Perhaps a nice Monday after a lousy weekend

That didn't turn out to be the nicest weekend of the summer so far. That, of course, was the weekend that just passed. On Friday, we weren't too sure just how yesterday would turn out. I'm not sure I liked its ending.

Saturday was fascinating. Late in the afternoon I turned to a local station that had golf scheduled, but instead ran into major hype about an impending disaster in Androscoggin County. The weather announcer, I think, had a one minute script which he kept repeating over and over and over. Now the area about which he spoke did get some damaging winds and rain, but no tornado ever touched down in spite of his little computer generated graphic showing tornadoes.

All his "exclusive" doppler radars added to the hype. There were also a whole slew of white lines that went round and round, probably trying to make us think they were radar signals looking for the storms. But they were, as usual, doing nothing. I did come to the conclusion that their real purpose was to detract from the guy reading the script so we wouldn't develop any negativism towards his hype.

Yesterday turned out to be about as forecast with some heavy storms, mostly in southwestern Maine, popping up through the afternoon. I was tickled with the first weather on Channel Six yesterday morning. The first thing the weather guy said was that warnings and watches were not the same thing. Apparently one of the stations, possibly his own, used the terms interchangeably.

Keith Carson told us we don't have to run to the basement for a "Watch" which only indicates conditions are right for a possible storm. A "Warning," on the other hand, indicates potential damaging storms are in the area and we should seek shelter.

Today and the rest of the week should be pretty nice.

I can't say they weren't out there, but I was a little surprised over the weekend that our house didn't get visited by a politician seeking my support. Phone calls were also conspicuous by their absence, too. I thought there'd be a big final weekend push, and perhaps there was elsewhere. Gator Wife and I had already voted and perhaps candidates are informed when someone votes so they can take a name off a list.

The cadidates were active, though, with ads galore on the TV. One of the ads got me to thinking. Have those toy manufacturers developed a way to make talking bobble heads? They might be a money maker.

Another political folly that amused me is the number of candidates that so proudly publish a list of politicians who have endorsed them. The only thing those endorsements ever convinced me to do was not to vote for them. Since I think our state is overtaxed, overcontrolled, and overspent, I can't think of any reason to vote for someone who apparently is already part of the establisment. As many, many people have asked, why do people continue to vote for the same people expecting a different outcome?

Don't forget to vote absentee today or at the polls tomorrow, and if you don't want higher taxes, vote "YES" on Question One. If the tax law is overturned, your taxes will not go up one penny. If the repeal is rejected, you will face 102 additional sales tax items.

GiM