Good Evening or good morning depending where you are! Thought I would put up this nice new diary for the late night crowd and since I have hostess duty tomorrow as well, there will be a diary ready for the early birds.
A reminder, the Welcome Wagon is parked here too, so if you are new you can introduce yourself on this diary.
Please unrecommend the previous diary and rec. this one.
New Diary is up, good evening, good night or good morning depending on where you are.
What’s up everyone and anything good on TV tonight???
Hi Diane,
It is evening here in Michigan, and I don’t think anything good is on TV (is there really ever anything good on?).
I do think it might be a good idea to include a link to the new diary in the old one (since it is still on the rec’d list) so that people can un-rec it.
As for evening drinks, I’m sipping on my whiskey / diet-coke, and it is treating me well for the time being. You never know when they’re going to turn on you though!
I don’t know what you consider good TV, but I’ve been enjoying the new USA show The Closer with Kyra Sedgwick. It’s on at 9 here on the west coast. It’s quite enjoyable so far if you like the actress and mystery shows.
I watched Six Feet Under earlier, but it’s gotten so depressing this season, I can’t really recommend it.
I decided to pull out the personal big guns that never fail to help me clear my brain. So, I’m watching Les Miserables. I had the opportunity to play in an honor band in high school at the university I later attended, and we performed a medley of the songs. I have been a fan since. Now I’ve seen it twice on stage and own the DVD of the Honor Cast.
</geek>
Don’t we all have these embarrassing things we like.
I like disco. That’s right. I said it. Nothing unwinds me better than singing with Gaynor’s I will survive.
I sure hope you are feeling a bit better after your loss today. Can I get you anything or have you had enough to drink from your earlier visit to the Cafe…
I am watching Nanny 911 and then I will watch Hells Kitchen, two of my favs….
did the trick. Now I’m on the last stages of coping mechanisms. Tomorrow I’ll have plenty of resolve just in time to spit at the T.V. during Shrub’s speech. (I will probably inflict myself with the pain of watching it)
Did I miss anything absolutely ‘must see’ today?
Where have you been, not sleeping I hope… Wow did you miss things.
So miss diary lady how are you doing…..
nope – but it probably won’t be long now…
So quick, before I lose consciousness – things I missed???? I know that Rehnquist didn’t resign, Judith Miller is screwed, Canadians didn’t pull off C-38 today (but it’s guaranteed for tomorrow), I learned that Anderson Cooper is getting better at that breathless, excited, wildly-fluctuating voice when talking about serial killers, and that the “killer sharks are a threat to your children and national security!” story will no doubt go on all summer. So….what else???
on one of the news broadcasts this eve (first time in about 3 months I’ve actually watched one) that said that the son of Sam Walton was killed in a small plane crash this afternoon. John Walton, I believe, approx. 50 years old, piloting his own plane out of Jackson Hole WY; he was referred to as the “president” of Wal-Mart.
I hate to sound nasty, but now perhaps someone with an actual conscience will step in and run that company.
I do believe they bred the conscience out of the Walton family…
Not difficult, not unhappy, just. . .well, different. I did get a few very needed household things done. Learned somethings, communicated with several special friends via email, ate an actual meal, and now would like some Bailey’s Irish Cream in this cup of coffee, if you don’t mind. . . .
Then me and my cup-a are going to sit out on the edge of the deck, dangle me feet and look up at the stars. . .
Come sit a spell if you like, and is that Gloria Gaynor ‘s I will survive wafting on the evening breeze?
I just love how the cafe looks all lit up at night. . .
Shirl, I left you another picture link on the previous thread, have a looksee.
Playing toss with puppy. Or alternatively tug, if she won’t let go of the ring. If I hold onto my computer chair, she can roll me across the floor that way.
Wow, my kinda of country! Thanks and thanks for the froggy sounds too! Winter will be here before we know it, and who knows, I just might take you up on a visit. I have good manners, I am self-contained and self-entertained so usually I am not too much trouble as a guest. . . (trying real hard to think of more good qualities. . .hmmm. . .oh, well).
Really, it would be a fabulous trip for me. And having froggy family there would make it really memorable. I’ll put it in the magic froggy machine and see what happens.
Thanks again for sharing a piece of Oz! And an Oz Merlot? !!!couldn’t be better!
oh Shril, I love baileys in my coffee at any old time…I love the cafe lit up like this too. Even tho it is almost noon here in Tennessee on a Tuesday I can get into this whole thing..It is a hot and steamy day here and this evening I will be out to mow the grass for the sheep/goats from the neighbor down the road a piece is on strike I hear…:o) I hate to get out in the heat to do outside work. I am spoiled…used not to be like this..:o( so to say I love the confort of my own lilly pad is not a far stretch
I know just where to go to find Bailey’s and good company. Yeah, it is a lovely evening drink. Course, I have to admit that I like Bailey’s on the rocks too. Maybe it’s just a Bailey’s thing, eh? Normally I enjoy an occaisional glass of good Merlot, especially one that uses blackberries with the merlot grapes.
