What is your personality? Are you an introvert or extrovert?

INTROVERT: a shy, reticent person. A person predominantly concerned with their own thoughts and feelings rather than with external things. Introvert seek out and enjoy opportunities for reflection and solitude. They feel more comfortable focusing on their inner thoughts and ideas, rather than what’s happening externally. They don’t do well in large crowds. They can be fantastic leaders when given the chance. They don’t seize power but rather start quietly leading those around them through mentorship, encouragement, wisdom, and inspiration. They keep their egos in check, and don’t take risks without thinking them through.

EXTROVERT: an outgoing, overtly, expressive person. People who are extroverts tend to be very talkative, sociable, active, and warm. They feel energized by the external world and social interactions. They prefer to be around people; whereas introverts prefer to be isolated.

In our society, more people lean toward the extrovert side than the introvert side. Since extroverts are more vocal, they’re the ones who have developed most of the approaches to being around lots of people.

Introvert prefer small churches, while extroverts prefer big churches. The only exception to the rule is an introvert can hide easier in a big church.

Western culture seem to value extroversion. If a person wants to get ahead in life, in business, or in relationships, being an extrovert seems to be an advantage.

Introverts and extroverts see the world through different lenses too. That usually means that extroverts view introverts through an outgoing lens, assuming that life would be better for introverts if they could learn to be more outgoing. Introverts often feel that extroverts would function better if they could slow down and think more deeply. In other words, they are apt to clash with each other.

In our world today, extroverts are the majority. They also have very big ego, thinking very highly of themselves. It can be very irritating to others, especially the introverts.

Introverts tend to be extra-sensitive to how others respond to them.

Extroverts build inner strength from being around others. They find energy in a noisy, crowded room and is often disappointed when the party end. They would prefer in being in the big city.

Extroverts have a few close friendships but interact with as many people as possible.

They prefer talking to writing by being in contact with people.

Introverts reach inward to get their energy. They gain strength during downtimes. They enjoy the quiet environment. They prefer small towns or just being alone either by themselves or with less people; such as a quiet evening at the lake or a cabin in the woods.

They function best in smaller social settings.

They enjoy quiet environment.

They don’t like shallow relationships. They usually doesn’t have a lot of friends.

They often prefer to communicate in writing, or on Facebook rather than in person and in a crowd.

Extroverts are not afraid to speak up, so they approach people easily. They’re not intimidated by certain people. They’re outspoken and take more risks. They tend to get to the point quickly. They will do very well in giving speeches and in debate.

Introverts care what people think, so they’ll be sensitive in their approach to others. Quiet people who think deeply can reach other quiet people who think deeply. They are easily intimidated by those who comes across as being aggressive. They usually cowered around aggressive people. They are usually the one who was abused. They are less likely to trust people. They would prefer hiding behind Facebook or a blog. That way they can speak out without a threat of being intimidated by anyone who may attack them.

If you say you are an introvert but doesn’t like being at the lake or at a cabin in the woods, you’re fooling yourself.. In other words, don’t piss on me and tell me it’s raining.

From the first glance of me, you would think I’m an extrovert; but in reality, I’m an introvert. I prefer my solitude of the craziness of a big city. I prefer a cabin in a woods.

I cannot rally people up in a crowd to speak out; but I can do it quietly through my blog and on Facebook. That way, I can’t be intimidated.

I do better in a small group and/or church over a big church.

If someone tries to intimidate me in person, I cowered like a little boy.

To be honest now, are you an extrovert or an introvert? Do you prefer large crowd or hiding out on Facebook; so that you can speak out without the threat of being intimidated? Do you prefer big cities or small town? Would you rather have a cabin in the woods, like me? Whenever I get the opportunity to get the hell out of Fargo to go to a small town or to the lake or countryside; I’m all for it. What about you?

Since I’m an introvert, it’s hard for me to be intimate with someone of the opposite sex. Maybe this is one of the reason, I wasn’t able to get married.

Have you noticed that both political party is not the same party it used to be? Both the Republicans and Democrats have changed.

At one time, the Republicans was known to be the party of the rich and the Democrats was the party of the poor. But that have changed in the last few years.

Don’t get me wrong, there is still some bad apples in Washington on the Republican side that needs to go; but the Democrats are at their worse, promoting Socialism and government control.

Some may say that the MAGA Republicans only wants an one party system, it’s actually today’s Democrats who wants that.

I won’t be talking about the Rhino Republicans in this blog.

Today’s Republicans is all about freedom and less government control. This is what President Reagan was shooting for when he was President. He was for putting the government back into the hands of the American people. He even said, “Government is not the solution, they’re the problem.” They are for upholding the Constitution and putting America first.

Whenever there is someone who wants to stands up for the American people, today’s Democrats and the Rhino’s Republicans stand against them.

Whereas the Democrats is now all for Socialism and government control. They want to control the American people. By doing that, they want to keeps us all poor and at their beck and call. They want us to remain dependent on the government; that way they can control us better. It now seems that the Democrats is in bed with the rich. They even want to rewrite the Constitution and history books.

Bobby Kennedy Jr. was and is attack by today’s Democrats and Lefties media because of his stance against Dr. Nazi Fauci and the Vaccine. They tried to censor him as well. He recently left his own Democrat party to runs as an Independant.

