Hillary, you finally admitted defeat. Actually, I was quite surprised that she conceded. It’s not the Clinton way of doing things. The Clinton way of doing things is do what you have to do to win, legal or illegal. It doesn’t matter to this power “couple.” By dragging this campaign out for so long, she may well have cost the Democrats a chance to win the White House when everything has been going their way. By stretching out this campaign, when it was basically over in February, she may have cost herself any future shot at the Presidency. And, like a certain daytime diva, turned convicted felon (the kind Bill will issue a pardon) likes to say, “It’s a good thing.” Hillary has been exposed. If Obama is smart, he’ll keep her at arm’s distance. He can’t completely distance himself from her. He needs her considerable support in the mid-west, working class, WASP voters. But, to give her the vice-presidency or even a cabinet level position is asking for trouble. Hillary may have lost. But, deep down, she is already looking to 2012.

I do a little computer maintenance on the side to make a little extra cash. It’s amazing some of the problems I encounter with people. One lady last week called me to say her “modem” isn’t working. I asked her if she had a dial-up or broadband cable or DSL modem. Of course, she didn’t know if she had dial-up or broadband. I asked her how much she pays for internet access. She didn’t know that either. I suppose her husband pays all the bills. Anyway, I get there and what she called the “modem” was the computer itself. Sometimes…I can barely constrain myself. She had a bad power supply. People…if you are going to use computers, at least learn some of the terminology. You’ll only be helping yourself if you face an unscrupulous technician someday.

Gas prices. My favorite subject these days. $4.00/gallon gas is here. I never thought I would live to see $2.00/gallon gas. It was a shock to see $2.79/gallon after Hurricane Katrina hit. There doesn’t appear to be any end in sight. Gas is like an overvalued stock right now. Eventually, it will fall back. The question is when. The President should have a JFK “we’re going to the moon” speech on finding an alternative fuel source. I think all it takes is the “want to” in this endeavor. Right now, for a number of different reasons, the old American “can do” spirit is sorely lacking in finding alternative energy resources. It takes leadership and determination. We don’t have leaders like that any longer. I suspect we’ll find out Senator Obama is more of the George McGovern type than JFK once he is elected.

I find myself enjoying the simple things in life more these days. As I have grown older, I find just sitting on my back deck, sipping a little Chianti, in the late afternoon, is something I look forward to at the end of every day. Ralph (my beagle puppy) likes to romp around in the back yard until I can’t take the heat any longer. The only thing about it, he never gets enough of me throwing him that Frisbee. You’d think he would get tired of that after thirty minutes in 90+ degree heat. Not a chance.

Finally, my brother came to see me last Thursday. It was surprising in that we just don’t associate with each other very much. We only live about five miles apart. Still, we just don’t have much contact with each other. Even when we were kids, we were just different from each other. Of course, despite our differences, we were still blood. We would take up for each other, when we weren’t fighting among ourselves, of course. His visit was totally unexpected since he didn’t even bother to call. He just said he was in the area and thought he would drop by to see how I was doing. That wasn’t like my brother. We shook hands and sat down in the living room. It was mostly small talk between us. I was thinking, how is it I can’t think of anything to say to my own brother? I would wager he was having that very same thought. We both have just chosen different paths in life. That’s not to say his path was any worse or better than mine and vice versa. We just grew further apart as we grew into adulthood. We don’t have a lot in common, I guess is what I’m trying to say, other than being brothers. But, as we sat there in the living room, I caught him glancing at me as if to say, “Damn, David, you’ve gotten old. Where did the years go?” I thought the same about him as well. He’s not that coal black thick head of hair, hell bent for leather boy I knew in our childhood. We are both in our 50s now. Whatever differences we had in the past seem so distant, so miniscule, so infantile now. Maybe that is what we both wanted to say to each other directly. But, we could only say it in glances and subtle conversation.

As he left, he surprised me once again; “Take care, big brother. I love you.” Momentarily speechless, I didn’t know what to say except to tell my brother I loved him too…and to come back soon. I think my little brother just wanted to see me. And, to be honest, I wanted to see him also. After all, he is my brother.