Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Dodged A Bullet

Yesterday at this time we were being warned that the storm of the century was headed right at us.  Well if you live in western CT you woke up this morning to the happy news that the storm shifted eastward just enough to spare us the brunt of the storm.   As of this writing (11 A.M.) we have accumulated about 5 inches. 

If however you live in eastern CT, Rhode Island or eastern Massachusetts, you are dealing with upwards of 30".  That's what we were supposed to get. 

But don't worry, I'm not gloating because Mother Nature has a way of evening things out.

Until the next one.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Post State of the Union

Well the State of the Union address is over and I described it perfectly.  But for entertainment value you just had to see the piece Jon Stewart did on The Daily Show regarding the republican response.

First there wasn't just one response because as we know the republican party is seriously fragmented.  So the lead off speech was a boring, ho-hum monologue by some main stream rep from one of the midwestern states.  It was a real snoozer.

But that wasn't enough. Next up were three (that's right, three) more speeches by various members of the tea party branch.  The last-and best- one was Texas senator Ted Cruz who flubbed his lines and walked away from the camera. 

Idiots...all of them.  And the hell of it is, they're now running the House and Senate.  The moronic voters who put them there deserve what they get, but why do I have to suffer along with them?  God help us.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

State of the Union Address

The Constitution of the United States of America mandates that the president deliver a yearly address regarding the State of the Union.  As far as I'm concerned, we don't need one.  Here's why: the war in Afghanistan is drawing to a close, Bin Laden is dead, the federal deficit is down by over two thirds, unemployment is down to its lowest point since before GWB, gas prices are lower than who-knows-when, millions of Americans now have health insurance when they once were denied it and this country is still the best one on earth-bar none. And yet, the republicans still whine, whine, whine. It's time for them to go away-for good.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

No Place Like Home

We're baaaaack!  No place like home-even if it's 50 degrees cooler.  I was worried about the car starting after having been parked in the hotel parking garage for 12 days of frigid cold temperatures and a 5-year-old battery but it kicked right over with no trouble at all with the exception of a low tire pressure reading which is not unusual for this time of year.

As soon as we got in, we fired up the wood stove and in no time it seemed like we had never left. 

Next trip?  For me it's at the end of March and early April with my daughter's family for a week.  The girls have their spring break earlier than usual this year. 

One final note about our time at our condo in Florida.  We finally found a reliable, competent handy man who fixed a variety of small but annoying problems that involved some plumbing and electrical.  Other things I'm usually able to do like small repairs, hanging blinds and curtains, replacing shower heads, etc.

The next problem to tackle is our condo water shut off valve.  That's being repaired Friday.

Let's hope that's it for a while.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

A Few Observations

As we approach the end of our time at our condo in Naples, I'm struck with a realization. About the only good things about this state are the weather, the beaches and the interesting flora, fauna and geographical features. In other words nature.  As for the rest of the state which seems to have a very high  tolerance for over-building, its government and unfortunately many of its people have a ways to go.

For example as I sit here listening to the local news (a bad idea I've learned) I heard three particularly troubling reports (actually more but these are the standouts).

First, famed stand-your-ground killer George Zimmerman was arrested yet again for assault.  This time against his girlfriend.  I guess his wife got sick of him.  Anyway, this is the guy the State of
Florida saw fit to grant a pistol carry permit.  Go figure.

Second and along the same lines, a young mother was recently arrested for giving her 2-year-old child a hand gun, unloaded at least, and taking pictures of the child putting the gun in her mouth.  She thought it was funny and taught her child to say "pow, pow".

Third, it was reported that public school teachers in Florida have a starting salary of $35,000 a year and NO, repeat, NO health coverage or any other benefits.  Some parents think this might be the reason why the state has been having trouble attracting a better quality of teacher.  YA THINK????!

By the way, this last item is compliments of former governor Jeb Bush who thinks maybe he'd like to be president in 2016.

There's more, much more, but I'll spare you.  Besides, I'm headed to the beach and then in a few days home which is looking better and better all the time.  Later

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Naples, Florida, where the sun's out and it's 80 degrees.

Well, here we are at our condo in Naples. We got in Friday afternoon after a one hour delay leaving Hartford. 

Some woman on the plane decided to take her frustration out on the flight attendants but they handled it very well.  Personally, I would have slugged the obnoxious witch but I guess the airline frowns on mistreating passengers.  It's OK to mistreat the flight attendants though, right?  As though they were responsible for the delay.

After picking up the car at the rental place we proceeded immediately to  Naples Urgent Care  where I sat for two hours waiting for someone to tell me what I already knew I had-conjunctivitis, aka pink eye.  It started Thursday afternoon, got worse at the hotel Thursday night and was a mess by the time we got up Friday morning.   I was prescribed eye drops which dramatically improved it by yesterday morning.

It's back home on the 14th and I hope the weather cooperates.

More later.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Happy New Year

Happy 2015 to one and all.  May it be a year of peace, happiness and good health. We'll be kicking off the year with 12 days in Naples, FL where it's nice and warm.  Then it's back home for the winter.