What do I think?

Heath Care, a mouse, and my rules of photography

by Barry Bauer

My hanging tomato plant has finally figured out the meaning of life.

* * *

No matter what the government does with Health Care – it won’t be right.

Why?

Heath Care lobbyists carry more weight with members of Congress than the American people do. The members of Congress have more to gain from lobbyists’ money and favors than they’ll get from our undying gratitude for a job well done. That counts for nothing anymore.

Don’t look at me – I didn’t invent the game.

President Obama claims this new program will help reduce costs. When is the last time the government was involved in anyting that reduced costs? Didn’t they pay outrages prices for hammers and toilet seats for the military a few years back?

What should happen, but never will, is that the government should look at where the Health Care dollars are going now. Some of it goes to their buddies, some goes to Illegal Aliens, some goes to the Insurance Companies, and some goes to Wall Street.

And what can we do about all these lawsuits? They add billions to the cost of Health Care.

If the government is going to attempt to correct anything, maybe they should appoint a Health Czar totally independent of any of the factors listed above and give him or her a percentage of the money they can save. I don’t care if it’s a billion dollars. That’s cheap in today’s world when we’re spending trillions of dollars. First of all, make sure he or she is up to date on their taxes. That will indicate something to us right there.

This is not my original idea; I stole it from my F.M. buddy, Stan Wassa.

Keep in mind; these elitist people (our government) have retirement and health benefits we’re not privileged to have. The question is, if what they’re proposing for us is so damn good, then why isn’t it good enough for them?

* * *

What’s with mice nowadays?

We had a small mouse problem in the garage and garden shed, and to combat that we got some D-Con. We haven’t seen a mouse in a long time, and we can only assume that the stuff is working. Calm down, kids; none of them were Mickey.

Then we were faced with a mystery.

I have a shelving unit full of old cigar boxes that contain those things I might need someday only someday very seldom comes. It’s a rare occasion that I have to get something from them I can use.

That rare occasion happened the other day, but what I found on top of the box is puzzling. There was shelled corn (which we have to feed the squirrels and birds) and a pile of those little chewy bluish pellets from the D-Con box.

So what kind of a smart aleck (I can’t find my cuss book) mouse had enough sense to hide this stuff?

Damned if I know; but if that one survived eating a few of these pellets, maybe you should be on the lookout for it too.

* * *

I’ve come up with a few rules to follow when taking pictures.

1. Pay attention to what’s in the background. You don’t want a tree or one of those dreaded pair of Rabbit Ears growing out of the subject’s head.

2. Don’t take landscape pictures in town unless you just want pictures of the buildings. People want to see the people in the photo and not a bunch of unrecognizable dots in a photo, so get a little closer to your work. If the reason you don’t is because you have bad breath, take a few mints with you. I do.

3. Don’t take pictures of some poor sleeping adult unless they have a Bald Eagle perched on their nose.

4. Do take pictures of babies. They make cute photos, and the mothers will love you.

5. Don’t take pictures of sunrises or sunsets. That is the most photographed scene in the world, and nobody’s interested in seeing one more of them. You’re wasting your time. You might better show off your baby pictures. They’ve got to be more interesting.

6. Try to be original. If you want to take a picture of that cute little toe ring on your foot, go ahead; but I was talking original. Look around, everybody’s wearing them.

7. And finally, don’t take pictures of me. A photo isn’t going to change what you see in real life.

Do I follow every one of these rules? Hell, no! That’s why I own a copy of Photoshop Elements 5.0.

Until the next time . . .