Reading Naomi Klein’s “The Shock Doctrine – The Rise and Fall of Disaster Capitalism” just now. And regret that I didn’t long ago – it’s been languishing in the shelf for some time.
It’s right on and what she describes is ongoing right in front of our eyes (financial crisis, anyone).
I’m still finishing up Sarah Chayes’ The Punishment of Virtue. I have gotten to be a very slow reader; between work and all the other things I want to do, I’m usually asleep before I can even pull out the book at night.
I just finished A Stranger in the Forest by Eric Hansen, about his walk across Borneo in the early ’80s. He’s a superb writer and a very good chronicler of Western thinking confronted by non-western cultures. Plus, he has a very good sense of humor.
This is gorgeous, Andi. Truly gorgeous! Absolutely amazing.
Are you using a different camera than the one you were using last year? Have you ‘upgraded’?
Mother earth hereabouts often displays sensuous curves worthy of a modern Paul Rubens. I think this shot captures one of those magical locations very nicely.
I think all my clients are done by noon today…the CBs spent the night at a friend’s last night, so we’ve been having a relaxing morning today, but now it’s time for me to finish up a slide project.
My mind set is that I’m here all day – so that if I can sneak out early I’ll be pleased (I suspect a lot of people will be gone by 3:00). Because to assume I’ll leave at 3:00 and end up stuck here – well, you can imagine.
I’ve already had clients call this morning wanting to get things out today that they’ve sat on for weeks. But so far nothing not manageable. So, we’ll see.
I’m procrastinating a little bit. I really just want to get started on some holiday cooking, but I feel like I need to finish my slides. And of course, part of my slide project involves figuring out how to something in Powerpoint that I’m not sure how to do. Hence the procrastination.
Saw your comment in casperr’s kos diary earlier this week. Do you think you’ll make it to the meet-up (I didn’t see a final date set yet) – I’m trying to make it.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We spent the morning at the hospital endoscopy dept. with Mom. She’s doing pretty well and can now swallow soft food. Guess we’ll try to salvage what’s left of the day and maybe go out to a local inn for dinner. Mom will probably be napping for the rest of the afternoon. I felt sorry for the hospital people and made sure to say, “Thanks for being there for us on a holiday” to them all.
Good morning Andi! We wound up at the Artists Colony Inn. We thought we’d try it since we hadn’t been there since the new owners took over in 07. It was a very nice buffet, sans fried biscuits, then back to visit Mom for a couple of more hours. She was able to eat ok then, with no ill effects from the endoscopy.
Good morning boran2! We’re traveling later today to visit the m-i-l in stroke rehab. How was the L.I. trip? I remember well the L.I. Expressway as a white-knuckler when my grandparents were living at Stonybrook.
I sympathize about the trip. The only way I see LI these days is on Google Streets, as I no longer have relatives living there. I lived in the Hempstead area for several years as a child.
We had a rather disconcerting day, but it turned out ok in the end (see upthread).
I woke up to a desktop mac with the lovely problem of the whole background shifting with the movement of the mouse to click on things…I blame the offspring.
Still not loving the offspring today, though…isn’t it Monday yet? Shouldn’t they be back in school or visiting their father or something? I’m tired of the couch-warming complainer mode they seem to be stuck in. 😉
I was extremely busy during the election cycle and have been busy since looking for a real job. LOL I am happy for the most part with the elections but now have to concentrate on real life.
Looking for work and trying to keep my head above water. I was at a job interview a week ago at a bank when the manager was called out and came back in to let me know they were going tp be laying off employees instead of hiring. Not a great thing to hear in the interview.
I’m in the same boat, RF. I’ve sent out dozens of resumes and responded to hundreds of ads, and either they are a scam (Craigslist) they don’t offer health insurance which I will need after July, or the pay is incredibly low. Almost no one is hiring.
Do you know anyone in local government? Here there’s data entry jobs that pop up occasionally. The pay’s not the greatest, but the benefits are decent.
