Beach Bum

May 20th saw Tybee Island celebrate the 30th annual Beach Bum parade. Those unfamiliar with this unique Tybee celebration it is essentially a water fight that begins over on North Beach near the lighthouse and travels over three miles ending near the pier downtown. It is Tybee's way of opening tourist season. It does cause some interesting discussions on the island. It may be the only city in the United States where the city council and the mayor debate what steps should be taken to enforce rules and keep the public safe during a squirt gun fight during a parade. No water balloons, no squirting ice water, no pressure washers, no jumping off floats or on floats to spray people, and no spraying police. This year they banned parking on the parade route. Folks were filling the back of pickup trucks and hauling in 1,000 gallon tanks of water and parking along the street. The concern was that kids were darting out from between the vehicles and someone would get run over. Here are some pictures of the event. 

This picture gives you an idea how crazy this gets. 

I was amused by this young lady. The trash can was full of water so she could easily reload. When return fire came she would duck down below the upper edge.  

The street started dry. No rain that day. All the water is from the fight. 

Pretty slick idea by the float builders to protect their shooters. 

More pictures tomorrow. 

Another Reason to Hate McDonalds

I was traveling from Illinois back to Georgia and decided I needed a little time out of the car. If there is a plus to McDonalds it is the fact they almost always have clean restrooms. I needed one and something to drink. The McDonalds was in Forsyth, Georgia just north of Macon. It is the county seat of Monroe County and has a population of about 4,000. We are not talking about a big city. I was surprised to see these for the first time at this McDonalds. 

No need to talk to one of their minimum wage employees. Just walk up to this kiosk, enter your order, pay with your card and wait for your number to be called. Want to be old fashioned? 

If you look at the sign above the woman it shows you where to order if you want some human contact, or you are interested in paying with cash. Oh you throwback rebel. Cash? Really! There is really only one reason to do that. You enjoy watching the slack jawed, mouth breathing help try to make change. I'm reasonably sure that if the computer did not dive them the amount the couldn't figure it out. Count it back to you? Dream on. They just wad the coins and bills together and shove them at you. You wait a few minutes and someone else calls out your ticket number and hands you a bag that should have the right food in it. You open it up and look at a sandwich that was clearly put together by someone who didn't give a shit about how it looked or take any pride in their job. My problems with this go beyond stupid employees and carelessly prepared food. 

Are we so unable to deal with human contact that we would prefer to order our food from a computer screen? The only contact you had with an employee was when they yelled out your order number. You would hear "171" called out, as an example, and a tray or bag of food put on the pickup area of the counter. To my ears it sounded like this. "171, take your shitty happy meal and your Chinese made toy and get the hell out of here." 

So, if this is the future of McDonalds, I will go there even less than I do now. I want to walk up to a real person, preferably one who is not drooling and say something. You know like: "May I please have a fish sandwich, medium fries and a medium drink?" My parents did teach me to be polite. They tell me how much I owe, perhaps trying to up sell me an apple pie. They make change for my payment, thank me for my order. When the order is ready they hand it to me, thank me for my business and suggest I have a nice day. I fear those days are over. Faceless, nameless, kiosk, robotic employees, bland, tasteless, poorly prepared food. Hopefully the restrooms remain clean. Way more McDonalds than interstate highway rest stops. 

Minimum Wage?

I'm not sure what the minimum wage should be. I am sure that the current minimum wage is too low. 

You often hear that it is kids with their first job. The fact noted above shows how false that belief is in the current economy. I'm not advocating that you should be paid more because you are older. I'm saying that the jobs in the market now don't pay what they should. Why is that true? 

CEO pay used to be about 35 times higher than the average worker. Currently it is over 300 times higher. Wages for workers have stagnated while the highest echelon of companies make excessive salaries and even when their companies don't fare well they get fired and their golden parachute gives them at times millions. 

Too many in the middle class think the upper part of the above is true. The problem is the billions spent on the lower part. WalMart as an example makes billions in profit. It pays its workers wages low enough to qualify them for federal benefits like food stamps and Medicaid. So taxpayers subsidize WalMart paying what WalMart should provide in wages. 

Does Boeing need that money? 

How about Shell?

If that asshole has deserved 6 raises so has everyone making minimum wage. 

Sign up today! 

The State of the Union

I haven't jumped into politics recently and probably shouldn't now. I think the reason is this. 

Somehow I feel the need to comment on the Republican presidential nominee. I know he isn't yet but barring his death or incapacity to proceed, he will be. The honest truth for me is that he is not the problem. He is the symptom. The millions of people who marked a ballot or used a voting machine or participated in a caucus who felt he was the best choice are the problem. When you can't tell someone who "tells it like it is" from someone who "tells you shit you want to hear" then you are the problem. Organizations who have fact checked the things he says claim that 90% or more of what he says is not true. I understand that all politicians lie but this is off the charts falsehoods. 

It's a bit harsh but true. 

True, even if you don't like it. 

