It was 6:15 a.m.  My cold was getting nasty on the way to work, and the coughing was really irritating.  At least a little relief was needed.  I pulled into the nearest convenience store just a few blocks away.  As I opened the door, I did not want to pay a dollar and 30 cents for a small stick of cough drops, I thought.  The price on the shelf indicated they went for two bucks.  You gotta be kidding me!  I looked at items surrounding them to be sure it was no mistake.  It wasn't.  There were various brands and flavors of cough drops in the same area on the shelf, and all were priced at two dollars.
    I walked out empty handed and thought about going to a supermarket on the way.  Why not?  I'll even pay a dollar and 30 cents for the things.  What I found equally shocking was that the supermarket was selling the same brand, same size for just 89 cents.    
    About a month ago, I did a blog on convenience stores and asserted they had become inconvenience stores.  This recent experience made me wonder if I should ever patronize such stores again.  Why should I?  To pay more than double the price on some items?  To stand in line in what seems like an eternity for someone to buy a money order to pay rent on their low rent apartment?
    Decades ago, these little stores definitely were convenient.  Now it seems as if it is just another place that caters to what some call the "poverty industry."  Think about it.  Why did these stores start selling (and still continue to sell) money orders, hot dogs, lottery tickets, and more recently, phone cards?  It's simple.  People need money orders to pay bills in today's society, and they just can't figure out how to balance a checkbook.  They need hot dogs because they don't have the mind set of making themselves a healthy lunch at home.  And why save money?  Just spend it on the silly dreams of winning the lottery, or spend about 100 dollars on various football pools.  If lucky, you will win one and make your money back.  
    Now these stores have the audacity to charge more than double the price on certain items.  Mind you, I am not talking about Mom and Pop places of the old days.  These family grocery stores had to charge higher prices because they were unable to buy their stock in hugh quantities and store them in their own warehouse.  These modern day inconvenience stores are national chains and to the best of my knowledge, can do business much like a supermarket.
    How do these inconvenience stores get away with this, especially in metropolitan area like Denver where two large supermarket chains are open 24-seven?  I suspect that since they are still referred to as "convenience stores," most still think they are convenient.  That won't last forever.  One of these days most will realize that supermarkets have become much more convenient than the inconvenience stores.
    So the next time you want a candy bar and a bottle of pop, go to the supermarket.  Pick them off the shelf.  Fly through the automated, self service express line and be done with it.  Even low income people can benefit from using the supermarkets for business other than groceries.  They can buy money orders and stamps from customer service and sandwiches from the deli.
    I would just as soon let the inconvenience stores in the cities die a peaceful death.  But in those small, isolated towns in the midwest and Rocky Mountain states, that's an entirely different blog.  Look for it some time in the near future.
  

     It has been some time since this rambler did a post.  I have been busy with an urgent trip to the east coast.  This meant another experience as an infrequent flyer.  I think I'd rather be a frequent flier, and it's not because I enjoy flying.  It is because my observations perceive these frequent air travelers as much more patient and less stressed out than I.
    When a flight is delayed, okay.  It's delayed.  It's frustrating, but not infuriating.  What I do find infuriating is all the lies we are told in regards to time.  Even if the plane is "on time," I am yet to determine what that means.  I cannot remember a plane shoving off the runway at "time of departure."  And if the plane is delayed, the airline does not even have the decency to give an honest time of delay.  Sometimes the given times are quite vague, and to me, that is almost as infuriating as the lies.  As soon as being told "in a few minutes," I see a red flag go up.  Some folks' idea of a few minutes is a few more minutes than mine.  But when the airlines say it, it's likely a blatant lie.
    In my very limited air travel experience, a few minutes means a minimum of 20.  If you tell someone you are going to your friendly neighborhood tavern and have a few beers, do you drink 20?  If you go to a fast food restaurant and place an order of fries, do you get a box with a few?  No!  You get several.  It's your girl friend who might stick her fingers in the box, grab four or five and say, "All I want is a few." 
    Now that we're on the subject, food from air travel has had its fair share of complaints.  Some years ago, Thomas Sowell was critical of this food both inside the airport and on the plane.  He said the food is "fancy and tasteless."  People do not seem to complain so often in recent years, perhaps because inside the airport, plenty of plain, tasty food is available from McDonalds, Taco Bell and other national, fast food chains.
    On the plane, however, forget it!  I have not seen any offering of food there lately.  They sell it.  They might sell you a sandwich for five dollars, but it does not look very appetizing.  During the few flights I have been on lately, the flight attendants sold "snack boxes" that were also available for five dollars a pop.  I usually choose to starve until landing.

