Fall and Chili

IT'S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR:  You know, the fall time of the year, when the Chili is starting to come off and the air is redolent with the smell of roasting chili.  New Mexico, namely Hatch, New Mexico is labeled the Chili capitol of the world.  The title may be a little ambiguous, but it is there just the same.  But Wait;
It seems that there are people, or companies, who don't live or farm in New Mexico,  who recognize the value of New Mexico Chili. So, being the enterprising type of people they are, they harvest their Chili and  bring it to New Mexico and then sell it as New Mexico Chili.
Well, a law was just passed that states,  "IF IT AIN'T GROWN HERE, IT CAN'T BE SOLD HERE LABELED AS NEW MEXICO CHILI." Or words to that effect.   So, assuming that the law will be followed and those enterprising types who want to cash in, pun intended, in New Mexico Chili, will be ferreted out and punished accordingly, we can rest assured that when you eat Chili from New Mexico, you are actually eating Chili grown here.
Meanwhile, just lean back, enjoy the fall smell of roasting Chili and let the juices flow, until you can't stand it any longer, then fix your self a meal, or go to your favorite restaurant and get a Chili fix.  I recommend a minimum of once a week.  Maximum of your choice.  
And THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK. 
 

Social Security

AND I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND:  For the long time reader of my drivel ( I said reader, cause I'm not sure there are more than a few who even venture to read my opinions ) you may remember that a year ago I was working in a mine for a contractor.  There was a young woman ( age not known by me but she has a 4 year old daughter ) working there for a few weeks.  She lost her job cause she wouldn't take a random drug test.  She lives in the same town I do, and as I go to work in my current short time job, I notice her car gone like she is working somewhere.  A few days ago I saw her outside, so I hollered at her and ask her where she was working.  She said she wasn't, but that she was trying to get Social Security.
On 14 August 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security act into law.  Now, whatever your opinion of government programs is, this has been a law for 77 years.  It is not a government give a way program. At least not in the sense of so many government programs are. Money is held out of employed peoples paychecks and put into the social security system. At that time the age of 65 was chosen as a retirement age for people to begin drawing a Social Security check.  From the government.  From a system that they had paid into.  By law.  Not by choice.
Now, I'm not going to go day by day or even year by year or administration by administration telling about this system.  I am just going to mention a few things that I know about.  Somewhere along the line, medicare was introduced to the list of government programs.  And along with Social security funds being held out of the paycheck, medicare fees were held out also.  And when people turned 65 and retired and were drawing Social Security, they had to sign up for medicare.  They didn't have a choice about the funds being held out of their paycheck and they don't have a choice of signing up for medicare.  YOU WILL DO IT, BY LAW. But, since we have all paid into this program, having access to it is not a give a way.  And with a fee of almost $100.00 a month being held out of each and every Social Security check, we are still paying for this insurance.  
Social Security was designed during the depression to help the elderly of this nation have some retirement security, and a lifetime of working, paying into the system was supposed to fund the system.  But over the years, people whose spouses went to prison for being a bad person get to receive Social Security.  People who were in their "older" years and had children, got to draw a check for those children, until they turn 18.  People with children born out of wedlock got a check for those children.  And now, a young woman who can't get or hold a job, because she can't control her drug problem is trying to get Social Security.  
I and my wife didn't draw it till we were 65 years old.  And now that we do, we have to pay income tax on that money as well as premiums for the medicare that we have to have.  I don't know just what the current administration wants to do, actually, nor what his opponent wants to do, but I think that something needs to be done.  But that something is not to cut what I have been forced to pay into, and am now taxed on.  Situations like I opened this post with are the things that need to be addressed.  Along with the other situations mentioned in the post, as well as dozens of others I didn't take the time to list.   
And THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK.   

Regulation

DID YOU HEAR IT AND I DIDN'T?  I'm going to start this post a few years back.  Ok a few centuries back.  Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden because they discovered they could have kids.  Well, kinda.  Any way, they had kids.  And two of them are mentioned in the Scriptures.  Cain and Abel.  And Cain rose up and slew Abel.  How?  the Scriptures don't say.  Fast forward a few years.  Ok more than a few.  A young lad named David took a brook stone and with a sling shot, killed the Giant Goliath.  Down through the centuries, in Scripture and novel and plays, and in reality, people have been killing people.  In the past century a Pan Am Airliner was blew out of the sky over Scotland by a bomb placed on board by someone who wanted to kill people.  On the infamous 9-11 terrorists hi jacked airplanes and flew them into buildings, killing thousands of men, women and children.  The news has been rife over the last several years of gunman opening fire in high schools, college campuses, military bases, and recently a movie theater.  Terrorists have bombed U.S. Navy ships and military bases over seas.  The one or two of you who may read my drivel are probably way ahead of me.  Or maybe not.  
so, here is my ditch bank opinion.
Since there is no way to determine how Cain killed Abel, I will leave that alone for the time being.  We know how David killed the Giant. There is nothing in the scriptures about the Philistines raising a cry to regulate sling shots and river stones.  Maybe they did, but if so, it is not recorded.  There is no record of people raising a cry to regulate knives or clubs, or spears or swords, except to keep them off the school grounds.  And there was nothing said about regulating airplanes.  In all these cases the hue and cry is against the perpatrator of the events.  Only guns seem to bring out the anti gun forces every time.  They want to regulate guns and take guns from those who had nothing to do with the killing that takes place with guns.  So, perhaps a little calm thinking would be in order.  There are thousands of guns in the world, and outlaws have them and no one knows about them.  They are not regulated, or registered and never will be, no matter what law is passed. As in the case of the bombers, the poisoners, the knife users, or what ever method was used to kill someone, accuse the perpertrator, not the instrument used.
As we have seen, Cain killed Abel in a method we know not. But if people are wanting to kill someone, or several someones, they will find a method.  If guns are not available, then a bomb will be made, a house will be set afire, or some other method will be devised, but people determined on killing will find a way, and always have since Cain rose up and slew his brother. And they always will, even if guns are regulated, or taken away from the populace.  So don't blame the gun, or the knife, or the whatever.  Blame the person or the group of persons.    A young man in our area was killed by a gun this past weekend, due to a fight at a party.  When ask to leave, some did and then returned to gain vengeance. Now a young man is dead another in the hospital and at least one in jail.  The fault of the gun?  No, the fault of the individual who felt he needed to avenge himself because he had been ask to leave a party.   So did you hear the call for regulation on all the items of death that I mentioned and I didn't?  Let me know, if you feel so inclined.
AND THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK

AGE OLD QUESTION

DO YOU KNOW????  Are you a religious person?  Do you ever ask the question  "What came first the Chicken or the egg?"  If you are a Bible reading person, then you would believe that the chicken came first, and was in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and Adam gave it a name.  The egg, for food and other chickens came later.  However, if you are a doubting type of person, then you can solve the problem for your own satisfaction by using the internet.  Just go to a site that sells chickens and order one.  Then go to a site that sells eggs and order one.  Then when they arrive, you will know which one came first.  And That's THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK.

I'M AN ENVIRONMENTALIST:   ARE YOU? Does this strike fear in the hearts of some?  Well, let us see.  Before I go any further, I will state that the above picture is from the Whitewater/Baldy fire in New Mexico.  I took that picture in mid June.  The fire is still burning as of this date, around 298,000 acres and 87% contained.  Most of the fire that is burning is inside the fire lines.  While this is the biggest fire in the west this year, that I know of, if is by far one of the least destructive, in terms of cost and human suffering.  Although many acres less in size, that distinction will have to go to the fire in Colorado Springs.   There are still several fires burning all through the western States.  So many they are hardly even mentioned on the national news any more.  And when they are, it is accompanied by a commentary from some federal official saying something like this.  These fires are burning because of the dry conditions. Well, yes they are.  At least, that is one of the conditions.  But there are other considerations. So lets look at a couple or three of them.
I mentioned way back when I started this blog, and you can probably find it on my status somewhere, that I am a religious man.  Since this is my blog, I will quote ideas, and you can also, but please if you refute me, and I welcome that if you feel so inclined, at least quote from a known source.  Now, in the Bible, when Adam and Eve were  in the Garden of Eden, the Lord told them to go and dress the earth and take care of it.  And they did.  But now, these many millennia later, look what we are doing.  When I was growing up, on a cattle ranch, the rancher was allowed to run his cattle on the national forest.  And logging company's were allowed to harvest trees.  And the USFS managed this forest in spite of themselves.  And we had fires, but they were manageable, for the most part.  Then the "Environmental Movement" came in to being, and the cattlemen were ran off the forest, and the logging companies were shut down, and the forest was allowed to grow wherever and however it pleased.  And the streams became clogged, and the forests became a growth of small trees, all fighting for what ever water was available.  And we are not dressing or managing the earth.  And the commandment given to Adam is still in force today.  So, yes the dry conditions play a part in the fire conditions, but the forest unmanagement, governed by all the "Environmental rules" play a huge part in this, and the government needs to step up and manage the forests like they should.  As true Environmentalists.  Yes, I am an environmentalist.  I believe we should be environmentally responsible for the earth.  And dress it and take care of it.  And this includes cattle sharing the land with the wildlife and logging companies being allowed to harvest trees and keep the forests in a manageable condition.  Thus, allowing the streams to run with clear water and the trees to be able to drink as needed, and not fight all the scrub brush and small trees that are allowed to come up willy nilly.   Yes, we need to protect the environment, but not to the extreme that is now in place.  And THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK.   

