a year ago, when I wrapped up the 5th Annual York Flower & Garden Show's (last year's show) activity by my Garden Center, I swore I'd take a pass on the 6th (this year's show) and concentrate the energy on much-needed work around the 20-acre complex. I can remember back to the 4th Annual York Flower & Garden Show, but the previous 6 show events are a blur now — we've been there since the '91 inception — although we've won Best of Show, Best Overall and lots of other awards. Spring always seems to come early and with benefit of 20-20 hindsight, I wish I'd spent more time paying attention to the myriad details here, instead of the show. Once again, I went with the flow and participated. After two days of prep and set-up — and with two more even longer ones to go — I need a vacation. Technical Note... The 2 links to the Flower Show and Cactus do not work as of this Friday morning Journal posting. My other ISP's cable modem service is down right now and it's an impossibility to upload 50+ pics to the server. It's so slow I'd be in a nursing home before it finished. I'm on a pathetic 28.8 dial-up right now. The pics will be up by Sunday evening, so please stop back and have a look; the links will work by then. And now, on to the rest of it all... Stickly Situation. Deciding upon a unique exhibit for each show is tough. Everyone else's display looks just as it did last year, with a few minor changes. Not much imagination or real effort. I hate same-o, same-o. So each year, we put forth a Herculean effort to showcase something that sets us quite apart. This year, it's tropical cactus. Until two years ago, I'd not had much experience with cacti and related succulents — I'd been an orchid collector and grower in my spare time — until a customer walked into the Garden Center and introduced me to that world of plants. Now I'm hooked on it. Here's a few of the tropical cactus in my specimen gradecollection, which we used in the show's exhibit. GTE Strikes Again. It's amazing what a pathetic entity the phone company is. They either blame the customer or the customer's equipment — it's never their own or their equipment's fault — for anything that goes wrong. Such is the case here live (now dead) at the Show as I write this. I brought my office machine (pentium 586 200mhz/96RAM 4.9GB) down to The York Fairgrounds on Thursday morning — modem (a lousy 28.8) and internet connection working perfectly — and nothing worked once I re-hooked it up. GTE had installed a line with pulse instead of tone. After 2 hours of no connection, I figured it out, switched to pulse and got a weak dial-up. FYI: pulse dial is something out of the 40s and 50s; only third world countries use it. I suffered through the day and made a service request for Friday. At 12noon on Friday, two self-declared geniuses from GTEs elite service team showed up, told me that my modem and computer were at fault, and proceeded to whack the lousy 21.6 connection that I was getting. No dial tone was the reply every time. It worked okay before they messed with it. Typical GTE let's fix it if it isn't broken mentality. I called GTEs so-called business office and cancelled the special service — an expensive $248 for 4 days — since it no longer worked. I got the usual run-around from them: three telephone menus to wade through, umpteen choices and finally ended up with residential instead of commercial service. Typical morons. In the off-season, I usually get 50-90 emails requesting information and help. I dread downloading and answering all those tonite. A post note: There were 113 emails to deal with. I've had GTE local service for eight years at my Garden Center complex; they've been pretty good about getting things fixed when there's been a problem. And this has been the third year that I've had an internet connection at The York Flower & Garden Show. But this is the first year that they've screwed the connection up. Next year, I hope my other ISP with Cable Modems — BlazeNet — has CATV capability here and can install a Cable Modem; I won't call GTE again for any more so-called special services. Enough of my trivial problems with the GTE folks. The pictures of The '98 Flower & Garden Show are here. Enjoy. Getting Ready For Spring. Of the 14,000 people who came to the '98 York Flower & Garden Show — and I think I talked to most of them at one point — all were ready for Spring to pop right away. It's only the beginning of March. The weather has been unusually mild for USDA Hardiness Zone 6b and everyone has the hots to get outside and grow flowers. That's just a little premature, in light of the El Nino phenomenon occurring worldwide. Winter isn't finished with us yet. Rule of thumb for this area is: last frost date is April 20th. Until then, anything goes and Winter storms are a distinct possibility. With all the weird weather so far, it's anyone's guess as to what will happen. Be very careful not to put out tender annuals and herbs until at last after April 17th. I don't want to have to sell plants twice to my customers because frost or cold whacked the first group. Do it once and do it right. I know it's tough to exercise a little restraint when the weather's so inviting, but just hold off a little until we near the last frost date. For example, on the Tuesday after the show, we had 4-8" of snow, depending upon where one takes the measurement in York County; anything tender would have been wiped out by now and hopes for an early Spring dashed. The keyword here: restraint. First Amendment Triumphs. Way back when, I'd said that even though Oprah Winfrey is a scandal-mongering, lowlife scumbag, I'd hoped she wins the