The goats reminds me. . .I used to have two goats, Reba and Sheba. . . I had fond hopes that they would help keep the wild grasses and weeds down on my two acres. Eh hem. . .me thinks they were too well fed with alfalfa, they did not prefer to eat weeds or wild grasses. But they sure were cute and funny and had neat personalities. After my partner moved, they were a lot for me to take care of by myself, so they are on a friend’s farm roaming with the horses. Great pals goats and horses.
Is what I am eating right now after a quick trip to the story and yum, is it ever good..
Now what did Zander miss today??????Anyone want to tell her??
We’ve had a few good rains recently, enough to fill our catchment tanks and most of the pond. Frogs are happy and chirriping away, so I thought I’d give you a sample.
Click on the frogs below to hear what they sound like:
southern toadlet (Pseudophryne semimarmorata)
green and gold frog
moss froglet (Bryobatrachus nimbus)
brown tree frog (Litoria ewingi)
For an hour or so after sundown, Saturn, Venus and Mercury are close together just up-left of the sunset. Binocs should show you two of them. Mercury’s fairly hard to see. I’ve been surfing the net to find out if this portends another conservative judge, or maybe just confirms what we already knew about Sponge Bob.
Up here in Puget Sound the twilight lasts so long we aren’t seeing stars by eye till near 10 PM. That is, when it’s not Pugetting.
It cleared just enough this evening to fill the sky and hills with deep tartan indigoes, greens, golds and pinks. (Hey I’m a musician not an artist–I only know 3 other color words!)
I tried to get a photo of that yesterday, when Venus and Mercury were only 7 arc minutes apart!
But it was cloudy, so I had to settle for this instead:
(click to enlarge)
Oh sweet! I actually got here while people were still here instead of coming in when the cleaning staff were pushing brooms and clearing tables and the comments very very stale.
Have spent the last two days dumpster diving with my young anarchist pals helping them gather wood for trellises and stakes for an amazing garden they’ve built in a huge vacant lot(I’m the person with the truck). We also collected a load of 4x4s from a carport demolition thanks to some friendly contractors, I found a perfect gate for my oddly-shaped side yard in the dumpster and the youn’uns gave me two jars of delicious jam they made from last years’ crops.
And now it’s time for a small glass of hard cider and a toast to you skillful wordsmiths-kampai!
I am both amazed and humbled when I visit a similar community. Amazed at their ability to do so much with so little, humbled by how much I’ve accumulated. I assuage my guilt by cooking when I visit – dumpster food is remarkably good. Honest.
bwren. . .thanks for your Dickensen quote. Your tops in my book if for nothing more than that!
shucks ma’am. t’warn’t nothin’.
thank you
Welcome, and so glad you got here while we are all still milling about and chatting away. Some of us insomniacs try to check in for the late arrivals, but sometimes we miss ya.
Hard cider coming up. Sit a spell and big kudos to your dumpster diving. Sounds very productive.
Sure is good to see you here.
I just wanted to stop by and thank you all for the wonderful job you have done setting up the FBC.
I also wanted to let you know how much your efforts mean for the success of the site.
Yesterday I went to a picnic for the Philly for Change group. And I spent most of my time chatting up Chris Bowers (of MyDD) and his girlfriend/wife Levana. First of all, they are really nice people. But Chris asked me about a statistic called ‘average page views per visit’. You can see it by visiting the sitemeter at the bottom right of the page.
Right now it shows 5.4, but yesterday it was 5.7, and it has been as high at 8. By comparison, Daily Kos is currently averaging 1.2 and MyDD is averaging 1.8.
What this means is that even though MyDD is averaging almost 10,000 more visitors a day, they are only averaging 3,000 more page views a day.
And so we are basically in the same band for advertising dollars.
As Chris described it, BooTrib is the ‘stickiest’ website around, by a big margin. He meant that BooTribbers spend a lot of time here. And I want to thank Diane101, first and foremost, but Shirlstars and Man Eegee and the recent deputies that have helped them greet newcomers and make them feel welcome.
Your efforts have not only made this site a fun place to spend time, but it has contributed A LOT to its financial viability. So, thank you all again, and save me a beer for the end of the night 🙂
Ah Shucks, Booman, thanks so much for that…It did my heart good to hear your words.
I also want to thank all the FBC team members and helpers and waitresses who have made this FBC and WW diaries a great success and kept it running day and night..What a great bunch of folks you all are, including all the members.
So now is it a good time to ask for a special cick tab on the site for the FBC diaries…..(One with a cute little pic. for the tab..)
And hey, you got it, beer of your choice whenever you care to stop by….Do stop by more often, Mr. Boo.
Thanks again and so happy to hear of the site success.
we can do something like that Diane, but please be patient. We have a lot of things going on. First we are going to try to make the recent comments feature work faster. Then we have to work out a system to archive the regional threads.
But I think we might be able to create a permalink to the FBC on the front-page once we work out a good way to archive old threads.
It could be tricky to figure out how to authorize the FBC hosts to roll over the thread.
But keep reminding me 🙂
I wasn’t aware of the big difference in the ratio. Glad to hear of the success. I second the motion for a FBC tab somewhere. 😉
Aw Shucks. . . (that’s me blushing). . .Thanks Booman, it has just been the most fun I can remember having for a long, long time and I know we all have met some of the most amazing and fabulous tribbers anyone could ever want to meet.
