DEAR MR. DRUMPF,

I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. So stated your blatantly bravado campaign promise to your voting base, a promise involving mammoth expenditures which, according to the experts, will have little impact on illegal immigration. You have been shown by your own border agents how determined enterprising teams south of your border simply build elaborate tunnel systems under existing walls. A Texas sheriff, who voted for you, recently declared, To hell with the wall right now. With only four deputies and few border agents, this sheriff must patrol an extensive border area 24/7. He argues that money would be far more sensibly spent on people and technology. Your own security experts contradict your statements about a border emergency of massive proportions.

But you, The Great Negotiator, unable to negotiate funds from Congress for your wall folly, have now declared a trumped up (sorry, couldn’t resist) border national emergency, all the while an emergency of far greater proportions plagues the U.S.. A true national emergency which you choose to ignore........mass shootings.

Just look at this! Not two full months into 2019, and here are some mass shooting stats,

Jan 23: 5 killed in mass shooting in Sebring, Florida

Jan 24: 4 killed in mass shooting at State College, Pennsylvania

Jan 24: 4 killed in mass shooting in Rockmart, Georgia

Jan 26: 5 killed in mass shooting in Gonzales, Louisiana 

Feb 3 : 4 killed in mass shooting in Palm Springs, California

Feb 11: 5 killed in mass shooting in Livingston, Texas

Feb 15: 6 killed in mass shooting in Aurora, Illinois

Feb 16: 4 killed in mass shooting in Clinton, Mississippi

The statistics I have listed do not include mass shootings, of which there were many, many more, in which victims lived but were injured or in which only one victim died.

What civilized country allows such carnage to continue? What leader fails to address the issue? Ah, Mr. Drumpf, how can I be so naive as to even dream that mass shootings might be addressed by you........a President who on the anniversary of the Parkland massacre skirted the issue of mass shootings by referring to school violence (whaaaaat?), a President who is more concerned with his fragile ego and voting base than the good of his country, or by a President who is funded by the NRA.

Mr. Drumpf, for the good of your country....and the world....may 2020 see the end of your incompetence, divisiveness, racism, dishonesty and ego-centric leadership. 

TO WASH OR NOT TO WASH

(My Winter Conundrum)

Against my husband’s sage advice, I’ll take it in black, I bravely ordered when purchasing my new car last year. Jim warned that a black car is the most difficult to keep clean. Hrmph! I thought. What does he know? Aaaach, apparently more than I do. Every minuscule molecule of dirt from pollen to bird droppings glaringly taunt me...

...and  those are nothing compared to the gross designs created by winter slush and mud.

I know! I know! My car should be washed even more frequently in the winter to prevent potential damage from grit, grime and slush. But when, I ask.

On rare sunny cold glorious winter days, car wash lineups rival those I can imagine when trying to purchase tickets for a Maple Leafs Stanley Cup final home game. (Hey, I said imagine.) The older I get, the less patience I have for wasting time in long lines. Scratch sunny days!

And then there are those days of extreme cold, -20C or less. Perfect for a car wash because of dry or frozen roads, right? No slush, no mud, no spray. Well, chalk it up to the rampant paranoia of a minor claustrophobe, but I cannot erase visions of being trapped in my car by frozen door locks. Scratch extremely cold days!

Now I ask you, who wastes car wash money on mild winter days when immediately upon exiting the car wash, one is faced with muddy, slushy roads and filthy spray from passing trucks? Upon returning home on these days, my car is as grungy as it was when I left for the car wash. So much for lasting cleanliness.. Scratch mild winter days!

Oh, and scratch blizzard days, too!

So what should one do? To wash or not to wash? How many days until spring? Perhaps, I’ll take my chances and just wait.