gas. The gentleman I spoke with told me that Kroger wasn't going to try and raise the prices to the higher level of the others in town. He also said that gas wasn't such an issue in northern suburbs of Atlanta. He also said he would run out soon, but he has been pretty lucky about getting it in on a fairly regular basis. Now, don't that beat all?

I don't know what this man's title was, but in my book, his customer service skills and those of all the guys working at the fuel center today, were exceptional.

Oh, and on my way out, I passed one of those other places who have been keeping their gas prices high, and guess what. They had gas, but no customers. Guess the paying public only goes there when they have to get gas or suffer the consequences. Go figure.

Miss Etta

Give Me a Break, Foreign Policy Experience??

It's been such a delightfully cool series of early mornings that I've had to put off sitting on the front porch while I wait for my julep sisters to show up. So, I've been sitting inside watching some TV. I know, it's something I rarely do, but I've become interested in the upcoming elections.

Just now, while I was ironing-- two things happened which made me say, "Give me a break."

First of all, my iron decided that smoke was a good thing. It must have thought so as it started beeping at me, and smoking like there was no tomorrow. Of course, it also decided to burn the white shirt I was trying to smooth out. Arrgg! Guess I'm gonna run out to the local stores now to look at new wrinkle reducing appliances.

The second main event of the morning is where one of the ladies on a morning talk show said that Obama has foreign policy experience as he just met some of the foreign officials this week. Give me a break! And then she said that since Sarah Palin didn't meet them, she has none! Give me a break!

Who is running for the President's spot? I guess I should since I, too, have foreign policy experience. It appears I have as much or more than Obama, according to the talk show host definition this morning. Yep, I've been to several countries for high tech meetings and been wined and dined. And I'm here to tell ya, they didn't serve me any juleps. Give me a break! Meeting a foreign person or leader does not qualify one as having "foreign policy experience."

Gotta fix another cup of morning juice. Perhaps that will settle my tummy down. Oh, the nerve of it all. Give me a break. Sounds like another feeble attempt to make one candidate look better than someone he is not running against, at least head to head. Are his supporters that scared?

The now smokin' Missy Georgia

Whose Money Pays for Trash in Peachtree City?

Miz Vul,

After your last outburst on trashy talk in Peachtree City, I decided I had to get my little ole fingers on the document you discussed. I'm a mite riled up now, too.

Whose money are they talking about here? Who is going to have to pay more for mandatory recycling and the privilege of having no choice? Umm, let's see. Umm. The author of the letter suggests he knows we have a choice and we would like to keep our choices. Ummm. Best that he remember that come election time here in these parts.

I'm so upset, I've got to take some time now and fan myself while I look for all those kindly neighbors who supposedly have their trash everywhere. Hmmmm. Don't see any on my daily treks through town. Hmmm. Actually, what I DO see are ordinary citizens who are runners picking up trash on the golf cart paths. Yep, I see volunteers take on that task. Yep, I think those guys are great.

And nope, I don't think we need our local elected folk telling me who I can pay my hard earned money to in order to pay for the city's wants and its proposed fee structure. Oh, and by the way, I do recycle and it's not going into our local landfill. And guess what--- my trash company doesn't know that. How much more are they missing?

Best go walk on our alleged trashy streets some more before I forget I am a southern lady. You've succeeded in getting me off of my own front porch in this mission.

trash talk

Hey Girls,

Have been without internet service for more than 2 weeks, and am just
now digging out from under a bunch 'a stuff which is when i discovered
the Peachtree City newsletter and what the mayor has to say about
garbage service in Peachtree City. No matter how hard I try to find it
funny, I just can't help but find it all pretty insulting. And scary.
And infuriating. Does he really believe this? Does he really think
others will believe this? Do others really believe this or are my
critical thinking skills better than I thought?

Seems the City Council is leaning towards creating a monopoly (i mean,
selecting ONE company) to do ALL the garbage pickups in PTC. His-ness
says that the council has thought long and hard about this difficult
decision, and here's what they've come up with in all that long, hard
pondering:

Cost: He seems to think that having a monopoly (i mean, one company)
will reduce prices. Guess he never heard of competition. Me, I've
always found that when there's a monopoly, prices go UP, not down.