Frogs are sticky, aren’t they.
Good news about the site, and many more good news-es to come, I have no doubt.
Thanks for letting us build the Cafe, it is just the best!
And thanks also for the playground of BMT.
Shirl
Wow, what wonderful news! May I say, as one of the newcomers, that I can’t even imagine how we could have been made to feel more welcome. It was that warmth, sweet courtesy, generosity of spirit, and openness–combined with the fact that this is such a good site in terms of news and discussion–that made me, for one, want to leap in and do stuff that I’ve never done on any other website.
I’m reminded of when my son was about 3 years old and I picked him up from my parents’ house. As usual, they said, “He was perfect.” And I knew he was–he was an easy kid for everybody, but he was an angel whenever he was with them. So when we got to the car, I asked him, “Nick, why are you always so well behaved here?” And he said, I kid you not–“Because I want them to think well of me.”
You Frogsters set high standards. I suspect that we newcomers want you think well of us! <grin>
I give high honors to each of you that have made this site a great place to be. I come here, even if I do not post, I read at least twice a day. I have to tell you that what booman and the rest have made of this site is just the best site ever. A VERY BIG THANK YOU TO EACH OF YOU.
Dang, methinks I’m a bit late to get in here tonight. Took the dogs for a romp in the park and some frisbee, followed by a homemade mango-and-vanilla-froyo milkshake (for the humans!).
There’s so little to watch on TV during summer, so we’re getting a huge kick out of being new Netflix subscribers. Those DVDs just keep comin’ to the mailbox (service is super-fast), we’ve seen some wonderful stuff that isn’t available in our local video store (like the 1990s Helen Mirren series “Prime Suspect”), and we’re supporting a blue company rather than the evil Blockbuster empire. What could be funner?
Cheers to everyone this evening…
Great to see you here!
Oh wow! I just love the Helen Mirren series, such good work. . .makes you wonder why American TV can’t do something that good. Now I have to think about subscribing to Netflix just for that.
Cheers to you! What would you like for refreshment?
Get comfy and enjoy yourself.
productions and other non-American film, you’d be very impressed with Netflix’s inventory. I’ve yet to find anything they don’t have: old stuff, obscure stuff, TV collections, you name it. So far, it’s been fantastic!
(As for the refreshment you offered, apparently what I really needed was sleep–I zonked out about 10 minutes after I posted last night! Ooops.)
I LOVE Netflix! No driving to the vid store to pick something out, no more trying to squeeze in a chance to return the movies before they’re overdue…just pick them out of the mailbox, watch them, and toss them back in the mailbox.
I’m working my way through the Deadwood series this month…God, I love that show; it almost makes me want HBO.
I just canceled both HBO and Blockbuster OnLine, but not because I don’t like them. I do. But I’ve discovered that I LOVE watching entire seasons all in a row on DVD, and also that I need to wait six months or so until there’s a pile of new movies and tv series I haven’t seen. I’ll probably end up having a Blockbuster or Netflix subscription for only a few months a year.
I have friends who tape certain tv series and then have what they call, for instance, “Sacred Alias Month.” Thanks to DVD’s I’ve had Sacred The Shield Weeks and Sacred Gilmore Girls Weeks.
I
DVD’s.
Sacred Alias month would be a big hit here!
I tried them first, just because they’re cheaper and the boyfriend thought their two free in-store movie coupons each month were nice, but they were soooooo sloooowwwww! We only got 3 movies during the 2-week trial period! No wonder they give you store coupons–you want to watch something, anything, while you wait a week for your dvd’s to arrive in the mail! And I think Netflix’s selection of offbeat stuff is a bit better.
We’re like you: we’ll probably keep Netflix till the summer’s over and the new season of TV shows we enjoy starts up again. But we plan to watch a LOT of dvd’s until then!
I liked it, but then I only had in-store renting to compare it with and almost anything is better than that. Ask me about my late charges! I need to ask a couple of friends who’ve done both which they now prefer.
I never once used the in-store coupons.
My rentals usually came within 3 days. I don’t know if that’s slow or fast.
I have heard that Netflix has a feature I wished Blockbuster had. . .letting you see what’s currently either in or coming to the theaters so you can reserve them way ahead of time?
Also, their site is annoying because they make you do the password thing every time you want to enter your Queue!
I’ve been all over the Netflix site and I haven’t run across that early-reserve feature–but I’ll look again, because it sounds really nifty! Thanks for the tip. One thing I do like alot is Netflix’s rate/recommend feature: you rate a bunch of movies you’ve seen, and then the site starts giving you ideas for movies you’d probably enjoy. It seems to be VERY accurate for my own tastes so far.
I think the speed of delivery really depends on whether you’re near a distribution center. I know Netflix has about 35 centers, and one is within 90 miles of me, which is probably why movies arrive in 1 day. (You can Google on “netflix distribution centers” or something like that to find out where they are relative to you.) Blockbuster, I think, has far fewer centers–so not only is the mailing time longer for most people, but they also seem to process things very slowly too.
If you find that feature, let us know, okay? If you don’t, I’ll ask my friends what the heck they were talking about. And they’ll probably tell me I imagined it!
(btw, Blockbuster has that rating system, too.)
.
