There are times I pay close attention to the news. This morning was one of those times. At 6:30 the alarm went off and NBC 4 started the heartache. First, there was a train derailment which had crippled NJ Transit. With meetings scheduled in the City I had to go in. If I decided to drive, like the other day, I was sure to hit traffic. 8am school drop off guarantees I hit the Holland at 9am or so. A dangerous proposition to say the least. Long story short, I made the 8am train, after a dead sprint from the parking lot. Of course the conductors made the announcement half way in that ALL trains were diverted to Hoboken. At 9:30am I made it above ground on 33rd and 6th Ave. Brutal to say the least.
The more disturbing piece of news was the loomin government shutdown. I had been following, passively, the stalled talks and grand-standing that has played out over the 2-party budget talks the past month or so. Never did I think we were far along enough to be discussing total shutdowns. And I am not going to get altruistic and flag waving patriotic either. Nope, mine is a selfish reason. For this is the weekend we have planned to visit our Nation's capital. My daughter requested we go back after she had such a great time a few years back. She has been speaking of heading back to the National Zoo for weeks. The added bonus is we are taking my mother, who has never been to DC. Wouldn't it figure that we are going to end up in Georgetown with nary a thing to do.
And for what??? We can pretend there are legitimate issues that need to be resolved before a budget is passed. But we would be kidding ourselves. Somewhere John Boehner and Harry Reid are battling for lobbyists and greasing big government pockets. And more and more the two party system destroys our Country. In a Nation filled with different races, ethnicities, genders and transgenders, baseball fans and WWE fans, we have 2 inept parties to speak for it all. Good then that abortion talk gets thrown into National budget talks??? Good that ANY social issues are discussed at all??? Certainly not good that the Nationals are not even in town once we arrive Saturday afternoon. And terrific that my 8 year old is busy watching Nightly News and Googling "Shutdown" as her spring break approaches.
I will ignore the nonsense and take the train and family south regardless. I remain optimistic that through all the politics and debate, common sense MUST prevail. We are in wars that will seemingly never end. Homeowners are selling their siding to advertisers to avoid foreclosure. Japan is under relentless attack from Mother Nature. Surely we can be the civilized superpower and beacon of hope?? I mean there are good signs out there... I am talking to you 0-6 Red Sox fan.
Housekeeping Note:
I would like to welcome and thank the Madison Eagle for picking up my blog. Please refer/bookmark this site for easier access to the blog and any and all news Madison, NJ. http://newjerseyhills.com/madison_eagle/
Should new readers head back to earlier entries please note there is indeed questionable language, behavior and content. Such is life I guess. I intend to work clean(er) and appreciate your understanding. Those new to the blog should have full disclosure. I was born and raised in the Garden State but I hate all teams NY. Try not to hold it against me. Every Friday I write a Guilty Pleasures column which, I hope, provides insight on what is hot/cool in pop culture. Seems like I might have lots of down time in DC this weekend so maybe there will be several volumes.
Any and all feedback is welcome. You can add your email address to receive updates on new posts. Become a follower and thanks. But note, in your real life you should probably be a leader.
And before I forget I would urge you to support a friends blog. She recently moved from Madison to Hong Kong. Big adjustment as you might expect. Take a look and thanks again: http://sharoninhk.blogspot.com/
And I am listening if someone has non-government things to do in DC... anyone, anyone???
The more disturbing piece of news was the loomin government shutdown. I had been following, passively, the stalled talks and grand-standing that has played out over the 2-party budget talks the past month or so. Never did I think we were far along enough to be discussing total shutdowns. And I am not going to get altruistic and flag waving patriotic either. Nope, mine is a selfish reason. For this is the weekend we have planned to visit our Nation's capital. My daughter requested we go back after she had such a great time a few years back. She has been speaking of heading back to the National Zoo for weeks. The added bonus is we are taking my mother, who has never been to DC. Wouldn't it figure that we are going to end up in Georgetown with nary a thing to do.
And for what??? We can pretend there are legitimate issues that need to be resolved before a budget is passed. But we would be kidding ourselves. Somewhere John Boehner and Harry Reid are battling for lobbyists and greasing big government pockets. And more and more the two party system destroys our Country. In a Nation filled with different races, ethnicities, genders and transgenders, baseball fans and WWE fans, we have 2 inept parties to speak for it all. Good then that abortion talk gets thrown into National budget talks??? Good that ANY social issues are discussed at all??? Certainly not good that the Nationals are not even in town once we arrive Saturday afternoon. And terrific that my 8 year old is busy watching Nightly News and Googling "Shutdown" as her spring break approaches.
I will ignore the nonsense and take the train and family south regardless. I remain optimistic that through all the politics and debate, common sense MUST prevail. We are in wars that will seemingly never end. Homeowners are selling their siding to advertisers to avoid foreclosure. Japan is under relentless attack from Mother Nature. Surely we can be the civilized superpower and beacon of hope?? I mean there are good signs out there... I am talking to you 0-6 Red Sox fan.
Housekeeping Note:
I would like to welcome and thank the Madison Eagle for picking up my blog. Please refer/bookmark this site for easier access to the blog and any and all news Madison, NJ. http://newjerseyhills.com/madison_eagle/
Should new readers head back to earlier entries please note there is indeed questionable language, behavior and content. Such is life I guess. I intend to work clean(er) and appreciate your understanding. Those new to the blog should have full disclosure. I was born and raised in the Garden State but I hate all teams NY. Try not to hold it against me. Every Friday I write a Guilty Pleasures column which, I hope, provides insight on what is hot/cool in pop culture. Seems like I might have lots of down time in DC this weekend so maybe there will be several volumes.
Any and all feedback is welcome. You can add your email address to receive updates on new posts. Become a follower and thanks. But note, in your real life you should probably be a leader.
And before I forget I would urge you to support a friends blog. She recently moved from Madison to Hong Kong. Big adjustment as you might expect. Take a look and thanks again: http://sharoninhk.blogspot.com/
And I am listening if someone has non-government things to do in DC... anyone, anyone???
No comments:
Post a Comment