Overtime list went up today, and I immediately put in for Saturday (the first night after our shift) and Tuesday (the first night before we come back.) I think I'm pretty certain to get it, at least one of the days, possibly both. The only question is, will I be mandated for more?
I need to start working overtime, as much as I can. These kittens came with hefty price tags. Right now I'm looking at the possibility of running Gretchen to the vet's during what should be a sleep period for me, because she has a snotty nose that I don't want to see turn into pneumonia.Probably not today, but definitely tomorrow if she hasn't perked up.
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Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
My time-share existence
Work. Kittens. Yard work. Those seem to be the things that have occupied my life for the past month or two, but I actually do manage to squeeze in another thing or two here and there.
I have several non-intersecting groups of friends located within a two hundred mile radius of Nanticoke. Because these groups do not overlap, and because each group is separated from the others by many miles, spending time with any group of friends is usually an exclusive event: when I am with them, I am not with anyone else.
A few years ago, when I was well-employed and working a Monday-through-Friday schedule and driving a much younger car, this was not a problem. I might spend one weekend a month in the Poconos, two or three weekends a year in New Jersey, an occasional visit to Virginia or Maryland and another to upstate New York, dinner once in a while with friends from work or old friends from college, and then road trips every week or two with the friends who live locally. Even visits with friends living overseas once in a great while.
But things changed. We all got older. Friends got married, got divorced, had kids, joined bands, moved away. I lost some friends, made some new friends, and occasionally travelled far with them to visit some of their friends. I bought a house and took on all the responsibilities that entails. I lost my job, and then got a new job at a considerably lower pay rate and working hours that don't coincide well with anyone else's - just as the job market and the economy collapsed. My car got old, and then older still, to the point that I have to consider the possibility that it will break down on any given trip.
Still, I try to keep up, but I feel like I'm ignoring my friends. With so many of my designated days off devoted to yard work and visits to the veterinarian for the kittens, and with overtime always looming as a blessing and a curse, it is almost impossible to schedule the occasional day to visit friends. And then the question is, which group of friends will it be?
On top of all that, after a long hiatus I'm trying to date again. But this is also nearly impossible due to scheduling conflicts and the ever-present spectre of exhaustion. And time keeps ticking by. Days turn into weeks and months very quickly on my schedule. It only just recently occurred to me that this is Summer, and a friend of mine had told me she would be relocating to Pennsylvania for the Summer. Can we arrange a meeting? Probably not this week. I am scheduled to work tonight through Friday night, and will try to get overtime for Saturday and/or Tuesday night; I have a vet appointment with Thor and BlueBear on Monday, am planning on having a friend over to replace a fallen downspout on Sunday, and need to mow both lawns somewhere along the way. And she has her own schedule to contend with.
I have recently envisioned my life as a sort of time-share, in which competing interests reserve slots of time to do whatever it is they choose to do. Want to meet a friend for dinner? OK, we can give you one hour a month from next Tuesday. No good? OK, let's check the next available slot...
I'm sure there's been a science fiction story written about that. I thought that was the theme of John Brunner's Players at the Game of People, which I've never read, but the synopsis I just read doesn't sound too much like that. Maybe someone can offer some suggestions.
Anyway, my friends should rest assured that I am desperately trying to pencil them in someplace. Just not this Saturday, in case I work overtime, or Tuesday, for the same reason, or Monday, because of the kitten appointment, or Sunday, because of the home repairs, or...
I have several non-intersecting groups of friends located within a two hundred mile radius of Nanticoke. Because these groups do not overlap, and because each group is separated from the others by many miles, spending time with any group of friends is usually an exclusive event: when I am with them, I am not with anyone else.
A few years ago, when I was well-employed and working a Monday-through-Friday schedule and driving a much younger car, this was not a problem. I might spend one weekend a month in the Poconos, two or three weekends a year in New Jersey, an occasional visit to Virginia or Maryland and another to upstate New York, dinner once in a while with friends from work or old friends from college, and then road trips every week or two with the friends who live locally. Even visits with friends living overseas once in a great while.
But things changed. We all got older. Friends got married, got divorced, had kids, joined bands, moved away. I lost some friends, made some new friends, and occasionally travelled far with them to visit some of their friends. I bought a house and took on all the responsibilities that entails. I lost my job, and then got a new job at a considerably lower pay rate and working hours that don't coincide well with anyone else's - just as the job market and the economy collapsed. My car got old, and then older still, to the point that I have to consider the possibility that it will break down on any given trip.
