A Cat's Eye View

Baxter here. I am So Embarrassed.  My Female Human has added a "Donate" button to the sidebar of My Blog. (Yes, I know technically it is Her Blog, but I consider Myself the Key Contributor. Everyone always praises My Posts most Highly).

My Human explained to Me that her Unemployment is running out and she has No Desire to go Back to the Corporate World to make Real Money. It would involve her getting Dressed, and leaving the House at the same time Every Day. And maybe even buying New Clothes. And let's face it, she HAS been applying to Numerous Jobs that might have paid at least a Decent Amount, and No One wants her! People, she is No Spring Chicken. They don't want Old People like her.

So, in Addition to doing Proofreading and other paying tasks at Home, she will Depend on the Kindness of Strangers. Yes, Strangers. She doesn't want to make her Friends or Fellow Struggling Bloggers feel they should send any Money; she is Hoping Random Strange People may stop by and suddenly feel Generous. As the saying goes, You Never Know.

But as a Cat, I find it Humiliating to be putting that Button out there. We Cats are Very Independent. Plus we can catch Mice to live. (True, I have never actually caught a Mouse, but it could Happen.)

Now mind you, if my Human doesn't start Blogging more often and with Greater Effort, No One will ever donate to her Blog. So I suggest she let Me on here MUCH more often so something can Get Done from time to time. Personally, I consider this an Experiment. If it doesn't add anything to Life then the Button will be gone! I will make sure of it!

So...here I am. What a Mess this Republican primary process is in! Mitt Romney was supposed to be the Front-Runner. But now he is falling Behind! According to Gallup, Romney is actually trailing Santorum on a National Basis.Who'd 'a thunk it?

Well, he hasn't exactly endeared Himself to his home state of Michigan. A couple of years ago he wrote in an Op-Ed article in the NY Times that the US Government shouldn't Bail Out American Auto Companies. And worse yet, he titled it Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.

OK, you may Say, but that was two years ago, maybe he Changed his Mind since then? Nope. Ten days ago he wrote another op-ed, this time in The Detroit News, calling the Bailouts "Crony Capitalism." He Castigated President Obama for not Standing Up to the Unions. Of course, lots of people in the Michigan area are part of Unions. Somehow, this does not seem like a Wise Policy to have when you are trying to Win a Primary in Michigan.

It also doesn't Help that Romney keeps talking about how Rich he is. Like yesterday, at that Debacle of a Speech in the Huge Stadium with Hardly Anyone There, he referred to the fact that his wife and he own 4, count 'em, 4, Cars -- including two Cadillacs. While this Alone should not be a Big Problem, it is just one of a Long Line of Remarks Romney has made that show he is Out of Touch with Average Americans, who can't afford four Cars and two Homes as the Romneys do. The Michigan Primary will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 28, so We Shall See What Happens. According to two New Polls, Romney is now Ahead of Santorum in Michigan.

As a Cat, I really don't Like either of the Leading Candidates. And even though I am No Fan of Dogs, it does Rub my Fur the Wrong Way to think about Romney putting his Dog in a carrier on Top of his Station Wagon for a 12-hour Drive from Massachusetts to Canada. And apparently there is even More to It than I had Heard. The Dog got, um, the Runs, while in the Container and they stopped and Romney Hosed him and the Crate Down before Heading Back onto the Road.

There are even Stories that, unlike What We Have Been Told about Seamus the Dog living to a Ripe Old Age, actually he Took Off when they reached Canada and was never seen again! More here! The incident will Not Go Away, and has Spawned a Whole Bunch of Groups, led by Dogs Against Romney, founded in 2007. On Facebook their site is the largest, but not the Only One.

In the Meantime, Santorum has been, as they say, Surging, and I am Tired of the Man already. I am not going to Get Into the whole War On Women's Bodies thing that is Going On in the GOP these days. I'll leave that to my Female Human, who has a Lot More at Stake in this than I do.

So that's my Take on Things for Today. I'll be back Very Soon. In the meantime, take the Time to Sniff the Catnip and don't let this Political Stuff ruin your Day. I know I never let it ruin Mine!

Haiku Thursday

Rain is falling down
Both of the dogs are snoring
It's very peaceful.

I'm reading the blogs
Skipping over to Facebook
And then back again.

The house is a mess
The dogs were chewing rope toys
Now shredded to bits.

Soon I must arise
Go clean up the living room
And do some dishes.

