Is it just me, or does January seem to last forever? I keep checking the calendar to see if it is over yet, but it doesn't seem to move. I used to think that March was the worst, but I am beginning to believe that January is going to get the record. I watch the weather channel and it does not seem to change -- "Bitterly cold, chance of snow, windy". This all comes from a suit in a warm studio in Syracuse, who apparently has no idea of what is going on up here. I am trying to get my income tax filed, but one concern which owes me a tax form tells me on their automated response system that my form is in the mail. Sounds like the old "your check is in the mail" deal. Oh well, 4 more days and then we will be into warm February. As I write this, there is apparently a winter storm scheduled here for Wednesday & Thursday, which may result in more plowing for me. I can assure you that my old Farmall tractor is not the warmest vehicle I have ever rode on. I have to wait for the temp to get up near 20 before it will even start.
My guess that Princess Caroline would be our next state senator was off just a tad - you can't win them all. The Gov is being lambasted by the press for not providing them with every minute detail of his selection process. They are obviously raising hell with him in case he tries to keep a secret in the future. What part of the appointment is solely his don't they understand? We know they want to know so they can second guess any appointment he makes because we all know that the media is infinitely smarter than us common slobs. The best show on earth is the Illinois governor who, despite their best efforts to impeach him, refuses to even show up for his trial. I think the guy is a crook but I have to admire his nerve. Absolutely nothing seems to deter this guy from doing exactly what he wants to.
We have a new jail in Canton and the prisoners will be moved in in the near future. I am amazed that this state of the art facility actually got built on time, and apparently within budget. It is a miracle. Our legislators will be lined up for hours trying to take complete credit for the project, and the individual complaints earlier on will, hopefully, be forgotten.
I see that some lady out west recently gave birth to 8 babies at the same time. The word we get is that she is going to breast feed them. There's a sight I would like to see. The best I can do is wish her good luck.
I will be getting out the seed catalogs in the near future and plan my garden for next year. If you have not noticed, the price of seeds is out of sight (well, almost), but a few bargains are still around. The best deals I can find are from Fedco Seeds in Maine. You can look them up on the internet if you want a catalog. They don't have everything I want so I will have to shop elsewhere for some stuff (and get stuck with multiple shipping costs). I put a snow fence around my raspberries last fall, because the deer ate them down to nothing the year before and - no Summer berries. The fall bearers came along OK. So far the fence has held up fairly well, and I see no deer tracks inside if it. Somehow the seed catalogs seem to reassure me that summer will get here eventually.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Inauguaration Day
I hope I spelled the title right - the nation is completely unglued as we celebrated Martin Luther King day yesterday (Jan 19), and the same celebrants stayed over to see our new president inauguarated today. One can only hope that things start changing around, economy wise and several other wises. I remain optimistic because I sincerely believe that the new president's only direction is up. In the next few days we will see Hilary approved as Secretary of State, and as long as she doesn't keep many old Clinton hold-overs around should do quite well. In good old NY, our Gov is still laboring mightily over his choice for Hilary's replacement and may make a decision by next week. I see that some of the NY pundits are all in a lather because Patterson is not releasing his candidate questionairres or his "short list" of nominees. It appears that the Gov is simply telling them to go to hell, and it is about time. As I understand it, he is the sole decider on this issue. Would anyone like to make a small bet that Princess Caroline will not be our next Senator?
One other issue bothering the Gov is the obesity issue, and it looks like fast food franchises will be required to post the amount of calories, trans-fats, etc included in the meals they serve. Have you ever in your life seen someone reading a Big Mac wrapper to see what is in it? That is almost as stupid as the EPA's obsession with cow poop. First, they were going to tax farmers for each cow, apparently according to how much poop they produced, but they are also interested in burn barrels, tree pests, birds flying into wind turbines, etc, etc. Speaking of wind turbines, isn't it amazing that the same folks who are screaming for us to reduce gas emissions are raising hell because the turbines might kill a bird or two. I don't know how these folks heat their homes, it seems to me that every sourse of heat has to start somewhere, unless you have figured out how to not use any heat at all. The only way I can see to do that is to move South - waaay South.
On the local front, Legislator Tom Nichols has tearfully resigned from the Legislature to take up his new job as deputy election commissioner. I can't get too excited over that little item because the fun has not yet begun. Someone has to replace Tom, and the selection of his replacement should provide us with lots of entertainment for the next few months.
Our weather has been unique, so say the least, with temperatures dropping quite a way below zero, and snow, which is falling as I write this. It reminds me of my Father-in-law, Omer Tessier, (now deceased). Omer had a thermometer which did not agree with anyone else's in the town of Stockholm. If you said it was 20 below at your house, Omer would announce that is was 25 below at his. On those rare hot days, if you had a temperature of 80 degrees, Omer has 85. It was harmless, and we used to give him fictituous reports of our temperatures to see how far he was willing to exceed us.