     As I waited in line at the so called "convenience store" to buy a newspaper and some chocolate junk food, it certainly was not me who was getting all the convenience.  It was some people in front of me.  They were taking forever to pay for just a few items.  I didn't pay much attention to what they were buying.  Money orders?  Lottery tickets?  Hot dogs?  I did, however, notice that while one woman at the register was deciding what she wanted, he buddy ran to an aisle to grab one more thing.  Don't be too critical of the clerk here.  She was trained in "customer service."
    Once again, a few customers got plenty of service while the rest of us got plenty of frustration by waiting in line that much longer.  It is a typical business practice here in the west (even in the cities) with friendly, sociable people.  As I see it, these great people are one of the many things that make living here so great.  For the most part, I have always felt this way unless I am standing in line at some business.  The convenience stores, supermarkets and some fast food restaurants are those which make me most irate.
    Well, I have had selling jobs here in both wholesale and retail.  The business philosophy in the west seems that we should be nice to the customer to keep him or her coming back.  I doubt this thinking works very well.  There are some businesses I avoid like the plague because I have too often stood in line waiting for a clerk to converse with some lonely customer, politely explain to another why the store cannot give both a coupon discount and a store discount, or inform yet another customer that personal checks from Croatia are not accepted.
    Again, don't get me wrong.  I love the west, and it would take a miracle for me to move back to the East Coast where I grew up.  The social scene is too impersonal.  Some say the business world there is just as bad, but why do people have to get so personal over buying and selling a loaf of bread?
    It is just a different way of living in the east.  Life is faster there.  People don't seem to have time to talk or argue with one another, and customers don't expect five solid minutes of space when making it to the register.  Maybe life is simpler in the west, but business is simpler in the east:  You get in there and get out!

     A few days ago, I heard something that bothered me.  Some nurses with whom I work were having a somewhat heated discussion.  One said, "We have separation of church and state in this country."
    A second nurse replied, "We really don't in reality."
    The other shot back, "It's in the Constitution."
    I was upset.  All it took was a bunch of antireligious fanatics fighting long enough to keep religion behind closed doors, and now we have who knows how many otherwise intelligent people thinking that separation of church and state is some sort of constitutional "right".  No such thing was written into the Constitution in general or the first amendment in particular.  Leaving out "under God" in the pledge of allegiance to our flag was not written into the Constitution.  Keeping God out of all corporate conversation was not written into the Constitution.  The United States being a Christian nation was not written into the Constitution.  This is what was written into the Constitution:  "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ..."
    What a heroic statement that is.  The framers of our Constitution were saying the government was not to mandate any religious worship of any kind, but we could freely practice the religion we so chose.  This worked just fine for almost 200 years.  Then came the 1960's when we could no longer say prayers in public schools.  The antireligious thing seemed to just snowball from there.  In the early 1970's the so called "Jesus freaks" countered it.  When Jimmy Carter was elected president in 1976 ...  Wait!  What on earth am I doing?  I am not about to give anybody a little history on this stupid religious war of words.  I do not believe the first amendment ever had any such intentions.  
    Our founding fathers might shed many a tear if they could see the warriors of this "culture war" now.  On the other hand, they might laugh.  Editorial writers and broadcast commentators probably will never admit it, but most people don't give a hoot or holler about any of this.  And most fortunately, their religious practices or lack thereof is really in the spirit of the first amendment.
    Take my apartment complex of 175 units for instance.  On a typical Sunday morning, I go to Catholic mass.  Some go to Protestant church services.  Some even have transportation provided to these churches.  Most are not to seen.  They spend the morning sleeping off the late, Saturday night party.

