I actually like that kind of work as the time passes quickly. There's also a side benefit, that being I now have a pretty good handle on how our network is structured. That can come in handy if we ever need to change or fix anything.
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At the end of the day yesterday BeezleBub and I had a couple of errands to run. That in itself isn't really news worthy. But that we headed out just as a snow shower started is, sorta.In just a few minutes the roads went from being clean down to the surface to being snow covered and slick. Both of us had to switch to 4-wheel drive. (He was in his Jeep because he needed to gas up before running our errands and he was going to Twirl Girl's after we finished.)
Twenty minutes later the shower ended and shortly after that the main roads were again 'clean' (mostly due to the passing traffic blowing the snow off to the sides of the road). The side roads were still slick and I had to use 4WD to drive the last mile to The Manse.
In other words, it was a typical January New England evening.
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Speaking of snow and January, it looks like we are in for another storm starting Tuesday. Unlike the last one, this will start as snow and change over to freezing rain, always a bad combination.This type of storm pattern creates a dilemma for us: Do we remove the snow while its still 'dry' (it's easier to move then) while creating slippery conditions once the freezing rain starts? Or do we wait until after the freezing rain stopped to move the snow knowing it will be more difficult to do so because it will be heavier and crusted over, but leaving the driveway cleaner and much less slippery?
It's all going to depend on how much snow versus how long the freezing rain will fall. Get it wrong and there will be twice as much work to do to make the driveway passable.
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Since we're on the subject of snow and weather, is it any wonder why no one is listening to the AGW crowd any more?As time has gone on, we've seen more and more of their dire predictions fail to materialize. They attribute every weather event, whether it's above normal, below normal, or normal, being attributed to global warming. We've also been exposed to the systemic fraud perpetrated by supposedly reputable climate researchers. We've also seen media outlets working more as propagandists for AGW rather than just reporting the news. The kind of hysteria stirred up the the We're-All-DOOMED! crew wasn't sustainable.
It all comes down to people being sick and tired of being told AGW will roast them in their homes while they're busy trying to stay warm during one of the coldest winters many of them have seen in their entire lives.
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Staying on the subject of snow and weather, Bogie has her own story and observations about the Nor'easter this past week.As she says, “One Weathercaster on the Nightly News (national, not local), called it a "Snow Bomb". Er, no, this is New England, it snoows, we get Nor'Easters on a regular basis.”
Indeed.
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How is we can count on our elected officials to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” when they don't even know what it says? (That might explain Nancy Pelosi's answer when asked whether ObamaCare was constitutional.)That's pathetic.
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Is it possible Sarbanes-Oxley contributed to the financial meltdown? Professor Bainbridge has the scoop.***********
Col. Bunny links to and comments upon a Dr. Sanity post dealing with socialist delusions.As Col. Bunny writes:
The Soviets were always talking about the “New Soviet Man”, the ideal Communist who would be immune to the wiles of capitalism and would live by the creed “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” Unfortunately the Soviets overlooked one small detail in their quest to foster the creation of this ideal man: human nature. When you think about it socialism is merely a human attempt to recreate a insect hive society. The only problem is humans are not insects and they refuse to be treated as such. That's why the Soviets (and the Nazis) failed and anyone else attempting to do so will also fail. But that won't stop the socialists from trying again and again...and again.
What I take from her piece is that socialism thrives on greed and envy as much as capitalism but it requires belief that greed and envy will disappear when the evils of capitalism are done away with. Unfortunately for socialists what they supposedly hope will appear is a version of homo sapiens that has yet to walk the earth. Socialism adores the idea of The New Man who rises or is forced or guided to rise above his former base self to take a seat in the realms of heavenly perfection. At least, that’s the theory. Believe in the perfectibility of man and it’s a trifle to believe in socialism and all the pleasures of collective life, even though it’s quickly demonstrated that this means widespread misery.
(H/T Maggie's Farm)
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Is 2011 The Year of Chris Christie?Seeing how he's stood up to the teachers union, killed off an $8 billion+ train tunnel boondoggle, been working to further reduce the huge budget deficits and wallet-busting taxes, and trying to bring some sanity to the overly generous and grossly underfunded state pension system, I'd say the answer is yes.
Despite some criticism he received for being on vacation in Florida when the blizzard hit New Jersey (as if he could have gotten back in time to do any good considering airports were closed all up and down the Eastern seaboard), he's done exactly what he said he would do during his campaign. If he sticks to the agenda he's laid out, he'll do just fine.
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It seems quite a few states are balancing their budgets by using accounting gimmicks and one-time sources, like the sale of state-owned properties. My home state of New Hampshire is no different.Our governor claims we'll have a $73 million surplus by the end of the fiscal year. That's true. However, and this is a big however, the next fiscal year will have over $200 million in deficit spending. How did this happen?
First, New Hampshire uses a two-year budget cycle, meaning the legislature budgets for two years rather than one. Second, the first year of the biennial budget was balanced by pushing a number of expenditures into the second year of the biennium, putting that fiscal year deep in the red. The over all budget is at least $130 million in the red. So the balanced budget is really an illusion.
See how easy that is? Other states have done similar things to make it look like their finances aren't as bad as they really are. Eventually this will stop working and the true size of their fiscal woes will become known, but there will be little the states will be able to do to stop it without draconian measures that will hurt the state and its residents even more than if they had taken care of the problem up front.
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I had hoped the New England Patriots would be able to beat the New York Jets today, but it didn't happen.It's obvious the Jets had prepared for the game and the Pats had not. The Patriots defeated the Jets back in December 35-3, but they must have thought they could do it again without bothering to adjust their own game. They were wrong. The Jets beat them 28-21, and they deserved to win.
Ironically the Patriots still have a better win/loss record this season than the Jets.
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While a number of conservative pundits and Tea party supporters have talked about the tax increases/creation contained in ObamaCare, Bob Ellis has listed them for us.The two stupidest:
Why tax charitable hospitals? Aren't they already providing free health care to those without means to pay or without insurance?
#6 Medicine Cabinet tax
#14 Excise tax on charitable hospitals
It's no wonder 26 states are suing to overturn ObamaCare.
(H/T Pirate's Cove)