There is a song by Oliver Anthony called, “Rich Men North of Richmond.” It’s a breakout hit for him on YouTube. This song takes on the rich greedy men in the angst of the working class. It takes on high taxes, abuse of welfare and selfish politicians.

I have a plaque that says, “Put all your money into taxes. It’s the only thing sure to go up.” This is all true with the Democrats, because they are all for raising our taxes.

What’s the difference between a politician and a flying pig? The letter F.

When these politicians runs for any political office, such as Congress, Senate, Governor, and President, they make promises to benefits the American people. Once they are elected, they quickly break their promises to us. Those in Congress and Senate don’t get paid much by itself; but it’s the perks that makes them rich. They are easily bought off by richer lobbyist. Money talks!

There is a big debate over the fact that Kevin McCarthy being ousted from the Speaker of the House. Some people thinks it was bad and some people think it was the right thing to do. I didn’t fully trust Kevin McCarthy. I felt that he gave in too soon to keep the government from shutting down.

As bad as I cannot stand Nancy Pelosi, there is one thing I have to admit about her, she knew how to get what she wanted. The Democrats knew how to get bills passed, even bills that is bad for America; like Obamacare for instance. She and the Democrats knew how to hold their grounds until they got what they wanted.

A lesson for the Republicans and the next Speaker of the House. If I was the Speaker of the House, I would held my ground, even if it meant the government being shut down, just to get what we wanted. I would had held my ground until the wall was built and the Southern border closed. I would held my ground until the Keystone Pipeline was reopen; so we wouldn’t have to deal with terrorist for oil.

This is why we need term limits for Congress and the Senate, a limit of 2 terms. The Constitution states that those in Washington should serve their terms and go back home to deal with the mess they created.

We also needs age limits for those in Washington, and they must pass a cognitive test to see if they are up the challenge. If they are not up to the challenge and over 70 years old, they must retire, like everyone else.

We got a few that is not up to par, like Joe Biden, Mitch McConnell, the late Diane Feinstein, and even Nancy Pelosi. Toward the end of Quentin Burdick’s life, he was just a figure head, he was not all there.

Like the song, “Rainbow Stew”, by the late Merle Haggard; when a President goes through the White House door and does what he says he will do, we all will be eating that rainbow stew and drinking that free bubble up.

Even though, the book I’m pictured with at the top of this blog talked about how Trump was attacked by those on the Left; I chose not to go that direction. It doesn’t matter who you are. If you dare to go after the Establishment, you will be attack. It doesn’t matter if it’s in Washington or on the job of a major corporation business. If you don’t tow the line, you’re out! If you don’t comply, you’re out! We have to be good little soldiers.

This is why we cannot trust our politicians in Washington. Why we can’t trust the government. One of these days the American people is going to get so upset with the government, it will be way worse than the Capital riot in 2021. The American people will have an uprising like in the third world country or the Revolution War. Will it happens in my lifetime, I don’t know?

Now that’s a great accomplishment these days; since nothing last like they used to. WDAY has been on the air for 70 years. They are located on 8th street South Fargo, few blocks from Main Avenue. Now 8th Street is one of the oldest streets in Fargo, North Dakota. If you travel down that street, you can find old mansions; because it was originally known as the rich area.

WDAY is partnered with The Forum; which is downtown on 1st avenue North, near Broadway.

Speaking of being located downtown near Broadway is Prairie Public Television; which is next to Radison Hotel.

Prairie Public is channel 13 and WDAY is channel 6, also known as the local ABC network.

I grew up watching WDAY; and you can say that I still watch WDAY today, at least for the local news and weather. I remembered watching Marv Bossart, who was the news anchor until he retired. Marv Bossart also taught journalism at Moorhead State University. Toward the end of his life, he had Parkinson. Dewey Bergquist did the weather. His full name was Albert Lloyd Dewey Bergquist. He is in the news because of his grandson, Phillip Dewey Bergquist, was murdered recently. I’m not saying that Dewey was always accurate with the weather; but he was fun to watch. At the end of the local evening news broadcast, Paul Harvey would give the rest of the story segment. I remembered liking those stories and you can even catch them on You Tube. Every once in a while I make reference to Paul Harvey and the rest of the story in my blog because of my fascination.

I’ll talk about other WDAY’s employees a little later. They must have a good working accord there; because people have stayed with WDAY a long time. Even some news personality figure from other networks had transfer over to WDAY. Robin Huebner, was once on KXJB-KVLY, left because of a discrimination lawsuit and joined WDAY . Also Steve Poitras can be seen once in a while on WDAY banking program. He used to be on KXJB.

KXJB, channel 4 used to be located on Main Avenue near West Fargo until they moved near Target on 13th Ave. That building is gone and KXJB has merge with KVLY, channel 11. They are located near the intersection off University Drive. They used to be known as KTHI before KVLY took over. KVLY owners was from Bismark and Minot.

The newest TV station is Fox, located near West Acres.

Back to WDAY, John Wheeler replaced Dewey Bergquist when he retired. John Wheeler is a short man, who does a lot of walking. He is also fun to watch; even though, like Dewey is not always accurate with the weather, but still better than the other local news stations.

Around 40 years ago, WDAY and KTHI, swapped network. At one time, WDAY was NBC and KVLY was ABC, still channel 6 and 11 though. The building stayed the same though. Due to the switch, Maureen Zimmerman and Ed Schultz also switched local network as well, since they were married at the time. You can check more on them in my blog on Ed Schultz; which is somehow the top blog for me.

