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The corn maze at the farm opened last weekend, meaning BeezleBub will be busy on weekend evenings until the end of October. He'll also be working a few evenings during the week the closer we get to Halloween.***********
Another change: BeezleBub has been seeing a college girl since just after school started. He met her at a high school drama competition this past spring and has kept in touch with her since then. She's attending one of the local universities and visited The Manse a couple of weekends ago and again this weekend. I have not yet been able to come up with an appropriate nom d'intimité to describe her, but I'll work on it. (Deb has suggested “Polliwog”, but I'm going to have to think on that one.)If nothing else he's having to learn how to prioritize his time as both Deb and I have told him neither one of us will be playing the role of facilitator for this relationship. He's been trying to get us to drive to the Big State University to pick her up while he's at work, but as we've told him more than once it's up to him to make this work, not us.
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One bit of news that will make the 2012 silly season a bit more interesting, at least here in New Hampshire: Incumbent Governor John Lynch (D) has announced he will not be running for an unprecedented fifth term. He figured 8 years was enough time in the corner office. (New Hampshire's governor has a term of office of 2 years.)It will certainly open up the field for both parties and will make it more of a race than it has been the past few election cycles.
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Apparently someone knew giving Solyndra $535 million was a bad idea. Who, you may ask?MIT...back in 2009.
In regards to the Solyndra banruptcy, MIT's Technology Review had this to say: “We told you so.”
As Dave Rotman wrote:
The downfall of Solyndra does point to some fundamental mistakes made in conflating job creation and clean-tech development.Yeah, that about sums it up.
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An old problem has raised its ugly head again (or at least the ghost of an old problem).After working to clean the XP Anti-virus 2011 malware from the computer at our small business this past April, one important function that usually runs automatically no longer worked.
Windows Update Agent, a program that allows the Windows OS to update or install security patches wouldn't run, even when started manually or triggered from the Microsoft Update Center website. I tried to reinstall it with a fresh copy from Microsoft but it wouldn't install, saying Update was already installed and running on the system. I couldn't even delete it because every time I did it would reinstall itself after 20 or 30 seconds.
Apparently this is a a little leftover gift from the folks who created the XP Anti-virus 2011 malware. None of the usual programs can even identify it or find it. So I've been checking the forums and found little help. I finally turned to my dear brother who made a few suggestions that I'll try the next time I'm working at our business (usually Saturdays).
Aren't computers fun?
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The Barrister over at Maggie's Farm posts about something I've understood for years: We New England Yankees, more specifically the menfolk, never seem to want to retire.As the Barrister explains it:
It's a point of masculine pride in a part of the country where work and masculine pride and vigor have traditionally been equated.I think it can be explained with one phrase: Puritan work ethic. On more than one occasion I've had folks “from away” comment upon how it is we always seem to work, even when we don't have to. I've always explained it as something we inherited from the Puritans who settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and worked hard to attain success. It's carried forward almost 400 years and is still with us today.
Our tradition has always been a little suspicious of, and uncomfortable with, leisure. Perhaps "ambivalent" is the right word. People with Yankeeland roots tend to find some work to do when they find spare time on their hands. Idleness is a sin, and "relaxation" is not in the lexicon. I am not saying that this is right or wrong - it's just a cultural thing hereabouts.
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The New England Patriots played the San Diego Chargers at Gillette Stadium late this afternoon, coming off their 38-24 victory over the Miami Dolphins this past Monday night.The Patriots proved it wasn't a fluke by beating San Diego 35-21, forcing 4 turnovers during the game, the last one with 1:02 left in the game.
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Joe McGinniss's book about Sarah Palin, a hit-piece of innuendo, unattributed “quotes”, and stories long proved to be nothing more than fabrications, shows how low McGinniss has sunk.For no discernible reason other than blinded hatred of Palin (and no doubt to make some money) McGinniss moved to Alaska in 2010 and rented the house next door to his subject. This stunt – and his synthetic indignation at the understandable ire it prompted from the Palins – is given extensive treatment.Ah, even here the die-hard Obama supporters are trying to play the race card. But then it's always been the Democrats playing it. At this point, it's the only one they've got left and it's looking very tattered.
Yet the worst aspect of the book by far is its racial angle. By stating that Palin and her two sisters had a “fetish” for black men, McGinniss raises that deep-rooted American taboo of white women having interracial sex.
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I was talking to one of the owners of our favorite breakfast/lunch joint and she was remarking how much things have calmed down since the “summah people” have left. Now she sees mostly the locals and some of the die-hard summerfolk. (If you've never read any of my previous screeds about the difference between summerfolk and “summah people” it boils down to this: Summerfolk are here to have a good time, to relax, and mingle with the rest of us because a lot of us used to be summerfolk at one time. Summah people on the other hand tend to be rude, look down upon those of us who live here year round as well as the other summerfolk, and have a whiny tone to their words.)It isn't money that defines the two because I've seen that both groups contain regular working folk, the wealthy, and everyone in between. It's all about attitude. Summah people have a lousy attitude, in spades.
For the most part we'll be dealing with the last of the summerfolk until Columbus Day weekend. That's when most of them finally close up their camps and cottages, pull their boats out of the water, prep them for winter storage, and say their goodbyes to their local friends.
As foliage season approaches we'll see the crowds of leafpeepers arriving to take in the fall foliage. The 'peepers' tend to be different from the summerfolk and summah people, being of a more widespread national and international flavor. As our friend says, they also tend to tip better, too.
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Our friend also mentioned that business was good this summer, despite the continuing recession. That was probably due to the fact that so much of her summer customers are summerfolk and summah people. It's generally too crowded for the locals during the summer and money has been tight for a lot of us.***********
It appears that the American people aren't all that interested in AGW any more, at least if the CBS/NYT poll is even halfway accurate. It seems they're far more interested in the economy, jobs, and government spending.Who'da thunk it?
(H/T Pirate's Cove)
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I know this has been making the rounds, but I couldn't resist the urge to add my 2¢ worth.At least we know of one Congressional Democrat who believes we don't deserve to keep the money we earn – Jan Schakowsky (IL-9). I guess she believes the government can better spend that money than the folks who actually earned it. Spoken like a true statist.
It's telling that she also believes “the American people are waiting for the government to come up with a plan.” The only plan we want from the government is how they're going to get out of our way and let us bring the economy back to where it should be. After all it is we who drive the economy, not the government. The only thing the government is good at doing in regards to the economy is making it more expensive to do business and getting in the way.
The Left still fails to see one of the biggest flaws in their claim that the government knows best. Government is not an all-knowing, all-seeing infallible deity. It is made up of people, just as flawed as the rest of us. No one in government is either wise enough or smart enough to run our lives (or the economy) for us. Those in government have the same problems as the rest of us. If they can't solve their own problems, how can they solve ours? It's simple: they can't.
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Rob Sama has a couple of interesting ideas for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts about ways for it to raise more revenue without the need to raise taxes. His post is in response to the Pay State's move towards legalized gambling (they plan to license three casinos which Rob says will “become a source of graft and corruption in the state.” He believes if they're going to legalize gambling it should be an all or nothing proposition, allowing every bar in the state to offer video poker and slot machines.Rob's suggestions for a couple of state-run vices: marijuana and prostitution. As he says, “State monopolies on vice are nothing new,” and backs it up with examples such as liquor sales and lotteries.
He may have something there.