Eighteen days
until #100. Although I can and do still drive I accept being
an annoying passenger seat driver who is very nervous when others are driving
my car.
I am
frustrated with UPS who notified me that they left a package at my house on the
porch, there was no package and when
I complained they emailed a copy of the proof of delivery signed as “driver
released”. Their customer that day and
again the next day their customer representative told me I was wrong because
they had “proof” .
Implying but not saying that I am a liar if I insist that there was no package
Nor would
they advise me what vendor had sent the 5lb package. Since I was not expecting anything,
I can’t check with anyone where I have outstanding but delayed orders, some
from overseas almost a year old. My loss could be a couple 100 dollars.
USPS also frustrates
me. Although I live in Plainfield our
delivery is by vehicle ala rural. Mail delivered packages may be crammed into
my street side letter box. Or packages can be left at the side of the house by
the garage door where no one goes except to go in the car or take the garbage
out.
Occasionally they are also properly left on the front porch.
Since we are
on a vehicle delivery rout the time is not consistent. WE put mail in the box
and raise the flag. A good delivery person turns it down when he picks up
whether he/she also leaves or not /mail. Some leave the flag up so we have no
way to tell if there is a delivery. If there
is a personnel shortage at the Netherwood station we may have a substitute late
delivery or like yesterday the letters we put us were still in the box at 6pm. Therefore,
we had NO delivery that day- not the first time it has happened. What has
happened with “through rai n snow etc. the mail must go”?
The Iowa
caucuses certainly was a f***ed up mess. Pelosi and the Democrats made the
house impeachment process purely political and not a constitutional thing. They
ignored previous rules. did not call all possible pro/con witnesses and her
delay in transferring to the Senate gave ammunition to the Republicans who made
a farce of the Senate “trial”.
The Pelosi/Trump
feud Republican/Democrat political antagonism was at its peak Tuesday night at
the State of the Union address Trump snubbed the Speaker of the House when in entered
the dais and she visibly stood and tore up her copy as Trump concluded. And the
Democrats ran out of the House before the President stepped down.
No wonder there
is no people government in DC. Our elected officials’ primary agenda is to be
reelected and not to act Constitutionally and legislate.
I once had a FedEx driver ring my bell, drop the package and head down the steps. When I opened the door and asked him: "Don't you need a signature?" he replied: "You already signed."
ReplyDeleteHappy Pre - Birthday doc!!!! You are a Plainfield gem.
ReplyDeleteDoc, first let us wish you a wonderful 100. Your informative blogs continue to be of service to the community. Not quite as dramatic as landing in a glider behind enemy lines, but important nevertheless.
ReplyDeleteWould appreciate your thoughts on the pedestrian mall proposal and the 3 !/2 % property tax increase. It seems every week we receive a notice that boasts of a new PILOT program and with it predicted enormous revenue it will provide. The pedestrian mall is purported to cost 2 1/2 million. If it, like most public construction projects, follows the customary path the final total cost could be 3 million? Increased debt is detrimental to our credit rating. The debt must be serviced with periodic interest payments. The Brokers extract sums for constructing the documents for the offering, advertising it, and making the distributions. Aside from this there is a serious question as to how beneficial the Mall will be? Here are my suggestions. The Administration should provide the Public with a summary for each PILOT project approved or being considered that shows the formula for PILOT payment amounts, the anticipated revenue stream and the actual for those under construction or completed.. The payment formulas are sometimes complex, with alternative possibilities. While modest minimum payments are usually stipulated the real bucks are derivatives of these formulas. Any incomes that are derived from these formulas are speculative. The City's payment depends on how much revenue the development produces for the Developer? If the commercial and residential spaces do not rent both Developer and City suffer. While there are periodic scalations stipulated in the MINIMUM payment schedule typically there is NO escalation in the minimum payment for many years. This is in sharp contrast to the historic annual increase in property taxes of 2 1/2 to 3 1/2%. The larger escalations in the PILOT agreements occur when most of us will be dead. It is my hope these deals are fruitful. Until we are confident of that I suggest we defer any Mall schemes until we have 3 consecutive years absent a property tax increase. That is, the PILOT revenues, and/or fiscal prudence are sufficient to maintain a constant tax rate. If you press the goose to lay golden eggs too frequently eventually the goose will expire. Bill Kruse
Yes Doc, the Iowa caucuses were badly mishandled. But I have a particular view of it, because I am the only political figure for miles around here whose career started at an Iowa caucus. It is run as a pure citizens' meeting at the neighborhood or small-town level, breaking up into separate discussions for each party. In mine, we had it at a church, and the parties simply went to opposite ends of the building. The people attending appoint someone to the County Committee for that party, by acclimation, as well as voicing their support for (or opposition to) candidates at the upper levels.
ReplyDeleteIn 1980 I attended the Republican meeting nearest my apartment in Des Moines, and got drafted to be a Committeeman because, I assume, I came across as an articulate young man. Some weeks later, I was tapped to run for countywide office as Clerk of Court (in NJ it's County Clerk). Knowing I lived in a Democratic majority county, I didn't expect much, but I learned so much, getting my feet wet. This was later applied to several elections in New Jersey, where my chance of winning, due to party strength, was closer to zero.
I wish everyone in America would recognize the Iowa caucuses as pure citizen democracy, without insulting the demographics there. Too bad they used some defective software this time out. My faith in this process will remain strong.