Dana Mogck, who is now the news anchor for WDAY used to helped Ed Schultz with the sports until he eventually took over Ed Schultz job. Eventually, Dana Mogck took over for Marv Bossart as well. He has been with WDAY since 1983. Dana Mogck is married to Christina Gerhardson from Hawley, MN. She works for the NDSU bison staff. The connection I have with her was my classmate, Tim Gerhardson is her brother.

I do want to add that Maureen Zimmerman and Ed Schultz has a son, David Schultz who is more like his father rather than his mother. I feel sorry for him, because his mother was a nice lady. She gave me the advice, “get your foot in the door.” Now David Schultz is a local pro golfer who also can be seen on WDAY once in a while.

It’s good to see there are some things still remain the same; even as Fargo has grown and can be unrecognizable to someone who used to lived here but moved away. If you were to take a drive south on University Drive, the only business that is still in that part of town is the Bowler. Both Kmart and Quality Bakery is no longer there.

Another thing that has change in Fargo is the fact there was at least 5 hospitals in Fargo-Moorhead, St. Luke, St. Ansgar, St. John, Dakota, and the VA. Now there is just Sanford, Essentia, and the VA.

Congratulation once again to WDAY for being on the air for 70 years! That is wonderful! May they have many more years.

When did the news media get so untrustworthy? When did they ended up loosing people trust in them?

Years ago, under such news anchor as Walter Cronkite and Peter Jennings, news reporters had integrity. They did their job at reporting the news without being bias. They kept their opinion to themselves, like they are supposed to. They asked such questions as: who, what, where, when, why, and how. They had done their research before reporting the news. They got their facts straight first.

Once Walter Cronkite retired, good news reporters with integrity became hard to find. Dan Rather, who replaced Walter Cronkite, became the father of fake news. He was even forced to step down from CBS news desk in the midst of the controversy and apologize. Now it’s the norm for today’s news media anchor.

I know what a true journalist with integrity is supposed to do because I had studied journalism in college.

It bears remembering that the purpose of the free press, like the purpose of free speech, is to nurture the mind, communicate ideas, challenge ideologies, share notions, inspire creativity, advocate and reinforce America’s founding principles. The media is to expose official actions aimed at squelching speech. But when the media function as a propaganda tool for a single political party and ideology, they destroy their own purpose.

Journalists are not to get involved politically and pick side. They are to remain bias when reporting the news accurately. Yet, today journalists are more Liberals. They seems to support the Democratic party; even if it means not reporting the truth. The American people has the rights to know the truth. It doesn’t matter if you are a Republican or a Democrat.

It surely not for the government to control the press, and yet the press is not capable of policing itself.

If they were people of integrity and honesty, who actually did their job without biases, the American people could actually believe them. Instead, they are like the news media in George Orwell’s book, “1984,” in that book, they are the “big brother” for the government. The watchdog, so to speak.

The Unfreedom of the Press is about how those entrusted with news reporting in the modern media are destroying freedom of the press from within: not government oppression or suppression. Thus, their credibility of the mass media has never been lower.

If you dare confront them with the truth on social media as Facebook and Twitter, you are shut down and fact checked. Some are even put in Facebook jail for expressing the truth, and doing their job.

Is the media providing knowledge and insight useful to the public and free society, or are they obsessed with their own personal and political viewpoints? Have the news media earned the respect and esteem of their readers and viewers? Is the media on a trajectory of self-destruction by identifying themselves to the Democratic party over the Republican party?

Today’s journalists have done a very poor job of upholding the tenets of their profession, thus destroying the freedom of the press. Many millions of Americans do not respect or trust them as credible fairminded, and unbiased news source. They have no one to blame but themselves.

When a journalist breaks from the rest of the news media, which is quite rare, and actually do their job properly, their careers are typically threatened or ruined by the rest of the news media.

Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth and loyalty to the American people. This is one of the reason for me writing my blog, to get the truth out there anyway possible.

They have become a glorified gossip rag magazine such as the National Enquire. The only good things is to line the birdcage with their trash or used as doggy paper.

When the news media failed to do their job accurately, they deny the American people from gathering the facts to make the right decisions.

How much better would it be if the news media(liar’s pants) really did catch on fire? It would be so much interesting to watch than it is now.

No wonder the world has gone crazy. It has gotten so bad that you don’t even want to watch the news anymore. You cannot believe anything the mainstream news media tells you.

What we need is a little good news for a change. We need the truth for once and for the news media not to be bias and slant the truth for their own benefits.

I’m not endorsing censoring the news media, because it goes against the freedom of the press and communication. The news media had brought their own downfall.

Why good people are divided by politics and religion?

The two subjects that seems to be taboo to talk about is religion and politics. Nobody likes to talk about it. It can cause a great divide between family and friends.

At the same time, the best blogs that gets the best views is human relations stories, follow by politics. Religious blogs don’t do very well.

Yet at the same time, Christians are called to go out and witness. How can they do that if talking religion is a hot topic for a lot of people? When they see someone like a Jehovah’s Witness coming up their house, they quickly shut the blinds and pretend they are not home. It doesn’t necessarily have to be them, but you get the point.

When Mike Huckelby ran for President in 2012, I couldn’t bring myself to support him. I may like what he stood for; but since he was a former Baptist preacher, I wouldn’t vote for him. It wouldn’t matter if he was a Baptist preacher or what church he was from. I don’t think a preacher should run for any political office, not just the President.

