10/28/2012

Thoughts On A Sunday

The weather has been beautiful here in the Lakes Region over the past few days, just the opposite of what's coming on Monday and Tuesday with the outskirts of Sandy making themselves known with heavy wind and rain.

Deb, BeezleBub, and I spent part of the weekend getting the last of the outdoor chores done, taking advantage of the good weather. We also made preparations for the bad weather by clearing off the The Manse's three decks and storing the patio chairs and other accoutrements in the basement. The Official Weekend Pundit Gas Grill has been secured on the main deck, making sure it won't roll around should the winds be heavy enough to move it. (Yes, that's happened before which is why we make sure it's lashed to one of the heavy uprights that are the anchors for the deck railings.)

Other than that, there's little we need to do to prepare. We have batteries, we have propane for the gas grill, the laptop and cell phone batteries are all charged, and we have ample food (we always do).

Frankly I think some people go a little overboard whenever there's even a hint of a hurricane or blizzard. It doesn't help that the local TV news outlets make it seem as if Armageddon is descending upon us even if we're only going to experience the outer edges of such a storm system. (Cue ominous weather disaster hysteria music...)

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Today the farm where BeezleBub is employed closed their farm stand for the season, selling off the last of their vegetables, baked goods, deli stuff, and ice cream. Now that the retail operation has finished for the year, BeezleBub and the other farm hands still working at the farm will clean everything out and prepare the farm stand for winter, draining out the water pipes and winterizing all of the equipment.

BeezleBub will also be spending the next couple of weeks doing maintenance on all of the farm machinery before it is stored for the winter. He will also be dealing with cutting and splitting firewood for next year and delivering hay to customers. Until Christmas he will only working 40 hours a week with Saturdays and Sundays off, something he isn't sure he can get used to.

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It appears there are problems with voter fraud in North Carolina, with 758 individuals who are 112 years old having voted. The only problem is that there are only 330 people in the entire US over 110 years of age according to the US Census Bureau.

Fraud, anyone?

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Bogie is still on the job hunt. She's had quite a few interviews, with some multiple interviews from some potential employers. But she has not landed a new position.

As she states, some times companies will take a long time to fill a position, either because they can't make up their minds, can't find qualified applicants, or are reluctant to hire due to too many economic and regulatory unknowns that may affect their bottom line.

Welcome to the Obama Economy.

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Oh, I think this says it all in regards to Government Motors and its merely delayed implosion.


(H/T The Jawa Report)

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From Comic Economics comes this “attempt at a non-partisan examination of the US debt problem.”

At least it's in a form that even a recent college grad can understand.

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Is another swing state switching over to Romney? It appears so.

My home state of New Hampshire now seems to be in the Romney column.

That isn't all that surprising to anyone paying attention here in the Granite State. While New Hampshire wasn't hammered as hard as many other states during this Great Recession, we still got hit. People remember the promises made by Obama and those same promises broken.

While traveling through a number of towns across the state I have seen a dearth of Obama-Biden signs but numerous Romney-Ryan signs. The only exception to that was in the capitol city of Concord, where it was rare to see Romney signs, but that's nothing new.

Being in touch with a couple of fellow New Hampshire bloggers and other friends, they have reported the same lack of Obama signs and large number of Romney signs. Whether that really means anything is anybody's guess. But during the 2008 campaign the ratio between Obama and McCain signs was roughly even.

If Romney wins New Hampshire, the only question I have is whether he will just squeak by or win by a decisive margin?

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The New England Patriots played the St. Louis Rams in Wembley Stadium in London this afternoon. Every year the NFL plays one game in the UK, where there is an ever growing following of the NFL.

For this game the Rams were considered the home team. That didn't bother the Patriots as they beat the Rams 45-7.

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And to think they let folks like these vote!

It doesn't matter which party or candidate they support, these folks shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a voting booth.

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If global warming 'denialists' are being well funded to deny climate change as is claimed by Climate Science Watch, then Cap'n Teach wonders where his money is. He's still waiting for it. (So am I.)

His most telling observation: “All this sounds more like projection on the part of Warmists.”

Indeed.

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GraniteGrok provides samples of the intolerance of the 'tolerant' Left who are letting slip their outer cover to show the Brown Shirts underneath.

Have you ever noticed that the only ones demanding tolerance of their ideas and political beliefs are also the most intolerant of those who might actually disagree with them?

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A few weather related things before I close out.

I must mention that I've just gotten off the phone with a family I've known for almost 30 years who live out on Martha's Vineyard. They told me they've just finished packing their car and will be heading to the ferry terminal to get off-island. It's been a rare storm when they evacuate from the island, but in this case there were extenuating circumstances and they couldn't sit out the storm.

I've also noticed that with the change in the arrival time of Sandy that both high-wind and flood watches have been posted for all of New Hampshire. Originally a flood watch was posted for just one county in the southeastern corner of the state but it has since been extended to all ten counties with this particular addendum: the east-facing sides of hills and mountains may experience flooding due to the wind-driven rains that are expected. Since The Manse is located on the west side of a hill it's likely we will see much less wind and rain.

It has been my experience in the 7+ years we've lived here that we are shielded from the winds out of east, particularly those associated with a Nor'easter. The local TV station reported some wind gusts at our local airport has already seen some winds in excess of 20mph. I can see the airport from our decks (now that most of the leaves are gone from the trees), and there has been little if any wind here, even now.

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And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where folks have been preparing for a lot of wind and rain, the TV stations are scaring the bejeezus out of viewers with their weather reports, and the rest of us are just chilling while waiting for Sandy's arrival.