Today we went out to get some errands done before the storms move in. Linda needed to get some papers notarized for her nursing agency and get those mailed off. Picked up a few things at Wal Mart and then drove a little ways out of town to a roadside produce stand (Linda got information on this place from an EMT standing in line next to her at Wal Mart) to buy some veggies. We've been suffering from "Webster Withdrawal" since leaving Florida and our weekly run to Webster Flea Market for great fresh veggies. Nothing like that around here but we picked up a few things at this stand...."B" size potatoes that I made into potato salad, some large tomatoes that we sliced for sandwiches and we also got some pears and bananas. This will be a short term "fix" till some things come into season.
We're getting closer to knowing where our next destination will be. The agency has given her a choice of Lake Charles or Baton Rouge, LA. Since we know from last investigating campgrounds in Louisiana that the pipeline workers tend to have all the parks filled up, we thought we'd check for a site before picking which town we'll go to. Linda called around and there seems to be room in Baton Rouge so that is the choice. We should know more specifics in a few days.
In the meantime, rain is moving in overnight and it's supposed to rain for the next 3 or 4 days. Might be a good time to go investigate large indoor venues like museums and the nearby outlet stores.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Camping World...
Had an appointment, at Camping World, at 8:30 this morning to get valve extenders put on the inside of the dually on our truck. We resorted to this after trying to install several different ones ourselves. Holy Cow, what a tight space ! Not only was it near impossible to get anything in the slim opening between the outer and inner tire but then to screw something onto a valve stem that is pointed at an awkward angle....whew..our fingers were not tiny enough nor nimble enough and I was creating way too many new vocabulary words in trying to attempt it so I made an appointment to have the "pros" do it. Don't ya just hate having to pay a "professional" to do something that you feel you should be able to do ?" Just burns me up but like Clint Eastwood says, "A man's got to know his limitations" and I sure know mine...if something's gonna work, it will usually be on the third attempt.I gave this three tries and it wasn't workin'.
So, the task that they told me would take thirty minutes took about an hour and a half. At least I didn't have it as bad as the guy I was sitting and talking to from North Dakota...he had made this morning's appointment last week but when he showed up this morning they didn't have him on the schedule. Mind you this is on top of them "attempting" to order the parts for him two different times and him having to wait close to six weeks to finally get the parts in for his truck (getting new helper springs on his pick-up. He had an appointment, like I said for 8:30, but at 9:15 his truck will still sitting where he had left it out front. They finally took it in. He was still sitting in the lounge when I left. Nice guy....learned about the great game in N. Dakota...pheasants, deer, elk, turkeys...but no bear.
The job on the valve extenders seems to be fine but I wonder how common the problem is that my fellow RV'er had this morning. Failure to place orders for parts that a customer orders...failing to call the customer when the parts come in...not putting the customer on the schedule. Not a good way to create "happy campers" in your customers AND perhaps a contributing factor in why Camping World (as part of Affinity)is on the "bottom rung" report with a high likelihood of failing within the next year. Hmmm....time will tell what happens to them. Maybe they should contact AIG and see if they can help them out.
So, the task that they told me would take thirty minutes took about an hour and a half. At least I didn't have it as bad as the guy I was sitting and talking to from North Dakota...he had made this morning's appointment last week but when he showed up this morning they didn't have him on the schedule. Mind you this is on top of them "attempting" to order the parts for him two different times and him having to wait close to six weeks to finally get the parts in for his truck (getting new helper springs on his pick-up. He had an appointment, like I said for 8:30, but at 9:15 his truck will still sitting where he had left it out front. They finally took it in. He was still sitting in the lounge when I left. Nice guy....learned about the great game in N. Dakota...pheasants, deer, elk, turkeys...but no bear.
The job on the valve extenders seems to be fine but I wonder how common the problem is that my fellow RV'er had this morning. Failure to place orders for parts that a customer orders...failing to call the customer when the parts come in...not putting the customer on the schedule. Not a good way to create "happy campers" in your customers AND perhaps a contributing factor in why Camping World (as part of Affinity)is on the "bottom rung" report with a high likelihood of failing within the next year. Hmmm....time will tell what happens to them. Maybe they should contact AIG and see if they can help them out.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
What were they thinking ?