Spend my youth in St. Louis with long, hot and humid summers – the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Taking a hot shower 5 times a-day, just to refresh and wear a dry T-shirt to little avail. Always missed the coast of the Netherlands and the cooling effect of a breeze from the sea.
In The Hague, extreme pleasant week passed – just great weather for my daughter’s wedding in Leiden and festivities outdoors all evening near “De Burcht”.
Love the dunes along the coast and the bicycle routes to enjoy the scenery, birds, rabbits and growing number of foxes.
Photo Gallery – Ooops! Not outdoors but a zoo near Arnhem.
Science News – Wageningen University – Malaria mosquito to be misled by scents, research grant financed by Bill Gates Foundation. A laboratory launched a chip to detect Veterans bacteria in water transport ducts in homes, business, sport accomodation and hotels.
USA WELCOME: Make Yourself Known @BooMan Tribune and add some cheers!
my my my… what a day… here it is 2:20 a.m. and i’m just now making it to frog bottom. :::looking around::: no one here. best get to sweeping up. want the place nice and fresh in the morning for the guests…
:::Starting to whistle a tune:::
Hey Watch that broom! That’s me sitting in the dark out here on the deck with my feet dipping into the pond.
You are here late. What keeps you up at this hour?
Glad to see you here though, and thanks for the help with the sweep up.
Shirl
oh i didn’t even see you over there! moi? well this is my night job.. picking up a little extra cash. while everyone sleeps. bayprairie sweeps!
Coming to you from the great state of California, it is a cool 64 degrees at 8 this morning, but sure to reach 80 this afternoon.
How is everyone doing, not much action here in the cafe last night, everyone go to bed early or what?
What’s new, what’s happening and what’s up.
My California morning is like yours, beautiful and cool, but heading to a high of about 90F today. Ugh.
I was a rude guest in the lounge last night–showed up at 10:30pm and then, ten minutes later, couldn’t stay awake any longer. What the … ? I’m not even forty yet!
What part of California are you in, BTW.
Well, okay: I’m in the San Joaquin Valley, specifically in Bakersfield <ackgagcoughgag!>. I hate it here and am really looking forward to moving somewhere in the Pacific Northwest in the next couple of years, though. Fingers crossed!
The sky today is pictured below:
It was 59F at daybreak, and now at midmorning it’s 58. We might see 60 later.
No big news here. I’m off downstairs to my shop where I’ve been stepping through the building process for a new line of craft products, making up checklists of steps needed for each of almost two dozen items. In theory this will make me faster when I dive into the standing orders next week.
With Al Franken on hiatus I’m listening to KUOW Seattle Public Radio. They’re generally very good, with 2 hours of excellent call-in shows A.M. and one after lunch. Since I’m mentally foggy this morning, the low key and absence of commercials is going well with my 2nd cup of tea.
The rules of the competition are brutal. Sauna temperature is 110 C/230 F. Half a litre of water is thrown on the stones every 30 seconds until the sauna is emptied of occupants. The stones, of course, turn that water instantly into a rush of scalding humidity that circulates round inside the sauna like an invisible fireball. The first one to leave is a wimp, the last one is the champ.
The champ ends up looking like a lobster, and the feeling of that first `löyly’ hit – I can testify – is probably what the live lobster feels as he goes into the pot.
The Germans held such a sauna competition near Berlin yesterday. The winner was architect Andreas Kramp. He lasted 4 minutes and 52 seconds. His nearest challenger exited 10 seconds earlier. “He has a big gut and a lot of guts – a typical sauna competitor” said Riku Jaro, who arranged the competition.
The Germans are wimps. Herr Kramp has a lot of practising to do to reach international standards. Leo Pusa holds the world record of 12 minutes. Leo is Finnish, naturally.
The problem with such macho behaviour is that you can’t talk, and you can hardly breathe. A sharp intake of breath will burn the inside of your nostrils. This is not what sauna is all about.
Last night I sat in my sauna with a filmmaker friend who had just arrived from LA. He’s Finnish. It was 70 C. Just right for chatting about movies, the world in general, and a little bit of sweating. We took a 15 minute blast and then continued talking in the garden with a beer for half an hour, as we cooled down, before going back for another 15 min hit. The second time was a little more focused on sweating.
There are dozens of sauna conversations to look forward to over this summer. Everywhere I go there is a sauna waiting, and the timing of it is the axle around which the rest of the day revolves. There’ll be my favourite evening sauna by a small lake about 80 kms west of Helsinki at the forest cottage of some dear friends. A great morning sauna is on an island in the archipelago that is followed by a wake-up dip in the sea. A late night hotel sauna at a small harbour called Hanko, after an art exhibition opening next week. You can have one any time of the day, in a log sauna, a cellar sauna, a barrel sauna. I’ve even had a sauna in a mobile one that pulled up outside our local supermarket. (Use of towels obligatory)
But the weirdest sauna I ever had was in the converted bridge cabin of a barge. The barge carried logs to fire the boilers of the old lake steamship on which we were filming. Some bright spark had made the windowed aft steering cabin into a one-man sauna. I was sitting in it sweating away in the early evening as we sailed past Olavilinna, the ancient fortress guarding the channels that run through the town of Savonlinna in the lake area to the east near the border with Russia. Olavilinna is a world renowned opera venue during the summer. Some nice pix of it below:
http://www.pbase.com/diego_elorza/finlandia
Oh how I love the sauna!
