Gaming the System

Love the Westwood/Edwards comparison. So right on. And a shame, IMO. :)

The cable guy has just been here tweaking the cable and providing us a new modem. We have been without the Internet since my post on Saturday morning--feels like a limb went missing over the weekend not being able to get on the Web.

Sorely miseed the NYT op-eders, so went to my big-box book retailer on Sunday morning after watching George S.'s show. Funny thing, the NYT op-ed crew wasn't there. Rich, Dowd, and Friedman were supposed to be on pages 12 and 13, but were not. I must have checked one copy about six times, then picked us two additional copies. Same--news copy instead of the op-eds. How strange, and a waste of gas.

The Hartford Courant was reporting Saturday morning that Chris Dodd, because of his connections to Countrywide, will probably no longer be under consideration as a Dem veep candidate. Courant said Dodd had a lot of 'splinin' to do.

Perhaps you missed this story from Texas:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/5838255.html

WASHINGTON -- An 18-year-old joke about rape told by 1990 Texas gubernatorial contender Clayton Williams has erupted as an issue in the 2008 presidential campaign, causing the man he is supporting for president, Republican John McCain, to scramble Saturday for damage control.

McCain's campaign late Friday said it had pulled the plug on a fundraising event scheduled for Monday at Williams' Midland home after reporters contacted the campaign asking about remarks made by the Texas Republican during his 1990 race against Democrat Ann Richards.

Ahem... interesting topic at the top of the Kit. Nice to know we're in sync, Joel.

To mention again.. when I was a kid, there was so little traffic going out to Dulles (the idea of a toll road was laughable) it was where you went to learn to drive. Some people also went out there to drive real fast, autobahn-style, since there were no cars and certainly very little traffic enforcement. Or so I heard.

SCC: 'Splainin'--typing fast because the cable guy said he was going to replace something corroded on the outside of the house and I was afraid I might get dropped.

Here's the link to the Hartford Courant article I mentioned:

http://blogs.courant.com/capitol_watch/2008/06/sen-christopher-dodd-tied-to-c.html

Republicans immediately said the disclosure would end Dodd's chances of being a vice presidential candidate on the ticket with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. Some had believed that Dodd had a good chance of being selected as a V.P. candidate because of his foreign-policy experience and his ties to Obama and to Caroline Kennedy, one of the key people who is screening the VP candidates for Obama.

Isn't the problem with Countrywide's financials that *everyone* was getting "preferential" treatment?

No hole in one for me. I guess I have to root for Rocco. Although Joel is right about Tiger's 3rd round.You could see he was in pain,but he simply brushed it off and made some incredible shots.

We had guests at the hotel last night who are playing 50 states in 50 days. Very nice fellows and they enjoyed sitting in our lobby watching the final round of the open yesterday. Although they did seem very tired. Today the are playing near me at Cacapon Resort(just over the mountain there) about 4 miles as the crow flies.

Check out the website
http://www.the50in50.com/

I think both were pulling for Rocco and they can understand the journeyman mentality.

Rocco vs Tiger sounds more like the WWF then a golf match.

Yeah, gwe, with Rocco's boys lurking about just in case Tiger's entourage needs a reminder regarding who is really supposed to win.

At this point, I drive on the Dulles Toll road every day (not by choice, for sure).

Fortunately, I am heading in the opposite direction of those folks described in the article.

I would add here that at the points where the Toll Road and the Access Road intersect with the Washington Beltway is a mess during the evening rush hour (essentially any time after 3 PM).

Yes, many moons ago, the Access Road was well known as a local autobahn, but all that more or less ended with the Reagan Administration (just one of many things I could blame them for).

bc

Dr. Gridlock or whoever is writing these commuting exposes must be getting everybody mad. Last week is was the disclosure that people sit on the on-ramp waiting for the HOV lanes to time out. They then barrel down the newly opened lanes before the traffic builds. I am really glad my commute is only 15 miles and 20 minutes.

I've found a new way to get onto the HOV-2 part of I-66: Son of G is now working in my office and we commute together! We're saving gas and shaving about 20 minutes off the drive.

Besides... it's always nice to have a personal servant at the office.

Not everyone was getting preferential treatment--only the "Friends of Angelo." Have you seen that list? Donna Shalala, Richard Holbrooke, others. Here's the link to Conde Nast portfolio.com, they're the ones who broke the story. The last grafs raise the question of ethics and influence peddling:

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/top-5/2008/06/12/Countrywide-Loan-Scandal?rss=true

Unless they asked, V.I.P. borrowers weren't told exactly how many points were waived on their loans, the former employee says. However, they were typically assured that they were receiving the "Friends of Angelo" discount, and that Mozilo had personally priced their loans.

The V.I.P. loans to public officials in a position to advance Countrywide's interests raise legal and ethical questions. Countrywide's ethics code bars directors, officers and employees from "improperly influencing the decisions of government employees or contractors by offering or promising to give money, gifts, loans, rewards, favors, or anything else of value." Federal employees are prohibited from receiving gifts offered because of their official position, including loans on terms not generally available to the public. Senate rules prohibit members from knowingly receiving gifts worth $100 or more in a calendar year from private entities that, like Countrywide, employ a registered lobbyist.

LL: I want to know what's in the water in Connecticut that the Senators there are drinking? First, the Dodd flapdoodle because of the discounted mortgage rate Dodd received for his dandy East Haddam digs. Now Lieberman? Obama campaigns for Leiberman instead of outspoken anti-war candidate Ned Lamont [not to my liking at all], now Lieberman disses Obama, and there's scuttlebutt that Lieberman might be angling, as an Indie, for a spot on the McCain ticket?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/15/AR2008061500586.html?hpid=sec-politics

Good grief, did I do something stupid Saturday. Stupid because I know better. I had very few weeds that needed the caress of the weedwhacker. Rather than don the proper protective clothing, Don dumbly decided to wing it with only sandals.

The weedwhacker became posessed for all of 1.5 nanoseconds, and now the top of my foot looks like it's been flogged around the fleet with a cat-o-nine-tails. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

TBG,

Stop with the endless bragging. I'm jealous of DoTBG seeing Tony-award winning shows and meeting the stars.

Now I'm jealous of you getting a pass on the I-66 express lanes. On the otherhand, maybe not. That would require working in DC.

My way around the Dulles Toll Road when I need to go to Sterling is to take I-70 to US-15 in Frederick and then south through Leesburg. It's a half hour longer in no-traffic conditions, but an hour shorter under rush hour conditions.

I hate that Toll Road EB to I-495 North interchange with a passion.

I think I prefer the story about Marion Barry-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/15/AR2008061502008.html?hpid=topnews

This is a man who really knows how to game the system. Because he is an alternate on the WMATA board, he gets the transit system to overpay him for his completely uncorroborated account of damage to his car caused by a bus. Despite the fact that he failed to report the damage at the time either to the police or WMATA, despite the fact that the bus driver denies hitting his car and there is no damage to the bus, and despite the fact that WMATA policy is clear that such claims will not be paid, Barry got paid, and got paid more than the cost of the repair. Now that is gaming the system, big time.

So, Montgomery County is severe water restrictions for the next three days, at least.

Maybe they just need to move the airport.

When the Pittsburgh airport was relocated, the planners done good. The access roads go *only* to the airport and nowhere else. Unless you've got an appointment for a departure or arrival or want to go shopping or dining there (PGH airport is a destination in itself), there's no point in using those roads.

Now *within* Pittsburgh... whole different story. With a city built on a triangular tract of land hemmed in by three rivers (not to mention the bluffs and almost-mountains), there are hundreds of closely guarded secret shortcuts -- some that even run under and through buildings.

When I lived there, I found one that required going through a parking deck -- you had to get a ticket going in and pay a couple of bucks on the other end, even though you never stopped (let alone parked), but it was well worth it during rush hour.

I have a commuting story from the Alternate Reality where I live:

I usually bike straight down Dixie Highway for most of my commute, because the railroad tracks limit the number of cross streets and there is a good bike lane. On Friday I couldn't take my normal route because Dixie Highway was fenced off in preparation for the Mango Festival (yay). Well, I was disappointed and didn't want to go all the way back to Federal Highway, so I set out on a residential street parallel to Dixie, to see how far I could get. Surprise: the residential route turned out to be much more pleasant and only a tiny bit less direct. Lemon => Lemonade! I might still take the highway on days when I want to get home as quickly as possible, but that alternate route will be used at least half the time from now on.

Don't feel like you're alone, don. I did the same in shorts, without socks, and laid waste to my shins. I'll follow the gasket advice.

Mr. T and I commuted together when I worked. It made for a lot of togetherness. Sometimes that's NOT a good thing. He still gets up and leaves the house by 6:25 to beat the heaviest traffic. There are still plenty of cars on the road at that hour, though. I suppose he could ride the bus, which passes a block from the house, but he would then have to walk about five blocks to the office. Things will have to get much worse before he'll consider that.

Hey, here's an idea -- those "gamers" can offer free rides to the airport, and and long as they have to arrive with a full passenger load they can use the Access Road on the way out.

:-)

Oh, the Dads of Summer with Toolbelts optional, please be careful of all your parts in the wake or proximity of moving machinery. Those of who who grew up in the country have a catalog of farm accident images. Shudder!

Oh Yoki, we are seasoned as slyness is and recently, I think, Bad Sneaks....that some launchings by way of graduation have occurred. Huzzah and matzal toffies to all.