On TV tonight was a show on how our country got into the whole mortgage mess. Over the past few months I have seen a number of people on shows try to explain the specifics of how we got to this point (everyone from Bill Clinton to Suze Orman) but no one explained it with the clarity and down to earth description as they did tonight.
There were a number of people on the show, from various levels of involvement in this mess, that gave specifics on what these mortgage companies did. Some were whistle blowers and one guy actually went to jail for his participation in falsifying loan documents. Some examples of what banks stooped to by giving out these bogus loans were... Falsified applications where income amounts were cut and pasted to make someone's income look higher than it really was. Huge incentives to salespeople to sell "dirty" products (mortgages that are clearly not a good match for the applicant). Threats to honest bank officials reviewing these mortgages who questioned the viability of the loan.
A big snowball of GREED (at all levels), deceit and corruption permeated the whole system. The kick-off point for the whole process, that is very baffling to me, is why some of these people applied for mortgages they clearly were not qualified for. Don't people go to a bank with some ballpark number in their heads of what they can afford each month ? Why would a person making $50,000 a year ask for a $600,000 mortgage ? DUH ! Several of the people on this show got mortgages for which they clearly were doomed. What were they thinking ? Many of them never even read the loan documents to see that instead of the fixed interest rate, they had asked for, that they were actually being given a variable rate.
So the calamity continued...on up the chain...mortgage companies didn't care whether the applicant could pay them back or not cause the mortgages were sold to other companies. Let someone else worry about it. And the mortgages were sold as investments on Wall Street with over inflated ratings because banks had never faltered before so just give them a AAA rating. So the whole thing, from start to finish, was built upon a house of cards.....until the point came where the whole system came crashing down. Overinflated property values....lending to people who should not have been given loans...corrupt mortgage companies selling products that they could make the highest commission off of and on and on it went....
Now our country is paying the price and it will take a long time (and a lot of money) for us to recover from this. Where is the integrity and honesty that used to drive American business? What happened to the days when business was done with a handshake and you knew that the person was true to their word? What happened to people taking responsibility for their actions? Troubling times ahead for our nation......
There were a number of people on the show, from various levels of involvement in this mess, that gave specifics on what these mortgage companies did. Some were whistle blowers and one guy actually went to jail for his participation in falsifying loan documents. Some examples of what banks stooped to by giving out these bogus loans were... Falsified applications where income amounts were cut and pasted to make someone's income look higher than it really was. Huge incentives to salespeople to sell "dirty" products (mortgages that are clearly not a good match for the applicant). Threats to honest bank officials reviewing these mortgages who questioned the viability of the loan.
A big snowball of GREED (at all levels), deceit and corruption permeated the whole system. The kick-off point for the whole process, that is very baffling to me, is why some of these people applied for mortgages they clearly were not qualified for. Don't people go to a bank with some ballpark number in their heads of what they can afford each month ? Why would a person making $50,000 a year ask for a $600,000 mortgage ? DUH ! Several of the people on this show got mortgages for which they clearly were doomed. What were they thinking ? Many of them never even read the loan documents to see that instead of the fixed interest rate, they had asked for, that they were actually being given a variable rate.
So the calamity continued...on up the chain...mortgage companies didn't care whether the applicant could pay them back or not cause the mortgages were sold to other companies. Let someone else worry about it. And the mortgages were sold as investments on Wall Street with over inflated ratings because banks had never faltered before so just give them a AAA rating. So the whole thing, from start to finish, was built upon a house of cards.....until the point came where the whole system came crashing down. Overinflated property values....lending to people who should not have been given loans...corrupt mortgage companies selling products that they could make the highest commission off of and on and on it went....
Now our country is paying the price and it will take a long time (and a lot of money) for us to recover from this. Where is the integrity and honesty that used to drive American business? What happened to the days when business was done with a handshake and you knew that the person was true to their word? What happened to people taking responsibility for their actions? Troubling times ahead for our nation......
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Throw Momma from the .....
Our computer has been on the fritz for the last few weeks and really decided to be unruly yesterday so consequently no post since Thursday.
Yesterday we went out and about and did some errands. While at the local Dollar General to buy some Dove knock-off soap (just kidding) Linda bought Boomer a new baby.
Boomer's old baby was a small rhinoceros that he disemboweled probably a good year ago and he's been carrying around the "shell" of it gently in his mouth....tossing this lifeless carcass in the air only to have it drift down to the floor without much fanfare. Now he has a little teddy bear (a leftover from Valentine's Day that he's already ripped the "I Love You" heart off of) that he can toss, carry around and rest his chin on. Awwww.....
