What’s ahead? Will 2013 be a better year for us than 2012? Much of the answer to this vague question lies within each of us. It is up to each of us to do what we can to improve things, particularly little things, for ourselves. Those little things that we can control eventually will add up to larger accomplishments.
Unnecessary. Our Thumb remains pointed down regarding to the disappointments in Congress and this wearisome fiscal cliff mess. A Band-aid agreement got us over a hump for a short while, but so much remains unresolved in the basics of our nation’s operations. A ray of hope is in the grudgingly approved raise of taxes on the very wealthy.
Dog ate my homework. When the Little Rock Mills boys basketball team didn’t show up near game time at the Battle at the Brier, a quick phone call to the defending champions produced this answer. “Oh, we are not coming. We couldn’t get a bus.” We do not criticize the schools that dropped out of the tournament because of concern over travel.
Could have been worse. Trying to find a bright side to the tremendous snow storm and its effects, the timing of it was on our side — to some extent. Schools were already closed. Many businesses were at a lull, some even taking days off. Yes, there was Christmas travel, but had the storm come before or after the holidays, inconveniences and problems would have been greater.
Chickens come to roost. Who pays for restoring power and cleaning up damage from the Christmas snow? The customers, that’s who, in the long run. Utilities that brought in thousands of workers on 16-hour schedules pay immediately from reserves, then our monthly bills have add-ons. You got your power back on, so pay a little each month for the work.
Bland bowl performance. That was Bret Bielema’s Wisconsin team that lost to Stanford in the Rose Bowl. The players were Bielema’s legacy, and they were not as strong of a unit as Stanford. Running back Montee Ball is a dandy, though. Bielema’s players, yes, but the play calling by Wisconsin’s coaches was not a Bielema inheritance, we hope.
“I don’t know if playing chicken with the American people at this point is in the best interest of the people.”
— Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., a freshman in Congress.