Enough for today - later, WCD.
One other issue bothering the Gov is the obesity issue, and it looks like fast food franchises will be required to post the amount of calories, trans-fats, etc included in the meals they serve. Have you ever in your life seen someone reading a Big Mac wrapper to see what is in it? That is almost as stupid as the EPA's obsession with cow poop. First, they were going to tax farmers for each cow, apparently according to how much poop they produced, but they are also interested in burn barrels, tree pests, birds flying into wind turbines, etc, etc. Speaking of wind turbines, isn't it amazing that the same folks who are screaming for us to reduce gas emissions are raising hell because the turbines might kill a bird or two. I don't know how these folks heat their homes, it seems to me that every sourse of heat has to start somewhere, unless you have figured out how to not use any heat at all. The only way I can see to do that is to move South - waaay South.
On the local front, Legislator Tom Nichols has tearfully resigned from the Legislature to take up his new job as deputy election commissioner. I can't get too excited over that little item because the fun has not yet begun. Someone has to replace Tom, and the selection of his replacement should provide us with lots of entertainment for the next few months.
Our weather has been unique, so say the least, with temperatures dropping quite a way below zero, and snow, which is falling as I write this. It reminds me of my Father-in-law, Omer Tessier, (now deceased). Omer had a thermometer which did not agree with anyone else's in the town of Stockholm. If you said it was 20 below at your house, Omer would announce that is was 25 below at his. On those rare hot days, if you had a temperature of 80 degrees, Omer has 85. It was harmless, and we used to give him fictituous reports of our temperatures to see how far he was willing to exceed us.
Enough for today - later, WCD.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The Ides of January
Anybody care about the weather? We are at 35 degrees today (Tuesday) and predicted to go to 25 below zero by Thursday. There is nothing like a 55 degree temperature swing to make you appreciate the North Country. My buddy in Florida calls and tells me they are a little chilly - it only was 67 in the AM. Luckily, it warmed up later for them. I can't repeat what I say to him.
They have a "world's dumbest crook" thing on TV periodically, and I would hate to think we were left out here on the Edge of the World. We were saved recently by a guest at the prison in Malone, who was released at about midnight one night, and stole a car on the way out of the jail parking lot. He was apprehended in about 30 minutes as near as I can tell and got his free room back.
In Canton, our Board of Legislators are at it again. Seems that Legislator Tom Nichols (the voice of Oswegatchie) was appointed as Deputy Republican Election Commissioner and it is now being decided whether it is ethical for him to stay on the board at the same time. Our erstwhile county attorney is "researching" the law on this situation, and will come up with an answer sometime this year. I remember the county attorney when I worked up there, whose name I will omit to protect myself. He used to go to many meetings and would usually say "you can ask me any questions you may have during the meetings and I will clear things up for you". If you did ask him any question except "what time is it", the response was always - "I will research that and get back to you in a memo". Among the rank and file of the employees, his nickname was "Memo". Back to the Nichols appointment, which was announced by Deb Pahler, the Republican election commissioner who, as I understand it, has complete authority to make the appointment. I don't suppose the County Republican Chairman had anything to do with that decision. Oh well, the Board of Elections loss is the Legislature's gain.
On the National Front, the hearings are underway concerning Hilary Clinton's appointment as Secretary of State. There is very little of substance being said, and the committee members are taking their sweet, profound, intelligent time about saying it. I am amazed how a senator who wants to say "She'll be OK" can use 30 minutes worth of hot air to say it. Comparison has to be made over the statements of a confident, poised Hilary who, despite my personal feelings about her is certainly on top of things as well as anyone, and Senator wannabee Caroline, who did write a children's book you know. I understand that she had a co-author on that project. I feel a certain degree of pity for Governor Patterson who is certainly getting a thorough lesson in Kennedy politics.
Enough for today - wcd.
They have a "world's dumbest crook" thing on TV periodically, and I would hate to think we were left out here on the Edge of the World. We were saved recently by a guest at the prison in Malone, who was released at about midnight one night, and stole a car on the way out of the jail parking lot. He was apprehended in about 30 minutes as near as I can tell and got his free room back.
In Canton, our Board of Legislators are at it again. Seems that Legislator Tom Nichols (the voice of Oswegatchie) was appointed as Deputy Republican Election Commissioner and it is now being decided whether it is ethical for him to stay on the board at the same time. Our erstwhile county attorney is "researching" the law on this situation, and will come up with an answer sometime this year. I remember the county attorney when I worked up there, whose name I will omit to protect myself. He used to go to many meetings and would usually say "you can ask me any questions you may have during the meetings and I will clear things up for you". If you did ask him any question except "what time is it", the response was always - "I will research that and get back to you in a memo". Among the rank and file of the employees, his nickname was "Memo". Back to the Nichols appointment, which was announced by Deb Pahler, the Republican election commissioner who, as I understand it, has complete authority to make the appointment. I don't suppose the County Republican Chairman had anything to do with that decision. Oh well, the Board of Elections loss is the Legislature's gain.
