The New Year's Resolution...I can explain. It was merely a resolution to write every week. Perhaps next year it will be a resolution to publish on time. I've been writing about my kids quite a bit lately but I haven't been ignoring some of the current Red Bluff issues. Our family talks about these things and how strange it is to see the face of Red Bluff changing. McMahon's Furniture is gone. It has been in business for decades and it's where Joe and I bought our first television set. Red Bluff Chrysler Dodge will now be independent. It's good to see that Craig will still be there...he was always good to us. Red Bluff won't have Winchell's anymore, just a donut house. Now some people have said that they might not taste quite the same? Give me a break. If you are that much of a donut connoisseur, then perhaps your discriminating palate should not be wasted on deep fried bread. That's all a donut is...deep fried bread. *Side note: We were disappointed when Costco stopped selling their pretzels and switched to churros. Daisy still asks for a pretzel when we go there and we have to tell her..."still no pretzels, just deep fried bread." Our family does not use the word donut, we say "deep fried bread." Anyway, enough of the rant...these little things distract me. In Redding, Mervyn's went out of business. We went there on the last day it was open to see what would be left. Everything was 90% off. We bought several pairs of Dickies pants for Jonah for $3.20 a pair plus all other kinds of clothes. Linda Jo bought enough pairs of shorts to last her for several summers. On the receipt, it said we saved over $600. The people who were in line in front of us were elated with their savings. They were gushing things like, "This is wonderful!" Finally, the woman behind the counter said, "I'm glad that everyone is getting a good deal. But today is my last day of work. Tomorrow, I start looking for a new job." That is a tough position to be in and really is the worst part of an economy that is failing. Those who are charged with the responsibility of keeping our own local economy thriving have made decisions such as doing away with the diversion dam. Let me try to understand... There is a lack of salmon in the river...so there is a ban on salmon fishing here. How about those with huge boats who are netting salmon just miles off our coast? So we wonder why the fish aren't coming back. Ummm...they are on dinner plates in foreign countries. Since we have no control over the millions of pounds?? these commercial fisherman take each year, we will ban the sport fisherman? Blame it on our own diversion dam? Somehow, it all makes Red Bluff better...we leave these issues to those who believe they know best for us. How many of you noticed that the water tower on Diamond Avenue is gone? They pulled it down on New Year's Eve. So, the ball dropped in Times Square and in Red Bluff. Have a good week. Here is a video of Linda Jo singing the National Anthem at a Red Bluff High School basketball game. |
