Thursday, September 9, 2010

Sunset!


And now the sun has set.  Thank you.  It has been fun.

GiM

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Nothing to add right now

My Daddy taught me many years ago that if you have nothing to say, say nothing.  So that's the way it is right now.  Perhaps later.

GiM

Monday, September 6, 2010

Election season underway; but only mentioned here for now.

I hope you had a good Labor Day Weekend.  The weather was certainly much nicer that it has been for a while and we even survived a one day hurricane threat that never materialized, at least in our little part of the state.

Now we're underway for the election season, and a pip it promises to be.  We have good candidates vying for governor, first and second district congress seats, and a host of local elections both for state legislative offices and local ones.

As I see and hear things that intrigue me, either in their ridiculousness or outright lies, or even good ideas, I'll pass them along with my thoughts.  But every day won't be a new slam on Maine politics.

So let's start this work week off with just a couple minor items that just intrigue me.  Both deal with advertising.  The first one is about those $19.99 plus shipping and handling offers that frequently offer you a second one "Free," just pay separate shipping and handling.  Well, in my way of thinking, if I have to pay anything, that thing isn't "free."  I should quickly point out that I've never bought one of those $19.99 TV items.

The other one is also a "free" offering.  One of the more popular readers, perhaps the most popular one, has just released the newest version.  It has two versions of its regular size reading device, one for $139 and one for $189.  The first version includes free wi-fi so people with home networks can easily download books, magazines, etc., for reading.  The second version, for $50 dollars more includes a free 3G connection.

I've probably missed something, but the advertising indicates that the connectivity in both versions is included free.  I can't help but wonder why the free 3G costs an additional $50. 

I don't have one, but the idea of a reading device is intriguing.  I do like to read and such a device with the literary material stored on a convenient sized device is something I've frequently contemplated owning.

GiM

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Hurricane?

Other than the humidity, Hurricane Friday was a pretty nice day here in our little part of Maine.  We learned early that Earl, the hurricane, was dying out well south of us.  By the time it passed the coast near the Gators' home, it had all but fizzled out.

Just for the record, we did get a little light wind Friday night into Saturday morning and my rain gauge recorded about an inch and a quarter of rain.  By 6:30 Saturday morning, the rain had moved out of our area and we were already looking forward to the sun returning, which it did by mid-morning.

Once again, as happens very frequently with the weather people around here, we were deluged with super hype all week long about the ravaging potential of an approachinbg storm that fizzled out before getting here.  I suspect the local news media, and national, too, for that matter, love these storms as it gives them something to report.  They certainly have lost any ability to report any real, meaningful unbiased news.

Now we look forward to the rest of this Labor Day weekend, and with relatively nice temperatures it looks like it'll be a good end to traditional summer season.  Yes, I know, summer doesn't truly end for another three weeks, but we celebrate summer primarily in the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day. 

School also used to start right after Labor Day, but for some reason many now begin in the last week of August.  That major accomplishment seems to only screw up teens' summer jobs and family vacations.  But it also gives the education system a chance to add some of those incredibly valuable teacher workshop days to the school year.  (I hope you're reading the sarcasm here.)  Another accomplishment this year is some schools have already used up a winter "Storm Day" because of the oppressive heat and humidity of last week.

Labor Day also meant parades and festivities.  Politicians took advantage of the gatherings to kick off their runs for the November elections.  Now, of course, with a few notable exceptions, the Big Drive began right after last Novembers balloting or even sooner.

I hope you and your friends have a super Labor Day weekend and enjoy the family and friends' get-togethers as we all officially say "Good-bye" to Summer 2010 in Maine.  There is a bright side to that end this weekend; the temperatures and humidity will allow us to get a good night's sleep at last.

Added on Saturday:  I watched the Gators football game this afternoon.  This is going to be one mighty long season.

GiM

Friday, September 3, 2010

The hurricane cometh...or maybe not!

One might come close to assuming all the super hype of the past week was just as many of us thought...just super hype.  As this day broke, we learned that the Hurricane Earl is not going to wreak the damage on Maine, at least our part of the state, as we were led to believe.

First of all, that hurricane like most that hit the north Atlantic appears to be falling apart.  When it passes out to sea east of us in Southern Maine tonight it will have dropped to a tropical storm.  The latest observations indicate we'll get sustained winds of 25 miles and hour or less with gusts up to 35 mph.  We will probably get wet with one to as much as three inches of rain.

Now Downeast Maine will feel some somewhat stronger winds and possibly a little more rainfall, but as of now it would appear that the hurricane will be no more.  Trees, wires, boats, etc., are still facing the chance of some serious problems.

I haven't seen all the local weather forecasters' reports, but Earl seems to be doing just about what Ch. 6 meteorologist Keith Carson said it would do in his forecasts earlier this week. 

I'll keep this one short, but it certainly appears as if Earl will be just another hype that keeps news people busy for a period of time much longer than necessary.  I wonder if I would paise their work if we got a direct hit.

GiM

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

What will September bring?

September is here, and with it comes the end of summer.  Oh, that's not for another few weeks or so, but the end of this very strange season is rapidly approaching.  This is probably an understatement of the highest degree, but this has been one of the hottest, driest Maine summers I can remember, and I've lived here for all but a half dozen of my 70 plus years. 

September is starting out right where August ended.  Hot weather with temperatures in the 90s is a definite beginning.  A hurricane, or at least its effects, will also visit us.  Naturally, the super hype by local broadcasters has already begun.  Outside the weather, September begins the election season for me.  I don't recognize it until today, actually Monday, Labor Day.  What else?  We'll know in about 30 days.

Not including the storm that may be approaching for later this week, I've experienced one of the worst thunder storms I've ever seen.  The Gator home was struck by lightning in late July.  Gator Wife and I were in our den watching TV when for my first time, a bolt of lightning flew across the room between us and the TV and striking a phone.  Simulataneously a clap of thunder, perhaps the loudest I've ever heard, sounded as if it were in the middle of the room.

It caught our attention.  It also caught every phone in the house along with my furnace, my heart information tranmisstion device, our irrigation system, Invisible Fence, and garage door opener.  For some reason it skipped right over our TV, the cable box, the phone/internet modem, and all my computer equipment.  Those devices were all being protected by universal surge protection equipment.

There was no damage to the house or garage structures and within 48 hours, fast responding service folk of the various companies had everything back to normal.  It was an expensive ordeal, especially getting the furnace fixed, but my only cost was the deductible of my home owner's insurance.  Even the insurance company was fast resonding as I had my claim paid within two weeks.

But that's all history.  Now I'm joining you in wondering what, if anything, will visit us as the weekend approaches.  I do have my supply of toilet paper in, however.

You'll notice there aren't any pictures of Gator Golden included here.  Last weekend I took my trusty camera outside to get some new pictures.  The sun was high and seeing images in the viewing screen was a total impossibility.  The camera takes beautiful pictures but I will never again buy one that does not have an eye piece view finder.  I was unable to get any new pictures.

GiM