If you still wonder about this clown look at his history of failed businesses. Look at the comments he has made about minorities and women. Look at his tax plan. His claims for the military. How he talks about other religious groups. His encouragement of violence at his rallies. 

So, if that's who the American people vote in as President, we will have successfully isolated ourselves from the rest of the world. An ill tempered asshole will have his finger on the nuclear launch button. Think about that when you vote in November. 

Movie Magic

The movies came to Tybee again recently for the making of Baywatch. I went down to the beach a couple of afternoons to take some pictures. Never saw any filming or anyone famous. 

Apparently there is an obstacle course involved in the plot. 

The lifeguard chair above is what you would normally see on Tybee. Well except for being painted blue. 

The lifeguard station on the right was built for the movie. It is my understanding it will be left behind when they are done. 

This is the way it looked on a day they were not filming. 

They were setting up to film this time when I went. I quickly learned that watching a film being made was like watching paint dry. Boring as hell. 

Lots of equipment and folks moving equipment around but nothing worth baking in the sun. 

Ignored the security guard and went to the edge of the restricted area for this shot. 

Pier was getting set up for the dramatic final scene. The metal towers on each end are for camera rigging wires running between them. 

So, my advice, save yourself a lot of wasted time and just see the movie when it comes out. 

Take Time to Think

Recently we went to the gay pride parade on Tybee Island. I took my camera with the intent of taking a few pictures for a blog post. It was a busy Saturday on Tybee and parking was hard to find even for a golf cart. We made several laps around downtown. Eventually I dropped Carol off at Benny's and continued my search. As I drove around I spotted a group by their vehicle putting on sun screen. They had come out to Tybee to spend some time on the beach. They were rather large individuals and were wearing swimwear that did not seem appropriate for their sizes. I thought that two piece swimsuits left too much flesh exposed and there was plenty of flesh. The men also could have benefited from additional coverage. I thought a photo or two and some smart ass comments would make a blog post. I did manage to get parked and walked a couple of blocks to have a beer with Carol and watch the parade. As I was sitting in Benny's about a half hour later I saw that group across the street. I figured, correctly, that I could go out and snap a picture or two without being obvious. So I did and started thinking about what kind of comments I could make. They would not be kind. The humor would be rude and abusive. 

If you haven't figured it out by now, this isn't that post. I try to look at as many sides of an issue as I can before I write something inappropriate. I don't know the people I photographed. It is unlikely they would have ever stumbled across this blog and their picture accompanied by my insensitive comments. So, why not proceed? 

First, I wrote a blog post some time ago about the 10 commandments. Basically I felt they could be reduced to one which essentially would tell you not to be an asshole. It seemed to me the post in my head making sport of these folks was a violation of that commandment. 

Second, who am I to make those statements. I am not a thin person. I wouldn't be comfortable wearing what they did but that doesn't make them wrong or subject to my ridicule. They are apparently more comfortable in their skin than I am in mine. Making fun of them does not speak to their issues but rather my insecurities with my appearance. 

Third, I follow an author and blogger named Brittany Gibbons. She has a book published called "Fat Girl Walking". She is comfortable in her own skin. She doesn't need my approval to feel good about who she is. I considered if I would have made those comments about her. I realized I would not and it helped me understand that they were not acceptable about these folks either. They didn't come to Tybee to be judged. They weren't there so I could make fun of them. They came out to relax and have a good time at the beach. I hope they did. This isn't the post I planned to write last week. It is a post that put things in perspective for me. 

Lots of comments are being made about "political correctness". The folks making those comments are concerned that we are too worried about offending someone else. Maybe closer to the truth, we are trying not to be an asshole. 

Doomed! We Are DOOMED

We are currently locked in a celebrity death match to determine the next President of the United States. This blog isn't about that. It is about our inability to get some very basic things figured out. We, as a people, are not qualified or capable of picking the next leader of the free world. Think about it. You go to the grocery store and buy a bag of potato chips and a container of chip dip. What is the correct chip to dip ratio? It always works out that you have some potato chips left but zero dip. Or, perhaps as tragic dip left and no chips. So, back to the grocery store. If you buy another bag of chips because you have dip left you quickly realize you will have too many chips for the remaining dip. You buy more dip hoping it will work out this time. Now you relax with a beer, chips and dip. Near the end of the bag of chips you realize that you over bought the dip. It seems like an endless loop. Chips left or dip left. Never a happy ending when both containers are empty at the same time. Chips are always a problem. You cannot buy a bag of chips that does not have potato chip shrapnel at the bottom. How do you put dip on a piece of potato chip the size of a baby's fingernail? So there you have it, a math problem Stephen Hawking couldn't solve. Pick a new President? We can't even sell hot dogs and buns in matching containers all the time. Ten hot dogs in the pack. Eight buns! Really? Now my entire meal is a mess. Chips and dip don't match up. Left over hot dogs with no buns. WE ARE DOOMED!!!