I do not know of Maryland shenanigans on toll-type roads. And KB, my ribs have made me take a few 'longer" but less hilly routes, all to my advantage to spy a flower or leaf or two worthy of a gander. I whizz by quickly in the morning but can pause on the return trip.

Martooni... same with the Dulles Access Road... it only goes to the airport. But since there's been so much development out where the airport is (and beyond) new toll lanes were built alongside the access road (an entirely separate road) that serve as a regular (though not free) highway. It's to avoid *that* road that commuters are visiting the airport for coffee and donuts. Some have even found it's worth driving west a few miles to avoid the congestion and cost of driving east.

slyness... Mr T may leave early to avoid the traffic, but believe me.. the rush hour traffic in Charlotte is nothing compared to the traffic here. What he would encounter not leaving early is what the folks here are hoping for when they do leave early.

I think the problem here is that commuters are no longer just going in and out of the city. The jobs are EVERYWHERE and the traffic is tough getting there, no matter where it is.

Jack. I talked to a contracter I worked with and he said that a 3/4 plywood base for a shower stall is inadequate. There should be a mortar+membrane or a thinset on foam foundation.foundation.foundation.foundation.:-)

Two father's day poems (alert: one is very true and beautiful and stern; the other is a father's portrait as he contemplates his daughter),
FIRST POEM:
Those Winter Sundays

Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he'd call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,
speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love's austere and lonely offices?

--Robert Hayden

SECOND POEM:

The Writer

In her room at the prow of the house
Where light breaks, and the windows are tossed with linden,
My daughter is writing a story.

I pause in the stairwell, hearing
From her shut door a commotion of typewriter-keys
Like a chain hauled over a gunwale.

Young as she is, the stuff
Of her life is a great cargo, and some of it heavy:
I wish her a lucky passage.

But now it is she who pauses,
As if to reject my thought and its easy figure.
A stillness greatens, in which

The whole house seems to be thinking,
And then she is at it again with a bunched clamor
Of strokes, and again is silent.

I remember the dazed starling
Which was trapped in that very room, two years ago;
How we stole in, lifted a sash

And retreated, not to affright it;
And how for a helpless hour, through the crack of the door,
We watched the sleek, wild, dark

And iridescent creature
Batter against the brilliance, drop like a glove
To the hard floor, or the desk-top,

And wait then, humped and bloody,
For the wits to try it again; and how our spirits
Rose when, suddenly sure,

It lifted off from a chair-back,
Beating a smooth course for the right window
And clearing the sill of the world.

It is always a matter, my darling,
Of life or death, as I had forgotten. I wish
What I wished you before, but harder.

-- Richard Wilbur

Update: After 3 holes, Rocco is at even par, with Tiger at one over.

One morning, when driving to work from Arlington to Herndon, I accidentally got on the Access Road. Of course, that meant I had to drive all the way to Dulles, then turn around and backtrack to Herndon. I was a nervous wreck, expecting the cops to nab me at any moment. This is why, although I admire their ingenuity, I could never be one of the "gamers."

CP... I do my best to keep my best parts out of the machinery. The only time I've ever been injured in my shop, I was sober. I was routing a small piece and ended up routing a fingertip when the little bugger shot out of my hands and did a ping-pong ball impression, bouncing off all four walls and the ceiling. It was then that I proclaimed to never run a router again without a beer by my elbow (one is much more careful when trying to not spill a beer) -- that strategy seems to have worked. (counting fingers now)

The weedwhacker is a whole 'nother situation, though. That rock-and-twig-spittin' monster bites me whether I'm sober or not.

CP... btw... if you still have my email address, drop me a line (I can't find yours for the life of me). I haven't forgotten that special door you asked about for your bass playin' fisherman friend.

That Pittsburgh airport is a doozy. Literally on top of a mountain. Makes you hope the runways are long enough.

From Kiss My Big Blue Butt (w/ video!):
"June 15 - You folks from foreign states have probably heard about Clayton Williams being a major fundraiser for McCain -- at least until word got out that he was doing it.
Clayton Williams is so crazy that he makes Ross Perot look sane. I mean, he's beyond colorful. He's locked-up-in-the-attic crazzzy.
He ran for Governor against Ann Richards and refused to shake her hand, then he opened his mouth to warn us of what was to come from electing Republicans."
http://www.kissmybigbluebutt.com/

The best of the weekend's activities was spontaneous--I ran into a guy I've known for several years who's into heliconias and palms. Got to meet the family, see the house (with a garden pool), and the magnificently tended yard. The whole thing is a perfect hangout for their two young kids. As a bonus, the house was designed to fit their love of 1960s modern furniture. Plain birch cabinets and doors have considerable charm in a world dripping with Tuscan decor and bling in general.

Friday, I bought a monster four-foot-long kitchen sink/drainboard at a local outlet store. Despite two conspicuous dents on the front, it was too practical and too cheap to pass up. It's a toy-for-boys sink, the sort where you can wield knives on the chopping board that custom-fits over the drainboard. So why don't I have a huge grill on the patio yet?

Thanks, Boko. *re-engineering*

Like the pomes, CP. And yes, the Wilbur pome best.

martooni, I had occasion to use my two most feared tools yesterday: the table saw and the router. Used the router freehand to cut two cut-outs for sliding door thingamabobs, as well as two cirles for finger-pulls. Sucker has some torque on it, that's for sure. Did the job, though. (I've had the router for maybe 20 years, used it maybe four times.)

If you want to use Rt. 66 hov lanes during rush hour, drive a hybrid, or a motorcycle, in fact, while recently going into DC during the rush in our Prius, I was proud to see so many hybrids, and when I stopped today for gas, I noted that the previous car (a late model suv) at my pump paid $70. to fill up. That's a terrible price to pay to drive a car.

As far as the people doing their thing on the access road, the only one I found dishonest was the person with the FED EX box. Official airport business is entirely too vague, and people WILL find a way unless the law is explicit.

The match is in round 7 now, Tiger's up by one. The two men are such elegant golfers, it is a pleasure to watch.

Boko, I imagine you spinning my yarn and then finishing by saying: ..."and he's 'Mericun. One of them from South Carolina, eh? Heh, Heh...rednecks...

Now on 8th tee, Tiger's up by 2.

Let's see if Tiger can hold up, VintageLady.

I think his knee acted up on the back nine yesterday, and I'd look for him to have trouble with it again today.

If Rocco can stay within 2-3 strokes at the 10th hole, he's in a good position to take advantage should Tiger have trouble.

bc

Boko,
Thanks for the Clayton Williams YouTube link.

Gingrich, Huckabee, Romney in Houston this past week. Romney not completely on the McCain bandwagon:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/5837126.html

Former presidential candidate and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, sent to the convention to represent McCain, gave McCain a hedged endorsement.

"He and I didn't agree on every issue and still don't," Romney said.

"But on the major issues that America faces, I line up with John McCain and wholly support his candidacy."

LL: Of course, with an Obama supporter heading up a conversation about whether to change the contentious Texas prima-caucus system, very little chance that anything will be done until 2010 or possibly 2012.:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA060808.5A.texasdems.3529922.html

There was no lack of debate Saturday about whether to trip up the one-of-a-kind two-step. But the convention essentially delayed a decision until 2010 or later.

In an effort to avoid a convention fight over changing the system, party Chairman Boyd Richie named a special committee headed by state Sen. Royce West, an Obama supporter from Dallas, to report any needed changes to the state convention in two years.

West defeated efforts to debate the caucus system, which could have resulted in an immediate vote. West appealed for delegates to allow his committee to conduct public hearings around Texas so more Democrats could participate in the discussion. [Always put off until tomorrow what you can do today.]

LL: Op-ed in our local paper this weekend about the inherent unfairness of such a crazy Texas scheme of the prima-caucus.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/stories/MYSA.061408.OPED_1B_democaucus2ed0614.2691426.html

The situation led to bad feelings among Clinton supporters, and frankly doesn't seem democratic. The problem was not with either candidate, but with the Texas party's weird process.

Democratic officials have said the caucus system fosters more activism and party participation.

But it also makes it more difficult for working people and others who couldn't attend a caucus to have their voice heard without being diluted by the process.

Frankly, few Texans were even familiar with the bifurcated system before the close contest between Obama and Clinton put a spotlight on the clumsy nominating method this year.

The caucuses may generate participation in the party, but they also leave thousands of voters feeling disenfranchised.

Now, Texas Democrats will wait at least until 2010 before addressing the mess.

I completely agree with Joel and others about the "free ride" on the Dulles road. I've been back and forth to the airport over the past week -- first picking him up and then taking him back (my friend from Africa). We had a fabulous time and he enjoyed the heck out of the trip during the time he wasn't taking his course. What I do hate about the road, though is when I have to exit in order to get waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy over to the right hand lanes for 495 (towards B'more). White knuckle driving, to be sure.

I also watched MTP on Sunday and was very moved by the collective recollections. Tom Brokaw did his best to retain his composure, but he did lose it at one point. And thankfully so. We've all been exceptionally affected by Tim Russert's death -- that it was so sudden and that he was so young and full of life and full of *his* life with his father and his son and his wife. His spontaneous generosity, as others in his business reflected, was incredibly infectious. Made you want to "pass it forward" to others -- friends, strangers, didn't matter. He will be missed for a very long time. I was struck particularly by his son this morning on the Today Show. Wow! Is he ever his father's son! Looks like him, talks like him. I was very, very impressed.

