Scot's Ruminations: I’m Back

Howdy, y’all. Don’t know bout you, but it’s been pretty dang hot everywhere I’ve been this summer. Definitely glad God gave someone the smarts enough to invent A/C. Know it’s been a few weeks, but have been a little busy and haven’t really had anything just felt the need to talk about. Now I’m all rested and recharged. Got a few things on my mind this week so here we go:

Travelled out to Summerlin, NV last week. Trip was great until got ready to fly home. They loaded us on the plane then decided to fill the empty seats. Trouble was, the computer was broken down so they had to fill the empty seats by hand. As a result, we were 45 minutes late leaving the gate. Now, besides the fact it was 116 outside, what’s really aggravating is they held up a plane with about 300 folks already on board just so they could put 10-15 more folks on it. This resulted in about half of us missing our connecting flights in Atlanta, and seeing as how we got to ATL after 11 pm, there were no other flights until the morning. Did I mention they were also out of hotel rooms and most of the restaurants were closed? So, they inconvenienced about 150 people for the sake of 10-15 people. Wonder how they thought that was providing good customer service? And they wonder why people get are so angry at the airline industry all the time;
Best part of my trip was getting to meet fishing legend Bill Dance. He was on my flight out to Nevada. He’s every bit the nice guy you see on TV. If you know who he is, you know he always wears a University of Tennessee ball cap. He had it on and even had one attached to his brief case for some reason. Have watched his show since I was a kid. It was a real thrill to meet him even though it took me a long time to build up the courage to talk to him;

Went to Gulf Shores, AL, a couple weeks ago. Great time to go. Hardly anyone on the beaches, free parking everywhere you went, and a short wait at Lambert’s. Media reports of the oil are greatly exaggerated (imagine that). There was some oil there but it was just a thin coat. You would think there was oil about a foot deep the way the media’s been carrying on. If you enjoy the beach, but not so much the water, you can still enjoy yourself. Many rooms have reduced rates right now, too.
Speaking of oil and the media, the local news in Mobile started each night with about 10 minutes of oil coverage. One station even had “breaking news” about every hour just in case you somehow forgot the oil was still out there. Think the worst story I saw was a 5 minute piece on a dead turtle found in the Intercoastal Waterway. At the end of the piece, they quickly mumbled something about no one knows if it’s death was related to the oil or not. Good grief. Talk about stretching for a news story. But, now that the oil has apparently been capped, the media will be able to focus on something new now…I hope. Love how President Obama took 42 days to address the nation while the oil was still flowing, but it took him less than 24 hours to speak out after it had been capped. Just sayin’…;
Mid-term elections are coming up. Wonder how many Dems will continue with the “It’s-all-Bush’s-fault” theme? Pretty sad that’s all they really have to fall back on after two years. Think the biggest disappointment to folks is the perceived lack of jobs being created as a result of the big stimulus package which was passed last year. Part of me wonders if the jobs are out there but they aren’t the ones people want. When the New Deal was passed, it created blue collar jobs. Nowadays, folks want to tell others how and where to dig the ditches instead of using the shovel themselves. Would think it’s hard to create white collar jobs out of nowhere. But, the perception is out there that the Dems are more interested in handing out unemployment checks than creating jobs. Americans always talk about being free. Have to wonder how much freedom we are giving up when we always have our hands out to the government looking for our “free money?” Got news for you, Folks, ain’t no such thing as free money. Now, there are always some folks who actually need a helping hand. Ain’t talking ‘bout them. Talking about those folks who can be independent but choose not to. And, in my mind, every time you take a handout from the government or give up a freedom to the government, you are becoming less independent. Maybe I’m wrong, though;
Anyone else watching Big Brother this summer? Pretty funny they had this big “twist” all planned out by having someone play the part of a saboteur. Bad thing was they were voted out the first week. What’s even funnier is only one person even had a notion as to who the saboteur was, but the whole group took credit for getting them voted out. Hmmm, folks taking credit for blind luck. Sounds like a bunch of politicians, don’t they? These House Guests are just about as interesting, too. We have Showtime 2 now and get to watch Big Brother After Dark this year. They haven’t really been all that interesting during the times we’ve sat down to watch them. Almost like watching C-SPAN. Hours of mindless blathering with a few good nuggets thrown in every now and then. But, still feel the need to watch although I don’t know why…;
Last week’s Deadliest Catch was the episode where Captain Phil passed on. Thought the production team handled it about as well as they could. Definitely proved why they’ve made this show as good as it is. Have said it before, but it’s hard to believe how empty people have felt for a guy (and his family) they’ve never met in person. Another sign of a great production team cause they’ve managed to let the real guy through without any embellishments. Hope you’ve pulling up lots of full pots in Heaven, Capt Phil;
Well, another real American icon passed last week, Mr. George Steinbrenner. Whether you loved him or hated him, have to admit he changed the game of baseball forever. And, you might not have liked his tactics, but he was an owner who was all about winning. Too many owners out there nowadays who only care about the bottom line. Mr. Steinbrenner also inspired one of the greatest comedy characters of all-time on Seinfeld. RIP, Big Guy…