Hello on Tuesday

Dear Friends,

Our Monday went as planned, but I did forget that Linda was socially engaged around supper time. A golfing buddy of hers retired after many years as a secretary in the Pittsfield Public Schools. They had a little party for the woman at the restaurant at the golf course. The lady appreciated the thoughtfulness of the group.

It is official with respect to babysitting for our Tewksbury grandchild. Our daughter-in-law has a morning flight out of Logan to the West Coast for a two week (or more) work related project. I will be doing the child care activities alone this week. Could Linda be looking forward to have several days alone without me around to bug her? You Betcha!

I haven't mentioned my Achilles Strain in the last few days. The leg is the best that it has felt in months. I want to make sure that I don't strain it while chasing around a toddler for several days. Linda is a little nervous that I might not be attentive while taking care of Max. The other day, Kevin and Kyla left Max alone for two minutes, and he proceeded to open a whole bunch of bananas. When it is quiet, and you don't see and hear a toddler, often there is something the toddler shouldn't be doing.

Since I am leaning toward the disciple theme, I see where a lady's form of disciplining her child was to video tape her sticking hot sauce down her child's throat. She was hoping that the video would make it across the national airwaves, and that she would be invited to appear on Doctor Phil's program on national television. Well the police and child protective services saw the video. This mom is going to jail for one year, and then she will be on probation for three years after the jail sentence. This goes back to one of my favorite quotes that I saw at an exhibit in Washington, D.C many years ago: "Stupid people shouldn't breed!"

As I was watching the Weather Channel last evening, I guess that I didn't realize that three covered bridges were destroyed by flooding in Vermont.
One of the bridges had a $1 million dollar insurance policy on it!

Yesterday, there was a big discussion on all the morning talk shows as to whether or not the news media hyped up Hurricane Irene. I would say ask the over thirty people in various States who died because of storm related incidents.

As we begin this school year, there was a good CNN article about College Courses for credit. Some courses, I wish that they had offered when I was attending school in the late 60's. You can get credit for fly fishing at Montana State. At Montclair State, there is a course called "How to Watch Television!" Do think that we might be "dumbing down" this latest batch of College Students?

Speaking of college, a friend dropped her daughter to college at the eastern end of the State this past weekend. The mother gets home, and the daughter called saying that the start of school will be postponed due to the Hurricane, and that they are relocated students while the custodial staff mop up the dorms which experienced water damage. "Moving in weekend" during a Hurricane might not have been a great idea.

Our deck is back to normal, but Linda and I won't have many days to use it since we are so busy. Rain is forecasted for a portion of the weekend. The temperatures yesterday and for the rest of this week are fall like. Even the Weather Channel guy, Jim Cantore, said the same thing yesterday while reporting the Hurricane Damage in Vermont. Can winter be on our doorstep for us people who live in the Northeast? I just put away the winter coats and winter footwear not to long ago.

Politics -- There is a CNN report from a writer who expounded on three mistakes that our President has made during his Presidency. I am betting that my Conservative, Tea Party, and my Independents friends can come up with a few more than three.
The Hurricane sure did put a damper on political issues.

Gasoline is going up, and they oil companies are using the excuse that Hurricane Irene made them shut down many oil refineries. The fact is that many people heeded the warning and stayed home, and they left their cars in their garages or driveways. This meant nobody was buying gasoline, and the oil companies have to come up for a way to recoup lost profits. You and I will be paying for the lack of income and lack of profits which the oil companies experienced at the pump.

Well, I have to get to some quiet activities before the Queen wakes up. She has a busy day and evening social calendar booked in.

Have a great day at work or play!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad