Hard to believe, sweets, but here it is the end o’ June and – finally – life seems to be getting back to what we can term “normal.” Of course, the barbarians are storming the gates, tearing down statues and causing ruckuses that they themselves can’t explain, but setch is the world we’re living in right now. Nobody can explain themselves and the one who yells the loudest gits results. But as our editor says often, “They are victims of their lack of education.”
Sooooo, normal. Effen yew’ve been on the Interstate yew git a drift o’ what Iyam talkin’ about. Cobina had to be in her gassamobuggy doing what she does, and trying to git there using the highway. Well, effen yew didn’t think things were getting somewhat normal, a traffic jam would disabuse yew o’ that notion. Yup. Cobina was in her first three-mile back up since the beginnin’ o’ March.
People seem to be returning to work whether the mucky-mucks in Hartford tell them it’s OK. People, in other words, aren’t listening to the “experts” anymore, cuz they’ve been wrong, wrong, wrong soooo many times. In fack, Cobina is of the hope that normal people will stop listening to the “experts” on several things, cuz when you come right down to it, they are only guessing – it might be an educated guess, but a guess nonetheless.
Here in the Asylum by the Sea, yew don’t hafta go onto the highway to see that things are getting more normal. Just keep yerself by an open window and yew will notice it. The convoys of motorcycles have, once again, descended on the inhabitants of this little berg with all the noise that goes therewith. Yup, Cobina and others in her neighborhood had to endure the loud sounds of motorcycles in groups of 10 and 20 over the weekend: one more proof that people are voting to end the lockdown with their feet, or in this case, their wheels.
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Sammy Bluejay fluttered by t’other afternoon and let it be known that things again are returning to normal, cuz the municipality sent out its annual “Greetings” letter to the taxpaying public. Yup, with the new beach stickers came the tax bills – and the increase that the Municipal Accountability Review Board (MARB) mandated for the city. Soooo, July will go off as usual with the public being asked to pay its levies. I guess that’s something to be thankful for in a way.
An interesting letter, meanwhile, came this week via Barry Cohen, the GOP councilman from the Tenth Districk. As yew remember, the council, when it was reviewing the budget, tried to come up with cuts that would diminish the amount of tax increase that was in the original proposal.
The MARB, which wants the city to get up to 40 mills in the next couple years, nixed the idea and said, with its usual uncaring attitude that it would reject any budget that didn’t have the prescribed increase. That jibes with what chairman Ron Quagliani said a couple weeks back.
What Cohen’s letter seems to indicate, and it’s at least interesting as far as this old-time observer is concerned, is that the council might actually be working together for the foist time in many a moon. Over the last several years – decades, in fact – the council has been split along factional lines, even though the Democrats have been the majority party for almost 30 years. Cobina wouldn’t call it a new era, but it’s nice to know the sand box is a lit’le friendlier this term.
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Nelly Nuthatch came by and sez that the Drive-Through Graduation for the kiddies in the Class of 2020 seems to be perty much going along as planned. Effen yew remember, the grads had a “virtual” commencement earlier this month. But, there was a notion that the kids should be able to have some semblance of a “walk” to get their diplomas. Thus came the current plan. The grads will be queued up in their autos and somehow or t’other drive up to a dias to git their diplomas. Police and school officials were set to finalize the plans, and it seems that some congratulatory signs and other stuff will be erected along the route to let them know the city it happy for them. Nice to know that things are being done in these special times. There is some ingenuity being utilized to offer them a graduation “exercise” of some stripe or t’other.
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Whilst that is going on, Iva Lootey tells me that there is some consternation in the circles that contain people from the library lobby. That consternation concerns a statement in a story in the last edition wherein it was said that the library didn’t have a deposit check accompanying their bid for the Allingtown Library. Well, that was a misstatement of some kind, I guess, cuz a copy of the check appeared two days after the story appeared, and there is gonna be some questioning.
Now, how this is gonna change anything, I ain’t sure. But in this berg yew never know. The powers that be seem to want to put the old school building on the tax rolls, and sale to a developer will do that. Meanwhile, those same powers want to move the branch of the library to the old Blake Building – the former Lincoln School that was converted to the Bored of Education building back in the 1970s, and is now lying fallow.
And, Iva seems to think the people supporting the library seem to be of two minds, those who wanna take a more conciliatory approach, and those who wanna go full bore against the sale. Methinks this will end somewhere in the middle where the pernt will be made about the check, some mea culpas being voiced, but nothing really changing as far as what the plans are.
Felicia, yew and I have seen this scenario play out in other things over the years, and usually the old expression “You can’t fight City Hall,” plays true to form. They hold most o’ the cards, and unless yew find them doing something expressly out of bounds, things work out the way city leaders want them to. It’s jest the way things work.
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And, just to be consistent, we’ve been noting the lack of progress over there on Foist Avenue between Main and Elm since the long fence was put up and (almost a month ago) Water Street was closed permanently. That, of course, is where the Haven is supposed to be built, and the demolition of all those old homesteads to happen.
The only thing that has taken place over there is the local Fire Brigade is doing some training, using the buildings as a way of maneuvering in situations, but effen yew were lookin’ for things to come crashing down, don’t hold yore breath. You’d be a very strange color o’ blue effen yew did.
The developers of the Haven like to play things close to the vest, and one could give ‘em the benefit of the doubt sayin’ they’re waiting until the Wuhan Virus is over. But that time seems to be drawing to a close and we hope that things will start percolating over there. The neighbors have been very patient, but we wonder when their patience will play out, and anger set in. I guess we’ll know soon enuff.
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With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,