Tuesday is important in Illinois

Illinois....Land of Lincoln.  That's our claim to fame and it's on our license plates, (we we tongue in cheek joke that our ex-governors could me making in prison) but corruption is also a dark cloud that hangs over our state.  George Ryan, Rod Blago, heck I even remember the infamous Paul Powell!  That's a name from Illinois' governing past!

How did a state that prides itself on having Abraham Lincoln as its native son get so far off track?  I wish I knew...because then I'd know how to fix it quickly.  I do know one way to help make it more honest and work to improve it....VOTE.

Tuesday is primary election day in Illinois.  I'm just like you....tired of the phone calls telling me to vote for this candidate or that candidate.  And while I'm at it, if you're a candidate don't tell me what the other guy is doing wrong.  Tell me what YOU'RE going to do.  Actions speak louder than words.  But we've got to take a step to move forward and sometimes that can be a little painful.

Just a side note to all of you elected officials.  I've noticed in life you get more done when you work with others.  You have to compromise a little; win the battle to later win the war.  Louis L'Amour once wrote, "Victory is won not in miles, but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later win a little more."   The people in Illinois would like you to remember that also!


Now we've got ourselves in one heck of a mess.  We can't pay our bills, we can't pay what we have promised to pay others, we've sat and argued and bickered and pointed fingers too long.  ("We" referring to the state of Illinois of which I am a concerned resident!)


It's not going to be easy.  It's not even going to be fun, but we'd better get our house in order and quit spending for things we can't pay for.  We can't make promises we can't fund.  We're going to have to be more independent and maybe turn down some programs that we may have to pay for later....but we're going to have to get it done.


So, as far as a candidate for Governor of the State of Illinois.  I'm looking for John Wayne.  Yep, JOHN WAYNE!  He'd better have some gumption and when he gives his word, he'd better mean it.  He better think of others first, not himself or herself (although we don't have any female candidates this time). He'd better be ready to fight hard for what he believes in and not worry if people "like him".  As my parents used to say, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."  He'd better be tall, strong and pretty darned independent.


To the rest of the 13 million people who live in this state, get busy.  Pitch in.  GO VOTE.  Don't take it for granted.  If you want to get us on track, THEN GO VOTE on Tuesday.  You can't sit idly by thinking someone else will fix your problems.


Enuf said....

Finishing 2009 in 2010

Last year (2009) in farming had to be one of the most difficult, challenging and tiring!  My mom and dad finally finished harvesting crops today!  We hope to finish soon.  

Are you kidding me?  TODAY! Yep today!  January 30, 2010...the rest of their 2009 corn crop was harvested.  

It's days like today when survival is the word that comes to mind.  Can we just hold on, survive, make it another day to finish up.  Can we just stay safe, not break anything, not lose our minds!

There's nothing quite as satisfying as sitting down after a LONG fall/winter harvest to know you've finished.

Crazy thing is...won't be long we'll be looking at planting again!  Here's to a more productive, less challenging and less wet 2010 crop year!

ipod, ipad, idunnoknow!

So yesterday Apple messes with our minds and shows what the new iPad is going to look like. (Please hold all jokes here...Heard them ALREADY!)

It's a very intriguing idea, but still doesn't have things I'd like....what no USB? Can't even attach an external hard drive or DVD player?

You mean I have to sync it to my other computer? But I thought it was supposed to replace my laptop?

No flash memory? Heck, I don't get it?

AT&T service? This is rural ILLINOIS, people! AT&T is like finding a leprechaun around here.

I want the BURGER KING iPad...you know...Have it your way. Maybe the King could deliver it to me with great fanfare and I could have it customized with a big picture of my family on the back of it.

Everybody wants us to compromise...can't have this, but you can have that.

Can't eat this, but you can eat that.

Well...there you go. I'm not willing to compromise away what I want. So when the day comes that I can put together my own computer/laptop/iPad...whatever you want to call it, I might actually want to buy one!