Monday, Monday

Give me Liberty or a Jelly Donut

Helps build strong bodies several ways: One of the staples of life in the 1950s and 1960s was a two-parent family that had dinner together. My how society has changed. Breakfast on the run in the car with a Starbucks triple mocha latte grande and a giant slice of New York coffee cake. No hands on the wheel. Lunch is a tube steak (uh, that’s a hot dog for you rookies) from the gut wagon that stops outside your place of employment. Dinner? Grilled chicken and rice, but you’re eating alone. The kids grabbed a burger and fries on their way to meet their buds. What dummies! No, really. Research shows that kids who eat sit down family meals at least once per day have higher grade point averages, are better adjusted, and are less likely to experiment with drugs. Bon apetite.

FOX News – Fair, Balanced, and made up: Last night Mrs. Dr. Forgot was watching Fox News. The story was about a dam breach and flood in the Grand Canyon. BREAKING NEWS! A high speed chase in upstate New York. Speeds in excess of 130 mph. The driver was identified as CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. Mrs. Dr. Forgot replayed the clip and sure enough that was the story. There is no verification. No news media, not even Fox has posted the story anywhere. The story must have been a hoax. Since the tag line “All the News That’s Fit to Print” is already taken, perhaps Fox News can run theirs as “We Outrage the Tabloids.”

Tag on your car and I’ll follow you anywhere: Each winter Olympics the story goes around about Picabo (pronounced Peek-a-boo) Street. She was injured in a ski accident but the hospital patched her up good as new. As a thank you, goes the story, she paid for an entire new emergency unit, which was named Picabo ICU. Cops in Fairfax VA must have heard the story and gotten the bright idea to attach a GPS (global positioning system) to cars of suspected bad guys. They tagged a GPS to the bumper of a van owned by a convicted rapist after 11 rapes were reported in his neighborhood. Result: GPS worked, rapist caught, lawyer objected because it was done without first getting a warrant. The left side of my brain says we need to be cautious about compromising our rights to privacy especially in view of the abuses by the current administration. The right side of me says, “One more bad guy off the streets.” ‘Tiz a puzzlement.

Nonsense and Sensibility: Don’t think we’ve forgotten that this is the political silly season. Democrats take the lead on this one. Since John Edwards got outed regarding his affair with his videographer (wait until we see THOSE sex tapes) he will be a persona non grata at the Demo convention in Denver. No speakers with a sordid sex history for these Demos. The Edwards the speech slot instead will be given to Bill Clinton! Off to the right you have Mitt Romney. Is it just me or does he look like the picture that comes in the frame? There is also some discussion that Mitt might have been the model on the “Just For Men” hair products. Mitt would balance the Republican ticket. None of his five sons served in the military but John McCain has served longer than any five candidates’ kids combined. Senator McCain also announced his economic plan to wipe out the deficit – he’ll put it all on his wife’s gold card.

Just when you thought the worst was over: Ah, things have been starting to look up on the economic front. Gas prices hit a three month low, stock markets were up more than down last week, T. Boone Pickens was getting windy in a good way. Perhaps the current administration is not as bad as the opposition had portrayed them. Or not. Well, oil slumped again down another dollar per barrel. But economists suggests that is just the “normaling out” of a market that had been fueled (pun intended) by speculators. Fuel is precarious and can be impacted by so many disasters including the storm in Florida. Oil’s loss has been the bond market’s gain but as the price of oil seems to be settling experts are predicting a dive in the bond market. Hershey stock is down ten percent as the price of chocolate increases the outlook is bittersweet. At least there is plenty of hot air to keep T. Boone’s windmills turning.

Won’t you take a ride in my beautiful balloon: Many of us can remember a time in the not too distant past when flying was a first class operation. We used to get dressed up just to board the plane. Food was served on cloth napkins and real silverware and silver salt and pepper shakers were the rule in First Class. A menu gave you several choices of cuisine. Even coach had warm meals decent legroom. My how times have changed. Off came the jackets and ties in favor of jeans, shorts, and tee shirts. Low fare airlines became the Greyhound of the sky. Then it got worse. Food disappeared. Charges were added to everything from free water to pillows and blankets. Delays, sultry cabin attendants, rude passengers, and barroom brawl boarding procedures replaced the once regal way of travel. Brace yourself. It’s going to get worse. Fewer flights, higher fares, reduced service, and fewer employees are all strategies airlines are using to keep profitable. How about this for a strategy? Improve service and legroom and raise prices so that only those who can afford it will fly. Passengers will probably dress up and be treated royally. Déjà vu!

A little blogging music Maestro... Frank Sinatra crooning, “Fly Me to the Moon.”

Dr. Forgot
See me also at http://vegasbuzznews.com/

Love Nevada Style

Nevada Governor is a Gen-Xer at Heart

Snow on the Rooftop but Fire in the Furnace: Governor Jim Gibbons, that 63-year old silver hair ex-pilot and leader of men might look like your average dork, but it turns out that he has punched his way into the world of Gen Xers. He’s become a master of text messaging. While denying his chat buddy was a mistress (half way between a master and a mattress), turns out that Guv sent Luv 850 text messages in five weeks. What that means, of course, aside from the possibility of suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome, is that the Guv has become multi-lingual. Texting has its own lingo of acronyms and symbols.

