It’s official…I HATE LIVING IN MISSISSIPPI!

I got a few emails telling me if wasn’t fair for me to make a statement like I hate living in Mississippi without explaining why. So, like it matters now if I sound like I’m whining…..

• Vicksburg is the most apathetic town I know, depending heavily on casino revenues for general funding and education.
• The crime rate here is awful, I think due in large part to the casinos. I have been here quite a while over the last 10 years and I still will not drive to downtown Vicksburg after dark.
• Churches here are even more apathetic. I experienced this while owning the radio station when I could count on one hand the number of churches who supported what we were doing.
• Gasoline prices here are always at least 10-20 cents higher, even though a lot of the gasoline distribution originates from here.
• The local newspaper here is still an evening edition. This may be nostalgic and tradition but once the paper has come out, we have read or heard most of the news already.
• There are no seasons of the year in this area. One day it can be summer, the day after that can be winter, the day after can be spring and the day after that can be spring.
• There are strange business practices here. While owning the radio station and trying to sell advertising, there were a large number of businesses who wouldn’t do business with us depending on which local high school we were do sports broadcasts for; Vicksburg supporters would not support us if we carried Warren Central games and so forth.
• Yesterday I called the propane company to have gas delivered to my home. I was told that I would have to wait till Friday for fuel because my location was “off route”. I could get fuel right away but I would have to pay an “off route fee”. If I waited till Friday for fuel, and ran out before the truck got there, the company could not fill my tank until they “inspected” my house, and then that would cost me an “inspection fee”.
• Then….I allowed my car tags to expire. My fault but honestly who looks at their car tag sticker on a regular basis. Returning home Friday night, the expiration was brought to my attention by the Utica, MS police, who issued me a traffic ticket which will cost me 243.50 to clear. I also contacted the license tag people at the county courthouse and asked if they send out renewal notices. They informed me that they do, but mine had been sent to an old address and the notice was returned to them, but with the correct address. However, they do not re-send renewals notices…the result…178.00 to renew my tag.
• Taxes are high….prices are high….some people are lazy…you have to drive 50-100 miles in any other direction just to get a decent steak…and I hate having to smile at so many people in this town that treated me like garbage and some still owe me money.

There endeth the whining.