Then I must go out
Venture forth into the rain
And visit my aunt.

But for now, I think
I'll just sit here reading blogs
And listen to jazz...

It's Always Something!

Well, just when I think things are going to settle down and be peaceful, something else happens. My 91-year-old aunt fell and broke her hip a few days ago. Now she's in the hospital and will need to go into rehab. Luckily she made it through the surgery to put the pin in her leg with flying colors - they used a spinal instead of general anesthesia and she did great. She is doing well and they think she will be able to walk fine once she finishes rehabilitation.

Of course that is not my only excuse for not posting for awhile. We actually managed to go up to the cabin in the Adirondacks last weekend for four days. The weather up there has been as unseasonably mild as it has been down in New Jersey. So we figured, why not go up? There was no snow on the ground whatsoever, very unusual for that area in February.

However, our gravel "road" (if you can dignify it with that description) was covered in a sheet of ice. All moisture tends to gather on the road and flow down the hill, whether from melting snow or from rain. However, our Jeep Rubicon lived up to its reputation. We were able to get up that hill by running the Jeep along the side of the road where the leaves were, rather than on the slick ice. We just had to put it in 4-wheel-drive, "low low" (an extra low gear just for this model) AND lock the axles. Not a problem! It was a relaxing weekend and I have to admit I did not get on the computer much at all.

So, in the meantime, the politics of the GOP nomination continue to be volatile! Just when you thought Gingrich had subsided and things might be smoothing out for Romney, Santorum goes and wins in caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado, and in a "non-binding" primary in Missouri. As a result, new money has poured into his campaign. It's like that old whack-a-mole game. You get one of them and another one pops up!

It is obvious that many GOP primary-goers just don't like Mitt. They try but they just can't do it. What scares me is that Santorum represents the most right-wing, theocratic side of the GOP, and any votes that put him anywhere near being a possible nominee for the Republicans is a very scary thought.

Santorum is a man who is so homophobic he talked about gay sex in the context of "man on dog," and he is against birth control for women, although he says he doesn't want to ban birth control. He just thinks it would be good if states were allowed to ban birth control. Even Ireland doesn't ban birth control anymore! What century does this man live in?

Think it can't happen? The "personhood" amendments being pushed by Republicans would do just that, if they ever passed. Many forms of birth control would be considered ending the life of a "person." Even Mississippi voted that idea down. But it keeps popping up again in other states. According to Personhood USA, activists are trying to get personhood measures on the ballot in at least 12 states in November 2012!

"For now, it’s unclear how many of the personhood proposals will actually go before voters later this year. Authorities have given the green light to gather signatures for proposed ballot measures in Colorado, Ohio, Montana and California, while legislators in Kansas, Virginia, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Alabama and Georgia have been working on bills that could lead to personhood referendums.

In Nevada and Arkansas, personhood campaigns also are in place, but have been slowed by disputes over the wording of proposed ballot measures. In Florida, anti-abortion activists are gearing up to seek a referendum in 2014."

Whatever else you want to say about Election Year 2012, it isn't dull; and it isn't inconsequential. There are HUGE issues at stake in this election, especially if by some chance Romney doesn't get the nomination. Anyone who wonders whether there is that much of a difference between the Republicans and the Democrats, between Romney and Obama, had better look hard at the issues that matter to them.

Maybe President Obama hasn't been the most liberal Democrat ever elected; but he is certainly way more "liberal" than anything the GOP will come up with, even Romney. Keep that in mind when thinking about things like Supreme Court appointments, the environment, reproductive rights, civil rights, and more.

Haiku Saturday

Well, here it is, the day of the South Carolina primary. It is amazing to me that in such a short time, Newt Gringrich has surged to the point he may actually beat Romney despite all his morality-challenged past actions.

And it's not all because Rick Perry dropped out; it seems as if people down there just seem more excited about Newt than about Mitt. As columnist Paul Mulshine says in the linked article, "An excess of emotion trumps a lack of emotion every time in the Deep South. That might explain why Romney’s in so much trouble in a race he was expected to win in a walk."

It probably isn't helping Mitt much that Stephen Colbert is down there campaigning with former candidate Herman Cain, further confusing the voters, some of whom may not even realize he's a satirist.

And of course, in the meantime, Romney is still reeling from finding out he apparently didn't win the Iowa caucuses after all; Santorum apparently beat him by 34 votes.