I have talked with some people here but the real hiring will not start till January for government jobs as the ledge gears back up. The city and county have a hiring freeze on.
I’ve been checking the government websites for their job openings and there are very few of unskilled workers…but I do jump on them when they appear. Probably several hundred others also jump on them….
My brother and sil are heading to AR, and I looked at the weather for them. It has rain and snow. So I told them you don’t want to get there in the middle of the night, so you’d better hurry up and leave. Of course I’m thinking of them, but the sooner they’re gone, the sooner peace and quiet descend upon this house. 🙂
George still has plenty of barks left in him. He gave my brother a long round of good morning barks earlier. 🙂
Yep I’m looking forward to a little peace and quiet once I get my brother and sil out of here. They’re the type that says we’re arriving or leaving at such and such an hour. You automatically know to add 3 to 5 hours more to that.
As I’ve said, as long as I’ve got cable, electricity, phone and plenty of food, it could be 10 feet of snow out there and I wouldn’t care. Plus I think it would be pretty cool to throw George out in the snow and see if he could tunnel his way back. 🙂
Always on lights are an upside? Well, I guess they can help keep the SAD away.
It’s raining here too but the dogs are insisting I put on my rain gear and get my butt out there. I’m trying a stall technique in hopes they’ll get distracted but so far, it’s not working.
SN I’m confused. You say you figured out the timer, but they won’t cut off now. Couldn’t you set the timer for them to cut off in the next few minutes? :O
Gee, I never thought of that, FM. :/ We THOUGHT we set it to cut off at midnight, but it didn’t work. There is no clear way to tell AM from PM so either we are a tad bit mentally challenged between all of us, or it’s extremely poorly engineered. I’ll vote for bad product design.
Easy way to find out. It’s 12:25 there now. Set it for 1:00, doesn’t matter which one. If it cuts off then you know which one it is, if it stays on, again you know which one it is.
If that doesn’t work, I’d say get a degree in advanced physics or buy a new one. 🙂
Well, more of a big bug photo, than an announcement per se.
Imogen spotted this female Native Flower wasp on one of our corn seedlings. She’s about 2/3 of an inch long. The males are winged, and during mating carry the females from flower to flower. After mating, the female burrows into the ground to find a beetle larva to lay her eggs on.
Imogen spotted a female Native Flower wasp?! My god how I’ve looked for one of those. BTW are they in the SE US. If not then I guess I don’t know what I’m talking about. 🙂
Thiphiid wasps (Flower wasps) are very wide spread. Here’s a map of where and when you can find them in the US.
I’m doing OK.
Last Wednesday Luna got back from being bred, and if massive appetite and clingy-ness are any indicators of pregnancy, we’ll be having lots of puppies in late January. We’re having an ultrasound done in a few weeks, at which point we’ll know for certain. Until then, we’ll think positive thoughts.
I suspect you have, them. As the web page says: The following data is based on images submitted and identified by contributors. Range and date information may be incomplete, overinclusive, or just plain wrong.
So there’s your chance. Go out and find one and report back to bugguide.net.
Of course there will be puppy pictures. Dozens per day no doubt.
Here’s a photo of my first Pyr, Ursula, with some of her just whelped pups. The look on her face is just priceless. I think it translates to “what do you mean there are TEN of them?!”
Sixty-three days. Which is why puppies are so larva-like and dependent on momma when born. Animals, like horses, that have to hit the ground running take lots longer (11 mos) to gestate. Also, they only have one at a time.
The trick to puppies is to start them off right away with critters you want them to bond to. So the pups will be exposed to Hector, the alpacas, and any sheep, etc. we can round up, before their eyes are even open.
Also, once they are ambulatory they’ll be moved outside.
But yes, galumphing puppies and Hector will be quite the mix, which Hector may or may not enjoy. As the most vulnerable fellow in the house, he’s always given a choice in these matters.
Also, with any luck, all the puppies should have new homes by the time they really want to rough-house.
Anybody read any good books lately?
