American Exceptionalism.

I believe we (Americans) are still an exceptional group of people. That said, we are not as exceptional a people as we used to be. When I graduated high school in '77, I chose not to go to college, and it didn't matter. there were a lot of paths where you could earn a decent wage w/o college. I bounced around doing many different jobs, mainly because i could.  And different jobs were available. I worked in lots of factories, as a printer in a bank, a messenger, and many other things. The experience I earned was priceless. Now our youth has a choice between, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target etc. which all are really the same place. If there were no names on the price tags in any one of these stores, you could be dropped in one anywhere in the country and have no clue where you were, or in which of the stores you were in. We are short changing our youth by not giving them a chance to experience different avenues. We have really moved from builders to consumers, and I believe losing much of, to use a buzzword, the diversity that made America what it was.

First Go.

So, never thought that I'd start this, but here goes.
***************************************************************
the house next door has had a water main leak for around a month now. Calls to the city have gone mostly unanswered. i say mostly as there has been some movement by of all people the gas company coming by to mark their gas lines, and there are some other little flags out. the ice is spreading across the street, and is not above the curb level, and creeping up my driveway as we speak.