Politics is a dirty business. You have to take a cold shower to get the slime off of you. Plus some preachers can be so self-righteous, to the point of being controlling. The Government is controlling enough the way it is; especially the Democrats who wants to control us and take away our freedom.

The Constitution says that there is separation between state and religion. Yet at the same time, it is recommended that Christian should get out and vote. Otherwise, their values may be hurt by those in Washington. That is why most Christians support the Republican party to the point of endorsing them. The reason for that is because the Republicans support their values more than the Democrats.

Even politics can divide family as well.

I have heard on Rush Limbaugh when Earl Pomeroy was in Congress, that he has a nephew who was a Republican in a family of Democrats. Now that must make an interesting family get together.

James Carville, a Democrat and Mary Matalin, a Republican is an example of a marriage couple with 2 different political views and parties; yet somehow they may their marriage works. They make it works by not talking politics at home.

Most recently Bobby Kennedy Jr. is not only attacked by his own Democrat party; but there is a separation in his own family, the Kennedy’s clan. The grandson of President Kennedy, Katherine’s son doesn’t agree with his cousin’s views, and they’re both Democrats.

I can understand that because I see that in my own family, involving cousins. Some cousins won’t have anything to do with a certain cousin because of their political differences.

Politics and religion are both expressions of our underlying moral psychology, and an understanding can help bring people together. If we can only see eye-to-eye!

The mind is divided, like a rider on an elephant, and the rider’s job is to serve the elephant.

Liberals sometimes say that religious conservatives are sexual prudes.

When you put individuals first, before society, then any rule or social practice that limits personal freedom can be questioned.

America has descended deeper into polarization, separating us because of our political views.

It used to be easier to get along with others with different political views than it is now. When I first became a Republican in 1984 because of President Reagan, I had a college professor who was Democrat. We had the utmost respect for each other, and he even became my advisor. His name was Dr. Thomas Matchie. Now days it is frowned upon on colleges campus.

If you are a Conservative Republican in college, you are physically attack if not verbally attack. You are even attack on Facebook. Sometimes even factcheck.

When did it get so bad that people cannot have a good debate without people getting offended and attacking one another?

How did it get to the point when our political views would break up family and friends?

You need a good debate to understand other’s views. We were either in debate club or took debate classes to help better ourselves and understand others. I can be pretty good at debate when I was in school.

The last time this country was united was September 11, 2001, after the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was attacked by terrorist. I think that would be the last time this country would be united if it would happens again.

We need to learn to get along better despite of our political and religious views. We are all God’s children. The enemies of the United States love seeing us at each other throats because of our differences views. It’s divide and conquer! This will be the downfall of our country.

There is always the poor among us since the beginning of time. There is even more poor people today than ever due to the Biden’s inflation. Everywhere you look there is people who are homeless or struggling financially to stay afloat.

America has the best dressed poverty in the world.

The poor is more likely to get sick more than anyone else in society. That is because they live in slums, jammed together under unhygienic conditions; they have inadequate diets and cannot get decent medical care. It cost more to eat healthy than it does to eat junk food.

The Democrats solution in helping the poor is by giving them assistant such as welfare; whereas the Republicans is known to have no real solution to the problem. As President Reagan said, “government is not the solution to the problem; government is the problem.” In other words, the Democrats would rather keeps people poor and under the thumbs of the government; that way they are easily controlled.

As the saying goes, “give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day; but teach him to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.”

North Dakota state Senator Mike Wobbema, a Republican from the 24th district made a statement to, “It’s really the problem of parents being negligent with their kids if their kids are choosing to eat in the first place, which is entirely the problem that could be existing.” He said this as they were debating free school lunch for low income kids. He says that parents are to blame for their hunger.”

It goes to show that he is so out-of-touch with society. It’s hard for kids to concentrate on their schoolwork on an empty stomach. There is more and more food pantry propping up lately. There is even Feed my hungry children, which will be set up at the Fargo Dome in January to help feel starving children. The reason for this is because of the high cost of food and such. Everything is going up but the wages. If the wages does goes up, we can’t tell anyway because of the high cost of living.

Some employers looks for any excuses not to give raises to their employees.

This doesn’t affect children. It also affects the Senior Citizens as well. There are Senior Citizens who only have Social Security to live on. Now that’s not very much. Many become homeless! They have to choose to eat or get their medical treatment to survive. Some can’t even retire. They end up working until they drop. Those who do have retirement plan and/or investment; it can get eaten up very easily if they happen to go into a nursing home.

The fact is that poverty remains a major blight on the American scene. There is more homeless shelter and low income rental place propping up. At the same time, the 1% has the galls to complain by saying, “we can’t have these low incomes homes in our neighborhoods. It will lower the property value of our beautiful homes.” It’s almost like they would rather ship the poor out in a small community outside the city limit just so they can’t be seen. They’ll bus them in to work and shop but they must stay in their own personal area away from them; so that they will not be seen.

If these people are not starving, they are hungry, and sometimes fat with hunger, for that is what cheap foods do. They are without adequate housing, education, and medical care.

Just south of Fargo is the towns of Oxbow and Hickson. Now Oxbow is the rich side; whereas Hickson is the poor side. They are right across from each other. Oxbow got their country club and flood protection; while Hickson is not protected against a flood. People in Oxbow used the excuse that we have to protect their country club; while care nothing about the people of Hickson.

