What Do They Think We Do Around Here?

This is the bulletin board across from the elevators on the first floor of the Thomas Collins Building, in Dover, where I work.


Something about this has been bugging me as I pass to and from my humble office.

The Calvary Assembly of God's flier is to be expected, as is the Longaberger Basket Bingo party that's set, in Camden, for the Ides of March.

There are the usual cards from the Masonry Contractor, from Handyman Sam, and from the Party Planner.

There are memos from the Building Management people telling us why we're too cold in the winter and too warm in the summer. And someone has posted a news brief on donating coats to the needy.

All this I understand.

But, the card that has caught my eye each time I use the elevator is the card from ASAP Bail Bonds. That one puzzles me.

Of course, I am certain that when one needs a bail bondsman one needs that bail bondsman as soon as possible indeed. But what possible need is a building full of state employees likely have for that no-doubt valuable service, soon or late?

Lawyers? Possibly. Psychologists? Maybe. Massage therapists? Definitely.

But a Bail Bondsman? Man, I hope not.

My Own Subdivision!

Welcome to the Woods of Mahaffie, a new 34-lot subdivision in Olathe, Kansas.

I was expecting this new neighborhood to be closer to the Mahaffie House and Stagecoach Shop, the historic site in Olathe that several generations ago was an inn run by some of my forebears. It turns out to be somewhat north of that site (see the neat google map). The subdivision site is on the east side of N. Nelson Rd., across from W. 122nd St.

I used the Olathe city web site's on-line map system to nail down the location. A nice Internet Map Service, by the way.

I shared the plot map with some of my colleagues at the State Planning Office.


"Kinda cookie-cutter," was the reaction. I guess I have to agree.

Still, there are 34 lots in this thing. The branch of the Mahaffie clan that I'm part of numbers just about that now. If Karen and I and our kids and my siblings and siblings-in-law and parents and nieces and nephews each bought a lot, we'd just about fill the place up (with maybe one lot left for a clubhouse?).

Then we could rename it: "The Woods (Full) of Mahaffie(s)"

Bummer: Chuck Thompson Has Passed On

I'm saddened to read that Chuck Thompson has died (Yahoo! News - Hall of Fame Sportscaster Thompson Dies). Chuck Thompson was the Voice of the Orioles on the radio and, along with Jon Miller, talked me through my introduction to Baseball and helped make me a fan of the Orioles. I'm still looking forward to the start of the season, but there's a hole now.

Irony, Anyone?

I've been enjoying the on-going story of dissension in the ranks of the Delaware GOP following the last election. Not because I am a democrat, I am (and a liberal one), but because it seems to highlight some of the things that drive me crazy about both major parties: mostly that sense that party members have to toe the line regardless of common sense or regardless of what may be best for their constituents.

Terry Strine, the current head of the Delaware republican party, is being challenged in his bid for reelection to the post in part because of charges that he, or at least his family, supported democrat candidates in some downstate races. Those charges come from, among others, Jud Bennet, from my home town, who lost his race for County Council by only 3 votes.

Most recently, a small stink arose at the state GOP Committee's annual dinner, which featured Bob Elder of the infamous "Swift Boat Veterans," when an e-mail criticizing Mr. Strine was sent out by a group calling itself "Swift Boat Republicans for Truth." ('Swift Boat' group criticizes GOP chair, from the 3/5/05 News Journal)

That raised a few hackles.

With an election for a new party chairman just weeks away, Delaware GOP National Committeewoman Priscilla Rakestraw said the e-mails violate the party tenet that members should not speak badly of one another.

"There are people who are out to destroy our party," Rakestraw said in a quick speech before Elder took the stage at the Dover Sheraton. "There are people who are using the Swift Boat name to advance their own political agenda. If we're going to have a campaign, let's campaigning on the issues - not engage in smear campaigns."

Yes. Let's do stop resorting to all the smear campaigns, shall we?

