I don't know how man of you actually follow the Supreme Court or read up on the decisions that they reach, but this on is just too funny.
The court, in its infinite wisdom, decided that it was okay for municipalities to seize private property if the seizing would benefit the economics of the community. David Souter voted with the majority in this decision. Read the article to find out what happened next.
This decision got me thinking though, wouldn't the seizing of that horrid house down the hill from my parents benefit the community. We could tear it down and create a park or a nature preserve, anything would be better than what is there now!
In an update from yesterday...I investigated the tree that Chris claimed was struck by lightning, but I highly doubt it was. Firstly, it's still standing and in mostly one piece. It does have a black scar on in and it has a minor split, but I want to say that those were there before the storm. We still do not have telephone service. Chris has been having fun yelling at Verizon and is planning to report their lack of service to the Public Service Board. By law they are required to have someone out to the house to fix the problem within 24 hours. Verizon actually told Chris that this was a "guideline" and the worst that could happen would be they would get fined. Oh, is that all! They are supposed to be out this morning to fix the line. I'll keep my fingers crossed, but I won't hold my breath.
On a related note...the cable company did come within 24 hours to fix our cable problem. The technician who opened up the routing box on the house was shocked to see all of the lines fried and black (apparently they are supposed to be silver). He said that something definitely hit something somewhere and was surprised that there wasn't more damage.
It is finally cooling off, and I'm off of work tomorrow. Hurray for the four day weekend! Have a happy fourth!
Later Days.
Thursday, June 30
Wednesday, June 29
I'm moving to Canada
I would really like to move to Canada where people have adequate health insurance, a good standard of living, and people are able to live their lives without interference from the government. There is a reason why Americans abroad pretend to be Canadian. I have to practice my "aayy" and then maybe I'll pass as a person from Toronto, aayy.
CRASHBANG *blink* nothing
With temps in the plus 90s for the past week, we have been hoping for a nice big thunderstorm. Well, we got one!!! Last night, our house was struck by lightning, or at least I think it was. Turns out it was a tree in our yard. I'll take a picture tonight. It was about 10:30 and I had just gotten off the phone with Hannah. There had been some lightning and some rumbling thunder, but nothing too worrisome when... CRASHBANG *blink* nothing. Imagine staring at the sun and having two guns go off next too your head in the space of about a half a millisecond and then total silence and blackness and you'd come close to what we had last night. The cable is out and surprisingly the phones are completely gone! Not the phones themselves, the phone line. We have no dial tone, no nothing. Needless to say, the pets got a little freaked out, Simon almost had a birdy coronary. Sophie handled it pretty well actually. I'll be interested to take a look around the property tonight to see if there is any evidence.
I'm in a computer training for most of the day today, so the news article of the day may have to wait.
UPDATE: It also blew out the Ethernet Card on our computer!
Later Days!
I'm in a computer training for most of the day today, so the news article of the day may have to wait.
UPDATE: It also blew out the Ethernet Card on our computer!
Later Days!
Tuesday, June 28
Wal-Mart Heir John Walton Dies in Crash
Okay, this demanded a snappy retort. Please, please, please, someone tell me he bought the plane at Wal-Mart!
Jack the Ripper and the heat
There are a few new theories about Jack the Ripper. I have always been fascinated by the story of Jack the Ripper. I have no idea why, as it is a fairly gruesome thing to be fascinated with, but I've always been a bit odd. This theory posits that Jack the Ripper was a merchant seaman and is detailed in the new book Jack The Ripper: The 21st Century Investigation. I discovered, quite accidently, that there are 194 titles available at Amazon.com that cover Jack the Ripper, that's scary.
I hate small talk about the weather, but I think that the current streak merits some talk, small or otherwise. We had to dig out the air conditioner last night. It's only the second night this summer, but we didn't use it at all last year. They are predicting another 90+ day today with temps in the mid 70s over night. I predict that there will be much more AC tonight.
It's still early in the day so nothing worth reporting has happened yet, I'll let you know if anything changes.
Later Days!
I hate small talk about the weather, but I think that the current streak merits some talk, small or otherwise. We had to dig out the air conditioner last night. It's only the second night this summer, but we didn't use it at all last year. They are predicting another 90+ day today with temps in the mid 70s over night. I predict that there will be much more AC tonight.
It's still early in the day so nothing worth reporting has happened yet, I'll let you know if anything changes.
Later Days!
Monday, June 27
New Job and lots of other changes
As many people know, I have left the world of academic publishing and entered the world of internet banking. While both industries are thrilling in their own right, I have to admit that I miss the publishing world.
