Is the world getting smaller? Better? Both?
Just this evening, one of my sons was mouthing off something about how he wanted to play computer, but mom said no. Another part of her response was that we didn’t have computers when we were growing up (yep – we all turn into our parents eventually). The whole little exchange got me thinking about changes in our world. It used to be a big deal to have a friend in Minneapolis, or somewhere far away and exotic, like maybe Thunder Bay. As we got a little older and friends and family moved around the geographic spread got a little bigger. Then the internet comes along – thanks Al Gore – :-) and things like facebook. Now people travel the world and stay in constant touch. I sit in a recliner in Two Harbors, MN and play Mafia Wars on facebook. There are people in my little Mafia group from the Phillipines, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Australia, and probably a few other places I don’t recall right now. It is truly amazing.
Sometimes I think this makes the world seem smaller, but I appreciate the ability to find friends and acquaintances in far-flung corners of the globe.
Two Harbors Spring
Ya just gotta love it. 73 degrees and sunny on Friday, 50 degrees and that lovely cloudy, damp, cold feeling weather on Saturday, to 34 degrees and snow today.
Trip to St. Paul
Last week I had the opportunity to visit our state capitol. It was a good experience. I had a chance to visit with our state senator and representative. I learned a little more about our state budget woes. The legislators from both parties all agree that “fixing” the budget will not happen without some pain. One of the things our governor wants to do, is to pick up nearly a billion dollars through the sale of a bond. The legislator lingo for this one is “tobacco bond” because it involves the money we receive from the big tobacco settlement. Gov. Pawlenty want to sell this bond, and then pay the bond-holder half of our tobacco settlement money for the next 20 years. Yep – 20 years. It sounds like such a bad idea to me. Pay out 1/2 of that money for 20 years for some one-time budget help. The money doesn’t fix the entire shortfall either. I don’t have any great solutions, but I don’t care much for this one.
The governor would also like to move the Health Care Access Fund into the general fund. The money in the HCAF comes from a 2% tax on medical providers and a 1% tax on medical insurance plans. The fund was created to help provide health care for the uninsured, not to fluff up the general fund. This change would affect access to health care for the uninsured. If HCAF is shifted to the general fund, this starts to look like a tax that targets only one group of professionals and services (providers and insurers) for an additional “contribution” to the general fund. If this happens will they also be taxing other professionals such as lawyers, accountants, architects, etc., for contributions to the general fund? I just don’t know how we get out of this mess without doing something with our taxes. Maybe it’s a return to the surcharge on income taxes that was done several years ago, or some sort of recalculation of the tax formulas. Sadly, this all costs money. Darn it.
Time to write
Today just seems like a good day to put something out in internet-land. Â How about a story? Â Ok – you talked me into it. Â
Once upon a time . . . . . wow – that’s about as good as I can do for now. Â My inspiration took a vacation. Â The rest of me could use one too. Â A nice beach in Mexico sounds nice.
Nice Story
Sometimes I can be surprised. Â This would be one of those times. Â After thinking that the Two Harbors paper was never going to write anything, they did (Thank you Monica Isely). Â And then the Duluth paper picked up the story too. Â Very nice. Â Here’s the link: Â “Two Harbors’ last barber closes up shop” Now I will quit talking about this for a while . . . . . . . . Â Well, I might still have to give an occasional “Jimmy Update” because he’s sort of an interesting guy.
Winter Day
Snow fell during the night. Winter is settling in for a protracted stay. Today the wind was swirling the snow dust into a haze just a few inches above the snow already on the ground. The surface of the snow looked like rippling sand dunes. It was really pretty.
I found it less attractive when I stepped outside and the cold and snow hit me in the face. I fired up the snowblower and ripped up the relative peace of the wind and the cold. It wasn’t fun or pretty anymore. I yelled into my self-created snowblower storm, my face and ears were cold and I couldn’t see a thing. Duh! The snowblower should always point downwind. Seems the laws of physics apply to snow. Hmmm – who would of thought . . . . . . . The rest of my snowblower adventure was much better than the beginning.
My oldest son and I went over to our neighbor’s house to see if we could help push his car out of a snowbank. Some of the other neighbors stopped to see if they could help. We were unsuccessful, but sometimes it really is the thought that counts.
There’s an occasional moment when I wonder why I live here, but those moments are few and far between. It is days like this that keep those wondering moments so far apart.
Happy New Year
Best wishes to all for a happy and healthy New Year.
Crow is good!
Mmmmm . . . . . . sometimes I have to eat a little crow, so I’ve decided I might as well like it.
Although I have yet to receive a response to the emails I sent to the Chronicle, I was informed today that Monica Isely interviewed Dad a couple of evenings ago. The story is already published on the Chronicle site.  Here’s the link:
http://www.twoharborsmn.com/articles/index.cfm?id=17793§ion=homepage
Thank you Monica.
Disappointment
In 1999, I started this site for a couple of reasons; to reconnect with my hometown (I was living far away at the time) and to give people a place to post all sorts of nonsense after the Lake County News Chronicle really clamped down on what they would allow to be posted on their site. At the time, I did not blame the Chronicle folks one little bit, since their site apparently wasn’t really intended to be a real community forum.
Since then, my opinion of our local paper and the writings therein, has swung back and forth like a pendulum. I guess that is to be expected, since it’s unrealistic to think that I, or anyone else is going to agree with everything the paper prints. Other things to agree or disagree with might include how they decide what to print, choices made, or positions espoused by the writers.
I’m feeling more than a little miffed about the choices apparently made regarding publishing anything about the closing of the last barber shop in Two Harbors. This is a little bit personal, but it’s also about ignoring the loss of a small business and the end of an era. It’s about not bothering to respond to multiple emails from me. And it’s about ignoring the closure of Gould’s Jewelry and the loss of that small business as well..
Gould’s had been open under that name since the early 70’s and was previously owned by Mr. Erickson. I don’t recall now long Erickson’s were around, but it was certainly a significant length of time. I just don’t see why these events aren’t deemed worthy of mention in our local paper, but things like Joe Blow’s container garden (I made that one up) and a variety of other topics are.
The last day is near
Jim’s Barber Service will be closing due to retirement on December 31st. I did get my 3 boys in there the other evening for a haircut, so that ought to hold them for a while. 
