Can You Hear Me Now

My wife and I walk almost every day and have watched in dismay the decline of Main Street in Walhalla. It’s disheartening to see a town of such possibilities go to seed, especially after the Oktoberfest weekend when there were so many happy people everywhere. The sidewalks were full and Main Street was being used for something besides a road that led consumers to Highland’s or some other mountain destination.
Although I’m not an actual resident of this town, I used to be and even served on their city council. Way back then, I made the comment that it would seem that a town with such a rich German heritage would take advantage of it. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that Walhalla didn’t want to be another Helen, Georgia, which at the time was attracting huge amounts of tourism for a town its size.
As the years have passed so have a lot of opportunities to capitalize on this and most of the business owners have grown old and retired or moved to greener pastures. As a result there are lot of empty buildings and decaying store fronts.
It seems to me that this little town is nothing less than the land of opportunity! You could almost open any basic business and have little, if any, competition. Walhalla has got to be an entrepreneur’s dream. Now I’m not saying that just any business would have a 100% chance of making it but chances of success would have to be a lot higher than in a town that has 20 of the same thing.
Like I said, we walk as much as we can and one of the best things I’ve seen in a while and something that can really sharpen up a town’s image and shopping appeal are new sidewalks, which are being poured at this very moment. It only makes sense that you have to first have a safe way to enter an establishment. I for one think it’s a wonderful improvement on the little German Town that could be.
Just Saying!
oer
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You can email me at odeseroberts@gmail.com

Parenting,Not Just a Job, but a Never-Ending Adventure

I sometimes wonder if the reason it’s so hard to let our children grow up is not so much the fear of them leaving the nest, but more of the fear of them realizing our own imperfections. When my oldest son was 3 years old he was mesmerized by Superman and other larger than life characters. He would constantly ask me questions like, “Dad can you fly like Superman”, or “Dad can you hold the clouds in your hand?” At a young age our kids think their parents are super heroes and I’m not sure if we don’t somehow enjoy the unjustified admiration. As they grow up the kids start seeing that we may not be the best at everything and that we really can’t leap over skyscrapers in a single bound. Parents are everyday vulnerable human beings who make mistakes but even though that may be true, our children still have to live within our rules.
I always get a smile on my face when young parents show off their precious bundles of joy, that’s usually in the pre-crawling days, when children have no choice but to stay where you put them. I listen as they tell us how wonderful little Billy or Susie has been and all the while I’m laughing inside thinking, oh yeah just wait until they start crawling. You can cancel your aerobic classes for a while.
You put your heart and soul into raising these perfect little angels and then comes the teen years, I think I could write a book on this one. You know those years when the kids roll their eyes and think they know it all. You’re there to fulfill their needs; which is usually just to hand them money. At this age they’re the worlds best at guilt trips and back-talk. They can make you feel like a failure as a parent because it seems that whatever their friends have it’s always better than what they own. Yep that’s the years I’m talking about. Well as a word of encouragement it does get better!
I think one of the best things we did as parents was to insist that both of our kids take part time jobs throughout high school. It not only kept them busy but it also taught them about how far money goes. They were expected to pay for their own gas and to pay for dating; we took care of everything else. The responsibility and money gave them a feeling of independence. They were able to spend their hard earned money however they wanted, ok to some extent, but when they spent it all on that thing they just couldn’t live without, well now that meant that they were broke until the next payday and hopefully they would spend it a little more wisely and even save a little.
I see it every day, parents who for some unknown reason think they need to be more of a pal instead of a parent so as to be cool in their children’s eyes when what they need to be is a guiding force in the direction their kids are taking. Their sons and daughters will thank them one day by how they raise their own children.
As a parent I fully realize we are not perfect and that there’s unforeseen circumstances around life’s every bend and believe me I’ve seen a lot of them. It’s my belief that you always put your children first and raise them to the best of your ability, to be honest and to make good decisions, because one day, they just may be the ones picking out your retirement home!
Just Saying!
Odes Roberts


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You can email me at odeseroberts@gmail.com

Speaking Spanish

So Pam and I go to the local Mexican restaurant and we ordered in Spanish. The waiter smiled and said in English, "No really what do you want and just say it in English so I make sure I get it right"...Hmmmmm. We'll practice and try in again next week !

Just Saying !
oer
I've enjoyed getting the feedback.
You can email me at odeseroberts@gmail.com

