Thursday, July 14, 2011

Just Because :-)


















...we need a Dean photo every now and then, and this one seems pure Vermont. Moo!

Found at:
absolutelycare.blogspot.com

34 comments:

  1. Howard's first. Funny, I thought that looked like Iowa. . .

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  2. Looks like a young Howard Dean; from his first run for governor? And yes, we need that; thank you. I'm reminded of that old Vermont farmer who ran in the Republican primary against the upstart immigrant, beat him and then withdrew. In (one of) their television debate(s) the farmer asked the upstart city slicker "How many teats does a cow have?" I have always thought that if I didn't know I would have answered either "Enough" or "You can't fool me with a trick question like that! WHICH cow?"

    puddle  
    "Stunning how *quiet* it gets with no electricity. I'm acutely aware when my freezer and fridge cycle out at the same time. Bliss. . . .
    Yesterday, 7:31:51 AM PDT

    puddle--I was reading about some super energy efficient US government building--in Colorado or Idaho, I think. All passive heating and cooling, so no fan noise. I seems the workers couldn't stand the quiet, so they had to install speakers throughout playing imitation ventilator sounds all the time.

    Re heat--I wonder if folks in the states should start building houses with the sort of wind-gathering towers of traditional upscale houses in the Levant and North Africa? We have been building heater- and air conditioner-dependent, inwardly-oriented houses since WWII. Think of the older houses with sleeping porches, and for that matter summer kitchens. When Cuba had its energy crunch after the fall of the Soviet Union they began going back to older types of construction that had worked well in their climate before electricity. Just saying'…

    puddle--re cell phones and "who needs to be connected all the time," I am reminded of the old hillbilly who decided to have a telephone installed. When the installer came around and asked where it should be hooked up, the old fellow pointed to a big tree about 20 yards away. The installer said, "Why, you won't be able to hear it ring way over there!" and the customer said "I want to use it to *make* telephone calls, not to be bothered." Reckon you could turn off the ring and voice mail… But there are a lot of people who would go nuts without a cell phone plugged into their ear. I expect some phone company to offer to implant cell phones before long, but it wouldn't be very different for a lot of people IMO.

    Bill--I may have you beat with phone technology. I remember our magneto phone on a party line (not that I was high enough to reach it). As I recall our ring was three long, two short. Darned if I know what the ring was for Central. "Hello Central, Give me Heaven, for my mommy's there."

    listener
    "By the way, the family had the interment at the cemetery just BEFORE the service. Did you know that was allowed?"

    Excuse my ignorance, but why shouldn't it be? And who is to say otherwise? But I gather from your question that this must be some rather strong sectarian custom. But darn, 46 is awful young.

    puddle--Maybe that was a dream, and maybe it wasn't.


    Struggling with printer/fax/answering machine problem still. Next a new answering machine.

    TTFN

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  3. Bill Thomasson7/14/2011 11:26:00 AM

    Yes, you have me beat on the telephone. We had a party line, but it was only two parties. (There were a few four-party lines in town.) And for the two-party lines, it was set up so the operator could ring each phone separately. But if you picked up the phone while the other party was on the line, you could hear them talking. Rarely happened, though. People who spent a lot of time on the phone typically got a private line.

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  4. Alan, I suspect you're right. I've always taken it as a message. Felt like that.

    Beautiful, cool and green this morning. Blessedly so -- 60º and it smells lovely, too.

    Beau scared up a great blue heron from the river (a bit of a bark) ~~ was impressive! Been a couple of years since I've seen one here.

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  5. Nice seeing the vintage Howard pic. Thanks. :)

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  6. Outstanding photo, listener. LOL

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  7. Sis and I were watching Pillow Talk again the other night, and again we couldn't understand the fundamental premise. New York City in the early Sixties, and there were still party lines? Rock and Doris didn't even live in the same apartment building. We don't get it. Of course, one isn't supposed to look too hard at things like fundamental premises, I suppose.

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  8. Tests all fine (better'n fine actually). Thyroid a teeny tiny bit low. Going to retest in two months before adjusting my dose. Happy camper.

    Gorgeous day! just at 75º right now. Even purty in town.

    And I got some wood triangles from nice guys at a construction site, to make supports for shelves.

    Was beginning to feel like a Chatty Cathy though. Maybe I need to get out more, lol!

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  9. Excellent news about the test results!

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  10. Get out? Who needs to get out? That's what the Internet's for. LOL

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  11. We had a four party line till I was ten or twelve. Don't know how NYC worked, but I wouldn't think so. Not that late.

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  12. Hmmm... Freshly mown grass smells so loverly!

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  13. Think maybe too many of my blogs are going comatose. . . .

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  14. Bill Thomasson7/14/2011 07:24:00 PM

    Know what you mean about blogs going comatose. I think it's been two weeks since there was a post on Prairie State Blut. But CompuServe's SF Literature forum manages to stay alive. Some days there are no posts at all, but today I found six and posted two.

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  15. Bill Thomasson7/14/2011 07:33:00 PM

    I agree with puddle. I've never heard of a place with dial telephones also having party lines. Indeed, it's really incompatible, since the two lines were distinguished by letters at the end of the number. (2901J vs. 2901R -- the first was my home number.) But when there were party lines, being on the same line had very little to do with how close you lived. At least, so long as you were served by the same central office.

    Hmm. Could this have been a case of "crossed lines" rather than party lines? I seem to recall hearing that if things were not hooked up properly in teh central office it was possible for two people to end up on the same line.

