While Barack Obama proclaims to be a regular self-made guy without an outstanding balance sheet, at about two million dollars he is still a far cry from joe-average-american. Compared to his cohorts in the running however, he is a poor man indeed.
Very interesting look at the candidates and their monetary values, and a few hints as to how they got there and what they have done with it at http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/moneymag/0712/gallery.candidates.moneymag/index.html
Here's my two cents:
Hillary Clinton- She was an early breadwinner which is a good role model for women everywhere. Lawyer, though... Her secondary income hubby was just a Govenor and a President at the time. Now that she is a Senator, Bill seems to be the breadwinner with books and $150,000 a pop speeches. He spoke at my neices graduation last spring at UNH and from what I hear he was worth it...
John Ambulance Chaser Edwards- I knew I didn't like this guy. Made his money as a personal injury lawyer. I don't know about you but sadly I can tell you the phone number of our state's ambulance chaser from hearing his annoying commercials incessantly... Lowlife. Then he moved into Hedge funds. The ultimate boring, make lots of money because I have lots of money job... YUCK!
Rudy Giuliani- Made his money capitalizing off of 9/11 for the most part. Not sure if I would be boasting about it as much as he does, but overall I could live with him as pres. He beats the socks off of what's his ears Georgie. Divorces drained him a bit, but drugs and energy still provide a little nest egg for him.
My man John McCain. The most real candidate there is imho. Served in the military and serving the public in politics. Never made the big bucks. Has written a couple of books, but gave away the $$$. His wife is the money bags, not him. A friend once said if you marry for money you earn every penny. I hope that isn't true for him.
Barack Obama- Harvard Law. Wife's a lawyer. Sure they worked to get through school, but they make pretty good money as lawyers. Lawyers... Still, the second most real candidate imo.
Mitt Romney- Lucky sperm club. Born with a silver spoon. Hedge funder by geneaology. Have money-make more money. Pretty slick, out of touch with reality, ~~shiver~~ Don't spend the principal, Mitt!
Fred Thompson- Lawyer, Lobbyist, Actor. Hhhmmm... Lawyer(nose crinkle). Lobbyist-overpaid negotiator. Actor? Well, I bet he can give a speech better than Georgie does. Not that interested...
So, if money tells us anything about how in touch the candidates are with reality I would have to throw my votes toward McCain and Obama. Hilly has done her time, and so has Giuliani. Edwards and Romney can fall of the edge of the earth for all I care... Thompson who?
30 December 2007
25 December 2007
Merry Christmas!
Here are some shots of our adventure cutting down our Charlie Brown tree. It is very tall though :) Other shots of our holiday decorations, too.
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays!
14 December 2007
Twelve Days of Contractors
Twelve Days of Contracting-
On the first day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
A new light for my bright loft.
On the second day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Two Stained glass lights
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the third day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the fourth day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Four brand new doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the fifth day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the sixth day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Six dirty rooms,
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the seventh day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Seven feet of hardwood.
Six dirty rooms,
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the eighth day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Eight painted walls,
Seven feet of hardwood,
Six dirty rooms,
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the ninth day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Nine recommendations,
Eight painted walls,
Seven feet of hardwood,
Six dirty rooms,
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the tenth day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Ten rails for safety,
Nine recommendations,
Eight painted walls,
Seven feet of hardwood,
Six dirty rooms,
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the eleventh day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Eleven backup plugs,
Ten rails for safety,
Nine recommendations,
Eight painted walls,
Seven feet of hardwood,
Six dirty rooms,
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Twelve months of payments,
Eleven backup plugs,
Ten rails for safety,
Nine recommendations,
Eight painted walls,
Seven feet of hardwood,
Six dirty rooms,
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the first day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
A new light for my bright loft.
On the second day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Two Stained glass lights
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the third day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the fourth day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Four brand new doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the fifth day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the sixth day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Six dirty rooms,
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the seventh day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Seven feet of hardwood.
Six dirty rooms,
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the eighth day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Eight painted walls,
Seven feet of hardwood,
Six dirty rooms,
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the ninth day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Nine recommendations,
Eight painted walls,
Seven feet of hardwood,
Six dirty rooms,
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the tenth day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Ten rails for safety,
Nine recommendations,
Eight painted walls,
Seven feet of hardwood,
Six dirty rooms,
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the eleventh day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Eleven backup plugs,
Ten rails for safety,
Nine recommendations,
Eight painted walls,
Seven feet of hardwood,
Six dirty rooms,
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas my contractor gave to me
Twelve months of payments,
Eleven backup plugs,
Ten rails for safety,
Nine recommendations,
Eight painted walls,
Seven feet of hardwood,
Six dirty rooms,
Five light switches,
Four wooden doors,
Three new Ceilings,
Two Stained glass lights,
And a new light for my bright loft.