Hi Sven, I always look forward to seeing your wonderful words on these pages and for the very Finnish slant you give to everything.
It seems to me you have the most exciting life, past and present.
I could not imagine a sauna culture here where I live, that surely would be a culture shock to have sauna’s all over the place, oh we do have them, here and there, but it certainly does not hold the same place in our society here as there…I find it most interesting the way other cultures interact socially…
And BTW I dislike sauna’s and hope never to step foot in another again…maybe a sweat lodge <not really>, but no sauna…In fact no great heat at all for me, the weather in summer is plenty hot enough for me.
I guess I would be driven from Finland with my attitude, if I lived there. However, if I were in my 20’s it would be most likely a different story and I would like the sauna and not mind being exposed, as it were, in public…
Now whenever I hear the word sauna, I think of you!
Diane – nobody makes you do anything in Finland (except pay your taxes) But you might be put to work on the outdoor grill should you choose to stay out of the sauna 😉
We are rather liberal and very tolerant – like most Nordics.
We even have paid paternity leave (80% salary). I only took 4 weeks, but many of my friends have taken more and thoroughly enjoyed it. I can’t remember what the law allows. (I’ll look it up)
Thanks for your kind words!
And belated congratulations on being one of FBC’s prime movers. I read Booman’s comments.
God bless Finland! That’s great!!
Maternity leave is 105 workdays and can begin 30 -50 days before the birth. A further 150 workdays can be shared between the parents beginning after the maternity leave ends. Only one of the parents in this case gets a salary percentage.
On top of this there is a paid paternity leave of 18 work days. So if the mother takes all 255 days off, dad still gets nearly 4 weeks. Most men take this right after birth.
Employers must be informed at least 2 months before leave begins.
Most Finnish research indicates that partnerships are strengthened by this arrangement, mothers are more likely to have more children later, and that supportive companies are rewarded by greater loyalty and flexibility.
With high broadband and mobile penetration, many companies have set up systems to keep employees on leave in touch with what is happening at work. Most people I know don’t mind answering a few vital emails etc while on leave. It really depends on their relationship with their immediate superiors. I guess it is pretty much on an ad hoc basis.
That because breast feeding is maybe over 95%, it is usually the mother that takes all the main leave.
I don’t understand why the US can’t implement something like this, to help expectant families. I think that sounds like a great program!
They don’t force you into a sauna over there or shun you? what a relief!!!!!lol and I would be happy to cook, as that is one of my passions..
You are very welcome and thank you for your kind words as well.
Ok the Agriculture Dept of whatever dept has just shown up to take my orange tree. Some unknown citrus tree at some unknown distance from here was found to have canker so the state takes all the citrus trees even if they have no sign of disease. My neighbor is losing their weird fruit tree also. I never understood what the hell fruit grew on their tree.
They had originally came around a couple of weeks ago to notify us and have now returned with their evil tree snatching equipment.
So I say goodbye to my tree. Goodbye poor tree.
Oh, no! I’m so sorry about your tree.
There was a little maple in my front yard when I was a kid and I would climb up it and sit for hours watching people go by, hidden by the leaves. When I was about 11, it started looking sickly. Someone came out to look at it and said that it had wrapped its roots around themselves as it grew and was slowly strangling itself. We finally had to cut it down. Very sad. The little poplar tree we planted to replace it wasn’t much consolation.
Thanks.
Maple trees are nice.
We’ve never had much luck with trees. Lost 2 to lightning strikes (learned lightning will strike same spot twice so don’t plant there again). Last year we lost several small ones to carpenter ants, then the storms slightly damaged the biggest tree (it’s recovering fine). Now the orange tree. If I were a tree I would stay away from me.
Hmmm…apparently lunch time has brought the tree an hour reprieve as all the workers just took off in the truck (they left the chipper so I know they’ll be back).
I lived in an apartment complex with an inner courtyard where kids could play. There was one small tree in the yard and we kids used to love to climb on it and play around it.
There was a bully in the neighborhood, a kid named John. He gave me my first, and thankfully last, punch in the stomach. Ever had the wind knocked out of you like that? Very unpleasant feeling.
Anyway, what I remember most about John the Bully was not so much the punch he gave me, but rather something to do with our courtyard tree. One day the management came and cut it down. And John the Bully cried like he was losing his best friend in the world. It was quite poignant really.
Wow – I thought that story was going in a whole different direction, but it was very touching.
Looking down from our apartment patio we see a courtyard with a playground for kids and a few trees. One of the trees is a…ok, I have no idea what it is because CA trees are a mystery to me, but it has shaggy, peeling bark. There are some kids who play in the courtyard regularly, and they’re pretty much the most annoying kids ever. They are incredibly loud and rude. They have also been stripping the bark off of one of the trees, which will probably kill it eventually. I cannot describe to you how much I dislike these kids. My mom’s dog was looking down from the patio one day and barking at the kids in an excited way and she said something about how he’d love to go play with them. I said I didn’t want him anywhere near the little monsters.