By the way. Everyone seems to be wondering just who these "Swift Boat republicans" might be. Let's see, who do we know in this whole mess that has some tie-in with boats? May I quietly point out that Mr. Bennett was a Delaware Bay Pilot?

Heavens! Is It That Time Almost?

The other day, I was having lunch with a colleague in Dover. It was one of those places with several television sets posted high up on the walls around the dining room. My eye was caught by a flash of green on one of the screens, a glow of light, white lines and men in uniforms. I turned to look and saw one of the first games of spring training from Florida. It was the Yankees playing the Pirates.

Spring training baseball games are like little packets of summer that you can open when it's in the mid-20's and snow is in the forecast.

I know that the season is still well down the road, but I can't help but have a little hope when I see baseball, even pre-season baseball, on the tube again!

In Other Words, He's Not Even Willing To Listen

Delaware State Representative Gerald Hocker has strong feelings about gay rights. So strong, in fact, that he has publicly declared in today's Cape Gazette newspaper (Sussex County is divided on gay rights legislation) that it's not worth anyone's time to try to get him to consider legislation banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Rep. Gerald Hocker, R-Ocean View, said he does not need to be lobbied, despite a new repackaging of the bill with limiting language about the legislative intent.

“I hold my ground against the bill. It is a completely antibusiness piece of legislation, and I do not think it is needed,” Hocker said.

The bill is a watered-down (at least in my view) version of legislation that passed the House last session but was sat-upon by a right-wing committee chair in the Senate.

Opponents worried that the bill would open the door to same-sex marriages (gasp, shudder). So the new version was re-written to say that that is not the intent of the bill.

Representative Hocker is not convinced. Or rather, he's not even willing to discuss the issue. I guess that's what bugs me. I don't mind if I lose an argument; if I can even have the argument.

What's Up With All The Jumping?

Is it just me? I've noticed lately that all the band photos in the paper always seem to include someone jumping. Take Omnisoul, for example:

This photo appeared in the February 26 News Journal in a story on the band (Local band lands sweet record deal).

Jumping. There's always someone jumping.

I blame Love Seed Momma Jump, who made it big with a promo picture some years back in which the band members were ... jumping.

Book Tag

Here's one of those viral blogger games. I found it on Becky's Extreme Dating blog.

Instructions:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

OK. From A Pictorial History of Lewes, Delaware (1609 - 1985), from the Lewes Historical Society:

Matthew Wilson was no exception. During the struggle for independence, Wilson refused to drink tea and advocated a list of 17 plants and herbs that he advised using as tea substitutes.
Matthew Wilson's Presbyterian church was three blocks away from the center of town. (Figure 1) Several private schools in Lewes attracted students from as far as Philadelphia, only one day away by a fast sailing ship.

Next?

The Day After A Snowfall...

...when the sky dawns clear and blue, showing the white of the snow to its best advantage.

A residential street in Dover. Softened by an almost-spring snowfall.

Another Snow Day

What may be the last coastal snow storm of the season is blanketing Delaware today. Snow started falling this morning and is expected to keep coming down through this evening.

The kids had the whole day off. They let state employees go at noon. It's seemed odd to be home; the snow is wet and heavy but hasn't been sticking on the roads.

My guess is that the school folks wanted to not take any chances and the government shut down early to get the afternoon rush hour cleared out early.

As the sun sets and it gets colder the roads will probably get icy, and if there are not many cars out and about the plows and slat trucks will have an easier time.

Heavy snow, sticking in the trees.

About 1:30 this afternoon.

Slate Magazine Looks at Blogs. Will Blogs Look Back?

Slate Magazine now offers Today's Blogs, a daily column that aims to find the best of he world of weblogs each day. That's an ambitious goal. It involves working through blogs each day to find out what "the bloggers" are talking about.

I can't help wondering whether, at least for a day or so, the bloggers will be talking about Slate's Today's Blogs? So, I thought I'd talk about it myself. Why not?