     It was a 150-mile drive from Denver to the farm country of southeastern Colorado.  I was going there to do fund raising I was asked to do by the Catholic lay mission organization that sent me on a
three-year "hitch" to South Africa 16 years ago.  There were no great expectations.  Actually, I had no idea what I was getting into.  I was to pitch my promotion for donations at one church on Saturday evening, the same church early Sunday morning and two other churches later in the morning.
    As I was speaking, I could have sworn I had their attention and their interest.  I did not, however, perceive much generous donations later.  As the collection basket was passed around, I noticed single bills flying and changed jingling. What was worse, these churches were rather small.  Most could comfortably hold only 100.  When the masses were over, a few good, friendly people talked with me, but none seemed to want to talk about overseas mission service.  They did not ask for a either a brochure or a newsletter I had in hand.  All but one had no interest in what was going on in Denver, either.
    Just what does interest them?  It can't be the nonexistent "entertainment" in town.  But how did these very few church musicians become so talented, and like the attendees of these very small Catholic churches, the majority of the musicians were Hispanic.  One woman had a voice so impressive that she could be a soprano for the Metropolitan Opera.  What in the world was she doing singing for little church in Ordway, Colorado?  I suppose the same as the man who played guitar and sang songs in both Spanish and English.  He said he does it "all for God."
    No, these people do not seem the slightest bit interested in "making it big," being some sort of business tycoon or painting a city red on Saturday night.  They just live their quiet, simple lives in rural Colorado. 
    

     There has been little written in this blog in recent days, eh?  That's because I've had too much work to do.  Tonight and last night I spent hours at home doing a "Self Evaluation" and "Peer evaluations."  Who ever came up with this "homework" anyway.  I once heard a radio talk show host say, "If you're a professional, you have to take work home with you."  I am not what is commonly referred to as a professional.  I'm a ward clerk for crying out
loud--a unit secretary!
    There is just too much to do, such as laundry, food preparation, cleaning.  Just about anybody can add to this list.  That is why I have to cut this post short.  What do I do about all this work?  Suck it up and do it!

     Any serious Christian who possibly stumbles across this blog knows that living the Christian like is not praying for God to help you do what you want or get what you want.  It's about praying for God's help to do what He wants.

    I once heard a Bible teacher say, "We all have our own deserts to cross."  If that's the case than I'd better stop just hanging out in my desert before I start to die of thirst. 

    For almost two years now, I have been praying the same way, doing the same work and going to the same AA meetings.  I think this is what God wants me to do.  (I certainly don't know for sure yet.)  I'll find out one of these days.

     I doubt many people think about this, but I am curious how many Americans--consciously or unconsciously--refuse to ride a scooter, moped or even a bicycle because the Chinese are jumping off those two wheelers and getting into cars.  And considering all of the above, it sounds much like the Chinese have promoted themselves while people like me who ride scooters have demoted ourselves.
    Also, let us not forget that China is the most populated nation in the world.  This can be scary, but I don't believe the Chinese want to forcibly take the world's oil.  They want to buy it!  That's something we did not have to worry about during the energy crunches of the '70's.  If the Chinese start buying cars like they're going out of style, however, good luck in supplying a population that size plus the rest of the world.  
    I do not have much answers to a scenario such as this, but we best be ready to do things differently from what we are doing now.  In the meantime, don't be overly jealous when you see me at the pump putting a gallon of gas in the tank of my scooter to fill up.

     When I left work today I noticed the gas gauge read "E," and I don't mean almost.  I went to a nearby gas station and filled up.  The tank took slightly more than a gallon.  The fill-up cost me a grand total of $3.48.  I was good to go for another 95 miles.
    Now with a tank that small and milage that good, I would say you are thinking that I am not talking about a car, and you're right.  I'm talking about a little Honda scooter.  The amazing gas milage, however, is not only thing I like about it.  It's so much fun to ride that thing around the city.  And while I am riding, I feel as if I'm in harmony with the environment.  If you think about it, a car is really something to shelter you from the environment.
    Unfortunately, I believe most are willing to pay for gallons and gallons of the fuel it takes to power a car because they want to be sheltered, especially from bitter cold, pouring rain and
35-mph winds.  Yes, a car is the most practical transportation.  Try hauling a week's worth of groceries for a family in a scooter or a motorcycle.  Besides, those two wheelers are downright dangerous.

     I have been reading some interesting magazine articles on diet and exercise lately.  Some of it is stuff we have been hearing for years like the eating of green vegetables.  Some of it is rather recent to me.  Do you like cherries, red apples and blueberries?  If yes, great!  The average American should be eating more of them.  And by the way, is it safe for the older
folks--seniors and those well into middle age like me (I'm 55.) to exercise?  The latest research indicates that provided you get the green light from your doctor, it is not only safe to exercise, but also recommended.  In fact, it can be somewhat dangerous not to exercise.

    I do know people who eat healthy food and exercise--mostly the nurses with whom I work.  On the other hand, I know many more who do not exercise and barely think about what they eat.  And when they do think about it, it's how good or bad it tastes.  At least they are rather brave.  Some of us chicken out for fear of diabetes, heart attacks and all that nasty stuff, but most keep right on being couch potatoes as they eat junk.

