Change We Can Believe In?

Exciting times?........perhaps. Change was the mantra of the Democrat Party.......and still is. Change is being planned, developed, and installed as I write this. No sooner than I had written about two major national politicians "stepping aside", I turned on the television to find out that Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon announced that she too, will be stepping aside on February 4, 2010. Imagine that...........hmmm.......is this a trend developing?

Mayor Dixon was investigated, charged, tried by a jury of her peers, and found guilty in a case which had involved numerous charges of corruption and misuse of donated gift cards. In the grand scheme of things that politicians can be guilty of, this really wasn't that big of a deal.......but she got caught, for whatever reason.........and there has to be some kind of circumstances.

Mayor Dixon fought the charges and for the most part managed to dodge getting nailed on 99% of it.........it was the 1% that got her. Is it a sad day for Dixon?........yes indeed.........but it is also a great day for Dixon. She has somehow managed to avoid being pegged a felon, dodged the ultimate misdemeanor, and although she loses her position in politics for now, she gets to play again in a few years........just like DC Mayor Marion Barry.........remember him? None of this is all that surprising.........really.......not at all......in fact....I fully expected this kind of thing. I knew they would find some sort of way to "save face" for Dixon..........well........maybe not "save face"......more like "save Dixon's 83,000 dollar pension".

So here is how it ended. Dixon was tried and CONVICTED and was awaiting sentencing.........and after all pleas for the declaration of a mistrial........she then steps up and spits out the Alford Plea. Huh?........Alford Plea? The Alford Plea is where you tell the court that you acknowledge that the prosecution has enough evidence to convict you but you still plead innocent. Huh? One major problem with this...............this is done AFTER she was CONVICTED! You or I could never get away with such a thing.......never.

Here is Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon in a photo where she is seen adjusting her glasses while tv news cameras were pointed her way during her investigation. As you can see.......she is "moving forward".

The major adjustment now........er uh, CHANGE.........is that Baltimore will now get a new mayor............and it will be City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

I don't know much about Stephanie Rawlings-Blake........but she apparently has been going through some CHANGEs herself.

Here she is today.............yep.........she's gonna be the new Mayor Of Baltimore.........hmmmm.....I suspect that a new "charitable contribution" policy is coming...........perhaps "cash only"?

Gosh......with all of this CHANGE, I won't be in need for something to write about.

CHANGE is nothing new.........it goes hand in hand with that other political mantra "Moving Forward".............but can we really believe in it?

Once upon a time there were always people in Baltimore seen scrubbing the marble steps in front of their rowhouses. These people also were voters that would elect the Mayor of Baltimore all these years. Baltimore was famous for those marble steps..............but somehow things have CHANGED.

In the picture above, look for the voters.

And today.......as she has every day since she took office.........Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon proclaims that she, and Baltimore, are "MOVING FORWARD"............go figure!

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Riviera Maya Vacation - Part Eleven

Yeah..........I will miss this place.........I am missing it right now as I write this. None of the pains of Baltimore here..........no Mayor Sheila Dixon trial..........no thugs roaming around..........no pestering phone calls............no places to have to be...........no stress............hmmmm........well.........maybe a little bit (I will explain later).

This sure beats dodging old ladies and their grocery cart steering skills at the supermarket.

So I sat there............and looked around.........lots to look at..........

I looked to the north...........in the distant, there is an "abandoned" resort just past the flags.......I might just want to go have a closer look.............but I am not much for being able to walk long distances.......especially walking on sand.

It was time again for water aerobics.......they did this every day.

What they do is bring out a large speaker and hook it up to a cd player.......plug it in to an extension cord and pump some thumping exercise music out towards the water.........unfortunately, they set it up right behind our lounge chairs. It wouldn't have been so bad except that one of the staff had to keep running back and forth from the water to "fix" the bad speaker connection. I got tired of hearing it sputter and quit........so I got up and "fixed" it myself so the guy didn't have to run back and forth. I actually got cheers from people.....hehehe.

I got tired of that..........so I decided that I would try to walk past the flags and see the "abandoned" resort. Supernurse stayed in the lounge chair as I walked.

I kept thinking to myself..........I must be crazy to even attempt this.........what if I drop?........Then what? I stopped frequently and paused because of the extreme pain in my upper thigh/hip. On this day it was the hottest it had been and I felt like a steamed crab on Labor Day.

But I trudged along..........it ain't easy walking in sand..........but I made it. The beach front here is somewhat natural.........and a bit unkept. I could see the turtle nesting areas.......concave dips in the sand. I didn't get to see the turtles.......they do their thing at night.

The reason that this resort is "abandoned" is that the government of Mexico stepped in and declared it off limits in order to protect the turtles.