Today we went to the train museum in Foley where they have a miniature train display.
They are open on Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10-2. What a great place ! They have a large room set up with multiple train tracks (I counted at least 8)and all types of automated things going on in the display. They put on a show for about 20-25 minutes where they showed off the automation.
In the little miniature fire house, you could see the firemen through the window slide down the fire pole...the door go up and the fire truck drive out to the burning building in the next block. Really cute. 
There was so much detail to this display. All of the items were donated to the city and once they had all the items, it took them 14 months to assemble the whole display. They continually add new pieces....billboards that light up...a grain elevator representing the mid west, a miniature Breyers ice cream sign that lights up, etc. It is free and you can tell that the men who take care of the display have alot of fun in maintaining it and showing it off for young and old alike.
When we left the train museum we headed out Rt. 98 to find the cheese shop we'd been told about.
What a popular place this is ! A small home-made sign, on Rt 98, points you down a side road to the lane where Sweet Home Farm sits. You can see the cows grazing in the field and apparently they use their milk to produce an amazing line of cheeses. The selling takes place in a building about the size of a milkhouse. The parking lot was tiny and since we were driving Bertha, we drove in and back out again and parked near the road. People were lined out the door of the selling area (shed/milkhouse). We squeezed in to get a glimpse of what was inside but it was too crowded for me and I left to go look at this guy.
From what I could see, through the sea of bodies, they had uniquely flavored cheeses like garlic, onion, etc. They are only open on Fridays and Saturdays and from the size of the crowd, they have quite a business.
We drove back into town and had lunch at Firehouse, grabbed some groceries from Wal Mart and headed home. Oh yeah, here's another sight from our day out....the low tech version of Alabama AC...
Sure hope he's got seat belts if Momma's gonna ride in that thing.
Yesterday we went out and about and did some errands. While at the local Dollar General to buy some Dove knock-off soap (just kidding) Linda bought Boomer a new baby.
Boomer's old baby was a small rhinoceros that he disemboweled probably a good year ago and he's been carrying around the "shell" of it gently in his mouth....tossing this lifeless carcass in the air only to have it drift down to the floor without much fanfare. Now he has a little teddy bear (a leftover from Valentine's Day that he's already ripped the "I Love You" heart off of) that he can toss, carry around and rest his chin on. Awwww.....Today we went to the train museum in Foley where they have a miniature train display.
They are open on Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10-2. What a great place ! They have a large room set up with multiple train tracks (I counted at least 8)and all types of automated things going on in the display. They put on a show for about 20-25 minutes where they showed off the automation.
In the little miniature fire house, you could see the firemen through the window slide down the fire pole...the door go up and the fire truck drive out to the burning building in the next block. Really cute. 
There was so much detail to this display. All of the items were donated to the city and once they had all the items, it took them 14 months to assemble the whole display. They continually add new pieces....billboards that light up...a grain elevator representing the mid west, a miniature Breyers ice cream sign that lights up, etc. It is free and you can tell that the men who take care of the display have alot of fun in maintaining it and showing it off for young and old alike.When we left the train museum we headed out Rt. 98 to find the cheese shop we'd been told about.
What a popular place this is ! A small home-made sign, on Rt 98, points you down a side road to the lane where Sweet Home Farm sits. You can see the cows grazing in the field and apparently they use their milk to produce an amazing line of cheeses. The selling takes place in a building about the size of a milkhouse. The parking lot was tiny and since we were driving Bertha, we drove in and back out again and parked near the road. People were lined out the door of the selling area (shed/milkhouse). We squeezed in to get a glimpse of what was inside but it was too crowded for me and I left to go look at this guy.
From what I could see, through the sea of bodies, they had uniquely flavored cheeses like garlic, onion, etc. They are only open on Fridays and Saturdays and from the size of the crowd, they have quite a business. We drove back into town and had lunch at Firehouse, grabbed some groceries from Wal Mart and headed home. Oh yeah, here's another sight from our day out....the low tech version of Alabama AC...
