Reviews

I love this time of the morning. The horizon is just beginning to appear and it’s cool outside. A great time to walk around in the back and listen to the silence of the early morning. Odd, but I haven’t seen any bats lately. I placed myself in a position where I could see their silhouettes if they were flying by, but none were spotted. And I haven’t spotted any mosquitoes either; which is fine. But I’m worried about the lack of bats. I hope the owners of the barn that lies to the north of us haven’t done anything to remove them. We may lack bats this morning but we certainly aren’t lacking for birds; although it’s still officially ‘dark’, the birds are making all kinds of noise as they welcome the dawn.

The Glenn County fair opened yesterday afternoon and we were there for it. The Orland Ministerial Association has a booth and I had made a PowerPoint presentation for them to show to the fairgoers. As part of the exhibitors team, we got in free, but, we were surprised at the cost for admission; $7! And parking is an additional $3. A family of four that attends the fair could easily spend $100 for admission, parking and then all of those carnival rides. And don’t forget the food…maybe $100 isn’t enough?

Earlier yesterday, we made the usual library run to Chico and back and I stopped for a cup of coffee and reading of the local alternative papers; the Beat and the Chico News & Review. Some good stuff to read, especially the article in the Beat about the Blackwater mercenaries. This is a story that never quite makes it to the front pages of the newspapers; but it should. Imagine a 125,000 mercenaries ‘working’ in Iraq. And yes, we are paying for them. And who tells them what to do? Not that it matters, as Paul Bremer, the former dictator, decreed that Blackwater will not be held responsible for any civilian deaths or injury.

And another stray thought; I was mentally lamenting the fact that there are no good restaurants in Orland. Maybe only two passable restaurants and that’s a stretch. And Chico isn’t much better. And all of those mental agitations made me remember Yelp. A reviewing website. I ran across it, or Stumbled upon it the other day and wondered if it would work for Chico? Surprise! Apparently, some readers have already done their homework and there are a lot of reviews posted for the Chico area. I may add to them, as it appears that most of the reviews have been written by owners or employees.