Spending more time at the PC and less at the TV? We just discovered www.joost.com, 400 channels, delivered to your PC. So the computer is now your television. Some of the stuff is worth watching, most is not. But some things never change. The commercials are still louder.
Just a ride around the orchard…
The Red Apple Farm in Phillipston is offering 1-hour horse-drawn hay rides through mid January and a chance afterward to sit by the fireplace and enjoy cider donuts and hot (or cold) cider. Petersham horse teamster Roy S.G. Nilson and his team (Molly and Maggie) are providing the horsepower to pull up to 15 folks at a time. For information or to book a ride, call 413-768-8265.
Lots and lots o’ cash…
The Most Expensive Job in the World
According to the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, candidates running for president in 2008 have raised a total of $412,000,000 (Yup, millions) and have spent nearly three quarters of that. And not one vote has been cast to date. Hillary is up around $90 million with Barack a close second at $80 – million. Mitt has raised $62 million and Rudy some $47 – million. Eleven months and counting the money? How many plane rides home from Iraq would that much money buy? How much home heating oil? How many school books?
Here’s a less expensive solution Write in Willie in 2008. No fuss, No Muss and no bother
Wonder of wonders…
In the last few days e-mail has informed me that I’ve won more than enough money in the British National Lottery to retire the national debt of Gabon. Millions are waiting for me in Uganda and South Africa. Employment and job boards have invited me to apply to be a nurse midwife, a medical technologist and bunches of other positions (all that after a careful review of my excellent qualifications). Add to that the opportunities to reduce wrinkles, cleanse my colon and sip green tea with Oprah and you know why my mailbox is full.
Why are they wasting their time? Don’t these people realize that computer keyboards have handy dandy DELETE key? And isn’t that a good thing.
Play on the ice – be warm and dry
Why Mankind Must Chuck Rocks
Open House at the Petersham Curling Club
The public is invited to visit the Petersham Curling Club on the following dates and times for an Open House opportunity to learn more about this ancient winter sport — sliding big rocks on ice. Instructors will be on hand to provide pointers and give people an opportunity to learn why curling is the fitness and finesse winter sport for all ages. Please come to find out how curling can provide fun, social opportunities all winter long! Bring rubber-soled shoes (like sneakers) and gloves, and dress in warm, loose-fitting clothing. Date and Times: Sunday, 6 January, Noon – 3 pm and Sunday, 3 February Noon – 3 pm
The Petersham Curling Club is on Route 32 (North Main Stret) in Petersham, next to the Country Club golf course. See the PCC website for directions . Call for details (978 724-3210) or contact Dave Kittredge for more information 413 259-1756.
The snowiest place in the world…
Reading the newspaper (yes you can still do that — well, online of course) the other day and found the 2007 annual “day after Christmas skiing at Mt. Wachusett” story in which a spokesman claimed the “most snow” in a decade and pretty much the best skiing ever. Five bucks says if you go back a year, two years, three years, that every year has been the best ever. That’s the nice thing about the Crowleys. They genuinely enjoy what they do. They do manufacture lots of snow for their customers. And, like some other stuff, it does get deeper and deeper the more they talk about it. No harm, no foul. It’s all in the game.
And another thing…
Has anyone ever experienced “shorter than normal” wait times when trying to reach a customer service representative?
Why ask?
Will someone please illuminate the rest of us? Why is it when you lose your internet connection and call up Verizon to tell them you cannot connect to the internet, that the nice robot lady always advises you that you can find all the answers to your questions by simply visiting www.onlinehelp.verizon.net? Doesn’t she understand? I called because ICANNOTCONNECTTOTHEINTERNETDAMMIT!
Now THAT’s journalism… ?
Washington Post Magazine editors are looking for your personal stories of how romance has — or has not — bridged the class divide. Is it true that Americans no longer date across class lines? That while doctors and lawyers used to marry secretaries and shopgirls, now they want to marry only other professionals? Have you or someone you know married someone significantly poorer or wealthier? On the dating scene, does having a college degree matter? Does white-collar vs. blue-collar matter? Who has it the best — or the worst?
A lesson from wind and rain
Just starting a recipe that allowed mixing the ingredients for bread in the food processor when the lights went out at 7:30 p.m. OK. Mix and knead by hand, the old-fashioned way. Later, reading a book by lantern light, we thought about the 300 or so trees that the power company said had to come down last spring to assure our power supply. Were any of them responsible for last year’s power outages? The utility man said “No,” but they had to come down to assure against future outages. He sounded confident and the chain saws roared.
And on Dec. 23, the wind blew and the rain fell and the power went out for nearly four hours. Thankfully it was 48 degrees outside. The bread rose and went into the gas oven in the dim light from the lamp oil. And the electric lights came back on just after 11 p.m. thanks to the repair crews. The eposide left us thinking that perhaps, in future, we should not be so sure that we know which trees to cut down to assure that the lights won’t go out again. That perhaps, a little humility would serve as well as a lot of hubris where natural forces are concerned.
