WEEKEND AT YOGI BEAR

With summers end closing in on us, I try and get to the camper as much as I can. This weekend was just like the rest of the week. HOT!!!!!. Can you imagine going to a camper, sitting on the deck and having a fan blowing on you? That's what my neighbor does. He says that you should be outside when camping and the fan creates a nice breeze.

The neighbor across the street had a high school graduation party for her son Scott. They have some nice trees at the back of their campsite and there was also a nice breeze back there so you can imagine where we were. Lots of good food, drink and conversation. Later we had a camp fire. Imagine having a camp fire when it's 97 degrees. That's part of camping, without the camp fire you might just as well stay home. We all sat back from the fire at least 10 feet because everyone said it was too hot to sit any closer. We couldn't even roast marshmallows. We still had a wonderful time.

OBEYING THE LAW

In our newspaper we have a section that is called Back Talk. This is where people can speak their mind and get things off of their chest about anything.

The other day someone wrote in to complain about people driving in the left doing just the speed limit. He thought that the person should have moved over to the right lane so he could pass. But the person in the left lane replied that he was obeying the law and should not have to move to the right lane so the other person could speed and break the law. I think he was wrong. Did he ever think that the person behind him trying to pass might have an emergency at home or he could be taking someone to the hospital.

Next time knucklehead, move over. The law does state the slower traffic use the right lane. Next time YOU should obey the law.

BAD MANNERS

Yesterday while I was getting gas a car pulled up on the other side of the pump. Two elderly men got out of the car, one went inside to use the restroom and the other was putting gas into the car. As the one man was walking toward the building where the restroom was the other yelled to him "hurry up I have to go too". As we were both filling our gas tanks I looked across and saw a stream coming from the mans shorts and forming a puddle on the ground. Since he was finished before me putting gas into his car, he walked into the food mart wet pants and all to pay the cashier. This must be what he does all the time because he didn't even attempt to hide the huge wet spot in front of his pants. And today while I was parked at a red light, a passenger from the car in front of me threw out a banana peel without giving it a second thought. I can see a younger person doing this but this was a elderly person. I wounder what the homes of both people I mentioned look like if they have proven themselves to be slobs.

A THANK YOU TO MY NIECE AND HER HUSBAND

Over the weekend my granddaughter and I spent time in Wisconsin with my sister-in-law, her husband and my niece and her husband and two children. It was a wonderful weekend and I want to say THANK YOU to my sister-in-law Dottie for inviting us and to Karen and Lance for taking my granddaughter under their wing and showed her a most wonderful time. Thank you again.

DREW CAREY AND THE PRICE IS RIGHT

Rosie O and now Drew. What are these people thinking? Drew has about as much personality as a wet hen. I bet the show will not last a year with the type of people they are choosing to MC the show. I wonlder if Bob Barker has anything to say about the picks.

4TH OF JULY PARADE

On this hot day and my daughter and grandchildren being in from Texas I thought it would be nice if we joined my son and his family to watch the Merrillville Indiana 4th parade. We picked a nice shady spot along the route and waited for the parade to pass. What a joke. What parade.
First came the fire engines and other rescue vehicles, of course with the sirens blaring. This was ear shattering for about 20 minutes. Then there was a 15 minute lag until the next wave of whatever came by. Oh yes it was all of the elected officials from the county, throwing candy and smiling from ear to ear. Who was who no name tags and if you were not personal friends of their how would you know who was who. The entire parade contained fire engines, two marching bands, politicians, about 15 trucks and vans from some auto glass shop, one float (if that's what you want to call it), about 10 Shriners, 20 corvettes from the Indiana Corvette Club, a few churches and in conclusion a police car to announce the end of the parade. There was no parade control to keep the people from being run over by the parade cars as they rushed to gather candy and of course the elected officials and the helpers did nothing to tell the people to get back. Not a good time at all. Next year we will go to the Crown Point parade.

FESTIVALS

You can almost compare this time of year with Christmas. There is a lot of excitement around the 4th of July with all the festivals. Every town, city, village and neighborhood is having some type of festival. This is wonderful. The music, carnival rides, food, drink and just getting out and seeing friends. Everybody should be having a good time. But along come the punks with their hats turned around or worn sideways who think they rule the world. In a village near where I live that's just what happened. Disrespect for the people attending the festival but also the police officers there to see that everything stays respectful. But no, these guys and girls push people around and start fights and drink while underage and can't handle it. This festival had to be shut down 30 minutes early because of several teenagers fighting in the middle of the festival. Hats off to the police and others who quickly put this kind of behavior to rest. Job well done. Now if we can just keep the other trouble makers out of this season of festivals it would be perfect. HAPPY 4TH OF JULY.