The golf over the weekend was incredible! I, too, like Rocco Mediate (the name, even, makes me smile). He may end up being hammered today, but I'll bet he's enjoying every single minute of it. I saw the interview with him yesterday after Tiger did his magic on the 18th hole, and Rocco's remarks were so sweet -- he said he was not at all surprised that Tiger birdied the hole ("It's what he does."). A good guy to have in the game.

I live "down county" relatively near the Beltway, so I've crossed my fingers and have not been boiling my water. I do have some left over Cipro on hand "just in case." Clearly, if I lived closer to Gaithersburg, I'd be boiling water like crazy.

And all that being said, time to go churn some billable hours. Cya

Molly Ivins fans alert:
http://www.texasobserver.org/molly/

I love Texas politics it's even crazier than Florida's.

Hope everyone had a great Father's Day!

Talk of the Dulles Access Road reminded me of my first time on that piece of asphalt. I was not long out of boot camp and having finished electronics training in San Diego and San Francisco, received orders to the Naval Security Station (now home to Homeland Security) on Nebraska Ave. in Wash. D.C.

One of my brothers had just stumbled upon a beautiful '59 Ford Galaxy Convertible. Red. Chrome. Big tail fins. A trunk and back seat that could swallow the bulk of the contents of a 727's cargo hold. But how to get the car from Long Beach to D.C.?

Dad had been a traveling salesman for many years selling products for the booming RV industry to factories, dealers, and owners. "Let's you and I drive to D.C." he says. "Haven't been there since the war." "Ok" sez I. So we went.

The trip was fairly uneventful. Dad showed me some things along the way and we played tourist in D.C. for a few days. It was June of 1970 (give or take a year). Dad was ready to go home and he wanted to use the new airport at Dulles, having never seen it, and having no fond memories of National.

So we started off one Monday morning to go to Dulles airport from somewhere in D.C. In short order we found ourselves on the Access Road. And we drove. And we drove some more. Nothing but trees lined the entire length of the road. WE NEVER SAW ANOTHER CAR the entire length of the road. Not one.

His flight was to leave at 1000. We got what appeared to be an abandoned, but very unusual, building at about 0930. We parked in front of the departure terminal (try that today!) and went inside. The place was devoid of any movement or life. We found the airline desk and waited. At about 0945 the place came alive with airline personnel and departing passengers. Dad purchased his ticket to LA, without benefit of a reservation, at 0950. They pointed us the the back of the building (no funny buses, no Terminal B or C), Dad boarded just before 1000. I stayed and watched the plane take off.

When I turned to leave, the terminal was deserted again. Not one person in sight. Walked out to my car (did I say it was Red?), the only one in front of the terminal, and drove back to D.C.

Almost no one today believes this story. Boy, those were the days.

DLD

Michelle Obama to get a media makeover:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/former-clinton-campaign-manager-joins-obama-team/

Oops, forgot to add this by the author of the KMBBB nonBlog, Susan DuQuesnay Bankston:
http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=2773

I'm cursing all you golf people. I don't even much like golf, but you've got me following the match stroke by stroke and hole by hole. Mediate looked like he might tie it up but blew a putt on the 9th, now 2 back. Thing is really a barn-burner.

Interesting about Patti Solis Doyle joining the Obama campaign staff. Thanks for that link, Loomis.

And it's pretty sad when a campaign has to hire someone (Stephanie Cutter) to "lead a war room to fight attacks against" the candidate's wife.

Loved the poems CP.

Never been hurt by a weedwhacker. 'Course I only use one of those dinky electric things. Whirr, whirr!

For building shower stalls and bases, I got nothin'.

DLD

Ridiculous! Systems were made to be "gamed." Memory of a street corner in Berlin. Man runs across the intersection against the light. Elderly German man turns to his wife, "that's how it starts." I had a philosophy prof in college who was exasperated by the question, "what if everyone did that?" Everyone doesn't do it! He would bellow. So we should all be good citizens, obediently in line, waiting our turn. Maybe you--not me. I'll forever be that outlaw buying a cup of coffee or a stamp to get ahead of the pack. Maybe they'll write a song about me: Motivated to be on time. And the feeling, the delicious pleasure, of sipping my coffee as I whiz past the knuckleheads staring at the bumper in front.

BC, I think Rocco rushed his putt on 10th green. Mudge, glad to have you aboard ;-).

Golf is oneof those odd sports I think I would hate to play, but am becoming fond of watching. I blame Will Smith & J. Michael Moncrief. And the voice of Jack Lemmon of course.

"Gaming the system" is what I believe is the cause of the complexity of the tax code. "Fair & simple" is always overcome by greed and treachery.

Mudge... Clouds may be hard, but routers *do* have torque. ;-)

I have a similar rarely used tool that I'll never give up (no... not that one): it's a band saw. I used it to cut out the arms and legs for our Adirondack furniture and thought it might work for my little doors, but it's just too squirrelly on the detail stuff, no matter how I set the tension or guides. It makes a much cleaner cut than the jigsaw, but the jigsaw and I go way back and have learned to respect each other.

But I'm keeping it.

Just like I keep every nut, bolt, washer and rusty nail I come across. Never know when you might need them, and when you buy those things piece-meal at the hardware store, they know they got ya and get ya they do.

rorschach, thanks for giving the other side of the argument. I bet some of the righteously outraged commenters really are just mad they didn't think of it themselves, or have the nerve to do it themselves.

I think the rule of law can handle this type of situation: change the law, and/or step up enforcement. I accept the fact that there will always be people who push the envelope. The legal system has to be designed to deal with that reality.

I also agree with Joel that the newspaper was right to shine a light on the situation. I'll be interested to hear whether any changes result.

They will find a way to eventually defeat rorschach, the terrorist. Using some method that inconveniences us all. D**n you and your exploding shoes, rorshach!

Hi everyone. I was in the DC area last week. While I had a great time both professionally and with family, I am no longer acclimated to the extreme heat and humidity. Wow. After sitting on a vinyl chair at an outdoor restaurant in Comus, Maryland, one night for a few hours visiting with old friends and neighbors I was soaked down to my knees... in my capris. It was embarrassing. But it was sweat I pleaded...sweat! Geesh.

No wonder ya'll have problems with monster weeds.

While I miss many things about the area, and love to visit...the summer h&h (and friendly mosquitos) are NOT included.

I did enjoy spending time with my son at the Monacacy River tributary on the C&O Canal where it joins the mighty Potomac. Also sat in on a House session at the Capitol. And lots of other stuff.

Oh, I saw lots of cardinals and other birds I don't see out west, too. Chirp.

And that is what I did on my summer business and pleasure trip. Thank you.

Rocco was down by 3, but Tiger just bogeyed the last two holes. Wish I could do more than just track the scores!

Nobody's gonna write a song about you, rorschach. I always figured that if somebody had to brag about how "bad" an "outlaw" he was -- he probably wasn't.

And no, systems aren't designed "to be gamed." That's just dumb.

Mediate down three, fights back, down by only one on 13th.

You got it right about DC traffic, TBG. Several years ago, Mr. T had a meeting in Baltimore in the summer, so second dottir and I went with him. We stayed with the inlaws in Vienna. To ensure he would be on time for an 8 a.m. start, we got on I-66 at 6:40. It was completely locked down, all lanes full and moving slowly.

I do not envy you folks your traffic.

BTW, what's up with the water in MoCo?

Obama misses two of three Senate Foreign Relations committee meetings on Afghanistan:

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obama-absent-at-afghanistan-hearings-2008-03-01.html

NYT this afternoon, Obama intends to visit Iraq and Afghanistan:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/obama-plans-trip-pre-election-day-visit-to-iraq-and-afghanistan/

Hundreds of Taliban occupy Afghan villages in Kandahar province, news at the top of the hour here on CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/16/afghanistan/index.html

Try this site, Raysmom: http://blogs.usatoday.com/gameon/2008/06/us-open-live.html

Go Tiger! Saw the game yesterday and Saturday. Tiger is amazing.

Stephanie Cutter as image consultant to Michelle Obama? Was Naomi Wolfe not available? First piece of advice: Wear earth tones.

Is it true that GOLF stands for gentleman only ladies forbidden?

!!!eidrib

You were literally just down the road, you should have mentioned you were around! You know how quickly we can do an impromptu BPH! *L*

History's great men were all "gamers" of the system. Voltaire did it when he saw a loophole in the French lottery and gamed a huge payoff for himself and a friend. All of the robber barons did it; and now the names, John Jacob Astor, Andrew Carnegie, and Andrew Mellon are revered in American history and New York City. Hell, even George Washington gamed the system when he bought up the plots of land he was commissioned to survey. JFK gamed the system when he appointed his kid brother attorney general. Famous quote: If ye not be a gamer, then a dullard be ye.

Few quick things

Thanks for the golf updates

What is wrong with Michelle Obama's image - don't change a thing.

Kandahar news is a few days old.

rorschach,

What you are describing include such things as stock fraud, 'honest' graft, and nepotism. All things that don't seem to have much in common with finding ways to get to work faster.

If you are the Raskolnikov of DC commuting and you deserve a break on your drive time because you are destined for great things and are above the law, fine. Otherwise, you are just a clever schemer that has caught on to an inane loophole.

As in all arbitrage situations, the value of your inside knowledge will drop in value as more people catch on and the commuting 'market' becomes more efficient.

Didyaseethat!?!

Rorschach, you just dig deeper and deeper. "Robber barons" are called that for a reason; most are *not* revered. Astor is/was not especailly revered (which one did you mean? Are you aware there are four of them? John Jacob Astor IV is respected because he deliberately and knowingly gave up his seat on the Titanic, knowing he would drown. Not exactly gaming the system, that.) Carnegie and Mellon aren't revered because they gamed the system; they are revered because they donated their fortunates to charities. That's not exactly gaming the system either. JFK did "game" when he appointed RFK.