With this high inflation, those who are poor have to makes cuts in certain area of their lives. They are limited in what they can spend. They buy the bare minimum to just get by.

It is one of the cruelest ironies of social life in advanced countries that the dispossessed at the bottom of society are unable to speak for themselves. They have no one to speak for them.

Here is the most familiar version of social blindness: “The poor are that way because they are afraid of work. They are living off the system and taxpayers.”

There are more absentee fathers, crimes, and teen pregnancy involving the low income society.

The poor is known as the rejects of society.

Yet, when the rich does give to the poor, they do it to make a show to impress people and write it off on their taxes. Yet at the same time, they don’t want to be seen anywhere near the poor side of town. They sees them as being unclean; and they might get dirty by being around them.

People who lives on skid row can be found asking for handout. They are labeled the alcoholic poor. They have been defined as a major problem in our society.

As winter is fast approaching, the homeless are looking for places to get out of the cold. They are turning good neighborhood into bad. They are getting into security apartment buildings to get out of the cold anyway possible. They are sleeping in the hallways in some of these apartment buildings.

In these bigger cities, they have problems with the homeless and illegal immigrants sleeping on the streets. New York City is becoming like Paris, France, very dirty and rat infested. These rats are as big as a cat. Plus there is also bed bugs and cockroaches.

They are low paid workers, drifters, outcasts of one kind or another, and rebellious young people. Not only are they addicted to alcohol; but they are addicted to many different kinds of drugs. Drugs are being found where children are playing; and these children are getting harm because of it.

This past Saturday, the Fargo High Rise was torn down. When it was built, it was a beautiful thing; but throughout the years, it has deteriorated.

As the cost of living is skyrocketing, there is becoming more and more poor people. This Biden’s inflation is killing us all. And they wondered why some people have to works 2-3 jobs just to make a living. They wondered why there are so many who are living from paycheck to paycheck. They wondered why there is so much crimes in the area. I don’t know how much more we can take of Joe Biden’s failed economic policy that is hurting America. All Joe Biden cares about is helping China more than our own people. More money goes overseas than to help our people. Our taxes is raised to do so. Think about the fire in Mauli, more money is being sent to Ukraine than to the victims of the fire in Mauli.

There is no real solution to this problem with the poor. We need better wages, benefits, housing, medical treatment, affordable food, and not junk food; but rather healthy food. We need someone who will speak for us and not the rich corporation. Yet at the same time we don’t need to be dependent on the government.

The summer of 2001, I had an opportunity to go on a work & Witness trip to Indianapolis, working in the inner city. Around this time, my sister, Barb had lost her battle with cancer and passed away.

Some may wonder why go on a work & witness trip when a family member is diagnose with cancer? Some may even think I was selfish for going at the time.

I planned this trip before she got the devastating news that she had cancer. Believe me, I almost didn’t go because I was taught to be there for your family even in the toughest times; no matter how dysfunctional they may be. My mother didn’t want me to go at that time; but at the same time, it was an opportunity of a lifetime. My sister, Barb was a saint for all she put up with throughout her life. This blog is not about her though.

Someone from church, Paul Dennis, who was part of the missionary program in the church and I got together before I left. He knew I was struggling with the decision of should I or shouldn’t I still go, during this time. He told me that missionary would leave their family, even in times like this.

Even Jesus said, “Let the dead bury the dead,” and follow me as He picked His disciples.

I took the bus down to Minneapolis, Minnesota to meet up with the rest of the team that was going on this mission trip. I met some good friends on this trip and it was growing experience I will never forget. At the same time as the mission trip, there was a General Assembly going on at the old RCA dome, where the Colts used to play before they got their new stadium. That stadium was huge.

We drove through Wisconsin past Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While going through Wisconsin, we stop along the way where there was a pink elephant I had to see and take a picture of; otherwise, some may think that I was drunk.

I also made a comment that you don’t say to someone from Minneapolis, and that was, “Wisconsin is so beautiful.” We all know the rivalry between Minnesota and Wisconsin.

My mother loaned me her video camera to videotape the trip. Even though she didn’t want me to go at that time; she knew it was a chance of a lifetime not to pass up. She missed her chance of a lifetime, and didn’t want that for her kids.

When we got in Illinois, there was lots of toll booth before hitting Chicago. When we entered Chicago area, I made sure that the car doors were locked out of fear of that crazy big city. It took 5 hours just to get around Chicago, only because we got lost. In other words, it took a little longer to get to Indianapolis than expected.

We stayed at a historic building used as a hotel near downtown Indianapolis. It was a beautiful hotel. The meals were included, and there was a laundry room there to do our laundry if needed. A big dining room where we could sit and eat our meals, breakfast and supper. There was a big yard to spend outside to play volleyball and such.

We went to spectacular kickoff of music from other countries and cultures, to kickoff the trip. It was full but very enjoyable. The next day was Sunday morning, and we went to an old Nazarene church in the inner city. It was near the site where we were to be working.

