Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 247.0 miles cool
88 recordings of 37 types. And Rasmussen is at -10; 49/50.
Rich has a colonoscopy tomorrow, so we weren't doing anything today. I'd thought of taking some stuff to St. Vincent de Paul, but didn't get around to it.
Legal Insurrection on the bow: "from Obama's own actions we either have a racist in chief, a sexist in chief or a hater of western civilization in chief or a complete idiot in chief."
Jammie Wearing Fool: "Obama laughably said he doesn't want to impose any style of government upon any country, which makes on wonder why he's trying to impose socialism upon the United States."
comment: “To evoke Terry Pratchett, what I’m going to be looking for is a candidate who I think will actively try to ensure that tomorrow is going to be pretty much like today.”
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 247.0 miles cool
Well, that was an interesting dream... Michelle Duggar was mad at me, though I don't remember why.
90 recordings of 35 types.
Rasmussen: -10, 50/49
I skipped church this morning. Therefore, Rich was alone with the Croatian bake sale. He got enough of their version of chrusciki (no, my mother-in-law never used rum!) for everyone at Thanksgiving, and three apple strudels which I'm holding onto myself! I also took the turkey for Loaves & Fishes out to defrost.
I don’t quite know to what degree, if at all, yet the federal government is culpable for the vaccine shortage, or why it was solely culpable for the Katrina mess, given that Mississippi’s local and state response averted the sort of social chaos we saw in New Orleans under its mayor and the Louisiana governor.
I do know that had Bush been President during the current vaccine furor, and had Obama presided during Katrina—well, you can again fill in the blanks. (I just talked to two doctors who said the inability to get swine flu vaccine for staff, pregnant women, etc. was quite astounding, given the promised delivery dates).
Obama had no problem betraying a close US ally over what Obama incorrectly claimed was a coup. When faced with the real thing, Obama has no problem leaving a fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner twisting in the wind. That’s certainly “change” … of the wrong sort.
Obama said he has never used the popular social networking site Twitter. But he broadly defended unrestricted Internet access as "a source of strength." And he said the free flow of information, including criticisms of his presidency, has helped by forcing him to consider other opinions.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 247.0 miles cloudy, cool
I am not sleeping well. Every time I think 0bama can't get worse, he gets worse, and I dread each new day. What is he going to do to us next? What kind of hell is my country being turned into, what kind of life will my poor grandchildren have?
My cousin called, mighod what a soap opera. At least everyone's still standing.
Then we went to an Indian restaurant in West Sacramento for a caching event. Before we went in we found the lightpole cache right outside, and left the final 3 EatStayPlay tokens. We also saw 2 of them get picked up. The food was great and the company good. We tried for one other cache as we left, but couldn't find it. Oh, well.
Back when he was capitulating to the dwarfish tyrant that rules North Korea, President Obama said “Words must mean something.” He was right about that. It’s a pity that, here as elsewhere, his actions do not live up to his words. Which is why, were I a betting man, I’d wager there will be no Purple Hearts distributed at Ft. Hood. Looking for the purloined letter? It’s right there in front of you.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 247.0 miles cloudy, cool
105 recordings of 41 types.
Rasmussen: -10; 47/51. I bet it goes down when the terrorists-to-New-York decision filters in.
They finally expanded Farmville!
Today we went to Chucky Cheese in Concord for my cousin's child's 9th birthday party. We picked up Bernadette and Gareth, then headed south along the river levee. Bernadette began to get nauseated because of the winding road. Fortunately, there was a turnout so she and I could trade places. And so on into Concord, where we located the party venue and found a Burger King for lunch. Gareth was sweet and happy again.
Then we did some caching. A couple were along a bike trail where we let Gareth walk as long as he wanted. He enjoyed exploring, then he enjoyed Rich carrying him. He prefers Rich to the rest of us: taller and firmer, I guess. We put out the last of our tokens and got to #6500!
Then it was time for the party. Lots of people came, even though they have to pay toll going back to Benicia. (Or maybe not. We were a carpool and got over the bridge free.) Gareth walked around and looked at everything and especially the blinking lights on the games. I was disappointed that they didn't have a ball pit. Nor do they have the Band. He was mildly interested in Chuck E.
He had a whole slice of pizza. I just kept putting it in his mouth and letting him bite it off.
When the real Chuck E. Cheese came out I took him over to watch. He was baffled because there were two, the animatronic one and the mascot. But then the rat started getting the kids to scream... Gareth looked worried at the first one but the louder one made him cry. I took him back to his chair and held him till he calmed down. Some birthday cake helped. For the rest of the party Rich followed him around the game floor.
Back in town, Rob had cleaned up the living/play room. Amazing. And at our house, Rich got a Steelers flag!
0bama bringing KSM to NYC. This is a terrible terrible decision, more of the "blame Bush" mentality. Walid Phares comments. I see him called the SOBama. Every time I think he's hit rock bottom and can't make me any madder, he digs deeper. 0bama's Friday mess.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 247.0 miles smidge of rain
99 recordings of 39 types.
I'm up 1.9 pounds. That gingerbread shake yesterday was a mistake. My blood pressure is low borderline.
Rasmussen is -9, 47/52.
I went out to the Retreat House. After Mass I gave a volunteer a couple of gifts for the raffle at the upcoming wine event. One was the cactus cookie jar and tray I won at another raffle, and the other is a re-gift of something I've never used and probably never would. As I left, I counted 20 turkeys in the flock.
Oh, relief, I didn't plan to do anything else. I meant to just veg the rest of the day, but got a call from the oral surgeon's office. They'd heard about my numbness and wanted to see me soon. This afternoon, in fact. Grumble.
He was surprised that I was still numb, but says it should come back. The nerve may have been knocked, but not cut. He didn't say anything about the swelling except that I'm healing well. Good news, I suppose, but glorp.