The Old Yellow House on Main Street

One of the favorite pastimes of my wife Pam and I was to drive around on weekends and look at the houses in our area that are for sale. We had done this for years and actually that’s how we found the house we are living in now; just happened upon it one day. It was just too good of a deal to pass up so we decided to make and offer to buy it. The owner accepted our offer and with it being a newer house at the time there was only cosmetic things to do as some would say, we just had to put “lipstick on a pig” and it was a beautiful house for us.
One weekend before our 25th anniversary we were riding around and we spotted an old yellow house for sale on Main Street. I just saw it as a big old yellow house, but much to my surprise this was not just any old house, this was THE yellow house that as a child my wife had walked by everyday from school on the way to her grandmother’s house and had dreamed of living in all of her life. This came as kind of a shock to me because, as I had stated before, we had been married 25 years and this was the first time I remember ever hearing about this house and her childhood dream of sitting on the front porch watching the traffic go by.
I thought it would be a wonderful idea to make an appointment to just take a look at the house while we were on our way out of town, to celebrate our 25 great years together as husband and wife. We met the real estate agent at the appointed time and he began to show us this “dream house” with the warped wood floors, ceilings stained from water leaks, no closets to speak of, and bathrooms that were clearly an afterthought and so small that I couldn’t even get in one of them and still close the door. The wiring was the oldest in existence, and the roofing was completely gone, and the plumbing was a joke. Truly, the termites and a prayer were all that was holding Pam’s mansion together. All I could think of was, “where would you even start?” The house would cost more to remodel than it would to just to build it from scratch. Then I heard the words most feared my any husband from his wife, “Honey I want it! I’ve never ask you for anything in 25 years of marriage and I just love it.” I was speechless. I did manage to somehow thank the real estate person for taking the time to show us the property and assured my wife that this needed a lot more discussion and we could run the numbers to see where we stood after we returned from our anniversary weekend.
Whoever said timing is everything just didn’t say it loud enough because I didn’t hear them! Our weekend of celebration turned into a full-fledged assault on how and why we should buy the house. On our early return, we immediately started getting estimates and making plans on how she, I mean we were going to make this happen. This is one time no matter how I explained it 2 + 2 wasn’t going to add up to 4. This was the one time it would take a divined intervention to save me.
The next week we contacted the real estate company and made a solid offer on the house. To my dismay the representative seemed sure this was a done deal but would let us know within a few days. I felt as if I had just jumped out of a plane and had forgotten my parachute, but in her mind, Pam had totally redecorated the entire home, both floors, top to bottom.
I found myself counting the hours which turned into days and finally the dreaded phone call came. To my surprise the voice at the other end said, “I’m sorry to inform you but the County has offered $15,000 more than your offer.” They wanted the site for the new court house.
Now I’m certainly not a person to stand in the way of progress and if it was meant to be and all of that you understand. We lost the bid on my brides dream house and as fate would have it, the county didn’t tear it down. It didn’t die like a bad memory that in time would be forgotten. Instead they moved it down around the corner, put it up on blocks in a vacant lot and it has remained empty so all could see in its ruined state of existence. Even now 5 years later, I am reminded regularly of my failure to mankind.
So what do we all learn from this? Sometimes the cost of the purchase has nothing to do with what you’re getting, but has everything to do with what you not getting.
Maybe that’s what is meant by “PRICELESS”.
Just Saying !
oer
I've enjoyed getting the feedback!
You can email me at odeseroberts@gmail.com

The Oak Tree

It all started with the sound of limbs crashing onto my roof from an old oak tree that actually should have been cut down two years ago. So I told my wife, we'd better get some estimates on getting that big boy taken out. The estimates were shocking to me. The first one was $1200 and the second and third was even higher and that was just to take it down and cut it up and I would still have to get rid of the brush and wood. I thought I was going to go into cardiac arrest. What were these people thinking? So the very next day I go out and buy a beauty of a chainsaw $500,a smaller chainsaw for cutting the smaller limbs $175, and a 150 foot rope to just make sure it fell the way I wanted it to $75, a come along winch $75, a maul and splitting wedge and several other tools $100, and two guys to help $250 dollars. HMMM let see that's about $1350

Yeah their estimates were about right!

ANYBODY NEED ANY WOOD?

Just Saying !

oer

Local Politicians or Whipping Boys

I’ve come to the conclusion that local politicians are not just running to serve the public in an official capacity but also in an unofficial capacity as a whipping boy or girl as the case may be. The papers are full of “reviews” or “suggestions” left anonymously by people who would never volunteer for anything, but have plenty of time to scrutinize and make terrible remarks just to hear themselves talk. Why anyone would want to subject themselves and their families to this scrutiny and downright nasty comments is beyond me?
Some public offices are held by unscrupulous individuals and they get what they deserve, but the politicians I’m talking about are the ones who actually believe in the American dream. Their reality is that anyone from anywhere can come here legally and fulfill a dream that may not be afforded anywhere else in the world. These people have a vision that they can make a difference in their communities by giving their time, opinions and service for free or relatively free, they want to make it a better place to live, work and play. The majority of these elected individuals work their own jobs and then put in many hours a week serving the public in some cases for less than a $25 a week, only to find out that their hard work and efforts have been unappreciated and ridiculed, and that even their families have been dragged through the mud for no good cause. I’ve heard about people losing their jobs after many years of being a loyal employee when they took up a cause and decided to run for an elected position and won.
I hope there will never be a day when people get enough and say, “I give up!” Let the people that only have something to gain have it.
We seem to stay on the sidelines until something affects us personally. Election Day is a wonderful time to express our views .We as Americans enjoy the freedom of speech, but with that freedom comes certain responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is to vote. We lose a lot of really good people by not publicly giving them our support. I also understand that no one person can make everyone happy. No matter which way they vote there will always be someone that feels the decision wasn’t in their own best interest. The question that always has to be answered is: what’s best for the majority over time? Never should a decision be made for the personal gain of the elected officials or a select few. Jeremy Thorpe said, “greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his friends for his political life.”
Presently the national elections are being influenced by our economy and there’s enough blame to go around. I can’t clearly see any one party that is more to blame than the other and a lot has to be said about our own wasteful spending in the past years. You can’t keep spending what you don’t have.
I hope each of you will take the time to vote.
Just Saying !
oer