Hey folks, as some of you who are loyal readers of my scribblin’s know, I am not very pleased with the way Main Street in town has looked this summer. Between trash and cigarette butts, it hasn’t looked too good. But hats are off to the Damariscotta-Newcastle Rotary Club, under the leadership of President Rick Hagen, as they put a team of folks to work this past week picking up a truckload of trash between the bridge and the Baptist church!
I think Rick told me that they lost count of the butts picked up at over a thousand! Disgraceful to say the least, and we have trash cans on Main Street as well. Granted they are full more than they are empty, but at least they are there! In talking with Rick, he said next time they are taking shovels with them to pick up all the winter road sand that has accumulated in different spots in town. You go guys, as obviously the powers that be don’t care what our town looks like!
What’s everybody’s take on the POTUS, who claims he never takes vacations, taking off for 17 days for a summer break? I’m thinkin’ good, give us a break from all the ridiculousness that he is causing in D.C. Maybe we will get lucky and his golf game will improve, but I got to wonder, for a man who has such a hard time with accuracy, how many strokes he really counts in a golf game? And woe to the player partner who might call him on his scorecard! I can just hear it: “Oh, that’s a fake score. I really didn’t hit the water hole or sand trap, somebody picked my ball up and threw it in!” Old P.T. Barnum would be proud to watch this guy at work!
While we’re on the vacation subject, has anyone had to try and get anything done with the state this summer? We here at Yankee Pride have a mechanic who is pretty talented, and has been around trucks for a long time, and he decided it was time to get his license. Well, I wantcha to know that it was close to an act of God to get an appointment or a date for his test!
He has had his commercial permit for a while, has done lots of driving, and felt ready for his test. Even the insurance company was willing to insure his license right off the bat because of his inspection license for big trucks, and his good driving record, and that doesn’t happen very often.
So he sent in for his date, and we waited … two weeks, nothing, we called to inquire. Our response, “Well, we had a government shutdown and are behind.” Well, don’tcha just guess how well that set with me! But we were told next Monday they would be assigning dates.
Next Monday we call and guess what? Yup, “You know we were shut down and are behind.” Well, this time I was on the phone, and as you can guess, I politely told the woman that one day closed, especially the day before the Fourth, when probably most people were calling in sick or just plain taking it off anyway to complete the four-day weekend, wasn’t really gonna cut the mustard with me, and we need a date NOW!
Anyways, a few days later we did get a date, so our guy is practicing hard! You can’t believe how irritated I was with the incompetency. I wanted to call our “Big Guy” in Augusta, who is always talking about jobs, to fill him in, but he’s whining about how badly he is mistreated by the media most of the time! I’m still scratchin’ my head how these two fellas got elected! I guess it’s just an embarrassing spectacle at this point!
Had a great conversation with Daryl down at the gas station about the entranceway between Colby & Gale and the ice cream shop, and how recklessly people drive through there. We both agreed that there is so much traffic around town this time of year that it is a miracle someone doesn’t get picked off, or maybe it’s just a matter of when! Kinda like the bus issue. Someone mentioned to me that trying to get off Water Street when the bus is parked there on the side heading up the hill, you can’t see at all.
What a great time at the DamBluesFest this past weekend. All the music was awesome and Junior Brown was terrific! Congrats to the festival folks!
That’s all for this time!
Larry Sidelinger
Yankee Pride Transport
Damariscotta