Well, in fairness, even if the president did declare back in 2008 this war was a vital national security interest, and he did signal last spring he was on board with counterinsurgency, and even if he did appoint Gen. Stanley McChrystal to get the job done in May, the general’s recommendations only arrived in August, and the president didn’t look at them until, what, late September, and he’s been really busy this whole time letting Congress bollix his health-care initiative, throwing Eastern Europe under the bus and flying to Copenhagen, that kind of thing, so he’s only been able to squeeze in seven high-level national security meetings, or is it eight? Is it so unreasonable to ask for new options on top of the new options that he asked for on top of the new options that McChrystal gave him? Meanwhile, China’s ass wants kissing and then we’re into the holidays …
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 247.0 miles cloudy, a bit cold
96 recordings of 39 types.
Rasmussen: -10, 46/53
We went to the Elk Grove Veterans' Day Parade with Bernadette and Gareth. The baby walked over and all around before the parade. Mostly for the parade we were holding him, so he wouldn't keep stealing the neighbor's water. I pointed out fire trucks and flags and bands. A couple of times he walked away, with me with him, and played in the grass and walked and walked. I showed him a horse mascot which was his favorite thing. At the end of the parade I picked him up again to show him the horses... "da!" he said. ("Dog.")
Bernadette took Gareth back to the car and Rich and I walked across the street to get a cache at the new Elk Grove library. Then we drove to Applebee's for the free food for Rich. Unfortunately, there was a line. We went to Marie Callendar's, same thing, and Bernadette suggested Red Robin, which was a little farther away. The wait was 15 minutes, so that was OK. Gareth was a sweetheart toddling around. A woman waiting near us said "We need a grandchild." Gareth is the grandchild everyone wants: as Bernadette says, the next one will be a holy terror.
He was great at lunch, too. They didn't bring his food early, but he colored and looked around and was great. Then he ate quite a bit of the chicken and all.
American soldiers are not just the guardians of peace… they are its architects. They build it with the invisible bricks of atrocities that did not occur, because the murderers were sensibly afraid of tangling with them. They add the mortar of countless acts of kindness and mercy, performed in war zones and disaster areas. The elites of the Third World learn about America by watching CNN. Many of their people see their first American flag riding on the shoulder of a uniformed man or woman carrying relief supplies, or a medical kit. Some of those poor people have taken bullets from their countrymen, and been dragged to safety by United States soldiers who don’t hesitate to do the right thing, even when that American flag becomes a target. No wonder the people of the world generally like us more than their elites.
Roni Yarnot-Krajeski "Thank you, Dad, for your years of service to the country while in the Air Force. Thank you also to my grandfather, who was killed in WWII, and to all the veterans of our military. I am so proud."
She got a commenter who was quite offensive. It's amazing how the "peaceniks" can be so aggressive. I felt sorry for this guy's father, who must be deeply ashamed of him.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 246.0 miles cold, cloudy
Happy birthday, Marine Corps! Godaddy has it right. (I like Sesame Street just fine, but Google should be honoring the Marines.)
97 recordings of 40 types
Rasmussen: -10, 48/52.
I babysat so Bernadette could have her prenatal appointment. She also went to buy some clover seed. I had more cuddle time with Gareth.
Up in Snohomish, Eric lost his first tooth. Also, in sad news, their rabbit fell out of the cage and died, and so they had some experience of a burial.
Well, be fair, Barry kept us safe for almost 10 months.
I've found all my glasses except for the ones I lost in Laramie. There was a pair in the den on top of the desk.
Rich found out someone has paid for the Thanksgiving dinner at Sharing God's Bounty and will be serving. I'm sworn to secrecy for another couple of weeks, but this is BIG.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 246.0 miles cold, cloudy
96 recordings of 40 types.
Today was the library pre-school play day! I made sure the place was vacuumed, and soon enough, there they were! Gareth has a dinosaur shirt that says "off to Grandma's" and also some new stomping shoes with lights and dinosaurs. After breakfast and some Yo Gabba Gabba! we went off to the library. Today he discovered the hoop. He also quite liked the snack. He's not quite ready to sit for a story, but he's beginning to pay more attention. I got myself two books. It turns out my library card had expired, so I had to talk to a librarian instead of checking them out myself. Now we'll see if I can read them in time.
Back at the house, Gareth learned to pull a pull toy, at least a little. He also was so cute putting things on the shelves in his little room, the new closet. He also climbed into the toybox. He sat with me for about an hour but didn't actually nap. It's OK, I like cuddling a drowsy baby.
Neil Freuen: Obviously you know nothing of the major part President Obama played in ending the cold war. From being shot down in his U-2, to fighting on Korea, Vietnam, and other nameless places on the globe. From saving a remote Japanese village by raising Seven Samurai, to killing a band of terrorist thieves and making them Die Hard. By becoming a vampire and living with the angst as told in his last Interview With the Vampire, President Obama has saved us all from the evils of freedom.
Mr. 0bama, tear down that ego.
Rasmussen: -8, 49/50. This is hard to believe when he was so cavalier about Ft. Hood.
Rather than pass reform in small steps, starting with issues on which there was widespread agreement, Pelosi and Obama have embarked on an "historic" attempt to remake one-sixth of the economy in one fell swoop.
In so doing, Pelosi and Obama have surrounded themselves with themselves again. And it is blowing up in their political faces.
Dr. Zero: "I suspect the electorate of 2012 will be looking for someone who isn’t a “community organizer” with a shady past and zero governing experience, riding a wave of uncritical media adulation and touting an education at elite universities."
There's a geocache called "In Your Face." You find the page in Facebook, and it has the coordinates. I would never have figured that out.
Reading: Rousseau and Revolution, What If? edited by Robert Cowley, the Bible (Zachariah), Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg, Common Sense, Glenn Beck, The Roman Hat Mystery, Ellery Queen, Don Quixote, Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk, David Elkind, Low-Carb Dieting for Dummies, Katherine B. Chauncey.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 246.0 miles clear
It's twenty years since the Wall fell. Who'd have guessed that 20 years later we'd be building our own?
I hate the Wicked Witch of the West.
106 recordings of 39 types. I erased Numb3rs and Cold Case and Trauma to make room.
