Ooops...

Gas price correction: It has come to my attention that Herr Petroleum no longer owns any convenience stores in the Galesburg area and obviously could no longer be involved with the gas prices here. They also do not have any contracts to provide gas to local stations. It was a mistake on my part thinking that they still delivered gas to some of the Galesburg stations. They are not. I apologize for the mistake and any misunderstanding that it may have precipitated.

— Bumper sticker of the week: Hate, Greed, Ignorance, religion, capitalism: Weapons of mass destruction.

— Quote of the week: “One of the things Jesus did was to step aside from the organized religion of his time because it had become corrupt and bogged down with rules. Rules became more important than feeding the hungry.” —Corita Kent

— On the 6th day, God created man. For someone thought to be all-knowing, that was not a real good idea.

— Mistakenly Peeved: The other week I mentioned the foiled attempt by the City Manager to get the proposed National Railroad Hall of Fame some ongoing tax dollars. I referred to the Seminary Street Railroad Museum by mistake. To my knowledge, the Seminary Street Railroad Museum, the one that actually exists, has never asked for, or received, any tax dollars. Seems I Peeved off the wrong people. Generally speaking, I know what I mean, but it sometimes does not get translated very accurately to the public. Occupational hazard. Or malfunctioning brain. Either way — sorry for the inadvertent Peeve.

— I don’t too often stay awake at night wondering what I’m going to do with the rest of my life, but I have lately. I recently retired from my counseling job. I was no longer in tune with what the agency was doing. The paperwork, and the amount of billing time you spend with clients, has become more important than the therapy. I can’t reconcile their new way of doing business with my training and belief that the client, at any expense to the agency, should come first. So it was best I departed. Ended up I wasn’t doing justice to the client or the paperwork. I’m mired in the belief that a charitable organization should do charity, not profit. So I been thinking of opening a soup kitchen, either here or in Hot Springs. There are a lot of hungry people. No preaching or obligations, just food and fellowship. I’m pretty sure I’d like that. (And, by the way, no profit. We would beg for everything.)

— Politicians are the least likely group of people to correct the injustices in this country. In fact, I’m not so sure they’re not the root cause of them.

— Speaking of politicians: Campaign signs are starting to pop up like morel mushrooms in the spring. Rehn and Shipplett seem to have taken the early lead. I guess you can’t blame them for both wanting a lifetime, guaranteed job, with good benefits and a nice retirement plan. I’m looking for a big Democratic year, which gives Shipplett the early lead. Still, if Rehn can out–sign him, he may have a shot.

— Another 9/11 Republican rah-rah rally. I never saw anything so pathetic.

— Fall: Fall officially starts September 22. The Autumn Equinox. I like the fall, although I don’t really like what comes after it. How about spring, summer, fall, spring. Maybe the greenhouse effect will help with this. Anyway, fall is the time to start slowing down. If I get any slower, I’m afraid they’ll take me to Watson’s. It is a time to get prepared for what is to come. Besides colder weather, I’m preparing for a move to Hot Springs, Arkansas. My job is to sell almost everything we own. Sort of a cleansing. Should be interesting. My first problem is figuring out how to sell things on e-Bay. I’m pretty good at buying, but selling obviously requires more computer knowledge than I got.

— What I would do if I had it to do all over again:

• I’d marry the same lady and try to be a better husband.

• I would finish seminary.

• I don’t consider myself a very good parent. I blame it on being an only child. I’d pay more attention.

• I’d make more friends. I have some beauties, but you can never have too many.

• I’d try to be a better son. I left a lot of things unsaid.

• I would go to Woodstock. A buddy and I were within a half hour of going. We decided against it.

• I would do more and say less. I have a notion a lot of people would like a chance at correcting that. Maybe we still can?