Another blow to the Big Horn

This is strictly a rant...nothing of any lasting impact will be presented here. I just learned that the best overall restaraunt in town is closing (whether permanent or temporary is still up in the air). Now this business will be the sixth closure for Hardin in the last 18 months and the decline does not appear to be slowing. This particular business's reason for closing is NOT lack of business, but rather lack of employable people. That to me is CRAZY; Big Horn County has one of, if not the highest rates of unemployment in the state of Montana (somewhere north of 9%). There is not a lack of jobs in the county (up until recently, everyone in the office with me worked two jobs); there is simply a lack of will to work. It amazes me that a business in a county with 9% unemployment has trouble finding people to do remarkable tasks like: showing up to work, showing up to work on time, staying till the end of a shift, leaving cell phones off during work, and the esprit' de corps...DOING THEIR JOB!!! Then these same people want to tell me that the government should help them out because they are out of work, that's crazy. In this election year the next president should focus not on fancy words or "band-aid" solutions to problems, but really developing a plan that can fix some of the laziness that our society has tolerated for faaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr too long. It should all start with mandatory drug and alcohol testing for ANYONE receiving government assistance (section 8 housing, welfare, foodstamps, etc.); basically, you fail a drug test or get hammered one night...NO CHECK FOR YOU. This would encourage personal responsibility (something sorely lacking in today's society). Next step is to limit the amount of time that someone may draw welfare (two years should be plenty of time for someone to find a job). I would also not totally cut off welfare payments for someone making minimum wage (that is not a livable wage anywhere that I am aware of), but if you can't even secure a job making minimum wage in two years then you are on your own. We need to quit rewarding people for being lazy. We enabling people to do drugs by paying them when they are fired for doing drugs on the job. We just need some common sense back in government.

Memorial Weekend Trip

I just got back from South Dakota last night. It was a last minute decision to go, but it had been raining in Montana for four days straight and I needed to see the sunshine; so off to the Badlands and to Mt Rushmore we went. I really think that the area around Spearfish, SD is one of my favorite areas in the country. I love the Black Hills and the prairie and how they come together in that area. I doubt that I would ever be able to afford to live in that area (very high dollar) but it still is nice to visit. I drove down and back two different ways, just to see some different scenery. I drove to Interior, SD via US 212 to Belle Fourche, SD to I-90 and drove back via SD 44 to Rapid City, south on Mt Rushmore Road and then north into Lead and Deadwood, SD back to Spearfish and then across Wyoming on I-90 back to Montana. It was beautiful in the hills and warm yesterday in South Dakota (it was cool last night in Wyoming and Montana). Today is going to be an unpacking and straighten up the house day. It is cool and overcast again here in Southcentral Montana (although it is supposed to be really warm later this week); the high today is 55, but with the wind blowing it feels cooler. Anyhow, pictures from the trip to the Badlands and Mt Rushmore can be found here.

Rediscovering Old Hobbies; Work, and My Opinion

I am attending a training session in Billings this week. I am supposed to be learning how to facilitate a meeting and keep everything going smoothly, resolving conflict, developing concensus, and making decisions. Right now, it is 01:05 and I am still awake...why is it that whenever I have these training sessions, I always have trouble sleeping? Just once I would like to go to a training and sleep well and enjoy the sessions (I can sometimes get one or the other, but rarely both and most times neither). I am just being whiney because I really want to go to sleep; I am not trying to be a night owl...I didn't even do that while I was in college!

On a different, more pleasant subject, I got my mountain bike back on a trail today. I rode Zimmerman Trail on top of the Rims in Billings! Great views of the city, lots of rocks to ride on and generally a fun time. I had forgotten how much fun that it could be to ride! It is safe to say that I have the bug again...I guess at this point in my life I CAN major in mountain biking (as I was accused of my freshman year at Virginia Tech)!

Oh, in case anyone is wondering, I did not go to Crow Agency yesterday to see Barack Obama! I also did not go to Billings to see him or either one of the Clintons when they were in Billings. This is a disappointing election year...I don't think any one of the three major candidates are worthy of being President. I don't think that any of the three will restrain government spending (here's a concept that might work...don't spend more that you make), or secure our border (come legally or not at all), or figure out a way to expedite other countries taking care of themselves and letting our men and women come home and quit babysitting in other countries (let's face it; that's what it is...I'm talking to you Iraqi Parliment). Anyhow, there is a decent rant for this late at night. Well America, here are your choices for President:

Hillary "duck and cover" Clinton--enough said
Barack "Karl Marx is my hero" Obama--listen to him and you'll understand the analogy
and John "Mr. Politician" McCain--served honorably, but is a true politician that does not connect with "Main Street" America and has been accused of "losing his bearings"

Some choices we are left with this year...

Oh, I heard this yesterday as well and it is a great analogy: "Calling an ILLEGAL alien an "undocumented alien" is like calling a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist". Kind of puts it in perspective, huh?

Fire up the candle (both ends, please)

Well, I thought that quitting my part-time job would allow me some more free time. Guess what, it hasn't. I find that I am now just filling in the time that I would have otherwise been spending at the store, working on my Extension career. I looked at my calendar today and it seems that I am now booked through the second week on August fairly solidly. In fact, it is now 19:00 and I just got back from area agents meeting in Circle (which I left for at 5 this morning) and guess where I came when I got back to town...that's right, the office!!! I just can't help it. I wanted to come over here and put the final prep on a program that I am doing tomorrow. Does anyone know the number for workaholics anonymous?

Branding, back to Texas, and finally...HOME!!!

This has been a busy couple of weeks. I went to a branding two weeks ago and then back to San Antonio last week, and now I am finally home again. The branding was very interesting; I have never been to one and watching cattle being worked from horseback and seeing how efficient the process really is justs blows my mind. Pictures from the branding are here.

My last trip to Texas is also over...hooray!!! I am DONE with traveling for a while. This latest trip was not very much fun. I didn't learn what I really wanted to get out of this conference and EVERYTHING costs too much in San Antonio. It is unbelieveable how much things are in the city. On a lighter note; when in San Antonio, Dirty Nellie's Irish Pub is a great little watering hole on the riverwalk. The piano player is good and the beer is cold.

School's OUT!!!

I'm done!!! I just submitted my final for the second class I was taking this semester! I am now done with school until the middle of June. I did OK in these two classes this semester and I heard from the graduate school that my application would be re-evaluated and my acceptance was now basically just a formality. I will be assigned a committee and my core curriculum will begin in the fall. I am taking another course this summer so by the time that I start my education core I will be 1/3 of the way done with the degree!!! Payraise and tenure here I come! I started to seek a M.S. with the goal of gaining more knowledge to help my clients; now, after seeing how the world really works, it is simply about "SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!" I know that sounds awful, but I obviously do not need a master's degree to do my job (I've been doing it for three years without one) so why not get the money that everyone else is getting already?