Oh, blech. Life is timing. Monica just wrote to tell me which magazines the girls would really like, and I just two days ago sent in the money for all 7 subscriptions. I've dealt with these people online and on the phone, and it's certainly less-than-efficient. I sure hope I can change them!
After Mass, just a quiet day at home today. I roasted a boston butt, yum.
The difference between promised benefits and expected revenues for Social Security and Medicare amounts to about $107 trillion dollars, which Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute points out is double the annual Gross Domestic Product of the entire world.
I was at Thursday's House Call. (the Last Pragmatist): "If that sad day comes, I don't want to have to tell my children and grandchildren that I did nothing when our country became socialist."
Reading: Rousseau and Revolution, What If? edited by Robert Cowley, the Bible (Zachariah), Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg, Common Sense, Glenn Beck, Don Quixote, Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk, David Elkind, Low-Carb Dieting for Dummies, Katherine B. Chauncey.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 246.0 miles clear
Rasmussen: -7 (hard to believe it's going up with the health care debacle), 49/50
109 recordings of 42 types.
Today we went back to Ripon for a caching party. We also got some caches before that, passing out, giving out tokens. One cache, in a park, was new but badly marked, and I'd read the first-to-find logs so we went to the corrected coordinates. All told, we found 12 caches and had two no-finds.
The party was nice, too, met a number of new cachers and reconnected with some of our old friends. And we got home before dark!
Nancy rammed the Health care abomination through. I wish these people would be punished! Immediately!
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 246.0 miles clear
108 recordings of 48 types.
Rasmussen: -8 (he's improving) 49/51
Our half-pastor was at Mass this morning. It's the first time he's said Mass since his kidney transplant. He's really looking good. Afterwards he talked to the school kids and answered questions.
I see Father Ice-Cream is bringing some young nuns (a new order in the area) back to the school. I think our own school is doomed, with the charter school now open on the Loretto High School grounds.
I was knitting, a complicated pattern with about 5 different colors, and was well into it when, of course, the doorbell rang. Naturally, Rich had left. So I got untangled long enough to get the package, a sewing kit, mostly hand sewing accessories, so not that useful for the little sewing machine I got for Genevieve. And then I got set up again, and the phone rang, and I had it to do over again. Finally Rich came back so no one called or came over any more.
Then tonight we went to a fundraiser at Denny's for a caching and Facebook friend's school. The food was surprisingly good after all.
The '08 election was a historical anomaly. A uniquely charismatic candidate was running at a time of deep war weariness, with an intensely unpopular Republican president, against a politically incompetent opponent, amid the greatest financial collapse since the Great Depression. And still he won by only seven points.
Peggy Noonan, disenchanted They don't hate him, they're just not hearing him. That's new. They're warning him: Hey you with the health-care obsession, shape up or you'll get shipped out!
A repost from last year. Iowahawk says "told you so." I remember this: "So for now, let's put politics aside and celebrate this historic milestone. In his famous speech at the Lincoln Memorial 45 years ago, Dr. King said "I have a dream that one day my children will live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Let us now take pride that Tuesday we Americans proved that neither thing matters anymore."
Ivonne Sahagun Carreon They want to kill babies... yet the death penalty is unconstitutional? Can someone explain that to me?? Abby Grime Harrow And they will spend millions upon millions to save the whales and polar bears while stopping at nothing to satisfy their hunger to kill our unborn.
Ed Morrissey: It’s good to see the White House interested in fighting someone. Maybe eventually they’ll get around to America’s enemies.
Hadron Collider shut down: With freak accident after freak accident piling up over at CERN, the idea of time traveling particles returning from the future to prevent their own discovery is beginning to seem less and less far fetched.
Robert Reich says the White House may have its priorities confused.
Giving Up, Jennifer Rubin: The bottom line, the Obama team picked the wrong horse, found itself in a diplomatic dead end, found a mechanism to abandon its failed gambit, and now supports elections — the very position that the Honduran interim government and the administration’s critics have been urging from the beginning. Well, in fairness, it is a display of diplomatic genius compared with Obama’s Middle East policy.
Reading: Rousseau and Revolution, What If? edited by Robert Cowley, the Bible (Zachariah), Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg, Lean Mean Thirteen, Janet Evanovich, Common Sense, Glenn Beck, Don Quixote, Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk, David Elkind, Low-Carb Dieting for Dummies, Katherine B. Chauncey.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 246.0 miles clear
109 recordings of 46 types. I lost two. Including the 9/11 one.
I'm -1.4 pounds down, with my BP low borderline.
Rasmussen -9: 48/52.
After Mass this morning at the Retreat House, I made my Facebook status "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice" and got more comments than I ever have on anything before. It turned into singing a round, virtually.
Tonight we went to Jesuit's fall play, "The Three Musketeers". I've never read this, so I depended on Bernadette to explain that while they hammed it up a little, it's pretty much the tone of the book. She thinks the book was satire, I always thought it was serious but unintentionally funny. Anyway, it was good, though my narcolepsy kept kicking in. I'd be a lot better off if the cat didn't wake me up at 3:30 or so!
They'd had a choreographer practicing the sword scenes, so while there was a lot going on, no one got hurt and it looked realistic. Boys with sticks! The narrators would come out at the beginning of each scene and the girl said the title in French and the boy in English, except for once when they traded and another time when the girl went on and on and the boy said "the end." Very funny and they were great. There were no "high school" moments. I know these plays are all a level of excellence, or two, over what we did in my high school.
The reception was good, too. They had all kinds of weird appetizers. The only usual one, a ham croissant, I wish I hadn't eaten, more room for the stuffed endive and bacon-wrapped dates. The boys had such joy in passing them out, I think Jesuit should offer a culinary class.
Tingles to Gibbs, what happened to the change we can believe in?
EXCERPT: A year after his historic election, President Barack Obama sought to remind Americans on Wednesday the biggest problems he is grappling with -- from the economy to the war in Afghanistan -- are the legacy of his predecessor, George W. Bush. SCOTT OTT SAYS: Perhaps President Obama could save money on his presidential library by just sharing space in the George W. Bush Presidential Library.
