Month: July 2016

I will raise a glass to every entrepreneur, scientist, ENGINEER or computer geek who’s become wealthy through their own efforts.

I’m not seeing the Republican party do anything for start-ups or tech firms – just the loathesome denizens of Wall Street who don’t produce anything, just collect their billions playing with electronic funds.

I have no respect for big companies who hoard their capital, thus artificially raising stock prices and enriching their overpaid senior executives, instead of investing it.

Hope that clarifies and I’ll be disappointed in anyone who disagrees with me on this.

Being part of Hillary Clinton’s generation, I do identify with her and have felt the hatred directed at her on a much smaller but equally intense scale.

Her courage motivated me to run for (and win) public office in my town, as a way to honor the sacrifices she’s had to make being a gifted woman who wants to serve the country.

I certainly don’t feel “empowered” by her success, and I’ve been horrified by the reaction of younger women to her candidacy.  I’m expecting a backlash when she’s elected, similar to what happened with Obama.

The furies that rage against bright women who don’t kowtow to authority, particularly those of us who aren’t Sheryl Sandberg-cute, will continue unabated, whether there’s a woman in the White House or not.

Habitat is building more houses on the Cape. I have philosophical and practical disagreements with affordable housing generally. For one thing, everyone I’ve talked with about affordable housing refuses to acknowledge that other points of view are worth considering.

I have two problems and two issues with subsidized home ownership. One is that property taxes are based on resale value. That means that Habitat homeowners are receiving the same services as the rest of us, but paying 25% or less of the tax burden the rest of us bear. Property values are not increasing anywhere near fast enough to make this an equitable arrangment. In our case, our house would have to appreciate by about $1,500 a year for us to come out even with the two Habitat homes on our street. All I can say to that is, Hardee har har! We don’t live in Southport or Popponessett, sweetie!

We had another 90+ day, almost a heat wave, so shortly after he got home from the bakery, Ron and I pulled our bedroom apart and put it back together in a way that we can have air conditioning – in a window that is shaded by trees, no less.

We tried a different configuration last year or maybe the year before, but it didn’t work.  This arrangement has drawbacks, but I’m hopeful we can work out the kinks.

Aside from that and making a cold supper (tuna and salad – I offered steak, but Ron wasn’t up to it), I finally managed to solve the email formatting problem that’s been plaguing MRS for months.

I also had fasting bloodwork done, quickly, thank goodness, at C-Lab around 8 this morning.

Finished pruning the big hydrangeas and dead-heading the rose bushes.  Missed James’ help from last year!  Gave the corner garden and the vegetables a thorough watering.  Watered the container plants and the new trees and shrubs.

Does anyone know exactly what was in the Clinton “classified” emails? Maybe something akin to the mind-numbingly pedestrian observations exposed by Wikileaks. Hey, here’s one, authored by the Secretary herself: “What’s the status?” Oh my gosh, the Republic will crumble now for sure.

This morning, I snatched baked goods from the jaws of The Horde at the Senior Center, drove Robert to work, returned Ron’s iPhone case and bought a second transfer station sticker for the van.

After lunch, I headed for Hyannis to meet with a candidate for public office.  He warned me about off-Cape/west-bound traffic and boy, was he right.  Every route, major and minor, was clogged.

Got back to Mashpee after about an hour and ten minutes.  Ron drove Robert home, and I picked up our CSA produce at the farm.  Ron said the traffic was bad even around 6:30 this evening.  Absolutely disgusting; I hate the tourist industry.

We had rain this morning, and I hope it helps the dormant spots in the lawn, which is slowly getting replaced with trees and flowers.

Fourth of July weekend is over and (I hope) so are fireworks from inconsiderate neighbors.

The tall beebalm and potentilla are blooming, and we have a couple of flowers on the hydrangeas.

Check engine light is off!  Spoke with Marlene at HyToy.  She was reassuring and gave me a thorough answer and advice on what to do if it happens again.  That’s two great tech support calls in two days!

I fell asleep for about an hour earlier this afternoon. It was like a dream, a little warm, slight breeze, green and blue.

Mowed the lawn; Ron helped a little.  He’s watering trees now.  I set up the new soaker that arrived yesterday from Amazon.  Ordered two more 25-footers when the damnable flat hose exploded in the newest vegetable garden.

Dressed the five asparagus plants that have popped up with Ron’s compost.  One of the milkweed has flower buds!

Dave slept on the couch and left around 11-ish.  He took a lot of nice photos to show the Berkeley crowd.  He was very complimentary about the house and the yard.  What a guest: brought his own towel and pillow and gave us a bag of fabulous Saratoga chips!

Got Ron’s loaner phone activated with the help of a great tech support person at Credo.  Very easy process: she knew her stuff and gave excellent directions.

Leftovers for supper and some quiet time to read and listen to music while sitting on the deck.

Made breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Never finished the paper.

Did the transfer station run, but had to borrow Laura’s van, since the truck “Check Engine” light went on.  We picked up lunch for James at Stop & Shop; he wasn’t up to the annual July 4th party.

We got the apple tree planted and fixed the fence (mostly me for the first, although Ron dug out about half a barrel of clay; mostly Ron for the second).

Ron did the lion’s share of laundry.  I did hang up one load.

Ron’s friend Dave arrived just as we’d finished putting away the tools and winding up the hose.

We had a nice dinner here – teriyaki grilled chicken and a carrot coleslaw – then Dave drove us to Old Silver Beach, just in time for a spectacular sunset and FIREWORKS, from the beaches and a splendid display at Onset (?).

Fabulous weather, too.

Ron got his loaner phone from iCape this afternoon – nice perk for getting his iPhone repaired through them (he shattered the glass).

I made grilled scup/porgy for supper.  Greek-style recipe, very delicious.  Sweet potatoes and salad.  Then for dessert, Ron brought home a red (strawberries), white and blue (blueberries) custard and whipped cream pie from the bakery, a gift for the workers.

I worked outside for most of the day, finished the Fluffles/Lucy memorial garden.  Ben came over and dug out a bunch of ridiculously hard clay soil.  Thank goodness!

I also dug out all but 2 inches of the hole for the crabapple tree.  Ron said he’d do that tomorrow.