Black Hills History

Today was the first time I saw Mount Rushmore. Upon seeing it, I was moved almost to tears thinking of what it stands for in this great country. George Washington. Abraham Lincoln. Thomas Jefferson. Teddy Roosevelt? Once again proving the old adage, it's not what you know, it's who you know. Seeing Roosevelt up there makes a person scratch their sunburn scalp. (OUCH!) But when you read and listen to the history of this monument, the reason Teddy is up there is because his buddy, Gutzon Borglum, was the artist who made the monument. By the way, I wasn't really moved to tears. I think man made government is corrupt, and the history of this monument is no different. It was funny to me that in a speech a park spokesman gave on the monument, and on the plaques that are peppered throughout the park, they speak of the controversy that was involved with getting this monument made, but political controversy. They gloss over the fact that this whole area, which was "given" to the Lakota Indians by the U.S. government, was taken back from them once gold was discovered in the Black Hills. How, by the way, do you give something to someone that owned it in the first place. That is like me coming to your house, taking everything in it, and then coming back a few years later and giving you a house full of your own belonging. But I digress, they also gloss over the fact that this area was sacred to the Lakota tribe, and that they did not want to see their mountain turned into the faces of the men that allowed them to be pushed from their land. What a slap in the face. I don't believe in all the "spirits" mumbo-jumbo that the American Indians believe are associated with the Black Hills and surrounding areas, but I am also not one to gloss over the fact that the American Indians got hosed. But it is easy to look at this beautiful countryside and understand why the Europeans that came here coveted this land so much. The wildlife, the deep green of the grassy rolling hills, the mountain-like formations that surround the area. It's a beautiful place. Now, is worth living here? Well, I have run into two separate people from California and asked them both what the winters are like. The first one said that it wasn't that bad. When it snows it usually is warm enough that it will melt off within a few days. She also said it doesn't get terribly cold. She would recommend living here to anyone. The second family that ate dinner next to us, the father of the clan didn't paint such a rosy picture. He said winters here are miserable. Last winter it hit 30 degrees below zero. That's not wind chill, that is actual temperature. He said they could take a glass of water outside, throw the water up in the air, and it would be ice before it hit the ground. Now that is cold! He said the snow may melt after a few days, but then it's usually back in the single digits before too long. Needless to say, this California couple is looking to move to Florida before the next winter hits. I am going to go with what the gentleman had to say about South Dakota winter. So, in summation, Indian's got the shaft, and not a place to be in winter.

Hot Springs Adventures

Well, I have left Stinkin' Lincoln and am writing this blog from Hot Springs, South Dakota. I have never been here before. It is a very beautiful place. Much like Colorado's foothills. Hot Springs itself is not the greatest town I've ever been to. I expected it to be a tourist town which it is, however, it is not in the class of tourist town that Steamboat Springs, Aspen or even Estes Park is. I will say it has a spectacular golf course. The course is even a municipal course. Usually city owned courses are not anything to write home about. But here I am writing home about it. According to Golf Digest, it is the number 1 rated municipal course in the country. I had a pretty good round of golf, especially having never played and adding to the equation, it was hard. But the most exciting thing that happened today was when I was looking for one of my golf balls in the tall grass and I almost stepped on a snake. This happened not once, but twice. The first time the group I was golfing with found it quite funny. One of the guys said they hadn't seen me move that fast in about 7 years. We have had an enjoyable time. Much laughter, and flatulence. Just the way all guy trips should be. Tomorrow we are planning to venture farther north. We will either do some spelunking at Wind Cave National Park, or checkout Mount Rushmore. Plus, we might hit the happening town of Rapid City. Not because we want to, but because we have to. I had a bit of an accident with my cell phone. We found out some people we know are staying in the room below us, so reverting to our younger days, we started jumping and falling on the floor to annoy them. The only thing we succeeded in doing was breaking my cell phone. I had a pocket knife, keys, my wallet and my phone in one pocket and when I fell, the many items all in one pocket proved to be too much for my cell phone. I have been wanting to get a new phone, but the timing is not good. But it is really hard to send and receive text messages when the screen is smashed to bits. Maybe I will just muddle through the rest of the week and do some deep research and get myself a dandy of phone. I will keep you posted. Tune in tomorrow for an update on our Hot Springs adventures.

Let's Play Word Association: Computers... Sledgehammer

No matter where you live, computers are frustrating. Saturday, I was trying to help my buddy gain access to our wireless modem. I looked high and low and I could not find the password for our network. For nearly 2 years the password was on a sticky note that was stuck to our modem. Mysteriously that sticky note disappeared. Most likely I removed it when we got our second laptop, and then failed to put it back in it's proper place. My wife would no doubt say that sounds about right. You see, I have disorganizational tendencies. Anyhow, my buddy and I decided the best course of action would be to make the network an insecure network. I proceeded to turn off the security measures, which by the way, ended up being a total waist of time because he still couldn't access the network and in turn locked myself out of my own network. What I failed to think about was that once I turned off the security I didn't have the password to turn it back on. So, for the next 3 days I had to use my neighbors wireless network to get my email, and play Texas Hold 'em on the Internet. Fortunately, the manufacturer of the wireless modem we use has excellent tech support. It still took 3 lengthy phone conversations with people from India to get everything up and running again. Those folks from India crack me up. If you have never experienced trying to troubleshoot a computer problem with a guy who speaks "English" with a HEAVY Indian accent, you are missing out on an experience of a life time. First off, they tell you their name, and it is never Ajatashatru, or Rajanigandha, it's always David, or Michelle. Second, they never divert from the script that is in front of them. Then if you ask them a question that they don't have a prompt for they say something totally off the wall. Sad to say though, is that most of the people that barely speak enough English to call it English are better at what they do than most American techs. So, I should be happy that all things are up and running the way they are supposed to and I don't have to borrow my neighbors Internet connection anymore. Then again, maybe I have figured out a way to save $50 a month. I wonder if he has cable television?