Today in history, greetings, and social banter here. (More)
The German city of Rungholt on the North Sea island of Strand was destroyed by a storm tide today (1362). Also, the Medici family were appointed the official Papal bankers (1412), the English Parliament outlawed Roman Catholicism (1581), Virginia enacted the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson (1786), the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act established the United States Civil Service (1883), Ernest Shackleton’s expedition found the magnetic South Pole (1909), the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified (1919), Hello, Dolly! opened on Broadway (1964), NBC aired the final episode of Bonanza (1973), the Internet Engineering Task Force held their first meeting (1986), the Chapultepec Peace Accords ended the 12-year Salvadoran Civil War (1992), President Bill Clinton awarded President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish-American War (2001), and 66-year-old Romanian professor and novelist Adriana Iliescu gave birth to her daughter Eliza (2005). And Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in as President of Liberia, becoming Africa’s first elected female head of state (2006).
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
January 16, 2013 at 6:01 am
Yesterday on Campus
Morning Feature – Winning Progressive with Comments on Climate Change, Deficits, and International Adoption
Furthermore! – The Squirrel with Come and Take It?
Midday Matinee – Tuesday’s Tale: Blue Light Special, A Jill Graber Story
Campus Question – Will enacting gun safety laws calm or inflame the craziness?
Today on Campus
Morning Feature – Winning Progressive with We Don’t Need a Platinum Coin; We Have a Constitution
Furthermore – addisnana with How Low Can You Go?
Noontime News at noon
Midday Matinee – addisnana with Slow News
Campus Question at 6pm ET
Our Earth at 8pm ET – NSF: Global Research for Sustainability
January 16, 2013 at 6:37 am
Good morning! It’s currently 20 degrees and cloudy. We’re expecting more snow today, looks to be about an inch. Since the winter festival is this weekend, it means … we’ll have snow and ice for it!
Last year’s was something of a bust.
On a somewhat humorous note, yesterday I got a call, asking me to be a “Nielsen family.”
I had to turn them down – I don’t have a television. 
The joys of the Internet. 
What I wonder is where they were when I used to actually watch television and there were shows on which interested me enough to park my butt in front of the television? 
January 16, 2013 at 6:41 am
Glad you’ll have at least something for your winter festival.
Too bad you had to turn down Nielsen. Think of all the influence you could have had.
Hah!
January 16, 2013 at 8:29 am
You could’ve accepted anyway, your style sends a message…… Whoever said, oh so many years ago, that TV was becoming a vast wasteland pretty well hit the mark, IMO….
January 16, 2013 at 7:46 am
Good that the winter festival will actually look like winter. I bet the locals are happy about that.
January 16, 2013 at 7:51 am
Ice fishing derbies work much better when there’s ice.
January 16, 2013 at 7:15 am
Good morning… 34° and raining here – which makes me happy, since if the temperature had gotten as low as predicted, I’d be out salting roads in our community for about 2 hours now. And, I’d forgotten to set up the coffeepot last night, so I would have been grumbling about that. However, Kidlet made coffee this morning (see, iriti, there is an advantage to Kidlet drinking coffee). So…
January 16, 2013 at 7:50 am
What a treat that kidlet made coffee. And since you’re happy with the rain, I’m happy for you. Ice is my least favorite surface to drive on.
BTW I do know how to spell kidlet but sometimes I miss the fact that my spell checker ‘fixes’ it.
January 16, 2013 at 8:02 am
I’m so glad you didn’t have to get out early and salt the roads.
And yes, there’s an advantage to having a child who likes coffee, too. I used to have that advantage. 
Have a good day, trs!
January 16, 2013 at 7:39 am
Good morning!
It’s getting pale in the eastern sky, looks clear so far with 26 degrees. Worked on the leaf blower cabinet yesterday, needed a lumberyard run, and wouldn’t you know it, that’s when my buddy Charlie stopped by with another chain for the saw he gave me. Dang!
Cabinet coming along fine, I think. The women were off to their Tuesday evening social club, and I went back out to the shop to finish sanding some boards, well wonder of wonders, how the time flies, before I knew it, was near 10 o’clock. At the house was the woodcart, as bereft of solid fuel as the TGOP is of new ideas………. Oh well……
Hope all is well!
Best, G
January 16, 2013 at 7:59 am
An empty wood cart is a bad idea when you heat with wood.
Oops! At least you noticed it then instead of needing it in the middle of a cold night.
Will we get photos of the leaf blower cabinet? I know this isn’t your favorite request but we loved seeing your garden of envy.
