Delmar DustPan

Last night at the softball game the woman next to me commented on her big feet. Knowing she was from the Eastern Shore of Virginia it gave me a chance to expound on my theory of evolution of big feet and long toes on people from the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Simply put, people from the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and some parts of Dames Quarters, have larger feet with longer toes than people farther up the Delmarva Peninsula. My theory is that over the last three centuries people in order to survive had to have big feet with long toes in order to make it across the mud flats and marsh quickly to a higher, drier tump of land when the tide was coming in. It simply a matter of survival, if you could outrun the tide you lived, if you didn't you drowned. Those long toes allowed them to really dig in to make the run to land. This theory has not yet been accepted by the academic world.

In addition, the longer toes were useful in clamming as you could feel the clams and flip them up to you just using your toes, no rake needed.

For those of you who may doubt me, pony penning is coming up, when you go down to it look at the toes of the locals.

Tonight the "Temco Tigers" won the playoffs. They played the Mardela "Chimmey Chicks". The "Chicks" primary pitcher pulled a shoulder muscle and was taken out of the game. Losing a member of the team made them one short in the outfield. This allowed the "Tigers" to win 2 to 1.

Well after the rain and the wind the yard looks a mess. I have been picking up sticks and branches in the yard. A number of smaller sunflowers had their stems broken. Any tall plant seems to be flopped over and beat into the ground. The grass has grown a foot.

While looking over the damage in the garden I found two snakes resting in my tomato cages. I hate that. You see one or two and you don't know how many are out there that you don't see. You could be reaching for a squash and pull and out a snake. I know snakes in the garden are not unusual. The snakes and I have an unwritten rule, they stay hidden so I don't see them and life for both of us continue as normal. If they show themselves I go running out of the garden screaming like a 6 year old girl and once I recover I have to hunt them down. Nothing either side want to have occur.

Over the years of living in Delmar I have had deer in the backyard and the usual assortments of rabbits, possums, racoons, groundhogs, and some small furry creatures that I don't know what the hell they were. It's like living in a damn zoo at times. With a couple of housecats and a dog you would think they would run them off but they seem to have a live and let live policy.

The never ending girl's softball mantra of Good eye, Good eye, continued tonight as the Temco Tigers played Direct Furniture. Direct Furniture played a good game tonight. They were relaxed and seemed to have fun enjoying the game. The saving grace for the Tigers was an outbreak of rain from God in the last inning causing the Furniture Outlet pitcher to be unable to effectively pitch the ball due to it being wet. After she walked 4 players the Tigers won 3 to 2. The sideline coaching of Teresa Vincent helped the Tigers greatly. Between God and Teresa the Tigers pulled off the win.

I watched the FIFA World cup game of Ghana vs Brazil today. Brazil won 3 to 0, but I felt the losing team played better football. The Ghana team had really good footwork, but just could not get the ball in the goal. Their own Goalie, Kingston, play so far out in front of the goal that the Brazilian team was able to go around him to score. Of course he should have been backed up by his team members.

Bob Culver is running for Wicomico County Executive. He had a nice writeup on Monoblogue. I have not found a blog or website that he has. Both Ron Alessi and Larry Dodd have websites that are impressively designed. Also a number of the Sheriff candidates. Monobloque has the links to their websites if anyone wants to go there and access them.

The Delmar Delaware and Maryland councils had a joint meeting last night. A number of council people on both sides were missing or showed up late.

The Delmar police department said they had a check for over $9,000 from the auction of the abandon cars, bikes and other items. The check is to be turned over to the Town Manager.

The owner of 204 East street wants to tear the structure down and rebuild a new house.

Delmar Medical Ventures (Delmar Professional Center) did not follow their landscaping plan as approved by Planning and Zoning. The Town let them do as they wanted.

A representive from Delmar Commons (the new Shopping center with Happy Harrys) requested to move ahead on his project in spite of not being able to remove the billboard that he promised would be removed. The Town tabled his request until next month. The representive was not happy. For once the town did not cave into to the developer altho Mayor Outten did put a motion out to approve the Delmar Commons request, neither Buckley or Figgs would second the motion so it died. Diane Buckley talked about the fact the sign advertised the Canton Inn which she felt did not represent the morals of the town. The Delmar Commons representive said it would violate freedom of speech for him to tell the owner of the sign to change it. (I don't see anything wrong with the billboard. It is just another ugly billboard. The Canton Inn is a legal business and there is no reason why they shouldn't advertise. Who is to decide the content of a billboard, if it was Midway Slots or The Delaware Lottery would it be any better?)

The Delmar Dinner wants to be annexed into town.

There will be a meeting of the Council and police department following next month's police commission meeting.

The Delaware Solid waste wants to have a presentation at the next Joint Meeting concerning the town government request for Delmar to begin recycling.

Diane Buckley said the Day in the Park was tentatively rescheduled for August 26th. She also announced her engagement to John Johnson.

In public comments Holly Lake Estates residents were there to complain about the activities of the Saturn dealership. Holly Lake estates is not part of the town but the Saturn Dealership is part of the town. They say the dealership is too noisy and has too much traffic.

Woodcreek residents complained about parking and the fact the town had said it would not approve any changes for the developer of Wood Creek until the parking was resoved but did turn around and approve a change the developer requested at Planning and Zoning.

(It would be interesting if the Town acted on the non residents complaint from Holly Lake Estates but continued to do nothing for the residents of Delmar Maryland in Wood Creek.)

The meeting went in to exective session at 8:30

The Playoffs have started and the Temco Tigers played the Redman Lady Dragoons again. The Tigers won 6 to 1.

The Delmar Utility Commission held their monthly meeting on Monday June 26th. Only two members showed up; Diane Buckley and myself. Due to the lack of a quorum no decison was made on any item.

Jim Hitch of 704 East Street attended to complain about the inability of Public Works to locate the existing sewer line to his property.

Bert Saylor attended to request sewer and water hookup to a new house he is planning to build at 500 East Street.

There are several blogs or websites based on animals that I enjoy. First is "stuff on my cat" in which people send in photos of their cat with stuff stacked on it. the address is

Stuff on My Cat

The second is "Bee Dogs" in which some poor dog is dressed up as a bee and the photo is sent to the site. The address is

Bee Dogs

, click on beedogs please.

The third is Hitler Cats. Photos of black and white cats with a black mustache are sent in to the site. Strangely when I was growing up we had a black and white cat with a mustache named "Hitler". The address is

Hitler Cats

# posted by Howard @ 9:35 AM 0 comments

My wife had the misfortune to be in Seaford this morning when the rain came. Her van flooded out on Stein highway and she had to be pushed off the road to a parking lot. She left the van there to dry out all day and tonight when she drove it home it ran like crap. She said Walmart parking lot and most of Seaford was flooded.

Cayman Island Blog Man had an interesting post on racial Slurs. For some reason in Blogger my link to his blog appears at the very bottom of this page. Oh well. The address for those who cut and paste is http://cayblogger.typepad.com/my_weblog/

As I have said in a prior post I was looking at some of the information regarding the Christina School district financial mess. The Christina School district has a deficit of $12 million to $15.5 million this year and is expected to have a $20 million deficit next year (fiscal year 2007). This sounds like the Baltimore Maryland school system under Carmen V. Russo several years back. No, not the Carmen Russo who was a naked news broadcaster, this Carmen V. Russo generated a $30 million deficit for the Baltimore school system. . In the Delaware case the school superintendent was Joseph Wise. Mr Wise has taken off to greener and sunnier pastures as Duval County Florida School supertintendent. Of note he also carried with him to Florida David Sundtrom and Theresa Giles from the Christina school district. Like Charlene Cooper Boston they always move on to a similar high paying job, there seems to be no justice in the world for tax payers. It would seem in order to improve the Christina school system he hired a number of high paying people and did some illegal transfers of funds. People in a lesser position would go to jail for that.

These items have been backed up by an audit from Tom Wagner office of Auditor of Accounts for Delaware. Now it is my opinion that Tom Wagner's office is at times politically motivated in the audits they do. Over the years I have emailed him items I thought were wrong in the way the Town of Delmar handled certain things (executive sessions, animal control, etc)and have had no reply from his office. I can only hope the outcome of the Christina audit was impartial.

Lets face it nothing will be done to anyone connected to the Christina school district. Mr. Wise and company are one issue but the real incompetents here are the Delaware Department of Education and the Christina school board, who approved the spending and did nothing rein him in. The very people you expect to safeguard you are the ones who partipate in this kind of thing. Yet they continue to draw a paycheck and not be held responsible.

I have been looking at some of the articles on the Christina School District mess. One of the things the News Journal did was to list on line the pay of people who made more than $100,000 a year. Once again some people are mad about this but if people are paid by tax payer money than it should be public knowledge and if they have a problem with it than they are in the wrong field.

The Delmar school district pays the lowest of any school district in the state. It does however at present only has one school in it's district. What is interesting is our previous School principal, Mark Holodick, left to be principal of Concord High school in Brandywine School district and now makes more money than the Delmar School district superintendent. Another one school district is Sussex tech and their Superintendent makes $130,000. Altho the Delmar School District Superintendent is the lowest paid, when compared to the number of students and the ratio of students to pay he is one of the highest paid. Due to the way the News Journal calcuated pay I will round now to the nearest thousand a year.

So as a summary of the 19 school districts in Delaware; the information is the school District, the superintendent Salary, the Number of people making over $100,000 a year in the school District, the number of students, and the ratio of students to superintendent pay. The format is not what I hoped to have do to problems with blogger.
Delmar , $106,000, 1, 1071, $99
Appoquirmink, $151,000, 12, 7296, $20
Brandywine , $154,000, 26, 10,577, $14
Caesar Rodney, $140,000, 9, 6319, $22
Cape Henlopen , $145,000, 5, 4370, $33
Capital, $135,000, 3, 5982, $22
Christina, $162,000, 65, 19236, $8
Colonial, $165,000, 45, 10476, $15
Indian river, $133,000, 5, 7885, $16
Lake Forest, $128,000, 5, 3742, $34
Laurel, $112,000, 3, 2131, $52
Milford, $146,000, 7, 3909, $37
NCc VoTech, $142,000, 21, 3492, $40
Poly Tech, $133,000, 4, 1150, $115
Red Clay, $157,000, 55, 15729, $10
Seaford, $136,000, 5, 3304, $31
Smyrna, $123,000, 5, 3930, $31
Sussex Tech, $130,000, 4, 1193, $103
Woodbridge, $129,000, 1, 1943, $66

Last night the Temco tigers played against the Redman's "Lady Dragoons". The Tigers won 18 to 14. The game was called due to darkness. One player from the "Lady Dragoons" was taken to the hospital due to injuries.

Todays "Daily Times" had a front page article on previous Wicomico County School Superintendent Charlene Cooper Boston becoming the interim chief executive officer of the Baltimore City Public School systems. First let me say she was a good pick because she didn't do shit in Wicomico County and will be a good figure head for the Baltimore School system which I don't think anyone can ever bring under control. It will just continue to be mismanaged with incompetent students. The school system end product is why they are called Baltimorans. I think part of the Maryland School system problems come from the Superintendent not being hired by the local school board. Instead they are chosen by the State. Combined with school boards that are appointed by the State and are spineless when it comes to giving the supertintendent direction. At least Wicomico County is rid of Charlene. Regretfully Wicomico County will be burden by someone else picked by the State and who is using the position for additional retirement benefits and/or a stepping stone elsewhere.

The Baltimore School system has served Baltimore for over 177 years. Bonnie S Copeland has just resigned. She made $272,000 a year and her contract states she will receive another $100,000 on leaving. Typical government, in that they rewards incompetent people. Prior to Copeland the school system had another asshole named Carmen Russo who drove the school system deeply into debt.

The creme de la creme of the education world are plodding selfserving bureaucrats. The worst of them are those with PHDs. In most cases the creme does not necessarily rise to the top and when it does it is sour.

Temco Tigers
The Temco tigers have been on a winning streak since the beginning of the season. They have lost a couple but have won most games. Coach Bailey has done a great job with the team. Their biggest rival is the Mardela team, the "Chimmey Chicks". For some reason the Chimmey Chicks have gone down hill in the last few games. Last night the Temco Tigers beat them with a score of 18 to 3. There are a couple more games to go than the playoffs until the season is wrapped up.

Ah! the first day of summer. Schools are out. Kids are running free. It looks like it will be a hot dry summer this years. Neverless I have green tomatoes on my plants and I will be eating homegrown tomatoes before July 4th, so for an Eastern Shoreman could anything be any better?

Some remaining town meetings for June are;
Planning and Zoning June 22nd, Thursday 7Pm
Public Works June 26th, Monday 6PM
Utility Commission June 26th Monday 6:30PM
Joint Council Meeting June 26th Monday 7PM

Various days have been given as Pancho Villa Birthday, I settled on today. Doroteo Arango Arámbula (June 1878 – July 20, 1923) — better known Pancho Villa. He was born near San Juan del Río, Durango, in June 1877, the son of Agustin Arango and Micaela Arámbula. Doroteo Arango changed his name to Francisco Villa. Francisco Villa was a Mexican folk-hero who according to legend stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Villa belived he was destined to fulfill this role as a Mexican Robin Hood. The name was shorten to Pancho Villa. On May 29, 1911, Villa married Maria Luz Corral.

In 1915 Villa began to attack Americans. In January 1916, a group of villistas attacked a train on the Mexico North Western Railway, near Santa Isabel, Chihuahua, and massacred 18 American employees of the ASARCO company.

On March 9, 1916, Villa led 1,500 Mexican raiders in a cross-border attack against Columbus, New Mexico, in response to the U.S. government's official recognition of the Carranza regime. They attacked a detachment of the [13th US Cavalry], seized 100 horses and mules, burned the town, killed 10 soldiers and 8 of its residents, and took much ammunition and weaponry.

United States' President Woodrow Wilson responded by sending 6,000 troops under General John J. Pershing to Mexico to pursue Villa. In the U.S., this was known as the Punitive or Pancho Villa Expedition. During the search, the United States launched its first air combat mission with eight airplanes. At the same time Villa was also being sought by Carranza's army. The U.S. expedition was eventually called off as a failure, and Villa successfully escaped from both armies.

In 1920, Villa negotiated peace with new President Adolfo de la Huerta and ended his revolutionary actions. He went into semi-retirement, with a detachment of 50 of los dorados for protection, at the hacienda of El Canutillo. He was assassinated three years later (1923) in Parral, Chihuahua, in his car. The assassins were never found. Villa is remembered as a folk hero in Mexico.

In 1926 grave robbers decapitated his corpse. His skull has yet to be found.

Like most items about Villa the location of the rest of Villa's corpse is in dispute. It may be in the city cemetery of Parral, Chihuahua, or in the Monument of the Revolution in Mexico City. Tombstones for Villa exist in both places.

His final words were "Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something."

Some notes on Villa's personality, eccentricities and habits, trivia and legends about Villa

1) Villa was noted as a school builder, proposing schools in Chihuahua wherever he saw children gathered.
2) He was a lover of ice cream. One corrido song of the revolution states that Villa made a point of stopping for ice cream before gunning down a betrayer on the streets of Chihuahua.
3) He was a lifelong teetotaler
4) He was a dancer of legendary stamina. Reed claims Villa arrived late for the Battle of Torreon, after an all-night dancing stint.
5) Villa was a ladies' man and a polygamist. Numbers on how many women Villa married vary, but it has been speculated as many as 24.
6) Villa supposedly escaped the Punitive Expedition by having himself sewn up inside the body of a dead horse.
7) Villa may have been involved in the demise of Ambrose Bierce.
8) Villa's legal widow, Luz Corral, operated Villa's former mansion, Quinta Luz as the Museo de la Revolucion in Chihuahua until her death in 1981. The museum is still in operation, and Villa's death car is on display.
9) There are unconfirmed rumors that the Skull and Bones club at Yale University is in possession of Villa's skull.
10) The song La Cucaracha was modified and popularized by Villa's troops to mock Venustiano Carranza. Multiple theories exist over exactly who or what the oblique reference to the cockroach, was meant to refer to (possibly Villa's car or Villa's army). As with other corridos, the song was an oral tradition and verses were frequently made up or modified impromptu by whoever sang it.
11) The son of Giuseppe Garibaldi, noted Italian patriot, was a colonel on Villa's military staff. Garibaldi,Jr. was sacked by Villa for claiming too much credit in the press for Villa's 1911 victory in Ciudad Juarez.
12) Rodolfo Fierro, Villa's sidekick and noted cold-blooded killer, reportedly once killed a random passerby in the streets of Chihuahua, to settle a bet on whether a dying man fell forwards or backwards.
13) At the Battle of Tierra Blanca,Chihuahua, Villa (or possibly Rodolfo Fierro) invented the tactic of maquina loca (Crazy Locomotive), namely hijacking a locomotive behind enemy lines, packing it with explosives, then sending it with the throttle tied down into the rows of railroad cars at the enemy's rear.
14) In the Benton affair, Villa and Mexican revolutionaries in general earned the lifelong enemity of Winston Churchill, by executing William Benton, an obstinate English hacienda owner.

Most data supplied by Wikipedia

I use Blogger for this blog and some days you just can't get on Blogger to post. So if you see several days past without a new post it may mean I have nothing to comment on, which is doubtful, or I just can't access Blogger to post.

Belated Happy Birthday Karen

Happy Birthday to Ruth Ann, a little short redneck girl with a mean streak in her. A little late on the birthday as it was June 7th.

I have seen more of the Delmar Public Works in the last two weeks than in the last six months. They had a contractor come by and repair the curbing over the storm drain I have been complaining about for so long. A couple of days ago they dug the mud out of the storm drain in front of my house. I have seen their trucks up and down the streets. Now I am waiting for the street sweeping and painting of the yellow no parking zones on the curbs and things will be much better in Delmar.

In the Laurel Star this week is a picture on the front page of The Annual Tourch run. Delmar's own police Chief Hal Saylor is shown running in it. I tried to scan the picture but it didn't turn out well. I don't know but it looks like he is dogging it to me. Neverless someone his age did well to survive the run. All kidding aside it was a great thing the Delmar Police Force did to participate in it. It goes to benefit the Delaware Special Olympics. Other Delmar Police Force members mentioned and shown in Photographs are; Sgt Wade Alexander, Sgt Robert Remo, and Ed Ferro

As you get older one of many things you lose is enthusiasm. You feel like you have seen it all and been screwed over so much there is not much to be enthusiastic about. Currently both of my daughters have graduated either college or high school and are getting ready for life. Megan, my oldest, has been doing some volunteer work at the Delmar Police Department as she conducts her job search. Each night when she comes home from the volunteer works she tells us excitingly about what she did that day. Last night she went on a "ride about" with a police officer for a full shift. When she got home she told us for about an hour what all happened. It sounded like a typical shift for a policeman in Delmar but she just when on and on about it. To her it was exciting and she was enthusiastic. Today she went for a job interview with District Court in Maryland. Again she was excited before she went to the interview and she called me after the interview to tell me how well she thought it went. Naturally as someone who has had about a thousand interviews I am always leery of interviews that go "well".

Beside Megan being all enthusiastic my youngest daughter is going on a trip to France and Italy in July. She is buying things for the trip. Yesterday an initial supply of Euro's arrived for her at the bank. She rushed up to pick them up and spent the next hour examining them and counting them. She is enthusiastic. Today her mother and her have gone on a shoe shopping trip for shoes to wear on the Europe trip. Does anything get a female more excited than shoe shopping?

For a number of years we have not had smaller children in the neighborhood. Recently Scott and Wendy moved into the neighborhood and they have four (sometimes I think it is ten) kids. Children attract other children to the block. Their grandmother lives next to us. They never walk to their grandmothers house they run at full blast, usually yelling. It is not a bad thing. It is good to hear someone full of the enthusiasm of life.

Happy Birthday Mom

"Resolved, that the Flag of the thirteen United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation."
June 14, 1777,
in Journals of the Continental Congress.
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, 1774-1875

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress approved the design of a national flag.

Since 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation declaring June 14 Flag Day, Americans have commemorated the adoption of the Stars and Stripes by celebrating June 14 as Flag Day.

Has everyone looked at the new Delmar Website? It is located at http://www.townofdelmar.net
It has loads of useful information from meeting schedules to the comprehensive plan.

Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.

You know several people who have hit a deer.

You've ridden the school bus for an hour each way.

You love the beach but hate the tourists.

You know about pumpkin-chunking and you have your favorite chunker.

You eat scrapple sandwiches and have a favorite brand of scrapple.

You have been to the Chicken Festival and seen the Giant Frying Pan.

You actually know what a "slick" dumpling is.

You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it no matter what time of the year.

You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.

You leave your keys in the car and the next morning it's still there

You carry jumper cables in your car.

You only own 4 spices: salt, pepper, ketchup and Old Bay.

The "State Fair" in the Delaware State Fair.

You pick up all the free stuff at the State Fair.

You knew an extra in the movie "Runaway Bride"

You think the "Apple Scrapple Festival" is perfectly normal, except for all those granola-types running in the 5K race.

There is one hill in a 15 mile radius and you've been sledding on it.

You watch Christmas parades that mainly consist of Volunteer Fire department trucks.

The local paper covers national and international headlines on one page but requires 6 pages for sports.

You talk of Northern Delaware and the entire Eastern Seaboard as "above the canal".

You talk of people on the western shore of Maryland and Virginia as being "across the bay".

You know if another Delmarvian is from southern, middle or northern Delmarva as soon as they open their mouth.

You think everyone from a city has an accent.

Your child only need a GED to become Governor.

Your parents & grandparents refer to the street as "the shell road"

If one yard ornament looks good, then 15 looks even better.

You keep a deer bowhunting target in your yard in the off season as decoration

You don’t catch “Stripers”, you catch “Rock” Fish.

You have a tide chart somewhere

Belonging to AMSA means something...having a low tag number REALLY means something

The U.S. Coast Guard is regarded as the "cream of the crop" of the military

You not only know how to pick crabs but you also know how to catch them, cook them and tell the males from the females.

You have more than three recipes for crabcakes

You know a crab pot is both a trap and a kettle and you own both.

You've eaten muskrat at a church dinner but think it's better the way you fix it.

Your neighbor said his wife cooked "rats" for dinner, you know he is referring to Muskrats. (Good God, what kind of people do you think we are, we wouldn't eat real rats)

You can pronounce and spell "Pocomoke," "Mattaponi," "Accokeek," and "Havre de Grace"

You don't think that Assawoman Bay is a strange name for a body of water

You know perfectly well why Rehoboth is called "Little San Francisco".

You think Salisbury and Dover are big cities.

Your whole family lives within a 30 mile radius of your town

Every other person you meet is a 32nd cousin once removed.

You know where, what and when the Mummers Parade is held.

Your school classes were canceled because of 3 snowflakes.

The whole state panics and uses all of their road salt for those 3 snowflakes.

You load up on milk and bread before a snowstorm.

You can identify all the major types of manure by smell (especially chicken!)

You can tell the difference between the smells of septic and marsh.

If it takes more than an hour to drive to, you're not going.

You know how to do the Eastern Shore Macarena dance ( .. clap mosquito on arms..clap mosquito on legs... clap mosquito on back..)

You know who YouDee is.

When you walk you only lift your feet an eighth of an inch because the ground is so flat.

When you visit hilly areas off Delmarva you find yourself stumbling alot due the only lifting your feet an eighth of inch when you walk.

Someone you know has used a "Birddog and the RoadKings" schedule to plan their wedding date.

You aren't surprised to find rental movies, groceries, ammunition and bait all in the same store.

You know the difference between field corn and sweet corn when they are still on the stalk.

You can eat an ear of corn with no utensils in less than 20 seconds

You believe that the worst tomato on Delmarva is still better than any other tomato, anywhere.

In summer you have home-grown tomatoes with every meal

Speed limits are just suggestions. You don’t have to go that fast.

You believe that using a turn signal is a sign of weakness

Speeding consists of 2 miles over the speed limit.

You know the worst drivers are from new Jersey.

When the Government started telling people to stock up on duck tape, you were waaaaaaaaaay ahead of them.

You've broken down on the highway and somebody stops to help you.

At least one member of your family does or has worked in a chicken plant.

You never work for some one, you “help them out".

The highest paid person you know works for the government.

You call people from Baltimore, “Baltimorons’.

You remember the "Oaks drive In”

You have taken a date to the town dump to shoot rats.

Most people you know have a nickname.

You have pee’d in a corn field.

You can relate to more 80% of the Jeff Foxworthy “You might be a redneck if” jokes

The Delmar Police Department auction of abandoned Vehicles, bikes, and misc items took place today. As with any auction some of the prices bid were sky high and some were really cheap. The bikes were good buys. I can remember buying my children bikes at $50 to $100 a piece and than have them grow out of them or have them stolen. Most children bikes went for $5 or less. The only slow up in the auction was when they had to take a break from the auction to spray a wasp nest that was in one of the bikes. We didn't hang around for the vehicles.

I made my every other day trip to Lowes and Home Depot today. While there I noticed they are selling some products (mulch, stepping Stones, Etc) made from recycled rubber. Altho I am not a recycler I do believe old tires are a major problem. Anything we can do to encourage reusing these tires in some fashion should be done. Now when I have been in Mexico they use them for retaining walls and the soles of shoes and sandals. In Lowes they were selling a one cubic foot bag of reddish color rubber mulch for $13.97 plus tax. This is about 4 times the price of wood mulch. The bag said to cover a 5' by 10' areas 4 inches deep would take 17 bags or would cost $238. Even allowing for the fact it will last a life time it is still too much to pay. They had 13 inch circle of rubber mat to use as a stepping stone for $4.97. I don't know what the long term life of the product is. Does it retain the color forever or does it fade? I also am not sure about the state charging tax on the product. I would think if they are trying to encourage the use of recycled tires they would not.

The recycled tire and rubber industry seems to be one of those industries that is aimed at government policies instead of producing a product for consumers. I understand the Federal and State government give large grants and incentives to these recycling plants because they want to get rid of the tire. They also encourage their state departments (Parks and Roads come to mind) to buy the recycled product. It is used on playgrounds and highways. I think the last time I purchased a tire I was charged $6.00 to get rid of the old one. I assume the tire company has to pay the recycling plant to take them. As I recall a long time ago when junk dealers use to burn the tires the burnt remains would produce a quantity of steel wire that would be sold, so I guess the recyling plant makes money that way also. So why does the product they produce cost so much?

Site work has started on Delmar Storage over on Delaware and Pa. ave.

On Saturday at 10 AM the Delmar Police Department will auction off the abandoned bicycles and cars they picked up in Delmar. With the price of scrap metal up I expect even the junkers and wrecked cars will bring a good price.

I am amazed not only did Delmar Public works put up warning stakes and tape on the broken storm drain but they have patched the potholes in First Street between State and Grove. What a go Public works.

In today's "Daily Times" they had an article on David Hamilton of Magnolia, Delaware who killed two men. He borrowed his boss's pickup truck and went drug hunting with the two men. He got into an argument with the two and shot them while they were in the truck with a shotgun. He than returned the pickup truck to his boss with a window shotout and blood spatter in the interior of the truck. His boss called the police and he was arrested.

Now even a dumbass like me would know to clean the truck up some before returning it. What do we think will happen to David Hamilton? With the court system the way it he will probably get ten years and be out in seven.

Here is an interesting article form 'The Guardian" http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1785108,00.html
It is a bit old but this is the first I have heard of it. I am currently reading James Michener " Caribbean" so it fits in with the stories of the caribbean. For those who may not remember the trade routes of the first traders to the caribbean region it was from the west side of Africa as the ocean currents flow over to the Caribbean islands and it was easilier sailing.

Police and forensic experts inspect a boat in Bridgetown, Barbados, where 11 bodies were found in the cabin of the unnamed 20-foot boat. Photograph: Chris Brandis/AP


The white ghost ship rolled in the Atlantic swell as the rescue boats approached it 70 nautical miles off Ragged Point, one of the most easterly places on the Caribbean island of Barbados.
The yacht was unmarked, 6 metres (20ft) long, and when Barbadian coastguard officers boarded it, they made a gruesome find. The boat's phantom crew was made up of the desiccated corpses of 11 young men, huddled in two separate piles in the small cabin. Dressed in shorts and colourful jerseys, they had been partially petrified by the salt water, sun and sea breezes of the Atlantic Ocean. They appeared to have come from far away.

The sea-battered yacht, identified by one local ship's captain as of French design, was towed into the port at Willoughy Fort, Bridgetown, and the bodies, by now wrapped in plastic bags, were heaved on to the quay.
In a part of the world where legends and myths have often been furnished by the sea, the mystery of the dead men soon provoked curious speculation.
An air ticket from Senegal Airlines and a tragic note written by one of the men as he was preparing to die have, however, helped investigators from several countries set about unravelling the mystery.
For, although the floating coffin appeared off the coast of the Americas, those on board had set off four months earlier from the Cape Verde islands, off the African coast, and had been heading for the European soil of the Canary Islands.
The evidence reportedly points to them having been cut adrift in the Atlantic and left to drift off to a slow, painful end. Barbados police have said the cause of the deaths was starvation and dehydration.
'Please excuse me'
"I would like to send to my family in Bassada [a town in the interior of Senegal] a sum of money. Please excuse me and goodbye. This is the end of my life in this big Moroccan sea," the note said, according to a Barbados paper, the Daily Nation. Relatives of those aboard have been contacting the Barbadian authorities from as far afield as Senegal, Spain and Portugal. They have added pieces to the puzzle - based on telephone calls with relatives before they boarded, and with people who stayed in contact with the boat during the first stage of the voyage.
The story of the 11 dead and some 40 other would-be immigrants from Guinea Bissau, Senegal and Gambia starts on Christmas Day last year at Praia, a port in the former Portuguese colony of Cape Verde. There, for €1,300 (£890) each, they were promised a trip to the Canary Islands by a mysterious Spaniard.
Their boat was to be a motorised yacht, recently repaired but bearing no name and no flag. They paid to make the voyage, assuming that the Spaniard - a mechanic based in the Canaries - would be skippering the boat. At the last moment, however, a Senegalese man took over and the Spaniard disappeared. Several then refused to make the journey. One, according to the El Pais newspaper yesterday, jumped from the yacht as it set sail. It is by no means clear what happened next.
Somewhere near the Mauritanian port of Nouadhibou the yacht ran into trouble. Another boat was sent to its aid, apparently after the skipper had contacted the Spaniard. The yacht was towed but, at some stage, the line was severed. El Pais reported that it had been hacked with a machete. With no fuel left and food and water running out, the migrants' fate was left in the hands of the sea, the weather, and luck. The latter soon ran out.
The yacht drifted into the stormy Atlantic and, it is assumed, people were tossed or washed overboard as they died.
The 11 last survivors, huddled together against the elements, were reported to have died by the end of January. At that stage their yacht became a ghost ship, battered by storms or winds until it appeared, 2,800 miles away, on the other side of the Atlantic. A Barbados fishing boat was the first to sight it on April 29, 135 days after it had set sail. The coastguard vessel HMBS Trident was sent to discover its awful secrets.
Anxious phone calls from relatives to the Daily Nation have turned up some of the names of those on the boat. They include a Gambian, Bouba Cisse, whose cousin Abdou Karime, now in Portugal, saw the case reported on TV. "We've been watching it [the story of the 11 bodies found] on Spanish TV and a lot of family members I know would have wished for the bodies discovered to be returned to our country," he told the newspaper.
Immigrant route
The 11 bodies now in a Barbados morgue, along with those presumed dead, add to a growing death toll on the newest immigrant route into Europe from Africa.
This route, from the west African coast to Cape Verde, opened up late last year. By March Spanish authorities claimed more than 1,000 had drowned.
That has not stopped the flow. Three vessels carrying 188 African migrants reached Tenerife yesterday. The number of immigrants to have reached the Canaries this year is close to 7,000.
Interpol, meanwhile, has asked police around the world to locate the mysterious Spaniard who took some €50,000 from the immigrants before they sailed to their death.
Last letter
I am from Senegal but have been living in Cape Verde for a year. Things are bad. I don't think I will come out of this alive. I need whoever finds me to send this money to my family. Please telephone my friend Ibrahima Drame.
Signed Diaw Sounkar Diemi.
El Pais's account of note found on boat

After months of complaining about the broken curbing next to the storm drain behind the post office, public works has put up a flag to let people know of the hazard. Our cat, "Killer", is checking out the hole. A child could easy have his or her foot slip into the hole while walking down the sidewalk. Since it is in the middle of a side street there are no street lights that shine on it at night making it even more dangerous.

I found today there is another Delmar delaware blog called "Outraged Richard". The address is http://www.outragedrichard.com/

It is worth a look, altho his blog is aimed at other issues than Delmar. The Mayor and council can breath a sigh of relief.

Today, in 1944 the allies invaded Normandy, France. We will see if it is mentioned today on the news. I saw no mention of it in "The Daily Times" today. Much like Pearl Harbor day there is less attention given to it each year. Let's get out our tapes of "The Longest Day" and "Saving Private Ryan" and relive that day. If I were to ever visit Europe I think Normandy would be high on my list of places to see. Carl Pollitt of Delmar went there a few years ago and was telling me how great it is to see the place.

Whitley graduated Elementary School yesterday. Congratulations Whitley!!

Delmar has under construction a new Happy Harry's Drugstore. Matter of fact on their website they are advertising for Manager Trainees for the store. Today, it was announced that Walgreen Company is buying the Happy Harry's drugstore chain for an undisclosed amount and subject to regulatory approval. Walgreen has 5,251 stores and Happy Harry's has 76 stores.

First street between State street and Grove Street, altho not on the capital improvement list for this upcoming year, is if not the worst street for potholes is certainly in the top five. I don't know how the Town selected the streets to be repaved but they certainly overlooked this street.

The Town of Delmar summer newsletter arrived last week. This one had less threats in it than the previous ones. There was only a mention of Town Ordinances that will fine the residents if their grass is not cut and they don't make themselves street sweepers to clean the street in front of their homes. Again I insist that cleaning the guttering and streets is the Town's responsibility and is part of the services we pay for thru our taxes. Instead of giving pay raises maybe it is time to do some street work or lay off employees if it isn't done. There was some attempt to justify the lack of work done by Jay Latchum, Director of Public Works. If it was his first year as Director of Public works it would be one thing but the honeymoon period is over and it is time for him to produce.

From Kilroy's Delaware Blog
An interesting blog regarding Delaware schools is kilroy's Delaware at kilroysdelaware.blogspot.com

An example of her posting is below and the accompaning photo to the post is to the left;

"I cannot reveal my sources; I can only tell you that the attached photo will be DOE’s new logo! I’m not sure which legislator modeled for this logo. I have my suspicion as to who, however it wouldn’t be fair for me to say. With so many heads up asses in Dover , I wouldn't want to bring attention to the wrong ass."

Joseph R. (Beau) Biden III has announced that he will run for Delaware Attorney General. Mr Biden has four years of experience as a lawyer. He is the son of Senator Biden. He is running against Ferris Wharton, who has been a member of the Delaware Bar for 27 years. Mr Ferris served in the Delaware Attorney General's Office from 1980 to 2003. He served as an Assistant U. S. Attorney in the U. S. Department of Justice from 2003 to 2006. Unless some bit of believable crap comes up about Ferris in the election I will back him for Attorney General.

Delaware is one of those States where once you are elected to office you have a job for life, as the incumbent is nearly always reelected year after year. Biff Lee is someone I would like to see go. I have always felt that Delaware, being a small state, could elect third party candidate but they never do. It would be refreshing to see another party in office as both the democrats and the Republicans are so similar they might as well be one party.

Josephine Baker was born today in 1906. She left America in the 1920's to become a star in France. She was a well known singer and dancer in Europe and a marrage to a Frenchman gave her French citizenship. She was decorated for her undercover work for the French resistance during World war II. When she died she was buried with French military honors in Monaco. A couple of her movies have been on Turner Classics Movies.

On June 2nd in a very crowded gymnasium in Delmar High School Susan Amber Dickerson graduated High School. 105 other members of the Senior class also graduated. She is a member of the National Honor Society.

Naturally after two months of no rain it rained Friday night forcing everyone into the gymnasium. As opposed to having an indoor graduation in an auditorium, in Delmar it has to be in the gym, which is larger than the auditorium, as sports is the emphasis at Delmar High School. The size of the Gym and auditorium is a leftover legacy from the George Stone days when the "new" school which had to built because the "old" school was too small. When the "new" school was finished it had an auditorium 2/3 the size of the "old" school.

I am pleased that all my children are finally out of the control of the Delmar Board of Education.

Susan had an after graduation party that lasted until 7AM the next day. Regretfully her Grandparents, Uncle and Cousin were unable to attend either event.

May I have the definition, please?

I watched the National Spelling Bee on TV last night and found it refreshing. The 10 to 14 year olds who were the contestants actually said "please" and "thank you". The winner was Katharine Close of new Jersey and in second place was Finola Hackett of Canada. I found it refreshing also because it was non athletic and it was individuals, not teams. I liked the way they did that geek think of writing on their arm to visualize the spelling of the word. I could spell none of the words right myself and could only pronounce about two of them. They were just not using Redneck words.

In Delmar it is not unusual for the town to turn out to greet a returning football or softball team. I have never hear of a Delmar Mayor racing around town to have a greeting party for an individual school child that won anything. In the Delmar High school yearbook this year there are 26 pages of sport photos and non of any academic event. What message does this send to the children in Delmar high School? What message does it send to anyone regarding the importance placed in Delmar?