On Monday, we were working on a house in the inner city, helping do repair works on the house and yard. The Mission program was called, “One Heart, Many Hands.” It was a chance of a lifetime for me; I will never forget. In the inner city, the streets were narrow and they drove very fast, like they were driving the Indianapolis speedway. Some worked on the roof and some did yard works. It was an older house and the people who lived there and in the neighborhood couldn’t afford very much. They wasn’t able to do as much either, so they were appreciative for what we did for them. They had a welcome to the neighborhood at the neighborhood park with music, food, and fun. For lunch, some people in charge of putting this all together brought sandwiches and such. There was even an ice cream truck that went by everyday at the same time. (Believe me, I remembered the old ice cream truck in Fargo when I was a child.) It was a good experience even though, we had some tools stolen while we were there. We also had some play time while there.

It was while I was there, I got the news that my sister, Barb had passed away. The people I was with was willing to help me make it back to her funeral if I chose to go. I prayed and chose I needed to do this. It helped me to see the other Americans and know that there are people who are worse off. It helped me understand the situation better, to what my sister, Barb went through.

There was a General Assembly going on at the same time at the old RCA Dome that I had a chance to go to the evening service. It was smack downtown! They had a lot of old historic buildings and even horse drawn carriage to give those a ride downtown if they wanted to.

You could see the big difference between downtown and the inner city. It was like the rich and poor.

While there, Paul Dennis was also there for General Assembly and he took me out for supper after the convention. We went to a historic building turned into a nice restaurant.

When we left at the end of the week, we took a different route to avoid Chicago. We went passed the Indianapolis speedway and then north avoiding Chicago.

It was an experience I will never forget; even though I missed my sister, Barb’s funeral. I was told that I didn’t missed much. Her funeral wasn’t to my family liking. Her in-laws made light of her life.

I recommend all to go on that experience of a lifetime. Don’t just give to be giving, experience it. We are to be self-giving, not self-serving. There are people who gives to such causes just to get notice as to say, “Look at me, I give!” They bragged about giving and hope to write it off on their taxes.

It’s like Peter Fendt, who is a part of the rescue and search team here in Fargo. Him and people like him are just out to impress people. Well I got news for them, that’s doesn’t impress me much. People like them are just hypocrites. They should try walking in there shoes instead. That is the only way to fully understand the other Americans.

If they want to help the poor, they must first comes to fully understand what we go through on a day to day basis. Walk a mile in our shoes! As Johnny Cash sang in his song, “Man in Black.” Johnny cash sang, “I wear black for the poor and beaten down. Living in the hopeless, hungry side of town.”

I hope you were able to see the connection between this week blog and last week. Next week in part 3, I will be discussing the other America, a look at poverty in the United States. The poor among us.

Where is the worst paying job at? How do they sleep at night knowing that they do not pay their helps very well? I will mention a few of them, 2 of them is no longer open for business.

I will start with the job the Fargo Country Club. It was a low paying job when I worked there in the ’90’s; and they still are the lowest paying job in Fargo, North Dakota. You may ask, how can they be so cheap? The riches people in Fargo and even the state of North Dakota are members of the Country Club. If they can afford to be a member of this ritsy club; they sure in hell can afford to pay their helps more than what they do. They don’t even offer benefits.

I put in 8 years at that place; and you may wonder why?

To start with, I was in my 20’s, young and dumb. Plus, when I worked their, it was like a dysfunctional family, a comedy show. You enjoyed working with the people there. We had some good times together. The big saying there for us employees was, “You can check in but you can’t check out.” That was taken from the song, “Motel California.” When we weren’t working, few of us would get together drinking and playing poker. We even played broomball on a Sunday afternoon. (Back then, I was able to do that .) They had good teamwork, people working together as a team. The executive chef, Eric Ronson, at the time was one of the good ones. It’s too bad that he didn’t write a book on how to be a better manager to teach some of these so-called managers. He recently passed away. He would even help those who needed it. He’ll stay to even help out it needed. Some of the managers I worked for would rather sit in their office on their fat asses. If you complained, they say, “You have an attitude.”

The closest I came to this kind of work environment is the Fargo Dome; even though, they pay more than the Fargo Country Club.

It was hard to leave the Fargo Country Club because of this factor; even though, the pay was horrible, and no benefits. I enjoyed working with the people, even Eric Ronson. He was like a father-figure to most of us there. I did get burnt out working there though. I was taken advantage of. Maybe this is why, on my day off, I shut off my ringers on my phone.

I was able to moved on to a better paying job at Concordia College with benefits. Eric Ronson was hurt and hated to see me go; but deep down he knew I did what I needed to do.

The next place of business that was very cheap in paying their employees was Quality Bakery. Now, Quality Bakery is no longer open, and I couldn’t care less. My mother worked there for over 30 years; and she was taken advantage of by the owners, especially Peter Fendt. He should be ashamed of himself for the way he treated my mother. She was only getting around $8/hours give and take for as long as she worked there. She used the excuse that they paid for her benefits and that they were friends. Peter was no friend. He was only in business for himself, to make money for himself. My mother droved many miles into Fargo every night to worked for peanuts.

Before my mother started working there, they had a chance to go union; but the owners either paid off or blackmailed, or whatever to keep that from happening. Now that is very crooked.

Peter criticized another boss of having an affair; and he did the same thing himself; proving what a hypocrite he was. Whenever he was angry with his father or wife, who also ran the business, he would take it out on the employees. My mother called him a friend. Friends don’t do that to friends! He should be ashamed of himself!

If he was dying of thirst, I wouldn’t give him the sweat off my brow. I hope he feels so guilty for the way he treated my mother’s loyalty to that place.

