I Love You California

Greetings from California, where the latest news is that we Californians are once again out of step with the rest of the nation. This time the issue is Immigration Reform, and wouldn't you know it, a recent Field Poll found that around 83% of Californians favor some kind of comprehensive immigration reform. That means a tighter border combined with some kind of guest worker program that will allow people from south of the border to come up here legally to work and pay taxes.

So while the rest of the country is trying to build walls and spread fear about the brown invasion coming up from the south, Californian's are having none of it, and are still willing to open their doors and welcome those who come to work and earn a living. The majority who feel this way is not small, either; it's over four to one. Kind of makes me proud to be a Californian and live in the middle of this multicultural mess.

Unfortunately, from what I hear the Guest Worker legislation doesn't have stand much of a chance of becoming law, so it's all moot. Once again California is way ahead of the curve. Other states may call themselves progressive, but we've been progressive even when progressive isn't cool.

There's another interesting little movement going on out here you might not have heard about. Seems local Assemblyman Ira Ruskin created quite a stir with a proposal to impose a penalty on the purchase of gas guzzling vehicles. The way it would work is that gas guzzlers would pay a penalty of up to $2,500, and that penalty would then be rebated right back to purchasers of fuel efficient vehicles.

Of course the auto dealerships are screaming bloody murder. They're calling it a new tax, but everyone knows that they're just worried about hurting sales of their SUV's and other luxury gas guzzlers, which coincidentally just happen to be the vehicles with the highest profit margins for the dealers.

Being the owner of a fuel efficient vehicle myself, I think it's a great idea, and if I were the auto dealers I wouldn't be too worried. With gas at well over $3.00 per gallon out here, anyone who has the financial wherewithal to buy a SUV isn't going to think twice about paying an extra $2,500 penalty. If you've got that kind of dough then $2,500 will be a drop in the bucket. On the other hand, a $2,500 rebate might make a big difference to a college student or young family, and might get them into the dealership to buy something new. Who knows, it could work both ways.

So there you have it. Sounds like a great idea to me. If mom is going to insist on using a monster truck to get her back and forth from the grocery store, then I say she ought to pay the rest of us for the inconvenience of having to maneuver around her. Don't you think that's fair?

Well, that's all I have time for tonight. It's time for me to practice, practice, practice. Actually, my right hand finally healed so I'm back to my piano lessons again. For a while there I thought I had some kind of RSI because my right hand was really giving me a lot of trouble, but 3 weeks off seems to have healed things.

You know what I like about the piano as opposed to the guitar? The piano is so easy. On a guitar you have to find a fret and press down on a string with one hand and then pluck it with other, and that's a lot of work. On a piano all you have to do is touch a key and out comes this beautiful sound. Compared to a guitar, it's almost effortless.

That's why pianists always looks so relaxed when they play. You ever notice that? They just sit there with their eyes closed and their heads swaying to the music as their fingers delicately dance over the keys. Guitarists, on the other hand, always look like their struggling. They're gritting their teeth and sweat is running down their foreheads and they've got these sort of constipated looks on their faces, and you can just tell that it takes a lot of work to get a good sound from a guitar. Pianists just let their finger fall on a key and they're done.

Come to think of it, pianists are really kind of overrated, aren't they.