He’s really pathetic. A real president would have rolled up his sleeves and fixed the problems, not just whine and cry about them. “It’s not my fault!”
This is going to get extremely old for the next three years, when we can finally kick his butt out of the White House (or is saying “White” House being racist?).
rmgraha on November 5, 2009 at 12:25 PM
The "House Call" had 10000 on a weekday with six days to arrange it... not shabby. I would have liked to be there. More.
We are 12 Months Away from Fundamentally Changing Congress. (A sign at the House Call.)
Smart Power Actually Amateur Hour. Many an American President has found himself humbled by the Israeli-Palestinian standoff. However, none has done so much in such a short period of time to humble himself as Barack Obama, and even the Post has noticed it.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 246.0 miles clear
Jonah Goldberg on the election. I was hoping that the House Call last week and this election would kill health care dead. (Dammit.)
109 recordings of 48 types.
Rasmussen: -13, 48/51
I went to pay the dentist bill. I told them there was NO WAY they were getting my candy (the lobby is full of the stuff: they're buying it for $1 a pound and sending it to Afghanistan.) Then we got to talking about the holidays and I said I was going away for Thanksgiving and started to do a happy bounce-dance "I don't have to cook, I don't have to cook, I don't have to cook!" This teen in the lobby looked up and said "my Mom's doing the same dance." Heh.
Later Pharoah and I went for a walk.
Legal Insurrection: "it is necessary but not sufficient to run against the Obama administration. Obama's policies are unpopular, but he remains personally popular in one huge national cognitive dissonance. That is changing, but it has not changed enough yet. The victories in Virginia and New Jersey were based on conservative principles."
The President wasn't watching the results, he was watching an HBO special on his wonderful self? [This turns out to be untrue, but it certainly was believable.]
Independent voters who want to settle local issues locally need to stop voting for representatives of a statist party with an unquenchable thirst for centralized power. If they don’t start taking a firm stand against the surging growth of government, it will become increasingly laughable to refer to them as “independents.” No one will be allowed to assert their independence from Barack Obama’s agenda. When a carnivorous government is bearing down on you, it does little good to protest that you’re a vegetarian.
Andrea Tantaros on the New York drama: We learned that Sarah Palin doesn't just "go rogue" herself; she helps others do the same. Palin's an earned media machine. She was able to help bring the battle to the national stage (Heck, the woman could get the national press corps to focus on a potato sack race competition).
Rasmussen: -13 46/52. 45% blame 0. for the economy, 49% Bush. I'll give Bush some of the blame, but 0. quadrupled it...
I'm 66-2/3% happy with the results of this election. It's too bad Scott Ott and Doug Hoffman lost, and the community organizer in Harrisburg, but there was a lot of good news tonight.
Fred Thompson on Biden's trip to New York: "Vice Presidents attend funerals, maybe he came a day early." Too bad he was wrong, but Hoffman came close and if the votes Dede got were his, he'd have won.
GREEN, BUT NOT BLUE: British Cops Unable to Use Blue Lights on New Electric Car. “Cops based near Oxford in the UK have revealed that they are unable to to use flashing blue lights on their new electric car – in case it drains too much power from the battery.”
MediaLizzy Dear friends on the Left: FYI, us #GOP / #TCOT / & Right wingers promise to be JUST as gracious as y'all were last November.
mary matalin: not a referendum per se, but suggestive of a rough road ahead politics and policywise for the president
Maureen Dowd thinks nuns are miserable. The Anchoress has a response.
Noor Ignored (Mark Steyn) I wonder what the silent US media will settle on as the "acceptable level of violence" against Muslim women. Ten honor killings a year? A couple dozen? A hundred?
Looks like Biggest Loser has drunk the 0. Koolaid. It's not surprising, it's an NBC show, but Dear God, can't I get *away* from that man ever??
Li'l Devil (an important local cacher) has the same birthday as Roni!
The Democrats are going for broke, which means we'll all be broke if this is not stopped. ... this is not about health care. It's about whether the people of the United States will allow power-mad Washington politicians to plunge us into the kind of top-down socialism that is strangling Western Europe and has devastated economies and destroyed freedom wherever it is imposed.
Gawk like an Egyptian. The great pyramid vs. the 7-11. A must-see video, even though it's long.
Instapundit: "it was a mistake for the Obama people to pick a fight with Rush Limbaugh — especially in making it personal with the NFL thing. He’s going after them hammer-and-tongs, and this phrase[man-child] was carefully chosen to be repeated a lot, and to stick."
Rich erased one of the recordings on the answering machine I was holding onto. Yesterday he broke my wallflower ghost. Sigh. (The ghost has been fixed since, before being put away for next year.
As Jim Geraghty recently wrote, “Norm Coleman can explain how winning a race on election night doesn’t always mean you get to take the oath of office.”
Especially when ACORN decides to avoid the rush and swings into action before the election: “Breaking: ACORN expected to Protest Election Results Tomorrow in Clinton County.”
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 243.9 miles clear
Happy birthday to Roni!
Rich's summary:
Walk
Bike
Can
Btl
Ld
GB
SB
$$
Oct
32.1
78.0
119
40
15
14
86
$26.92
2009
371.1
1100.8
1113
658
166
160
174
$81.46
Plus, 5 baseballs, whiffle softball, 3 whiffle baseballs, rubber baseball, super ball, koosh ball, 7 tokens, clasp, hat band, Sharks towel, 2 poker chips, pen, skate wheel, plastic box, toy traffic barrier, toy car, hoop earring, split ring, child's barrette, credit card, lighter, driver adapter, 10' nylon tiedown, tire stem cap, electric switch, countersink, rasp bit, 2 driver bits.
For me, 28.3 miles in October, 5.5 pounds up, high borderline blood pressure, 15 pages, 5 books, no movies, 2 plays, 8 Masses.