On the National Front, the hearings are underway concerning Hilary Clinton's appointment as Secretary of State. There is very little of substance being said, and the committee members are taking their sweet, profound, intelligent time about saying it. I am amazed how a senator who wants to say "She'll be OK" can use 30 minutes worth of hot air to say it. Comparison has to be made over the statements of a confident, poised Hilary who, despite my personal feelings about her is certainly on top of things as well as anyone, and Senator wannabee Caroline, who did write a children's book you know. I understand that she had a co-author on that project. I feel a certain degree of pity for Governor Patterson who is certainly getting a thorough lesson in Kennedy politics.
Enough for today - wcd.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Don't Kick the Bee Hive
Several years ago, my parents were blessed with a summer visit by a particularly obnoxious grandson, whose name I will omit to protect the guilty. This was the meanest kid I ever saw, diminutive in stature, but with a throwing arm to rival Bob Feller. He perfected his throwing ability by putting the rocks to chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, cows, and on one memorable occasion, hit my father between the shoulder blades with a baseball-sized rock traveling about 80 miles per hour. He got his ass warmed for the last effort, and I think the only way the old man caught him was that he stayed frozen on the spot for a couple of extra minutes waiting for dad to die. After that dust had settled, I overheard the old man talking to him in the yard. His conversation went something like this: "you have terrorized every dog, cat, etc, on this farm since you have arrived, but I am warning you to leave the bee hive in the garden alone - you can't whip them." This, of course, was like waving a red flag in front of a bull, and the kid immediately headed for the bee hive and gave it a hell of a kick, maybe two. He shortly learned that what dad had told him was true, and it took about 30 seconds for him to depart the area at high speed, crying, with a cloud of angry bees in hot pursuit. He left that particular bunch of livestock alone after that.
I bring this story up because it reminds me of the current unpleasantness in the Middle East, between the Jews and Hamas. It seems that the Hamas group believed that they could lob a few rockets into Jerusalem without fear of retribution. This went on quite a while until the Jewish equivalent of "don't kick the bee hive" finally happened and the bees came out of the hive with great enthusiasm. We are now constantly shown via TV of the poor, oppressed, Palistinian people who show us their wounded and dead citizens caused by the outrageous behavior of the Jews. I do not pretent to understand all of the political ramifications of this episode, but I do understand that if any of those folks remembered their history, they would have realized that the Jews can only be aggravated so far - and then they will kick somebody's ass. They (Hamas) continue to fire their rockets, although it looks like being on a rocket launching team is about as safe as being a suicide bomber - with similar results. Some people may not like my interpretation of this situation, but my opinions are my own, and if you don't like them, don't read this Blog.
On the National front here at home, it is reported that the bailout money for GMAC will b used to buy shares in the company so the Government can control the operations of the company. If I had to pick the worst possible senario for new company management, you would not have to look very far to decide to let the Government run the show. Their track record at manageing the economy is not my idea of a very good track record. Maybe things will change in the future, it will have to if things are ever going to get straightened out.
Up here on the Edge of the World, it is snowing, and it is predicted to change to sleet, freezing rain, you name it - It would not surprise me if manure fell out of the sky. At least the Government is not involved in this mess, and folks up here cope with it as they always have - by cleaning up the mess ourselves. Happy Winter.
I bring this story up because it reminds me of the current unpleasantness in the Middle East, between the Jews and Hamas. It seems that the Hamas group believed that they could lob a few rockets into Jerusalem without fear of retribution. This went on quite a while until the Jewish equivalent of "don't kick the bee hive" finally happened and the bees came out of the hive with great enthusiasm. We are now constantly shown via TV of the poor, oppressed, Palistinian people who show us their wounded and dead citizens caused by the outrageous behavior of the Jews. I do not pretent to understand all of the political ramifications of this episode, but I do understand that if any of those folks remembered their history, they would have realized that the Jews can only be aggravated so far - and then they will kick somebody's ass. They (Hamas) continue to fire their rockets, although it looks like being on a rocket launching team is about as safe as being a suicide bomber - with similar results. Some people may not like my interpretation of this situation, but my opinions are my own, and if you don't like them, don't read this Blog.
On the National front here at home, it is reported that the bailout money for GMAC will b used to buy shares in the company so the Government can control the operations of the company. If I had to pick the worst possible senario for new company management, you would not have to look very far to decide to let the Government run the show. Their track record at manageing the economy is not my idea of a very good track record. Maybe things will change in the future, it will have to if things are ever going to get straightened out.
Up here on the Edge of the World, it is snowing, and it is predicted to change to sleet, freezing rain, you name it - It would not surprise me if manure fell out of the sky. At least the Government is not involved in this mess, and folks up here cope with it as they always have - by cleaning up the mess ourselves. Happy Winter.
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