Noisy!

It happens. Every once in awhile I sleep in. Woke up at 4:45. And I can see that the world got along fine without me. Perhaps I should try this more often. Nah! It’s already too noisy (darn cows and dogs!) and I miss the early morning quiet – well, it’s usually quiet for the first half hour… what is the matter with that cow?

Browsing the web; too much Olympic drama going on these days. It’s hard to find the real news. But, I can imagine that the candidates love the fact that the media spotlight has been turned off for a week or so.

Which reminds me; didn’t the Roman emperors create the spectacles at the Coliseum for the sole purpose of diverting the people’s attention from what they, the emperors, were actually doing? Like robbing the treasury. Gotta keep the masses entertained. Otherwise they’ll turn on you!

OK, that’s it. I have to shut the window. Way too much ‘cow talk’ going on out there. Plus the sky is orange again. Yes, the smoke returned yesterday and I can see it on the horizon once more. And I can taste it as well. The Yolla Bolly fire? (Scoot the map over to the left and you can see how close it is to Orland) That would explain the smoke to the west of us. The Canyon Complex fire is still putting out smoke on the eastern side of the valley. Hack! Cough!

Anyone?

I was reading; actually scanning – the real estate section of the newspaper and I ran across this headline; ‘D.R. Horton offer special financing’ what? And further into the article I read this, ‘qualified buyers can save even more with the option of no down payment, no closing costs and down payment assistance.’ But, wait…isn’t that – simply wrong? Think about it. How can you be ‘qualified’ if you can’t afford a down payment or closing costs? Does any of this sound familiar? Anyone?

From Infomaniac:

Behind the News: 40 Years Ago:

"As we look at America, we see cities enveloped in smoke and flame.
We hear sirens in the night.
We see Americans dying on distant battlefields abroad.
We see Americans hating each other; fighting each other; killing each other at home.
And as we see and hear these things, millions of Americans cry out in anguish.
Did we come all this way for this?
Did American boys die in Normandy, and Korea, and in Valley Forge for this?
Listen to the answer to those questions.
It is another voice. It is the quiet voice in the tumult and the shouting.
It is the voice of the great majority of Americans, the forgotten Americans -- the non-shouters; the non-demonstrators."

And, as it turned out; the clueless.

So much for speeches... empty rhetoric.

From cab drollery:

Odd Priorities:

"...he called the trial “the most historic session of traffic court ever.” It will not be long, Mr. Colbert added, “before we track down Ayman al-Zawahiri’s dermatologist.”"

Funny...if it weren't so true. Way to go, George!

Sunday

Election Issues - 10 August 2008

See? Elders are fairly bright…still.

Perspectives

I do love this time of the morning. I just spent a few minutes outside staring at the stars. It’s always amazing to see them. There was so much light pollution where we lived before moving to Orland, that looking for stars was an exercise in futility. Here there are stars. Not quite as many as we used to see when we lived up in Lassen County, but certainly a sky full.

In Janesville, a favorite summer night activity was simply to lie down out on the patio behind the house and watch the stars… and the satellites. We had to apply mosquito repellant to do this comfortably, but it was worth it. Even without a moon, it was incredibly bright just from the ‘starlight’.

Now this… I have the scanner on as usual and I just heard a report of a vehicle in the cemetery that is running over headstones. It’s 4:30 on a Sunday morning. Who are these people and what could they be thinking? OK, now it’s ‘four males inside of a green sedan’ but I don’t know where the cemetery is located. I don’t get it. Your excuse for doing something like this is… what?

And after listening to that, I simply had to put my glasses on and go back outside to look at the stars again; just to be certain that I was on the right planet. Anchored. And now I’m thinking I should do this every morning; five minutes of star gazing will give you the proper perspective on life.

Say, what?

I’m sure that I have explained my use of the scanner before, but I’ll do it again. No, I’m not a ‘wannabe’ peace officer or fireman. I’m simply curious and so I don’t have the scanner tuned to any one particular authority for monitoring. I listen to whatever comes across and I usually don’t know where the reports are coming from. Most of the time, it’s just background noise and chatter that I can easily ignore and I do. But I do enjoy the occasional humor I hear. And it’s a wonderful, but all too clear of a window on the ‘human condition’. Like this, just a moment ago… ‘The subject reports that he jumped out of the second floor window because two unknown subjects were trying to kill him.’ Yikes!