Streets: Having a monoploy (i mean, one company) will not tear up the
streets so bad. Un huh. Sure.

Recycling: PTC will lose their recycling center, his-ness says, when
the road is widened. What to do? Oh, what to do? His-ness suggests
that the city will force the monopoly (i mean, the one garbage
company) to provide the recycling center. Though his wording sure
sounds like the PTC gestapo (i mean, code enforcement patrol) will add
going-through-your-garbage-to-make-sure-that-you-are-recycling to
their list of powers (i mean, duties), his-ness assures us that will
not be the case. His calculator seems to convince him that having a
monopoly (i mean, one) garbage company and forcing them to provide the
recycling center will actually REDUCE what we are currently paying for
garbage pick up. (I want me one of those calculators. I really do.)

Public Health: His-ness says - and I quote - "The current multiple
provider system gives us no way to ensure everyone has service. With
one company, they can report anyone whose service is discontinued for
non-payment, and the City can ensure that proper garbage service is
maintained at the residence." Now, Girls, the way I read that is that
every resident will be REQUIRED to pay for garbage pickup. Period.
Before this quote I mentioned, his-ness writes about how the law
enforcement folk have seen trash piled up in and out of local houses.
There's just so much here, I hardly know where to start, so I'll start
small: did you notice how his-ness CAPITALIZES the word "City"? I
think that's enough said about that, and actually, I think that pretty
much sums up my problem with this whole issue. But I'm gonna' continue
anyway. I'm what's commonly known as a neatnik, but I've got some
cousins who aren't nearly so interested in keeping a neat, orderly
house to which I say: SO WHAT? Now we're going to let city (notice NO
capitalization) authorities determine what is neat and what is not or
what is trash and what is not?

Litter: Apparently, having a monopoly (i mean, one) garbage company is
going to ensure that we never see litter on the streets of PTC again.

Choice: Seems that some folks share my desire for personal choice, BUT
while his-ness admits to understanding that desire, he "would like to
point out that there is still an element of choice in this process."
Then his-ness goes on to point out that the current "City Council and
I were chosen to serve you." He considers THAT as our personal choice?
We elected them, therefore we've exercised our personal choice. And he
apparently is under the cockamamie idea that we elected them to save
us from ourselves.

Customer Service: His-ness actually wants us to believe that having a
monopoly (i mean, one) garbage company will give us better customer
service. Again, I say "Un huh. Sure."

Girlfriends, didn't they actually try this monopoly (i mean, one)
garbage company idea a while back? And here we are with multiple
companies now. Hhhmmmmmm. What's that they say about history repeating
itself?

This whole thing scares me, girls. It really does. But then I've never
heard anybody ever refer to PTC as Galt's Gulch.

Oh, I can't go on. I just can't. My blood is boiling. I'm just gonna'
have to go fix me a julep (or three) (maybe more) . . . and I have a
damn good idea what to do with my glass when it's empty.

Till next time,
Miz Vul

Such a Pretty "Bulldog" with Lipstick

Oh my. I watched Sarah Palin last night and boy,oh boy, is she a great speaker! I loved her speech, and that's saying a lot since I am not into politics. I thought she nailed everything down and starting driving those nails into the other party's candidates.

Speaking of the Dems, I guess Senator Biden didn't receive his briefing before he spoke. This morning, he praised Palin for raising her three children. Hmm. Guess he couldn't count the five children on stage with her?

Yesterday, while you mint gals of mine were off, some other friends dropped in to share a jar of juice with me. As you can imagine, all talk was on Sarah Palin. Why, one friend thought she shouldn't run since she had children! Can you believe that? My goodness, the woman ran a whole state while pregnant. And you know how the hormones are when you've got a bun in the oven. Over the top and she still did a superb job by all accounts. So sitting in Washington doing vice presidential duties should be a piece of cake for her.

I guess I should shut up or you gals are gonna think you've converted me to political talk. Nope. Well, maybe for a couple of months while I watch the show unfold.

