Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Well, it's an historic day. We'll either have the first black president or the first woman vice-president. At this moment, as the results begin pouring in, it's looking more like the former. In some ways, it's an amazing thing that it's taken until 2008 for this to actually happen. I'm not sure why it's taken this long. But to me, it's not of any consequence that either of these is the case. I'm more about where we as a nation are in terms of morality, personal responsibility, virtue and integrity. I don't feel that either major political party showed a whole lot of any of these. Falsehoods in attack ads, questionable associations, denial of the facts, and more interest in finger pointing than fixing the issues, has left me feeling really empty. As usual, I was the first to cast a vote in our little precinct. I take great pride in my voting right, and my voting record. You can count on one finger the number of primary or general elections I've missed in my voting lifetime. I take the right and responsibility of voting very seriously. But today, it just didn't seem to mean as much to me. I guess it was because I feel that no matter which party wins, not much is going to change. Neither camp seems poised to make changes in the country in the areas that are most important to me. Now, don't get me wrong. The economy is important to me, but it's not the most important. Besides, both parties got us into this mess, so I have little confidence that either party can lead us out. But I'm waiting for the candidate that calls for people to become better. I get fried when I hear someone getting torched for even insinuating that there is anything wrong with this country, or the people in it. I see plenty wrong. I see wrong in what we allow to infiltrate our homes and families on TV, in our music and the movies we view. I see plenty wrong in what we deem acceptable in terms of personal behavior. While most folks will say they don't approve, they sure don't object. I'm waiting for the candidate that runs on the platform that we, as individuals, need to rise up and be a people of integrity and personal responsibility, and that they (the candidate) will lead the way. And with ACORN's help, I'll probably vote early and vote often for that candidate.

Last evening, I was settling in to watch both the Marshall vs. Cincinnati college football game and the Major League playoffs - a sports fan's dream. All of a sudden my wife and I heard a vehicle come screaming past our home at an ultra high rate of speed - a safe speed on that stretch of road is 40-45 mph. Needless to say, we soon heard tires screeching and the sound of a mighty "thud . . ". I, as did my neighbors across the road (we live in the country - it's a road, not a street . . ) hopped in our trucks and took off. About a hundred yards down the road around the bend was a white vehicle with the front smashed beyond recognition lying on it's side. You could see where they cleaned out the ditch for about 200 feet, taking out a road sign, before hitting a rock jutting out into the ditch. There the car and it's passengers, met - and the rock won. The car was tipped up on the passenger's side, and what was left of the front was facing back up the hill - the direction from which it came. It just happened that a County Sheriff, who had a prisoner in his back seat, came by and stopped. We helped the driver who appeared, shall we say - "well oiled" - out of the vehicle. However, his two companions were not so fortunate. One, a "well oiled" lady in the back see happened to be wearing her seat belt. However, her back was badly messed up, and she began sliding from the not top seat to the bottom. One of my neighbors hopped in and helped support her. The other "well oiled" fellow was pinned on the now bottom front see. Neither he nor the driver had been wearing a seat belt. The fellow was pinned by his legs under the very compressed dash board. And to top it off, he was laying on their dog who was in also in a considerable amount of discomfort. Well, help arrived and we made a convertible out of the sedan, to extract the two remaining passengers. Turns out, the two trapped passengers were life flighted to Columbus. By the time I got back to the house, Marshall was down 33-10 to Cincy late in the 4th qtr and the Red Sox were up on the Angles, to eventually win that game as well. I recommend buying a convertible and purchasing your airline tickets next time you want to go to Columbus - and please, do it on someone else's road and well before kick-off . . .

While I've been busy lately, this national financial meltdown has demanded my attention. The thing that strikes me the most is that much of Washington wants to reward poor judgment with a bailout of Biblical proportions. Look. I am the sole wage earner for our family, and I work for a state university. I am underpaid by all market standards. Yes, I get a little more vacation and I get tuition waivers for my family, but all that added up, I am still underpaid. I live in a modest home and I don't even own a credit card - a debit card yes, but not a credit card. I pay principle plus interest. That is common sense. I own less home that many who are going to get bailed out. If I leave my job because I do something stupid, I don't get a $90 million severance package. I own three vehicles we balance between five drivers. Oh yea, one has 200k miles, one has nearly 100k miles and the other has 70k+ miles. Oh yea, none are under 5 years old. One is eleven years old. My house needs work, my daughter need basketball shoes, and I owe for a mortgage, a home equity loan and I own on one of my five year old vehicles. I occasionally dip into my overdraft protection on my checking account because of the timing of things. But you know, I don't owe $250k on a house that now is worth $175k because I gambled on an interest only loan. Why should my tax dollars bail out either the greedy home owners who bought way over their heads or the greedy lenders who preyed on these greedy home owners. I have a problem with this. Call me old fashioned, but I still believe in commonsense. The folks I feel sorry for are the ones who may loose their jobs because of this. Many of whom have the same values I do, and have shown restraint but will feel the brunt of this. Those are the real loosers in this. Not the greedy folks.