Saturday, 25 May 2013
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Stuff you need to know
In about 1915 it was estimated that in New York the working horses
deposited 2.5 million pounds of manure, and 60,000 gallons of urine on the city’s
streets each day.
(Source “Victorian America –
Transformations in Everyday Life” by
Thomas. J. Schlereth, HarperPerennial, 1991)
Labels:
This and that.
Location:
New York, NY, USA
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Sarah Palin - another epic fail! ('Fings aren't what they seem to be")
According to that brilliant scientist Sarah Palin
“It snowed in Alaska in May, so there is no
global warming”
In response to sister Sarah
"Palin confuses weather with climate, a mistake frequently
made by climate change deniers."
Palin's statement and the response via Huffington Post)
----------------------------------------------------------------
In
a similar vein Kai Ryssdal (what a wonderful name!) the host of the (USA) National
Public Radio programme “Marketplace” often reminds us that
“The (stock)
market is not the economy, and the economy is not the (stock) market.”
Labels:
Politics.
Location:
Alaska, USA
Monday, 20 May 2013
Drama last night (and a follow up)
PART ONE
From early morning today: (some have already read this).
Such
excitement! I thought that I heard voices outside my bedroom this 3:30 a.m.,
and then I decided that it must have been a dream.
Heard the (two male) voices again, and I yelled out "hey get away". One man replied "it's OK, it's the police". I then foolishly said "are you sure?? (I am sure that burglars would have said "yes, we are the police").
Went outside and there were two police cars and an ambulance outside Ed Bellon's house. (three doors away). Not sure what was happening. Oddly enough Penne did not bark.
Heard the (two male) voices again, and I yelled out "hey get away". One man replied "it's OK, it's the police". I then foolishly said "are you sure?? (I am sure that burglars would have said "yes, we are the police").
Went outside and there were two police cars and an ambulance outside Ed Bellon's house. (three doors away). Not sure what was happening. Oddly enough Penne did not bark.
PART
TWO
1) Turns
out that my neighbour Ed Bellon had called for an ambulance because he was
enduring excruciating back pain. He was taken off to Doctor’s Hospital (and
released later in the day).
2) I
still can’t fathom why Ed’s emergency call necessitated the arrival of two
police cruisers, or why said police were walking by my bedroom window (three
houses away from Ed’s home) at 3:45 a.m.
3) Penne did not bark (1)
Friend Fred
Emrich suggests that Penne
needs to be given a pep talk. Cousin Kippy
Altiini suggests that she
needs a hearing test.
(Oh yeah - and I’ll have to buy canine hearing aids at
a thousand bucks or more? -- tongue in cheek to Kippy!)
4) Penne did not bark(2)
This
is indeed unprecedented – she usually barks at the slightest noise outside (and
even when there is a doorbell sound on a T.V. show).
5) Yes
my good Penne has been a bit dilatory in recent days. She, who normally
loves to walk, has been walk resistant for a couple of days. On five occasions
yesterday and today we’ve gone outside, only to find that she would walk for no
more than 15 yards, take a pee, and then pull me back to the house.
6) We
normally walk for at least 90 minutes each day, but today we had only one long
(12 minute) walk.
7) Oh
dear, is she slowing down as a result of age (she may be 10, or perhaps she is
12) - or is this a temporary phase?
PART THREE
1) I worry too much about the health and
welfare of Penne.
2) It’s good that I never married and
shared the raising of children with a spouse or partner. I’d have been a
helicopter parent, or a control freak!
Labels:
This and that
Location:
Glen Oaks Drive East. Sarasota, FL USA
Sunday, 19 May 2013
So they say
"University politics are vicious
precisely because the stakes are so small."
— Henry Kissinger
"In
archaeology you uncover the unknown. In diplomacy you cover the known."
— Thomas Pickering
"Try
as hard as we may for perfection, the net result of our labours is an amazing
variety of imperfectness. We are surprised at our own versatility in being able
to fail in so many different ways."
— Samuel McChord Crothers
"One man alone can be pretty
dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain’t nothin’ can beat
teamwork."
— Edward Abbey
"It is not worth an intelligent
man’s time to be in the majority. By definition, there are already enough
people to do that."
— G. H. Hardy
Labels:
Cool and wise.
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