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It was very predictable, I mean, you knew, you knew when the murder was going to happen or something, but it was still so well done that it was enjoyable. Yeah. That, that takes a good bit to make one that's predictable that's still worth watching. That's right. I had, uh, uh, I like the, I think it's called the, uh, RAZOR'S EDGE, but, no no, the JAGGED EDGE, the JAGGED EDGE with, uh, Oh, okay . All right. Um, serious problems in the public education and what can be done about it. Well, what do you think? Oh. And, um, I was a teacher for seven years in the public schools, so I know a little bit about it not, a whole great deal. Well, tell me about it.
What are, what are the problems with public education? Well, um, there, there's some. There's several It's such a, a broad, you know, topic that you need to boil it down. Uh-huh. But, um, one that, um, I thought was a problem that , I thought it was a serious problem, that I'm not sure it's being taken care of right now, uh, was like bilingual education for, um, different, um, minority groups and like Asians and, um, uh, Mexican Americans and, and just people in general that speak other languages that sometimes come from other countries or coming from different areas and they and in this area, Uh-huh. and, um, as the school district, I'm not sure how to go about it, because it's hard to get one teacher that speaks all these languages Right. and so most of these children are put in, um, either special ed or a bilingual program, and then for just a small amount of time, and then they're into their regular classrooms the remaining of the, part of the day, and so the teachers are not sure how to teach them math when they don't read or speak English. Uh-huh. And so, um, a lot of the money isn't put into that, and so these children are just kind of sat in the corner and, um, you know, there's only so long you can do that Right. And a lot of the teachers, it it was not the teacher's fault. A lot of the teachers were just not getting the backbone or support that they needed or the materials or the extra help that they needed for these specific children .
Do you find that those parents, um, I've seen the same thing and heard the same things, and at the same time I've heard that it's even harder when both parents are required to work and can't spend, you know, that, that time, you know Yeah. typically the mother was at home with, uh, the children and, and at least could kind of keep up on what's going on, Yeah. and really society sort of dictates that, uh, you know, both the parents work. Yeah. And, um, I know I've heard some people talk about just the fact that even as far back as the, you know, the second and third grade, uh, if the kids had, you know, proper reading skills or learned proper reading skills that, that would make a lot of difference. Oh, yeah. Oh, definitely, definitely. Yeah. Well, I work at a university, and, and it's really tough when we're, uh, uh, I, I, uh, work at the University of Texas at Dallas Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And, you know, there are some students who are in the top ten percent of their class, even some who are maybe, you know, in the top ten of their class, and their S A T scores are very low,
and a lot of it has to do with their, uh, their reading ability, you know, their, their language Yeah. and, Oh, definitely, yeah. It, uh, makes it tough because you know when they come in with scores that low, they may be, uh, good students, but they just haven't achieved to their fullest potential and they're going, to fail unless some sort of remedial, uh, education is given to them Yeah. so, And then it, then it comes into, well, who's supposed to give it to them, the colleges and universities or, are they supposed to get that back in the high schools and, the junior highs. Right, right. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I know Richardson school district has a, has a wonderful program in the remedial reading, um, where, you know, of course, all the children are tested in some, time portion of the year and, and, uh, some children who need extra help are put into this, um, reading program, and it is just excellent. It is, Yeah I wish that all the children could be exposed to that program, you know.
And I I know that there are some parents that say how do I get my kids in that, and yet they don't qualify, but it's unfortunate that they don't qualify, because I think everybody would benefit from these programs. Yeah, it sounds like it. It is excellent so, So how many children do you have at home? I have two little ones Oh. Uh, you know, I've been teaching since they were, gosh, newborns and and it just wasn't adding up and, you know, being a teacher, and you see all these parents who are working and working and working and just, you know, don't have the time, time, time, time. Yeah. It was kind of getting to me, where, where I'm doing the same thing And so, um, you know, my children are getting older and I was missing out on a lot, so I just decided to stay home for a while, I don't know how long Well, that's good.
Okay, uh, I guess, we are just supposed to talk about things we do in our spare time. Uh-huh. Uh, I basically read books. Uh-huh. It is, I do. Sometimes, when everybody's gone to bed, my kids are in bed and my husband in bed, so I will just stay up and finish a book that I am, I have about three books that I am going on. And I will work on one for a little bit, you know, and then the next one. But that's just kind of, Well, that is pretty impressive to have three books going. Not always, just sometimes. Oh, yeah. And what what kind of books do you read? Uh, just really different ones. Uh, I have one that I was reading on, uh, raising your children and then another one on a, an autobiography, and another one on, uh, uh, uh, like a crime story Oh yeah A true crime story.
Oh, do you like those detective stories? Yeah. But this, it was a true one. It was just a little different though. Reading that one last night. Oh, well that is interesting. Actually, I like to read also, but, uh, usually fall into one or two categories, either true science fiction or fantasy on the one hand or highly technical. Yeah, like my husband. Yeah Yeah Yeah, kind of one or the other. You must, uh, work for T I? Yes. Yeah, my husband does too. Yeah,
and I am a computer scientist. Yeah. But, I have a lot of other hobbies. Uh-huh, really. Well, yeah, I am kind of, uh, I guess what you would call it, a project person. Oh, really. Yeah, and I love, like I have a shop and when things break around the house, I always try to fix them myself and so, hobby, it's, it's funny, uh, from the one stand point, it is work. But it is a hobby too, that I enjoy to do. Yeah. To find broken, Yeah, yeah.
What kinds of things do you fix? Well, essentially anything you find in a house. Uh, a stove, or oven or a broken piece of porcelain or, uh, chipped tile on the floor. I mean just anything. Oh. And you have a shop? Well it, it is not anything elaborate. It is just a work bench and a gazillion tools. Yeah. But, enough that, again for anything in the house I could probably, Yeah, you can fix just about everything and anything. Right. Well, that is great. And in the car, I guess the car too. Yeah. And so, uh, I think I probably would consider that a hobby. Although, sometimes it gets to be excessive. Yeah. That is pretty much like my husband. He is, he is pretty, uh, mobile in that area too.
He, he works on the cars. He rarely takes them in Yeah I, and, uh, he works on irons, and all T V and stuff too. We rarely have to take those things in too. Right. Yeah, I think it, it, not only can it be fun, but it can certainly help your finances. Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. So, do you have any art, uh, how do I say it, creative or artistic hobbies? Uh. Not really. I mean during Christmas I work on, you know, like, uh, holiday sweat shirts and those kinds of things. Oh yeah, well that's good. But, but, uh, not really
Yeah. Well, I don't necessarily either. I can plink out a song or two on a piano Oh. and I can, uh, I don't necessarily draw or do any of that kind of art, I guess uh, graphic arts is that what they call it, Yeah. Yeah. I can't do any of that, but sweat shirts is certainly impressive. Uh-huh. Uh, I belong to this organization for, uh, if, if you have preschool children Uh-huh. and, uh, every once and a while they will have a craft, uh, section for the moms Oh, yeah. and those are really neat and we learn to do the, uh, transfer pictures on the sweatshirts transfer photos Oh, yeah. Uh-huh.
and, uh, those are really neat. So we learn different crafts like that uh I see. Well, that is neat Yeah. I guess you could consider that a hobby. Do you, do you cook for a hobby or do you, No I cook dinner That's not something you, I don't consider it a hobby I understand that. But, uh, you know, I no I am not a real elaborate cook or anything like that unfortunately. Yeah. I like to bake off and on. And usually once a week I will bake something, but it's not anything elaborate, you know
Right. At least, I don't think it is. Yeah. So, But, I think that still borders on hobby. Yeah. Probably the other thing I do which I am sure will sound horrible to you, but is I program for fun. Uh, on the computer. Uh-huh. So, I have little projects little computer projects going on that I consider hobbies. Uh-huh. But, drive my wife crazy. Oh. Well good. You have a computer at home? I do, yes. Oh, good. Yeah. In fact, there is actually several of them here right now. Oh, really.
