December 2008 Greetings

Holiday greetings to all.....

....click here if using Firefox
....click here if using Internet Explorer

(don't ask....I had some technical difficulties with formatting in different browsers!)

December 2008 Greetings...for Internet Explorer

No card this year, but holiday greetings nonetheless. Hope 2009 is a good year for all.

Paula, Bruce, Robert, Benjamin, and Jacob






Robert





Henry and Benjamin





Jacob and Jake








Practically everyone! Benjamin, Robert, Nathan, Grandma Mary, Sarah, Lillian, Henry, and Jacob








Bruce and Paula

December 2008 Greetings....for Firefox

No card this year, but holiday greetings nonetheless. Hope 2009 is a good year for all.

Paula, Bruce, Robert, Benjamin, and Jacob











Robert











Henry and Benjamin












Jacob and Jake






Practically everyone! Benjamin, Robert, Nathan, Grandma Mary, Sarah, Lillian, Henry, and Jacob










Bruce and Paula

Riddle of the day

Q: What's worse than three teen and pre-teen boys with ipods?

A: A middle aged husband with an ipod.


Now, what's this about? Well, it's Father's Day, and in the last week, my household has welcomed a brand new, enormous, flat screen TV ("for everybody," of course) and a pale green ipod Nano. Getting the TV set up apparently wasn't too difficult (mercifully, I was not home while that was going on), but "Dad" had to delegate the ipod set-up job to one of said teen-aged sons. Well, said son took care of it this afternoon, and the next thing I knew, "Dad" was listening to his groovy music with a big smile on his face, occasionally looking up and shouting "wow this is great!". Hmph! It is not easy being the lone ipod holdout in this family......

We Biked the Drive....Again!

Another battle in the clothesline wars.....

Well, it's April, which means it's time for the New York Times to publish its annual article on the local politics of restricting the use of outdoor clotheslines. In "A Line in the Yard: The Battle over the Right to Dry," Elisabeth Rosenthal reports on conflicts between environmentally conscious line dryers and aesthetically inclined homeowners and public officials in Aurora, Ontario. I thought the manager for General Electric summed it up nicely: "When it comes to drying clothes, we find that our consumers are very busy and are looking for the fastest dry time. Of course, line drying is a more energy-efficient option, provided the weather is good, but it is not very convenient or time efficient." Ah, trade-offs!

Does the New York Times publish these articles each April? Oh, but of course, it is probably time for National Hanging Out Day again! See my previous post on last year's festivities.

In any event, hanging your clothes out definitely saves energy (hence some $) but can cost you time and inconvenience. Maybe if we put a real carbon tax in place, the "anti-clothesline" covenants in some of our communities will be removed, and people will simply have to lighten up--after all, is it really so bad to see someone's laundry hanging on the line? I can think of far worse things, but that's another post!

Recession or not?

Well, the New York Times has spoken: the Escapes section of March 28, 2008, reported on the "United Plates of New Jersey"--great places to dine just off the New Jersey Turnpike. I kid you not, check it out here !

I mean, if we are not all traveling to Bhutan or the Galapagos, and instead we are driving along the turnpike, the evidence is clear--the recession has started!

Facebook and crock pots.....

Well, it's no wonder I haven't posted anything in a while. On top of the usual December/January mayhem, I've had a big vacation trip (on the plus side), massive computer problems (on the minus side), and all kinds of essentially neutral but time consuming activities, too. But I finally had to write something here, as I just yesterday reflected on my last week or so. Not only have I joined "Facebook," one of those on-line communities, but I have cooked my first chicken in a crock pot and watched one episode of America's next top model. Now, in what universe is it reasonable to expect joining Facebook and crock-pot cooking to occur in the same week for the same middle-aged person? I don't think so.......! My sons really don't know what to make of it all......