Read a d@mn book once in a while, dude.

Dear Scottynuke,

Thanks much! I do want to meet the local boodlers and I promise next time to make sure I announce my arrival. There was just too much going on and the weather... I think I lost 5 pounds at least. :-)

And don't get me wrong, the DC area is wonderful and I will always consider it home.

If you think that live golf on the web is weird try that; a pro soccer game.
This is an Austria-Germany game at the Euro tournament. It's being played right now in Vienna. I'm sure there is something like that in English somewhere but my soccer-crazy co-worker (and Portugal die-hard fan) follows games on this French site.
It's still scoreless after 34 minutes, of course.

http://www.sport24.com/var/storage/multiplex/football/groupe_b/3eme_journee/autriche-allemagne-live-7427.html

Ho, ho. Dark clouds gathering over Ottawa's downtown area. We are going to get it, again.

SCC: JFK *didn"t game

BTW, I had a fantastic dinner at a French restaurant called La Ferme in Chevy Chase. Maybe a top five meal of all time. That good.

I'm sorry this such a serious subject for you, cur. Don't blow a gasket. Isn't that a side effect of plavix?

glub glub glub
Darn you SD.

Jeez, you just can't anything right, can you, rorschach? You're amazing.

No earth tones for Michele Obama!

She looked GREAT in that purple dress. (That bright blue worked wonders for Barbara Bush.)

yelljkt: Raskolnikov was a murderer. He had nothing to gain--he was simply trying to demonstrate that he was above the law. Analogy doesn't work.

"...As in all arbitrage situations, the value of your inside knowledge will drop in value as more people catch on and the commuting 'market' becomes more efficient."

sort of like the sub-prime mortgage market, eh, yellojkt?

Gaming is the devil's advocate.

Watching the last hole and talent, conditioning, mental toughness, and years of training aside, I think the main difference between Rocco, Tiger, and me as golfers is that I'm just so stupid. I wouldn't have a clue where to try to put the next shot here for Tiger.

Okay, it's hard not to want the underdog to win. Go Rocco.

Well I think maybe Mr. "rorschach" usually goes by another name. A name like, oh, let's see now, could it be... SATAN?!

Actually, Church Lady, I think the correct name is "sock puppet."

Sudden death! Goodness Gracious!!

I can't stand this. Every shot has me in knots because I want both of them to win.

Or he's just someone that has read too many comic books featuring Objectivist anti-heroes.

whatagame!

speaking of gaming...

Unbelievable game.

Sky's going green again and we got boomers overhead. Gonna be one of those rush hours.

Noooooooo, not sock puppets! I am compelled to post another Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre clip-

http://www.clusterflock.org/2008/05/clusterflock-by-the-scottish-falsetto-sock-puppet-theatre.html

take care, Curmudgeon!

Lotta wind and rain.

"someone THAT has read..."

Walter Kovacs is yellojkt. Mystery solved.

Do they study Analogy at Mianus?

Mudge I think your advice to blotto left out one little thing:
http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2008/06/16/

Have a nice weekend, then.

Dark clouds and thunder in my neck of the woods as well.

The worst part is that both Rocco and Tiger are cuties. My policy has always been that when two athletes are otherwise equal, root for the hot one.

Heavens are opening up over College Park.

I'm not going out there for at least an hour.

frostbitten, we guys would be in the same boat if it was Ochoa and Sorenstam...

:-)

Analogy attended University of Mianus but failed because he didn't understand 19th century Russian literature.

Raskolnikov rationalized the murder of pawnbroker for the money he needed by thinking that he was improving society by killing her and helping himself.

Dulles Toll Road Lawyers rationalize using the airport road by believing that they are cleverer and more deserving of a shorter commute than the fools stuck in traffic.

http://rorschachs-journal.blogspot.com/2007/07/patrick-wilson-confirmed-as-dan.html

As if.

Tiger wins it.

And Tiger wins it. I think it's safe to say that anyone who bought a ticket got their money's worth!

Tiger parred and Rocco bogeyed. I had a coworker that for major tournaments would take Tiger against the field. He usually one. I'm not a golfer, but this seems to be one of the greatest wins ever.

Tiger wins. Caught the last three shots, dripping in front of the TV. Big Moron left home this am without any raingear nor umbrella. Got punished big time.

Sorry, the 4:18 was me.
http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/

Tiger is phenomenal. Nerves of steel. Rocco will be remembered.

We had a doozy of a thunderstorm, didn't lose power, though.

It seems to me that the only thing that Rocco could have done a little better was not to rush his putts.

A crowd pleaser of a game, for sure. Tiger didn't play his best game, but in the end it didn't matter, he won anyway. And, yes, they are both good looking men!

Whew, Tiger's mental toughness is scary.

I say rorschach is more of a troll than a sock puppet. Unless we have a boodler that is a Dulles Toll Road bandit and doesn't want to own up.

And I see George Clooney as The Comedian. As if he hasn't done a superhero before.

I guesss we can all go back to breathing again. I have a callus on my "refresh" button finger.

Wind and rain have let up.

In another sport,
Poland 0 Croatia 1
Germany 1 Austria 0, looks like the Austrian Miracle ain't going to happen

Dry t-shirt and dry socks are nice.

I thought the Dulles access road got built so the bigshots didn't get stuck in traffic going to the airport. And they got the close parking spots too. So, it doesn't bother me that some of the little people game the system. I suppose it's just a slippery slope, though, and soon people won't use their turn signals or wear their seatbelts or report all their income properly. (I say this from Seattle, where I have been conditioned not to cross the street till the sign tells me to.) Scofflaws!

Just got an email from Al Gore - he's endorsing Obama. Well, duh.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/16/gore_to_endorse_obama_in_speec.html?hpid=topnews

can i just say that is a really stupid move by obama:

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/16/clinton_insiders_take_umbrage.html

i'm totally fine with obama deciding he doesn't want to consider clinton for the second spot on the ticket. he should not hire, however, all other political considerations aside, hire someone who was fired from the clinton campaign because she was totally incompetent and flaky, which doyle was.

ok, rant over.

Unless Doyle was a mole. Then a lot of things make sense.

Gaming the system: Anybody who thinks cheaters always win need to read Nash's work on game theory.

Prisoner's dilemma, evolutionarily stable strategies, etc. all give insights into the subject.

In short, there's a reason why a honorable man's reputation rests on not gaming the system, and why welchers are depised by other players.

Anybody who believes gaming the system is appropriate and a sign of intelligence may need to be evaluated for mild to moderate sociopathy; that person has rationally analyzed the loopholes in a system, but has not seen to the next level of why people may follow the system in the first place.

Well, but, is gaming the system cheating? These people are buying coffee or whatever at the airport - they're adhering to the rules. The spirit of the law is broken every day, probably in worse ways than using the Dulles access road. Mr Ml gets in a snit when he sees bicycle riders run lights or ignore stop signs - it just doesn't bother me. Not that I think it's a sign of intelligence - more like a sign of human nature.

dmd wrote at 3:05 p.m.:
Kandahar news is a few days old.

Umm, the prison break story from Kandahar is a few days old, but if I were you, dmd, I'd check the story from the washingtonpost.com below, the link on the homepage, with the mention of Monday, today:

By Candace Rondeaux and Javed Hamdard
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, June 16, 2008; 5:12 PM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 16 -- Hundreds of Taliban fighters took control of seven villages in southern Afghanistan Monday in what appeared to be a major offensive near the country's second-largest city, according to Afghan officials.

ml, bicycle riders get it from both sides. One day I was stopped at a red light on my bike and a guy rode by me and through the intersection, and as he did he turned and yelled at me in an angry voice, "You don't have to wait! You're on a bicycle!" (Boy, am I a moron or what!)

Meanwhile, all along my route there are left turn signals that can sense when someone is in the lane to turn, and if there is nobody there the left arrow doesn't go on. Bicycles don't trip the signal, so if I follow the rules, I need a car to be turning or I can't turn. If there is no car I have to figure out my own way through the intersection. There just is NO legal way other than to wait through as many lights as it takes for a car to show up in the left turn lane. That's just not right!

If they *really* want to make golf interesting (at least to people like me who think it's the only thing more boring to watch than paint peeling from a wall) is add a goalie.

C'mon! If these guys are so good, they should be able to get the ball past a goalie. Or at least be able to whack him with a club.

Heck... use the dang caddies! What important thing are they doing other than hauling around a heavy bag of clubs? Do you think a pro golfer making millions of dollars per year honestly gives a flying duck what advice his caddy has to offer? If the advice of caddies is all that great, why don't they take their own advice and go make a few million a year?

Now don't get me wrong... I don't believe golf has to be a full contact sport getting *to* the green (though that would be interesting), to actually *make* it interesting. But at least make it as difficult as putt-putt golf once you get there.

If they can't add a goalie, at least stick a freakin' windmill in there fer cryin' out loud.

So my colleagues and I are sitting around the conference table just outside my office, watching Tiger and Rocco on the flat-screen HDTV hanging on the wall. I'm feeling very smug because my fellow boodlers are refreshing their screens to see the action.

Rocco steps up to take a putt that will win him the U.S. Open. Holds the putter, moves it back and...

BAM! The power goes out. Nothing. Nada. No TV, no internet. Our iPhones and Blackberries weren't even getting anything. Oh well. Karma strikes again.