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  16. Two of my favs are down to twice a week and once a day. Both very lively places in their time. Facebook killed one, leaving the two facebook refusers pretty much on their own. But another one's reviving after two years of barely hanging on, so all's not bad. Wish I could figure how what drives 'em, and how to fix 'em. More posting seems to have no effect. (More posting by *one*)

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  17. Well, "allowed" was probably the wrong word. I didn't know it was an optional custom. I thought there might be some old hooey belief about not burying a person until they had been properly prayed over or some such thing. (Remember that until recently the body was usually present for the service.) But it's nice to know that the faith tradition has matured.

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  18. Yeah. Cheap suit and tacky tie and all. :-)

    Today I was actually in the building where Howard had his doctor practice. I saw the door with Judy's name, and know that the name just above hers used to be Howard's. This photo is probably from that era....yes, from the early Governor days. Back when life was simple.

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  19. Yayyyyyy!!!!! Thanks, puddle. I needed that. I want all my friends to keep on having great test results. ♥

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  20. Thank-you! ♡

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  21. Two fair sized foxes traipsed through our yard at early dusk (too quick for me to grab the camera). These are the same two that freaked out Emma-cat the other night. The first one was carrying something dark and there is a light smell of skunk in the air. I wonder...would a hungry fox pick off a skunk? We may be out of bunnies, then. Poor bunnies. At least we’re not out of cat!

    The pair traipsed back through the yard a half hour later, at 9:00pm. I tell ya, this is a rough neighbourhood. LOL!

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  22. You have very BOLD foxes, ma dear. Bet they could get a baby. . .

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  23. Bill Thomasson7/14/2011 10:39:00 PM

    What we (or at least Penny and Marc) saw this evening was three juvenile racoons. And this morning Penny was commenting on how big the rabbit she saw was. I don't know if the coyotes are still around, but they are obviously not making a big dent in the other wildlife.

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  24. No, Bill, in the movie it was definitely a party line. A lot is made of that fact in the movie.

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  25. Ally's candle page won't open. Will try again in a bit.

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  26. Listener, how is Emma Kitty?

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  27. Listener, how is Emma Kitty?

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  28. The funny thing about my having posted that particular Dean photo is that while driving back from the building where Judy Steinberg has her doctor practice, today, I happened upon a cow running and jumping around in the road. It was a brown cow, but still a Vermont cow. I pulled over to the side of the road, because I like my Mini Cooper just the way it is. Less than a minute later a police car pulled in behind me (which is rare in itself on our back roads!). By now the cow had sauntered off between a barn and a field, but on the wrong side of the fence. When the roadway was safe, I got out, went to the officer's passenger side window and told him about the cow. He asked if I'd seen it on the road around the bend, and I explained that it had been RIGHT THERE. So he thanked me and pulled in by the field, and sure enough there was the cow. That's when I exited. I hope it went well for him, but I had to get to work.

    I was already an hour and a half late for work, and the Library Director was very kindly filling in for me (instead of already being on vacation!!!), because when I took the 40 minute drive to the eye doctor's office this morning the very skillful optometrist there had repaired my eyeglass frames for free (even though I hadn't purchased them there), to help hold me over until my eye exam in September...BUT! When I'd gotten home, taken off my sunglasses and put on my regular glasses, I discovered they were all wrong!! Mah*Sweetie and I tried hard to fix what ailed them but adjusting the lenses and frames didn't help at all. So I had to either wear my sunglasses to work or drive all the way back. Back I went and after about 15 minutes of trying different things we figured out he'd put the lenses in on the opposite sides (left was in right and right was in left)!!

    My eye doctor's office is up one flight of stairs past Judy Steinberg's office. I swear, every time I go there I am tempted to stop and ask if Judy is taking new patients. I'd sure appreciate a doctor who treats me like an intelligent human being. It's 40 minutes each way, and I'm about 15 minutes from my current doctor. That's the only thing holding me back.

    I may have worked two hours less than usual today, but I came home twice as tired! Wild night!

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  29. Hey guys. My sister closed on her house today (well, her husband closed too) and now she really is my neighbor. They're about four houses down and across the street. This year SHE gets to do the Thanksgiving dinner. She thinks she wants to, but I think the experience will disabuse her of that notion. She's only had to cook for two for the last 40 years or so.

    I wish Howard Dean would get active nationally again. The clowns we have in Washington now are really upsetting my stomach. Those jerks in Congress make about $174,000 per year, but they want to cut Social Security? How about cutting their own salaries? I am disgusted with all of them.

    I'm going to the last Harry Potter movie in the morning at 10:30. I have to get a pot roast started in the crockpot before I go, so I'd better haul my carcass to bed.

    See ya all next time.

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  30. Well, Howard Dean is outstanding in his field.

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  31. Emma is doing remarkably well...! I'd have been at the ER if I'd hit my head that hard!! She had a swollen bump on her forehead for about 36 hours, but looks good again now. She was clearly uncomfortable for about an hour or two but then seemed to take it in stride. Cats are truly amazing creatures.

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  32. Sweet Congratulations to Sister and Her*Husband~!!! And to you as well, both in having them as neighbours and in having someone else to do Thanksgiving!! I agree with you...and suspect she many need a little rescuing on the big day. Son and His*Intended did Thanksgiving for BOTH their families together (including two turkeys) the year before last. They did pretty well for their first try, but found it immensely challenging to get everything to finish cooking and be hot at about the same time. It really does take some practice.

    Have fun seeing Harry Potter!! No spoilers just yet. I'm planning to see it either Saturday or Sunday night. Still gotta get tickets.

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  33. I wish Howard were speaking more nationally, too. And running again.

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