Sure hope he's got seat belts if Momma's gonna ride in that thing.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Slippery Revelations
A local news channel reported a story that had both of us shocked. They went to different dollar stores and purchased all the different types of soap that they could find and then took them to a lab for testing. When you think of soap you think of something that is sanitary and a way to rid yourself of germs. That isn't what they discovered.
When they tested the Dove knockoff bar they found it was loaded with bacteria. Tests showed that instead of washing off the germs, the soap loaded hand washers up with germs. Most of the colonies were ordinary skin bacteria, but a few of the bacteria showed they could cause diseases like staph infections. The results shocked scientists. Scientists say they were expecting to see one or two colonies from a sample and from the brand tested they found thousands.
The problem is an ingredient called Sodium Tallowate, which is a common name for cow or pig fat. If the component is not processed in a completely sterile environment, the results can be both disgusting and dangerous. Doctors say the best way to make sure the soap you are using is safe, is to buy an American brand of liquid soap that uses a pump. What an eye opener this story was !
When they tested the Dove knockoff bar they found it was loaded with bacteria. Tests showed that instead of washing off the germs, the soap loaded hand washers up with germs. Most of the colonies were ordinary skin bacteria, but a few of the bacteria showed they could cause diseases like staph infections. The results shocked scientists. Scientists say they were expecting to see one or two colonies from a sample and from the brand tested they found thousands.
The problem is an ingredient called Sodium Tallowate, which is a common name for cow or pig fat. If the component is not processed in a completely sterile environment, the results can be both disgusting and dangerous. Doctors say the best way to make sure the soap you are using is safe, is to buy an American brand of liquid soap that uses a pump. What an eye opener this story was !
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Blue Angels
Today wasn't a true practice for the team. Since the team just returned to Florida, today was a chance for them to do "spotting"....get the lay of the land and get visual landmarks to aid them when they do their maneuvers. There were only four planes up today. Usually there are six planes in formation.
After the practice session the pilots went into the museum to sign autographs.
Here the commander of the team is getting ready to sign my program. Vicki asked him if his mother knew what he was doing since he appears so young. He said he's been flying for 19 years and she still doesn't like him doing it.
After the autograph session we went back out to watch the pilots do solo flights. After watching that for a little while we decided to leave and go get some lunch. Went to Sonny's and had a wonderful lunch. I loved EVERYTHING that was on my plate...catfish, cole slaw,baked sweet potato and the cornbread was out of this world !
Started back to Summerdale and decided that we needed ice cream, after seeing a sign on the highway for "Scoops", to cap off a wonderful day. Found it in downtown Summerdale...
What a cute little place ! Done in an old time theme of neon, checked floors, red stools and the rear bumper of an old car on the wall, it makes for a nice stop to grab a sundae, ice cream cone or even a burger. 
As we left Scoops, we noticed this young man in a nearby parking lot doing wheelies on his motorcycle. We weren't sure if he was practicing for a stunt show or just goofing around but we pulled in and watched him until the chain came off his bike and he was out of commission. What a full day and such fun. We can't wait to go back next week to get the full affects of the Blue Angels show as they do their aerial acrobatics. Will post more pictures next week....
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Plan C
No, I'm not talking about picking a Medicare plan here. Yesterday Linda asked the nursing agency, that she's been working with, for something definitive that she had the position in Louisiana. The rep said that anyone she's ever sent to this facility has been accepted and left it at that. Today she got a call that the April 9 orientation has been canceled. After yesterday's response (or lack of one), Linda had started inquiring about other positions with different agencies. Good thing....as now she's back to the drawing board. The downturn in the economy is impacting the health care profession too....Today she's been fielding calls from the reps, from all these agencies she applied to, to see what they have open. We'll keep you posted on how things go.
Tomorrow we're going to Pensacola, with Vicki and Bob (from Amazon), to see the Blue Angels practice. Should be alot of fun. They practice for about an hour and then they come to the Naval Museum, where we will be, to sign autographs. We're excited ! Wish I had a video camera so I could tape some of the highlights of their practice. Hopefully I'll get some pictures.
Tomorrow we're going to Pensacola, with Vicki and Bob (from Amazon), to see the Blue Angels practice. Should be alot of fun. They practice for about an hour and then they come to the Naval Museum, where we will be, to sign autographs. We're excited ! Wish I had a video camera so I could tape some of the highlights of their practice. Hopefully I'll get some pictures.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Water Everywhere.....