I agree with mostly... why is it news that Gore is backing Obama?

kbert... you could always try jumping up and down on the sensor area. Or swearing at it. I would think our friend Mudge might have a few choice words from his maritime past that would make asphalt blush (and even make the light turn green).

I'm with ya, martooni. I think there ought to be windmills, too. And duplex greens where you sink the putt and the ball rolls down a tube to another, lower green and you have to sink that putt, too. And on the 18th green when you sink the putt the ball rolls all the way back to the clubhouse and you can't recover it. And you have to turn in your putter when you're done.

And it shouldn't cost $300 to play.

Bertooch, close one eye and go "AAAAAAAArrrrggggghhhhh!" and see if that does it.

And if that doesn't help, try some of these: http://www.governmentmanual.org/pirates/curse.shtml

Only 3 months and 3ish days until "Talk Like a Pirate Day."
Hey Mudge, do you still have those blue jays? They're needed in the Toronto bullpen.

Found this WaPo column about the Dulles system gamers: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/dot.comments/2008/06/dulles_road_rage.html

I always wondered how, in the era of "E-Tickets" ['scuse me why I have a massive Julie Brown politically incorrect song flashback] folks could prove they were legit on the Dulles Access Road.

I'm more of a Hunter Mill Road fellow myself.

Spent all day in meetings and then got a panicky phone call from my wife that our kitchen ceiling was dripping water. And, a comment or two about how I really need to keep a fresh battery in my pager.

Turns out one of those washer thingies had gone bad in her shower. Shouldn't washers and gaskets emit some kind of warning alarm when they are about to fail? At least it was quick and easy to fix.

Now the kitchen ceiling? Well, that's another story.

News: Democrat backs Democrat.

Well, the political punditry needs some fresh meat, now the primaries are done.

The real news is the rally tonight in Detroit where Al Gore and Barack Obama will be on the same stage. IRC, he also stumped for Kerry in Florida in 2004.

However he publicly disagreed with Kerry's call for a deadline for troop withdrawal back in a 2006 interview.

http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/Politics/story?id=2037158&page=3

It will be interesting to see what he says now on that score.

The Dulles Access Road chicanery reminded me of this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/01/AR2008060102582.html

Them Washington commuters are a tricky lot.

BTW, another boodle piglet:

I found this blog which posts all the headlines that day for Obama-- manually updated.

http://cuban4obama.blogspot.com/

RD... they do emit an audible warning. It starts as a "drip-drip-drip-drip", especially in the middle of the night when you have an important appointment to keep in the morning, then it progresses to a "pssssssst", then "shhhhhhhhh", then a "wooosh".

Wooosh is not good unless you have flood insurance. In that case, close the door, go out for a nice dinner, maybe splurge on a hotel room, then call your insurance agent the next morning as you pick out floor plans for your new home while enjoying your complimentary continental breakfast.

Excellent observation martooni! Although this leak did most of its mischief when the shower was running, there must have surely been a tell-tale sound in the walls for those who care to listen. Sort of like a watery version of Poe.

I remember The Post publishing an article about the Dulles Access Road Turnaround before. It was quite a while ago. I can't even estimate how long ago the article appeared.

I'm bummed that Rocco didn't win. That would have been one heluva story.

Snort at your last sentence, RD!

rd,
Thanks for the link to the story I mentioned at 11:23. I am glad that MD traffic is not that cut throat.

I waged a two year war against a ceiling drip. I finally taught myself just enough soldering to replace the shower valve assembly. A skill that has since atrophied.

Howzabout a "How Grownup Are You Quiz"?
http://howadultareyou.com/

Would the famous short story about the sound of the washer in the night be Edgar Allan Pipe's "The Telltale Spurt"? It ranks right up there with his famous story about a homeowner who hires a handyman to secretly redo the ceramic work in the downstairs hall bathroom under the stairwell. In order to keep his wife from finding out how much the job actually cost, the homeowner wound up walling the handyman in the bathroom by nailgunning several sheets of Hardiboard over the doorway, sealing him in forever. I believe the story was called "The Task of a Mum Tile Add-on," or something like that.

Oh, goody! A quiz about adultery!

I can't believe I went back and added quotation marks and capitals when they are complet;y inappropriate. Bad, bad moi.

94%

Length warning Boko - I am a victim of google after all - 81% - the 22% on physical ability brought me down - did have a couple of 100's - leadership - Yea!

Still laughing at the Citizenship mid 80's - and it isn't my country - really had to guess on a few concerning the military.

Overall adultery score: 83%

Breakdown:
Love 89%
Sex 100%
Leadership 89%
Problem Solving 89%
Physical Abilities 33%
Verbal & Math Skills 100%
Interpersonal Skills 89%
Handling Responsibility 78%
Managing High Risk Behaviors 100%
Managing Work & Money 89%
Education 78%
Personal Care 100%
Self Management 67%
Citizenship 67%

It appears I am a smooth-talking sex machine who practices safe sex and can balance a checkbook and takes good care of himself.

O the irony, the irony.

dmd. It helped to be a US politics junkie on the citizen category.
I was weak in the self management and problem solving areas.

I bet I know which question I got wrong about love. It must have been the one about whipped cream and rubber chickens. D@mmit, I *knew* it was a trick question.

I'm not even touching that quiz. I'm afraid I'll be more adult than I want to be.

By the way, this is probably why I get migraines from coffee... it's tampering with my genes. Hands off, odorants!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080616092116.htm

"The Telltale Spurt" made a perfectly good beer do the same thing out my nose.

(my poor keyboard and monitor take such abuse)

Anybody else catch Al Gore's endorsement of Obama? Captain Climate is definitely on his game.

Of course, he has great material (as in the other camp's follies and fallacies) to work with.

Now *there* is a ticket -- or at least a Cabinet position. Gore has come a long way since 2000 and boy is he pissed. He just ripped the current administration a very wide new one.

My only complaint is that they cut off the coverage as soon as Obama got up to accept Gore's endorsement. I was flipping channels like a mad surfer, but nada.

Back to the tube...

Peace out, babies :-)

I don't see how physical abilities and education are indicative of maturity.
What if you have one leg shorter than the other and aren't able to spiral your way out of the house to school?

Yeah... I would think physical flexibility would be a sign of youth, not adulthood.

I'm only 90% adult. Whew.

Boko... if you have one leg shorter than the other and both of your feet are too long, then you're a "Dancin' Fool" according to the Gospel of St. Zappa.

Which reminds me...

I've been thinking about moving to Montana to become a dental floss tycoon. How many acres would I need? And does Agway sell dental floss seeds?

89% Adult.

I could get some second opinions to bring that score down.

94 percent. I scored lowest in love, which blows my mind. Why do things like flexibility count? I am flexible but don't think it has much to do with being an adult. Aren't children usually more flexible?

I'm tired and a bit cranky. #1 daughter had a rough father's day with her dad. Their relationship is rocky at best and I believe she has decided to take a break from him for a while. Ah maturity, realizing you can't always kiss it and make it better.

90 percent for me, physical abilities brought me down. But I was honest about them!

Martooni, your 6:31 was extremely imaginative. I'll be thinking about windmills next time Mr. eidrib forces me to watch golf. Actually, golf is interesting but usually for me only the last few holes.

However, Tiger puts golf in another dimension.

There are lots of public golf courses out here that are very reasonable. If you like hitting little balls into littler holes.

Al Gore, the musical? O.K., so it's really "An Inconvenient Truth," the opera:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/science/earth/17tier.html

Dear Mr. Gore,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on my draft of "Verità Inconveniente." Rest assured that I and the management of La Scala are committed to a serious presentation of your scientific work. I will try to adopt some of your suggestions, but I hope you appreciate the constraints faced by the composer of an opera that is already five hours long.

I agree it would "round out the résumé" of Prince Algorino in the opening scene if he were to sing about his creation of a communications network. But the "Mio magnifico Internet" aria you propose seems to me a distraction -- and frankly out of place in an 18th-century Tuscan village. I believe the peasants' choral celebration of Prince Algorino's wisdom suffices to establish his virtues. ...

You ask for a detailed revelation of how Petroleo prevents Prince Algorino from becoming king. I understand your interest and desire to introduce another villain. (Incidentally, the translation of "Bush" would be "Arbusto," not "Shrubulo.")

95% over all, didn't keep track of the sub-scores. However, I think they probably scored one wrong about the military and needing a college degree to be an officer. That is generally true, but they still accept soldiers with 90 college credits for Officer Candidate School. Then they have a short time limit to complete the rest of the degree.

Now that I think about it, perhaps reading too much into the question is a sign of immaturity. Aaargh.

95% for me.

Love 67%
Sex 89%
Leadership 100%
Problem Solving 100%
Physical Abilities 89%
Verbal & Math Skills 89%
Interpersonal Skills 100%
Handling Responsibility 100%
Managing High Risk Behaviors 100% Managing Work & Money 100%
Education 100%
Personal Care 100%
Self Management 100%
Citizenship 100%

Thanks for the heads up, 'tooni. I'm tuning into Keith Oldbeerman (or whatever his name is) and they promise to air some of it live right now.

Hey there, Bad Sneaks. Sorry about that. Hard to watch a child struggle with that important relationship. I understand. Rhubarb pie, perhaps or now that June is high upon us, sour cherry pie?

95 % on the adult quiz so Frosti, you and are continue to find congruences.

kbert - I think I've bored everyone with this story before, but I was ticketed once for turning left without the arrow on my motorcycle, because the freaking thing wouldn't change. It was fairly late at night, no automobile pulled up behind me, and I waited through two full cycles without an arrow at an intersection which offered only a red arrow or a green arrow as options. [No "proceed with caution, and yield to other traffic" option.]