It will be very interesting to see what happens today. Since I have no real news to talk about until after the vote, I thought it would be a good time for some haiku. And the first one I am going to post is by Jeremy over at Chew the Fat - and I'll send you over to his place to read it. Hint: It's about Newt and it is very good!

Now here are mine...

First snow of winter
Drapes cotton over the cars
And makes my feet slip.

The dogs aren't walking
We drove to get the paper
We are pathetic.

This is the Northeast
Snow is a normal event
But we were so spoiled.

One snowstorm in Fall
Nothing but good weather since
What do you expect?

It's warmer down South
Where things are getting hotter
Newt may beat Romney.

Running neck and neck
Santorum and Paul behind
But they're still trying.

After tomorrow
The race may get more narrow
We will wait and see.

That's all I've got today! Tomorrow is another day and will provide plenty of entertainment, I'm sure. In the meantime I'll post this highly amusing and very pertinent song by the Austin Lounge Lizards, "Gingrich the Newt." The ironic thing is, this song is from Newt's FIRST era in politics and is still true today. I love the reference to orphanages; apparently Newt said back in the 90s that kids would do better in orphanages than in the welfare system. Now he thinks poor kids should be janitors. Really, the more he changes the more he remains the same! (If I've posted it before, apologies for repetition, but it is definitely worth repeating. There isn't really any video to this but do listen to the words!)

A Cat's Eye View - of Ron Paul

Baxter here. Sorry to have been Silent for so Long but I am at the Mercy of the Humans in terms of when I can Blog or not. Luckily my Female Human has taken it into her Head to get back to the Business of Blogging again and is giving me the Access I deserve to expound on My Opinions here. It's not that I can't Type, but I am not Very Good at the management of Software and I don't know HTML so my Human has to help a little when I want to do things like make things bold or whatever. And I have Strong Opinions so I need some bold now and then!

OK, so where was I? Oh yes, Ron Paul. The so-called Libertarian among the GOP field. As a Cat, I am sure you would understand that I like the idea of being a Libertarian. There is no one more Libertarian than Cats. Dogs are certainly NOT Libertarians. They do whatever their Masters want, or at least they try to. Sometimes their Brains are Too Relaxed to understand what is Wanted. But if they figure it out, they'll do it. Well, maybe except That Dog they call Diva. She tends to do what SHE wants. But the New One, Angel, she tries to Please; except for one thing - she still wants to chase Me and Bark. But I digress.

Many Humans who usually think Progressively tend to kind of like the idea of Ron Paul. Not Ron Paul himself, mind you, but their IDEA of Ron Paul. They think of him as Someone who would get Government out of their Hair and Leave them Alone. They also know that, unlike front-runner Romney, he thinks legalization of Marijuana should be left to the states and there should not be a federal law against it, which they think is kind of Cool - and that he was against the War in Iraq, also a Good Thing in many People's Eyes. But they may not have read the Details of his other ideas on the issues. If they did, they would be Much More Concerned about Mr. Paul. For instance:

He is "Pro-Life," saying he believes Life begins at Conception and Roe vs. Wade should be reversed. In addition, he opposes any Government Funding for Things People Don't Believe in - which in this case means:

"Ron Paul will also protect the American people’s freedom of conscience by working to prohibit taxpayer funds from being used for abortions, Planned Parenthood, or any other so-called “family planning” program."

Now, as a Neutered Cat, issues of Contraception have No Interest to Me. But I'm sure there are Many Progressive Female Humans who would find these Ideas Alarming. I also wonder, if Conservatives think the "American People" should not have to have their Taxes go toward Things they Don't Believe In, why does that only apply to Things Conservatives Don't Believe In? Shouldn't Liberals and Progressives have the Right to refuse having their Taxes go toward Things They Don't Believe In either? Like, for instance, My Humans would Choose not to have their Taxes go toward Wars and Military Spending. Why should the Consciences of Conservatives be the Federal Government's only Concern?

Ron Paul has More Ideas. Lots of them. For instance, he wants to Abolish the Income Tax, the "Death" Tax, the Capital Gains Tax, and the Federal Gas Tax. Oh, but he also wants to Balance the Budget. I Wonder how he would Do That? Sounds Confusing to Me; but of course, I am Only a Cat.

