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 Holabird AdvocateProviding all the news we see fit to print since 2002!Monday, July 26, 2010 There was a time in my life when all I could think about was being in the halls of power. As I get older, I realize more and more that such a thing is unrealistic. I lack most of what it takes to get elected: money charisma, and most important of all, arrogance. Think about it, most people running for office need to have a certain attitude about them. A true politician has to be able to meet the voter where they are, look them in the eye, and tell them why they should vote for him or her. It helps if one is a little bit arrogant when they say, "Vote for me, because I know what's best for you and I'm not afraid to do it". Just this morning I found out there is an Independent candidate running for US House for South Dakota. His name escapes me, and that is part of the problem. He was in the Mitchell area talking to people, I was not among them, about what sets him apart. What he said was on the radio news. He has a plan to help keep himself in touch with the voters. Trouble is, he's gotta get elected first. That's hard to do when you are an Independent and nobody knows who you are. Once they do know you, then you're ready Step 2: be smart, but likable. It is very difficult for arrogant people to be both smart and likable. We haven't had a President like that since JFK. Since then, they've been one or the other, but never both. In Minnesota, one of their districts has a race for US Representative that is like ours. The challenger has started to go negative because her positive case is not strong enough. It's as if she is saying, "Vote for me because the incumbent is no good". It's too bad we can't vote for somebody rather than against somebody else! So no, I don't see me as a candidate for office. If I ran for Hyde County dog catcher, I could only count on two votes, mine and Mrs. Luze's. But once I locked up her dog, she'd wanna impeach me. Same old story! Still not being in the ring is OK. The voter is the most important part of the political process, and I won't give that up as easily. Thursday, July 22, 2010 Last night, Mitchell got a little rain. Some in the area got an inch, some got 6 inches. The official total was 3.69 inches as reported by KOOL 98 this morning. The rain came down in sheets. Sidewalks were covered by the flood. It took a while, but the storm sewers drained the lake that was forming on the streets downtown. I stopped by the University, where Senator McGovern was watching someone Else's muffins for them while I was looking at this car float down the street on the Front Page of the Daily Republican. He looks good for 88! Today is Grandad's birthday. I hope to go to the Steak N More for prime rib and a glass of milk. and think about Grandad, and his legacy. He was a legend in his time when one thinks on it. He disliked being honoured intensely. He never sought wealth, fame, power, glory, or any of the other things that one associates with greatness. This reluctance to seek these trappings out is indeed what made him all the greater. He was content to raise corn, sheep, and his family and let others rule the world. He never cheated his neighbor or coveted his neighbor's wife. As long as his life was, he left us all too soon. We'll never see his kind again. Every once in a while I wonder what he'd make out of the world situation. He'd have an opinion, and he'd let you know what he thought about it, too! As difficult as life was with him, it hasn't exactly been a picnic without him either. Every now and then I remember bits and pieces of some of the thins he used to say and I'd almost swear he was right there with me. I guess in a way he always will be. When I tried to convert this website into a sitcom format, I thought of including some of Grandad's speaking to me, but I thought better of it. Some things were better left between the two of us. It's gonna rain again tonight! I hope if you get some too if you need it! Tuesday, July 20, 2010 Back in the Fall of 2007 there was a show that looked mildly amusing enough that promised two geek scientists would be welcoming an attractive blond girl into the neighborhood. One a little more than the other, EX: Geek#1: Our children will be smart AND beautiful! Geek #2: Not to mention imaginary Yes it was "The Big Bang Theory" of course. I was off to DWU and was not able to watch the show at it's inception. Believe it of not my dad actually brought the show to my attention during the Thanksgiving break. And there was something about it that spoke to me. CBS actually made a sitcom that was funny. Who could have seen that coming. The best part of the show is that it's clean, well, clean for today's standards. The show doesn't try to be funny, it just is. Back in 1962, CBS did something similar with "The Beverly Hillbillies" They took a group of people out of their familiar surroundings and funny stuff happens. Penny, as the neighbor, like Drysdale did for the Clampetts, acts as both protector and facilitator, showing this group of misfits the real outside world and vice versa. The difference here is that Penny does care about Leonard and Sheldon, as well as Raj and Howard. We