When I finally went through, NATURALLY a police car was within sight.

I went to court, plead not guilty, and the D.A. rep kept saying, "But you ran a red light!" And I kept saying, "But the mechanism is faulty. I can go back and videotape it, and submit the tape as evidence at the trial."

Eventually, she offered me a fifteen dollar fine and no points on my record. With a heavy sigh, I took her up on the offer. But I really think that I've had won representing myself at trial, even if I'd had to appeal it up. I don't think that they'd have been willing to push it too hard if I could present evidence of a faulty mechanism.

hmmm... "I really think that I'D HAVE won..."

HMPH. Lies, lies. I had to wait 30 minutes to see it.

Boy, a ripsnorting barnraiser of a speech from Al Gore. Wilbrodog jumped and actually watched the TV when Al Gore said "We need change" three times in a row, the last at a near-yell.

I don't remember him speaking like THAT in 2000. 8 years have improved him considerably.

'Mudge - I've had fun playing with the pirate curse link.

This one amused me:
"3.14159 Bangladeshi barramundas on a Mickey Mouse shadow!"

And this one's just filthy:
"A million bantamweight bulldogs on a maroon maidservant!"

Oh yes, they also cut it off as Obama stood up to get Al Gore's endorsement. C'est la vie.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080617/ap_on_el_pr/obama_gore

"Even our dogs and cats have learned that elections matter," Al Gore said.

Ayup!

kbertocci, try positioning your bicycle over one of the slots in the pavement where they set the sensor wiring. It's an induction loop that works the same way as a very large metal-detector -- it oscillates the direction of the electric current through the wires, which oscillates the direction of the magnetic field formed within the loop. The field is strongest at the edges, where the wires are. If you have a steel-framed bike, it has some hysteresis, meaning it resists the change of the magnetic field direction. This shows up as a change in the resistance of the wire, as it loses some of its energy driving a weak current through your bike frame. If you have an aluminum-frame bike it will still work, because aluminum is a conductor (even though it is not ferro-magnetic). However, if you have a carbon-fiber frame, I think there's no way it could detect you. The steel wheel rims also have an influence, and you can put them right on top of the induction loop.

Or, you could legally cross the street as a pedestrian, off the bike, and position yourself to go with the cross-street traffic when they get their light.

Jumping up and down on the sensor will have no effect at all, by the way. It probably won't even be all that satisfying.

I'll have you know that jumping up and down on censors is a very serious crime.

Many years back in Atlanta the official who was spearheading a coordinated effort to shut down the adult entertainment industry [strip clubs, peep show joints, adult bookstores, etc.] in the area south of the stadium & Capitol was the City Solicitor, named Mary Comfort. It amused me.

Jumping up and down on her would have been quite counterproductive, methinks.

Bob S.... Atlanta and strip clubs... oh, the stories I could tell.

I lived there for a couple of years back around 1990 (never made more money nor had more fun in my life [from the single male perspective]). It always amazed me that smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt, you could walk into a bar and a naked beauty (as in fully naked, no pasties, no nuttin') would bring you your drink.

Those drinks weren't cheap, mind you, but still... ;-)

'Morning, Boodle. Looks like I'm first up this morning (I don't think martooni's been to bed yet). Lot of good columns today: Robinson has a fine piece on Tim Russert, George Will (yes, you heard me, G. Will) has a very good piece on why the Supreme Court opinion on Guantanamo and habeas is not only a very *good* decision, but why McCain was an idiot for saying it was one of the worst (so Will of course trots out Dred Scott and Morematsu, among other stinkers). Dionne has a good column on Obama's Father's Day speech, Cohen has a good piece on Jim Johnson, and Boswell (who like Robinson to my knowledge has never written a bad piece) has a good column on Rocco and Tiger.

I'd give you links, but there are too many of them (and the blog doesn't allow many), and besides, you guys can navigate pretty well on your own.

I don't recollect a day when there were this many good columns, though. If only somebody would burn that "Right Matters" piece of crap. And the "Smart Living" column asks a stupid question (hint on the proper answer: "the truth, maybe? Duh.")

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Morning, morning, friends. Mudge, where are you? I've read Dionne and Robinson this morning. Dionne's point about Obama's sermon on fatherless children was good. If he was speaking for political points with voters, he was also speaking from truth. I know, I was a single parent in this life. And, Robinson's opinion about Tim Russert was good also.

I tell you, you just can't count Tiger out, can you? I wonder if he dreams about golf in his sleep. When Tiger is having a bad game, what does it mean?

Slyness, Mudge, Martooni, Scotty, today is Tuesday, not Saturday, where are you folks? Morning everyone.*waving*

Time to find the water. It's suppose to be cooler today. I'm not sure what that means. I know what the word "cooler" means, just don't have any idea when it is used in conjunction with this area. It's almost like we skipped a season here, and jumped right into another one.

Have a great day, folks.

*Tim, I have looked for the sensors and haven't been able to find them. I'll keep trying and let you know if I figure it out.

Martooni,
Don't get me waxing nostalgic about my bachelor party at the Cheetah 3.

I'm up, Cassandra! Also hoping that today won't be quite so busy as yesterday.

Kber, the NC General Assembly passed a law that motorcycles could run red lights because they don't trip the traffic sensors. Seems like Florida needs to do the same.

Martooni, Atlanta is a wide-open, sophisticated place in many ways. I do hope you got some sleep at some point.

Goodmorning! A little something on topic.

My daughter got her driver's license a month ago. What? I didn't warn y'all? Actually, she is a pretty good driver, even better when she wears her glasses.

Anyway, I've noticed that when she goes off to run a list of errons lately, she's been insisting that I come along, you know, just to talk about things and stuff. How sweet!

Then as she hit the emergency brake to park in front of the grocery store, she said these heartwarming words, "Dad, do you know one thing that I will always like about you tagging along with me?"

"Uh, what?"

"Handicapped Parking."

I feel so loved!

DandyLion - That made me laugh. But look on the bright side, at least she isn't ashamed to be seen in public with her father!

Back in the day when I rode a motorcycle, I had to run my share of red lights. Never got caught though.

I also had my share of time saver tricks. Like when coming up to a waiting line of cars sitting at a red light, I would slip into the right turn lane, but instead of turning right, I would pop into pole position in front of the line of idling cars.

It's not like I was being unsafe or anything, and by nature of the acceleration of a motorcycle over that of an automobile, it didn't take anymore time for the motorists to get where they were going by me cutting in line, but...

I saw a lot of angry faces in the rearview mirror.

RD, my daughter does have a minimum set of standards, like for instance, when I wear shorts, she pulls my socks down into a cuff to the top of my shoes. Then when I go out in public, my ankles feel naked.

Got a 94%. I'd take it again to see where I went wrong on love, but it's too danged long, and I have actuall work to do today.

Kb and SensorTim: Me too, as in cannot find the sensor pad or sweet spot to trigger left-hand turn lights. SensorTim, you may have to develop a workshop, based on all the variations. We biker-peeps will pay money and stay at Comfort Inns cross the country to learn this andm say, take home a TSC (Turn Sensor Certificate).

HeartyTim: I meant to say last kit that your note on occult heart troubles touched me. I am glad you did not have the Russert experience. That heart disease is a secretive and silent stalker of many, including women, still confounds us.

I dunno 'bout that quiz...

94% overall

Love: 67%
Sex: 100%
Leadership: 100%
Problem Solving: 100%
Physical Abilities: 89%
Verbal and Math Skills: 100%
Interpersonal Skills: 100%
Handling Responsibility: 100%
Managing High-Risk Behaviors: 89%
Managing Work and Money: 100%
Education: 100%
Personal Care: 89%
Self Management: 100%
Citizenship: 89%

Who was that masked man taking the quiz for me? :-)

And Tiger is just otherworldly, but we'll have to see what price he pays for having abused that knee.

Always nice to have low humidity when waiting for the train in the morning, yanno.

*lacking-a-snappy-turn-of-phrase-but-happy-to-be-past-Monday-anyway Grover waves*

:-)

I hope every dad among you had a good Father's Day.

Have we heard from dmd lately? There were some massive storms out her way yesterday.

To play off Dana Milbank's piece this morning about John McCain's strange dance.

Anyone remember when Obama did the Charleston (He was quite the verbal flapper during the debate in South Carolina):

During the Myrtle Beach debate, Obama told Clinton that while he was a community organizer in Chicago, "watching those folks see their jobs shift overseas, you were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board of Wal-Mart."

Guess Obama had to do the "quickstep" around this inconvenient little fact (AP, June 5, 2008, Christopher Wills, "People Who Might Complicate Obama's Campaign"):

She [Michelle Obama] served on the board of TreeHouse, a food company that did business with Wal-Mart, which Obama has often criticized. She resigned from the paid position, citing a lack of time.

Not to mention Obama's present paso doble (two step):

http://www.nysun.com/national/obama-taps-wal-mart-defender-as-director/79665/

Just days after clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Obama is naming as his economic policy director an economist [Jason Furman] who has clashed with critics of Wal-Mart by defending the company as a boon to poor Americans.

Lest we forget, this line dance: women who worked for Wal-Mart lined up behind Betty Duke, a Pittsburg, Calif. Wal-Mart employee, who, in 2001, along with several other employees, sued the company for discrimination on the job. The movement gathered steam and resulted in the largest class-action lawsuit in U.S. history. About 2 million former and current female employees of Wal-Mart filed against the discount retailer for gender discrimination.

