James and I did some yardwork yesterday at 20 Dixon.
We (Peter, the kids and I) completed leaf cleanup at 11 Edgewater in 5 hours today – a record.
This was remarkable because the weather was simply frightful: rain alternating with freezing rain, so cold that we could see the vapor rising from the compost piles at the Transfer Station.
It felt like leaf cleanup was late this year: the last day of November. It’s not just us, there were a lot of other insane people dropping off leaves today, and at least 3 of my neighbors did their cleanup this weekend as well.
Month: November 2008
Gratitude
Having written earlier that I couldn’t find reasons to be thankful, I finally came up with a great one:
NO HOLIDAY OFFICE PARTY THIS YEAR!!!
Those of you wage slaves who must attend these dismal, thankless, unwelcome affairs have my deepest, hearfelt sympathy.
Heh.
Once Upon a Mattress
When I bought the guest room trundle bed some years ago, the bottom came with a 5 inch thick foam rubber mattress, the kind you’d put on a cot.
I never liked this mattress much and neither did the kids: when they were little, there would be fights about who got the “big” bed.
Did Gandhi Really Say This?
First they ignore you…
then they laugh at you…
then they fight you…
then you win.
~ Mahatma Gandhi
For Martin
I am not doing handsprings about the possibility of yet another Democratic being elected to the Senate, but if Jim Martin defeats Saxby Chambliss in next Tuesday’s run-off in Georgia, it’ll be a good excuse for a celebration.
Ups and Downs
These tales, from the WSJ’s follow-on to their past “Women to Watch” lists:
Lucky Erin Callan, who was ousted from Lehman Brothers, now leads Credit Suisse Group’s global hedge-fund business.
Vanessa Castagna, passed over as chief executive of J.C. Penney, was elected a director of Levi Strauss and is considering new positions with retail companies.
Carly Fiorina: nuff said.
Diane Greene was terminated as chief executive of VMware and is evaluating her options.
Sallie Krawcheck left Citigroup due to “tension” with Chief Executive Vikram Pandit and “doesn’t have another job lined up”.
Mary Minnick was passed over for the number 2 job at Coke and became a partner at Lion Capital.
Oprah and Me
We scored similarly on Dr. Phil’s personality test:
The Loyal Friend
Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful & practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who’s extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expects the same loyalty in return. Those who really get to know you realize it takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over if that trust is ever broken.
Obama and the Ruling Class
Superb and well-documented article by Paul Street on Barack Obama as a Ruling Class Candidate.
And
this one as well, from Civilife, the blog of the witty, urbane WillBFair.
An “Apology”
Post-election, Salon ran a much commented upon and vastly quoted Gen-X screed An open apology to boomers everywhere.
The editors highlighted a few mealy-mouthed, wishy-washy responses, but examining some of the 500+ letters published before comment was cut off led to the discovery of some real treasures.
I’ve copied a few here and only wish non-anonymous attributions had been included, since there are some terrific writers in the group.
One Can Only Hope (2)
I am no fan of Bill Richardson’s. I thought his pandering to illegals during the Democratic Presidential candidate debates was despicable. I didn’t appreciate his ethnocentric campaign, and I sure as hell didn’t appreciate his disloyalty to Hillary Clinton.
So, I hope Robert Byrd was right back in 2000 when he said that Richardson “would never again receive Senate support for any office he sought”.
At that time, Richardson, who’d left his post as U.N. ambassador to serve as energy secretary, raised hackles by delaying testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee regarding security lapses at Los Alamos National Laboratories.
As far as I’m concerned, Bill Richardson has a chip on his shoulder the size of a Redwood and a sense of entitlement the size of Rhode Island. I understand why Obama feels under obligation to him, but I sincerely hope the President-elect doesn’t waste political capital on his confirmation.