Not all of them being mine. Wow. Then you are busy Yeah. Uh-huh, that is very good. Uh, I wonder if you can construe raising children as being a hobby? Well, you know one of the books that I did, that I was reading, and I stopped because it was so, it's the book is so detailed Uh-huh. and you have to, sometimes I have to go back and read the page over again cause I didn't quite get it all. And, uh, it is so detailed, Hi. What do you think about gun control? Well, uh, sort of mixed feelings about it, I guess, uh, uh, I, I I lean more towards the control side than, than towards, you know, just the, the free, free army. Uh, on the other hand I, it's, it's sort of an issue of, of uh,
I'm not, I'm not a great fan of, of government control in general and so it's, it's kind of a tough issue. What about yourself? Well, I guess that I would like to, to say that perhaps someplace in the middle where people could somehow qualify or, uh, have a legitimate use for the, the, the weapon I suppose because also, living in this area, the, the problems in D C come home very quickly. Uh-huh. I'm, I'm sure, yeah. Uh, so you would take a position where somebody without, without a, uh, uh, specific use, in other words, if they just wanted to have a, a gun to have in their home, uh, you wouldn't, you wouldn't like them to be able to do that? Is that, Well, I'm not so sure about that, but I think somehow, uh, safety courses or, I don't know whether this could be something that was done in school, but somehow people, I'd like to know that the people who had them at least knew what the responsibilities were, whether they followed them or not. but still, I, I have, uh, I have the impression that, that the, the majority of the problems that we have with guns are not, are, are probably not from the people that are, are buying them through legitimate channels anyway. Uh, that may be wrong. Uh, you know, I mean, certainly there, there are cases of, of, you know, children who find their parents' gun or something and, and shoot a brother or sister or, you know, things like that that need to be definitely avoided and that's, that's certainly within the channels,
right. Uh-huh. But, uh, a lot of the, the crime, I think, that goes on, I, I don't know to what the degree the guns are, are purchased through regular channels or they're illegal guns. Yeah, I don't know, this morning in our paper, it, there was an article about somebody who had bought three guns in Virginia because all you have to do is get a driver's license, so he went over there and got a driver's license, the same day bought three guns and went up to New York and sold them for, you know, very high markups. Now, in a sense, that's a legal way of getting the guns, Uh-huh. but certainly the the purpose is not very legal. Yeah. Uh-huh, yeah, I, I mean, I think, uh, some or, I, I don't know if it's been actually been implemented, I think so, uh, or at least there's been talk about doing, uh, you know, like waiting periods and and things like that. Uh-huh. Uh, and, and, uh, you know, I, I think stuff like that is perfectly good. Right.
I don't know, I've, you know, I, I don't own a gun and, and don't really want one, and I'd just as soon a lot fewer people did. Uh-huh. Uh, but on the other hand, you know, uh, like I say, I kind of, kind of against government control in general. Uh, Right. And I suppose uh, you know, total ban would lead to more illegal weapons. Yeah, and I, you know, something about banning is that, you know, there, there are so many weapons out there that, that they're not going to disappear anytime soon. Uh, and they're already, I know there's a ready market for them, you know, in the the stolen, stolen guns can be sold. I mean, the first thing a, a, a burglar will pick up if he can is a gun. Uh-huh, uh-huh. Right,
because, uh, because they, they can be so easily sold and, you know, they're, they're, I don't know how many millions of guns have been sold in this country, but, uh, it's not like they're going to disappear all of a sudden. Uh, even if you do do a total ban on them. Uh, it's a real tough problem. Right. I, I don't know, I don't know where I really come down on it. I mean, I, I grew up, my father was a hunter, right, and that's, and that's sort of almost a separate issue. I think we've generally been talking about handguns and that kind of thing, Uh-huh. and, But that's true. I mean, some people grew up with guns in the house. We never had any in the house Uh-huh. so, to me, the, you know, the first time I saw a gun up close was a pretty scary thing.
And I'm not sure that's good either. well we, you know, we, I grew up with them. I never really took to hunting. I mean, I did some of it, but, uh, you know, we didn't have any, we never had any handguns or anything like that. We had, you know, had shotguns for, for quail and pheasant hunting and things like that. Uh-huh. And, you know, it was a whole different thing and, and gun safety was taken very seriously and it was, you know, I mean, before we go hunting, we, we took safety courses, uh, you know, and, and, and it, but, you know, that's, that seems to me to be just a whole another issue. Uh-huh. Uh, you know, the, the thing, the, the, yeah, I'm not certain that people are, are, are terribly concerned about other people. Do you, uh, have a family budget, or, how do you work your budgeting?
Well, for many, many years, uh, my wife and I did have a budget. Uh, we were both working at the time and so forth and, uh, that, we had to do that until we finally got the house paid for and, and other big bills taken care of. Uh-huh. Uh, we have a, a budget, but not as strict now as we used to because we don't have quite such a tight financial situation. Yeah. So it, it's, uh, it's helpful. I mean, yes, having a budget is very, very important and that did get us so that, you know, the house is paid for and, uh, other major things are taken care of and now we can relax a little bit more because basically we don't really require as much on a daily or a monthly basis as we did before, so we don't have to have quite as strict, uh, a budget as we did. Oh, well, we don't have a real strict budget. Uh, we have a, a low budget to work on, but we, uh, you know, for like groceries, we say about this much per week and then we just spend about so much. Sure,
uh-huh. We don't, I, I don't know of a written figure of expenses that we, you know, keep to or anything, but I know that I go to the grocery store that we always stick within, you know, five dollars between here and there. Uh-huh. A certain amount. I think I've, I do that automatically myself. Yeah. I mean, I unconsciously, uh, you know, stay in a, within a, with a certain amount because I, I have enough food already stored here that I don't have to make any large purchase at any one time. Oh. All I normally do now is pick up little things here and there. If the salt goes out or we need sugar or something like that. Wow, that's great. Yeah, we have two freezers, and, course, we have a large garden here that we grow a lot of our own stuff and we freeze a lot of that, so a lot of the vegetables are taken care of in our own personal storage. Oh. Oh, you guys sound pretty self sufficient Well, we, we keep a little note pad on a, on a wall.
if anything is absolutely out, make a note of it and then, uh, the next time I go to the store, why, I pick it up and fill it up. Huh. So it's, it's worked very well that way. That way we you know, if each of us finds something is missing, uh, we put it up. Uh, the other person might not know about it. Yeah. That way we keep up to date Well, that's a good idea. Let's see, the other thing there the topic was talking about was, if, if, uh, all I can think of is if you don't keep a real, a real tight budget, how do you control expenses, but, uh, one, another thing that we do is we always fly back to California and Washington each Christmas. Well, not fly back, but somehow we get back there. Uh-huh. And, uh, this year we did it by train because it was the least expensive and, Well, actually, it's more interesting, too, if you've got the time.
Huh? Oh, yeah. And, uh, you know, we could go to both places without having to spend so much for plane fare. Yeah. Sure. Well, I think we unconsciously do the same thing. Excuse me, my throat's not as clear today as it should be. Uh-huh, that's all right. Uh, we are, uh, going to be traveling to Europe with a choral. We sing with a so called Pennsylvania choral Uh-huh. and we make a two weeks tour of, of, uh, foreign countries and, of course, that costs money. So we, uh, each of us watches the funds that we spend and make sure that, that we gather together over a period a time enough money to, to make this trip. So that is another way of, uh, budgeting Uh-huh, that's right. and I think we just sort of unconsciously do it.
We, uh, just live a normal life, but we don't throw any money away, particularly. We save it for this trip, which is, uh, always very, very nice. Yeah, well, whenever I don't know if this is part of the topic, but whenever I find, you know, a dime or something on the ground, I, I'll probably pick it up I do the same thing. I have a whole pile of them saved that I have found by parking meters Uh-huh, yeah, I have a special little jar that I keep all the money I found in. You know, just count it up at the end of the year, something. Yeah. Yeah But, yeah. Well, let's face it, the, when we're talking budget, it is important to, to have a budget and, uh, I, I keep track of mine on a more rough basis now by just watching the level of my checking account and I have a money market account also.
