Cook County Crooks

When I lived in New York and Bloomberg was the mayor, he tried to push a policy that would restrict the size of soft drinks. His policy almost passed, but was, thankfully, stopped at the last minute. Now, here in Cook County, Illinois, a law took effect August 2 that adds a one penny per ounce tax on all sugary beverages (pop, iced tea, etc). Because Cook County is in the fiscal hole yet again (are they ever NOT in the hole?), they had to find a way to scrape up some cash and putting a tax on soda pop is the way they plan to do that. It's bad enough that basic sales tax rates here are sky high (like 10%), but now there's yet another tax placed on the backs of people who can least afford them. After already being forced to pay seven cents per bag at the grocery store if you don't bring your own, now your bottle of Coke will be taxed too. Great. And Illinois politicians wonder why people are leaving the state. You get taxed like crazy here and yet the state remains in a perpetual state of debt. The bills never seem to get paid and you don't seem to get much for your money.

Dog-Napped

I don't often think about committing crimes but, when I do, the one at the top of my list is dog-napping. If I see a cute dog on the street with its owner, I think about grabbing that pooch and making a run for it. (I doubt I'd get far, but still.) When I first moved to Evanston, I used to see a guy walking his beagle and another little white dog. I wanted that beagle but figured if I grabbed him, I'd have to take his fluffy white "brother" also. No, I would never actually steal someone's pet. I'm not a thief and I certainly don't want to go to jail. What are you in for? Stealing a dog. Seriously? I'd just be asking to get shanked in prison with that story. In any case, I can and will wait until I get my own dog, hopefully when I retire or hit the lottery (whichever comes first).

Get Yer Shinebox, Mooch

The ongoing freak show that is Donny T.'s administration has one less freak today. The Mooch is out before he really even got in. (He wasn't scheduled to even officially start his job until next month and today he's out of that job.) Out of all of the clowns in this circus, I have to say I found the Mooch the most amusing. Watching this guy flex and bullshit on a daily basis during his short tenure was hilarious. I also enjoyed watching the wonderfully talented Mario Cantone do his Mooch imitation on Comedy Central's "The President Show." Comedy gold! I was really hoping to see more of Cantone's shtick but, alas, it wasn't meant to be. And where will this dismissal leave our beloved Anthony? Better get your shinebox ready, Mooch.

Tennessee

I'm back from a long weekend in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. I have to say, the trip turned out a lot better than I thought it would.  There was a little family drama, but the trip overall was a good one. The Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg areas of Tennessee are lovely. We didn't make it to Dollywood due to bad weather the day we were scheduled to go, but I wasn't exactly crying any tears over that loss. (No offense, Dolly! I love your music!) I did get a chance to see the Smoky Mountains and the Smoky Mountains National Park. I also got to do some go-cart racing while I was there. Great fun and a good time, but I'm glad to be back home. As nice as everyone was in that area, it's not a place I could ever see myself living in. There's a weird vibe there that I can't exactly put into words.

Service Denied

So Donny "Bone Spurs" T. doesn't want "T" people in the armed services. The guy who managed to defer himself out of the armed services now wants to deny others who voluntarily serve their country the right to serve. Unbelievable. Every day it's just more shenanigans with this guy. Do as I say and not as I do is this guy's motto. When will the national joke/nightmare be over? Not soon enough, unfortunately. I dream of the day he and his band of grifters (family members included) are hauled out of the White House in handcuffs. (That day may never come, but I still dream about it.)

The Wasp, My Sister, and My Coleus

I'm currently sharing a place with my sister and, after living alone for many years, it's been a struggle living with someone else. (I really have to evaluate this situation in the next year.) Anyway, this morning, a wasp got into our apartment and my sister went crazy. After breaking out a can of Raid in an effort to disable the insect, some of the spray got on my coleus plant that's placed on the ledge of the kitchen window. (Why she didn't just grab a catalog or magazine from our bag of newspapers, etc. for recycling, I don't know.) Now my coleus plant is in trouble. I've already clipped some of the leaves that had wilted, no doubt, from having Raid sprayed on them. I suspect more leaves will fail also as the days pass. I don't know exactly how much of the plant was sprayed during my sister's freak out (I didn't witness the actual wasp incident) and my sister did try to wash the plant. While I appreciate her attempts to save the plant (and I hope it can be saved), I'm angry over the whole thing and I just would have handled the situation differently. The sad thing is my sister is the one who picked the coleus out for me a few weeks ago and now she'll probably be the person who killed it. Sad. Accidents happen, but when things like this happen, I'm just convinced more and more that I need to live alone again. That way, if I destroy one of my plants (or anything else in my place), then I'll be the only one to blame for it.

Babs

I realized this weekend that I didn't have some of my favorite Barbra Streisand songs on CD so I had to rectify that situation. I could've sworn I had the CD with "Guilty" and "What Kind of Fool" but I didn't so I had to download them. Streisand, in my opinion, is really in peak form on "Guilty." There's so much to love in her voice on that song. I'm preparing for a short trip (one that I'm not at all enthusiastic about taking, by the way) later this week and I'm trying to get my music together for it. I decided to download some soothing Barbra Streisand tunes to get me through four days of what can only be described as a forced family vacation. I'm hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.