We found 74 caches (total 6481). We're 168th in the world, and 11th locally. We've passed where Tanky was when he died, but fortunately his widow is chugging ahead so we'll never catch them.
I did 2 whole pages of proofing in October. Facebook (and Farmville) have eaten my brain.) I'm in 888th (out of 27,531 proofers) place in the first proofing round, with 860 pages proofed (This must not stand!) 12th (out of 3187) in P2 with 23495 pages, 450th of 770 in P3 with 469 pages, and formatting 461st place (2563) with 1020 pages.
And in Flickr stats, there are about 74,800 views of my photostream. I'm further behind in Flickr and in proofing and I'm still more than a week behind with the journal. I'd almost caught up, then we went on that trip. In Netflix, I watched Torchwood season 2, disks 3 and 4.
Rasmussen, -10 approval index, 46/52.
At Mass, there's still trouble with kneeling before Communion. I think Father needs to ask people to do so, till we get back in the habit. After more than a year of "please remain standing" people have zoned out. They're also still holding hands for the Our Father. I'm not as distressed by that as Father is, but I'm OK with not.
We stopped at a garage sale after church and she had a Cuisinart for $20. I asked why she was selling it, and her friend was into KitchenMaid. It seemed complete, so I took a chance to buy it. (I've kind of wanted one, but thought full price was too much for something I might not use.) At home, at first I couldn't get it to run, but once I put the bowl on the right way, it whirred away. Clean it up, and I've got a new toy!
Rich went out to get a nightlight for the hallway. We located a formerly covered up outlet, and I liked the light-sensitive nightlights in Pittsburgh. He found two LEDs, light sensitive. The other one goes into the bathroom. I'm really tired of getting bruised by staggering into doors or walls in the middle of the night. This is exciting!
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 243.9 miles sunny, cool
-10 approval, 46/52.
101 recordings of 41 types.
In order to get a challenge cache, we had to pick up a cache today. We tried for the third time for one up near us, and this time managed to get it. In fact, I picked up a cap off a fencepost and looked in it and didn't recognize that I was looking at the cache.
Later in the day I took Pharaoh for a walk and checked out Hallowe'en displays. Nothng as spectacular as the display in Pittsburgh. The scariest one was a "Proud Member of the SEIU" sign.
Yesterday, coming back, we stopped at Borders so I could look for the Hallowe'en book I didn't have the sense to buy when I saw it the first time. "Oh," I thought, "I'll have plenty of time after we get back." So of course, no luck at all. I couldn't find it in Borders, either, and most of the books were wrong one way or the other. However, Rich found the ultimate book.
It's a board book, without any flaps or pop-ups to tear. The pictures (pumpkin, witch, mummy, etc.) are colorful and clear, without lots of little distractions. There are googly eyes and holes in the pages (you can look through the holes and it's kind of like a mask.) There are textures. And the best thing is, on the last page, Dracula laughs and there are red flashing lights for the bats' eyes! Bwa-ha-ha!!
Today we took the book to him. On the road, Rich was travelling in the fast lane, a little over the speed limit, when a guy apparently took umbrage. He swished around on the right and started pointing us to the next lane. He slowed down. Rich slowed down. We were going about 40 in the fast lane. Finally the guy got over a lane, Rich passed him (getting the finger), and then it happened again. He flashed lights, then passed us, and slowed way down again. I pulled out the phone and pretended to take a picture. I also turned the phone on in case I would have to call 9-1-1 for real. Finally, Road Rage Boy left. We were hopeful he was late to whatever he was in such a hurry for. Scary, and unexpected.
The book was all I'd hoped for. I read it to him in my lap so the last page wouldn't scare him. He was delighted. He played with it for a long time, and I peeked through the holes at him, and we read it again, and he played with it and played with it. The book was good for about 20 minutes and he went back to it again while we were there. Very satisfactory.
Bernadette was happy that the Boos spread all over her neighborhood. She even got boo'd herself.
Scrappleface on the biggest global warming threat.
Well, I was giving him props for going to Dover, now, not so much.
As for the benefit of the doubt, no one-- especially not the President of the United States-- is entitled to that, when his actions can jeopardize the rights of 300 million Americans domestically and the security of the nation in an international jungle, where nuclear weapons may soon be in the hands of people with suicidal fanaticism. Will it take a mushroom cloud over an American city to make that clear? Was 9/11 not enough?
When a President of the United States has begun the process of dismantling America from within, and exposing us to dangerous enemies outside, the time is long past for being concerned about his public image. He has his own press agents for that.
Internationally, Barack Obama has made every mistake that was made by the Western democracies in the 1930s, mistakes that put Hitler in a position to start World War II-- and come dangerously close to winning it.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 241.0 miles sunny, cool
2.4 pounds up this week, (ouch) and my Blood Pressure high.
96 recordings of 41 types.
Rasmussen has -11 approval number for the Big Zero, and a 47/52 overall.
The day started with a dentist visit. Yesterday we cut up our credit cards, due to a sudden unexplained charge of $14,000 to something that looked like a Jewish charity, so I started out by telling them I'm not paying them today. Sadly, the receptionist I've come to know and love is "no longer with us" (?) and I was explaining this to a stranger.
The hygienist said something about the geocache and I said I was embarrassed and she said don't be, the other dentist and his wife had sticks up their rears(!) The cleaning started late but went well. She told me that if the gum swelling hasn't gone down in a couple of weeks I should go see the oral surgeon again. Ack.
Then I'd seen something wonderful in the Bass Pro Shop in Harrisburg, so Rich thought it would be a good idea to go to the local one (60 miles away) while they still had it. I ran a pocket query and off we went to Manteca.
To begin with, I couldn't find the pretty green sweatpants I liked, but picked up two, a brown and a black, since the jogging suits I have are now too big. I also found a nice pair of cargo pants. I tried everything on and approved, and was ready to quit, a little sad to have missed them, when lo! There they were. These are just a tish too tight, but I'm confident they'll fit well soon, once I drop the trip 5 pounds. So I was happy with that. I'll be able to get shoes here, too, I believe.
Rich got some camo tape and we browsed around some more, then went caching. One thing we're doing now is passing out tokens for EatStayPlay.com: If I pass out 50 into active caches, 3-5 at a time, we'll get a free geocoin. The first place we went was a cache we'd tried for a couple of years ago but it was gone. This time the ammo can was there, no problem. We found 8 caches, couldn't find 2 and were muggled out of a couple of others. We also got rid of 14 tokens, not bad.
Michelle Bachman: Social Security is broke, Medicare is broke, Medicaid is broke – and all of them were created with the best intentions. But we have to face reality. Our deficit is at an all-time high. Our debt is nearing $12 TRILLION with no signs of slowing. We’re on a crash course for financial ruin. This isn’t conjecture, it’s basic economics.
Europe Angry over 0bama's Indecision on Afghanistan. Obama got feted by Europeans just a few months ago by underscoring his distaste for American arrogance in assuming leadership of the West. Now, however, when the chips are on the table, Europe looks to the US for leadership … and see exactly what they professed to love earlier this year.
("Let me be clear" is 0bama's "tell" for when he's lying)
This "makes the White House look thin-skinned." Ya think?
Reading: Rousseau and Revolution, What If? edited by Robert Cowley, the Bible (Zachariah), Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg, Lean Mean Thirteen, Janet Evanovich, Common Sense, Glenn Beck, Don Quixote, Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk, David Elkind, Low-Carb Dieting for Dummies, Katherine B. Chauncey.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 240.2 miles still windy
Sadly, maybe yesterday's blood pressure was an anomaly. It's high/high borderline today. Rats.
95 recordings of 43 types.
Rasmussen: -11 approval index, 48/52 ratio.
We hadn't seen Gareth for two weeks, so it was obviously time for a visit! He's beginning to babble and sometimes it's recognizable words. Since he has shown he can use the glider to escape his confines, the glider is gone. Therefore, Rich was sitting on the coffee table. He held Gareth, who suddenly realized there were wonderful things on the mantel, like speakers and the TV! When he was put down, he figured out how to climb onto the coffee table. Then, on his own, he started to stand but decided that was too scary. So when he'd gotten down again, they moved the coffee table away from the fireplace. It's interesting watching him work out elaborate schemes. His follow-through, fortunately, is that of a 17-month old, easily distractable.
Victor Davis Hanson, Guantanamo Laureate . 0bama lobbied lots of stones, and now lives in a glass house.
"Personally, if I were a terrorist suspect, I’d rather be picked up by a Special Forces team in the Hindu Kush, be shipped to Cuba, have my case reviewed by military lawyers, be allowed a Middle Eastern diet, and be provided with a Koran and arrows pointing to Mecca than simply wait to have my head exploded without warning by a Hellfire missile, while sitting inside my mud-brick hideout in Waziristan alongside my soon-to-be-incinerated family.
..."Even the charismatic Barack Obama cannot convince his liberal base for long that it is horribly wrong to waterboard Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the planner of the mass-murdering on 9/11, but perfectly fine to incinerate an al-Qaeda suspect along with noncombatants in his general vicinity."
Even more risible, though, is the claim that the administration "is going to speak truth to power." Hello, Valerie? Your boss is the president of the United States! No one is more powerful. As we suggested Friday, it really seems as if Obama and his men do not understand what it means to be president. Because their power is constrained--thank you, Founding Fathers!--they labor under the delusion that they are powerless. ... The job of those in power is not to "speak truth to power," though it would be nice if they spoke the truth once in a while. It is to exercise power responsibly. The effort to bully Fox News Channel would be an abuse of power were it not so pathetically inept.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 240.2 miles windy!!!
Well, that little trip gained me 5 pounds. I guess it'll take a lot longer to lose them again.
99 recordings of 46 types.
Rasmussen: -11 approval index and 49/51 ratio.
The heater company was supposed to come make their inspection and bring the registers for the back today sometime between 8 and 10. There were delays, delays, and finally Rich called them and told them forget it. Then we went out to the vet and picked up our animals.
This was definitely the most expensive part of the trip. Spooky was screaming so loudly he could be heard for miles. Abby just hid in the back of the carrier. Pharaoh was thrilled. Abby's eyes are clear: we have some medicine for the next time they start to ooze. At home she went under the bed and didn't come out for about 6 hours. Spooky forgave us right away.
Beyond the disquiet (or outrage for some) prompted by the president's propensity to apologize for his country's pre-Obama history, Americans increasingly sense that his administration is drifting from one foreign policy mistake to another. Worse, the current is growing swifter, and the threats more pronounced, even as the administration tries to turn its face away from the world and toward its domestic priorities. Foreign observers, friend and foe alike, sense the same aimlessness and drift. French President Nicolas Sarkozy had to remind Obama at a Sept. 24 U.N. Security Council meeting that "we live in the real world, not a virtual one."
Examples of weakness abound, and the consequences are readily foreseeable.
Sanjita Chakraborty: We've had the deadliest month in Afganistan that we've had since the war began in 2001 because this man won't make a decision...because all he cares about is power and doesn't give a damn about this country, its people or its military. Yes Bush spent a lot of money and could've done a better job but look at some of the big ticket items he spent it... Read More on: 9/11, Katrina, Rita, Tsunami...so yes, he HAD to spend the money. Don't get me wrong, I think there was still wasteful spending but NOTHING like we see now. And why are we looking back anyway...we are where we are now and let's move forward and FIX stuff. If he thinks Bush was in the wrong with everything, DO something about it to FIX it, stop wasting time and energy pointing fingers. This man makes me so angry that I want to turn off the news and stop reading anything about what's going on...at the same time I need to stay informed because he's a liar...Mr Obama...YOU LIE!
A noble and altogether proper sentiment, made somewhat less so by (a) reports of how much golf he’s been playing and (b) the inconvenient truth that there are troops in the field being endangered by the lack of reinforcements.
Ma Bird: Obama, speaking to troops, said "I won't risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, we will back you to the hilt". (unless you're in Afghanistan---he also vowed same day not to be rushed into Afghan decision)
Dr Zero: "Every available dollar has been taxed and spent, and not one single problem the Left demanded the sacrifice of our wealth and freedom to address has been resolved. Not one of their programs has worked, and none of their cost estimates have been accurate, to within an order of magnitude."
Panic button: "In the recent past, we have watched the White House and its branch offices gaze glassily past Iran, the Taliban, North Korea and Moscow in hot pursuit of their real enemy, which appears to be the dissenting media."
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 240.2 miles ?
I got up in time to see Carol off. Rich was up early enough to see Ed for awhile. He claims he might come visit next spring. I'll believe it when I see it.
I tried to upload all the pictures I'd taken to Flickr, but it was taking forever and I finally put them in a flash drive. This is all to avoid the stupidity of two years ago when I deleted them before I'd copied them. There were family pictures and all. Once I gave up with Flickr, we had enough time to dash back to where the reunion had been and pick up the cache there. It was the furthest away on my circle of 100 nearby caches, but we hadn't even thought to look when we were going to the parties, so it was niggling at me.
About 3 we went off to the airport. Got gas, turned in our car, turned over our bags, went through security. The airport charges for its wi-fi. Grumble. This was a bit early to eat, maybe in Detroit.
Or maybe not. The plane was late taking off, and then the taxi-ing in Detroit is crazy long. Our plane was the other side of the airport, up and down escalators and about a mile of moving sidewalk. We arrived just in time to get on our plane. Rich worked in a bathroom break, but I didn't. Oh, well, maybe we'll eat in Minneapolis.
Or maybe not. We were something like #17 for takeoff and had to circle Minneapolis before landing. We arrived just before 9 and they were closing the place down. We got vending machine sandwiches and made do with the trail mix and beef jerky Rich brought and the peanuts they gave out as snacks. At least we had a long enough layover (and were at the next bay in the same terminal) so I could go to the bathroom. This was the long leg. We arrived just before midnight, and were home just before 1. A very long day, and Detroit is a nightmare.
0's embarrassment. He promised to reform the world the last time he was in Berlin, and has delivered... nothing. So he won't go to the celebration of the fall of the Wall.
Obama is a man-child from the worst side of the 60's hippie/Marxist counterculture, a 40 something adolescent in the thrall of a political and moral philosophy unmoored from any burden like reality or responsibility. This Emperor is completely naked, sans clothes and not mature enough yet to shave.
Having no substantive achievement in his life other than his own political career, Obama's claim to the throne was that he claimed the throne. Much like the proverbial dog chasing the car, now that Obama has caught the throne, he doesn't know what to do with it.... When it comes to governance, what if the One who campaigned on the theme of "yes we can," just can't?
Rasmussen has 29/41 on health care, -12 approval for 0bama and 47/52 approval index.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 240.0 miles sunny, cool
We went to church. Then when we'd changed our clothes, we made a quick trip back to Aliquippa to pick up that cache that we'd missed last week. This time the guy was gone. It was quick, then. We had a couple of hours till the game started, so we went for a few more closer to the house. One we drove through every single parking lot in an area before we located the way to get to the cache, and then couldn't find the cache, but the others were quick finds.
Back to the house for the game. Afterwards we walked around the neighborhood. One of the neighbors really goes all out for Hallowe'en.
After dinner, Rich's brother Ray and his wife came over. Sue's having a real hard time with her mother. She also says that now she regrets choosing to spend more time with her family than the inlaws lo these many years ago. It's understandable. She feels she doesn't see enough of her son and his family. I would have liked to see them, but it's partly my fault for not alerting them we were coming.
This broke up about 10. We said goodbye to my sister-in-law in case we miss her tomorrow. The oldest brother-in-law came up from the basement and headed to bed without even saying hi to his brother. Was he in a huff? I don't think he knew Ray was there.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 239.8 miles windy, chilly
Today's plan was to go to the other side of Pittsburgh to a geocaching event in Westmoreland County. I'd written ahead and asked if we brought a couple of geocoins from California, could we get raffle tickets without doing the other caches, and they apparently got all excited that we would come from so far.
There were no other caches to go for nearby that we wanted to do, so we took off about 45 minutes before time. A little road work, but we arrived maybe 2 minutes past time. Lots of nice people, some geocaching talk, a lot of food, and we got to know a little about the Westmoreland Conservancy. It was the WC instead of the geocachers, who actually put this on. Therefore, our Sacramento County Parks geocoins were especially appropriate.
At the raffle, we got a membership to Westmoreland Conservancy (which apparently means the newsletter) and a patch and a $15 McDonald's card. Not badatall. This was fun. I took about 4 travel bugs.
NOBODY FOR PRESIDENT. A bumpersticker.
Back at the house, they had hamburgers. Yummy. I really overate today.
If Obama's "smart diplomacy" is so smart that even Hamid Karzai ignores it with impunity, why should anyone else pay attention?
The strange disparity between the heavy-handed community organization at home and the ever cockier untouchables abroad risks making the commander in chief look like a weenie – like "President Pantywaist," as Britain's Daily Telegraph has taken to calling him.
Ed Morrissey : Obama has damaged relations with the UK, France, the Czech Republic, and Poland, which even Joe Biden was forced to admit yesterday. Instead, Obama has focused his friendlier attention on Russia and Iran. What has Obama and the US received in return? Laughter over Hillary Clinton’s amateurish “reset button” and zero cooperation on Iranian nuclear weapons. And this is “smart power”?
From the [Instapundit] comments, there’s this explanation:
I find all these poll numbers fit very neatly within the same change in viewpoint, which perhaps is best summed up by:
January: Hooray, we’re saved! Now: Holy crap, these guys don’t have a frickin’ clue about anything, do they?
Every once in a while, the cult of the expert implodes in this country, and the bulk of the citizenry stops believing in anything they say, whether it’s about health care, the economy, or climate change. A mulish conviction that it’s all being made up on the fly to feather well-connected nests sets in.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 239.7 miles crisp, sunny
Today we took Rich's nephew to lunch. He's the youngest of that generation and going to Pitt. We'd missed him last week when we went to look at the dinosaur bone. I connected on Facebook and we arranged to pick him up. Since we were just a tish early, we got a cache along the way.
I'm always pleasantly surprised by this kid. We went to Amish country with him when he was 16 and it was a fun excursion, but you kind of suspect that when some older relatives that you never see take you out, it'll be awkward. It wasn't at all. I told him to choose somewhere he likes but never gets to, where we could find parking, and he suggested the Bangkok Balcony.
We made two passes without seeing it, then got on foot and located the restaurant front right away. It's up a flight of stairs, another ADA nightmare (maybe there's an elevator in back.) Yummy good (spicy!) food and great conversation. I think this is one of the cousins Bernadette would really get along with.
After we dropped him back, we made another try for the cache we overshot last week. Piece of cake this time. Then we ended up going through the Liberty tunnels, but I remembered how to get to the parkway from there, and so we did. I suppose we could have gone to West End then (I'd wanted to visit Mom's grave but we never managed that) but we were tired and ready to go home.
The stuffed flounder I was promised had turned into a seafood platter. Ooh. Ever since the first time I had scallops and they made me sick, I've avoided them. These were OK, something Gordon Ramsay would spit out, but at least they stayed down. The shrimp scampi had the texture, but those stayed down, too. The third thing was flavorless crab cakes. Bleck. This is not going down as my favorite meal of the trip. (I think that would be the tavern in Gettysburg.)
The war on Fox: Krauthammer. Legal Insurrection calls 0. a schoolyard bully. "Good for the mainstream media networks. Bad for our country that our President is trying to run the country as if this were a precinct in Chicago." Jennifer Rubin writes When Bullies Overreach. "Obama seems bent on allowing his own flaws (thin-skinnedness, hubris) to do potentially grave damage to the office as well. And over what? Not some grand policy matter or some key personnel matter, but over the desire to exclude a news network that has criticized him."
Instapundit: 'BARACK OBAMA gets cold shoulder in Massachusetts. “President Obama blows into the bluest state today facing a cold shoulder from once true-blue admirers, as gay rights activists, anti-war protesters and vexed environmentalists vow to picket a fund-raiser he’s headlining for Gov. Deval Patrick – a marquee event that hasn’t even sold out.” Well, if you want to talk unpopular, forget Obama. It’s Deval.'
0bama's Enemies List: "The danger is that as the pressures mount and the battles accrue and the political heat intensifies, these impulses will grow stronger, the constraints on them will grow weaker, and the voices of caution and reason will continue to be ignored. If that should come to pass — if what we are seeing now is only a preview of coming attractions — then the Obama administration, and this nation, will pay a very high price."
More on 0bama driving up Fox's ratings: "If Fox News was running for office, it would have to list President Obama as an in-kind contributor."
I’ve said it before, but it can’t be repeated enough: Obama is a 14-year old boy.
The gratuitous lying even when he doesn’t need to, the blaming of others for things that are clearly his fault, the hypersensitivity to criticism, the compensatory narcissism, the “cut off your nose to spite your face” attitude, and so on.
Obama has never before been required to stand on his own feet as a man. He has been carried through life by his “mentors”: Frank Marshall, Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, and the Chicago political machine.
Being president is not for the immature or the faint of heart. It’s too bad that so many in this country refused to see him for what he was a year ago. Now we’re all paying the price for their stupidity.
Durant's Rousseau and Revolution, p. 606 239.7 miles crisp, sunny
Back across the state we go! On the way east I had noticed a Frank Lloyd Wright house close to Fallingwater, and thought we might want to see that on the way home. On the way, we stopped at Ohiopyle Falls State Park and got an earth cache. It was great seeing it again, so pretty! Then onward past another cache at a picnic area and to Kentuck Knob.
This was owned by the Haugen Ice Cream family. She had admired Fallingwater and wanted something similar on top of the hill they owned. It's Usonian architecture, minimalist, but Mrs. Haugen got her own way in a few places and made it much more livable. For instance, unlike most FLW houses, there's a bit of a basement for groceries. There's also a bit of an attic, and the dining room was made bigger. I think Wright at 86 and busy with other projects, like the Guggenheim, didn't have the energy to impose his ideas. The place is much better for it. Here is a comparison of the two homes.
The sculpture meadow was closed because they were taking a tree out. We did get to see a Claes Oldenburg apple core, though.
All in all, a beautiful place and a gorgeous day to visit it. It's still in use, though the British Lord who owns it stays in town when he visits, just entertains here. I'd love to come to a party here. I'm really glad we went!
Turid Gregory-Furlong: No you're not the only one. It is unbelieveable PBO is unable to make a decision about the troops. they die and [he] dithers. He has time for the olympics, fund raising, letterman, whine about fox news of all things, etc etc.. go on vacation, site seeing.. OMG it is just pathetic. My children who are both under 5 are now responsible for 300,000+ of this mess of a debt.. they didn't do anything but be born and they are stuck with this mess. This pettyfighting, leaving rooms thru the back door, and locking people out just needs to stop. The name calling - my pre-schooler behaves better .. matter of the fact all of my pre-schoolers classmates behave better. This is really enraging how they are all behaving. They all need to be fired!! No retirement - they can survive without public pensions... since they all earned their money from the free market which they all hate. Furthermore, it will be their public service to the nation.
Rasmussen on 0bama's approval: 26 lowest strong approval, -13 level, (first time in double digits for a whole week) and 47/52 approval, 42/54 on 0bamacare.
A rational citizen, confronted with the current economy and the Democrats' plan to impoverish us all with a multi-trillion-dollar tax on energy, would take a hard look at the evidence and see whether anthropogenic global warming is a) a reality, or b) a hoax ginned up to justify a massive federal government takeover of the economy that will shift trillions of dollars from ordinary citizens to the federal coffers and to companies and organizations with close ties to the Democratic Party.
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