Still, I try to keep up, but I feel like I'm ignoring my friends. With so many of my designated days off devoted to yard work and visits to the veterinarian for the kittens, and with overtime always looming as a blessing and a curse, it is almost impossible to schedule the occasional day to visit friends. And then the question is, which group of friends will it be?
On top of all that, after a long hiatus I'm trying to date again. But this is also nearly impossible due to scheduling conflicts and the ever-present spectre of exhaustion. And time keeps ticking by. Days turn into weeks and months very quickly on my schedule. It only just recently occurred to me that this is Summer, and a friend of mine had told me she would be relocating to Pennsylvania for the Summer. Can we arrange a meeting? Probably not this week. I am scheduled to work tonight through Friday night, and will try to get overtime for Saturday and/or Tuesday night; I have a vet appointment with Thor and BlueBear on Monday, am planning on having a friend over to replace a fallen downspout on Sunday, and need to mow both lawns somewhere along the way. And she has her own schedule to contend with.
I have recently envisioned my life as a sort of time-share, in which competing interests reserve slots of time to do whatever it is they choose to do. Want to meet a friend for dinner? OK, we can give you one hour a month from next Tuesday. No good? OK, let's check the next available slot...
I'm sure there's been a science fiction story written about that. I thought that was the theme of John Brunner's Players at the Game of People, which I've never read, but the synopsis I just read doesn't sound too much like that. Maybe someone can offer some suggestions.
Anyway, my friends should rest assured that I am desperately trying to pencil them in someplace. Just not this Saturday, in case I work overtime, or Tuesday, for the same reason, or Monday, because of the kitten appointment, or Sunday, because of the home repairs, or...
Monday, July 13, 2009
And then there were six
Bowie, Thor, and BlueBear had a sleepover at my house last night. They all did very well. They used the litterbox I provided for them, which I stocked with the same type of pine pellets used at my mom's house. They played extensively throughout the bedroom where we all spent the night, but did not manage to break anything. They seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves. Which is good - because at some point in the future, that's where they'll be living, along with Gretchen and Rachel.
One cat who will not be moving there is our latest addition, Peaches. Peaches is the sole survivor of a litter born at the end of May to Tortoise the Tortoiseshell, who was herself born just last September or so, and is the last free-roaming kitten out there. (I no longer count Bowie, Thor, and BlueBear's two siblings as kittens - they are both larger than their domesticated brothers and sister, and have become juveniles / young adults at less than four months.) Not that she will necessarily be the last cat we capture - we would like to trap the remaining adults and have them spayed or neutered. No more kittens.
Peaches is sickly. Her tests for FIV (the feline version of HIV) and Feline Leukemia came back negative, and she has had her first round of shots. But she has an eye infection in both eyes, as well as an upper respiratory infection. We have drops and pills and a liquid medicine we have to give her twice a day.
But this sixth feral kitten is not for me. My mom will keep her, the fifth cat in her group, so we will have five and five. All spayed, all neutered. And as for the outdoor cats...I don't mind a few to keep down the mouse and vole and rabbit populations, but having them breed without constraint is unacceptable, even if the kittens have an incredibly high mortality rate. We will take steps to avoid any future litters.
One cat who will not be moving there is our latest addition, Peaches. Peaches is the sole survivor of a litter born at the end of May to Tortoise the Tortoiseshell, who was herself born just last September or so, and is the last free-roaming kitten out there. (I no longer count Bowie, Thor, and BlueBear's two siblings as kittens - they are both larger than their domesticated brothers and sister, and have become juveniles / young adults at less than four months.) Not that she will necessarily be the last cat we capture - we would like to trap the remaining adults and have them spayed or neutered. No more kittens.
Peaches is sickly. Her tests for FIV (the feline version of HIV) and Feline Leukemia came back negative, and she has had her first round of shots. But she has an eye infection in both eyes, as well as an upper respiratory infection. We have drops and pills and a liquid medicine we have to give her twice a day.
But this sixth feral kitten is not for me. My mom will keep her, the fifth cat in her group, so we will have five and five. All spayed, all neutered. And as for the outdoor cats...I don't mind a few to keep down the mouse and vole and rabbit populations, but having them breed without constraint is unacceptable, even if the kittens have an incredibly high mortality rate. We will take steps to avoid any future litters.
Who dealt this mess?
I'm playing several Scrabble games with several friends on Facebook right now, and these are the letters I wound up with in one of them yesterday. It's nice to have all those U's, but I'd also like the occasional consonant!Sunday, July 12, 2009
Gray Lady Down
Nanticoke was once a city of banks. Great, hulking banks. Gray Ladies. Enormous money bins, giant becolumned edifices made of granite and glass and metal on the outside and polished marble and empty space on the inside, featuring enormous chandeliers and massive, impressive vaults and little pens chained to desks.
Those days are gone. Most banks no longer see the need for a vulgar display of their wealth with an imposing and impressive physical presence into which customers might enter and be reduced to motedom. Most do it these days by having the executive board rob the customers blind and bleed them dry and abscond with their money.
The buildings that were those great banks are also gone, mostly, torn down and replaced with much smaller and simpler structures, with drive-up tellers and ATMs on the outside. Customers no longer need to set foot within the premises for most transactions.
I think in all of Nanticoke there are perhaps three such structures remaining, out of perhaps three times that number that once existed. And I believe only one is still used as a bank.
First National Bank still exists as a building. But it has not been a bank for many years.*
The granite outer structure still exists. I haven't set foot in the building in decades, since it became a pawn shop of some sort. For the longest time a sign proclaimed "WE BUY GOLD AND SILVER", enticing the people of Nanticoke to cash in their heirlooms, or whatever heirlooms may have come into their possession, for quick cash. I don't know when the lower windows were smashed out and replaced with plywood. I never noticed the "FURNITURE MART / GIFT SHOPPE" sign until I took these pictures. Based on the archaic spelling, I'm sure the Gift Shoppe offered only the finest in merchandise.
Nanticoke, like much of Northeastern Pennsylvania, has long been ahead of the curve when it comes to the economic downturn. A ruin like this - like the other ruins in this city - does not do much to attract additional investment in the city of Nanticoke. Could there be any way to revive this fallen Gray Lady, to turn this liability into an asset?
*While this is true of this building, which has the words "FIRST NATIONAL BANK" engraved across the top, a quick check of the Nanticoke phone directory will reveal that there is in fact a "First Bational Bank" operating just a block away. But that's a subject for another post.
Title reference: The 1978 submarine disaster film Gray Lady Down.
Those days are gone. Most banks no longer see the need for a vulgar display of their wealth with an imposing and impressive physical presence into which customers might enter and be reduced to motedom. Most do it these days by having the executive board rob the customers blind and bleed them dry and abscond with their money.
The buildings that were those great banks are also gone, mostly, torn down and replaced with much smaller and simpler structures, with drive-up tellers and ATMs on the outside. Customers no longer need to set foot within the premises for most transactions.
I think in all of Nanticoke there are perhaps three such structures remaining, out of perhaps three times that number that once existed. And I believe only one is still used as a bank.
First National Bank still exists as a building. But it has not been a bank for many years.*
The granite outer structure still exists. I haven't set foot in the building in decades, since it became a pawn shop of some sort. For the longest time a sign proclaimed "WE BUY GOLD AND SILVER", enticing the people of Nanticoke to cash in their heirlooms, or whatever heirlooms may have come into their possession, for quick cash. I don't know when the lower windows were smashed out and replaced with plywood. I never noticed the "FURNITURE MART / GIFT SHOPPE" sign until I took these pictures. Based on the archaic spelling, I'm sure the Gift Shoppe offered only the finest in merchandise.
Nanticoke, like much of Northeastern Pennsylvania, has long been ahead of the curve when it comes to the economic downturn. A ruin like this - like the other ruins in this city - does not do much to attract additional investment in the city of Nanticoke. Could there be any way to revive this fallen Gray Lady, to turn this liability into an asset?*While this is true of this building, which has the words "FIRST NATIONAL BANK" engraved across the top, a quick check of the Nanticoke phone directory will reveal that there is in fact a "First Bational Bank" operating just a block away. But that's a subject for another post.
Title reference: The 1978 submarine disaster film Gray Lady Down.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Sah Palin's PAC and other inappropriate ads
Shortly after I began blogging five years ago I noticed that Google had begun inserting context-sensitive ads onto Blogger/Blogspot blogs:
Google eventually did away with these ads and replaced them with the Blogger toolbar at the top of the blog. But sometime after that they rolled out the AdSense program, which gives bloggers and others the option of placing context-sensitive ads on their sites. I resisted signing up for this for a while, but after I lost my job in 2007 I realized it was stupid of me to turn away any legitimate income source on the basis of half-thought-out principles. Still, the reward for abandoning these principles has been minuscule, at best.