Was I overreacting? There’s no reason to think they would hurt him, but I can’t help but feel that any kid who will damage a living thing like a tree just doesn’t give a f*ck and can’t be trusted around a sweet, defenseless dog.
Peeling bark? Could be a Eucalyptus. I don’t know much about trees, but I’ve seen these totally peeled eucalyptus trees that seem to do okay despite their “nudity.” Maybe the kids don’t know they are damaging the tree.
That’s what was so amazing about John, that he could be so sensitive to the life of a tree, yet such a bully to other people. And it was a revelation to me at that young age about how complex and contradictory human beings could be.
I don’t think any of the kids took the opportunity to get revenge by making fun of John, I think we were all just sort of amazed by his change in behavior.
That’s comforting – maybe the tree will be ok. And yes, they may not understand that trees usually can’t live without their bark, but still. Have a little respect, kids!
John’s reaction reminds me of a trip to Muir Woods I took with my family when I was about 13. I’ve never been to see the giant redwoods, but the ones at Muir are pretty damn big. Anyway, it’s right in the bay area and gets a lot of visitors, but we walked through the forest and there was no trash anywhere. Not so much as a candy wrapper. I guess people can’t help but feel a sense of awe when confronted with a create so huge and majestic.
Not that that stops lumber comanies from cutting them down, of course.
Where do you live, what state and county.
Gee I have never heard of this and I am in Orange County, Ca. and our family is in the Tree Trimming Bus. here. It may go on but I have never heard of it, would be very interested in hearing more.
I’m in Orange County Florida. I looked up the state page on it for you.
Thanks for that info, I did a check on Ca. and I found the following so apparently we do not have canker here and on the same site below they refer to Florida, I guess Ca has a similar program in the event canker ever gets here..Our big prob. here in the past has been the Med. Fruit Fly and for that they did a very controversial aerial spray over LA, several years ago..
http://www.sunkist.com/growers/sunkist_report/report.asp?report_id=18#201
We really haven’t had much with the med. fruit fly, but every year they worry about encephalitis so they have these chickens they keep out called sentinel chickens. I think they test them for West Nile also. Do y’all use chickens?
West Nile just hit us last year I think, but mildly…I know of no program here other than testing birds, nothing about chickens used for this purpose. There are no chicken growers in this area (I could be wrong), too urbanized, but in San Diego Co. there are quite a few and prob. other counties as well. In any case it is not something that comes up on the local news here.
Ack, the tree Nazi’s are coming!
One time, when we were living in Philly, my neighbors and I spent a week defending our trees from the Asplundh tree butchers, who wanted to hack all of them down so we could have a completely unobtructed view of the Septa line. None of the trees actually hung over the tracks, mind you, they just wanted to destroy everything in sight.
We took turns guarding the trees, and whenever someone had to leave, we made sure the next person knew it was their turn to keep the chainsaws away. The happy ending: they gave up, and we kept our little slice of green n the city.
Good for you. It’s always nice to hear stories where someone takes a stand and it works out for them. I wonder what they would do if they came back and I was chained to the orange tree. LOL
Maybe if you write EarthFirst on your t-shirt and call the news cameras in?
It would make for an entertaining morning, I’m sure.
Interesting indeed. Problem is a storm is brewing so with my luck I’ll be stuck by lightning. News would say:
“Stupid woman chains self to tree during storm and is killed by lightning. Tree then removed along with body.”
I figured you must be in Florida. I have Lauderdale friends who have grieved the snatching of their backyard orange and grapefruit trees. I think it’s a plot by the fruit growers to keep people from growing their own fruit!
Kidding, I think. I certainly don’t want your state’s citrus crop ruined. But this is a hard way to save it and in actual practice it sometimes seems more arbitrary than sensible.
Well the trick is on them, the oranges from my tree weren’t very good. 😀
You know what’s odd, reading that page I linked to earlier, I’m under some sort of citrus quarantine that I had no idea about. Obviously it’s a secret quarantine that they never told us about. It says I’m not supposed to replace my citrus with another citrus until 2 years of clean inspections but the guy who came by told me I could.
I’m officially worried about my fellow patrons. Don’t you guys ever sleep? I’m starting to think you’re all a bunch of vampires.
In other news, I’m slowly recovering from some very minor surgery yesterday (more scary than it was painful, although the recovery isn’t much fun) and spending the day making a mix CD for my big brother. A little Arcade Fire, the Pixies, the Replacements, Tom Waits, the Police, some Elvis Costello…should be a doozie.
So what’s cookin’ chez vous?
First, a moment of silence for the poor tree being taken from Liberalpalooza’s house.
Obviously, I should be in California today. It’s already close to 90 here in Texas and we’re expecting a high close to 100. EWW! Thank God for central air.
I hope everyone’s having a good day so far!
Hi MM. so nice to see your words on these pages again. How are you today….Hope it doesn’t get too hot for you in Texas today…It is very overcast here right now, but that usually burns off by noon. Marine Layer we call it here.
Yes come to California, the best weather in the US, right here in Orange County….
Morning Diane! I’m doing great today – how about you?
Oh, how I wish it were overcast here! We’re in the middle of one of our driest Junes on record and we need rain badly. We got a small little thundershower here at work yesterday afternoon and you would have thought gold was falling from the sky. LOL!
