As my wife likes to point out, I'm not very good at multi-tasking. Shortly into our marriage, she discovered my inability to read the newspaper and listen to her at the same time. I'm pretty good at walking, and I'm pretty good at chewing gum, but if I try to do both at once, one of the activities is apt to get slighted.

 
Planning a room addition or new building on the family homestead? Better make sure you know where Grandpa had the outhouse.

I received a letter from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources today, informing me of a new law that went on the books this last July.

If you've never been to the Mooreland Fair, it's a little hard to explain. While there is a carnival, tractor pulls, truck pulls and horse pulls, it's mostly just people visiting with other people. Thousands of them. Since I was raised just 2 miles south of Mooreland, it is one of my favorite places to have a booth when I'm on the campaign trail. I get to visit with a lot of people I've known for 56 years, but only see once a year. It's a little tiring to man the booth every night after work, but it's always a good time.

One of the highlights of the summer when I was growing up was the Mooreland Free Fair. Come to think of it, it's still one of the highlights of the summer. I suppose everybody that attends the fair has their own favorite attractions. My favorite is getting the chance to see old friends.

(Apologies to Joe Walsh)

I have a tendency to get worked up about things. Probably more than some people, but probably not as much as others. Usually it's about something the government has done or is getting ready to do. And then sometimes I quit thinking about the government and I remember that I've got it pretty good.

For the most part, I don't get to town much. Hagerstown has a nice hardware store, and if it still had a lumberyard, I wouldn't have to venture out even as often as I do. Still, on occasion, a worthwhile adventure presents itself, and I wander out of my comfort zone.

   It wasn't always easy to get one of kids to fess up when Mom asked who tracked mud across the living room floor, or when Dad asked who left the milkhouse door open. It really wasn't something you wanted to admit to.

   We see the same thing a lot of times when it gets towards the end of an elected official's term of office. For the number of people who will admit voting for them, you have to wonder how Mitch or George ever won their elections.

I'm running for the Indiana House of Representatives District 54 seat this year. It's the same seat I ran for in 2006. I learned earlier this week that the only candidates in the race are myself and Republican incumbent Tom Saunders.

In 2006, it was a three-way race, with Democrat David Sadler joining in. In that three-way race, I was able to win 6 precincts, and finish second in three others. I recieved 22% of the vote in Wayne County, and 14 1/2 % of the vote district wide.

Tom won with 46%.

I think most presidential candidates, like most people, want the same things. Generally speaking, we all want the United States to be free, safe and prosperous, although the definition of "free" varies from candidate to candidate and person to person. The main difference between the candidates is how the things we want should be accomplished. Since the poor will always be among us, certainly helping them out will always be necessary.

I just finished spending a week of evenings at our county fair. I’m not sure how long a person can survive on Lemon Shake-Ups and Elephant Ears, but know from experience you can make it at least 7 days. I’m sure there are people who believe that spending three dollars for some lemon seeds and sugar in a glass of water, or four dollars for an ounce of fried dough dragged through a bowl of cinnamon and sugar might be wasteful, but it sounded like a good idea at the time, and it did sustain me for a week. And if I was wasting money, at least it was my own.