Mountrail County Promoter - Columnists

Letters To The Editor
Every once in a while I find myself repeating myself in my column as I need to point out our Letters to the Editor policy. This week I received an unsigned letter to the editor. The letter writer wrote to talk about the recreation program and concerns they had. While they had some very valid concerns, they also said they chose to remain anonymous. Unfortunately, that means I cannot by policy run the letter.
We have a long standing policy that requires letter writers to sign their name to the letter. Whether the letter is positive or negative doesn’t matter. The point is that there needs to be a method to respond and without that signature that’s just not possible. We have been known to contact writers of signed letters just to make sure that they actually sent in the letter as well.
Many, if not all, newspapers have this policy. It stands to reason in many ways. Simply put, I don’t really have a problem if you’re angry and want to express that anger. I don’t care if you excited and want to express that excitement. Whatever the reason, your thoughts are important, but we do require you to put your name to it.
Getting Ready For Summer Visits
Amanda and I have been talking about when the kids would come to visit for about a month now. On Monday I got a text about her trying to firm up the kids calendars.
Carter, who just turned 13, will likely be cutting his visit shorter than a week this year. He’s got things on his calendar throughout the summer. He will probably just come from a Wednesday through a Sunday. It sounds like he might still come this month.
Jozie, who is now 11, figured out that Carter was getting to spend his week with us during the State Fair and declared that this year it was her turn. After hearing from Amanda about her trip to the carnival in Bismarck, I’m a little afraid my days of riding the rides will be back in force. She has a fearless streak.
Abel, who is 8, has decided he wants to come during Crazy Days this year. Carter and Jozie have both been able to be here for that fun day and he wants his turn.
In the middle of all of that, Dale’s brother Ron and his wife Ila, will be here at the end of June and into July. He has a big round number reunion this year. Dale’s sister Linda and her husband Steve, along with at least their grandson and possibly our niece will be here around the same time.
It’s going to be busy around our house this summer, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love when the kids come to visit on their own. Seeing Dale’s family is always a great time as well.
Meanwhile, my friend Nancy was talking about coming around the 4th of July, but she has decided to postpone her trip until September because she wants to go to the Larry Gatlin concert at the Sibyl Center. Needless to say, I’ve already worked to secure tickets for that concert.
Are You Suffering From A.A.A.D.D.?
I received this from a friend a number of years ago. The friend had seen it and thought I should run it because she was pretty sure she saw herself in this and was truly hoping she wasn’t the only one. While searching for something else in my documents I came across it. I laughed again and decided to share it again.
If you are anything like me, sometimes you just can’t seem to stay on track at getting things done. You start one task only to find yourself doing something else and by the end of the day, you’ve not accomplished anything at all. If you have, and you are over the age of 50, they you probably are suffering from A.A.A.D.D. – Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. Personally, I had never heard of the disorder until a friend of mine sent me an email outlining its symptoms. And after carefully looking over what she sent, I knew instantly that I too have been, and still am, afflicted with this unusual disorder.
Case in point: I was looking for something else in my documents, came across this, decided I should run it again, and then spent a few minutes trying to remember what I was really looking for!
According to my friend, if you read through the following story and see yourself, then you too know that you have A.A.A.D.D. and if you don’t, rest assured your day is coming.
This is how A.A.A.D.D. manifests:
You decide to water your garden. As you turn on the hose in the driveway, you look over at your car and decide it needs washing. As you start toward the garage, you notice mail on the porch table that you brought up from the mailbox earlier. You decide to go through the mail before you wash the car.
You lay your car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full. So, you decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.
But then you think, since you’re going to be near the mailbox when you take out the garbage anyway, may as well pay the bills first. You take your checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one check left. Your extra checks are in your desk in the study, so you go inside the house to your desk, where you find the can of Coke you’d been drinking. You’re going to look for your checks, but first you need to push the Coke aside so that you don’t accidentally knock it over. The Coke is getting warm, and you decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As you head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches your eye – they need water. You put the Coke on the counter and discover your reading glasses that you’ve been searching for all morning. You decide you had better put them back on your desk, but first you’re going to water the flowers. You set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.
You realize that tonight when you go to watch TV, you’ll be looking for the remote, but you won’t remember that it’s on the kitchen table, so you decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first you’ll water the flowers. You pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, you set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then, you head down the hall trying to remember what you were planning to do.
At the end of the day: The car isn’t washed, the bills aren’t paid, there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter, the flowers don’t have enough water, there is still only one check in your checkbook, you can’t find the remote, you can’t find your glasses, and you don’t remember what you did with the car keys.
Then, when you try to figure out why nothing got done today, you’re really baffled because you know you were busy all darn day, and you’re really tired.
Don’t laugh; if this isn’t you yet, your day is coming!