Uh-huh. And, uh, I keep those levels up above a certain minimum, and I'm always trying to, Well, are you in the market for a new car? Uh, well, yeah, I am as a matter of fact. Well, actually I'm looking for another car, but, uh, uh, new, probably not. Oh. What sort of requirements to you have for your car? Uh, sports car. Uh-huh. Uh, usually either black or red. Uh-huh. And electric windows, and power locks I see Now, Top of, top of the line. Well, not so much that as it is,
I've had so many times when, uh, uh, you know, I'll have a friend next to me or I see somebody, uh, guy broken down on the side of the road and try to lean over and roll down the window. Oh. It is just a real pain, or, you know, if I'm driving along and there's somebody next to me and, uh, somebody that I know and you try to talk to them it's real difficult to drive, reach over, and try to roll down the window. Uh-huh. Right, right. And, uh, so, power locks, power windows are just, just things that, uh, just really help a lot Uh-huh, uh-huh. What about you? Well, I guess I'm, uh, more traditional in that I don't like power windows or power locks, because the people that I know who have them always seem to have trouble with them. Oh. And, uh, so I don't, I just don't like anything that I can't figure out why it doesn't work Sure. And then I want, you know, good, uh, gas mileage and I want an air bag and, uh, I guess, Have you ever had a car with an air bag? No,
I haven't. Have you? No. Somehow I just think, you know, I like the idea Well, it, it sure seems to save lives and Right. uh, yeah. I, actually, I like the anti-lock brakes. Right, that's a good idea. And I have never had a chance to, I have been in cars that have had them, but I've never tromped on the brakes to see, uh, you know, on ice or water just to see if they didn't lock up. Uh-huh, uh-huh. But, uh, you think you'd buy, uh, an American car or a European or Japanese? Well, I, actually I don't know a lot about different brands. I tend to have, you know, my requirements like the last time I bought a car I, I guess I did sort of prefer American and my requirements were basically, you know, good repair record, good mileage, uh,
and I needed air-conditioning and, uh, can't remember what my, oh, I wanted uh, stick shift. And, so I didn't have a whole lot of choice There was one car in all of the, the metropolitan area that I could find that, you know, was sort of a medium priced car with a stick shift in it. What was that? It, it turned out to be a, a Chrysler. Uh Lancer. Huh, stick shift, huh? Yeah. Did it have, what, a three speed or a four speed? No, a five speed. And it, basically, it was something that a military guy had ordered and hadn't picked up, and so it had been on the lot three months and they were really eager to sell it. Wow. So, I guess in this area, at least, you know, if it's not automatic, it doesn't move. Well, actually, I much prefer a stick shift and, what, I'm, I'm curious.
I, I know why I love a stick shift. Why why did you want one? Well, I just wanted it because, again, I had, I guess traditionally always had a car that had one and I thought it would be more reliable. Uh-huh. Uh, It's hard to find stick shift cars anymore. I found that out. I mean, you know, the people would just sort of look at me like, you must be crazy when I, went in to, and asked and that was a requirement so, Huh, yeah. So, No, I mean most of the sports cars are stick shift. Well, I'm not even sure all of them are anymore. At least in this area. Huh. Not that I was looking for sports cars, but, now the people I've talked to don't seem to have stick shift. Huh.
And so why do you like stick shift? Uh, I guess I, I grew up on it and it's fun. It's, it's an enjoyable part of driving. I do feel like I have, uh, more control over the car Uh-huh. and it, it, to me, it gives me more, a lot more control in snow and ice and slick conditions. Uh-huh. Right. Uh, it, it does, uh, I don't know, it, it's really more fun than anything else. As long as you're not stuck in heavy traffic, it's fun Right, and actually it's probably safer on, you know, at long trips because it keeps you more active. Yeah, yeah So, Yeah, uh, of course, I like gadgets and, and, uh, fun things, on the cars, which are all the things, course, the Are we tonight?
Yeah. Sure. Okay, well let me go ahead and press one Okay, Leslie, I'd like to find out a little bit about your hobbies. What do you like to do in your spare time? Well, and when I have my spare time I do enjoy, Actually, it's a cherished commodity now days, huh. That's right. Uh, I do enjoy, uh, sewing, I hand, uh, I do some needlepoint. Oh, great. And I, I've been doing a a picture for my father-in-law, but if I, uh, ever get enough spare time, he might see it one day. Uh-huh. And some other things I like to do are, is music and, uh, also reading. What kind of music? Well I enjoy singing.
Oh, okay. Yeah. Well great. I enjoy music too and I, uh, one thing that I like to do, uh, is sit down and play the piano. I can't play that well, Um. I enjoy that. Uh-huh. Uh, a couple of hobbies that I also have is, uh, I really enjoy bike riding and the biggest hobbies I have right now are my kids and whatever they are involved in. Yes. Like my, uh, oldest boy is involved in soccer so we go out and play kick the soccer ball around or play throw the football and, uh, we also like to, uh, ride bicycles. So we're riding bicycles and so a lot of the hobbies that I have right now are centered around my, my children and also things that my wife and I like to do together. Uh-huh.
And uh, so personally a lot of the hobbies I had when I was growing up and, uh, going to college and so forth are having to change. Uh-huh. I really enjoyed, uh, mountain climbing. I really enjoyed skiing. Uh, and a lot of outdoor activities. Uh there's not a whole lot of mountains here in Texas that I can go skiing with that right now, That's right. but hopefully I will be able to get back to the slopes some day but, Oh yeah. I have not had the opportunity to go skiing but, uh, I grew up in Arizona which has some mountains around it but uh, never did get out and ski Uh-huh. You didn't? No, I never did. Didn't have the, uh, I guess I didn't have the person out there saying hey let me take you skiing and of course, I was at that you know stage of my life where I had to be taken to places. I couldn't go by myself. Yeah,
that's true. That's true. And then of course, once I got to the age where I could have done it myself, I had other interests I guess. So Oh yeah. I guess that for me it was very helpful. My two oldest brothers were very interested in skiing. Oh yeah. And so we, we went quite often and, uh, in fact my brother still does a lot of skiing. When I lived around in that area my brother would fly in from Chicago and we would go skiing and enjoy that. Uh-huh. So, but, uh, luckily it's kind of unusual because hobbies, it's a, it's a nice thing to have and it's good to fall back on those hobbies when you have time to. Like you mentioned and I am finding out, a lot of the spare time that I had isn't there. That's right. It's, uh, it's, uh, taken up by activities with, uh, work, with family, with, uh, civic and Church responsibilities for me. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
So, Yeah, I, I find if I, I make I have to make myself realize that it is important to get out there and you know just even to go for a walk is good recreation for me Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah Yeah. And my youngest daughter is going to be starting up soccer so she's real excited about doing that. Well, great. We will be busy with that again. What, again. So you have participated with that in the past? Pardon me? Have you participated in that in the past? Well, I did with my older daughter Uh-huh. and she was in it for a few years, but she has got so many interests herself that, we had to start eliminating and well the first one to go.
She still likes her piano Uh-huh. and she is in band. So, she's got lots of hobbies or, uh, activities going on. It sounds like her life is full too. Yeah. I imagine your life is full taking them around all over the place. Very much. That's right That's right. All right. All right. Well, Leslie, it's been very nice talking to you. Is there anything else that you would like to mention tonight Uh. or, No, I think we covered it pretty good. Oh, okay. Great.
Thank you for calling. Well thank you and you have a nice evening. You too. Bye, bye. Bye now. Okay. Well, are you a fisher person, are you? Yes, I love to fish. Great. What kind of fishing do you do? Well, it's mostly from the rivers and lakes. In California? And, yes, and from the banks. I don't like to go out on boats. Oh. Well, what kind of fish do they have in your neck of the woods?
Well, it, uh, Uh-huh. Oh. But, I like it all except, uh, really I don't, I don't really care that much for the trout. I think I had rather have a catfish than I would a trout Well, I, I don't blame you. I grew up in Nebraska and, uh, grew up fish, cat fishing in the Little Blue River and then, uh, we moved to, uh, South Dakota and, uh, did a lot of Walleye fishing on the Missouri River Uh-huh. and, uh, now that we are down here, I think a lot of people do some, uh, bass fishing and strip bass fishing but, uh, I still, uh, I am sort of a catfish man at heart. See. Well, uh, like in, uh, Iowa and Nebraska, those little bullheads, they look just like catfish, huh? Yep. Yeah, they do. You know that's what I mean cause I am from Iowa. Oh. And, uh, you know, we use to catch those little bullheads and that's, they look just like baby catfish.
Yeah. You know, uh, did you get to go fishing very often? Oh yeah. I like to fish. The only problem is I just moved to Texas so it's been a little over a year now but, uh I, I am not quite sure what residency is for a fishing license here Uh-huh. and I, so really I haven't gone fishing for about two years now Uh-huh. and it's driving me crazy but, uh, one of these days, I will go over to, uh, Lake Lewisville or, uh, what is it, uh Ray Hubbard, Lake Ray Hubbard and get some fishing in and get it out of my system for a while Uh-huh. Well, uh, you like to eat them after you catch them? Well, yeah, sure. Because there's are a lot of people that like to go fishing, Well Yeah. Most of the time, uh, if we catch something, we'll take it home and eat it.
