I'm not a big 'crowd' guy. The pushing, the shuffling, the general rudeness and stupidity I am forced to observe by fellow members of the human race usually leave me in a foul mood. It's one of the big reasons I end up disappointing my wife every year around the 4th of July...I just can't stand dealing with all the big crowds long enough to watch one of the big sponsored fireworks displays. Curmudgeon in training, that's me.
This morning though, I might voluntarily go into that lions den of crowds. It was announced earlier this week that Dr. Ron Paul would be making a 3 stop swing through Washington, and one of his stops is at the Red Lion Inn right here in Richland...not even 15 minutes away. I'm not sure I can resist the opportunity to go to the rally/town hall meeting. Realistically, how many chances do you get to see a Presidential Candidate in person(even if he really doesn't have a chance to win?).
I'm not going alone, either. Before this visit was announced, my wife had made an appointment to get her hair did, since we have my annual company party this evening. That means I will be running herd over my youngin's...heck, it might qualify as a Homeschooling Field Trip.
With the girls, it might mean I am a little less...bull headed than I would have been otherwise. The Dr. is supposed to start talking at Noon, with doors opening at 11am. Normally, that means if I was flying solo, I would be there waiting for the doors to open...my girls probably won't tolerate that, as great as they are. I'll show up about 11ish...and if things look too over the top, then, I'll punt. I'm in this more for the experience than any chance that it's going to change my mind. Acknowledging Ron Paul isn't perfect, he's still my guy until he's not in the race anymore.
Besides...it's possible my girls might be my secret weapon. The older one will be wearing the kids size Ron Paul for President shirt I bought, and there are worse things you can do than show up at a political rally with a few photogenic kids...
I keep wondering about living in Richland. Home being Idaho but job in Virginia, I have this hankering to smell sage and see mountains on the horizon - or underfoot - again. I just consciously did not respond to an ad for a position at PNNL and wonder if I made a mistake.
ReplyDeleteAny public comments you care to make?
Q
I like the Tri-Cities area. You can certainly smell the sage, but as far as the horizon, you got a better view of the Olympics where I used to live than you do of the Blue's around here...although you can see them to the south-east on a good day from the right elevation.
ReplyDeletePopulation wise, if you take the three towns as a whole, it's the 4th largest population center in Washington, behind Seattle, Tacoma, and Spokane.
Only been here about 17 months, but the weather seems okay. I could do with a bit more snow, and I am worried about a REAL summer(last year we were in the 87-92 range most of the summer, which is about 5 degrees low). I love last summer, but all the locals were talking about how mild it was.
All in all, while there are times when I question my decison to leave the Shipyard, the Richland/Tri-Cities area figures into the Plus side of the column...