As for Energy, Paul is of the Drill, Baby, Drill! mindset. More Oil! More Gas! Nuclear Power! Coal! Oh, and Abolish the EPA - that's just a Lot of Troublemakers Ruining the Economy and keeping our Energy Prices up!
"As President, Ron Paul will lead the fight to:

* Remove restrictions on drilling, so companies can tap into the vast amount of oil we have here at home.

* Repeal the federal tax on gasoline. Eliminating the federal gas tax would result in an 18 cents savings per gallon for American consumers.

* Lift government roadblocks to the use of coal and nuclear power.

* Eliminate the ineffective EPA. Polluters should answer directly to property owners in court for the damages they create – not to Washington."

I particularly Love the idea that Property Owners would have to Go to Court to get Polluters to pay for the Damages they create. How would that work, exactly? My Humans would have to sue the owner of the local Gas Station or the nearby Industrial Brownfield for the contamination of the Groundwater? And wouldn't that Clog up the Courts indefinitely? Or better yet, for Mr. Paul, I guess he figures People would get Tired of having to Sue to get anything or wouldn't be able to Afford the Lawyer Fees and Big Polluters would just Get Away With It.

Home-Schooling? He's all for it.

"Ron Paul believes no nation can remain free when the state has greater influence over the knowledge and values transmitted to children than the family does.

And the truth is, no big government spending program can or will solve our nation’s education problems."

Personally, I would rather the Human Children be Taught by Professionals and not a bunch of Evolution-Denying, Anti-Intellectual Parents who will Brainwash the Kids to grow up thinking Just Like Them. And the More People who Homeschool, the fewer People will be paying for Public Education (Mr. Paul, of course, wants these Parents to get a Tax Credit for Homeschooling their Kids) and Public Education will Continue to Go Downhill.

What about Guns and the Second Amendment, you may ask. Well, of course, Ron Paul is all Pro-Second Amendment and Pro-Gun!

"With our gun rights under constant attack from our own government and the anti-gun United Nations, as well as the threat of rising crime due to our country’s economic woes, Congressman Paul believes it has never been more important that our President be 100% committed to defending our God-given right to keep and bear arms."

(Of course we All Know how much God likes us to have Guns; that's why it is our God-Given Right to have them!)

True, some Progressives and Liberals will like some of his Ideas on the Military. After all, who Among Us would argue that there is a lot of Waste in the Military Budget, and that we probably don't need to give Money to "Rich Dictators." And it probably IS a Good Idea to follow the Constitution and have Congress Declare War before actually going to War.

But to Me, as a Liberal Cat, his other Ideas are Just Too Dangerous. I hope my Fellow Liberals and Progressives will read Mr. Paul's positions Very Carefully.

So that's It from Me today. I hope you Enjoy Your Weekend and Have Enough Catnip to Get Through this Election Season. It's only going to Get Worse before it Gets Better!

Haiku Monday

January is
Such a long and dreary month
But so far no snow.

It's global warming
I venture to speculate;
No complaints from me. 

The Republicans
Have converged on New Hampshire
Tomorrow's the vote.

Mitt Romney screwed up;
Said he likes to fire people
Poor choice of wording.

Newt Gingrich cancelled
Because protesters showed up
He can't take the heat.

And Rick Santorum
Isn't faring much better
In the Granite State.

He heard the booing 
Due to views on gay marriage 
Over in Concord.

After tomorrow
The whole circus moves onward
Let's hope it ends soon.

"Santorum? Really?!"

Well, the much-touted Iowa caucuses are over, thankfully, but the Republicans still haven't managed to admit they have to choose Romney. Sure, Romney won Iowa by a whopping 8 votes, but the fact that Rick Santorum nearly tied him should give all sane people pause. When I first heard that Santorum was even running, I couldn't take it seriously. The man was voted out of office in Pennsylvania by 18 percentage points in 2006 for a lot of good reasons (see link for a number of lapses in integrity and episodes of crass hypocrisy) and his history of homophobia was (and still is) so rabid that his opponents, led by Dan Savage, actually made his name a definition for an unsavory type of substance, which shows up pretty close to the top of any Google search you do on his name. (No, I won't link it here, but feel free to Google if you are one of the few who has not already heard about it).