Are you still enjoying Downton Abbey? I sure am. I am avoiding the blogs that do a ‘take down’ because I like making up my own mind without reading someone’s snippy analysis.
January 16, 2013 at 8:12 am
Oh yes, very much so! Hat tip to the writers, I don’t know how they do it! Didn’t know there are blogs on D.A. I am figuring the “real heir” is going to show up and Matthew and D.A. won’t get that potfull of money they think ought to come their way…….
I saw a PBS program about D.A. and the big surprise is that the woman who plays Mrs. Patmore is very attractive. They really frumped her up to play her part! Check her out sometime!
January 16, 2013 at 9:19 am
Will do. I have seen various cast members at awards shows and almost didn’t recognize them.
January 16, 2013 at 8:06 am
Glad to know your leaf-blower cabinet is coming along. Will it be for outside storage or just make it easier to store inside somewhere?
Sorry about the wood cart. I’ve had some of those experiences late at night when the snow was hip deep not only on the way to the woodpile, but on top of it as well. Glad you found it before 3AM though….
Hugggs and good morning!
January 16, 2013 at 8:20 am
Cabinet will bolt to wall in equipment shed. Should store the blower, blower fuel, chainsaw oil, and more. May have to lift it up there with a tractor, it’s getting heavier and heavier……. Is not flimsy!
Woodcart was my own fault. There’s lights in the woodshed though, so wasn’t too bad.
I am very grateful to have a warm, well-lit shop in which to build things. It’s my headquarters! The cassette player still works, had the Beatles Abbey Road album on after NPR lost me…… Abbey Road is a masterpiece, IMO….
January 16, 2013 at 8:42 am
That sounds like a very convenient cabinet indeed! I’m not surprised it’s getting heavier and heavier though.
I think it’s wonderful that you have your shop. And the shop fridge, of course.
Abbey Road was indeed a masterpiece. On this we agree most definitely.
January 16, 2013 at 9:18 am
January 16, 2013 at 8:03 am
Good Morning. My flip-flops came in the mail. They fit perfectly and are most comfortable. I kinda thought maybe their arrival would cause the temperatures to drop but no such luck. It is still hot here and I can’t imagine summer.
We recorded Downton Abbey. I feel a bit like a three year old who loves repetition. Seeing an episode more than once is one of my news avoidance techniques.
January 16, 2013 at 8:08 am
I’m so glad you like your flip-flops. Never fear…we’re going to cool down. Not fast enough to blame the flip-flops though.
As for Downton Abbey, I’m so glad y’all introduced me to it. Thank you, Gardener and thank you, addisnana.
January 16, 2013 at 8:23 am
Daisy’s line when Thomas learns that O’Brian found out that Thomas made trouble for her is a classic. Something on the order of, “I wouldn’t be on her ‘bad list’ for a gold clock.”
January 16, 2013 at 8:47 am
I loved that line, too. I can’t wait for Thomas to get what he deserves. Why do I think I’m going to be waiting a long time?
January 16, 2013 at 8:24 am
The well-known “Flip-Flop Effect” takes time to work, but it does work!
January 16, 2013 at 8:13 am
No news is good news they say. Yesterday I felt whammed. Don’t know if it was the aftermath of adrenaline from the eye surgery, or maybe a side effect of having the surgery. Does it matter? I couch-potatoed with the best.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t escape the news. What I am watching between Congress and the NRA is giving me a permanent case of the “mads.” I’m sure these idiots have always been among us, but it’s killing me to have to see it in action. Thank you 24-hour cable news.
Hugggs and good morning to all!
January 16, 2013 at 8:19 am
That’s why I mostly stopped watching television. My cable company only carries CNN and Fox, and it got to the point of “I can throw something through this screen, or get rid of it.” Not wanting to vacuum up all the glass, I got rid of it.
It does seem to be getting circular. It’s why I shut down my “political stuff” and went off in a completely different direction. After a while, it was “Oh, here we go again.”
January 16, 2013 at 8:41 am
The advantage of having a local MHz Network station. Lots of foreign news.
January 16, 2013 at 8:45 am
I used to like CNN International…until they took it off my cable lineup. There is a whole world out there…
January 16, 2013 at 8:44 am
It’s the most nonsensical crap I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen lousy sci fi films with more inherent logic. And you’re right, it’s getting circular. Round and round with the same stuff. Ugh.
January 16, 2013 at 9:20 am
Second tea is brewed, time to get myself going. Will check in later…….
Adios, G