For a war against fewer than a hundred Al Queda fighters, it seemed absurd that it had lasted longer than any other war in American history. And it had to be a Republican governor, not a federal politician to figure out how to end the war. A Republican could get the support of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton on the basis of the idea itself, but no Democrat could expect to get Republican buy-in for such a radical idea.

It had to be an old Republican, from a small state. Candidates need to be from fairly large states in order to win the presidency. It electoral votes from his own state go a long way to putting him over the top. And being too old and from too small a state means other politicians trust him not to use this as a springboard to run for president.

He Was Really A Businessman

It was a man who spent his life in business, and entered politics late in life because he wanted to make a difference. A career politician would be too conventional in his thinking. A businessman might know the right people to pull it off.

One of the local websites has a real hardon for Lancaster General Hospital. They should be doing this and that with all the money they're making, for instance.

A couple of months ago, they were arguing that they ought not be building facilities near Ephrata that might draw away business that otherwise would go to the Ephrata Hospital. One of the contributors on that site asked how the people at LGH would feel if the hospital in Hershey were to build a satellite facility across the road from the Health Campus.

Their Point Being

Their point was that one ought not build a facility at 322 and 222 - catty-whampus from the Ephrata WalMart - that would be convenient to highways.

I was ridiculed when I said it sounded like a good idea to me. I pointed out that the Ephrata hospital was building facilities at places like Brownstown, and that if they were smart, they'd build an urgent-care facility near the Health Campus.

My veins tend to roll. It runs in the family; my mother had the same problem, and said that her father - a man who carried my name before me - had the problem as well.

I thought perhaps that they had developed new technology that made it easier to draw blood, because for the last couple of years, the phlebotomy techs at the Health Campus have been able to draw blood quickly and easily.

No Such Luck Today

Today, the initial tech had difficulty, and called a second, and the second called a third, and even she had trouble. She kept apologizing for the pain, and yes, there was some pain involved, but as far as I was concerned, the biggest problem was the embarrassment my veins were causing the phlebotomy tech.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm a bad driver. My attention wanders, and that makes me dangerous to other cars on the road. As a result, I try to take limited access highways with few intersections, back roads with less traffic, and I try to drive at hours when there isn't much traffic. That actually helps me with my other driving, because when I'm on a busy highway, it tends to keep me more attentive. And I try to leave in plenty of time, so that I can be extremely courteous and deferential to other drivers. Hey, no hurry, you can go first.

Artist: Hugh MacLeod