Fine February Day
Wednesday, 7:02 pm
Nov
19
2008
Today, the 19th of November, was a fine February day. My outdoor thermometer never rose above 28°. And it is heading toward 23° at a pretty brisk clip, even as I type. By the time I post this, we might have already reached it. I must say, that’s rather cold for the middle of November, during which our normal daytime temperatures are still usually in the upper 40s.
I know that most people around here aren’t too crazy about it. I can practically hear all the neighbors keening as their furnaces labor away at mid-winter frequency. The white billows of steam pouring out of their chimneys is deep winter picture postcard pretty, except for the absence of snow. Not that I’m asking for trouble by saying that or anything.... It’s not that we don’t like to share, but you folks in Canada can hang on to your cold weather for a little longer without offending us in the least.
I’m curious how some of these folks are managing. Especially the woman who was determined not to turn the heat on until December 1st. Someone might want to go check on her to make sure she and her family haven’t turned into solid blocks of ice. I suspect all the good resolve went right out the window last night, if not sooner. It has been an uncharacteristically cold autumn this year.
My earmarked November wood supply is rapidly depleting. I don’t think it’s going to last until the end of November at this rate. I’ve been trying to take it a little easy, but when I get up in the morning to a 54° house, my resolve disintegrates pretty quickly. Here’s hoping for an extended December and January thaw to make up for this nonsense.
Weather Weirdness
Saturday, 10:01 pm
Nov
15
2008
I turned the radio on a little while ago and I just heard the announcer say that it was 68° in Boston. At least, that’s what I thought he said. I had to get up and check my outdoor thermometer. It said 67.6°. At nearly 10PM on November 15th in the northeast. That’s unusual. When was the last time I opened my doors and windows at 10PM in the middle of November to warm my house up? It’s 3 degrees cooler in my house than it is outside. Free heat!
The Coinstar Plan
Friday, 2:18 pm
Nov
14
2008
Somewhere during my internet travels in the last week, I stumbled across an idea that got my eyes glowing. I learned that Coinstar, which has coin counting machines scattered all over creation, is offering a holiday bonus gift of $10 if you plug at least $40 of coins into their machines. Even better, I could get Amazon e-certificates for whatever amount of change I fed their machine. (They also offer e-certificates/gift cards for places like Circuit City, Borders, iTunes, Lowes, Eddie Bauer, Starbucks, and a couple of others.)
Well, I thought, change is kind of like found money. No earmarks on it. Until now, anyway.
I took a tour through the house and emptied out the various bowls and baskets of change that I’ve accumulated. I turned over chair and sofa cushions and found more. I scooped up the pile of coins next to the washing machine. Then I went through all my jacket and coat pockets from last winter to see what they might turn up—one slightly worse for wear ten dollar bill and several quarters and dimes. Whoo!
I sat down on the floor to count it all out. My total stash came to $32.16
And I thought...well, it’s a sure bet I’ll be spending at least another $10 at Amazon in the next couple of weeks, so I’ll just withdraw $10 and turn that along with the other ten dollar bill into rolls of quarters. That’ll put me just a little over the $40 requirement for the $10 Coinstar bonus.
And that’s what I did.
The nearest Coinstar machine is at my grocery store. I’ve not used it before, so I went through the little tutorial offered on screen. It was pretty easy. I selected the Amazon e-certificate option and poured all the coins into the counting tray. I wondered if it would be accurate—it was. It spit out a receipt and e-certificate in the amount of $42.16 along with a form to send to Coinstar to get my bonus. This deal lasts through December 7th.
Last evening I entered the e-certificate redemption code on my account at Amazon and 5 seconds later I was good to shop.
Ahh, sudden guilt-free riches.
In the past, I could have blown through $42 in a hurry at Amazon. But since I’ve acquired my Kindle e-reader, I’ve found a large selection of older books and classics that cost less than a dollar—like 25 cents. I often wonder just how tolerant the credit card company will be after a constant string of 25 cent charges. No one has said anything yet, but I think an e-certificate is probably a better plan.
Anyway. I downloaded three new books for a total $4.80. I think my e-certificate funds might last me a while.
My current winter reading list, including my three new purchases, includes:
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Reading Like a Writer - by Francine Prose
The Works (150+) of Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne’s House of Dreams, Anne of Ingleside, Rainbow Valley, Rilla of Ingleside, etc.)
The Road by Cormac McCarthy (because I didn’t get it read over the summer and I haven’t been quite in the mood yet for death and destruction.)
