Post 2121.

Are we having fun yet?

I'm compelled to report on our northern Wisconsin weather. We measured in at a good 10.5 inches of snow, this past spring storm. (Not exaggerating either, folks!)

The plows originally came through -- it was the heavy, wet stuff -- and plowed our streets open. (They've performed superbly; if you have to get out, you can. Bravo!)

The first times through, they had no choice but to create dividers down the middle of the streets. Huge piles, you had to creep forward for visibility, before proceeding, but the drivers up here are pretty much as experienced as the plow guys, it seems.

Yesterday, you saw the dump trucks and "shooters", I call them. Think salad shooters, sucking up the snow and depositing in the back of the trucks. Off to the lakes, or open fields, or where-ever it is they take the excess snow to get rid of the big piles. And another one pulls up, ready to be loaded.

It's cold again -- sunny yesterday, but no clouds to trap the heat. Thus, we had some melt, making it up to the mid-30s, which made the roads and lots slushy enough to be pushed around by tire treads. This morning then, is like driving on crusty little ice piles, not smoothed down, but with inches varying here and there, and up to half a foot variations of unevenness.

It's one of the few times where my words might fail to properly explain -- a picture might indeed work better, for those readers who haven't experienced what I'm describing. The old grey Corsica is creaking -- no doors iced shut, and I had the good sense to spend the time carefully extracting all the snow from the car when it was still in the meltable stage. You do see some ice mobiles around town though -- windows clear, but roofs and trunks and side doors holding the extra weight.

So that's what's new here...

I did hit the seed store this morning though. Gonna take Krugman's economic advice, and invest wisely; this is no time to be austere. Saw a nice house in Shell Lake advertised for $55,000; who knows? After this rough winter, and with the down economy, surely the bargains are out there now.

And maybe we all should be listening to him right about now. Instead of going for the instinctual thrift, perhaps it's better to spend -- buy low -- not so much to stimulate the economy, but to make our own well-preserved dollars go as far as they can...

It can't hurt to try. What we're doing now obviously isn't working.

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* ADDED: Perhaps we need a good political scandal right about now?

Let me explain: if there's one thing I've observed over time, with a Madison legislator who got in trouble some time back, and before that, Gov. George Ryan of Illinois, it's that politicians on their way out sometimes find their sense of courage. = Nothing to lose anymore, so they can be brave and try something new; no need to have that finger in the wind, or be constantly reading the tea leaves, to use another cliche.

Why not ... go for broke? I know, I know, that sounds scary. But when you're in a position of no longer having to please others, you can listen to some unconventional ideas. Take that gamble; nothing to lose politically, as Gov. Ryan found out with his scandal, which I think allowed him to pursue the now permanent death penalty moratorium, in a state whose practical (yet discriminatory) police actions proved it to be long overdue. Would he have pursued that path, were he concerned about his next re-election? No way, in my humble opinion.

The Madison legislator -- his name escapes me at the time**, but I did sit next to him (after he'd served his time) at a CLE class, when he was finagling to get his law license back -- he delivered the most impressive speech, in session on the floor of our Capitol Senate, against discriminating against the state's gays, only after his own personal scandal broke and before being kicked out, sentenced and jailed.

I was in the upper seats of the chamber that day, looking on as an observer for a Legislation class, but the passion in that one speech was powerful. He was Madison-grown, and related to how times had changed already, from when he walked the school hallways and remembered the treatment of others.

Now would he have delivered that mightily, had he not known he was on the way out, and this was perhaps one of the last issues he'd be opining on? As a liberal Democrat, I'm sure he would have voted the same way. But there was something in his words, and the way they were delivered, that made me think he got it: being down and out, being an underdog, having nothing much to lose anymore, and going for broke.

President Obama hasn't let me down much, mostly because I wasn't expecting that much from a junior senator with little track record who seemed content to let others lead and swoop in at the last moment as the most moderate voice in the room to assume control. But if he's looking for any advice these days: stop thinking second term. Worst that happens is you and your family go back to Illinois, living a lucrative post-presidential live fading back into blessed normality, as much as possible.

That's not so bad, right? So why not listen to the Krugman's? Try something else on the economy, and stop worrying about pleasing everyone on the foreign policy front. Sometimes, less is more, and devoting your remaining resources not to transforming the world, but to making America better -- neighborhood by neighborhood, project by project ... well, that was one of my original criticisms of him. That he was so busy looking forward, that he really didn't measure up nor devote himself to the jobs he had: South Side community organizer, for one.

Sticking around, to something others might see as less modest, but giving 100% and being brave in sticking to your (symbolic) guns*, even when others might view you bitterly, it's not a bad life really.

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*And please, don't confuse passing on Christmas Eve an ill-thought-out, but well intentioned Mega-Program, like mandatory health insurance in all States, for being brave. That's not what I'm talking about. I mean taking small steps, as then-Gov. Ryan did, to what pretty much everyone can agree in reality is a noble goal (less conviction of innocents). Opening your eyes, not worrying about potentially plummeting popularity, to pursue positive growth.

ie/ We all know the infrastructure needs to be rebuilt, sooner rather than later. Pursing those kinds of programs -- if small enough to be closely and efficiently monitored -- and not moving on until there's results ... well that's just one example I can think of, off the top of my head here. Ask somebody like Krugman -- he's old/wise enough, it seems, not to worry so much about being (temporarily?) disliked for his professional opinions.

In the long run, those are indeed admirable types.

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** Chuck Chvala, good man. Ultimately.
What more can you ask? Learning from mistakes, and finding it within oneself to rise again when it looks like you're down ... you ask me, that's where a lot of personal growth takes place: I'm the forgiving type, if it's earned.