may know someone like these 5 people, w may even be one of them. If not they are all still likable enough that you can't help but want to see and be part of the fun. They each have some little idiosyncrasy that by itself could drive one crazy but deep down they are so kind and lovable you care about them despite themselves. Monday, July 19, 2010 I turned 43 yesterday, Other than the fact it was my birthday, it was really rather like any other day. My usual routine wasn't interrupted, with the exception that I took a nap before going to Taco John's for Softshell Sunday. I recalled a previous birthday 31 years ago. My family was vacationing in the Black Hills and we stopped in Custer to see the Grables on the day before my big day. Back then, when someone on my mothers side of the family had a birthday the extended family would gather for the occasion. Naturally, I wanted to get home for that. Long story short, we ended up staying overnight, and when we finally did get home everyone in the family had other plans on my birthday. Imagine that! I was quite upset, and I made sure everyone around me knew that. My dad told me something that has stuck with me since the evening of July 18, 1979. "The world does not revolve around you! It's about time you learned that!" It was a hard thing to hear, and perhaps not the best time to learn that lesson. As hard as it was to learn I think we all need to learn to be a little less self -centered. Through the clear vision of hindsight, I saw that I could have enjoyed being in Custer, but I was in too big of a hurry to get home. Once home, I came face to face with disappointment. Things don't always go our way. Life is not fair. We can either let it get us down or shake it off. Yesterday was just another Sunday to me. I was all alone on my birthday. Sure there were people all around me at church, at work, and at Taco John's. But nobody went out of their way to do something for me. I'd have been very upset about that 31 years ago. But now, it's OK. Maybe I'm just used to disappointment, or maybe it just takes less to satisfy me. I had just as much fun as I would have if the Ditty Bops had met me at the Depot. Things could have been worse. I managed to get all the paperwork together to get my driver's license renewed for another lustrum. I still don't understand why we gotta do it, but the fact that I got it done should count for something. All things considered, it could have been worse. I see that the Senator parachuted out of an airplane on his birthday today. I'd rather hunt up paperwork! Truth be told, if I had done that sooner there wouldn't have been such a rush. I guess it's like they say, "Too soon old and too late smart!" Wednesday, July 14, 2010 Well, time, as it does has done snuck up on me. With my birthday on Sunday, I have to get my drivers license renewed. I'd rather take a beating than do that! Apparently the moron politicians have made it that we here in South Dakota have to produce all kinds of paperwork to prove that we are who we claim to be. If that isn't about the stupidest thing you ever did hear about, I don't know what it could be. So I gotta look up all this crap and make my way to Hyde County and see if I can get this crap over with. I just have to wonder when we became a Nazi state where illegal aliens have more civil rights then those of us that were born here. I suppose we could blame it on 911, or some other thing, but I'd still like to hear a rational explanation for why getting a drivers license renewed, which was already complicated enough before, has to be next to impossible now. What kind of idiot thought this up? What the heck was he (or she) thinking when they proposed this line of crap? The real knee slapper here is that this is the same mentality that says the government needs to be in charge of health care. I suppose they'll want a blood and urine sample when I gotta do this again in 5 years. I just know that some goofball from Sioux Falls has to be the one pushing this kind of crap on us. Some Satan worshiping one world government type! As you can tell, I'm not liking this one little bit. But I'll play along, because I do need to have that license if I'm gonna drive anywhere for the next five years. And as bad as things are here, I can only imagine that they are far worse in other places. I will get through this somehow, and with any luck die before I have to go through it again. On the lighter side, I just found out that Larry Hagman, ol' JR Ewing himself has endorsed a solar power company. You can see for yourself why he doesn't get out much. Hardcore fans of the show will recall that Bobby Ewing left the oil business to start a solar power venture back around 1981. At any rate, here is a link to what promises to be Hagman's swan song: http://www.solarworld-usa.com/solar-for-home/why-go-solar/nows-the-time/Shine-ad1.aspx Tuesday, July 13, 2010 Cousin Al's Newspaper, USA TODAY, reports that Newt Gingrich is thinking about running for president in 2012, but won't make up his mind about it until some time next spring. So why did he say anything at all? He is using the old "let's run it up the flag pole and see who salutes it" trick. If there is no resultant buzz, he will fade away by next