For Sale or Trade

Doesn’t anyone get it? Bush arrives in Beijing today yesterday for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Fanfare and a red carpet. In the meantime, don’t even think about a relationship with Cuba! Those Cubans are pure evil!

Can we trade this guy for an intellectual?

Dang!

It was just last night that I had these wonderful topics to write about; at least three of them. Now it’s early morning and my mind is blank. Remember the television show, “Little House on the Prairie” and the village reporter that carried a notebook on a chain around her neck? And whenever something important was heard, she would reach for that notebook. Perhaps something like that would help me. I could include my name and address in it and if I were lost or forgot who I was… Grrrr! Short term memory loss has to be one of the most frustrating aspects of aging.

I have a great little pocket sized voice recorder to use for times like that, an Olympus model with ‘flash’ memory and multiple ‘folders’ to store my recordings. But I forgot where I put it. And no, it’s not in my pocket. When I do find it, I should figure out a way to hang it around my neck. Accessorize.

Op-Ed from the Times

"“Mr. Bush is the triumph of the seemingly average American man,” declared Peggy Noonan, writing in The Wall Street Journal in 2004. “He’s not an intellectual. Intellectuals start all the trouble in the world.”"

Thanks, Peggy! I wondered who was doing it. And as you said, he's no intellectual. In fact, being intellectual has never crossed his mind.

Turning it on

Big news for today is the fact that the LHC will be open for business. Considering the time difference, they are probably already in operation…near Geneva. And somewhere in Texas are the remains of what could have been an American LHC. But physicists are an international bunch and they will be flocking to France/Switzerland to use the new machine. The world’s LARGEST machine.

Beijing Journal

Art Thiel at the 2008 Olympics

Worthwhile reading and not what you might expect from a sports columnist. But, Art is not your everyday sports writer. Smart, witty and... yes, he's tall.

(Check out the air quality in the photos)

The News at 4:15

There’s excitement… somewhere. Boo the cat wanted in this morning, as usual, but only for a moment. She grabbed her breakfast and ran back to the door. Out, she said; or as I understood it. I don’t speak ‘cat’, but I knew what she wanted. And she was eager to go. What’s going on out there that I’m unaware of?

(Later) OK. Whatever it was, it’s over. Boo wanted back in about an hour later and she is now her usual lazy self, sitting in the window and staring out into the darkness.

That’s enough cat blogging. There has to be something better for me to write about this morning. I just need to find it.

The morning email does bring me a note from our friend’s in the Northwest with some news of Art Thiel and a link to his column and blog.

OK, that will keep me busy for awhile…

Stumper : Crouching Voter, Hidden Direction

Crouching Voter, Hidden Direction:

"Chris Wang, director of the Queens Nan-shan Senior Center, which operates under the auspices of the Chinese-American Planning Council, says the center’s 4,000 naturalized citizen members don't vote based on a candidate’s platform as much as on whether, “that candidate has spoken directly to them and recognized their validity as citizens.”"

Smart! Now if only the candidates would do that... for all of us. Does anyone feel validated?

Orland

Council OKs police pay hike - Chico Enterprise Record

Pasero said until the economy turns around, he doesn't blame the councilors for being reluctant.

"The reality is, there's only so much water in the well," he said. "You can only take so much out of it until it's dry."

Hello? That's what taxes are for; to pay for things we need. If you aren't willing to pay, then please be quiet. It's the least you can do.

Lightning

sparks 17 new fires - Chico Enterprise Record

Actually...some good news. Lots of firefighters were around and were able to get on them very quickly.

From cab drollery and Our Ms. Brooks

Worth It?:

"But there's no international law precedent for viewing the provision of material support for terrorism as a 'war crime.'"

Odd, but that was exactly what I thought when I read about the verdict. Are they making this stuff up as they go along? What is 'material support' and how is it defined? Is it money? Action of some kind? Or just a wrong thought?

Should I?