I'm starting to feel like the Ty-D-Bol guy with all this rain. Has been raining here for three straight days and the ground is saturated.
"Ya think there's a little clay in the soil here ?"
This picture was taken before the rain started. We went by there today and there was a small swimming pool on the lot. With such heavy clay content, it doesn't soak in...just stands there.
"The Bridge Over No Water"
This is the bridge to no where. It sits a short distance from the clay lot. It sits on the corner of a lot, near the road, but isn't over a stream or anything. Just sits there. Perhaps now with the rain, there might be something running down the cement culvert running under the bridge. The rain is supposed to be moving out tonight and tomorrow we'll have sunny skies and temps in the mid 70's. Should be a beautiful day !
Sunday, March 15, 2009
New Site is up....
The new website is up....This site combines our interest in the physical, mental and spiritual side of the total being. My goal is to provide resources and information on a variety of things related to these areas.
One of the topics featured on this site is on reiki. I first learned of reiki many years ago when I took my kids to an Open House that was being held at the college where I used to work. We went to the Health Sciences building and were looking around at the various exhibits. They were starting a workshop in one of the rooms on reiki.....something I knew nothing about.
Mind you that on this day, I was having a horrible case of bursitis in my shoulder. I couldn't lift my arm up away from body without a great deal of pain in my shoulder. I had suffered from this, off and on, during my ten years in the baking profession.....from kneading and pounding on dough but I don't remember what caused the flare up on this particular day.
We sat down in the room and listened to what the woman was saying about reiki.....none of which I remember. She asked for someone to demonstrate on and I volunteered. I laid down on a table but didn't tell her anything about my shoulder being incredibly sore. She placed her hands above my shoulder area and left them there for a short while. When she finished, I sat up and got off the table. When I tried to move my sore arm I did so as if there had never been anything wrong with it at all. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't felt anything miraculously different while she had her hands there....no tingling...no warmth....no nothing. But when I moved it around; something I hadn't been able to do at all that day, it moved freely and effortlessly. I became a believer and decided I needed to learn more.
Since then I've taken a reiki class myself and ironically enough the instructor was the same woman who had held the workshop many years earlier. Strange, huh ? I've used reiki on myself and on Linda for a variety of ailments. I'm not a reiki master....that takes multiple levels of training but reiki is something that is very interesting to learn about and can have a profound impact on healing. If you'd like to learn more about topics such as this, check out the new site http://thetotalbeing.blogspot.com/
One of the topics featured on this site is on reiki. I first learned of reiki many years ago when I took my kids to an Open House that was being held at the college where I used to work. We went to the Health Sciences building and were looking around at the various exhibits. They were starting a workshop in one of the rooms on reiki.....something I knew nothing about.
Mind you that on this day, I was having a horrible case of bursitis in my shoulder. I couldn't lift my arm up away from body without a great deal of pain in my shoulder. I had suffered from this, off and on, during my ten years in the baking profession.....from kneading and pounding on dough but I don't remember what caused the flare up on this particular day.
We sat down in the room and listened to what the woman was saying about reiki.....none of which I remember. She asked for someone to demonstrate on and I volunteered. I laid down on a table but didn't tell her anything about my shoulder being incredibly sore. She placed her hands above my shoulder area and left them there for a short while. When she finished, I sat up and got off the table. When I tried to move my sore arm I did so as if there had never been anything wrong with it at all. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't felt anything miraculously different while she had her hands there....no tingling...no warmth....no nothing. But when I moved it around; something I hadn't been able to do at all that day, it moved freely and effortlessly. I became a believer and decided I needed to learn more.
Since then I've taken a reiki class myself and ironically enough the instructor was the same woman who had held the workshop many years earlier. Strange, huh ? I've used reiki on myself and on Linda for a variety of ailments. I'm not a reiki master....that takes multiple levels of training but reiki is something that is very interesting to learn about and can have a profound impact on healing. If you'd like to learn more about topics such as this, check out the new site http://thetotalbeing.blogspot.com/
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Money Saving Idea ?
Someone recently sent me an e-mail with this information in it and I thought it worth sharing so you can ponder it:
"The Proposal"
When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that seems to happen is they reduce their staff and workers. The remaining workers must find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that their job would be eliminated as well. Wall street, and the media normally congratulate the CEO for making this type of "tough decision", and his board of directors gives him a big bonus.
