Monday
Some blessed relief from the heat and humidity that’s not as bad here as it is in other places so I won’t complain about about it but it’s really sucked this summer. Yesterday was a beautiful day, and today is supposed to be just as nice (which will bring me great comfort as I sit in my windowless office all day). After a humid (though not quite a horribly hot) and rainy Saturday, I finally got to try out my new electric lawnmower yesterday. I really like the fact that it’s incredibly light and really, really quiet, and there’s no farting around with gas or oil or trying to start it, but there’s no getting around the fact that the cord is a pain in the ass. Especially in the front yard. The big problem is when you change direction. The cord stays on one side, so you have to figure out how to step over it and let it shift over and not run over it. I finally settled on putting it across my shoulder and around my neck. You just need to turn the same way every time to avoid getting strangled. I reckon I’ll get it figgered out (or winter will get here – whichever comes first).
Big debate in store for us today in Congress. The god-fearing Republicans want to preserve the Bush tax cuts for rich people, while the godless Democrats want to let them sunset. Here’s how it works: Republicans are “deficit hawks,” and didn’t want to pony up $33 billion to help out unemployed folks unless it was “deficit neutral,” but think the tax cuts should be preserved at a cost of $678 billion (and some $3 trillion over 10 years) with no strings attached. This is because Republicans are fiscally conservative and Democrats are tax and spend liberals.
Here in NY, there are something like 250,000 Canada geese. The government wants to kill about 165,000 of them by trapping them and putting them into turkey crates, and then gassing them to death. I, personally, find this abhorrent, but others are apparently quite proud of the plan.
A high-level official of the United States Department of Agriculture who is familiar with the proposal called it a “one-of-a-kind plan.”
“New York is leading the way,” he said….
Ah, well, good for us. We don’t have a budget, and half of our legislators are under indictment for something or other, but when it comes to murdering geese, by golly, we’ve got our shit together.
Speaking of getting shit together, I guess it’s about that time for me.
