John’s posterous

 



November 20, 2009

Please Make It STOP!

I’m having a very NOT relaxing day off at home today.  After another not relaxing day yesterday.  The source?  The neighbor is building a new garage.  Or should I call it a Man-Cave?  This thing is HUGE!  It goes from one edge of his lot to the other (these are only 40 foot wide lots around here).  It looks bigger than another neighbor’s house.  That’s the picture up above.  In the second picture you can see it in comparison to my own two-car garage.  Mine has an attic that I can stand straight up in (although only at the peak) and I am slightly above average height. 

I won’t complain too much though.  My neighbor is a pretty nice guy and I know he’s not deliberately trying to disturb the neighborhood.  Also, I think what’s bothering me as much as the noise is I’m jealous and I WANT ONE, TOO!

   
Click here to download:
Please_Make_It_STOP.zip (3534 KB)

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November 12, 2009

A Political Annoyance

I just got my mind tweaked into annoyance by something related a recent endorsement in the Minnesota Governor race.  The Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (the union for Minnesota state employees) just recently announced they were endorsing Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher.  It’s not the fact that I personally think there’s a better candidate—people can and should endorse/support whoever they want.  It’s not the ethical gray area that is being approached by a union of government employees endorsing a political candidate.  It is a quote by the union’s Executive Director Jim Monroe.  “We believe she is the most electable candidate in the race.” (From StarTribune political reporter Rachel Stassen-Berger http://twitter.com/RachelSB/status/5652362902.  Full story: http://bit.ly/7ggIn.)  Monroe continues with references to her ability to raise money and her campaign structure.  There is no mention of the simple question of whether or not she will do a good job.

Why does there appear to be no consideration of her stand on issues?  What she’ll do for the state’s education system.  How she’ll resolve the budget issues.  How she’ll promote the state as a great home for business.  What she wants to do regarding the health care/health insurance system.  I would even have been OK if MAPE had just flat out made a blatantly self-interested statement that she a strong supporter of the MAPE union.  But endorsing her because she can raise money?  Because she has won elections before?  When did the BEST candidate stop being the same as the most electable?  Worrying about “most electable” leads down the slippery slope of style over substance.  That’s a great way to really get things messed up.

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November 2, 2009

Halloween 2009

             
Click here to download:
Halloween_2009.zip (10968 KB)

We get into Halloween just a leetle bit.  Some people put the time and expense into Christmas decorations, but for my family it’s Halloween.  It’s a better holiday for getting out the theatrical side.

Visits from Sweeny Todd and Count Dracula this year.  Fog was rolling through the graveyard.  Had a couple others just hanging around.

I never get everything set up the way I want to.  The extra rain for several days beforehand this year didn’t help any so a lot of set up was done that morning/afternoon.  But we had people slowing down as they drove past.  Early on someone going to a party dressed as Mrs. Lovett happened by and had to stop and get her picture taken with Sweeney.  Like every year we had a couple little ones that were afraid to come up the walk, but most of the Trick or Treaters braved it for a sugar fix.  Had a group of about eight that all wanted to take pictures with Dracula and Sweeney.  A few adults were taking pictures of the display. 

The crowds have been bigger every year for us.  We went through at least a dozen bags of candy.  A couple of our neighbors had to go into hiding because they ran out of candy.

Now to start the plans for 2010.  Alien Invasion?  Zombie Uprising?  Classic Movie Monsters?  We’ll see what shows up next year.

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October 30, 2009

Dare I?

 

Dare I actually start up one of these?  I’ve already got a blog set up that I rarely post to.  I have a Twitter account that I use more for listening in than actually participating.  I’ve got e-mail accounts, a Google Voice number I don’t really use, a Facebook page.  Why ever should I start a blog on Posterous, too?  It seems like an awful lot of communication and social media for a person who is generally pretty introverted and somewhat anti-social.  (I had people I worked with for over a year that knew I was married but didn’t know my wife's name and wouldn’t recognize her.)

The other blog feels more formal (at least as formal as a personal blog can be).  This seems enough more casual it can be used for shorter quick thoughts that aren’t completely fleshed out, or just not very long, but still too long for Twitter.  We’ll see if anything becomes of this, or if it just kind of trails away.

And maybe someday I’ll get one of those nice fancy phones that can do all that extra stuff like email so I can do this when I’m out and about, which seems to be where my best ideas appear.

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