So I may be forgiven if I thought we'd seen the last of him. But strangely, he's baaaack! Santorum is running for President and has managed to promote himself as the sole keeper of family values competing for the Republican nomination, thus siphoning off all of the hardcore right-wing evangelical Republicans in Iowa and managing to nearly topple Romney. You almost have to feel sorry for Romney; he's doing everything right and yet the GOP voters still don't want him.
Just in case anyone has forgotten what a nutjob Santorum really is, let's revisit a few of his positions. This link will take you to a site that lists a number of quotes by Santorum on various subjects. A few choice examples:

• “The reason Social Security is in big trouble is we don’t have enough workers to support the retirees. A third of all the young people in America are not in America today because of abortion, because one in three pregnancies end in abortion.” - Rick Santorum on how abortion is responsible for Social Security’s problems, 3/29/11

• “I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say ‘now we are going to decide who are people and who are not people’.” - Rick Santorum on President Obama’s race and pro-choice beliefs, 1/19/2011 

• “Is anyone saying same-sex couples can’t love each other? I love my children. I love my friends, my brother. Heck, I even love my mother-in-law. Should we call these relationships marriage, too?" - Rick Santorum comparing his love for his mother-in-law to the love that same-sex couples share, 5/22/2008

In case you wonder whether he really believes some of the things he says, you can see his beliefs on his own website, where he states he will do the following things, among others:

• "Repeal Clinton-era Title X family planning regulations, and will direct HHS to restore the separation of Title X family planning from abortion practices and restore a ban on referrals for abortion 
• Reinstitute the Mexico City Policy to stop tax-payer funding or promotion of abortion overseas
• Ban federal funding for embryonic stem cell research 
• Restore conscience clause protections for health care workers 
• Defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court 
• Ban military chaplains from performing same sex marriage ceremonies on military bases or other Federal properties
• Repeal Obamacare mandate for contraceptive services in healthcare plans... 
• Veto any bill or budget that funds abortion or funds any organization that performs abortions including Planned Parenthood 
• Call on Congress to abolish the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals 
• Advocate for a Personhood Amendment to the Constitution... 
• Advocate for a Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution 
• Call on Congress to reinstitute Don't Ask/Don't Tell 
• Call on Congress to pass the Workplace Religious Freedom Act 
• Call on Congress to reinstitute 2008-level funding for the Community Based Abstinence Education program 
• Advocate for a federal law permitting schools to allow prayer at graduations, football games and other school functions." 

Anyone who cares about a woman's right to choose - including the choice of using birth control - should be very afraid if Santorum ever got elected. And forget separation of church and state - such as it is - this guy would love to see a theocracy.

On last night's Daily Show, Jon Stewart used a great analogy to point out that in the end, the Republicans just have to pick Romney. I'm just hoping he's right, for the sake of the country. While I do feel that Romney may have the best chance of beating Obama, which is not good from my perspective, on the other hand, the voters in this country are just crazy enough that they might actually elect a Santorum or some other equally unsuitable person as president, and that would be so much worse than having a President Romney that I can't even think about it.  Of course, there are a lot of reasons Romney should not be the next president.  We can get into that next time!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Indecision 2012 - Romspringa - Rick Santorum's Surge
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Another Year, Another Opportunity to Change

Well, here it is 2012, and once again it is time for the New Year's Resolutions.

As you can guess, my first one is going to be to blog again! I had really been feeling distant from the whole political scene during the past year or so, and it was hard to get up any enthusiasm for writing about much of anything. Even with the heating up of the Republican race, it was hard to get interested in the competition when the competitors were so totally lame and none were really pulling ahead. Now it seems to be coming down to Romney, with Newt Gingrich and even Ron Paul still surprisingly strong. But in the end I think it will be Romney. We will see what happens after the first few contests, starting with Iowa this week. Once the competitor is identified it will be a lot easier to analyze the differences between the Republican contender and President Obama, and writing about them will be much more interesting!

Of course, I also have the usual resolutions to lose weight, exercise, eat at home more, and so on. But let's face it, those are boring, since I make them every year and usually don't stick with them. But I'll give it a try anyway.

I also need to resolve to earn some money - unemployment is running out in February and I need to be more diligent about getting freelance proofreading jobs; or even finding myself a real job. (Hopefully part time!)

Baxter also has a resolution. Here it is:

"I want to tame the New Dog, Angel, who still tries to chase Me if she gets upstairs past the Gate at the top of the Steps. My Humans have brought Angel upstairs on her Leash a few times and managed to get her to stop barking and sit while looking at Me while I make Scary Siren Noises and Loud Hissing to keep her in her Place. Over time I hope this will Subdue Her and maybe I will be able to come back downstairs and join the Family again. I like Sleeping on the Bed at Night but it's not the Same as having Full Run of the House."