Service Pack 3 for Windows XP has arrived overnight and is waiting for me to say, ‘yes, I want it!’ before it installs itself. But do I? Decisions, decisions. I suppose I should just be happy that Microsoft decided to extend their support for XP. But, I don’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling when the install window includes a warning to be sure and do a full backup before accepting. I suppose I must be brave…but later in the day. I still have things to do with my computer this morning.

An hour has gone by since I got up and made the coffee, but I haven’t even looked at the news. I’ve been rummaging through my 2008 journal instead, and I ran across the news that diesel fuel was up to $3.75 a gallon in January. Today, at close to $5 a gallon, my diesel powered truck sits in the driveway, abandoned. I haven’t driven it in a month or more. I better go out and let it run for a little while and make sure the batteries are charged.

OK, back to the journal.

Jean-Luc’s

Phone Sheep by CubeMe

It may not have been the artist's intention, but this told me everything I needed to know about telephones and 'sheep'. Yes, they are related.

Once Again

Darn! As expected... the dry lightning that passed over us early in the morning has produced some activity up on the mountain. Cohassett, Butte Meadows and Forest Ranch are fire locations now being heard on the scanner. The Butte Complex reports 10 fires.

Paint

Or Die But Love Me

I love it!

Storm's over

I made it out to the canal and back with only a few rain drops to mar the journey. The water is flowing as usual. OK, maybe not so usual. Someone keeps opening the side ditch in the evening after I finish putting it in place. I wish I knew who it was and why? It's not a big deal; I just have to check it in the morning before I open the valve. Mysterious.

Here are some photos of the morning sky. Humid.

Something New

On the Planet Orland

Wise Guys

I was just reading an article on Time Goes By all about spam and its various iterations. And just as Ronni noted, I have also recently seen a difference in the form it takes. The good news is that Google Mail takes it out easily and with very few mistakes. The spammers are inserting a sentence or two of legitimate news in the beginning of the message in the hopes that you will think your spam blocker has made a mistake and you will open it. Clever.

Flash!

Jeekers! That was lightning! And here comes the roll of thunder. Lots of it. The storm seems to be all around us and quite widespread. I can’t get a fix on which direction it’s heading, though I am assuming it will be east. But, through the magic of the internet, I bet I can find a sonar map of the storm as well as a lightning strike indicator. Oh, yes… the cat wants in. Really!

I love to sit and watch storms like this. The window is open and I can smell the rain and even hear scattered rain drops on the metal roof of the shed outside the window. A bright flash and more thunder; maybe 5 miles away? I should be quite safe here, except for the fact that at 6 this morning I have to walk up to the main canal and open the flow of water into our local ditch for irrigation. Hopefully, the storm will have moved past us by that time.

A Stray Thought

Do you ever have the feeling that there is more than one universe? And that you and a few others (too few) inhabit it while many others live in a parallel universe? You can see each other and you can talk to each other, but you can’t really communicate. I think it’s true.

No lightning. No thunder. The storm has passed for now.

Schwarzenegger

proposes temporary California sales-tax hike to close budget gap - Los Angeles Times

“The proposal… hinges on lawmakers agreeing to automatic spending restraints and new powers for governors to cut programs whenever the state falls into the red.

That’s the scary part. A new power for governors is simply giving your government away.

Cat Food

Time for more coffee. The mental processes are slow. I’ve done all of the usual things this morning; made the coffee, let in the cat, scanned the headlines, removed the spam and read the mail. Still no inspiration. I must sit down and begin typing. Just as soon as I go one more round in my daily cat wrestling. I’m ahead, 2 falls out of 3.

And I don’t want to become cat blogger. But… she is the most interesting thing around at this early hour. And she’s my pal. Well, maybe pal is the wrong word; my comfort is a better way to describe her. It’s a fact that cats will reduce your blood pressure. So, can I deduct the cat food as a medical expense?

In the meantime...I'll post to my other blogs, like the Planet Orland.

Too True

It’s certainly a quiet morning. Just the sound of crickets outside my window; a summer sound. Even my usual flood of email is just a trickle today. Is it really Monday? Did I forget to pay my email bill? Just kidding, but where is the LA Times?

