Bush may have finally gotten it right by nominating Sam Bodman as the new Secretary of Energy.
I’m a Lumberjack
For reasons unknown, when I’m on a coding jag, my body temperature plummets.
Added to this, we had an especially cold day yesterday, so I threw on a red and black plaid flannel on the way to the office.
I’m lucky to work in exceptionally nice digs, the ground floor of a huge lakeside house, with hardwood floors, a bank of working windows, and a gorgeous view.
Because it’s so close to the lake, though, the office does tend to be on the chilly side.
What’s Going On at the New York Times?
For the past two days, the New York Times has run editorials, one from Maureen Dowd and this morning’s, from David Brooks, that read like fodder from a ladies’ magazine.
Revaluation
The local paper had a special insert this week, a report on the FY 2005 property valuations in Mashpee. This provoked a lively discussion at work, with joy on the part of homeowners not on fixed incomes, and consternation from those not yet in the housing market.
Young Programmers, Redux
I never did post a follow-on to report on the visit to Falmouth High School this past Thursday.
My colleague from WHOI and I had 7 more or less disinterested souls for our presentation, plus a bewildered English teacher who’d been recruited as our “guide”.
Holiday Village
Last night, the grandkids and I went to the Holiday Village at the Barnstable County Fairgrounds across the street from my neighborhood.
It was a delightful visit that (incredibly) all 3 of them enjoyed, and I’m glad we went. It was the first year for this particular event, and I hope it’s successful enough to be repeated.
The Fairgrounds is owned by the Barnstable County Agricultural Society Inc. and the Holiday Village is sponsored the Barnstable County Cooperative Extension.
Gardener’s Diary
Bob and I raked leaves last weekend, which is just as well, it’s much colder today and wouldn’t be as much fun, even though we had a stiff wind.
In these short days to Winter Solstice, I put up the tree and the Christmas decorations a little early, including a beautiful grapevine, cedar and arbor vitae wreath from this year’s Woods Hole Village Renaissance Fair.
The three grands did make it to the house for dinner the other night, and the younger two helped decorate the tree, while I hooked up the DVD player so they could watch a movie. We postponed the visit to the Holiday Village until tonight after supper, but the youngest was so upset about missing the “Cwistmas lights” that we drove by so that he could see them.
Minding the Grands
I’ll be kid-sitting this Thursday night in a marathon session with my 3 grands.
It’s kid-sitting, mind you, not baby-sitting, as my granddaughter, almost age 8, corrected me (“we’re not babies, huff”).
Young Programmers
The Falmouth Public Schools have an active, CORI-compliant volunteer program, and they’ve asked me to speak tomorrow at the High School’s Junior Career Day on Software Engineering/Computer Programming.
Good Tidings to You
On this, the day before Thanksgiving, one wishes for an escape from the next 5 weeks of good tidings among the Haves and BahHumbugs to the rest of us.