A new version of iTunes, 4.9, was released today. Mac users can grab it through Software Update, and Windows users can use the “Check for iTunes Updates” feature under the Help menu. The big deal about this version is that it supports podcasting, and the iTunes Music Store even has a brand-new podcast section. I’ve only taken a quick look, but they do have a wide selection of radio talk shows. All free of course! (Though there appears to be an issue with the Air America podcasts I haven’t figured out yet.)
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, there’s a brief introduction to podcasting at Wikipedia. I should note that no, one does not need an iPod or iTunes to listen to podcasts; other players and programs will do them just as well. But for the market-leader (82% at last count) to support this in-house is pretty cool.
Good morning everyone. I have been extremely busy so haven’t had the chance to pop into the Cafe much. Booman’s news is great and it is always appreciated when the owner notices what is actually happening around their site. Don’t you all just love the community that has developed here. good food, good drinks, good friends. What a great combination. Lots of good diaries and action items up there today. We do need to pay close attention to what preznit has to say tonight. Condiliar was on the today show…ugh! I can’t stand to even look at her or hear her sing songy condesending tone. She acts as if we don’t know or could possibly ever know what is really going on in Iraq. The nerve of that liar. Sorry to rant just had to get that off my chest.
Hi Aloha, just wanted to point you to catnips diary about Conyers and what they are doing after the speech by Pres. tonight. That’s what I want to see….
As to Condi, remember all her words can/will be used against her, when the investigation starts….Keep fingers crossed…
Also folks, post a notice here on FBC diaries if there is an alert somewhere we should pay attention to.
Froggy Bulletins? That would be an idea. I read Catnip’s excellent diary first thing and wrote to my creepy real estate cheating congress person and bothBoxer and Fienstein too this morning. We have such a wonderful opportunity in this community to make a difference and be heard as “ONE”. I know we can do it if we just keep on it.
Froggy Bulletins. . .would that be THE DAILY CROAK. . .
Yesterday, my hubby and I received the picture of the baby boy we will bring home from China at the end of August/beginning of September!
I haven’t figured out how to post the picture yet, but when I do, I most certainly will show off his handsome little face!
Congratulations on your new son! What a wonderful thing to hear this morning.
Congratulations!
If the picture is digital, you can use photobucket.com to host the image….
CONGRATULATIONS!!! And how exciting! Can’t wait to see the pic and hear all about it when you pick up the little guy! Just Fabulous!
words, from all of you, are much appreciated. Thank you
I just found out, by reading Survey USA’s website (linked from DK), that Bush’s disapproval rating in my county here in Texas is up to 53%. Yeehaw!!
For those of you who have followed my diaries, you just will not believe what is happening to us. For those who haven’t, a quick recap. Others may scroll down past the next paragraph for the latest.
My husband works for a large provider of IT support services. Last October, we entered a horribly tense period wherein he knew his contract with a telecom client was being canceled and he desperately sought another position. It was quite possible he was going to be unemployed. But, at the last possible moment, he did find another position here in lovely Lynchburg and we got very excited about finding and buying a farm in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We’ve just been waiting for our house in GA to sell so that we could move toward our goal.
Wham! Now the client here is going to cancel their contract effective Oct. 1st. Same shit, second verse. We have been here less than two months and here we are going thru it all again. Hubby is now 1) looking to transfer yet again (hopefully to a position that will let us stay in this general area), 2) wondering if the client will hire him direct, or 3) facing unemployment.
I was so depressed yesterday I couldn’t stop weeping. Hubby was hired here at the explicit request of the client. So, did they know they were only going to use him for six months and then throw him away? Or, did they want him because they planned on bringing their operations in-house and need him to do that? Or, are they just stupid corporate pigs who don’t even consider what they are doing to people? Yep, that’s probably it.
I’m sorry, sjct. This sucks. All I can do is offer my support and shoulder to you, and pray that things turn out for the best for you and hubby.
Thanks, sob, sniff, sob. Don’t let me get your shoulder too damp. Right now I am quite isolated and alone in a new town and you guys are the closest I’ve got to friends. I appreciate knowing there’s a place in cyberspace where everyone knows my name and cares about what happens to me.
It’s had worse things on it besides your tears, like, you know, baby puke. 😉
We’re always here for you, no matter what.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/frog_pond/
Join this site of our Bootribbers support group, post comments, ask for help, talk, hook up via email with another whatever, others are welcome to join too.
Just getting started but the frame is there…
Oh, sjct, I’m so sorry to hear that! It sounds like you two really like the Lynchburg area, and don’t want to leave.
How likely is it that the client will hire him directly?
We do like it here — a lot. Last evening, during dinner, a fawn wandered up to the patio outside of our apartment. He watched us chewing; we watched him chewing. It were kewl. Clean air, clean water, big skies, mountain vistas — what’s not to like? Oh yeah, several thousands of Falwell fundamentalists roaming the streets disguised as regular people.
Hubby is not sure he wants to work directly for the client. They have, so far, ignored his proposal for updating their ancient system which could save them about $300K per year. He’s not convinced that they have a clue as to what’s good for them. He’s done this twice before — gone into companies, revamped their operations and saved them bundles — and he thought that was why he was hired. There was even talk of him flying up to NYC to make a presentation to the honchos.