Uh, and you're right. I mean I like to fish for trout and they are really, uh, uh, good fighters but, uh, if I went to a restaurant that probably wouldn't be the first thing I would order if I had a choice of fish on the menu. Yeah, I know. Yeah. Well, uh, so, do you just, uh, uh, skin your catfish or do you fillet them out, how do you, how do you, We, uh, skin them. Do you? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Just cut their heads off and skin them and then I just, uh, flour them, salt and pepper them and cook them. Yeah. I don't put that corn meal on them.
No. You know, uh, that's the way my mother taught me to fry them so Well, that's how we do it too. Uh, although we, uh, use to set some, uh, trout lines out and we've caught, you know, fourteen, fifteen pound catfish and sometimes those are good to, uh, do on a barbecue grill and just leave the skin on and, uh, do it with, uh, butter on, uh, on, on tin foil Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. and then the skin just basically scrapes right off and, uh, and it really tastes pretty good. Yeah. Well you know, I don't think I've ever tried cooking those, uh, catfish quite that big. There, uh, Uh, most of them are just the small, you know, pan frying ones. Yeah. So, uh, Well, I am hoping one of these days I'll have the opportunity to catch a big catfish like that on, uh, a rod and reel
but, uh so far it's just been on, uh, on the trout lines Um. so, Wouldn't that be something? Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, well up in, uh, South Dakota on the, in the Missouri River there we've, uh, tied into a few northern pike and, uh, they really, uh, in, in, when the water is cold, they are very slow moving fish, but in the summer time, they'll, uh, give you a run for your money. Uh-huh. So when you were, when you did go fishing where did you go? You moved there from where? Nebraska? Uh-huh. Yeah. So, it was just like the rivers and, uh, the lakes I suppose, huh? In, In Nebraska?
Yeah. Uh, yeah. Most of the time, uh, we just fished, uh, in the river although there were a lot of sand pits and things like that, that we could fish in. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And a lot of them ended up being close to the river, so if the river every, uh, flooded, you know, then obviously they would dump some catfish and bass and stuff into the into the ponds and the sand pits Uh-huh. and so we would do a lot of fishing there too but, uh, South Dakota didn't really have much for, Afternoon, Doug, it certainly is, uh, going to be a pleasure to chat with you. Uh-huh. And I'm, uh, certainly was surprised to, uh, to hear from you. Normally I talk to people in Plano, Texas. Yeah, me too. How did you get on this list? Uh, through Nancy Dahlgren. She, um, she had somehow gotten the information from T I and was distributing it around.
Well, okay. All right. Well, now, what would you say about these everyday invasions of our privacy? What ideas do you have on that, Doug? Um, see, I'm not sure that, I don't think they're necessarily widespread in this country, but I think that the opportunity is definitely there for, um, people to invade your privacy when they want to, I think it's, um, In what manner? Well, it's certainly not that difficult to tap a phone. It's completely trivial to, for instance, listen in on someone's car phone or walk around phone, since they're just radio signals. Uh-huh. It's, um, and let's see, well, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? Well, the thing that I thought they were, uh, concerned about was, was people calling on the phone from all over the country to sell you something Uh-huh. and in reality in many cases, they knew, or they had information about you that was purchased from some other organizations. And I thought was, uh, beginning to invade the privacy of people, because the things about where you live and, and maybe what you purchased in past months is then put down and sent to someone else in the same business, and they in return, come back and try to sell you something with this additional knowledge.
To me that's an invasion of privacy. Yeah, I agree with you there, for sure. Um, and I think that all that information is quite easy for anyone to get. It's possible for almost anyone to get information about your credit history, for instance, if they just, um, twist the right arm or claim to be from the right organization when they're calling the credit company. Uh-huh. It's, you know, possible for a thirteen year old hacker with a modem to find out almost anything about your personal history, not to mention, change it if he wants to. You mean your history in regards to, uh the charge card company or something like that? Well, um. Well, yes, well, for instance, yes, um, and they'll probably goes into other things, like, you know, your records with the government or utility companies or anything. Do you consider these serious, uh, problems? Um, uh, not, not yet anyways, because I don't think they're widespread enough, but I think they have the potential of becoming serious problems. Uh-huh. Well, what should we do about it, or what could be done about it, do you think to correct it? Um I'm not really sure, because the, I mean society is going more and more electronic, and there are certainly benefits to its doing so,
and it's hard to, hard to say whether the, um, risks have potential of outweighing the benefits or not, and I'm not sure what can be done to ensure that they don't. Why, do you see any out for us? Well, I would think that, uh, information held on records, uh, by any company or charge card dealer or person should be absolutely private and, and not be allowed to be, uh, to, given out by those companies. Uh-huh. I mean, it should be made a, a, uh, national or a state law to protect people so that, uh, you would then feel more free to deal direct with these companies. Uh-huh. In other words, if you call the company yourself, directly, uh, and then know that what you tell them will be on their records but will not be available to anyone else, uh, you know, from the outside, so to speak then you would, you would feel more free to, uh, to go into detail with them Uh-huh. Yeah, I. but, but we have no control of that now Uh-huh. and then, uh, you, you're, when you're talking with them you really don't want to tell them everything that's on your mind because you, you feel that it someday might be used against you. Uh, I basically, uh, listen to the news from the T V. That's probably the only time I get a chance to, uh, uh, take a look at it is the evening news and, and then if I'm lucky, I might be able to hear something through news wise. But, uh, other than that that's probably how I get my source unless something really tragic happens and somebody tells me it about through, uh, uh, you know, uh, through conversation or whatever but, uh, most of the time it is through the news in the evening
so that's about the, You don't get any newspapers? Newspapers? No, I'm not too much in reading newspapers. Uh, not that I don't enjoy newspapers or anything like that but, uh, part of it is because I just don't feel like I need, the need to have them, uh, with watching the T V or whatever. We get our weekly news around the area and I might look through it real quick if there's something that catches my interest, uh, in regards to what's going on around the county or little bit of the state But the majority of the time now I don't get a daily newspaper where, you know, I get tons of, uh, news coming in that kind of stuff. I'm kind of the opposite of you. I get all my news from newspapers. Oh, you do We have, we have two newspapers. You read it in the morning then? Yeah. Two newspapers in the morning. Uh-huh. And, uh I'm, uh, in, in a government position that I'm in the news a lot Sure.
so, uh, I, I kind of look through to see, see what, uh, I'm quoted in. Oh, sure But, uh, how, how bad the quotes are every day. To see if they did it or if they, uh, criticize you or put something in there wrong. Yeah. Sure, sure. Or, uh, sometimes there's, uh, letter to the editor about me or there's a, even, uh, editorials for and against what I'm doing Uh-huh, Sure. Sure, exactly But, uh, but T V, uh, the T V, I, I don't really watch, even if I'm, even if I'm on it. Uh-huh, sure. But just, Well, that's, that's kind of like you said then. We, we are kind of on the opposite where I get home and, uh, while I'm cooking supper the T V is on and watching the news or trying to catch up with what is going on and, uh, very seldom do I catch the ten o'clock
so, by that time, you know, old news is probably what I hear through the grapevine or whatever. But, uh, unless there is a big issue going on like when we were at war then I think everybody was glued to the T V to find out what was going on. Right. But, uh, other than that, no. It's, And that's, C N N had the, uh, everybody was watching C N N, that seemed to be the place to be to find out what was going on on that. Exactly, exactly, exactly, sure. Yeah, yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah. Well it brought kind of, uh, more of a vivid, uh, look at what was going on when they were dropping the bombs and just a lot of different things. But, uh, yeah,
that's true. You know you know a lot of people that read the news to, newspapers to get the news of what's going on and, uh, other people that, you know, do it differently or don't even watch any news at all so. But, Well, the thing is, with, with T V, I, I, uh, a lot of times the, the news on, uh, the local T V is so brief, you really don't get the full picture of what, uh, what's going on. Exactly happens. Sure, sure. That's, And, uh, that's, that's a problem that I have is not, getting just a little brief, uh, idea of what's happening. But, Oh sure, a clip, you know, a sentence or two and that's about it of what went on and, uh, they have so much other information to cover in such a short period of time. Sure. Right. But I like the weather report. Makes sense.