Reading Naomi Klein’s “The Shock Doctrine – The Rise and Fall of Disaster Capitalism” just now. And regret that I didn’t long ago – it’s been languishing in the shelf for some time.
It’s right on and what she describes is ongoing right in front of our eyes (financial crisis, anyone).
I’ve heard a lot of good things about that one.
I’m still finishing up Sarah Chayes’ The Punishment of Virtue. I have gotten to be a very slow reader; between work and all the other things I want to do, I’m usually asleep before I can even pull out the book at night.
You and me both. I’ve been reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle for two weeks….okay mostly in the bathroom.
I am reading sample textbooks for the AP Literature class I will teach next fall.
I just finished A Stranger in the Forest by Eric Hansen, about his walk across Borneo in the early ’80s. He’s a superb writer and a very good chronicler of Western thinking confronted by non-western cultures. Plus, he has a very good sense of humor.
Funny and fascinating, it’s a history of the Puritans who settled the Massachusetts Bay colony.
And w00t — its Hump Day and Friday all rolled in one!
click for larger
Sure, rub it in. Tomorrow is just another Thursday here.
Luna’s back from Adelaide. I’ll give you all an update when it’s not my bedtime.
‘Night all.
Well sorry about your not getting the day(s) off but there has to be some penalty for living in paradise. 🙂
Hi Luna!
Pleasant dreams.
WOW.
This is gorgeous, Andi. Truly gorgeous! Absolutely amazing.
Are you using a different camera than the one you were using last year? Have you ‘upgraded’?
This is truly fantastic imagery.
(Can you tell that I’ve missed your photos?)
Taken today?
Nope, not from today, it’s from over two weeks ago — the leaves are pretty much gone here.
And good spot, I have upgraded my camera. I’ve got a Canon G9, still a p&s but with a lot of SLR kind of features.
My fall album has gotten pretty big because we had such a lovely fall but if you’re somewhere with hi speed and want to go cruise it, here’s a link.
And here’s a shot from a couple of days ago.
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I forward to cruising your woods via images, Andi.
Thanks for posting another perfectly magical pic.
As for hi speed: ha ha.
Thanks for info on the camera. Someday I too hope to upgrade. My little 2.1 megapixel Olympus looks forward to retirement.
I look forward to cruising your woods.
(I can has typin lessin plz?)
No need to be concerned about your typing — lolcats have removed the need to ever worry again about spelling. 😉
I thought you might occasionally go to the library for that wooshy, hi-speed experience.
Hump day/Friday for me too! Hope I can catch an extra hour of sleep in the am.
Mother earth hereabouts often displays sensuous curves worthy of a modern Paul Rubens. I think this shot captures one of those magical locations very nicely.
Thanks ID.
Getting to really see the land is one of my favorite things about late fall and winter.
Have a great Thanksgiving.
Woot! It’s Wednesday/Friday for me!
Yay! Do you get out early today?
I think all my clients are done by noon today…the CBs spent the night at a friend’s last night, so we’ve been having a relaxing morning today, but now it’s time for me to finish up a slide project.
And then it’s time to make the cranberry chutney…
No, it’s a full day. 🙁
Good luck on your project. I’ll be baking later on, pumpkin chocolate chip brownies.
Ooh, those sound good!
I actually have my project all mapped out, just have to make the change to the electronic version, so it shouldn’t be too awful.
Now, about those pumpkin chocolate chip brownies…we need recipes!
Friday for me too. Now, to get through the day in a decent mood for the holidays. That might be a challenge.
Do you have to work all day, or will you be able to make an early escape?
My mind set is that I’m here all day – so that if I can sneak out early I’ll be pleased (I suspect a lot of people will be gone by 3:00). Because to assume I’ll leave at 3:00 and end up stuck here – well, you can imagine.
I’ve already had clients call this morning wanting to get things out today that they’ve sat on for weeks. But so far nothing not manageable. So, we’ll see.
Sounds like a good way to approach things.