But, all that is now getting lost in this contract fight: The client wants to make the provider look bad so they can break the contract without penalty while the provider needs to prove they’ve done the job required and it’s the client’s fault for not following their advice. So my hubby may just have been the first pawn moved forward in an elaborate chess game.
Oh, no! I’m so sorry. That is really hard.
This may be off the wall and outside of the area of your possibilities but as I have read your comments from time to time about this I have always thought why doesn’t he/they start their own business.
Seems that with his skills and knowledge he could carve out a niche for himself that would allow him to be self employed, such as a contracted consultant, advisor, trouble shooter, all done on a contracted basis and maybe done over the internet…
Having started and owned several businesses, one of which is still going strong after 30 years (not still mine but in the family and modest but adequate) I always think in terms of self employment. I swore to myself 35 years ago to never work for another company or business. I could never stand them having such power over me..
Just thought I would throw this out to you for what it’s worth….sometimes it just takes a spark to light a fire. Good luck to you both in any case…I see good days in your future. Remember the door opening/closing thing.
I was voted off the technology island a few years ago when I was caught trying to exceed 50 in the workplace. I had established a reputation in my niche of the arts so I set up a home business doing that.
I make equipment other artists use to earn their living, which means I take on some customer service and support obligations I wouldn’t have if I were making the retail end-products myself. In this case I know the art inside & out so I’m comfortable taking on this obligation.
With I.T., this is magnified many times because the systems often are the customer’s functional business itself. I for one was well suited to being a staff programmer or support tech for an institution, functioning competitively as a standalone I.T. business in an extremely aggressive, rapidly-evolving industry requires a whole ‘nuther universe of skills and talents that are not at all necessarily related to good technical skills.
Yep, what Gooserock said. We’re over the 55mph speed limit. I’ve spent most of my adult life as a free-lancer and sometime small business owner so I know the kind of marketing and sales effort that goes into these ventures. I’m not as young or as healthy as I used to be.
And Hubby… well, he went from 10 years in the Marines to 5 years in government R&D to 25 years in corporate IT so he’s the epitome of an organization man. He’s a self-starter and works-well-without-supervision kind of guy but he’s no good at schmoozing and getting cients on the golf course. The bottom line is that the only people who need his level of IT support are the corporations that hire the provider he already works for. No way we could compete up on Olympus.
Now, if the house in GA would sell and free up our capital, we might be able to try earning a living at farming without the security of his income on the side… That, too, requires marketing and sales but making presentations at garden clubs to convince them your eggs and veggies are better than store-bought is quite different from wining and dining CEO’s.
Sjct, my heart goes out to you and your husband, and I am sending enouraging and supportive thoughts your way. I’m sorry, also, that you don’t have much of a support network near you, but we are always here (and some of us, apparently, never sleep), so take advantage!
I’m intrigued by your statement about farming. My dad’s family has lived in a farm in Indiana for generations, although farming has become more of a hobby as they set up a family law practice. It’s not easy to make a living at it, but it’s certainly possible. My favorite new trend in farming (which I assume you already know about, but what the hell) is Community-Supported Agriculture, where people in nearby towns and cities will buy a ‘share’ in the farm and then receive a share of what’s grown. It gives the famers a more steady stream of income and gives local people fresh food and a connection to where their food is grown.
I finished reading “You Can Farm” by Joel Salatin which details — somewhat — exactly how someone can make a white-collar salary from farming. Really. CSA’s are a big part of it. I was writing up a review of what he has to say when this shit-storm blew in and messed up my concentration. I’m going to try to get back to it and serve it up as a diary in the next day or two. He devotes an entire chapter and many comments thru-out to blowing holes in the “You can’t make a living farming” frame.
One of the reasons that the Lynchburg area is appealing to us is the proximity of farmland to city farmer’s markets and direct retail city customers. Drive 20 minutes from the heart of downtown Lynchburg and there’s affordable farmland galore.
Around Atlanta, you’d have to drive 3 hours to find the same. Ditto, DC and any other large metro center you can think of. The coming Gas Price Crisis is going to hurt CSA’s who are too far way from potential retail customers. Taking a pleasant 2-hour drive out to your CSA to pay more for fresh, organic produce is not going to work.
Only CSA’s with nearby customers will prosper. And, as prices in supermarkets sky-rocket, the local farmer’s market is going to become quite competitive, I believe, precisely because of lower transportation costs.
We’ve even calculated how long it would take a mule-driven cart to get to market in considering how far away from town we should look for land.
Fantastic! It sounds like this could be a great opportunity for you guys and I look forward to reading your diaries. If you do end up farming, it would make a great series. Food is such a strange thing in our culture – we starve ourselves and overeat. We truck our food in from far away and grow, pick and process it all by machine. We eat more meat than most of the world, but most of us have never seen an animal killed for food. Farms are steadily being destroyed to build mega-mansions (I’ve watched them creep towards my grandparents’ farm since I was a kid) whose inhabitants drive a half hour to buy milk. It’s insanity and community-supported agriculture is a healthy dose of lithium. So to speak.
More power to you – I wish you the very best!