This was the beach bar...............I rested by sitting on the rope that separated it from the beach.

I decided that I had walked far enough already and that I just might survive the walk back to Supernurse.

Here is another turtle nesting spot.Each spot had a small sign which read "No Mover"........huh? I guess that means "Do Not Disturb".

When your leg hurts like hell and you look in front of you and see just how far down the beach you have yet to walk........well..............it just adds to the pain and stress.........ahhhhh.........I told you that I would mention the stress. There would not have been any stress at all except for the fact that I was participating in what you might call a "natural cardio stress test". If I survive this without dropping......my heart must be doing fairly well.

At this point I was beginning to sweat like it was no tomorrow..........uh oh........and I had nothing to drink with me. So, determined as I was.........I kept on walking and walking.......and it hurt even worse.....I honestly did not know if I would make it. I remember thinking that if I collapsed right here and kicked the bucket, I could not ask for a better place to drop.......it was beautiful............but I also remember thinking what a hardship it would be for Supernurse...........okay........this means I have to make it the entire way. Well.......I made it.........I got back to my lounge chair and plopped down next to Supernurse. I could hardly breathe and was sweating profusely. Supernurse and I walked over to the beach bar and got some drinks and sat down in the shade. There was about fifteen or so minutes there when I was wondering if I was gonna make it..........I felt really ill. After drinking down some cold soft drinks I started feeling better. I never had any chest pains but I did get dehydrated. I suppose that this is what it feels like when you suffer from real exhaustion. I then got up and went back to the beach.........I was 100% better.

Life is full of challenges and sometimes you.........even foolishly.........create your own challenges. That long walk up the beach was one of those personal challenges.........and yes......perhaps a foolish one at that..........but I did it and in the process, overcame the fear and apprehension of doing such a thing. I kind of did the same thing when I was in Aruba and went snorkeling for the first time..........I cannot swim and I had to jump off a boat in deep water.............yeah.......talk about overcoming fear and apprehension...........but I did it. You know the old saying "Nothing ventured, Nothing gained."...................also........"No Pain......No Gain".

Stay tuned..............I will be wrapping this up next.

Signtopia Expansion Pack 2.1 Has Another Birthday

This trip to Leander, Texas was loaded with necessity. Aside from the need to see my Noodle Girl, the trip was for me and Supernurse to be present and accounted for on Signtopia Expansion Pack 2.1's second birthday. There was no way we would miss that. That's me, of course, in the photo above..........sitting in a Mexican restaurant in Leander. The name of the place was Jardin Del Rey.........which may sound fancy schmancy........but it is a mom and pop kind of place.......a real down home, nitty gritty, nothing fancy, certainly not upscale, Mexican home cooking kind of place..........and it is really popular in Leander. The food was good........I had some enchiladas, but there is no question that the enchiladas that I make are far better........in fact.........the best there is. Oddly enough, we were in Texas in a Mexican restaurant........even though me and Supernurse will be in Mexico on November 1st. Go figure. I probably have seen more Mexicans in the United States in the past week, than I will see in Mexico for ten days.

This trip was all about the birthday boy. Gee.......it's hard to believe....and accept that it has been two years since Signtopia Expansion Pack 2.1 took his first breath. Damn......I must be getting old.

Here is the little guy chomping down on a birthday cupcake. Once the eating of the good stuff was out of the way, it was off to mess-making...............presents need unwrapping and..........as surely as Sheila Dixon has a plan............Pop-Pop has to assemble something.

Arrggghhh!........I could have sworn that I set down a rule that there was to be no more stuff bought that wasn't already put together. Somehow I think that it was one rule that will be ignored far beyond the years when I reach the age where someone will have to explain to me just exactly what a screwdriver is.........not to mention having to tell me who I am and why I am there and being forced to try to read instructions that make no sense.

So the deal is............I get almost finished putting this contraption together and Mr. Patience decides to jump the gun and try to take off with a major part that I need.

Hmmmm...............Hey there!..........Yo!.........Ahem!...........I wasn't finished.........yet.

Eventually.......I did finish the job..........and he was very happy with his new set of wheels. Me and Supernurse bought him his first tricycle and we were both extremely happy to have been there for this.

Expansion Pack 2.1 was busy unwrapping all of his gifts and I can tell everyone that he loves each one of the gifts that he got. It was a great birthday and I can safely say that Expansion Pack 2.1 is a very spoiled child.......hehehe.

On Sunday, it was of course Game Day and I needed to watch the Ravens game. Expansion Pack 2.1 could care less about the game...........he is all about trains and tunnels. Me and Supernurse had bought him a Ravens outfit to wear on Sundays..........not that it would help the outcome of the game.

So while Pop-Pop is busy shouting at the tv screen............Expansion Pack 2.1 has more important things to do. Drat!..............my guys lose the game with a missed field goal............Arggghhh!........Oh well..........better "foot" next time..................

Time has flown by...........and we have flown home already. I miss the little guy already.

As I mentioned before........no sooner I get home, I turn around and head off to Mexico on November 1st................and both me and Supernurse are really looking forward to a nice vacation away from everything.

Meanwhile...........I hope my dollar is worth something by the time I get to Mexico.

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Introducing Sign's Eye

The Big Stink Permeates Baltimore

If you believe anything at all..............believe it stinks.

Stench..........It's not like any of us can say we didn't see any of this coming.
Tuesday was "Primary Election" day in Baltimore City. It stinks really bad now.
"Primary".........what a joke! In Baltimore City, "Primary Election" means that they will be selecting from the slate of morons in hope that one moron will maintain the status quo for the democratic party. Whoever wins the "primary" will BE the next mayor. "General Election"??.......you have to be kidding me.....Republicans make up about 7% of all registered voters in Baltimore.......you have a better chance of hitting the lottery like a guy named Bucky.
The General Election is pointless unless we can still hope for miracles..........more stink!

The democratic machine is so strong in Baltimore City that a republican candidate could never find enough dead people to vote for them and give the democrats a fight. Surely you must have heard how famous Baltimore is for having dead people vote.........more stink!

Does it stink enough yet?...........well.....the results are in............even more stink! Sheila Dixon will be continuing as Mayor of Baltimore. We are gonna be stuck with her for quite some time unless some miracle does happen. And guess who stood in front of the cameras to announce the "new mayor"?????..............it was none other than that leadership team for democrats led by former Baltimore Mayor and now current Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. Ohhhhh the stink factor is way up there now, ain't it?

Was the election fixed?......rigged by the powers that be?.........probably so......it would not surprise me one bit. It was reported all day long that the voter turnout was at an all-time low...........more stink. This tells me one of the following three things:

1. The dead were the only ones voting this year.

2. The majority of citizens in Baltimore are felons and are unable to vote.

3 There was nobody worth voting for so why bother?

Governor O'Malley was reported to have said that "voter turnout was decent". Imagine that.......this is further proof that this moron is out of touch with reality. How can anyone trust O'Malley with numbers? He also said "I don't subscribe to the notion that nobody cares about the city"...........hehehe.......can you "believe" that load of crap? Things are rancid enough and then this idiot has to hit the tv and say these kinds of things as if we are all little morons that have no idea why the majority of voters didn't bother to vote.

There are approximately 630,000 people that currently live in Baltimore City. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, there were over a million living here........now, half are gone............hmmmmmm.......must have been the stink. It is also a fact that there are 333,700 registered voters in Baltimore City, of which 90% are registered as democrats. Consider the above mentioned numbers and imagine this little fact............only 70,865 people actually voted on Tuesday..........that's all!............it's pathetic! and it stinks really bad! To sum it all up, it looks like it is safe to say that the few have decided for us all.......and I would bet money that those few stink so bad that they need a "Believe" sticker slapped on their backs. The newspaper reported "Landslide victory for Dixon!"......you have got to be kidding me......landslide?.........Bullhockey!

Oh yeah........let's hear it for O'Malley and Dixon.......under their regimes so far, Baltimore City schools have reached that pinnacle of a 40% graduation rate..........gee.....if they could reduce the murder rate, it might just have a chance to be 43%..........more stink!

Okay, so how can I explain this stench.......the big stink...........??????

Let me give it a shot since I have yet to hear any reasonable explanations in the media.

Here are my Top 20 Excuses For Baltimoreans Not Voting on Tuesday:

1. I didn't have an umbrella.

2. Too many po-leece around the polling places.

3. I don't do anything unless I get paid.

4. I like the high crimes and murder rates....it gives me something to read about in the news.

5. There was an election?........What's an election?

6. I had to go to Best Buy and wait in line for the new Kanye West CD.

7. I had to go to Best Buy and wait in line for the new 50 Cent CD.

8. I couldn't make bail in time.

9. I was recovering from the Ravens loss on Monday night.

10. A man's gotta sleep sometime.

11. I ain't dead yet, so I can't vote.

12. I didn't have bus fare.

13. I didn't want to get shot.

14. The only lever I pull is on the toilet.

15. I'm a Republican

16. It's too risky to gather in large groups of people on Sept. 11th......duh.

17. I am still taking classes paid by community development block grant money on how to fill out a ballot form.

18. Towanda's feelings were hurt so I had to take her to the emergency room.

19. I already missed three days of work this week and Tuesday was not one of them.

20. What?.......and miss the dog fights?