Not vexed by the text: As a former pilot the Guv had to learn a second language, “We have clearance, Clarence. Roger, Roger. Four five heavy cleared for one-niner left,” and other airport talk. So perhaps it was easy to learn text talk. Like former First Lady Hillary Clinton, the Guv was awake and awaiting the 2 a.m. phone call. We have no way of knowing what they had to say to each other during those 850 text messages as the textee has quit responding to the texter, so in the interest of language enhancement we will provide a transcript of what MIGHT have been said, complete with English translations:

GUV: WRUD? (What are you doing?)
LUV: AAF AAK (As a matter of fact, asleep at the keyboard)
GUV: ICBW (It could be worse) HAU (How About You?)
LUV: ICEDI (I can’t even discuss it)
GUV: MUSM (Miss you so much)
LUV: NALOPKT (Not a lot of people know that)
GUV: OIC (Oh, I see)
LUV: HLAM (How’s Life at the Mansion?)
GUV: NSFW (Not safe for work)
LUV: PXT (Please explain that)
GUV: PRW (People are Watching
LUV: PU (that stinks)
GUV: BY&M (Between you and me) NCBT (Not crying big tears)
LUV: RU SOMY (Are you sick of me yet?)
GUV: NRN (No response necessary) CUITM (See you in the morning)
LUV: GN (Goodnight) BFF (Best friends forever)

Only The Lonely: The aggrieved wife’s lawyer alleges an affair by the pair but the Guv says ‘taint about love but being a friend to the end. Still, I have lots of friends but none that I text 850 times in five weeks – that averages more than once per hour 24/7. That does not include the calls made to the platonic friend. I’ve got to believe that the Doctor’s wife is in receipt of more correspondence from the Guv than is his chief of staff or any other member of his cabinet. One spate of six calls, including one for 35 minutes, was made during the same time period in which GG (Governor Gibbons) was working with the Legislature over a $ 4 billion shortfall for highway construction. Perhaps he was trying to determine the road conditions between Carson City and his friend’s Reno neighborhood.

Dawn, Go away back where you belong: Although she’s been Mrs. Dawn Gibbons for 22 years, the First Lady of Nevada comes home each night to an empty mansion since not-such-a Gentleman Jim decided to split for the “family” home in Reno where his cellular carrier asks, “Can you text me now?” Negotiations are currently under way for him to return to the Big House and let Dawn preside over the guest house. This is the biggest story to hit national news (People magazine did a several page story on it) since the debate over whether to pronounce our state Nevaaada or Nevahda. The perception has changed from the being the home of Comstock Lode to being in the the Laughing Stock Mode.


A little blogging music Maestro... Perhaps a good ole boy country song: “How Can I Miss You if You Won’t Go Away?”

Dr. Forgot

Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore Art Thou?

Stupidity Left Untreated is Self Correcting

Was the fighter (pilot) also a lover?: Ah, Nevada politics. Some say that an honest politician is one who will stay bought. Maybe our politicians aren’t any wackier than those of other states, it just seems so. A candidate for Sheriff seems to have run a Ponzi scheme with his helicopter school, another was reportedly murdered by her husband, and a rising star in Nevada politics – a Notre Dame graduate and beauty queen - was charged with four felony counts. Our current governor is doing his best to become one of the wackiest politicians in recent memory.

Everybody loves a salacious saga: During his brief tenure to date the state’s deficit has ballooned to nearly $ 1 billion (with a B). The public yawned. Illegal immigrant maid kept in his basement. Ho hum. Appointed a banking lobbyist to run the Nevada Business and Industry Department - hardly a notice. Secret midnight swearing in ceremony - a one day story. And so it goes with a litany of bumbles, tumbles and ethical lapses. But bring in a potential sex scandal or two and the public loves it.

Jimbo and the bimbo: After then gubernatorial candidate and Mormon Gibbons finished getting soused with his campaign manager and a couple toadies at a bar/restaurant he staggered into the parking lot. There he saw the girl of his dreams. Long dark hair, big boobs and a pretty smile - the cocktail waitress who had come to his table earlier was alone. He walked her into the darkened parking garage then began to, uh, well, let us say, do more than just help find her Hummer. It was a great scandal for a week or two but tapes of the incident mysteriously disappeared and no charges were filed.

Heartache #2 was when you walked out on me: He won the election if not the gold medal for the wrestling event and moved into the governor’s mansion with wife Dawn. After half a year in the Big House, Governor Goofy packed his toiletries and overnight bag and left the Mansion in Dawn’s capable hands. Rumors began to swirl that “Jimmy has a girlfriend.” He denied it. Reports said this was an old high school chum. Of course the fact that she’s 20 years his junior meant either he holds the world’s record for flunking third grade, or it was a false report. Besides, the alleged “other woman” is the respected wife of a surgeon and former nanny (no, not the same as the illegal locked in the basement) and longtime friend. Guv Gibbo hurriedly had the divorce documents sealed from public view and prying eyes.

Wifey number two speaks: Long haired Dawn Gibbons was left behind like Rapunzel to wallow in the fine Mansion. Her lawyer responds to the affair: “The (other) woman has for years stalked the man who could give her the public persona and prestige that apparently she craves and for which she is willing to, concurrently, abandon her husband.” Stay tuned folks. This one has all the ingredients to become a staple on Fox news.

A little blogging music Maestro... Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) by Journey.

Dr. Forgot