spring. Time will tell on this one. At least this gives the Republicans someone besides Sarah Palin to vote for. GAG! Closer to home Kristi Noem has been drawn first blood in the U.S. House race. It was pretty much a forgone conclusion that she would. After all, she has to make her opponent in this election, incumbent Stephanie Herseth Sandlin appear as though she is unfit for office. It doesn't necessarily give us the voter a reason to vote for Noem beyond that. Conversely, Herseth Sandlin can't fight back because it will make her look weak. I wish that Noem could have kept her hands clean and just ran on her strengths rather than Herseth Sandlin's weaknesses. This is one ad that was run up the flagpole that I won't salute! Monday, July 12, 2010 One of the most asked questions in the world is, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" We all struggle to come up with the answer, or even just an answer to satisfy us for just a while. The things is that we have a different answer for each case. The biblical Job was tested far beyond what most of us would think is the breaking point. He made it through his time of trial, and he became a stronger person for it. I've had friends that went through some bad times, and I've had some pretty hairy moments myself. None of us are alone. Jesus is there to carry us through the darkness and into the light. When I came to Mitchell, I was all alone. There was no support system here for me at all. By that, I mean a visible means of support. The Holy Spirit of Jesus was there to hold me up. When I needed it, I heard my Grandad's voice guiding me. Some may think I was crazy to believe that it really was him, but in reality that is what kept me sane. I made a few mistakes along the way, but I got through it by not giving up and not letting myself get defeated by those people and things that sought to harm me. Those bad experiences are just a memory now, but should more be on the way, I'll deal with them as they come. Giving up is the easy way, but it's not the cowboy way. The people that settled in Dakota were tough because they had to be. They faced fire, flood, drought, famine, and government regulation. They made it through, because they had to. It was literally a life and death decision. They chose life, and 120 years later we still struggle, but we don't give up or we're dead. My Grandfather, Wilbur Charles Goehring, was quite a guy, or so I'm told. He was smart, strong and determined to make it. In his youth he got reckless with some dynamite and lost a few fingers. He wanted to become a lawyer, but was talked out of it because apparently typing skills were paramount to a college education back then. It wasn't meant to be. But in this case, God replaced his dream with something arguably better. He stayed in Hyde County, was engaged in farming, married my grandmother, and raised a family until he died. His missing fingers stopped him from becoming a lawyer, but he made a pretty good life for his family while he could even with that one handicap. His accidental death just a few years before I was born cheated his family, especially those that never got to know him but we made it through, because we had to. In "Gone with the Wind" Gerald O'Hara told his daughter, Katy Scarlett, "Land is the only thing that matters because it's the only thing that lasts!" I'd like to think that family is the same way, if not than at least the willingness to endure the hardships on the land. I'm away from both my land and family. But I know where each of them are. They were both here before I was born, and after I die they will both endure. They will be changed, but they will both still here! I don't know if I answered the question or not. I may have asked a few new ones. Friday, July 09, 2010 It is days like today that I wish I had a newspaper. The headline would read "Cheese Plugs Up Interstate". that is exactly what it did, in part anyway. At least 17,000 lbs of the stuff was spilled on Interstate 90. News outlets from as far away as Chicago pounced on this story. The Mitchell Daily Republican had some photos fro Keloland. on the serious side, some folks were injured, albeit in a non life threatening way. It seems that the driver of the semi containing the cheese fell asleep yesterday morning and rear ended the people in front of him. As it happens everyone was obeying the seat belt law, so there were no fatalities. On a totally unrelated note, I've discovered that something like 82% of divorce lawyers use evidence gathered from social networking sites like Facebook. There is no right to privacy on the Internet. People gotta wake up to that. Which reminds me, I mentioned being married, didn't I. Well, the rest of the story is that I was playing a Facebook game called Frontierville, and someone gifted my with a ribbon. BOOM, I was given a wife. I fashioned her after a young lady I dated a couple of times last year. I have since edited my Internet bride to look like my good friend and part time exercise buddy, Jane. I hope that both unions are not legally binding. When I called my lawyer, Morley Krupt of the law firm of Ural,Krupt,Sumi,& Dye to ask him, he hung up on me. How rude! Back to cheese! I see in the Argus that the Virginia Center for