AdSense ads are context-sensitive: they somehow comb through the text of a blog entry and insert ads based on criteria specified by the advertiser. I don't know exactly how this works, and I don't know how the criteria are set. And I don't know if it is by accident or design that ads completely antithetical to the posted content sometimes get though.
I've received several comments on the SarahPAC ad that's been appearing consistently on my blog recently. I first saw this ad a few days ago, on the page that appears to confirm that your post has uploaded successfully. I thought it was an odd place to put such an ad, but didn't give it a second thought.
Then I started seeing the ad appear on my sidebar or in the adspace at the top of my posts. I still didn't think much of it. Anyone who is familiar with me or my blog knows that I am no fan of Sarah Palin or of the political thinking that saw her slipped into the co-pilot's seat during the election. I do not dislike the person Sarah Palin should have been - would have been if I were writing her character: a tough, smart, determined individual who worked and fought her way to the top position in her state and was willing to do whatever it took to go even further. Instead what we had was an empty parody of all that. With every tick of the election clock Sarah Palin just seemed to be a worse and worse deal for America - and for the party that rallied behind her as their chosen candidate's chosen running mate.
Still, SarahPAC has seen fit to place its ads on my site. I don't know why. Maybe their ad placement algorithm is dumb, or at least simplistic: If the site mentions Sarah Palin, or mentions her this many times in this time period, place the ad. Or maybe this is a strategic choice: Any site that mentions Sarah Palin is likely to attract searches for Sarah Palin, and while some of the people conducting those searches will be opposed to donating money to a Sarah Palin Political Action Committee, others will in fact be so inclined. Or maybe the strategy is more sinister: If a blogger is expressing an anti-Sarah Palin sentiment, place the ad to undermine the credibility of the blogger, perhaps even turn the blog's regular readers against the blog. That would be...clever.
Like so much else involving Sarah Palin, this ad placement (to paraphrase Mr. Furious from Mystery Men) is either very smart, or very dumb.* Still, I don't find it particularly offensive, so I'm not going to take steps to have it removed. If you're interested in donating to Sarah Palin's PAC, go ahead. If you'd like to learn more about SarahPAC, feel free. If you feel that the space would be better served by some other ads - we'll, I'll be posting on lots of other topics, and if Sarah Palin keeps true to what she said in her resignation speech, I probably won't have too much more to say about her in the future. I think ad placement depends in part on reinforcement: ads that generate clicks from genuinely interested people tend to result in additional ads for similar products or services.
This whole situation is somewhat amusing, and mostly harmless. But sometimes, context-sensitive ads have a darker side.
During the month of June Dr. Isis of On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess was among the bloggers engaging in an effort to raise awareness of the sexual exploitation of women and children throughout the world. It was a big effort, and she , like many of the other bloggers involved, had pledged all of her blog-derived income for the month of June to the cause.
A few weeks ago ads from Russian mail-order bride services began to appear on her blog. Basically, ads for companies that engage in legalized human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of women.
Naughty Ads and Why I'm on Hiatus : On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess
Fortunately, after several days the group under whose umbrella she blogs finally responded to her takedown requests and confirmed that these ads had been removed.
Isis Ends Her Hiatus... : On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess
Was this a case of extremely inappropriate context-sensitive ad placement? I don't know. It seems likely at first glance, but I have also seen these ads and similar ads elsewhere, particularly on Facebook. So is this perhaps a well-capitalized business or (ahem) organization that is just throwing lots of money around, buying ads wherever they can? We'll see. I haven't seen any such ads on my site yet, but such ads may be prohibited under Google's AdSense rules. Maybe not. If anyone sees such an ad on my site, please let me know.
That, I will make a stink about.
*This was apparently originally said in Jaws.
I just noticed a few days ago that there's an ad banner at the top of my blog page. These ads are provided by Google, and I have no control over them. This seems only fair, since Blogger is a part of Google, and Google is providing this service and space for free.
But I noticed that the ads themselves seemed a little peculiar in their subject matter. One was for the Conservative Book Club. Another was for the Republican Book Club. At the bottom of the ad is a little tag that says "Related searches". While these particular ads were showing, the "Related searches" included "Condoleezza Rice", "Dick Cheney", and "national security advisor" - all mentioned in my June 27 post.
Google eventually did away with these ads and replaced them with the Blogger toolbar at the top of the blog. But sometime after that they rolled out the AdSense program, which gives bloggers and others the option of placing context-sensitive ads on their sites. I resisted signing up for this for a while, but after I lost my job in 2007 I realized it was stupid of me to turn away any legitimate income source on the basis of half-thought-out principles. Still, the reward for abandoning these principles has been minuscule, at best.
AdSense ads are context-sensitive: they somehow comb through the text of a blog entry and insert ads based on criteria specified by the advertiser. I don't know exactly how this works, and I don't know how the criteria are set. And I don't know if it is by accident or design that ads completely antithetical to the posted content sometimes get though.
I've received several comments on the SarahPAC ad that's been appearing consistently on my blog recently. I first saw this ad a few days ago, on the page that appears to confirm that your post has uploaded successfully. I thought it was an odd place to put such an ad, but didn't give it a second thought.Then I started seeing the ad appear on my sidebar or in the adspace at the top of my posts. I still didn't think much of it. Anyone who is familiar with me or my blog knows that I am no fan of Sarah Palin or of the political thinking that saw her slipped into the co-pilot's seat during the election. I do not dislike the person Sarah Palin should have been - would have been if I were writing her character: a tough, smart, determined individual who worked and fought her way to the top position in her state and was willing to do whatever it took to go even further. Instead what we had was an empty parody of all that. With every tick of the election clock Sarah Palin just seemed to be a worse and worse deal for America - and for the party that rallied behind her as their chosen candidate's chosen running mate.
Still, SarahPAC has seen fit to place its ads on my site. I don't know why. Maybe their ad placement algorithm is dumb, or at least simplistic: If the site mentions Sarah Palin, or mentions her this many times in this time period, place the ad. Or maybe this is a strategic choice: Any site that mentions Sarah Palin is likely to attract searches for Sarah Palin, and while some of the people conducting those searches will be opposed to donating money to a Sarah Palin Political Action Committee, others will in fact be so inclined. Or maybe the strategy is more sinister: If a blogger is expressing an anti-Sarah Palin sentiment, place the ad to undermine the credibility of the blogger, perhaps even turn the blog's regular readers against the blog. That would be...clever.
Like so much else involving Sarah Palin, this ad placement (to paraphrase Mr. Furious from Mystery Men) is either very smart, or very dumb.* Still, I don't find it particularly offensive, so I'm not going to take steps to have it removed. If you're interested in donating to Sarah Palin's PAC, go ahead. If you'd like to learn more about SarahPAC, feel free. If you feel that the space would be better served by some other ads - we'll, I'll be posting on lots of other topics, and if Sarah Palin keeps true to what she said in her resignation speech, I probably won't have too much more to say about her in the future. I think ad placement depends in part on reinforcement: ads that generate clicks from genuinely interested people tend to result in additional ads for similar products or services.
This whole situation is somewhat amusing, and mostly harmless. But sometimes, context-sensitive ads have a darker side.
During the month of June Dr. Isis of On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess was among the bloggers engaging in an effort to raise awareness of the sexual exploitation of women and children throughout the world. It was a big effort, and she , like many of the other bloggers involved, had pledged all of her blog-derived income for the month of June to the cause.
A few weeks ago ads from Russian mail-order bride services began to appear on her blog. Basically, ads for companies that engage in legalized human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of women.
Naughty Ads and Why I'm on Hiatus : On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess
Fortunately, after several days the group under whose umbrella she blogs finally responded to her takedown requests and confirmed that these ads had been removed.
Isis Ends Her Hiatus... : On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess
Was this a case of extremely inappropriate context-sensitive ad placement? I don't know. It seems likely at first glance, but I have also seen these ads and similar ads elsewhere, particularly on Facebook. So is this perhaps a well-capitalized business or (ahem) organization that is just throwing lots of money around, buying ads wherever they can? We'll see. I haven't seen any such ads on my site yet, but such ads may be prohibited under Google's AdSense rules. Maybe not. If anyone sees such an ad on my site, please let me know.
That, I will make a stink about.
*This was apparently originally said in Jaws.
Thunder coming
Huge storms broke north and south around Nanticoke a few hours ago. I don't know if we'll be so lucky this time. So the post about the ironic Sarah Palin PAC ad that's been appearing on my sidebar may have to wait a little while!
(Image from Weather Underground.)
(Image from Weather Underground.)
Update, 11:07 PM: Yeah, we got thwacked, but not too badly. Looks like we're done for a while.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Drat, blast, and damn
(Corrected and images added, 7/12/09.)
Today has gone according to plan so far...mostly. Left work just after 6:00 AM, having confirmed that I am scheduled for overtime Saturday night. Reached the Wilkes-Barre Township Cracker Barrel just after 6:30. Confirmed that they opened at 6:00. Had a good breakfast and lots of coffee. Came home. Showered. Brushed and flossed, really well. Got dressed. Went to the dentist's for my 8:45 appointment. Checkup was fine, as usual.
On the short ride home I decided to stop at McDonald's Newsstand on Main Street, about two blocks from the dentist's office. This is a little hole in the wall, a narrow, one-room newspaper, magazine, and cigar shop with a storage room in the back that for years has contained a Joker Poker machine. It has been around all my life. I remember stopping in there countless times with my father in his orange 1973 Volkswagen Super Beetle after I served the sparsely-attended 7:00 AM daily Mass. I would look around for new comic books and he would pick up the latest copies of the New York Daily News and the New York Post. I remember seeing a copy of Roger Zelazny's My Name Is Legion there. The cover image by the Brothers Hildebrandt stuck with me so much that I instantly recognized it when I finally read Home Is The Hangman some ten years later. I bought most of my Star Wars comics and Heavy Metal Magazines there. I stopped in a few weeks ago to conirm that they carry the Allentown Morning Call. I'll be needing a copy July 28, and maybe September 3 as well.
As I pulled up I was surprised to see the number of cars parked in front of the place. Usually there is a spot open directly in front, but today I had to park down the street a bit.
I approached the store and noticed that one of the windows, instead of being covered with the usual notices of upcoming school plays and bus trips to Atlantic City, was covered with a single sign with words in foot-high letters: THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING HERE.
That's odd, I thought. I thought much the same when I noticed that the door was closed and it was dark inside the store. A single piece of paper was taped to the door. It said, simply, "Closed."
I focused through the glass into the darkness beyond. The daylight was casting some illumination within. I saw an empty counter. Empty racks. Empty store.
Closed.
Oh, I can find the newspaper somewhere else, I'm sure. But another piece of Nanticoke, another piece of America, another piece of my life is gone.
On the short ride home I decided to stop at McDonald's Newsstand on Main Street, about two blocks from the dentist's office. This is a little hole in the wall, a narrow, one-room newspaper, magazine, and cigar shop with a storage room in the back that for years has contained a Joker Poker machine. It has been around all my life. I remember stopping in there countless times with my father in his orange 1973 Volkswagen Super Beetle after I served the sparsely-attended 7:00 AM daily Mass. I would look around for new comic books and he would pick up the latest copies of the New York Daily News and the New York Post. I remember seeing a copy of Roger Zelazny's My Name Is Legion there. The cover image by the Brothers Hildebrandt stuck with me so much that I instantly recognized it when I finally read Home Is The Hangman some ten years later. I bought most of my Star Wars comics and Heavy Metal Magazines there. I stopped in a few weeks ago to conirm that they carry the Allentown Morning Call. I'll be needing a copy July 28, and maybe September 3 as well.
As I pulled up I was surprised to see the number of cars parked in front of the place. Usually there is a spot open directly in front, but today I had to park down the street a bit.
I approached the store and noticed that one of the windows, instead of being covered with the usual notices of upcoming school plays and bus trips to Atlantic City, was covered with a single sign with words in foot-high letters: THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING HERE.
That's odd, I thought. I thought much the same when I noticed that the door was closed and it was dark inside the store. A single piece of paper was taped to the door. It said, simply, "Closed."
I focused through the glass into the darkness beyond. The daylight was casting some illumination within. I saw an empty counter. Empty racks. Empty store.
Closed.
Oh, I can find the newspaper somewhere else, I'm sure. But another piece of Nanticoke, another piece of America, another piece of my life is gone.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
So much for the wwekend
(UPDATE, 3:05 PM: I now see that I typoed the post title. It should say "So much for the weekend". But I was tired, and spell check doesn't work on the title.)