So that's it for now, but I will be back again tomorrow and actually write something worthwhile.

In the meantime, Happy 2012 to all my blogging friends and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!

R.I.P. Steve Jobs - The End of an Era

I know everyone is probably writing about the death of Steve Jobs, and I didn't expect to be one of them. I have never been an Apple or Macintosh person, and have resisted the siren call of the iPhone. When my wireless carrier, Verizon, finally got the iPhone after its exclusive run with AT&T ended, I deliberately chose the Droid instead. I didn't want to be part of what I felt was kind of a cult.

When my husband and I decided to buy a personal computer back in 1989, we did consider the Mac and weighed our choice between that and a PC. We chose the PC (an IBM clone of some sort), mainly because of the large price differential, and we never looked back. Since neither of us were involved in graphics or design, we never reconsidered our original choice and stuck with the PC forever after.

So I was surprised at how affected I was by hearing of the death of Steve Jobs. It's not that it was a shock; the man had had pancreatic cancer and had miraculously survived since 2004. But his recent health problems and his decision to step down from running the company he originally founded made it obvious that things were not going well for him, healthwise. Nevertheless I didn't expect to see the headline on the New York Times page last night on my computer saying that he was dead at 56. 56. Two years younger than I am now; and yet look at what he had accomplished.

Listening to the radio today, I heard so many tributes to Jobs and what his vision had meant for the world, it made me realize how much of what we take for granted was inspired by Steve Jobs and his innovation and imagination. Sure, we use a Dell PC, but the Windows operating system that runs it was copied from the Mac, with its desktop and folders and other innovations that the old IBM PCs never had. Yes, I have a Droid, but the sleek design and touch screen and other features were all pioneered by the iPhone.

Alec Baldwin, in a tweet this morning, compared Jobs to Henry Ford, Carnegie and Edison. The comparison is apt; like these other visionaries, he thought of things that people wanted before they knew they wanted them, and then made them real.

Many people have been referring to Steve Jobs' commencement address at Stanford in 2005, so I had to find it and listen to it. It is definitely worth hearing, and if you haven't already watched it, here it is:

The most poignant part of the speech, to me, was his discussion at the end about death. He had already faced the possibility of death the year before, when he was first diagnosed with cancer, and had at that time apparently been cured. But the reference to death he talked about was something he had read when he was young that affected him deeply:

"When I was 17 I read a quote that went something like 'If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.' It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'no' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important thing I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life, because almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

I wish I'd heard those words about 35 years ago when I was graduating. I might have lived my life with a bit more purpose than I have so far. It's certainly something to keep in mind for the rest of whatever time I have left.

Steve Jobs changed the world through the elegant, fluid, usable technology that he envisioned and brought to life. People can change the world in different ways. While Bill Gates has left his company and is now working to save lives in Africa, Jobs basically died "in the saddle," so to speak, continuing to do the work he loved. While he didn't necessarily put his efforts toward saving lives, the technology he invented acts as the conduit for others' efforts to help people or change the world. No doubt many of the young people who led uprisings in Egypt and other parts of the world during the "Arab Spring" communicated and organized their uprisings using Steve Jobs' inventions.

Every day we live, whether we are using an Apple product or one of its imitators, we are benefiting from what Steve Jobs accomplished. I don't know whether his type of vision will be seen again in our lifetimes.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Well, here it is September, and I didn't post all last month. This was partly due to an "upgrade" in technology that resulted in lack of internet access up at our cabin in the Adirondacks, where I ordinarily have lots of time to blog.

What happened is, we had been using Verizon's "MiFi" device to get internet access, which it accomplished fairly well, albeit somewhat slowly. Lo and behold, when July rolled around, I found I was due for an upgrade on the device, so I ordered a new MiFi that worked for not just 3G, but 4G, which we have in our area of New Jersey. I carefully asked the Verizon representative whether it would still work in non-3G areas, e.g., our cabin, and he assured me it would. So I ordered it and we took it up to the cabin and guess what? The old one worked MUCH better. The new one has only enough energy to pull in the New York Times on my Kindle, which is, of course, black-and-white, mostly text. When it comes to Blogger or Facebook, with all the graphics, forget about it. It just times out.