lawsuit against the Cattlemen's association for defaming dead(ly) meat. And she has. At least some things work correctly in a Democracy. Now, if Oprah would just go away... Covert or Overt? I read the headline on The New York Times and ABC News sites the other night: the CIA has a new covert plan to overthrow Saddam Hussein. I'm puzzled as to why something so secret should make front page news. Why don't they just do it and get it over with? Since when the f*ck are we conducting policy on the front pages of goddamned newspapers? Stupid moron editors and reporters. Maybe it's just a trial balloon to gauge public and governmental opinion. Maybe it's a fake-out to make the towel-headed dog more paranoid than he already is. Maybe, maybe, maybe... What in the hell's wrong with this picture? Story Tellers v Liars. It's just a nice way of calling Bubba a liar. It's a shame anyone has to call the president derogatory names. But he is what he deserves. Trying to put a new spin on the blowjob scenario is a typical liberal dodge. They can't handle the truth. One of the worst pieces of subhuman, liberal shit is this Blumenthal scumbag; a known liar and gossip mongerer. And of course, a newly-appointed presidential adviser. What a pathetic joke. Now, the lowlife liberal filth are saying that Clinton just kissed the Monica-slut; that there was some affection shown. Huh? I guess fellatio is some kind of affection. Q: Why does Clinton wear boxer shorts? A: To keep his ankles warm. Presidential Anger. Bubba is whining and bitching a lot in private these days about being investigated for his perjury and sexual crimes. He somehow believes that everyone is out to get him. He doesn't seem capable of understanding that it's his f*cking fault. He's as paranoid as the First Bitch Hitlery is about the vast right wing conspiracy being out to get them both. When criminals start decrying and whining about Gestapo tactics, you know the law is getting close to the truth. Clinton knows that and he keeps whining like a true liberal scumbag whose crimes have finally caught up with him. Choke on your own shit, Clinton. And now Bubba's personal errand boy, Vernon Jordan, takes his turn answering questions about his and Clinton's criminal activity with Monica the slut. I'll bet they won't be playing too much more golf together or hiring prostitutes for late night, weekend group sessions in the NoTell Motel. GOP Traitors. Admittedly, there are cowardly filth on both sides of the aisles in congress. And the GOP scumbags surfaced this week from their slimy burrows by criticizing Ken Starr's job in investigating the liberal Clinton trash. Wishy-washy conservatives Hatch, Specter and dozens of other lowlifes left the door open for liberal filth to further criticize Starr's mandate from Janet Reno. I can't fathom why they turn on a dime like that; unless they've something to hide and are criminals too. Not being a conservative, I'm very skeptical of their motives. Most are decent human beings; some are abject and outright scumbag criminals with lots to hide. By cowering before subhuman liberals and not supporting Starr, conservatives are allowing democrats and liberals to come out from under their slimy rocks and beg for mercy. Don't they understand that this whole stupid controversy about Starr is designed by liberals and democrats to sidetrack the focus on Clinton's crimes? It's a ruse, a scam, a diversion. Wake the f*ck up GOP, support the independent counsel, keep the investigation on track and nail the lying, criminal Clinton bastard for good. Be Prepared. Scouting sure has changed since I was an Eagle Scout. I don't remember any homosexuals in Scouting. Gays weren't out and it wasn't an issue back in the 60s. Thirty years later, it's a major problem. I agree that gays shouldn't be allowed in the Boy Scouts. That very lifestyle conflicts with the Scout Laws. Although the BSA draws from the general population, it does have the right to set its own standards. The US Supreme Court will most likely decide the case. My Thoughts, Exactly. Finally, someone and a state with the guts to do what's right: treat rapists and sex offenders like the subhuman animals they are. Actually, they're less than animals, which deserve respect and care. Rapists and child molesters deserve death, but castration is a step in the right direction. The final, correct step is execution. If you read through my many Journal entries — here's one of many — you'll see references to this point in almost every one within the last 18 months. Thanks Oklahoma! I'll support you, although the cowardly, subhuman scumbags at the ACLU don't have the guts to. Somehow, I think the parents of molested children and raped women will support that bill as well. Jail The Scumbag. Attacking someone with intent to do bodily harm or whack is called assault and attempted murder. So why did the Sprewell scum get a mere fine reduction and reinstatement of contract. Huh? The lowlife moron should be in prison. How is it that sports figures — scum who can't hold a real job in the real world — get a pass on crimes? They're in the papers everyday getting probation or some other lenient sentence, while normal working people go to prison for less than when Sprewell did? Is there some kind of double standard at work here? f*cking right there is. This is the dark, seedy side of a Democracy. This is the unbalanced, evil way those with position and power can prevail over the so-called Legal System. This is where change is needed. It worked for the Kennedys and myriad others; all with position, name and power. Fair? Hardly what one could term fair. It's an outrage.