Yeah. So, I I alway, always, I always turn that on Yeah, yeah. that's one part I watch because of, uh, I go surfing down here and I always want to watch the weather for when the waves are going to be good. Uh-huh. So you're right on the coast line. You're not, uh, further up. You're, Yeah. No. Uh-huh. Sure. Sure. I suppose you watch for hurricanes coming in and things like that. Yeah. Sure. Yeah.
Weather channel's good Yeah, that's about the only time in the, in the summer, uh, if you're watching T V for the weather, even though it's very hard to predict what's going on, they'll kind of say, well, there's a thunderstorm warning or whatever. This is the, what is expected, but a lot of times things happen and change here so drastically, uh, so fast you know, where movement that was coming in has shifted or whatever Yeah. so. Uh-huh. so I can predict my, my week and where I'm going to be. Uh-huh. Sure. So I can be at the, at the beach when the waves start coming in. to take off. Sure. Yeah. That's, sounds pretty good so. Anyway, I don't know if our time is getting up here or it's got to be fairly close to that
Okay. So, what is your opinion on, on drug testing? Well I can see it in certain cases where it might be, uh, somebody's in a position that, uh, perhaps a lot of lives are involved, like, maybe, uh, pilots that, uh, you know, fly jets and, uh, maybe people that have a lot of responsibility over a large mass of people. I could certainly see it being done but, in general, uh, you know, whether companies want to do this and I know that companies do. Like factory workers that have lots of accidents are now being drug tested. I know a couple of corporations that are doing that. Uh, so, you know, they kind of have gotten into the idea that let's drug test them and let's put them through rehab. But there's got to be like a limitation. Do we drug test everybody that comes in and or do we kind of say, well you can be drug tested and you look okay because you look this way. You're, you're very conservative and, and there's just no way that we would think that you would use drugs but the guy that doesn't fit the stereotype of, uh, the conservative or whatever could be drug tested. And, uh, you know, whether legal rights and, of that person,
I don't know. There's certainly a lot of things to really consider, uh, when you get into drug testing people just at the work place unless, of course, like I said, they have a large responsibility over a mass of people uh, that's about it. Well, yeah, it, it, it's just not the you're talking about company's liability. Uh-huh, uh-huh. If, if, uh, if the company is liable for something that, that, a employee does while under the influence of, of a drug, you know, then by all means they should have the right to, to, to, to to minimize their liability. Sure, sure. And I think that's what companies are doing, uh, more and more because there are products that are out there. And there's also the case about just, uh, uh, health, health and welfare of the, uh, employees. Uh-huh. If a company has a healthy work force, their insurance rates are low. Exactly. Sure, sure. And not only not only low, there's all sorts of a, of a benefits, uh, financial benefits associated with having, you know, having people file fewer claims, being sick. Sure.
Exactly. The only thing is, There, there's the whole question that, that a, that a work force that is known not to be on drugs is going to be more healthy I don't think anybody would argue with that. Exactly. Exactly. The only thing is, uh, the one issue that I would take stands with is the fact that the drug testing itself can be done on a person that is actually not on drugs and come out positive. Right. If they have had like, uh, medications in the past, let's say, once a month or twice a month or three times a month or maybe that week they take an Advil and the Advil will, apparently, come out positive as if they smoked marijuana. Right. Uh, and there's poppy seed type things. I think that everybody is aware of that but, uh, where's the line where you, where you say to somebody, I'm going to drug test you tomorrow so please do not take these medications or where's, you know how can how you can do it? Well, the
Right. The question becomes what do you do about somebody who tests, who tests positive. Exactly. that's where the real sticking point comes in. Uh-huh. It's not, I don't think there's any problem with testing people. Sure. It's what do you do with the information? Sure. Exactly. and the only thing that I would say on that is it could blacklist an employee later on. Let's say, uh, you've taken medication of some sort, even though they usually have you, at the time, list what medications you've taken. Uh, let's say you do come out positive and you've taken Advil or any of the Ibuprofen products out there. Or you've had a cold and you've been on medication or whatever, you come out positive. Is it then the chance that the employer will look at you in more of a negative fashion and say well, you know, this is kind of iffy, you know, are they really on drugs
or, or they on drugs, you know what I'm saying. Where there might be in the back of the mind of the employer that this person, uh, is on drugs Right. or make up, they may make up their mind that let's get rid of this employee, you know what I'm saying? Right. Well, yeah. I think clearly, the person who is the line the line manager Uh-huh. the employee should not be privy to the information of drug testing. That should go to an entirely different, uh, agency within a corporation. Exactly. Uh, And it's a, they can that the, if it does come out positive the first time, they need to go back and find out what medications did that person take, you know what I mean? It, it's kind of like, uh, I think most people are aware, at least now, common knowledge is that
Uh, I don't know. Your camping experience is probably, I don't know if they're similar to mine but, uh, since I've had children it has changed a little bit, but, uh, when my husband and I were, uh, camping, we'd take this domed tent that, uh, is easily collapsible and, uh, go camping and, uh, just kind of roughed it. As long as there was a bathroom there and some clean showers and things like that, then it was fine. But, uh, we'd get up at three in the morning and start on our little, uh, escapade for the day and, uh, kind of, uh, do a lot of different things and then stop when we wanted to. But, uh, that's kind of changed now. When you have a small child because they don't want to get up at three in the morning and you don't want them up that early. Would you then go hiking. I mean would the camping be part of a long hike? Oh yeah, yeah. We did a lot of different things. We'd stop when we wanted to, that kind of stuff. So, we kind of did a little bit of hiking, sure, and a little bit of, uh, sightseeing, uh, different areas. Uh, sitting back at different areas and spending hours, we never had really a time limit, we just kind of did what we wanted to do for that day. Um.
Very comfortable, so. Were you up in, in Wisconsin or would you go into where would you camp ? Well, there's, uh, places in Wisconsin. There's the Apostle Islands, uh which are in Bayfield which is a wonderful place. Uh-huh. And then there's also, uh, what we found, uh, in the state of, uh, South Dakota, the Black Hills. Oh, yeah. That's beautiful. And we just have this, uh, really good time there. One thing is they don't have mosquitoes and, uh, sorry to say, and, uh, in Wisconsin we do, so, that kind of puts a little bit of a hamper on your, uh, you know, if, if you're going to go camping, who wants to deal with bugs and, uh Right We found this one area that doesn't have mosquitoes. They just don't have them
and it's just wonderful not to be bugged all night long with a humming mosquito at your ear, Oh, yeah. Well, most of my camping, I haven't done much since I was a kid but, uh, we'd, basically, take the tent up in the Sierras and, uh, usually just camp near some stream or some lake. Uh-huh. Sure. And, uh, just, it wasn't even a, a full tent. It would be more a tarp, uh strung up between trees Sure. Uh-huh. Sure. and, uh, we just thought it was absolute heaven. Yeah, yeah. Uh, there was certainly nothing like a, a bathroom, a shower or anything, near by It was dig your own hole and, uh and I I'm not sure I'd do that that anymore, That was really called roughing it,
yeah. I, Anymore. Yeah, see but it's, it, uh, uh, actually some friends of mine and I are planning to camp this summer, uh, for four days. Also going fishing, uh Uh-huh. Sure. Uh-huh. and I have a idea it's going to be a, a lot more equipment and a lot more stuff than before. Than you, sure. Than it, when you were younger, uh-huh. Yeah. But, it, with kids they don't care if they take a shower everyday.
With kids they don't care, you know, uh, a about a lot of things. But as adults, uh, it's like if I don't take a shower every day, I feel like, you know, ooh. Yeah. I, I just don't feel right so. There's lots of places if you're going to go camping. K O A are wonderful. It's kind of it's kind of the, uh, yuppie type of camping because they have showers, they have things for kids to do. They have swimming pools, things like that. If you can find, uh, some really nice, clean, uh, campgrounds versus, uh, if you go to state parks, uh, Oh, my. we have found state parks, not that they're lacking but, uh, they're certainly not up to a standard of a K O A where it's, you know, a little bit cleaner. You've got the showers available. It's not, you know, in the same category. State parks, you know, you get a little bit fearful too, uh, you know, things like that simply because it, they are supposed to be patrolled but, uh, you know, it's, it's a little bit different. But, so we've always kind of stayed with a K O A and then, uh, did other things besides just sit at the campground at night. That's the only time you really use your campground. If you're going to be gone all day long, walking someplace or doing tourism or whatever uh, you're camping really is just for like in the evening to start the fire, to sit back and watch a fire, uh, to enjoy that, you know, and then to get up in the morning and get a shower and get cleaned up, that kind of stuff.
Uh-huh. So we never really spent that much time at the campground as much as we did, So interesting political trends or events, huh? Uh-huh. Well, I guess the, uh, most interesting one that's, uh, going on right now, from my perspective, is this, uh, phenomena of, uh, uh, Ross Perot. Uh, caught his interview last night with David Frost and it was the, the first time I had, you know, heard, uh, his views expressed by himself. Uh-huh. I had heard other people talk about what they thought he believed in. Uh-huh. But the whole phenomena of him coming out of, uh, literally nowhere and no party. Uh, at least, no apparent party support on either side is pretty interesting. Huh. Yeah, I have not even heard, believe it or not, of that person. Uh-huh. I'm not kidding. When you, when you said it, it was kind of like a surprise. Like out of nowhere? Yeah. Yeah.
Uh-huh. I, as far as like now, the new house bill that went to Minnesota, uh, being that it is their neighboring state and that I lived in Minnesota, I'm more familiar with the politics that involved with that, and that being passed. Uh-huh. But, uh, as far as politics in the grander, uh, part of it as if you want to look at, uh, election type things, I'm not quite sure even if I'm going to vote. Uh it gets harder and harder each time an election comes up like that, to make the decision on who would be the best to run. Uh-huh. Yeah. Uh-huh. Well, it seems that the decision, so far, has been filtered by, uh, you know, party politics so much that when the candidates finally get party approval, party support and therefore get presented to the public, the, the candidates are already beyond what, uh, most public, uh, feels is acceptable behavior. Sure. Exactly. Uh-huh. You know, the, one of the common criticisms of Clinton is, uh, gee, he'll say or do anything in order to get to the White House. Sure. And, and, up and to the point of, uh, Perot being a serious candidate, it seems like that, that was a requirement of being a, a contender within the party is to have done all those things. Uh-huh. Sure.
I mean, here's, here's a guy who for twenty years has been working toward, you know, getting the party nomination and, and preparing himself for the presidency and now it seems like both he and the incumbent President are, you know, pretty seriously threatened by somebody who comes out of a whole nonpolitical arena. He might be a, a one of those, sure. Uh, it, it's kind of when you think back of the old politics where a dirt farmer, uh, when you think of some of the best presidents we've had, in the past, have been people that have struggled to get to the top. I mean, they were not rich in in any means Uh-huh. and it has been kind of, in the past, uh, I don't know, maybe fifty years that in order for a person to get involved with politics, they've had to have money. Uh-huh. And you had to have the views of the people that were going to be paying your way. Uh-huh. Uh, so it makes the common person, uh, not to say that a common person couldn't run for government and do a fabulous job because he's got people that are quite intelligent and I don't know if we'll ever see that you know. Where a common person could ever get in there that has good moral standings and, uh, has, uh, you know, you think of Abraham Lincoln and, you know, just the background of Abraham Lincoln. You know, teaching himself to read. Uh-huh. He didn't go to college. He didn't, you know, do all the other things that, uh, you know, you would think that was real popular to do and to get politically involved in and have money. He didn't come from money.
Uh-huh. Yeah. Uh, and now it's, And, and yet even he was a, a consummate politician in the sense that, uh, not only did he, uh, fail in business twice with bankruptcy and failure Uh-huh, sure. but he lost some eighteen elections before he finally won one. Uh-huh. And the first and the first and only election he won was, uh, the presidency Yeah He, he had lost every other office that he had, you know, he was appointed a couple of times to, like, uh, uh, state legislator. So you really know a lot of his background. Yeah. Then, then when he finally, you know, did win an election, uh, you know, it was the presidency. Yeah. It was the big one. It's the one that everybody wants. Yeah. Yeah.
But, Whether or not I, you know, you look at all these candidates that want to become president. I really have to ask them why, you know. Yeah Uh, it's the toughest job in the world to do. And not only that, you don't have that much freedom to make choices. I mean you have to go through so many different, Uh-huh. you have to go the House, the Congress, and all of the other things to get a bill passed. Uh-huh. And sure you can veto veto it at the last minute but then it's not like you have all that power and I think long time ago presidents did have a lot of power. Uh-huh. Um, hello, um, what is your favorite, um, food for a dinner party? Um, I don't know, I, I think I make things, you know, I do things kind of simple because I, you know, I just have close friends over.
I make like lasagna and, uh, oh, we like to have barbecues outside so, you know, when the weather's nice because in Texas you have a lot of nice weather, so, we do a lot of, um, things like that. Um, I'm not really into gourmet cooking, so, I don't know how to do that, so, I don't have gourmet foods Do you do Tex-Mex? Um, yeah, you know, like fajitas and stuff like that, so. Oh, fajitas, how do you make fajitas? Um, it's kind of like made out of skirt steak and you marinate it. Uh-huh. You can buy marinating mixes here I don't know, get it up there. Oh. Uh, you can, you know, marinate it in any kind of barbecue sauce you like and then you, uh, you quick fry it real fast with, in hot, hot grease. You know, not a not, not deep frying it
but you can either barbecue it which is really good, with, uh, green beans, not green beans but green peppers and red peppers and onions. And, uh, then you put it on a flour, like, you know, you make your meat real, uh, thin, you know, bite-size pieces. Uh-huh. Then you put it on flour tortillas with, you know, guacamole and, uh, sour cream and, you know, all kinds of, you know, it's like a Tex-Mex type thing. Oh, it sounds good. It's really good. You can do it with chicken too. Chicken fajitas and stuff. Okay. So. Well, that's nice. So, what kind of cooking do you do up there? Oh, well, basically, um, because I lived in the Middle East for a while I tend to fix Middle Eastern foods when I have, have people over. And so, um, some of the dips are like chick peas mashed with, um, sesame. Uh-huh. And, uh, cold um, what's it called, I forgot, what it's called,
anyway and, and my, You cook them so often you kind of forget their names. That's right, that's right. Yeah, yeah. It's called , now I remember it. Oh. And, um, dipping Arabic bread, the thin piece of bread in that. Uh-huh. Or another dip is made with, very similar but with, um, eggplant which has been actually it ends up with a barbecued taste. I, although we usually bake it in the oven or if we have, uh, those of us that have gas stoves bake it on top just like putting it in the gas flame and sort of getting it black, on the outside but mushy on the inside. Oh. Oh, that's unusual I'd never heard of anything like that, you know. Here in Texas it's all, you know, Tex-Mex cooking and barbecue
and, But barbecue is it like steaks or is it, uh, turkey? Yeah, you barbecue Pardon me? Would you barbecue a turkey or a chicken or, Oh, yeah, you can barbecue turkey if you have a big enough grill but my, I cook my turkeys inside, you know, it you can buy smoked turkeys. Uh-huh. And or, uh, but most the stuff that we barbecue is like steak and chicken and hamburgers, hot dogs, you know, Uh-huh. the simple things like that, Uh-huh. You know, barbecue beans and baked beans and,
Uh-huh. I'm sure that the chicken that we barbecue from the Middle East has a lemon garlic sauce. I wouldn't imagine that a barbecued chicken would. No, no, this is more like hickories, hickory type, you know, Uh-huh. depending on the it's like a smokey flavor, if you've ever, you know, had stuff like that. Uh-huh. Yeah, it's totally different. Sounds like it would be interesting to eat some of the Middle Eastern cooking, so. Right, right. Yeah. Well, it's been fun talking to you. Yeah, it's been fun,
it's been nice, it's, uh, you know, new to learn some, what different people eat, Right. I come from Wyoming and it's basically the same, same type of thing except for you do eat more the Tex-Mex down here, so. Uh, in Wyoming it would be less spicy? Yeah, yeah, you, you know, down there it's just like meat and potatoes, you know. Vegetables once in a while. Yeah, right Oh, dear. Well, it's been interesting to talk to you. Okay, very good. Thank you for calling. Okay,
bye-bye. Bye-bye. All right, Yes. I, I, Why do you think the apathy exists? I blame it to apathy. Yeah, um, I, I suspect the apathy is due to something like people just feeling that, that their vote doesn't count anyway. I mean, why, why bother voting if, um, if your vote won't make a difference. So for instance, in, um, the last presidential election, I'm sure a lot of people thought, Oh, Bush is going to win either way, why bother voting. Why should I go out of my way when it doesn't matter. That's right. I think that's, and, and the other side of the coin is, um, people saying, well, if I really like the underdog candidate, I still think they're not going to win, so are only the same two caucuses, certainly not going to win, why bother voting for him. So. I I think that's a big, uh, a big, a big reason for it. How Oh, I think so, too.