So we ordered a little antenna for it and an adaptor cord that connects to the MiFi. It improved access slightly, but still not enough. So we ordered a BIG antenna, which is supposed to work particularly on the 800 mhz wavelength that we have at the cabin. Guess what? It needed an adaptor to attach to the other adaptor that attaches to the MiFi. So we ordered that and it has arrived. I'm hoping that on our next trip we will be back to getting internet at the cabin and all will be well. We did manage to get down to the laundromat to do some laundry a couple of times and used their wifi, but that is not a long-term solution!

For anyone who wondered how we made out during Hurricane Irene (or I should say Tropical Storm Irene by the time it hit New Jersey), we were remarkably lucky. At home we just had a few downed branches and local flooding. Our basement remained blessedly dry and our power did not go out. Our friends in the next town did have water in their basement and lost power for 3 days. So we just got lucky. We were equally lucky up at our cabin, where the devastation that hit Vermont and farther up in the Adirondacks apparently skipped our area nearly entirely.

Anyway, now that I'm back here and it is the first week of school, I thought I would write the kind of essay teachers always used to make us write during the first week of school: "What I Did On My Summer Vacation." Since I am not trying to get into college, I don't have anything really impressive to tell you about, such as working in Guatemala or Somalia building homes or designing clean water systems for a village; or some kind of great internship at a prestigious company that would give me a leg up on the competition to get into an Ivy League school, as kids nowadays have to do. In fact, my summer was much more like what my summers were like in my youth when I used to read a lot, play Monopoly with my friends and hang out at the town pool. (None of which would have helped me get into college, but thankfully standards were lower then).

So. During August we basically relaxed a lot at the cabin on the weekends, went to Lake George for a dip, read a lot, and walked the dogs. The biggest summer events were attending the Washington County, NY Fair, and car shows. We actually went to two: the first was a general antique/custom car show held in Ticonderoga, NY, in their attractive town park by the waterfall where the waters of Lake George tumble into the LaChute River on their way to Lake Champlain. The other was held here in New Jersey at the Parsippany Hilton and was a Saab Owners Convention. We had never been to one, since they've usually been held in Minnesota or some other faraway place, but since it was right in New Jersey, how could we resist?

Here are some scenes from the Ticonderoga show:

A '57 Chevy I believe...not the classic with the "rocket launchers" in front; it's a lesser model but quite nice.
I liked this Jaguar...
Nice Mercury.
Great Corvette.
Chevy Nova. I think a friend of mine had this same model.
An Oldsmobile that is an ode to chrome.
T-Bird.
Another Nova.
A hot rod.
Two vintage Saabs at the Saab convention. The one on the right is similar to our '85 but is a few years older.
Another view....
Another Saab arriving at the show (we attended on its first day so not everyone was there yet).

Some oldies that are still goodies.

An old Saab station wagon!
Another vintage Saab. I don't know my years very well, it is probably early '70s.
A snazzy Saab Sonnet from the late '60s or so. They were the sporty Saab style.
That's me in the passenger seat, getting a ride in a '73 Sonnet. You can't tell but I'm wearing a Saab visor that I bought as a souvenir.
I also had a ride in this one. They were offering free rides in vintage Saabs as well as in some new ones. I still like the old ones best so didn't bother riding in the new ones.
This one and the next are both nice Sonnets, different years.

One last vintage beauty...

As for the County Fair, we went on a perfectly beautiful late August day and saw nearly all the sights. There were horses...
Dog agility contests...
Prizes for canned goods...
and arts and crafts...
We saw goats...
And sheep...

Roosters and chickens...
Some ducks...
and pigs...
and lots of cows. This one doesn't want to go where this little girl is trying to make it go!



And of course, lots of food and carnival rides!


Last, but certainly not least, we enjoyed the scenic beauty around us, and did some relaxing on our deck at the cabin!





I'll be back soon with, hopefully, a post that actually talks about issues...politics...the President...the Economy...or some other weighty combination of all of these. I am still in summer brain mode and have to confess I did not even watch the debate among the eight Republicans who want to be president. All but two make me want to run screaming or slit my wrists at the idea of them possibly winning. Romney and Huntsman are equally Republican but not quite as crazy. However, I have not really studied their beliefs or ideas, and that opinion may change radically once I do!

Hope you enjoyed your summer. I am already starting my Seasonal Affective Disorder a little early - must be all this rain. I can't believe it's September already. Where did this year go?