I’m procrastinating a little bit. I really just want to get started on some holiday cooking, but I feel like I need to finish my slides. And of course, part of my slide project involves figuring out how to something in Powerpoint that I’m not sure how to do. Hence the procrastination.
and across Indiana 46 to Interstate 74, we go.
To everybody who is traveling, safe journey.
To everybody spending the day with family and friends, a great time, filled with warmth, love, and good food.
To everybody working, so sorry.
To me, stuffing!
See ya tomorrow.
Safe trip, Andi!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
deer mom
dont fergit teh lefto4ers expesshly teh sukulent gizerds 4 yer gud dogs
Happy Thanksgiving and safe trip! We’ll be traveling as well a little later on.
Saw your comment in casperr’s kos diary earlier this week. Do you think you’ll make it to the meet-up (I didn’t see a final date set yet) – I’m trying to make it.
Hi ask. I’m going to try.
Cool!
and safe travels to everyone!
We’re off to NJ today…
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We spent the morning at the hospital endoscopy dept. with Mom. She’s doing pretty well and can now swallow soft food. Guess we’ll try to salvage what’s left of the day and maybe go out to a local inn for dinner. Mom will probably be napping for the rest of the afternoon. I felt sorry for the hospital people and made sure to say, “Thanks for being there for us on a holiday” to them all.
Hi ID. I’m glad to hear that you mom is doing better. I hope you had a delightful dinner (fried biscuits?) to make up for the upsets of the day.
Good morning Andi! We wound up at the Artists Colony Inn. We thought we’d try it since we hadn’t been there since the new owners took over in 07. It was a very nice buffet, sans fried biscuits, then back to visit Mom for a couple of more hours. She was able to eat ok then, with no ill effects from the endoscopy.
The diary is here.
This week’s theme is Patterns
Hope to see you and your pictures there.
And happy post-gluttony day.
Good morning!
Post-gluttony, indeed.
But no rest for the wicked; while curly can sleep in – I have to go in 🙁
Oh you do have my sympathy — having to work the day after T’day is misery.
Thanks, but it shouldn’t be too bad. Many have taken a day off, it will be quiet and I plan to leave early.
Long(er) walk for you today, being off?
Somewhat longer walk but it’s still gun season for deer so we still have to be somewaht restrictive in where we go. Season ends Sunday — yay!
Hope its an easy and short day!
Happy black Friday to all!
Good morning boran2! We’re traveling later today to visit the m-i-l in stroke rehab. How was the L.I. trip? I remember well the L.I. Expressway as a white-knuckler when my grandparents were living at Stonybrook.
Hi ID! The trip was miserable. I did get to see my brother from Virginia and his kids, a rare event.
How was your Thanksgiving?
I sympathize about the trip. The only way I see LI these days is on Google Streets, as I no longer have relatives living there. I lived in the Hempstead area for several years as a child.
We had a rather disconcerting day, but it turned out ok in the end (see upthread).
since it means the long weekend is already half over. Of course, the dogs are considerately trying to make it last longer by getting me up early.
God morning!
I woke up to a desktop mac with the lovely problem of the whole background shifting with the movement of the mouse to click on things…I blame the offspring.
Yuck. I hope it’s a prank and not a system problem.
http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?p=392549
Thanks: Command+option+8 did the trick.
Still not loving the offspring today, though…isn’t it Monday yet? Shouldn’t they be back in school or visiting their father or something? I’m tired of the couch-warming complainer mode they seem to be stuck in. 😉
Happy Saturday! We have sunshine, at least for now.
We have weekend clouds, but it’s mild enough for sitting on the porch.
Not so mild here at 26. Brrrrrrrrr!
Howdy Folks. I know it’s been a long time but as usual my life has been strange. LOL Hope everyone is doing well.
Well Hi refinish69! My energy was certainly diminished by electoral activity in the recent past. I figured you were pretty busy down there too.
I was extremely busy during the election cycle and have been busy since looking for a real job. LOL I am happy for the most part with the elections but now have to concentrate on real life.
