I have been cynical the last few weeks. Cynical with a weird, latent indignant dementia. Before you stop and remind me that I've always been this way, I stop you -no, I haven't! That was a cheerful cynicism! Anyway, this has been different, and there are myriad reasons for it. I won't go into it. I'll just try and stop now. No, I'm better now.

There is a long haul on the books for today. Hundreds of miles over three or four counties. Our work schedule is a mess from the backlog at the manufacturer, so we've ordered everything all at once for the next month or so, just to get ahead of the game. I have been waiting on one order for so long that I finally gave up and ordered it again from another dealer yesterday. Seems that the world is all out of "white".

Which reminds me. Mrs. Ditchman commented yesterday that our business only employs "whites" and we wondered if the government would force us to take on a minority in hiring. Since we don't have any employees, I would say we are equally prejudiced against all potential employees, but if the government finds out of our intent to coerce our children into labor around the house, we may be legally bound to provide a benefits plan. The way I see it, they've been getting free room and board around here for a few years now, so they owe us! Who knows, with the way things are going these days. We decided it was going to work out all right, since our babysitter is Hispanic and the children are descended from Jewish-Russian immigrants. I don't think I will ever put "white" down on another form again. You just don't get all the advantages like you used to. Anyway, the world is all out of "white".

And North Korea wants war today. Again. Did you know that we have technically been at war with them for over 55 years? There was no peace treaty signed, just a cease fire. A truce. An armistice. North Korea withdrew from the armistice this morning, if you haven't heard. What this will amount to, no one can say. But I suspect it is simple blackmail, and the good nations of the world will unite to send them oil, food, and billions in cash. I'm not saying there's a good alternative, but whatever oil, food, and cash we send them is going to go straight to the DPRK million-man army. If you are born in North Korea, you have no future but in the military -lest you succumb to malnourishment and end up inches shorter than the South Koreans.

Woe, the bad news. See? Remove the cynicism and you're just left with a sullen, hopeless misery. I need a change. A change in attitude, a change in latitude. I need to go camping.

You know what my favorite thing in the world is? Boat camping. Boat camping in the desert -anywhere on the Colorado river. And in the middle of summer when the air is 105 degrees and the water is 80. I love driving the boat across the lake just before sunset, with that warm summer wind in my face. And pulling the boat slowly into the shore, beaching it, and then hopping out across the bow and onto the sand. Shorts and flip-flops for a week, that's what I need. And the only cold around is the beer in my hand.




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