Sour grapes, you say? No, not really. I'm just bored out of my mind. I have very little to do that is of any real consequence. I have been demoted from the world of the people with four walls and a door, to the land of Dilbert. That is not my real issue though. I was "promised" one thing and feel like I've gotten something completely different. FALSE ADVERTISING! Well that is certainly a funny statement coming from an advertiser. I'm doing conferences, I wanted to do marketing. If marketing means punching numbers into excel spreadsheets all day, then count me out! But to view it from a much more fair angle, I haven't even been employed here for a full month yet (that's Friday). I should wait until I've settled in to make any major life changing decisions...again. Changing jobs and marital status all in one month is an awful lot to do to one's psyche. I even lost a family member in May when my Uncle Bill Ripley passed away. I covered three of the four most stressful things anyone can do - Change Jobs, Get Married, Death in the Family and Move. I think that perhaps have a child should also be on that list, but I'll leave it with those four.
On to more mundane things, I turned 29 a few weeks ago. I'm going to be 30 next year. That is scary! That means I will have to start acting like an adult at some stage. 30! Wow that's over half way to middle age, almost half way to retirement (presuming I retire at 65). Chris is 35, so I guess I can hold on the fact that he will always be older than me. That makes me feel a little better. Anyway, the real story of the birthday weekend was poor Kathleen. My cousin Kathleen came to spend some time at Mom and Dad's and work on the farm that Dad works on to complete some requirements for vet school. We were going to get together on her last weekend in town. I was at work, bored, as usual, when I receive a panicked phone call from Aunt Joanne, who immediately passed me off to a very distraught Uncle Gerry. I was informed that Kathleen had been in a accident on her way to meet Mom in Barre. I had a good idea where, once I knew she was in South Barre and convinced Uncle Gerry that I would leave work immediately and head to Barre to meet Mom and go to where Kathleen was. She had called him from the paramedic's cell phone to fill them in on what had happened. Well, I got to Barre to meet Mom and there was Kathleen, in perfect condition (minus some rattled nerves) with Mom trying to cover up her passenger side window which had been completely shattered when she was T-boned by a large Chevy truck. Thankfully all was well and she rode with me to Colchester and called her dad on my cell phone and convinced the crew in North Carolina that she really was fine and that the car, though drivable, was going to need some work. We all went to see Star Wars Ep. 3 (isn't Darth Vader HOT!) and she had some chocolate and all was well. On Tuesday she drove back to Delaware in her dented car without further incident, more things happened when she got there, but I'll let her tell you those if she so chooses.
There is lots more going in the lives of people in Vermont, but that's going to have to be that for now.
Later Days!
Sour grapes, you say? No, not really. I'm just bored out of my mind. I have very little to do that is of any real consequence. I have been demoted from the world of the people with four walls and a door, to the land of Dilbert. That is not my real issue though. I was "promised" one thing and feel like I've gotten something completely different. FALSE ADVERTISING! Well that is certainly a funny statement coming from an advertiser. I'm doing conferences, I wanted to do marketing. If marketing means punching numbers into excel spreadsheets all day, then count me out! But to view it from a much more fair angle, I haven't even been employed here for a full month yet (that's Friday). I should wait until I've settled in to make any major life changing decisions...again. Changing jobs and marital status all in one month is an awful lot to do to one's psyche. I even lost a family member in May when my Uncle Bill Ripley passed away. I covered three of the four most stressful things anyone can do - Change Jobs, Get Married, Death in the Family and Move. I think that perhaps have a child should also be on that list, but I'll leave it with those four.
On to more mundane things, I turned 29 a few weeks ago. I'm going to be 30 next year. That is scary! That means I will have to start acting like an adult at some stage. 30! Wow that's over half way to middle age, almost half way to retirement (presuming I retire at 65). Chris is 35, so I guess I can hold on the fact that he will always be older than me. That makes me feel a little better. Anyway, the real story of the birthday weekend was poor Kathleen. My cousin Kathleen came to spend some time at Mom and Dad's and work on the farm that Dad works on to complete some requirements for vet school. We were going to get together on her last weekend in town. I was at work, bored, as usual, when I receive a panicked phone call from Aunt Joanne, who immediately passed me off to a very distraught Uncle Gerry. I was informed that Kathleen had been in a accident on her way to meet Mom in Barre. I had a good idea where, once I knew she was in South Barre and convinced Uncle Gerry that I would leave work immediately and head to Barre to meet Mom and go to where Kathleen was. She had called him from the paramedic's cell phone to fill them in on what had happened. Well, I got to Barre to meet Mom and there was Kathleen, in perfect condition (minus some rattled nerves) with Mom trying to cover up her passenger side window which had been completely shattered when she was T-boned by a large Chevy truck. Thankfully all was well and she rode with me to Colchester and called her dad on my cell phone and convinced the crew in North Carolina that she really was fine and that the car, though drivable, was going to need some work. We all went to see Star Wars Ep. 3 (isn't Darth Vader HOT!) and she had some chocolate and all was well. On Tuesday she drove back to Delaware in her dented car without further incident, more things happened when she got there, but I'll let her tell you those if she so chooses.
There is lots more going in the lives of people in Vermont, but that's going to have to be that for now.
Later Days!
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