Good morning, all.

Busy this morning on some personal biz, but had a moment to "borrow" someone's unsecured wireless network while I'm waiting for the Comcast folks. [Hey, an on-topic comment that also documents my securing a good seat at the HellBar!]

If I had time, I'd backboodle, but I have shtuff to do.

Ciao for now!

bc

PS, for those of you not watching Tiger Woods for whatever reasons, you may regret not doing so at some point. He's making sports history (FWIW) with every stroke. A Legend in Progress.

Mornin' all...

yello... oh yes... the Cheetah III. I dated a young lady who worked there. She had an MBA, drove a paid-for brand new Jaguar, owned a paid-for condo and thought dancing nekkid for $800 or so a night (in cash, no less) was a much better deal than having to fight for a corner office with a view. She was also realistic -- she figured she could make the big bucks there for another five to seven years, then fall back on her MBA skillz and start her own company with all the money she made.

Rough night here (and not in the good way). I decided to start mowing the lawn last night around 7:30 and ended up messing my back up. Which explains me being awake to post my 3:16am. Much better now, but sheesh...

Time for me to get busy. Sawdust doesn't make itself and I haven't even had my coffee yet.

Peace out...

I'm 91% adult. Hate to think what I would have scored on that test when I was in my 20s.

There's a stop sign for a crosswalk in front of the building where I work. Apparently I rely on hearing rather than sight to determine if traffic is indeed going to stop for it because a couple of times I've almost been mowed down by a bicyclist. Tim, CP, kbert, could you post a message at the next meeting of the Bicyclist's Guild? (That it's just not motorists that don't see ya.)

OK I just took the Weingarten quiz (it sure isn't a "survey" if there's one correct answer)for today. I had to guess on approximately 70% of the questions. Was he making this stuff up, or did I not ingest that much of the 70s and 80s pop culture?

Once, my left eardrum was punctured by the tip of a pindo palm leaf (odd accident, but it sure enough happened on Saturday of Labor Day weekend). The loss of hearing in my left ear made it impossible to locate sounds. I had never realized the extent to which I located things (especially cars) by hearing.

I just noticed something this morning when stopping into McDonald's for breakfast. They are having a promotion that ties in with the movie, "Kung fu panda". One of the pieces of the promotion's artwork has the panda's head and the tiger's head near each other, both looking at the viewer. The panda is a spot-on, dead ringer, likeness of Tim Russert, with in his "Gotcha" grin. Whoa!

Morning all... Getting ready to head into the office. Today is my "late night" deadline, which means I'll get home some time tomorrow morning. Last month it was 3:45 am before I climbed into bed. Sigh.

Much of the time is sitting around waiting for articles to be written, so if any of you late-night or west-coast boodlers are looking for some company later tonight, I'll be here. Sigh.

G'morning boodle! I am seeing more bikers and scooter riders even up here in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps there will finally be enough serious two wheeled commuters to make an impression with law makers. Mr. F's cool city digs come with an owned indoor parking space. Imagine the joy when we first toured his spot and saw enough room to put a bike rack and a storage locker in the front. No hauling cycle and helmet to and fro each day.

We are supposed to see 75-80 degrees today. Whew, don't know if I can stand the heat. It's 64 in the house right now with windows open to pre-chill in anticipation of the afternoon sun. I am trying to see if I can avoid installing the window AC at all this summer. We're already two weeks beyond last year's installation date.

George Will's column was worth reading today, but I found myself thinking "how quaint" when he said having habeas hearings could have the benefit of revealing to Americans just how bad the bad people are that we are holding at Gitmo. Better that we reveal that even the bad people have rights, for what stands between their loss of rights and ours? As Ma Frostbitten always taught the frostlings- The constitution is not a technicality.

Safe and sound, thanks dr. My little area escaped the most severe storms - we did have one bolt of lightning that I am guessing was very close as the power went off immediately after the flash - then the thunder. Saw the city removing damage from a big tree trunk less than a mile away - probably the tree that got hit.

It is very lush here at the moment after all the rains (short, and very intense rain).

Morning all

got 85% on the pop culture quiz. Knew 9 or 11 for sure. That means 6-8 really good guesses.

Raysmom, my thinking is that we probably guessed on a lot of the same ones, and to me these seem pretty obscure.

It's interesting to see the diffs between the other age groups. Here's one I totally don't get. No. 13, the Slim Shady quest. Seems the respones got steadliy worse as you went to the younger groups. Unless I'm missreading it...

Still getting coffeed here, but it's looking like a *very* comfy day for the workshop. 57F (note, not "FF") with a nice breeze, highs predicted in the upper 60s.

If I could find some place in the world where this was the norm year round, I'd be packing bags so quick...

Omni, the Slim Shady question was part of a rap song from Eminem; amusingly enough, William Shatner did a version of it on a "Futurama" episode. :)

dmd, good to hear. Lush is OK.

I saw the movie "8 Mile", and maybe it was said there, but either way, the correct answer is just so obvious, to me anyhow.

65% on the Weingarten poll, survey, whatever (imagine the eye roll with that word). Here's something really cool. Handwriting analysis with an instant report.

The official Frostbitten report, alas no astrological implications were indicated-
"You like to keep life in perspective and have a fairly straightforward way of viewing yourself and others. To you, Life is neither a stage nor a tragedy play! You are fairly comfortable with who you are and your family. Its likely that you enjoy throwing a good party, and just don't like being cooped up all evening. And once Friday afternoon comes, you're probably often right ready to bolt out to find the weekend's next social event! So you kind of like to hide behind the curtain of convenience, huh? Prefer not to have people know the "real you" unless you want them to.
"OrdinarysVille, USA" is one of the things which we used to call this when we see it in a hand: That's because you seem to have a reticence to stray from the kind of handwriting you were were taught to do in Grade School, recall? Have you ever thought about why you like to write this way? Is it because you particularly LIKE the structure of the standards? Or is it perhaps because you have found kudos and congratulatory strokes for being able to fit in with the norms or because you'd prefer to be visible for how well you fit in and not how much you stand out? Perhaps you're hesitant, then to try something like throwing in a little "Strokes By Frostbitten" sometime, and let go of that overwhelming need to conform? How is this like other aspects of your life?Normalcy doesn't bother you. In fact, it may feel downright comfortable most of the time. No point in pushing the envelope, huh?

Analyze your own handwriting here-

http://www.hwa.org/SelfEval.shtml

Our frosti? Fitting in with the norms? Overwhelming need to conform?

Ha! Ha! Ha!

I can barely hanwrite anymore. It was illegible anyway so no great loss there.

Lush is a weak word for my backyard, the Green Inferno is more like it. I wouldn't be surprised to see screeching monkeys swinging from trees to trees and hear the call of birds of paradise and the rustling of capibarras in the bushes. The mosquitoe infestation has reached Equatorian jungle levels. Basically, having a serious downpour every other day has transformed the exoburb into a rainforest.

Did someone already post this interview with Gore Vidal?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/magazine/15wwln-Q4-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

SCC I can't neither handwrite nor type.

It doesn't have to be Writing/Cursive to be analyzed. You can have Manuscript/Printing analyzed as well.

My handwriting is a combo. About 90% print to 10% cursive. Still legible, but worse as I get older.

Strangely though, my handwriting was at its best when I was still a Test Pilot 20 years ago, if you know what I mean.

Another strange thing: I couldn't play chess while piloting. That combo would make me paranoid for some reason...

Howdy y'all. Lots of rain here last night and this morning. Yesterday evening we had some really extraordinary clouds. Dark blue, indigo and purple alternating with gray and white, some very low-hanging, apparently moving in different directions; the setting sun on the white sides of some made them a delicate yellow pink which was very gaudy against the purple and blue.

I got 96% on the adult quiz - 9 categories at 100% and 5 at 89%. Any more responsible and I'd be dead, or at least deadly dull.

Wow, TBG, that Vidal interview was sure...um...acerbic. Kind of like grapefruit juice with quinine in it. I liked this one, though: [Q:] "How did you feel when you heard that [William] Buckley died this year? [A:] I thought hell is bound to be a livelier place, as he joins forever those whom he served in life, applauding their prejudices and fanning their hatred."

My handwriting analysis...

"Do people ever say you're stiff and stoic? Is it hard for you to get a move on yourself when it comes to social situations? Seems you might want to loosen up a bit! "

So... whaddya think? Right or wrong?

Are you sure that was your handwriting TBG - I think they got you wrong.

One last Bush push to get Osama? And Obama hasn't mentioned Pakistan since last August...or so that's what I come up with on Google.:

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/9058

Help from the Brits for Bush?:

The Times of London reports that Bush has asked Britain's elite special forces to aid in a final, reinvigorated effort to capture Osama bin Laden, who is presumed to be hiding in northern Pakistan.

Here's Sunday's Times of London story:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article4138791.ece

The Special Boat Service (SBS) and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment have been taking part in the US-led operations to capture Bin Laden in the wild frontier region of northern Pakistan. It is the first time they have operated across the Afghan border on a regular basis.

LL: The Brits need boats in the mountainous regions of northwest Pakistan, Waziristan?