I was just thinking about you the other day and wondering what you were up to. If you get a chance, fill us in. 🙂
Looking for work and trying to keep my head above water. I was at a job interview a week ago at a bank when the manager was called out and came back in to let me know they were going tp be laying off employees instead of hiring. Not a great thing to hear in the interview.
I’m in the same boat, RF. I’ve sent out dozens of resumes and responded to hundreds of ads, and either they are a scam (Craigslist) they don’t offer health insurance which I will need after July, or the pay is incredibly low. Almost no one is hiring.
This is a really bad time to be job hunting as the economy keeps getting worse and worse.
Do you know anyone in local government? Here there’s data entry jobs that pop up occasionally. The pay’s not the greatest, but the benefits are decent.
I have talked with some people here but the real hiring will not start till January for government jobs as the ledge gears back up. The city and county have a hiring freeze on.
I’ve been checking the government websites for their job openings and there are very few of unskilled workers…but I do jump on them when they appear. Probably several hundred others also jump on them….
See how unskilled I am? I meant “for” unskilled workers. Sigh.
Hi Refinish, good to see you.
Thanks!!!
Great to have you stop by. I hope your job hunting turns up something good soon.
And please do give the Diva Dogs a pat from me. 🙂
🙁
Long weekend almost over
For some people. 🙂
Then again some people don’t have a house full of rels driving them so crazy they have to leave. 😛
Morning Andi.
Only two left and they’re out today. Woohoo!
The weather is saying we might have flurries tomorrow morning. I don’t believe it though.
They’re talking about some snow here overnight but less than an inch.
I woke up to snow covering the grass, but it has already melted. I hear we may get a bit more later today.
Hi Mary.
My brother and sil are heading to AR, and I looked at the weather for them. It has rain and snow. So I told them you don’t want to get there in the middle of the night, so you’d better hurry up and leave. Of course I’m thinking of them, but the sooner they’re gone, the sooner peace and quiet descend upon this house. 🙂
Is George hoarse from all the barking?
Nothing like a quiet house is there? My house guests (human and animal) left yesterday for Chicago. I’m still in my pj’s – enjoying the solitude.
My sister’s house guests (human and animal)left yesterday too, it was already snowing in Wisconsin. But those staying with others are leaving today.
Snow is good except when you have to drive in it.
George still has plenty of barks left in him. He gave my brother a long round of good morning barks earlier. 🙂
Yep I’m looking forward to a little peace and quiet once I get my brother and sil out of here. They’re the type that says we’re arriving or leaving at such and such an hour. You automatically know to add 3 to 5 hours more to that.
As I’ve said, as long as I’ve got cable, electricity, phone and plenty of food, it could be 10 feet of snow out there and I wouldn’t care. Plus I think it would be pretty cool to throw George out in the snow and see if he could tunnel his way back. 🙂
Andi that’s a blizzard to us down here. 🙂
Lots of rain and gloom here. On the upside, we finally figured out the timer for our outdoor lights, but now they won’t turn off.
Always on lights are an upside? Well, I guess they can help keep the SAD away.
It’s raining here too but the dogs are insisting I put on my rain gear and get my butt out there. I’m trying a stall technique in hopes they’ll get distracted but so far, it’s not working.
We’ve got it here too. And a little bit of snow.
SN I’m confused. You say you figured out the timer, but they won’t cut off now. Couldn’t you set the timer for them to cut off in the next few minutes? :O
Gee, I never thought of that, FM. :/ We THOUGHT we set it to cut off at midnight, but it didn’t work. There is no clear way to tell AM from PM so either we are a tad bit mentally challenged between all of us, or it’s extremely poorly engineered. I’ll vote for bad product design.
Easy way to find out. It’s 12:25 there now. Set it for 1:00, doesn’t matter which one. If it cuts off then you know which one it is, if it stays on, again you know which one it is.
If that doesn’t work, I’d say get a degree in advanced physics or buy a new one. 🙂
I swear we’ve tried that! It seems to switch from PM to AM at will…. 🙂
So you have a poltergeist light system. Very interesting. 🙂
Well, more of a big bug photo, than an announcement per se.
Imogen spotted this female Native Flower wasp on one of our corn seedlings. She’s about 2/3 of an inch long. The males are winged, and during mating carry the females from flower to flower. After mating, the female burrows into the ground to find a beetle larva to lay her eggs on.
Ain’t nature grand?
Hellooooooo Keres.
Imogen spotted a female Native Flower wasp?! My god how I’ve looked for one of those. BTW are they in the SE US. If not then I guess I don’t know what I’m talking about. 🙂
How’s it going Keres?
Thiphiid wasps (Flower wasps) are very wide spread. Here’s a map of where and when you can find them in the US.
I’m doing OK.
Last Wednesday Luna got back from being bred, and if massive appetite and clingy-ness are any indicators of pregnancy, we’ll be having lots of puppies in late January. We’re having an ultrasound done in a few weeks, at which point we’ll know for certain. Until then, we’ll think positive thoughts.
Well it appears where I’m from they are not there. What can you do? 🙂
Luna maybe having puppies. You know – PICTURES!
I suspect you have, them. As the web page says: The following data is based on images submitted and identified by contributors. Range and date information may be incomplete, overinclusive, or just plain wrong.
So there’s your chance. Go out and find one and report back to bugguide.net.
Of course there will be puppy pictures. Dozens per day no doubt.
Here’s a photo of my first Pyr, Ursula, with some of her just whelped pups. The look on her face is just priceless. I think it translates to “what do you mean there are TEN of them?!”
Ursula is a wonderful looking mother, and the puppies!
George was even looking over my shoulder going hubba hubba. I’ve got to have a talk with him. 🙂
Pictures and bubble gum cigars are required.
Well pictures anyway, or maybe a puppy cam.
Puppy cam, huh? I’ll see what I can arrange. At the very least I can barrow a digital camcorder and upload videos to youtube.
Please do. It would be most appreciated. 😉
Is the incubation period really only 8-ish weeks for pups? Luna is so b-i-g I just find that hard to believe for some reason. 🙂
Hey SN. Luna is special. She might be able,…..but then agian.
Figured out the lights yet? 😛
Sixty-three days. Which is why puppies are so larva-like and dependent on momma when born. Animals, like horses, that have to hit the ground running take lots longer (11 mos) to gestate. Also, they only have one at a time.
yes, positive thoughts for puppies.
Although the combination of Hector with puppies will be interesting, to say the least.
Mary you’re right. OK Keres, where’s Hector? Pictures please.
Taken yesterday – sunning himself by the window.
Of course you know I mean that guy. I’m waiting for the ear to come in though. And I waiting to see how his personality turns out to be.
Lookie what I just turned around to see on the rug behind my chair.
Luna must be practicing for PUPPIES!
I actually think she is.
Clearly she’s going to be a great mom.
AWWWwww! That is just too much cuteness fro one household! How will you survive when you add the unbearable cuteness of puppies to the mix?
awwww, he’s adorable.
But what I really thinking about was what happens when the puppies get a couple of months old and start … um … interacting with Hector.
The trick to puppies is to start them off right away with critters you want them to bond to. So the pups will be exposed to Hector, the alpacas, and any sheep, etc. we can round up, before their eyes are even open.
Also, once they are ambulatory they’ll be moved outside.
But yes, galumphing puppies and Hector will be quite the mix, which Hector may or may not enjoy. As the most vulnerable fellow in the house, he’s always given a choice in these matters.
Also, with any luck, all the puppies should have new homes by the time they really want to rough-house.
but PUPPIES!
Alienish.
I don’t know, take off our clothes and I think humans are about the strangest looking critters on the planet.;)
OK everyone puppies are great, but this is HECTOR now.
But PUPPIES!!!!!!
Time to head back to work (but at least I can make getting there look pretty).
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