Is there anyone else out there who feels like time is spinning absolutely out of control, rushing as fast as it can go toward the end of the year?
Sunday demarks the first day of August, for heavens sake. The better—and hopefully hottest part of the summer has passed. Granted fall-like temperatures will be oh so welcome, and they are still a ways off, but just where did the year, the summer, go?
Nostalgia is a wonderful but deceptive thing. Even so, looking back on my younger days in talking with my son this week, we were fondly remembering the slower pace of life during his growing-up years. And while we stayed pretty busy back then, or so we thought, it was nothing compared with the frantic activities of today’s school-age parents.
We all led slower lives 20 years ago. Perhaps it was our mountain lifestyle. Maybe it’s the dark side of the technology boom, meant to give us more time, but instead, ties us to doing so much more. It could also be our have-more-at-all-cost generation.
This week is my father’s birthday. Born in 1900, he would have been 110 years old, but he died 22 years ago. Having been born prior to cars, television, fast food and so many of the routinely modern conveniences we enjoy, he used to marvel at all the developments he had witnessed. He was fascinated by the moon walk and NASA. I think today’s technology would have thrilled him.
Having survived two World Wars and the Great Depression he was pretty frugal in his latter years, so despite having a couple bucks in the bank, he held on tightly to each dollar. He squeezed every bit of use he could out of each article of clothing, vehicle, furnishing and each food purchase. Returning from one trip to the California desert to see him, where he spent a chunk of time recovering from heart surgeries, I remember finding a jar of pickles he’d snuck into my luggage, not wanting them to go to waste. He was like that. One that used the mayonnaise down to the bottom of the jar. Meal time admonishments included stories of food shortages during the depression.
But there is something to be said for a simpler lifestyle.
Work less, spend less, have a less expensive lifestyle. Is it an obtainable goal in the tough economic times?
Certainly we can all cut back on discretionary spending, but most of us do that already, to counterbalance the increase in cost of electricity, water, taxes and insurance, food and gasoline. Everything we do costs more, so, even if staying at a status quo on income, there are increasingly higher expenses. Some people have been forgoing things like running the HVAC and feeding their animals!
That’s why it would be really great to see our elected leaders do more to cut the cost of what we all pay into the system, instead of the reverse. But, just as when a sinking boat is taking on water, how appropriate is it to be getting involved in things not essential to staying afloat?
Yes, the Arizona immigration issue for which our county commissioners offered up a vote of confidence. How germane to the issues here was that? We’ve been told our county law enforcement officers don’t want to be thrust in the position to enforce laws that target immigrants.
So, why the vote? Sometimes if one waits and watches, things can become clear with a little patience, but in this case, the mystery lingers. Why would our county commissioners waste the public’s time and tax dollars on debating this issue and holding a vote, when there are so many other smoldering items on their plates?
Was it simply a political move? Or, a diversion from more important issues? In the How To Succeed as a Worthless Politician Handbook, on page 32 it instructs, "When faced with things that are way over your head, divert attention by tossing up a smoke screen." Is that what we have witnessed?
Maybe there’s a bigger issue in New Hanover County, one we’re all in the dark over? Seems like local law enforcement would be a good judge of that. Sure, in overrun border states like Arizona, things are dicey, but here in this county, is that really the direction resources should be pointed to?
One fails to see the connection, although Wilmington’s daily paper has seen a sprinkling of letters in support of the commissioners, albeit more probably called it lamebrained.
Recently, Wrightsville’s Mayor wanted to pass a resolution in support of the rulings which restrict potential polluters like Titan from grabbing the free money and dumping toxic waste on the unsuspecting. But that initiative was rapidly killed off by the Mayor Pro Tem who coincidentally happened to be on the board that rolled out the red carpet to invite Titan to town. That type of resolution could make Mr. Blair look bad and he squashed it before it got out of the gate, residents’ wishes be darned. Why he also opposed Cignotti’s resolution against offshore drilling is unknown, but Blair has been known to side with big business interests.
All in all, resolutions rendering votes of confidence are probably outside the scope of what elected leaders were put in office to do, unless they are particularly applicable to issues at home. In the cases of Titan and offshore drilling, it is certain Mayor Cignotti felt his clean water efforts are threatened by the potential pollutants Titan will release into the air and water system, and then, what an economy buster we’ve seen off-shore drilling to be. The potential threat is real.
Biblical scholars say we are moving rapidly toward the cataclysmic events described in Revelations anyway. Debatable or not, we might just find out for sure one of these days. And one way or the other, time is whizzing by.
We should make the most of it.
