Well, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) has decided to close Otis Air National Guard Base some time in 2008.
BRAC decided that Otis’ fleet of F-15s will be sent to Barnes Municipal Airport Air Guard Station in Westfield**, MA, which will in turn lose its A-10 attack jets to bases in other states.
End of Summer
Fall usually comes later to the Cape than the mainland, but here and there, the leaves are already starting to turn on the Sassafras tree in the back yard and the neighbor’s Burning Bush.
Last evening, I was sitting with a couple of my friends, planning a Labor Day weekend party. Today, I received an email from my favorite local band, Entrain, titled “Summer’s Almost Gone, Boo-Hoo”.
Who ARE These People?
As hard as I try, it’s impossible to totally rid my in-box of prurient-flavored SPAM, those invasive chunks of the $57 Billion a year worldwide porn industry.
Gardener’s Diary
Second bloom for the pinks, and waiting for the same from the dahlias.
Have been cleaning up the gone-bys and doing compliance watering (6-8 am, 7-9 pm): NO rain, again, this week.
More of the same in the rock garden at #11, although it does need more weeding. I’m waiting for mums so I can fill in when the weeds come out.
Incredibly, the begonias and vinca are hanging on in the window boxes.
As you have surmised, not much to report this time. So, check out the Zeitgeist photos to the lower right if you have more time to spend. Couple nice ones from an outing last night to Nauset Beach.
Crackpot
Babbling right-winger Pat Robertson really put his foot in it with his lunatic comment about assassinating democratically elected Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.
Work World, Survival World
It seems an unsettled time in the world of work for several of my friends.
One was laid off a couple of months ago and still hasn’t found a job. As I’ve suspected for a while, she’s ready to quit the world of work and retire. Because of various opportunities lost, though, she needs to be her household’s principal wage earner for at least the next 10-15 years – almost an impossibility when you have only secondary income skills.
Tad of Good News from Vacaville
Vacaville, California, could be a Red state stereotype: the biggest employers in town are the nearby Travis Air Force Base and the Vacaville state prison, home to such notorious inmates as Charlie Manson.
I visited Vacaville years ago and remember it as a sad, dusty, depressing place, as far removed from the lush California coast and the fleshpots of Los Angeles and San Francisco as any town in the Midwest or the South. That Vacaville could produce a resident like Cindy Sheehan is as unlikely as a money tree growing in your back yard.
Follow On
Professor Jo Handelsman DID respond, and promptly, to my email about the study she chaired on discrimination against women in the sciences.
Father of the Year
Ronnie Paris, self-described tough guy, begged a Florida judge for mercy last Friday in the sentencing phase of his trial for the murder of his 3 year old son.
Mr. Macho Man had been convicted of second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse for the beating death. One might call this more an execution than a murder: Mr. Cool Dude had a history of stuffing this little child into a box and slamming his head against the wall until the baby vomitted and eventually passed out.
The reason for the beatings? Ronnie didn’t want his son to grow up gay.
Onset Blues Festival
The village of Onset in Wareham – one of the coolest spots in this region – has hosted a Blues Festival for the last 13 years.
This weekend, I managed to haul butt across the bridge to hear it for the first time.