     I had planned on attempting to write a relatively longer, more profound and intelligent blog this evening, but I became engrossed in a Broadcast on PBS about the Kingston Trio.  It was during one of the local affiliate's fund raising drives.  That's when they have the best shows and beg you to donate so they can stay on the air and continue with the same quality programming.

    It's ashame these tight wads like me quickly figure out that the best of PBS is broadcasted during these fund raisers.  I must admit, however, that I also watch PBS at other times.  "American Experience" is the first thing that comes to mind.  It's my most favorite show on television.

     We are reminded often.  Yes, at least once a month, and usually more often than that, we hear or read that far too many kids are overweight.  The movers and shakers are concerned.  They want to know why, and they want to do something.  The question is not why, but why now as opposed to decades ago.  Well, I don't know much of the scientific facts, but I do have some personal experiences that some may consider interesting.

    When I was a youngster, I was far from overweight.  The same could be said of at least 90 percent of the neighborhood children I use to play with.  The way we lived made it difficult to gain weight.  We did not have computers or cable TV to distract us in chairs and sofas after school.  From the time we got home from school, we would run our little brains out till
dinner--a home-cooked, nutritious dinner.  We had breakfast every morning, and lunch did not consist of Big Macs and supersized fries.  The hot lunches served in the school cafeteria were not loaded with fat and grease, and ours schools had no vending machines.  None!  

    When I was in high school, the girls were so slim and trim.  Now, over 30 years later, I live within walking distance of a high school.  You guessed it.  Many, many girls are not that way anymore.  When the weather is warm, I see dozens of them showing off their navels on bellies that are about to hang over their belts.  And when do I see these girls (and boys) most often?  When they are walking into fast food restaurants at lunchtime.  There are four of these places within a five block radius of the high school--plus two pizza joints.   Students who like a little variety in the fast food lunch jump into their cars and drive a mile or two.  Ha!

    I do not remember any school administrator or teacher saying that we could not leave the school for lunch, but structured school policies at the high school I attended made it all but impossible.  Once the bell sounded for lunch, you had only 20 minutes to grab lunch and get to your next class.  This was a requirement.  No excuses!  What did we do for exercise?  Some played sports.  Some lifted weights.  Some hit punching bags.  The rest of us just settled for the vigorous gym classes.

    And some wonder why there are too many overweight kids these days.

    What should be done, parents and school officials?  Go back to the old ways?  Many would say, "No, you can't live like the mid-twentieth century during the twenty-first century."  Come on!  Adapt it to the relevancy of the times if necessary.  Play soccer instead of basketball.  Have after school programs to keep kids active and out of the cookie jars and refrigerators.  If we don't want to see a bunch of obese adults 20 years from now, something better be done.

Some school systems are doing something.  They are clearing all the junk food out of their schools.  Although plenty more needs to be done, this is a step in the right direction.  Keep going, folks!
    

     I thought a question such as this should be answered in this introductory blog post.  The answer is yes.  For many years now, I always thought myself a conservative and certainly not a liberal, but many will probably disagree.  I am not a Republican.  Actually, I am a registered Libertarian, and I often refer to Republicans or Democrats as Demopublicans.  Sure, there is a difference between the two major parties.  The game plans differ.  But take a bunch of Republicans and a bunch of Democrats, stir them into the Congressional melting pot, and you get the same old, lousy-tasting Demopublican stew.

    Obviously, I am against big government, much less big bureaucracies.  I am very much in favor of school voucher programs, the second amendment, and the more tax relief, the better.  I am also a devout Catholic, and that makes me anti-abortion--not very Libertarian of me.  What doesn't seem to be so conservative of me are my thoughts on immigration.  I think more immigrants would be a shot in the arm to America rather than a burden, provided that we get as capitalistic as we did decades ago.  This means no special treatment for these immigrants and their families and no free health care.  This also means businesses do not get off the hook (or should I say on the dole) with corporate welfare.

    Probably the one thing that would never get me membership in any conservative club is that I am definitely opposed to the war in Iraq.  Do not, however expect me to write another thousand words as to why.  Maybe some other time. 

This is a first post of a blog just created.  Do not expect anything profound enough or long enough to make a meaning-of-life conversation.  It's getting late, and I have to go to work early tomorrow morning.  It would be great if our bodies didn't require so much sleep, right?  I'm not so sure.  If we didn't need all this sleep, we would find other things to do with the extra time.