And I think the other thing is the news media puts such a blitz on it that they had it predetermined with a half of one percent voting, you know. Um, that's true. Actually I never thought about that, that, that's a good And I, I think the, you hear the news, you know, you start out in the morning, and all day you hear the news, That's true, that's true. Uh-huh. What do you think on the local elections though? I think on the local elections it's actually, um, I think, um, I think people vote in the larger elections because they feel like, well, you know, the country's real important, and, you know, if I, if we help elect a president who's going to save us, then, then the whole country will be saved. But they figure local elections don't mean that much, I suspect. So people don't really worry about their local mayor or something, figuring that, you know, and I think wrongly, figuring that, that, well, what good is another mayor going to do anyway because our federal taxes are more important right now, and you know, and stuff like that. So people think that, that, that they don't have, um, that, that it doesn't matter as much, whereas I think it's probably just the opposite is true. I think it's probably the case that people could have more effect on a local level. Oh, I think so, too. Absolutely. Uh, I think another thing, and uh, I'm making a judgment here that may or may,
I think it is totally wrong, well. Uh. I think that the people that are, have, um, a lower income, which you automatically equate with lower education tend not to be registered. Right. Um. And they don't register, and they don't understand that you can't go and vote and register all at the same time, or when it gets down to the point of someone saying are you going to vote today, they say, Well, I would Right, but, and I believe in this, but. Yeah, that's, that's possible. I still think that a lot of those people are the ones who really think that their votes don't make a difference, though, as well. I think it's those same people who don't know any better about how we vote, are, are, are a lot of the people who think that well, look at me, I'm just a little nobody. My vote's not going to count anyway. You know, and I think that's probably a portion of the population that massively under I, I, I would guess that that portion of the population is massively under represented.
I had an interesting comment one time, a thought that would never have crossed my mind. I had someone tell me that, I will never register to vote because I don't want to serve on a jury Um? What do they have to do with one another? I just, I, they, I just wandered off from that one. I was just so surprised and amazed with the statement that they say only registered voters can be picked for jury selection. Oh, so they didn't want to wind up being a juror ever. So they if they don't vote, they don't have to be on a jury. Oh, I didn't realize that actually. That, There is convoluted logic for you. Yeah, there is. There are much easier ways to get out of jury duty. Yes. Just go in and say, Oh, I want to be a juror, I can spot a guilty person a mile away. Oh, I just, right,
right. There are so many other ways. But that one, it just defeated me. I didn't have any answer for that one. That one was just beyond my imagination. Well, that, that just seems to be a person who just doesn't care about much of anything around, sort of, you know, doesn't, doesn't, sort of, likes rights probably, but doesn't like responsibilities. That's a good point, you're probably right. I mean, that's what it boils down to, is people like to, people say, Oh, I don't want to be on jury, you know, I don't want to serve on jury duty, I don't want to vote, I don't want to do this and that. Well, then they could, you know, put them in the reverse situation, in the place where they don't have the right to be on jury duty and they don't have the right to vote Which, I suspect their opinions would change very quickly. And that was what I was thinking exactly about because in the Soviet Union they had an election, and they had, what, like a ninety-eight percent turnout. Yes. A massive turnout.
At last, someone wants us to vote. They were standing in lines to vote. Yes, they were, they were doing that. Unfortunately, what, what, they, they had no idea what they were voting on it turns out. And their vote didn't count That's right. But, but it's the thought, they all got out But you wonder, if, you know, if, if now the next election they have, if only half of them are going to show up. Or how many generations it will take until only half of the voters show up in Russia. Or any one shows up. Right. That's, that's true. Total indifference, you know, what difference does it make. Back gone the full circle. Right. Now if things go the way that, that, that they are there, I think that they'll keep voting, but I think they'll wind up like us at some point, where people sort of, only half of them will end up voting, and sort of caring enough to really make a statement, so. You know, I think, I think that, that the people who most need to vote sometimes are the, are the ones who, who are really out to make a statement, because, you know, when, when, when you've got an underdog candidate who represents something, and even if he doesn't win, a large number of people voting for that particular candidate does, I think, make a statement to everyone else.
Yeah, I think and I think that's real important. Oh and I think women turn out to vote for women, too. That's probably true. Yeah, I well, I know it's true. You see a lot of that. You know, rally behind the female. She may lose, but by golly we're going to make a statement here you know. Um. That's good, that's actually really good. Well, actually the female who I would most rally behind right now, right, I don't know much about her politics, by the way, the way she makes speeches is a local person for you, is Ann Richards. Oh, okay. I don't know her politics. I just know that, uh, I saw her speak in the eighty-four Democratic convention. And right then and there, if they said to me vote for someone for president, I would have slapped down my vote for Ann Richards.
Was, was that the time, no that was eighty-four, that's too soon. She said something about, uh, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, and she did it backwards in high heels. That's very good. She said that, I didn't. Said, you know, don't tell me what women can do. That's, that's, that's, that's very good. That's, I, I like that. So I would, uh, I would vote for her, and I suspect she could get a large voter turnout. I think I did vote for her, as a matter of fact. I'm pretty sure I did. Say, I, I, I would think that, um, that, that people like that, I think inflammatory politicians are, um,
or, or emotional politicians, certain very vibrant politicians tend to bring crowds out, I think. I would hope. Well, and some of the issues are so emotional. Uh-huh. You know, some of the really, the really emotional ones. Have you followed the Dallas elections on zoning? No, I've heard of it, but not necessarily the, I've heard it's very controversial though. I, everyone has made so many statements. I don't live in Dallas county. Uh-huh. But, I've heard so many statements that I've lost track. Um. I honestly at this point, it's, it's just too blown out of proportion for everyone. You really, even the news. You cannot follow what the the actual facts are at this point.
I don't, I don't really know if some of the poor judges that are trying to decide how it should be divided. Uh-huh. I wonder about them at some point. Um, uh-huh. Well, they were elected as well, so. So. So they're going to be, That's correct. And that's, and that's another interesting question. Should judges be elected or appointed. That's true, that's true. Are they politicians, and you don't want them to have, you don't want a judge to be appointed because you don't want someone's friend to be a judge. Sure. But on the other hand, Or you want to take the other side of it, you can argue, that's one of those you can pick either side Right. and we could spend a lot of time on it because it's, it's difficult. That's right.
Uh-huh. It's situational, really. So, how do you think we can get people to vote? Uh, uh, I've had one idea that I think is, is, is completely undoable, but, but I think, but I suspect it would work. And the way to do it is to get an absolutely atrocious candidate, who you never expect to win, to go out and make inflammatory and ridiculous and stupid statements, so that a large population of, of voters will go out and vote against that person for someone else. Oh. So given a choice between, you know, so that, so if you have, so if, if, imagine a world where you have two real candidates and one idiot who goes out and makes, you know, anti, you know, sort of, um, anti women statements, anti semitic statements, anti black statements, et cetera, et cetera, well then I suspect a lot of people would go out and choose a candidate to vote for just, just to spite that person. But I don't think that, that would actually ever work. Um. Well, this is true, this is true. I was worrying along the lines of you get every time someone puts in a ballot in a ballot box a dollar bill comes out the bottom.