Even the headlines I did read this morning are less than riveting. More unrest in China. Without a television, we’re not interested in the preparation for the Olympics. And another benefit of that condition is the fact that we don’t have to listen to/watch any of the political ads. If we still had satellite TV service, I believe I would pay extra to avoid them.

Sad. Those little 30 second snippets of misinformation that make up political advertising are very effective. Money well spent. I only wish it weren’t true.

Watching

Watching America

Yes, it's a small world...

Anthrax

Suspect’s Death Is Dark End for a Family Man - NYTimes.com

Guilty or not? What has to happen is a complete investigation and a final judgment. It’s too easy, especially for this government, to wrap it up and say the guilty party took his own life. Imagine. What if he wasn’t guilty? The real criminal now has immunity forever.

Something New

New posts are up on two of my other blogs… Good Eats and Planet Orland.

Ageism?

I’m an elder and since I hang out with elders quite often and read a lot of elderblogger comments, I’m hearing a lot about age discrimination and John McCain. Is it wrong to vote against McCain because he’s old? It’s actually a complicated subject and not easily settled with a yes or no.

One of the reasons, and there are many, that I’m voting against McCain is his age. Most (not all) elders are resistant to change and change is what is needed. Also, McCain is obviously not comfortable with any new technology and that’s definitely a negative in my book. And he’s made it quite clear that he is too old to embrace new technology. He’s simply not interested. And as a nation we need to be focused on the future and not the past. We already have far too many Senators and Congressmen that are in their 70’s and 80’s. And judging from their behavior during the past 7+ years, they can’t even remember their history lessons. There should be mandatory retirement for them at age 65.

And I had this thought as well. Airline pilots have to retire at age 65. Why? Is that Ageism? Will you get onboard a commercial flight and fly the ‘Friendly skies’ with a pilot aged 93? 89? 79? What is the cutoff age for you? Why?

Simulating

Age 85, With Lessons on Offering Care - NYTimes.com

When I first read the headline, I was ready to be insulted. In fact, I knew the article would be filled with half truth's and common misperceptions about aging. OK, I was wrong. But at the same time, I’m not a statistic! And I won’t be treated like one. Good article though...

Downtown

Hilo Photo Gallery

Great memories! The furnished apartment we rented was just a few blocks over the Wailuku River bridge, maybe a mile from downtown. And Hilo isn't a resort, Hilo is where people live.

To Market To Market

We’ve been to the market. The Farmer’s Market in Chico. Everything was very tempting and we had to restrain ourselves from buying too much. We bought some strawberries because Laurae smelled them as we passed by the seller. Ten feet away and she smelled them! Had to have some. All of the large, beautiful and tasteless strawberries are gone for the season. No loss there. These strawberries are about the size of my thumb or smaller and incredibly sweet. We also bought some Early Girl tomatoes, $1.00 a pound. Three tomatoes made a pound but the farmer threw in one more. Last, a cantaloupe. It looks good and it smells good at the blossom end, a good sign. But, we were fooled the other day at the store when I bought what looked like a good melon. I opened and prepared it for dinner last night. Nothing but sweet spit. No flavor at all.

And I have to wonder why there isn’t a farmer’s market here on the Planet Orland? We’re surrounded by farms! But we have to go to Chico for those sweet tomatoes. (Note; I have plenty of green tomatoes in the back but no ripe ones.) And while I was looking for some images of the local market to post here, I ran across these photos of the Farmer’s market in Hilo. Been there. Done that. It’s a great market to visit; though it can be overwhelming. Was it simply fortuitous that I saw the Hilo photos on the same day I bought another lottery ticket? Or is that a sign?

The Big Picture below

came from here...The Big Picture Blog

From Dinosaurs and Robots

Boston Globe's Big Picture

Click on the top photo... how cool is that!

So slow...

Did I tell you that I have some new posts up on my other blogs? OK, now I have...

News? What news?

OK, where’s the cat? She has been waiting for me at the door every morning for the past week. Same time. I open the door and there she is. But not this morning? I'll try again.