Miss Etta

On Democrats, Protesters, Sarah Palin, Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman

Miz Vul and Miss Etta, have you girls been payin' attention to what those horrible, low-down, nasty demonstrators have been doing at the Republican Convention? Now you didn't see anybody destroying property and throwing chemicals on people at the Democratic Convention, did you?

Republicans have class. Democrats seem to have thrown principles down the drain if you're looking at those demonstrators as indicators of their nature. I have heard from reliable sources that these hooligans are paid operators and they have no earthly idea why they are out there being criminals.

What in the world makes people so stupid as to think that breaking glass windows of stores and hurting people is going to make anyone want to be part of their cause? I have no problem at all with protesting in a manner that gets your message across. After all, we are a nation built on protests to some degree. And who could ever forget all the tea being thrown in the Boston harbor? Well, I suppose that was destroying personal property so maybe that is not the best example to consider.

And, I do suppose much of what happened in our early days was violent. Oh my, I seem to have talked myself into a corner, haven't I?

Well, no matter, this is not the beginning of a country. We have a wonderful country which allows freedom of speech. But we have rules and we have evolved beyond the animal state of throwing tantrums in order to make a point.

Did you hear they threw bleach on some poor 85-year old woman? What in the world did that woman ever do to them? I hope these low-lifes are put in jail for a long time, although with these liberal judges we have these days they will probably get off with less than a slap on the wrist.

And Sarah Palin? Oh, they are being so cruel. How ever, it seems that their nastiness is backfiring on them if I am reading the tea leaves correctly. I talked with an ardent Obama supporter this morning who told me she was going to vote for the Sarah Palin ticket! She did NOT like what was being done to Sarah and she was so proud a woman was on the ticket. We had ourselves a nice long conversation.

I am excited about Sarah Palin and what she will bring to the table. I have read many of the nasty blogs and they are so scared of her it is not even funny. Well, nothing they are doing in regards to her is funny in the least bit. I can't remember ever seeing the left side running around in such a dither in my years on this earth! Hooo boy is this ever going to be fun tonight watching Sarah Palin giving them what for!

Oh, and I can not leave this blog without mentioning the talk by Fred Thompson and Lieberman last night. If Fred Thompson had ever been able to talk like that during his campaign for President there would be a different ticket today I think! I wasn't "for" him when he ran, but I do think he's a decent man.

What do you think about having another Democrat talking to the Republican Convention? If you'll remember our very own Miller was the first I do believe. I can not ever remember another Democrat talking at a Republican Convention but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened before! Have you ever heard of a Republican crossing over and talking at a Democratic Convention? I think he or she would be booed off the stage.

Well ladies, I have to get back to doing what I do when I'm doing it so I will leave you and get back to it. Have a delightful day and I hope to talk with you soon about all the goings on in Fayette County and beyond our little world!

Your friend,
Miss Faye

Me Thinks Too Much

Correct me if I'm wrong (yeah, like that's gonna happen)-- but you two porch sitters seem to be right happy with the choice of Palin to join McCain for the road to the White House party. Gotta admit that I've never heard of her before, but I guess if you can eat mooseburgers and shoot a big gun and look pretty while doing both of them, well, then I guess it's ok. I'm sure that you will keep us all informed on this super lady. Course I haven't heard yet if she has accepted our invitation to join us on the porch for a batch of our specialty mint julep juice.

Speaking of mint juleps, (yeah, like I could ever forget them)-- do you remember my recent educational lesson on September being Bourban Heritage Month? Well guess what else happens in the month where we lose the summer sun and fall into autumn?

Can you believe it? Are you ready? Yes, it's also National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month! Guess I'm missing something. On one hand, we are all supposed to celebrate the heritage of bourban, including my own family's heritage and special recipe, and then they tell us we're supposed to be recovering from the deadly booze. What's up with that? Guess I should be glad that I'm not a recovering addict. But wait a minute, didn't Miss Faye have to go to the land of the free and the dry lately? Guess she'll have a real hard time this month. Which party will she attend? Mine, to celebrate my family's heritage, or hers where she is free and dry?

Too much to ponder on right now. Guess I should go sit on the porch and wait for one of my friends to show up with the mason jar. Maybe we should call it the masonette jar in honor of Sarah?

Miss Etta