Friday morning I have a dental appointment scheduled for 8:45 and a vet's visit for Gretchen and Rachel scheduled for 3:00. Saturday I was planning to go to a birthday pool party to play responsible adult. (Hah! Neither.) Sunday and Monday were a bit nebulous, but I have lawns that need mowing, weeds that need whacking, and even a few more tomato plants that need planting.
Monday I was thinking of trying to set up the one month follow-up visits for Thor and BlueBear. But I decided that Monday would be the best day to work overtime. I put in for it, but there's none available. Just for Friday and Saturday.
I got mandated for overtime for Saturday.
It's not guaranteed, though lately more and more people are finding themselves working overtime on days they thought would be cancelled. I'll know for sure by 8:00 Saturday morning. But for now, it looks like the pool party is off. If it happens, it will also screw up the rest of my Saturday and most of my Sunday. Tuesday night it's back to work for me.
Time to head to bed. Too bad someone just started working on the road in front of our house with a jackhammer. We'll see if I get any sleep.
Friday morning I have a dental appointment scheduled for 8:45 and a vet's visit for Gretchen and Rachel scheduled for 3:00. Saturday I was planning to go to a birthday pool party to play responsible adult. (Hah! Neither.) Sunday and Monday were a bit nebulous, but I have lawns that need mowing, weeds that need whacking, and even a few more tomato plants that need planting.
Monday I was thinking of trying to set up the one month follow-up visits for Thor and BlueBear. But I decided that Monday would be the best day to work overtime. I put in for it, but there's none available. Just for Friday and Saturday.
I got mandated for overtime for Saturday.
It's not guaranteed, though lately more and more people are finding themselves working overtime on days they thought would be cancelled. I'll know for sure by 8:00 Saturday morning. But for now, it looks like the pool party is off. If it happens, it will also screw up the rest of my Saturday and most of my Sunday. Tuesday night it's back to work for me.
Time to head to bed. Too bad someone just started working on the road in front of our house with a jackhammer. We'll see if I get any sleep.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Other people have also died
Following the recent orgy of celebrity deaths, particularly the death of Michael Jackson, other deaths of less-well-known individuals have not gotten as much coverage as they might have otherwise.
Robert McNamara died on Monday, July 6. He is a significant figure in recent American history for, among other things, the role he played in the Vietnam War. He was the subject - or, at least, the sole interviewee - of the 2003 documentary The Fog of War. More information can be heard here:
NPR: Robert McNamara, Vietnam War Architect, Is Dead
Robert McNamara On Doubts, And Vietnam : NPR
John Keel died on Friday, July 3. He was an author and researcher of Fortean phenomena, most notably the Mothman sightings in West Virginia in 1966 and 1967. I remember him from appearances on the talk show circuit (and at least one game show - either "What's My Line?" or "To Tell the Truth") in the early 1970's promoting his book, The Mothman Prophecies. This was made into a movie in 2002, and a fictionalized character based on John Keel was played by Richard Gere!
Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman has extensive information about John Keel's death on his blog, Cryptomundo:
Cryptomundo » John A. Keel Has Died
Cryptomundo » C2C: Keel Tribute
Cryptomundo » Vallée & Keel
Cryptomundo » Keel Ends Life Rather Alone
Cryptomundo » “John Keel was our Michael Jackson.” (with links to the mainstream media articles that are finally starting to appear)
Robert McNamara died on Monday, July 6. He is a significant figure in recent American history for, among other things, the role he played in the Vietnam War. He was the subject - or, at least, the sole interviewee - of the 2003 documentary The Fog of War. More information can be heard here:
NPR: Robert McNamara, Vietnam War Architect, Is Dead
Robert McNamara On Doubts, And Vietnam : NPR
John Keel died on Friday, July 3. He was an author and researcher of Fortean phenomena, most notably the Mothman sightings in West Virginia in 1966 and 1967. I remember him from appearances on the talk show circuit (and at least one game show - either "What's My Line?" or "To Tell the Truth") in the early 1970's promoting his book, The Mothman Prophecies. This was made into a movie in 2002, and a fictionalized character based on John Keel was played by Richard Gere!
Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman has extensive information about John Keel's death on his blog, Cryptomundo:
Cryptomundo » John A. Keel Has Died
Cryptomundo » C2C: Keel Tribute
Cryptomundo » Vallée & Keel
Cryptomundo » Keel Ends Life Rather Alone
Cryptomundo » “John Keel was our Michael Jackson.” (with links to the mainstream media articles that are finally starting to appear)
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