Paul's Back

Paul has brought his Progressive Postings out of the garage. He says the fall election was enough to keep him happily qiuet for four months

It took awhile for me to return from cloud nine. Progressives had a slew of victories last November, however it is time to get back to work.

And he does, looking into issues both national and local. Welcome back, Paul!

Did I Jinx It?

There I was on Saturday, thinking spring and digging higher temperatures. I called the change of season too soon, I guess.

This evening, we're looking out at about three inches of snow that fell during the day today. It's not a spring snow, either. This is a fluffy cold-weather snow.

We could see school delays in the morning. The main roads look mostly wet, as evidenced by this image from shortly after 8:00 p.m., just outside Rehoboth Beach. Things could be a tad slick in the morning.

Thanks to the DelDOT Interactive Traffic Map site for the image.

Feeling The Urge to Get Outside

It feels like spring is just around the corner. Stormy skies have given way to sunshine and rising temperatures. The days are getting longer.

In younger days, this sort of weather made me want to drive down back roads in rural Maine, listening to acoustic Grateful Dead and looking for water -- ponds, lakes, the Gulf of Maine -- and mountains. Water and mountains represent nature for me; I always want to get out into or onto them at this time of year.

Now that I'm older and more settled, this time of year has me looking at the yard with a gardener's eye. I'm not very good at it, but yard work brings me that same natural feeling.

This is also when my urge to walk and take photos comes on strong. I've spent the last two months nursing back and sciatic problems. Yesterday, though, I took a short lunchtime ramble (about a mile and half) in Dover. It was a test-walk and I wasn't crippled by pain.

Things are looking up.

What the...!

This white flag flapping along Route 9 in Georgetown caught my eye this afternoon. It is one of two flying in proud advertisement outside a cosmetic medical clinic.

In bright red letters on a stark white field:

COSMETIC
BOTOX-LASER

This is the sort of advertising approach I associate with a Used-Car lot. Not a medical office.

I can't help screening this mental motion-picture:

IRIS-IN. Interior. Medical Office.

A nervous-looking WOMAN sits on the very edge of an examination table.

DOOR OPENS.

A MAN enters, wearing a plaid, frayed, Doctor's Coat and with a slicked-back toupee.

MAN: Say little lady. Whats it gonna take to get a syringe-full of botulinum toxins injected into those sweet cheeks of yours today?

WOMAN: Ummm....

FADE-OUT

Conceptual Inflation

I realize that I am just a cranky literalist, but there are a few instances of "conceptual inflation" that have been bugging me lately.

Riding to work this morning I heard a character in a radio commercial say that she "would be more than happy" to do something. How can you be "more than happy?"

I also keep hearing that people are "110 percent" in support of things, or "120 percent behind" something. That's just not possible.

The problem is, I think, that we have debased our conversational currency to the point that we feel a need to inflate what we say. We've been too happy to do things. We've been too much in support of each other.

So now we have to be "more than" what is reality just to keep pace.

I'm happy to say that I think it's time for a market correction. I would be 100 percent behind that.

I Think I Like This, Sam I Am

Dylan-parody, as an art form, is about played out. But I've never heard anything like this: Dylan Hears a Who!

Why didn't anyone else think of this? Bob Dylan (classic 60's voice version) singing the words of Dr. Seuss.

I think this version of Green Eggs and Ham is definitive. But that's just me.

Have a Cookie

Christina made peanut butter chip cookies this morning. She's home sick with what I hope won't become a serious sore throat. I've taken a sick day to nurse her away from ill health. It doesn't take much; she's a sensible kid and knows when to chill out.

My work day was to be heavy with conference calls and on-line training. I've actually been able to take part in most of that, using my cellphone, a hands-free ear-piece, and the "mute" button.

I can report that the dozen or so state GIS coordinators who took part in training for the RAMONA GIS Inventory Tool were all jealous of these cookies during this morning's call.

Rotors: I, II, II at M, B, M

J Q W Z D V

K K

P D H

M M D Q S

D I

P N X K X

Q A X Q

E T N

L T A H S A

A Visitor from 1919

I got a thin, well-worn penny in change at the Safeway this noon when I bought my little salad. It looked elderly to me, so I shuffled the other quarters and dimes out of the way with a slight shake of the hand that cupped the change. When I saw the coin clearly, I was looking at the "tails" side and saw the twin wheat sheaves. I knew I had an early one. This coin is from 1919, which makes it one of the oldest I've seen.

Oh, For Jack's Sake!

Sometimes a headline is just perfect:

Suit tries to put the 'Christ' back in 'Halloween'

This was the headline on an AP story on the News Journal web site this afternoon. A family in suburban Philadelphia are suing school officials because their 10-year old wasn't allowed to dress as Jesus Christ for Halloween.

The school has a policy against promoting specific religions, according to the story, and "the boy and his mother are Christians who object to the pagan elements of Halloween."

If I may be multiply politically incorrect for a moment, let me say that here we have dueling stupidness.

Christian fundamentalists, please calm down. It's Halloween. Just a day when kids put on costumes and ask for candy. Grow up and let the kids be kids.

School administrators, settle down too. If the boy wants to dress as Christ, let him. If he's proselytizing and annoying the other kids, I suspect they'll sort the little prick out in their own way. There's no reason to let this escalate into a media case.

This is just so stupid. And now we have a story for everyone to comment on. This will not go well.

Though it does give me a great example of what depresses me about the anonymous commenting on the News Journal web site. Someone calling him- or herself SaneHatter had this to say:

GOOD! About time people of Christian faith stood up to the anti-christian morons in this country with their hypocracy and whinny crybaby I'm offended crap. God bless you son, may you win many times over.*

I followed the links back to the whole wonderful collection of SaneHatter's thoughts. This is a very unpleasant and angry person.

* (No, I did not bother to edit for spelling or grammar)