Room service

ROOM SERVICE:   I don't want to belabor the issue, but I guess I will, just a little.  In my last post I mentioned the traffic woes, or road work woes, of our recent trip to Utah.  This post is about that same trip, but it has to do with motel/hotel rooms.  Or the lack thereof.  Since we are getting a little long in the tooth, or old, as the younger generation will say, we don't make this trip in one day.  We break it up in two days, or even three days, each way.  With this in mind, a couple of weeks before we were going to leave, I called our favorite motel in Moab and ask to make a room reservation.  Nope, can't have a reservation, cause they are full.  Same thing with motel choice number two and three.  Finally was able to make a reservation at choice number 4.  For the return trip, we were staying in the Provo/Orem area, so I called our favorite motel in that area and was able to get a reservation for the night we wanted.  So called #1 in Moab again for a room on the return trip.  Again, no reservations available.  Lucked out with choice # 2 however.  Seems to me that gone are the days of just getting in the car, driving until you want to stop and get a room for the night.  Don't happen.  At least if you want to stay in a town and motel of your choice.  Gotta get reservations in advance.  Sometimes way in advance.  Makes me want to be an Indian.  They always have a Reservation.  And THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK.

DOES SPAGHETTI GIVE YOU INDIGESTION:  My loving wife and I recently returned from a trip to Ewwtah, and we did get a bit of indigestion while we were there.  And no, it was not from spaghetti. But from some one elses dinner plate. How is that, you ask?  You didn't ask.  Well, if you are still reading along, I will tell you any way.  As we traveled along, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah, we constantly ran into road work.  Not road construction, mind you, but road work.  No matter what was being done, it was road work.  And we constantly saw signs that said, and I quote, "End of Road Work."  They were wrong, cause it never ended. Just took infrequent breaks.  Aww, he's digressing, you think.  Not really, cause this is just a preview to what this is all about.   In 1997, or some where thereabouts, a committee of important people in their own minds, announced that Utah in general, and Salt Lake City in particular, would hold the 2002 winter Olympics.  And with that announcement, the State of Utah went into a frenzy of road construction.  Uh, road work.  And it hasn't stopped.  Or even taken an infrequent break.  At least from the time you exit Provo canyon or what ever it is called, at Spanish Fork, and it continues until you reach Hill Air Force Base, or some where in that vicinity.  So where does the spaghetti come in.  Well, if you ever travel those roads, you will see.  These new roads twist and turn and exit across traffic, ( example: try to make a left turn to the Hampton Inn in Orem as you are heading west on University Parkway.)  Can't be done.  First, you have to traverse left into the oncoming lanes about three blocks before you actually get there.  Then when you get to where you can finally turn, you slant across more oncoming lanes.  You just hope the traffic lights never fail.  Or that there is never a power failure. And the streets down by the Inn, where you used to turn left to get there. Oh, they are still there, you just can't use them. Someone was definitely eating a plate of spaghetti when they were designing these roads.   And downtown Salt Lake City.  The have reintroduced street cars. Or trolley cars, if yoiu like.   Oh, they don't call them that, but that is what they are.  And they run with the traffic.  In between the lanes.  And they stop when the cars stop at red lights. Except when they have the right of way to turn across traffic to go somewhere.  Again, I hope the lights never fail, or if you are in the vacinity you will want to call your friends.  Cause they probably aint never seen a wreck like that ones going to be.  So, how do you avoid this mess.  Eat a steak and take the back roads.   And THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK.