Delmar DustPan

For a month or so both of my parents have been ill with one thing or another and I have been making trips to the hospital in Salisbury. Salisbury must have an attraction for rusty metal sculptures. They have some kind of twisted metal sculpture in front of the entranceway at the hospital and in the parking lot by the courthouse they have those strange rusty metal shapes of birds etc. To me it is not appealing, it just looks like some kind of half finished artwork.

Delmar, however, has nothing in the way of Public artwork. I, however, for some time have been saving my wine and liquor bottles in order to make a bottle tree. I intend to put this "object de art" in my front yard for the cultural benefit of the citizens of Delmar. For those of you who have said my drinking was for my own pleasure, shame on you, for in truth it is a lofty goal for the betterment of culture in Delmar.

From a newsgroup

George (Bush): Condi! Nice to see you. What's happening?
Condi (Condolezza Rice): Sir, I have the report here about the new leader
of China.
George: Great. Lay it on me.
Condi: Hu is the new leader of China.
George: That's what I want to know.
Condi: That's what I'm telling you.
George: That's what I'm asking you. Who is the new leader of China?
Condi: Yes.
George: I mean the fellow's name.
Condi: Hu.
George: The guy in China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The new leader of China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The Chinaman!
Condi: Hu is leading China.
George: Now whaddya' asking me for?
Condi: I'm telling you Hu is leading China.
George: Well, I'm asking you. Who is leading China?
Condi: That's the man's name.
George: That's who's name?
Condi: Yes.
George: Will you or will you not tell me the name of the new leader of China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir? Yassir Arafat is in China? I thought he was in the Middle East.
Condi: That's correct.
George: Then who is in China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir is in China?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Then who is?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Look, Condi. I need to know the name of the new leader of China.
Get me the Secretary General of the U.N. on the phone.
Condi: Kofi?
George: No, thanks.
Condi: You want Kofi?
George: No.
Condi: You don't want Kofi.
George: No. But now that you mention it, I could use a glass of milk. And
then get me the U.N.
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Not Yassir! The guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi?
George: Milk! Will you please make the call?
Condi: And call who?
George: Who is the guy at the U.N?
Condi: Hu is the guy in China.
George: Will you stay out of China?!
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: And stay out of the Middle East! Just get me the guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi.
George: All right! With cream and two sugars. Now get on the phone.

(Condi picks up the phone.)

Condi: Rice, here.
George: Rice? Good idea. And a couple of egg rolls, too. Maybe we should
send some to the guy in China. And the Middle East. Can you get Chinese
food in the Middle East?..........

Today the country of Belize celebrates it's 25th Independence day. Belize is the only county in Central America where English is the official language. It also gives me a chance to put a picture of a half naked girl on my blog. For more on this celebration go to Belize Celebration

Tonight, at Town Hall, Planning and Zoning will meet at 7 PM.

As a reminder, the Concerned Citizens are having a Community Yard Sale at State street park this Saturday.

Tomorrow is the last day for voter registration in Delmar Delaware.

Today my brother would have turned 60. Happy Birthday.

One of the shows my wife watches and I don't care for is "Extreme Makeover:Home Edition". I am sure you all have watched it. The thing I don't like is they take a family who are not financially well off and rebuilt their home into a mansion. I don't even think you can call it rebuilding as they seem to demolish the old house and build a new one in a short period of time. Altho it seems like a nice gesture if you give a family a house twice as large as the previous one with a ton of Sears appliances are you doing them a favor? Logic would say in a real estate market gone crazy the property tax is going up. I question the quality of houses built in a week, unlike Habitat For Humanity houses, these are large complex houses. The utility bill must also increase and what happens five years down the road when appliances start breaking and structure problems appear in the house built in a week? I don't see how that family will have the money to pay to have them repaired.

The other question is how do they pay the taxes to IRS on this improved home? In the US tax code there is a provision that allows individuals to rent their residences out for less than 15 days a year and they do not have to pay taxes on the rental income received. It is used frequently when there is some major event, as the Olympics, in your city. It is used over at the beach also. I understand that ABC uses this provision for the Home Makeover family. They send the family away and "rent" the house for two weeks. The building material, labor and appliances are then considered "rent" and as such are not taxable. I assume Extreme Home Makeover has been on the air long enough for the IRS to decide if they are going to accept that. It also explains why they are in such a rush to finish the house.

I understand some of families that have been on Extreme Home Makeover have complained of those exact things; cracked stucco, leaky bathroom, fancy appliances that don't work, increased property taxes. Unlike Habitat for Humanity that builds a simple, affordable house for its clients, Habitat also require the homeowner to put down a down payment, pay monthly mortgage payments plus provide "sweat equity". Maybe we need to have Extreme Home Makeover come in and redo the downtown section of Delmar. I have always thought Linda's Railroad Cafe could use a Jacuzzi in it so when you ate your scrapple and egg sandwich and drank your coffee you could relax in it. Maybe Extreme Home Makeover would provide it.

Delmar Delaware Street Sign
Altho the two Towns of Delmar Maryland and Delaware share government resources, street signs are not one of the shared items. For the most part, Delmar, Maryland street signs are White with Black lettering and Delmar, Delaware street signs are green with white lettering. The difference in colors I think is due to where the signs are obtained and state or county regulations.

Delmar Maryland Street Sign
The streets signs in Delmar were donated to the Town by the Delmar Lions Club about 1947. The popular thought is that the Maryland/Delaware state line runs down the middle of State Street. If stopped by a State trooper from either state one can look at the color of the street sign to decide if you want to develop an attitude about being stopped by a state trooper who is on the wrong side of the line. This does not always work, as legally I don't think the state line is in the middle of State street for the entire length of State street. If you are stopped by a Town police officer give up, as they are certified in both states and have authority on both sides of town.

It is Twiggy's birthday. No, not Twiggy,the water skiing squirrel. This icon and super model of the 1960's was born in 1949 with the name of Leslie Hornby. Due to her wafer thin body her nickname was Twiggy. She works today as an actress.

This is Twiggy the water skiing squirrel I don't know her birthday.

Lori Ann has a birthday today. Happy Birthday Lori!!

About ten years ago I had an operation and the end result of it was I lost the hearing in my left ear. With that loss of hearing I also lost my interest in recorded music. To use a dated comparison it was like going from Stero to HiFi. Only occasionally do I hear music on the radio that has any interest to me. Today while listening to "Saint Paul Sunday" on National Public Radio they had a four woman ensemble called Anonymous 4 that I found very pleasant to listen to. The four women; Marsha Genensky, Susan Hellauer, Jacqueline Horner and Johanna Maria Rose sang a program of 18th and 19th gospel music. It was similar to some of the music on the soundtrack in the movies "O Brother where are thou" and "Cold Mountain". For those who may want to listen they can go to Saint Paul Sunday

Every town has it's assortment of "characters", some are eccentric, some are simple minded, some are drunks and some are addicts. They wander about town doing odd jobs, panhandle for money and cigarettes, stealing, etc. When I first moved to Delmar in the late 70's they had quite an assortment of characters. Josh, Drydock, and Cigarette Annie comes most readily to mind, but there has been several more after them. For the most part they were harmless, unless drunk, than they were a problem. Usually a quarter or so would buy them off and they would leave you alone for the rest of the day.

My parents, who grew up outside of Delmar, frequently speak of Lannie Wells. He was a person who went around in the 1930's with a sack over his back and would ask for castoffs etc from the farm people. I have been told he would go up to a farmhouse and say "got anything for my bag?". He was a figure every child was scared to death of. He use to tease the children by going up to them and telling them he was going to put them in his sack. Both of my parents said they would run as far as they could and hide until he went away.

Currently, and for the better, we seem to have a lack of characters in Delmar. I am sure it is just a dry spell and they will return.

Hank Williams and the Drifting Cowboys
Today in 1923, Hank Williams was born. He is the person you think of when you think of Honky Tonk Country Music. I think everyone has heard "Hay Good looking", "Your Cheating Heart", and "Jambalaya". He died at age 29, what could he have done if he continued to live? He is one of those people that you try to just admire their songs and talent and don't look at their personal life.

Probably the only good movie George Hamilton was in was "Your Cheating Heart" in which he played Hank Williams. Hank Williams Jr sang his father's songs in the movie.

Happy Birthday Sue. Actually I think it was yesterday but as old as she is she probably doesn't want anyone to know about it anyway. God! They shoot horses when they get that old.