Thank goodness the NYT today doesn't mention Pakistan in its last graf of reporting about Monday's Taliban uprising in southern Afghanistan ("Taliban Commander is Face of Rising Threat"), as the Washington Post did this morning.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/world/asia/17warlord.html?hp

TBG-overwhelming need to conform? Ha! Much more like a need to compete and win. In 5th grade Sister Mary Francis gave me a C in penmanship for the first quarter and it put me behind my great friend Teresa. No amount of whipping the pants off her in spelling bees could console me, there was nothing to do but risk the sin of pride and make my hand look just like the script posted on the classroom wall. This was also the year I became a kickball star. So sad to peak at 10.

FYI- Kojo's Tech Tuesday topic is blogging and copyright violations. Big to do over suit filed by AP against the Drudge Retort and what constitutes fair use in the blogging world. Yello has posted many a fine analysis on said topic, but thought I'd mention this as "fair use" is being discussed. Forewarned is forearmed (which always makes me think of roller derby, and explains why I have no attention span at all, and that was even before the intertubes)

Handwriting analysis, like astrology, is ok for fun and giggles but I walked out of a job interview when they asked me for a writing sample. I also told the interviewers what I felt about a HR Dept. that was so stupid it used the damn thing.
I would have told them what I 'thought' of the test but, when dealing with HR professionals (Ha!), I'm smart enough to know that 'feelings' can't be invalidated.

The Special Boat Service (SBS) are the British equivalent of our Navy Seals with a bit of Delta Force thrown in. They are commandoes, drawn mainly from the British Navy and British Marines (used to be exclusively from those branches, but now allow others branches in); their parent organization are the British Marines, rather than Navy. While their training is primarily maritime and riverine, just like our SEALS, they are also highly skilled in anti-terrorist and similar kinds of "black ops" training. In short, they are the best of the best. Their sister agency is the somewhat better known SAS, Special Air Service, along with two lesser known outfits, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment (only 4 years old, but formed out of many old ex-anti-IRA lads), and the Special Services Support Group, which despite its odd name is actually mainly the parachuute outfit, the "Paras" who got so much fame in the Falklands.

They just wouldn't be Brits unless their organization names didn't carry some archaic as well as misleading jargon, hence the otherwise laughable "Special Boat Service." But pound for pound, probably couldn't find a tougher, smarter better-trained tea-drinking bunch anywhere.

The Miami Herald's staff is to shrink by 17%.
http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/572582.html

Not to mention that the NYT had a story on the demise of the copy editor yesterday. That's roughly what I did for three years--turn messy written material into something readable.

Well said Mr. Curmudgeon.

The Chinese have several orgs like that just to keep life interesting.

BZ on your 1221, Mudge. I was about to pounce on that like a duck on a June bug.

This water rations thing in Montgomery County has made me realize that, while I do have some emergency water stashed at home, it isn't near enough. Anybody have any recommendations as to suppliers of emergency water storage equipment? I've perused the interweb, but I'd prefer dealing with somebody that I know, or is recommended. Am I the only person on the boodle who does not have one gallon of water, per person, per day, stashed away for at least two weeks?

Gosh, not me, Don. Even though we had the mother of all droughts last year, and the 54-inch main that provides water to my side of town is currently broken and being repaired. If push came to shove, I keep four gallons of gas in the tank of the vehicle, which will get me up the mountain to the cottage with a well. (Of course, have to have power for pump to work...)

Dave, the Charlotte Observer is set to lose 11 percent of its employees.

I'd be surprised if you *were* the only one, Don. Looks like I'm supposed to have 64 gallons on hand. Reckon I'm about 63 gallons short.

Mudge, IIRC the SAS was one of the first outfit to land in Afghanistan and have been there since. The SBS chaps are probably rotating some of them out.

I've got 20 000 gallon stashed in the backyard Don, in the form of a 20x40' 1967 era pool.
Sadly, it was brought into contribution more than a few times when power failed and the trusty well couln't be tapped. We used it mostly to flush the toilets but it could be used for drinking water after dechlorination.
The power has failed often enough that I'm thinking about getting a small gen set. Getting out to break ice and scoop water for the johns in the cold of January gets old pretty quick.

I think you're right, shriek. But the British have a way of "mix-and-matching" these units up, and do it all the time. It was the SAS boys who conducted the famous Iranian Embassy raid in London in 1980--but the had a few SBS guys with them. And of course *all* of them fought in the Falklands. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the assignement was originally supposed to go to the SAS, and the SBS said something like, "Hey, let us have a bit of fun, too." Bet some of the Paras get in on it, too. When you look at the order-of-battle structure of these outfits down at the regiment and brigade level, you see a lot of cross-training and inter-unit work, to the point that they begin to look interchangeable. Which is a good thing, I think. The Brits have "gone purple" a heckuva lot easier than we have. (Why am I not surprised.)

I have a well and hand pump. I tried it and it works. I also have enough food for several months though after that it'll be groundhogs, venison and wild turkey.

So they're better at holding their breath a REALLY long time, 'Mudge?

:-)

Comes from drinking all that tea and eating English cooking, Scotty.

SCC ...venison, and wild turkey.
I mean who in their right mind would have venison and wild turkey. Sheesh.

How are they at defending themselves against people armed with bananas, raspberries, or point-ed sticks?

I have a pump too boko, now if I could muster the will to actually install it...
Working in the small 4ft high pump room, under the porch, depresses me.

Mudge, these are small units in a small professional army. I think they "must" cross trained as they share the same facilities. I'm all for purple but the canadian DND went separate colours after 15 years in green only. Picking the ugliest colour didn't help. As they say there are three elements in DND; Sea, Air and Dirt. The Canadian elite unit, also in Afghanistan since the first day (some misinformed souls say even a few days earlier...) has one of those non-informative name: JTF2 for Joint Task Force two. Very inspiring.

That settles it, I'm going to Boko's if the ballon goes up. Venison, washed down with 93 proof Wild Turkey. Mmmmmm...

Frostbitten, your handwriting isn't conventional... it's disciplined.

TBG, your handwriting is classy, not stiff.

I read a book on handwriting analysis as a teen, I happened to share it with my then-boss who had handwriting that 10 CIA operatives would have problems puzzling out (but which I could read). "This says that people who have illegible handwriting are untrustworthy, quick thinkers." He laughed and said "call me dirty dick."

Then I later noticed the bilateral scars on his wrists from carpal tunnel surgery and nearly died of embarrassment. I hadn't thought about WHY he had such bad handwriting.

I still remember some tricks of the trade from that book, although while it mentioned more than one possible conclusion per trait, I'm not so sure that handwriting analysis experts bother to consider all possiblities; rather they want to be like Sherlock Holmes and identify the dirt as coming from a left-handed mason who has spent his days at sea.

Loomis, I've done business with Walmart. Doesn't make me Walmart.

At least they're an U.S. company. Treehouse sells food, including private label beverages. Walmart is an large retailer for food and beverage.
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=191105&p=irol-irhome

What are they supposed to do, refuse to sell to Walmart and have Walmart drive them out of business?

Guilt by association ain't the same as actually sitting on the board of Walmart.

Shriek... I had to laugh when you mentioned monkeys in the back yard.

It's great working from home until summer vacation hits and the little monkeys come home to roost. Little Bean is now "shop manager" and is taking her job very seriously. I don't remember putting "drive the furry gnome nuts" in her job description, but she's got that one down pat.

I tried to keep her busy painting a little wooden bird house I picked up at the dollar store. That lasted all of 15 minutes. Of course there was another hour involved getting her set up with paints and a brush and all that. We still have to do the "glue shiny things on" step, but I think I'm going to pretend the glue gun is broken. I'm distracted enough and busier than all get out and shiny things don't help.

*memo to self: don't get the ribs for lunch and expect to keep working and/or reading the Weingarten chat. My keyboard is as slick as a Memphis barstool.*

Is it wrong to have recruited the local Catholic priest to be on the board of our little nonprofit without revealing that I myself am a heathen? It's too late, the deed is done, but I want a boodle appraisal of how guilty I should feel. I mentioned how I thought we'd done a poor job in our first two years of reaching out to the local congregations, or faith communities as we seem to say now, and may have left him with the impression that I personally find the "faith" part as important as the "community" bit.

Great news in the Yness household! My brother's company has hired the geek dottir, to start next week! It's contract work to start, with the possibility of going full-time in the fall. She goes for training for the next couple of weeks, then works from home.

Frosti, don't be silly. What does your heathenness have to do with your job description as a non-profit board member? Unless your non-profit is into proselytizing for a particular point of view, you are home free.

If it hurts your conscience, get thee to confession, Frostbitten.

Well, he knows you are not Catholic, and he didn't ask you about your beliefs. He may be the sort that believes in serving people no matter what their faith may be, to take up the living work of the Lord in the world.

Thank him for his hard work, and leave it at it. In such a small town, I find it hard to believe he wouldn't know you lead a church-free existence.

If you DO want to discuss your heathen soul, that's up to you. Personally, I wouldn't, it can be read as a hint you may be ready to consider seeking reasons to believe.

I'm with slyness, Frosty. I don't see any foul whatsoever.

Frosti completely agree with Slyness.

Congrats to geek dottir, and to the young gradutes of CP and Yoki. I had hoped to congratulate Yoki in person but our schedules cannot match.

No reason to worry, frostbitten. I am involved in several community endeavors where local clergy are actively recruited. Your personal religious affiliation, if any, is never the issue; the question is always inclusion of this important segment of the community in the organization's good work. The clergy I know who serve on these things take that for granted.

Congratulations to Slyness's daughter. Also belated congratulations to Yoki's daughter as well. I'm just happy the Boy advanced to seventh grade (gulp).

Congrats to Y dottir and Yoki dottir and CP dottir. Dottirs rule!

(Looks like a new kit!)