All right, the third time’s a charm; she’s back in the house. Where she is bound to disappear again. She did a disappearing act on us on Thursday. We looked everywhere. The cat was not to be found. Yes, she was in the house, but two adults could not locate her. How does she do that? I was shutting doors behind me as I searched each room, in the hope that she would be in a room that I had searched and then, when I heard her crying to get out later, I would have a clue as to where I should look the next time she disappears.

Good idea but no luck. She was finally found by revisiting all of the rooms and Laurae spotted her sleeping behind a night stand; one that had enough room in the back for her to crawl under the nightstand. Her new favorite place.

Here I am blogging about a cat. It must be a very slow ‘news’ morning on the internet. Too true. I can’t find anything to excite me. Probably because all of the news is as expected. People behaving badly. Except for me, of course.

Congress is gone

but Republicans won't leave:

Those darn Republicans! Such comedians! But what you don't hear about...

"Democrats have faulted Republicans for obstructing their efforts to stop market speculation, press oil companies to develop the leases they have and force the president to release oil from the strategic petroleum reserve"

Give the oil companies all of the offshore leases and give them ANWR...and they have no incentive whatsoever to develop them. They haven't developed the ones they already have. Why should they? They make money selling oil, not drilling for it! Duh!

Top Story

on the Planet Orland

As a board member for the Glenn County Seniors, I'm pretty happy with the amount we received for a new roof. We've already started working on the bids...today.

Will it help to make our building beautiful or will it remain ugly? Ugly, but it won't leak.

But if we can get some paint in next years budget, maybe 'ugly' will become history.

Piaggio

A different kind of MP3

I saw one of these yesterday. I think I am in love!

And I'm thinking that a special license is required in California to drive 2 wheel vehicles (motorcycles) but nothing is said about 3 wheels.

Jobless Rate

Climbs to 5.7% as 51,000 Jobs Lost in July - NYTimes.com

And none of these figures include those who have used up their unemployment benefits. Once the benefits are gone...you no longer count. In more ways than one.

Stuff

"A hat should be taken off when you greet a lady and left off for the rest of your life. Nothing looks more stupid than a hat.
- PJ O'Rourke"

Just for fun... the quote caught my eye and my imagination.

I used to be a hat wearer. I even had a collection. Plus my hard hats of course. Now I don't wear one because they do look funny. Unless, of course, I want to look funny; that happens some times. It's part of my Elders Embracing Eccentricity program.

Feeling blue

Yikes! I just looked at the news stories without benefit of coffee. Perhaps I should go back to bed and pull the covers over my head; wait until 2009 before getting up again. No, I’ll trudge on and see what can be found in the blogs. Maybe there’s a glimmer of hope somewhere – or else I need more coffee.

Last weeks Economist had the perfect cover illustration for how I feel. And here’s a link to the story that goes along with it.

Decline

Seen in Numbers of People Here Illegally - NYTimes.com

As usual, the Republican's just don't get it... Fences don't keep people out. Lack of jobs does that trick. But the Republican's don't want to admit that the economy has anything to do with it. The Bush economy.

Website comments

bring out the inner vulgarian - Los Angeles Times

For the life of me, I just do not understand why anonymous comments are allowed. It seems like such a simple solution. And fair.

I know that every once in awhile I make the mistake of reading past the article and into the comments before I can stop myself. Then I'm captured by them as I try to find a sane comment amongst the trash.

From Time Goes By...

Senator McCain’s Age

Well said... or written... or typed.

Yes, it is...

It’s time. I’m up and about. Coffee has brewed and is now available. The cat is in and the windows are open while the fans stir the air. I love the early mornings!

Now, with cup in hand I review the state of the universe and find it to be…well, normal. I wish it were better, but ‘normal’ is about as good as it gets these days.

Also, I spent the first few minutes of the morning working on the new blog, The Planet Orland. I had forgotten to set up the comment section correctly, plus a few other settings needed tweaking. And I can report that I took half a dozen photos yesterday, photos of buildings other than meat packing plants. Still, I will limit the posts to no more than one a day.

McCain ad

compares Obama to Britney Spears, Paris Hilton - CNN.com

So far Obama hasn't fallen for the bait and has kept his cool (and the high road). McCain should be ashamed...but he isn't.