Uh-huh. That's an interesting notion. That might work in some places. That, that, that, that would be interesting, yes, I think that would work in some places, yeah ... Okay. So, uh, then, do you keep kids? Is this two year old yours or do you keep children for other people? No. I have two children. I have a two year old and a three and a half year old. Oh, that's exactly what I have. Really? Yes. That's wild. I know. I,
my, my little girl was three and a half in March and my son was two in January. Oh, boy. Well, mine was two in March and the three and a half year old will be four in, in July. That's pretty close. So that is pretty close Yeah. But I'm home with the kids all day and I have really, uh, tried to make that a priority even though it's financially a big strain on us. Yes, it is. But, Have you been able to do that all along or, Pretty much, pretty much. Uh, I work part-time but, uh, my husband's able, you know, mostly to take care of them when I'm working. So. But, uh, we adopted these two little guys
Yeah. Oh, how neat. and that was another reason why I really wanted to be here because, you know, they have had a couple foster homes already. How old were they when you adopted? The baby was eleven weeks old and his brother was twenty, twenty-two months. So he probably doesn't remember. Oh. Yeah. So. Yeah, definitely needed. Well, that's, that's pretty interesting. Well, I have always wanted to be able to stay home with my kids you know. Yeah. That was always my dream, you know. I wasn't necessarily a career person Yeah. but as long as I was single and had to work, I was going to get a good job and do the best I could. Yeah.
And my husband was in the type of business that, you know, it's insurance so you have to build a clientele and by the time we had kids I couldn't quit. Oh, boy. And so I haven't been able to quit yet. So I've had to deal a lot with child care and course, we're hoping within, hopefully, the next two years I'll be able to quit and stay home. Yeah. But, uh, I started out, uh, my best friend kept my kids from the time my daughter was born until she went to work last year in August Oh, that's neat. and it worked out pretty good. You know, we had always said from the beginning that if it gets in the way of the friendship then I'll take them somewhere else. You know, the friendship is more important. Yeah, yeah. And, uh, it was a wonderful experience for my kids because she really loved them, you know. She loved them like they were hers and I I knew, you know,
Yeah. I had good peace of mind. I knew that they were taken care of and, That's the hardest thing I think, you know to, to deal with is that people love your, kids. Yeah. I put, uh, my oldest in a preschool program just for him to have the experience of two mornings a week of being with other kids and starting to learn some taking turns and, you know that kind of thing Uh-huh. Yeah. and, uh, he was in there for three months when I pulled him out and the, the teacher had eleven kids. It was excellent, supposedly. The reputation was fantastic for this place. Was supposed to be an excellent school and I had several friends who had, had recommended it, too. But it really gets down to the particular teacher. Huh. And she was a new teacher at the school and she had eleven, you know, three year olds in a room and I just think it was way too much.
The were almost all boys. But she had no help? Pardon? She had no help? She was alone with them. I didn't think much. I don't think much. Oh, that is hard. Yeah. And she was just my, uh, three year old is real active. Yeah. And she just kept saying how wild he was. Well, you know, there was kind of a connotation there of him being, you know, it being a problem. Like he ran back from the bathroom singing and skipping she said. Well, you know, at three years old I don't find that to be a behavioral problem You know Jeez. I don't either So. I mean, it's kind of like she was, there was so much going on that she felt like she needed to control more
Yeah. and it's really hard to you can't control eleven three year olds with one person, you know. You have to let them have some wild time if that's considered wild Yeah, you know. So I just finally took him out. Plus financial reasons. Yeah. It was expensive. But I was real careful and visited and everything ahead of time. But I still felt like even after all the checking I did, you know, you really can't know everything about what's going to happen. I felt safe that the kids weren't going to be left alone somewhere in a room where a teacher could do something inappropriate with them, you know, because there was enough classrooms close together that it was like a house with different classrooms. Right. And I felt like that was a big factor for me. Right. That they would would be safe you know, from any kind of abuse or that kind of thing. Yes. Yeah. Well, when, when my friend decided to go back to work, and whenever we had problems, it worked out okay because she would come and tell me and we'd work it out. Yeah.
After that, I found another girl that had gone to church with us that, you know, they needed it financially. She had a little boy that was the same age as my little boy and I though, well, you know, we'll try her. But she came to our house and that just did not work. Uh-huh. Uh, I mean, she loved the kids and she was good with them. But, uh, you know, they were filthy when I'd get home. Now I understand kids go out and play and they get dirty Yeah. but I mean filthy. I'm talking sand in the ears and the eyes and the hair and the Oh, gosh. and I was, like, gosh. And then, you know, my own furniture and stuff was like, you know, the kitchen table, the, I'd find peanut butter and jelly all over the table and the chairs
and the, You had to come home and clean before you could even do anything probably. and clean, and I was like, Yeah. And then, in the end, uh, she basically ended up stealing a hundred dollars from me so I was, I had a pretty bad taste in my mouth. She told me about five thirty one afternoon, it was a Friday, that she wasn't keeping kids anymore as of Monday morning. Oh gosh. Well, you know, I work eight to five thirty so what am I supposed to do Yeah. So I, well, I had been sick and I, it ended up that I didn't go to work Monday because I was sick. So I stayed home with them and we went to some of the Kindercares. Oh, yeah. I was, I took the kids there once just to try it. They had a free day at Kindercare.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's what they said. There were two pretty near our house and they said, well, bring them in this week for a free day so I lined up someone Tuesday. They had a Mother's Day Out that my baby-sitter took them to, you know, which was fine. They liked it. They had been going to it for years. Uh-huh. And so I stayed with them Monday. Tuesday they went to that. Wednesday I took them to one Kindercare. Thursday I took them to another Kindercare and then Friday my husband and I split. But on Thursday I didn't like the Kindercares. I didn't either. I had one bad, I had two bad experiences just that one day with medicine that my son was supposed to have for a cold that they never gave him. They, They didn't give him.
And the other one was that the, the younger one got bit really badly by another child Oh. Oh, that's horrible. And doing something with him. Yeah. Well, not only was it going to cost me like a hundred and fifty dollars more a month, which I didn't have you know. I didn't, I, you know, Yeah. we're, we're a Christian family and, you know, they, because they're, you know, like public, they're not private you know. They can't pray, Yeah. they can't talk about God. They can't do anything like that and I don't want them indoctrinated you know, So you feel like your values aren't getting, yeah, yeah. but I'd like them to be able to say, gee, God made the flowers, you know, and things like that. Yeah, yeah. God loves you.
Yeah. You know, basic things like that. Yeah, basic. Yeah. So, uh, I talked to another lady at church. It was like Thursday of that week and she said oh, I found the most wonderful place that I've been taking my daughter and I've know this girl, I went to college with her so I really, I, you, I, I value her opinion. And she told me about a private one. It, it was associated with one of the churches here. It's not the church I go to but it's, you know, it, it was Lubbock View Christian Church and it's a private academy. Uh-huh. And so I went over there and I talked to the lady. Well, they have like a three year waiting list.
But she said, I had a mother tell me that she may take a job in San Antonio and she has a three year old and a toddler, which mine was at the time. Yeah. And she said I should know something by tomorrow, which was Friday, and she said if she leaves, she said, I'll let you have her spot. Wow. And so Friday afternoon at five thirty, she called me and she said she's going. You can bring your kids Monday Oh, what luck. I know. I was just like, God set this, up for me. Really He knew I needed this and, uh, so since October then, they have been going there and I love it. I have been at such peace with myself. Oh, that's great. It's just been better than even when they were with my best friend because we don't have the little day to day hassles
and the cost was not near as much as the Kindercares were going to be. Yeah Oh, really? Wow. Did you hear my printer in the background. I'm sorry. I hope you can understand what I That's okay I got the dryer going in the background Yeah. so I was only about twenty dollars more a month than I was paying because being a private institution they're nonprofit. Yeah. So, they don't have to charge as much. Oh, that's great. And the hours are wonderful and I just, I think it's the best thing. I told Russ that we should have done this a long time ago you know Yeah. It's great.
So I guess as long as I have to work, I feel good that they're there. they're getting the love, the care. They have a little curriculum. They teach them, you know, the alphabet, the numbers, the things which, you know, if they learn, they learn. If they don't, they don't. I don't feel like I have to indoctrinate them by age three Yeah. but it's kind of neat when they come home with it, you know. Yeah. They think it's fun. It's not a big, you know trauma to them to learn something. Yeah. Oh, and the teachers. Well, Taylor got bit several times and Taylor bit several times and the teachers dealt with that. We're like, hey they're two and we keep them apart and we scold them and we correct them
and, you know, they mark it all down and they let you know and, and, you know, they get over it real quick and he doesn't do it anymore and they work at the potty Yeah. I just, just so mu, I don't know. I just feel like a big burden was lifted Really. Because sometimes it is a burden having them all day because I can't do anything with them here. It is. I can't even go grocery shopping right now with the two of them because the baby is so into everything and the older brother is you know, running around all over the place so it is, it's hard. and that's hard. Yeah. Yeah Yeah.

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