Politics has rated South Dakota's US house race a "toss up". It would also appear that both parties are making this a race to watch, since Kristi Noem seems to be Stephanie Herseth Sandlin's toughest opponent so far. That said, I have noticed that Mrs Sandlin has not appeared at the South McDonald's in Mitchell, to face the coffee shop communion. Then again, she can't be everywhere. Also today's Argus Life section has a young lady that graduated from DWU last May. She is modeling aprons. Why can't I get a job like that? Wednesday, July 07, 2010 The Blog$hare ratings have me down to #31 from the previous low of #29 back in March. At least I'm not #80! Of course I didn't start this website to be popular. I'm not sure why I did, but that wasn't the goal. Finding something to write about has been difficult. At least finding something interesting to write about has been. I got a robocall this afternoon from someone pretending to be my bank. It's happened before, so I hung up. Before it was an unknown number. This time, the caller ID came through. I called the number, just to see if I had a stupid criminal story in the making, and when I did it was the voicemail number for a major cell phone provider. It sure looks like somebody been phishing!They caught nothing from me! If this writers block continues I may have to have breakfast at McDonald's again, or write about getting married last Sunday. Neither of those two options appeal to me. Tuesday, July 06, 2010 Well, the 4th was here and now it's gone! I had to work over the 3 day holiday, but that was the most enjoyable part of the weekend. I went to the Dakota Discovery museum to see their celebration. For a suggested donation of $2 you could eat ice cream of both the homemade and store bought variety, drink lemonade, and listen to a musician that came courtesy of the SD Arts council. I forgot his name, but he looked like one of the guys in the "Acoustic Christmas" show. I couldn't get close to the fireworks at the lake, and KMIT had promised patriotic music, but their idea of that was Miley Cyrus singing "Party in the USA". So I went to bed, turned on the radio and listened to "The Beatles Show" before turning in. I wonder sometimes how it came to be that we celebrate our independence by waving American flags made in Japan, shooting off fireworks made in China, and listening to British rock music. Then I realize that we are all imported from somewhere. I myself am part German, Irish-Canadian, Norwegian, and topped with German from Russia. It wasn't that long ago that pizza was not eaten in this country because it was Italian, now it's as American as apple pie, if such a thing is possible. This country is still a melting pot even if some of us don't want to blend in, because of it's freedom. Even that we imported from outside. We have a great thing going here, but I'm glad we only celebrate it once a year. Incidentally, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin was in Corsica and Wagner today taking care of business. no word on if she will be coming to Mitchell to sit in the hot seat at the South McDonald's Breakfast Bunch. She has plenty of time to do that, as the election is not until November. Saturday, July 03, 2010 We who are blessed to call America home observe July 4 as Independence Day. When you think about is, this is the only American holiday I can think of that honours a decision made by a group of politicians. Of course, there is more to it that that. Those politicians that signed our nations birth certificate were also signing their own death warrants. As the Continental Congress bought our freedom, the Minutemen paid the bill. As we celebrate this occasion, let us remember that the freedom we enjoy came at a cost, as it always does. The military of today defend this country in he same way the Minutemen did when the cradle of democracy was first being rocked. Pray that they do their duty faithfully, and with all the American pride they possibly can. The Supreme Court tells us that the Constitution gives us the right to speak freely and the right to remain silent. I will endeavour to exercise both rights when it is proper to do so, and I hope that you will join me in the attempt as well! GOD BLESS AMERICA AND AMERICA BLESS GOD!!! Thursday, July 01, 2010 I got one heck of a shock Monday night when I saw the tabloid headline earlier this week in the checkout lane of the local Wal-mart. "Al Gore Sex Attack" is a hard headline to miss. Back in the old days,I'd have picked it up and read all about it. That night I thought it was the usual load of BS. Probably just feeding off his earlier divorce mess. I laughed off the thought and went over to the self checker to see if I could buy something and take it home. Then this morning on the radio, I hear that the police are investigating this mess. Could it be there's something to it? Well,from what I've been able to piece together, this case is 4 years old, and the massage therapist that he allegedly attacked tried to sell the story for a cool $1,000,000 makes me a little skeptical. We'll see! Whether or not he did it, to paraphrase Jimmy Fallon, this is one week where Al Gore is sorry he created the Internet. 
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