{"id":26173,"date":"2011-12-08T21:45:23","date_gmt":"2011-12-09T01:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/miserybay.usanethosting.com\/wordpress\/?p=26173"},"modified":"2011-12-08T21:45:23","modified_gmt":"2011-12-09T01:45:23","slug":"what-129","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/what-129\/","title":{"rendered":"What do I think?"},"content":{"rendered":"

thinker.jpgSanta Parade, Paper Delivery, and a Few Assorted Thoughts
\nby Barry Bauer
\nI went downtown as usual last Friday night to take pictures of the Santa Parade. I established squatter\u2019s rights in front of the Veterans Memorial facing the Courthouse where I usually stand hoping to get some good pictures. Taking pictures at night, especially with my equipment, isn\u2019t the most desirable thing to do but I do it anyway.
\nI couldn\u2019t help but notice a young lady with a camera rig that must have cost a fortune. Her camera was mounted on a tripod and had a lens that probably cost at least three times more than what my whole camera cost. It was bigger than a spotting scope! And the camera body was twice as big as mine. It was no doubt a digital SLR either made by Canon or even better, Nikon. One of the best lens makers in the business.
\nWhen her mounted flash unit went off the whole 300 block of N. Clinton Ave. lit up! I could feel the warmth from it.
\nNeedless to say I was green with envy. If I stood in front of the Christmas tree right then before it was officially lit, nobody could find me.
\nWhen the parade started coming down Clinton Ave. I moved up closer to the intersection knowing that they usually turn right on Railroad St. heading east. It wasn\u2019t long before the young lady with the enormous camera was setting up next to me. I had to ask the question that I knew my readers would want me to ask, \u201cDid they sell that thing by the pound?\u201d
\nShe just smiled.
\nAnd then I asked, \u201cDo you work for the State Journal?\u201d
\n\u201cNo,\u201d she replied.
\n\u201cThe Hoboken Press?\u201d
\n\u201cNo, it\u2019s just a hobby with me.\u201d
\nSome hobby I thought. I\u2019ll bet she isn\u2019t married.
\nAnyway, she disappeared after leaping the snow bank in a single bound or two with camera, and tripod in hand and heading for the Gazebo presumably to take more pictures.
\nI never saw her again.
\nI wanted to do what she did but I had to pick an easier spot. I lost my leaping abilities years ago and I\u2019d just be inviting trouble. At my age the biggest thing I fear in the winter is falling.
\nThis was no doubt my worst year for taking pictures of the ceremony after the parade. I didn\u2019t get my front row spot because of the snow banks and the lights were out in the Gazebo so Santa received the key to the City in the dark.
\nI guess I thought they\u2019d move a few feet away to the Rotary Pavilion which was fully lit and nicely shoveled.
\nSanta may have night vision but my camera certainly doesn\u2019t and I didn\u2019t even have a reindeer named Rudolph to bail me out.
\nMaybe next year will be better. All things being normal, I\u2019ll be there \u2014 trying again.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nDo you see what I see?
\nI had to decide if this week\u2019s edition of the local paper belonged to me or the City. After all, it\u2019s on City property. I was reminded of that one time after getting a citation when trying to sell my mother-in-law\u2019s almost new car. I wasn\u2019t supposed to encroach on the City\u2019s right of way even though I have to mow it which of course made me feel like part owner. I wasn\u2019t building a shack there, just parking her car and trying to sell it.
\nMy weekly paper keeps asking me to pay for their paper but because they can afford to deliver two copies a week, I don\u2019t think they need my money. I\u2019ve notified them about it before but that didn\u2019t stop it.
\nUnfortunately they have to deal with training new delivery people just as often as my daily paper does and the routes have to be learned over and over again by new faces. I think I understand what the papers have to deal with. That\u2019s why I\u2019m patient with them.
\nOur newest daily paper delivery person has sent us a card letting us know her address. Normally we\u2019re not privy to that information but it\u2019s Christmas time and she\u2019s looking for her bonus. Believe me; it will not pay for a swimming pool. For a short-timer she has done a good job but just like the last delivery person who gave us her address, she\u2019ll be gone after the holidays.
\nIt has to do with raising extra money for Christmas. I don\u2019t blame her.
\nOh yeah, I did pick the paper up out of the street and deposited it in the recycle bin. Just being a good citizen.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

A few thoughts:
\nIf you drop a sharp knife, don\u2019t try to catch it.
\nI feel bad about what happened to Herman Cain but certain questions came up that he should have been asking himself before he even started to run as a presidential candidate. He basically laid himself wide open for it. Those of us who supported him were caught by surprise.
\nThe Detroit Lions aren\u2019t playing like a team right now; they\u2019re playing like a bunch of angry self serving young men. Losing makes them mad so they do dumb things that make them lose even more. That won\u2019t win many games guys.
\nAll of those involved with the housing crisis including those in government would be sitting in prison right now if I had my way. It\u2019s called, \u201ccrimes against the people.\u201d
\nUntil the next time . . . <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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