Our government should not be immune from similar risks. Therefore: Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218 members. Reduce Senate members from 100 to 50 (one per State). Then, reduce their staff by 25%.
Accomplish this over the next 8 years (two steps/two elections) and of course this would require some redistricting.
Some Yearly Monetary Gains Include:
*$44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X $165,200 pay/member/ yr..)
*$97,175,000 for elimination of their staff. (estimate $1.3 Million in staff per each member of the House, and $3 Million in staff per each member of the Senate every year)
*$240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25%.
*$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel ear-marks each year. (those members whose jobs are gone. Current estimates for total government pork earmarks are at $15 Billion/yr)
The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and improve efficiencies. It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country! We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more efficient resolution of issues as well.
It might even be easier to keep track of what your representative is doing.
Congress has more tools available to do their jobs than it had back in 1911 when the current number of representatives was established.(telephone, computers, cell phones to name a few)
Note:
Congress did not hesitate to head home when it was a holiday, when the nation needed a real fix to the economic problems.
Summary of opportunity:
$ 44,108,400 - reduction of congress members.
$282,100,000 - for elimination of the reduced house member staff.
$150,000,000 - for elimination of reduced senate member staff.
$59,675,000 - for 25% reduction of staff for remaining house members.
$37,500,000 - for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senate members.
$7,500,000,000 - reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of
congress members.
$8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings. (that's 8-BILLION
just to start!)
Big business does these types of cuts all the time.
If Congresspersons were required to serve 20, 25 or 30 years (like
everyone else) in order to collect retirement benefits, tax payers could save a bundle. Now they get full retirement after serving only ONE term.
Personal Comment: You learn in basic college management classes that when technology is introduced into the workplace and efficiencies are achieved that the first place cuts should be made is in middle management. No one would seem to be more "middle management" than our Senators and representatives. They need to learn to work smarter and not harder, like the rest of us have had to do with the going gets tough. I would bet that there haven't been a whole lot of staff cuts over the years up on capitol hill. Not that this idea would ever get off the ground but is interesting to think about.
"The Proposal"
When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that seems to happen is they reduce their staff and workers. The remaining workers must find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that their job would be eliminated as well. Wall street, and the media normally congratulate the CEO for making this type of "tough decision", and his board of directors gives him a big bonus.
Our government should not be immune from similar risks. Therefore: Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218 members. Reduce Senate members from 100 to 50 (one per State). Then, reduce their staff by 25%.
Accomplish this over the next 8 years (two steps/two elections) and of course this would require some redistricting.
Some Yearly Monetary Gains Include:
*$44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X $165,200 pay/member/ yr..)
*$97,175,000 for elimination of their staff. (estimate $1.3 Million in staff per each member of the House, and $3 Million in staff per each member of the Senate every year)
*$240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25%.
*$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel ear-marks each year. (those members whose jobs are gone. Current estimates for total government pork earmarks are at $15 Billion/yr)
The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and improve efficiencies. It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country! We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more efficient resolution of issues as well.
It might even be easier to keep track of what your representative is doing.
Congress has more tools available to do their jobs than it had back in 1911 when the current number of representatives was established.(telephone, computers, cell phones to name a few)
Note:
Congress did not hesitate to head home when it was a holiday, when the nation needed a real fix to the economic problems.
Summary of opportunity:
$ 44,108,400 - reduction of congress members.
$282,100,000 - for elimination of the reduced house member staff.
$150,000,000 - for elimination of reduced senate member staff.
$59,675,000 - for 25% reduction of staff for remaining house members.
$37,500,000 - for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senate members.
$7,500,000,000 - reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of
congress members.
$8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings. (that's 8-BILLION
just to start!)
Big business does these types of cuts all the time.
If Congresspersons were required to serve 20, 25 or 30 years (like
everyone else) in order to collect retirement benefits, tax payers could save a bundle. Now they get full retirement after serving only ONE term.
Personal Comment: You learn in basic college management classes that when technology is introduced into the workplace and efficiencies are achieved that the first place cuts should be made is in middle management. No one would seem to be more "middle management" than our Senators and representatives. They need to learn to work smarter and not harder, like the rest of us have had to do with the going gets tough. I would bet that there haven't been a whole lot of staff cuts over the years up on capitol hill. Not that this idea would ever get off the ground but is interesting to think about.
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