Peter Fendt is also involved in the rescue and recovery to help search those in the Red River. He does that to show his good deeds. When all it does is shows his hypocrisy, what a true hypocrite he is. He’s not alone at that though; so many rich people do that, which I will explain more of that in the next 2 blogs.

Believe me, if I ever run into Peter, he will get a piece of my mind for the way he treated my mother. I hope he lose a lot of sleep over this. I hope he burned in hell for this as well! I don’t think I can ever forgive him.

Another cheap place to work was Kmart. Now Kmart not around anymore. They couldn’t afford to pay their employees because of poor management. Working at Kmart is like working at Walmart; both didn’t pay their employees very well. When you work retails, you have to deal with customers; and some are jerks. You also have to deal with people who dash and grab. There is a lot of stress working retails.

On that same line as Kmart and Walmart is Cash Wise. I heard from others, that employees at Cash Wise doesn’t get paid very well either. Places like them rather hire part time to avoid paying out benefits as well as decent wages.

When I was working at Kmart, the movie, “The Help” became our favorite movie, because it spoke to all of us.

I put in 12 years at Kmart, and you wondered why? It wasn’t because of lack of trying. The timing just wasn’t right for me to quit earlier.

Another place that doesn’t pay their employees well is Don’s Car Wash. They charge enough to wash your car; but cannot pay their employees. Even their temp employees get treated like shit. They would only work you 6 hours but pay you for 5 and a half. Those from temp agency only goes to Don’s Car Wash if they’re desperate, the last resort. No wonder, you don’t get an accurate job in cleaning your cars. If they don’t pay the employees well, how can you expect them to do a good job at cleaning the customer’s cars?

These are just some of the employers who doesn’t or didn’t pay their employees very well. If you know any others, comment below.

Then they wonder why most Americans are working paycheck to paycheck. It’s even worst now because of this Biden’s inflation. Joe Biden and the Leftist media cannot tell me that the economy is good. If a person was to get a raise, you wouldn’t even know it because of the high cost of everything. They are getting rich in Washington promoting Socialism while the rest of us is struggling financially.

I will continue this topic in the next 2 blogs; working up to the climax in part 3.

As you probably already heard North Dakota is trying to make history with Doug Burgum running for President of the United States. He’s the first to run for President from North Dakota. Even though North Dakota claims Teddy Roosevelt, he’s not from the state.

Doug Burgum wants to do what 4 candidates for President from Minnesota couldn’t do. The first from Minnesota was Hubert Humphrey back in 1968. He lost to Richard Nixon; even though he was Vice-President under Lyndon Johnson. Walter Mondale, who was Vice-President under Jimmy Carter ran for President in 1984, but lost to Ronald Reagan due to a landslide. Then in 2012, Tim Pawlenty and Michelle Bachman both ran for President but couldn’t get the nomination in the primary.

Doug Burgum will suffer the same fate as both Pawlenty and Bachman. There is better candidates than Burgum running for President. Deep down, I think he knows that. He’s just hoping to maybe get a cabinet post in the White House. He’s not really North Dakota best governor. That title goes to Ed Schaffer.

When Ed Schaffer was asked to run for Senator, he flatly turned it down, because he had his fill of politics and the corruption in Washington. A smart man!!

Don’t get me wrong, I did vote for Burgum for Governor in 2016 when he ran against Wayne Stenehjem. Now Stenehjem was the Attorney General for the state of North Dakota. He was also a career politicians; unlike Burgum, who was a businessman like Trump.

Now Doug Burgum is the founder of the Kilbourne Group, a real estate development firm focused on downtown Fargo. Former Congressman Rick Berg is now involved in the Kilbourne Group. Before that, Berg was involved with Goldmark.

The Kilbourne Group repurpose buildings and inspire the future by redeveloping vacant lots into active, thriving spaces for residents, visitors, students, entrepreneurs, artists, etc.

One of Burgum’s campaign’s promises was to find the missing surplus from the oil company.

Doug Burgum’s wife is Kathryn Helgaas from Jamestown, North Dakota. Her duties include: supporting and developing initiatives to eliminate the shame and stigma of the chronic disease of addiction. She is in a long term recovery for 21 years for addiction.

I don’t think Burgum is the best choice to be President of the United States. I don’t think he has any balls to stand up against the swamp in Washington. They will just eat him up and take advantage of him, like they do to Sen. John Hoeven, another former governor. John Hoeven couldn’t even control his wife, Mikey; when she said, “You know who I am.”

There are better candidates out there either running or not running that has more balls than Burgum. Ron DeSantis has more balls than Burgum, when he stood up against Disney as they gone Woke. He stood up against Gov. Newsom and even Joe Biden.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has more balls than Burgum. She took a stand against the Federal lockdown during the Pandemic. She stood up against Biden over such thing as having Mount Rushmore evening lighting ceremony that is held beginning the Friday before Memorial Day to September 30 each year up until the Pandemic.

Governor Glenn Youngkin from Virginia is another good governor with more balls than Burgum. He stood up against the school board for the parents rights. He’s cut from the same cloth as DeSantis, in standing up against those behind Woke and Critical Race Theory being taught in our schools.

Governor Burgum is all for dressing casual, in blue jeans; rather than suit and tie as so many are accustomed to. He got criticized for it to.