DelaVoice Returns

DelaVoice is back. It disappeared earlier this month. According to the unidentified Mr. or Ms. Voice, the site host decamped in the wee hours one night, taking the site along as well. Now, the site is back. It looks like at GeoCities, but at least its back. I wonder what the level of discussion will be in this incarnation?

Jack Markell Enters the Blogosphere

Delaware Treasurer Jack Markell has started a blog -- Blog for Delaware -- that looks interesting. Fritz, over at Sneaking Suspicions, pointed to this site, and offers an accurate read on the promise this site shows.

State Treasurer is an elected post in Delaware, and for some it's been a stepping stone to higher office. Jack Markell may be headed that way, but if so he's been pretty cool about it. It'll be interesting to read his blog for a while and see where he's headed.

We had Jack Markell as keynote speaker at the 2000 State GIS Conference. He spoke well and showed great aplomb when someone in the kitchens next to the ballroom he spoke in dropped what must have been 537,002 china plates. Just a brief pause, and he carried right on.

R.I.P., Hunter S. Thompson

Bad news this morning.

Hunter S. Thompson, exemplar of a certain style of writing has committed suicide. I wasn't a huge fan, but reading his work as a young man was part of what makes me who I am.

I have to wonder "why?" I'm also interested to watch the reactions.

In My Little Town

Winter days can be very quiet. Even at noon on a Friday I can stand in the middle of the main street and take photos. In February, anyway.

Second Street, Lewes, Delaware. 12:01 p.m., Friday, February 18, 2005

I had just visited the Bakery and Coffee Roastery (out of frame on the left), to treat myself to the only sustenance available after a morning of dental work. Having half of your face numb means anything involving chewing is probably a bad idea. A cafe mocha, however, is fairly safe and an appropriate reward for my dental-chair bravery.

Out of frame on the right is the ATM machine where I had just transferred funds to cover the costs of a crown and a filling.

After taking this photo, it was back to the office. For this round at the dentist's office, I only took the morning off.

Waples Mill Pond. February 17, 2005. 7:15 a.m.

When Hippies and Punks Were One

The item about a locomotive being named for Joe Strummer of the Clash got me thinking about Strummer and the Clash, and listening to the Clash, this week.

I keep the two-disc The Essential Clash in my car. It's great therapy for the ride home after a difficult day at work. Line up London's Burning, English Civil War, and I Fought The Law, for example, and highway driving is blissful. I also found a web site (StrummerSite.Com) with a two-part MP3 of a 2003 BBC Radio profile of Strummer. It was interesting to hear about the process of forming the Clash, their rise, and the break-up. It was also neat to get some details about the music Strummer was starting to make when he passed away, at 50, a few years back.

I was struck by the extent to which Strummer, and the Clash, were influenced by a wide variety of music -- country, ska, reggae, world music. I have the posthumous Strummer album, Streetcore, and it has a very nice reading of a folk tune -- Long Shadow -- and a remarkable version of Bob Marley's Redemption Song.

Of course, I also keep a copy of the great live Dead album The Grateful Dead (Live) -- as opposed to the equally wonderful Live/Dead -- in my car and I've been listening to that a lot lately. I prefer a line-up of Bertha, Me & My Uncle, and the marvelous Not Fade Away/Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad.

The Dead also had a wide variety of influences, combining rock, jazz, folk, blues and country. And there are similarities between Joe Strummer and Jerry Garcia. Both men were central to the sound of their bands. Both were striking musicians; Strummer in his jagged intensity and Garcia in his fluid, soaring melodic lyricism. Both were at their best as centers of music, providing a base for other players and making possible some of the better moments of Rock music over the years. Both died too soon.

I used to wonder at my equal love for both the Clash an the Dead. There was a time when as a fan of punk rock I would have disdained the hippy-ness of the Dead. As a Deadhead, I should have found the Clash simply noise. But the two bands work well together and they were the music of my youngest adulthood; the Reagan years.

Two forms of musical rebellion. They worked for me. They still do. It's been a good week -- and a loud week - in my car.