Free door.

Unnecessary quotes.

I took this photograph on the boardwalk in Wildwood, NJ. It reminded me of The Blog Of Unnecessary Quotation Marks which is filled with pictures like these.

Boardwalk to nowhere.

Foggy wheel.

Morey's Piers.

On the boardwalk.

Watch the tramcar, please.

Wildwood NJ.

Bloom in bloom.

Lili's first ride.

Knoebles, a local amusement park, opened for the season this weekend. So we took Lili to the children's section to see if she could ride any of the rides. She did exceedingly well, riding several of the rides by herself. Of course, my wife was on stand by the entire time.

Chess set.

Lili and tulips.

Voting in the primary.

Today, my wife, Lili, and I went to our fire hall to vote in the Pennsylvania primary. After we parked and liberated Lili from her car seat, we discussed the people who are running for president as we walked. Since we are both Democrats, we were discussing the two historical options.

My wife said there was something about Hillary that rubbed her the wrong way. And my support and respect for Obama greatly diminished following his comment about rural Pennsylvanians being ignorant and clinging to guns and religion. I am a prime example of an ignorant rural Pennsylvania resident, hence the name of this blog, but I refuse to cling to anything other than my pillow for comfort. My pillow, unlike a gun, is not lethal and does not require a permit. Also, unlike religion, my pillow does not create barriers between people or demand sacrifices.

The voting process itself proved perilous for us. At first, the old ladies who only work during the elections could not locate my wife's name in their massive books. Then, after much searching, they discovered that my wife is still listed under her maiden name and is actually an independent. So she was not allowed to vote. And I somehow managed to screw up my ballot so I have no idea if my vote actually counted or even mattered.

Now that the results are in, and the pundits who predicted that Hillary would win in Pennsylvania have been proven right, it is time to buy large supplies of popcorn and to get ready for that most bizarre of reality game shows, the political convention. I can't wait to spend a few days in front of my television to see who gets voted out. I just hope that the candidates remember to bring their torches to the conventions.

Early morning.

Old bell.

Virginia Tech, a year later.

I wanted to write something about what happened at Virginia Tech last year and have been thinking about it all day. I remembered the numb feeling I had when I heard about what happened. I remembered the professor who having survived the Holocaust shielded the door with his body so his students could escape. And I remembered the gunman. I remembered, after the initial shock wore off, feeling sorry for him because he was tormented from within and sought relief for his problems in murder.

It is rather sad that these random acts of mass murder, especially at schools, are becoming more and more common. The loners who used to retreat into books to escape their torment are reaching for guns to physically silence those who torment them. This leads me to believe that people are becoming unable to cope with the ever increasing pace of of 21st Century American life. It also leads me to believe that human life in the 21st Century has become a devalued commodity. And these two things combined lead directly to the school shootings.

Tax Day surprise.

When I went to get my usual cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee this morning I got a very pleasant surprise. Dunkin' Donuts, to celebrate Tax Day, is giving everybody a free donut when you buy a cup of coffee. This is a great idea since we'll have to wait for the stimulus refund for a quite a while.

Ceiling.

Red fire hydrant.

Yellow bushes.