Bear's Ramblings

Pet peeves plus

2005-06-30

Speed Limit ----Yeah Right

'What is the speed limit', you may ask yourself as you have cars flying past you. You KNOW that you are going the posted speed limit. Is there something that we, the general public, don't know.

I have lived in a number of different states and have driven in about 70% of the states. It is hard to respect the speed limits when many states have a policy that they don't ticket or even stop persons that aren't going at least 10 or 15 mph over the posted speed limit. Yet again there are states where you can get pulled over for going 1 mph over the posted speed limit and Idaho is one.

If states are not going to do anything about speeders then why do they bother to post a speed limit. Right, we all know that it is to get a larger chunk of Federal Highway Funds.

There is a 2 lane highway, between where I live and Boise, Idaho, that is a grand total of about 14-15 miles long. There have been a large number of fatal accidents along there from people trying to pass cars that are going "too slow". They say that they have stepped up the police coverage which includes 2 different counties and the State Police, but for the life of me, I still rarely see any police at all. My wife has to commute to Boise 5 days a week and it is sad when she gets stuck behind someone that goes about 15 mph under the speed limit with a string of cars for miles behind them. it is people like this that are the underlying cause of many of the accidents along that highway. This is something that I know is rarely dealt with by the police even though in most states there is a law that you must pull over and let cars pass you if more then a certain number of vehicles are behind you. It is a rare thing to see people abide by that law.

But, of course there are always those people that are never satisfied with the speed of the cars in front of them. They will try to pass anyone in front of them and then they will slow down and go slower then the cars that they just past.

What I really hate are those people that ride almost on your bumper but will not pass you even if you hug the right side of the lane and slow down. Sometimes they get so close that you can't even see the front of their car in the rearview mirror.

Enough said.

2005-06-23

Sadness of Pet Ownership

Today I had to do a favor for a friend. I took his beloved pet, Joey a blue healer that he had had for over 11 years, to the Vet to be put out of his misery. Poor Joey had very bad arthritis and was without teeth. Joey spent the night here and it was real sad to see him trying to lay down or even worse, get back up again. Poor Joey had trouble getting up and down the steps of my house. When I took Joey to the vet, the worst thing was the way that Joey reacted and looked at me as he was lead to the back of the vets office. It was as if he knew why he was there.

Unfortunately, that was not my first experience with suffering pets. A couple years ago I had a fluffy white cat, Lilly, who suddenly started having seizures. To keep the dogs from eating all of her food, we kept it on top of a high stool. Often Lilly would be eating and suddenly have a seizure and fall to the floor. Lilly had other seizures and she would hide under the bed for long periods of time, as if she thought that she had done something wrong. To stop Lilly's suffering I took her to the humane society where they relieved her of her suffering.

Last year, my 'lap dog' Belle, a blue great dane, started getting a growth in her mouth that was growing with great speed. Within a few weeks it was well over an inch long so I took her to the vet. The vet gave her some medication but it did know good. Within a very short time the growth had grown to be about 2.5 inches long and 0.5 inches wide along her upper jaw. So, back to the vet to have the growth removed. The vet said afterwards that it was surely cancerous and that he could send it to a lab to find out if it was malignant or not(about $200). I did not have the money. Within less than a week the growth had grown back and was even larger than before it had been removed. It was obvious that she was suffering greatly, so we made one last trip to the vet.

Those two events were probably the two most difficult things that I have ever had to do as well as the most painful. But as hard and painful as it was I will continue to have pets for all of the joy that they provide.

2005-06-21

Ill gotten gains

I have never thought very much about our politicians, but recently I heard some stories about some local politicians that really made me think. There is a politician near where I live that had a business that was able to sell hunting and fishing licenses. It turned out that he embezzled a goodly sum of money from that which he took in. When he was caught he merely paid the money back. Had he been a regular citizen he would have probably gone to prison. Instead he ran for a higher office and was elected. What kind of an example is that to our youth. Yea, break the law and get rewarded.

Another politician near here had the power to dictate the route of a new highway. Against the wishes of those residents that would be affected he used the route that brought millions of dollars to some of his relatives. He also is still in office and is probably going to run for Govenor soon.

Gee, I wonder why most people have little respect for politicians. I guess that a few politicians give the rest a bad name, or is it like the lawyer joke that says that 97% of the lawyers give the rest a bad name. We will probably really never know, but it sure ticks me off when I think about it.

2005-06-15

Forgotten Veterans

We all hear of the exploits of the troops in Iraq. Years ago we heard of a few exploits of troops that were involved in other conflicts. During Veitnam we only heard about things that were negative. I guess, because it was not a popular 'WAR', the news media chose to only tell the public about the atrocities and not about the everyday struggles of our troops. I know I never heard anything about the 'WAR' that was positive. Many Veitnam veterans were shunned because they fought in that 'WAR'. But many of us had never even heard of Veitnam before we were told that we were going there. And we certainly didn't know why, other than the fact that we were told that we were going.

I recently read portions of a book in the school on the premises were I work and I found out that the first official troops were sent to Veitnam in the middle of 1965. Of course there were military advisors there since the late 50's. HELL, in 1965 I thought it was still French Indochina. At least that was the name on the map in school about a year earlier.

I guess since the Veitnam 'WAR' was unpopular, the news media ignored those troops unless they did something stupid. This Irag conflick seems to be popular, so there is media coverage for every little thing.

Today I hear about the poor troops that have to be gone from their families for months at a time and some as long as a year. Wow, isn't that terrible. Many WWII veterans were gone as long as 7 years. There doesn't seem to be any perspective any more.

I hope that this conflict doesn't turn out like Veitnam. We were not allowed to win that one. Are we going to be allowed to win this one. We can but hope.

2005-06-14

Invisible Veterans

Now most all of us are proud of the men and women that are in Iraq. We hear about their wows virtually everyday. But what about those individuals that lose their lives over there that are not 'part of the armed forces'. Don't they count. My wifes cousin volenteered to go over ther for a particular civilian company just for one last job before retiring. He was killed over there, but we never heard a thing about it on any news service. Why?? I wish I had an answer for that but I don't and that really makes me MAD.



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2005-06-06

Nausiating Network News

Network Newscasters make me ill. Many don't even have a thorough grasp of the English language. I would have thought that that would be a requirement for their job. I really get tired of hearing the same news story repeatedly for d-a-y-s at a time. Can't they find anything news worthy on a daily basis.

Since when is a horrific fire --a spectacular fire. No it isn't. It never was and it never will be. A sunset might be spectacular, but not a destructive fire. An accident should not be considered as spectacular, it should be called horrific or terrible, not spectacular.

Why is it that you usually don't hear news that is of an upbeat nature? Is it because far too many viewers only watch to hear about or see the terrible things that are going on around us. Unfortunately the answer is probably YES.

2005-06-01

Just an introduction to me.

Hello everybody,

My name is Ryan Barr often times called BEAR. Could it be because I am as large as a bear or is it the hair. I am starting this blog so that I can vent about many different things that really irk me and loads of other people that I have talked to through the years. Some people may be offended by my bluntness but that is the way I am. I call it like I see it. So don't ask me a question unless you can handle the answer. And I think that the people that read what I have to say will get a better insight as to what kind of a person I truely am. I AM OPINIONATED but I will tell you the truth whether you want to hear it or not.

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