And, because I can never leave well enough alone, I ordered a skin for my Kindle a couple of days ago. Did I mention that I also named her Esmeralda? Yeah well, I did. But the skin thing...I saw this image on one of the Kindle boards a few days ago and I knew then and there that I Had To Have It.
I appreciate that skinning Esmeralda more or less violates the entire premise of a bland case surrounding the reading screen. The idea is that the Kindle case recedes into the background so that it’s almost like tumbling into the pages of a book when reading. Ah well. I can do that quite as well with a pretty Kindle, too. Can’t wait ‘til it arrives!
Nearing that time
Saturday, 6:49 pm
Nov
08
2008
It occurred to me today....
There are only 47 days until Christmas!
Today I completed my stocking stuffer shopping. Not a large dent in the scheme of things, but it's usually the part that I forget until about 8PM on Christmas Eve. So, yay for me and the gazillions of other people who were out doing the same thing today.
We have a store near here that started out as a dollar store. They've branched out into higher denominations, but it's still the same sort of stuff you find in the traditional dollar store and old time 5&10 stores. I've always thought that they have the coolest stocking stuffer thingies ever. In fact, not infrequently, I'm apt to hear several months later, "I don't know where you found it, but it's the best thing you ever gave me." I just smile mysteriously and keep my sources to myself.
Well, I guess I've given it away now, haven't I?
President Elect Barack Obama's Victory Speech
Wednesday, 1:21 am
Nov
05
2008
Election Night, Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
Chicago, Illinois
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics – you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.
I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.
We did it!!!
Tuesday, 11:32 pm
Nov
04
2008
President Obama. I love the sound of it. We did it! We did it! We did it!!!
And you know, as much as I despise the campaign that McCain has run, he is giving an amazingly gracious concession speech. I mean a really, really gracious one. We’ll leave the analysis for another day. It was decent of him tonight.
My lad just text messaged me: “Say hello to the new millenium! We won and the world thanks us.”
Amen.
I’m so happy. So, so, so incredibly happy. And relieved. And proud of our wonderful country for stepping up to the plate to do what needed to be done...and doing something that I never thought that I’d live to see. We made history tonight. I’m so proud of us. The world, tomorrow, may look on us a little more kindly. I hope so. We are on the road to reclaiming who we really are.
I cast my vote(s)!
Tuesday, 1:15 pm
Nov
04
2008
I live in about the bluest state in the country, probably. Even so, my little city tends to be a lot on the conservative side and Republicans have had a fair showing here the past few years. During the last general election cycle you couldn’t spit without hitting a Bush/Cheney sign. I find it quite hopeful that I have yet to find a single McCain/Palin sign in this town. There are Obama signs stuck in yards the breadth of this town, though.
When I arrived at my polling place, there were Obama supporters out by the street holding their signs. Not one McCain/Palin supporter on the Republican corner. Either there aren’t any this year or they decided it wasn’t worth bothering to show up. I was pleased by the number of excited people responding to the Obama people. Cars honking as they passed, lots of waves and shouts of encouragement. Lots of excitement in the air. Lots of thumbs up and whoo-hoos. I could feel something in the air that I have actually never felt before. Really thick in the air.
We have paper ballots here. With special markers to fill in the circles next to our candidates of choice. This year, there were very few Republicans on it. I guess that’s when you know that you live in Massachusetts. My ballot was pretty easy to mark this year. ;) We also had a couple of state measures to vote for—one to ban greyhound racing in the state and one to remove criminal penalties from possessing an ounce or less of weed. Both got my yes votes. The measure to eliminate the state income tax, however, got a no. Bad idea.
My polling place (elementary school) was packed today. To the rafters. No kidding, the turnout was amazing. And they moved the actual voting to the gymnasium this year instead of the tiny cafeteria. People were so cheerful and upbeat. It was like a festival. Really a different attitude. People were smiling and everyone wanted to talk to everyone else. That is not common in this town, I’ll assure you. And as I left the school, people wanted to talk about their hopes for the day. Obama, kiddos. Really, really remarkable what is in the air here today.
When I drove out and reached the end of the long drive to the street, I gave the Obama people a thumbs up with my wide grin. One of them called over, “We’re going to win! We are!” I have to tell ya...I teared up. “Oh. I hope so,” I called back. “I hope so!”
Well, we’ll see. It’s gonna be a long day, but a hopeful one.