Yet during the Pandemic, Burgum couldn’t stand up against Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and otherwise. He allowed the state to be shut down, not like South Dakota. There are other things that he couldn’t stand up to Tim Walz for either.

A President must be bold and a strong leader to withstand against the enemies of the United States. They have to be bold to stand up against those in Washington as well. If they see you as being weak, they will take advantage of you and United States. That is why Russia invaded Ukraine when they saw Biden as being weak.

This past week was the first Republican debate. I have to admit that Burgum did better than expected. He just couldn’t beat DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott.

He did say one thing I really like though. He said, “They need small town value in Washington.”

Now Burgum is from Arthur, ND, a small town north of Fargo.

Those in Washington doesn’t have small town value, especially Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; especially when she said, “We need to ban cow farts.” She doesn’t know anything about small town values.

This doesn’t mean I’m going to vote for Burgum or even support him as he makes history for North Dakota by running for President.

In the words from the movie, “Jerry Maguire,” when Tom Cruise shouted, “Show me the money!” Well Governor Burgum, “Show me the money! Show me the missing money from the surplus involving the oil company!”

If Burgum couldn’t stood up to the oil companies, how can we expect him to stand up against those in Washington, and our enemies like Russia and China?

Have you noticed that there is more bars and coffee shops opening up in Fargo, ND lately? They are practically on every corner, everywhere you look.

It used to be churches on every corner years ago. Now it seems that bars and coffee shops are replacing churches.

Then they wondered why North Dakota has such a high alcoholism rate. Think about it, with all these bars opening up and even restaurants selling alcohol; what do you expect. The latest thing is at West Acres. They are now selling alcohol in the food court in all places. You pay with a credit or debit card and is charged by the ounces when you buy your drink.

West Acres is supposed to be a family place, where family goes to shop, people watch, and just hang out. This shows how desperate they are to attract customers. Much like restaurants are when they get their liquor license to also sell alcohol.

It used to be years ago, bars were separated from restaurants. Bars would only sell alcohol; but now they are becoming more than just a bar. There are sports bars and nightclubs as well as restaurants. You can watch any sports you want, drink and eat dinner or supper. Some even have other entertainment, such as music or comedy shows; making them into a nightclub.

When I was a child, and the family did goes out, we would go to a restaurant that didn’t serve alcohol. Now days that is hard to find. Back then, if a father went into a bar, the kids sat outside in the car until they came back out, and hope they don’t stay in too long.

When I first became legal to drink, 19 in Minnesota and 21 in North Dakota, we would go out drinking. We would stay until the bars closed and then goes to a restaurant that was open all night for breakfast. I felt sorry for the waitress, because she had to deal with a drunk crowds.

There was some bars that didn’t card you either. I have been in bars in Fargo before I was 21 drinking.

I do remembered one time, when my mother was in the hospital, and my dad wasn’t much of a cook since he was dependent on my mother, stopped at the old bar on the corner of Downer either on the way to the farm or town. At that times they had the best burgers in the area.

On a hot summer day, my dad would take us out for a drive and stop at a bar near the lakes. He had a beer and bought pops for us youngest kids.

I had my first taste of beer when I was a child. I didn’t like it then; but I did when I got older.

Now that coffee is becoming more fancier, coffee shops is also opening up more and more lately as well. With such coffee places as Starbucks for example.

When I was younger, coffee was just coffee and it was bitter, nothing fancy. There was no flavored coffee, cappuccino, latte, iced coffee, or blended coffee. I had my first cappuccino because of my best friend, Roger. Now I’m into drinking cappuccinos or blended coffee, depending on the weather. My favorite coffee shop is Caribou. I stop at Starbucks if I’m in the neighborhood; but I won’t go out of my way.

Even churches is selling coffee to attract new people. One of the coffee shop is the Lighthouse.

I think the reason for these coffee shops opening up more and more lately is because people in North Dakota, and especially Fargo, is becoming snooty and uptight. They are becoming more and more like bigger cities.

In the past when going on a date, you would go out to dinner at a restaurant, then go to a nightclub for drinking and dancing. Now you can do it all at one place.

My favorite restaurant is Appleby. When I was a child, there was no Appleby in Fargo. It goes to show how much restaurants is becoming the new bars. Bars and restaurants are becoming one.

There is a good German bar downtown Fargo called Wurst Bier Hall, I really like. They got good German food and good German beer.

Sure there are 4 corners, and when I say on every corner, think about this: On one corner is a bar, on the other corner is a coffee shop, on the other corner is a car wash, and finally on the last corner is a bank. You can go to the bank to get some money, cross the street to the car wash to wash your car, then go out to eat and have a drink at the bar/restaurant. Then before you go home, you can stop in at the coffee shop for coffee to sober up a little before driving home.

Then they wonder why people drinks so much? They are promoting alcohol.

I love my coffee, especially cappuccino or blended coffee. I’m becoming sophisticated that way and fancy.

As Tom T. Hall would say in one of his song, “I like Beer.” Well hell yeah, I like beer too!! I don’t go out of my way to have a drink like some people would. I drank more in my 20’s than I do now. I drank more when I first turned 19, because it was the things to do. It doesn’t make me an alcoholic, like some people.

To all those who drinks, this beer is on me! If you prefer coffee, then this coffee on me.

They should do a study on this and see what they are promoting instead of criticizing people for drinking alcohol. That’s the only way to solve the alcohol problems in North Dakota.