Nothing to do with old age, but interesting nonetheless.
Denver Post:
This text is from a county emergency manager out in the central part of Colorado after the snowstorm.
WEATHER BULLETIN
Up here, in the Northern Plains, we just recovered from a Historic event--- may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" --- with a historic blizzard of up to 44" inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's of thousands.
FYI:
George Bush did not come.
FEMA did nothing.
No one howled for the government.
No one blamed the government.
No one even uttered an expletive on TV.
Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit.
Our Mayor did not blame Bush or anyone else.
Our Governor did not blame Bush or anyone else, either.
CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX or NBC did not visit - or report on this category 5 snowstorm. Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.
No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House.
&nb sp;
No one looted.
Nobody - I mean Nobody demanded the government do something.
Nobody expected the government to do anything, either.
No Larry King, No Bill O'Rielly, No Oprah, No Chris Mathews and No Geraldo Rivera.
No Shaun Penn, No Barbara Striesand, No Hollywood types to be found.
Nope, we just melted the snow for water.
Sent out caravans of SUV's to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars.
The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn't ask for a penny.
Local restaurants made food and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snowbound families.
Families took in the stranded people - total strangers.
We fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns.
We put on extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work or Die".
We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks.
Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early, we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves.
"In my many travels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 48 degrees North Latitude, 90% of the world's social problems evaporate."
It does seem that way, at least to me.
I hope this gets passed on.
Maybe SOME people will get the message. The world does NOT owe you a living.
Okay, funny one.
POLICE STORY -
In most of the northern states, there is a policy of checking on any
stalled vehicle on the highway when the temperatures drop down to single
digits or below. About 3 AM, one very cold morning, a state police officer
responded to a call. There was a car off the shoulder of the road outside
Casper, WY. He located the car, stuck in deep snow, and with the
engine still running.
Pulling in behind the car with his emergency lights on, the officer walked
to the driver's door to find an older man passed out behind the wheel with
a nearly empty vodka bottle on the seat beside him. The driver came awake
when the officer tapped on the window. Seeing the rotating lights in his
rearview mirror, and the state policeman standing next to his car, the man
panicked. He jerked the gearshift into 'drive' and hit the gas.
The car's speedometer was showing 20-30-40 and then 50 mph, but it was
still stuck in the snow, wheels spinning. The policeman, having a sense of
humor, began running in place next to the speeding, but still stationary
car. The driver was totally freaked, thinking the officer was actually
keeping up with him. This goes on for about 30 seconds, then the officer
yelled at the man to 'Pull over!' The man obeyed, turned his wheel and
stopped the engine. Needless to say, the man from Casper was arrested, and
is probably still shaking his head over the state patrolman who could run
50 miles per hour. Who said cops don't have a sense of humor?