Today is the day. The campaigns are over. We all go out and vote. If only all of us did go out and vote. Last check I did, there were more than 8,000 ballots mailed in, so we shall see. The decision of new council members may already have been made.

I’ve got an interesting point to ponder. If an incumbent gets reelected, does she get the same health benefit package as before? Or would she be considered a new employee like TimBen was, and get compensated at a lower rate? Seems to me that a rehire starts all things over.

Just had my taxes done. I owe both to the feds and the Great State of California. Unlike a member of Congress who retires on 100 percent of his or her pay, I get a percentage of what I made. My years on submarines and ships was a lot more dangerous. Why do they get so great a retirement? Why do they get such big paychecks? Why are they exempted from the ACA? Why do we keep electing those fools?

I don’t have any answers to the above. I just got angry when that one member of Congress said they need more pay. Balderdash.

Some pretty important birthdays this week. Carol Rock and John Boston, both former employees of The Mighty Signal newspaper. And for me there is a very, very important birthday on Friday, April 11. The United States Navy Submarine Service will be 114 years old. If you wear “Dolphins” and have been called a “Bubblehead,” celebrate by getting those old “fish” out and putting them on your shirt. It isn’t regulation, but as a group that broke many uniform regs and dress standards, we can do that still. Proudly wear your “fish.” If you’re on a boat now, thank you for your service.

Tomorrow morning we’ll all wake up to a post-election Santa Clarita Valley. Those signs come down, and in a few months new ones will go up. The never-ending cycle of our government by, of and for the people … and Monsanto, Northrup Gruman, General Dynamics … the list could go on forever. Keeps the propaganda machines running.

It also keeps the conspiracy theories running, and running, and running. Now, I’ve seen some dirty campaign tactics here in the SCV. This time I’ve seen very conservative individuals team with very liberal individuals to besmirch the reputations of others running for office. Strange bedfellows, indeed.

But that is over for now. Folks are going to the polls or have already mailed in ballots. Let’s wait for the count.

Some great things are going to happen in the next three weeks. Get your tickets to the Cowboy Festival soon. There are some changes this year because of the filming schedule at Melody Ranch. (It exists to make movies, not to hold festivals.) The week before is Senses on Main. Our theaters are selling out – the live actors in Old Town, that is – and the sun is shinning most every day.

Spring in the SCV doesn’t get any better. Did you see how that little bit of rain turned our hills so green? Every sunrise and sunset brings on new discoveries in our valley.

I remember in the “way back,” hunting in Pico Canyon. It was just before sunrise and I was stalking a herd of deer at one of our watering troughs. It was going to be a warm day, but the early morning was cool and crisp. I watched each deer walk to the trough and take a drink as if they had an assigned order. Finally the large buck walked up and looked around. He took a drink and then looked right at me. It was a direct challenge. I slowly raised my rifle and found my foot caught in the sling.

Falling over my motions caused the deer to run, and I had to go to the barn and start milking. I was sure the buck was going to become dinner. He escaped that day, and I never saw him again.

I hope it is the same with the current campaigns. What has been said may have had great effect on the results. I tend to think the folks who wrote all of the stuff were picking up the rifle and got their feet stuck in the sling.

You see, we are all on this big merry-go-round. You can ride a donkey or an elephant. I’m getting off that ride. Don’t like the selection of critters to ride.

Thus I will remain my same old, unreformed demo-publican.

Where do I hold my convention next time?

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com and his commentaries, published on Tuesdays and Sundays, are archived at DManzer.com. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].