13 December 2007
My vote
I hijacked this off of What I Think's Blog. I am still trying to decide if I agree with the results. McCain was my favorite, and has been for years, but he was pretty low on the list. I really never liked Edwards, didn't think I liked Mr. NYC. Something to think about...
 | |||
 | Rudy Giuliani Score: 28 | Agree Immigration Stem-Cell Research Health Care Abortion Social Security Energy Marriage Death Penalty | Disagree Iraq Taxes Line-Item Veto |
 | John Edwards Score: 28 | Agree Iraq Immigration Taxes Stem-Cell Research Abortion Energy Marriage Death Penalty | Disagree Health Care Social Security Line-Item Veto |
-- Take the Quiz! -- | |||
12 December 2007
11 December 2007
First Snow
November 21 was actually the first snow in my little NH town. It mostly melted by the time it snowed for real a week or so later. While we got four to six inches in that storm it was forecast that it would also melt and we would be back in the forties and fifties. Well, instead we have had two or three more little storms, teens at night, and twenties to maybe 30 during the days. It is getting late enough that I think we are not going to see the ground until the spring rains come. Of course, everyone is calling wondering what is wrong with their stove since their stove is "eating" a lot more fuel this year than last. My stoves, and boiler are chugging away! Everywhere you go even the hardy New Englanders are already getting a little grouchy about all the pre-holiday ice, snow, and cold. Suck it up boys and girls, winter doesn't technically start for almost two more weeks! After last year I am glad to have a normal winter. Polar is pretty stoked, too! I look forward to using my cross country skis since I have not been able to since moving up here. There has been no snow! With flurries, and snow, ending in a Nor'Easter this weekend I may get to strap them on by the end of the week :) Our friends have a rope tow on their property and have an open invitation for Art to pop over to ski! (I could go too, except I hate skiing. Grew up in Utah and Colorado and parents who used to make me go every weekend growing up equals true hatred as an adult!) I like my cross country skis though. Polar can come with and I can go around my back field, or up the road, etc., etc... Here is a clip of Po in the first real storm, and a couple of others. White Christmas here we come!
10 December 2007
Naive
We get a large number of solicitations for donations throughout the year. Usually from the sheriffs dept, or cancer society, or United Way, but we also get the local schools, and when our employees kids have fund raisers we seem a worthy target. We have our donations all set up, and I don't usually give to any random cause that walks through the door, but I will at least listen to the proposal, and/or look at the package they have put together. A donation request this week stopped me in my tracks with it's astounding lack of foresight. The wife of one of our guys works at a private school in town, and they are doing a fund raiser promoting environmental awareness and going green. Sounds like a worthy cause, right? Being in alternative energy we'd be a good candidate? Sure. Sounds like a win, win situation? Absolutely! Then he told me what they were doing with their Go Green theme. They are taking donations to put the donating company's logo on water bottles that they will sell, and/or give out at whatever little concerts or get together's their school has. PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES. To promote being green! At first I thought he was kidding. I asked him to clarify. Yup,he was talking about the individual plastic water bottles, like Evian, or Poland Springs. When the snicker snuck out of my mouth, he gave me a puzzled look and boldly pushed forward boasting about how MANY water bottles they were going to get, and wouldn't that be a great promotion to have our name on and very worthwhile for our company? I asked how they were going to encourage recycling them and got a deer in the headlights stare... HELLO? McFly! Anybody home?!?These bottles are made of PET plastic derived from petroleum. (The point/focus of our business is to get people off of petroleum!) In the US (alone) we use over 30 billion of those bottles a year, or ~30 million a day! One billion bottles could make 72 million square meters of carpet for an idea of scale. According to the American Recycling Institute only 14% of those 30 billion are recycled. The rest go right into the landfills. That's well over 25 billion bottles used once (maybe-MAYBE twice) and tossed. Why not teach the kids NOT to use those little environmental bombs? Or design a pamphlet on why they should A- not use them and give some alternatives like the SIGG bottles and B- Why they should recycle if they have to use them occasionally, and where... I would pay a lot more money for that!
I will admit that I have purchased them on occasion, and do not always recycle them, but I do try to use them as many times as I can. Most importantly, I am not using one of our most needless environment clogging, and wastefully consumptive items to promote being green! To me that is like having a fire "safety" meeting giving out matches and hay then showing people how to easily start a fire. It really doesn't take a lot of common sense. How do you politely say that someone's 'go green' promotion is fatally flawed?
07 December 2007
Are you a cat person?
Would you say you're a cat person or dog person? The two are like the yin and yang in my family. I always thought I liked both growing up, but we had birds so what did I know? My mother is a dog person. She will say she doesn't like animals at all, but I disagree. We had a dog until I got bit (on the face) by one and had to have plastic surgery for several years after.
Dogs are more social. They want you to like them, want you to pet them, want you to play with them, and like to be with the group. I think if this describes you, you may be a dog person. My father, on the other hand, is more of a cat person. He is more solitary, likes to do things independently, and doesn't really seek the approval of anyone. Cat people don't necessarily want someone clinging to them all the time, every now and then sure, but when I want my space Iwantitnow!
I would say that in my marriage Art is the dog person, and I fill the cat person shoes. That is not to say that I don't love my dog, I just have many more rules/limits than Art does about him licking or breathing on me, leaning or laying on me. Art could curl up on the floor and be drooled on for hours and not care one bit. He's just happy to be hanging out with the dog. I like my cats. They are smart, independent, and maybe a little snarky at times. They disappear when they want to be alone, but will let you pet them when they feel like it. They don't take it personally if you get up and walk away in the middle of petting them. But, if I am at a party or someones house I am much much more likely to play with their dog than their kid, so it's not that I don't like dogs, I just prefer cats...
I think that cat people are more vociferous about being cat people, or more clearly not being dog people. We have one friend who tries to give us his wife's dog every time we see them. The other just tells us how rotten his dog is and how she's out to get him! She seems to be pretty sweet, although terrified of him! One of those cat people is working on our house. It is funny to watch him with the kitten monster. They scoop her up, and snuggle her, or give her a string or piece of box to play with while she is "helping" him.
Dogs are more social. They want you to like them, want you to pet them, want you to play with them, and like to be with the group. I think if this describes you, you may be a dog person. My father, on the other hand, is more of a cat person. He is more solitary, likes to do things independently, and doesn't really seek the approval of anyone. Cat people don't necessarily want someone clinging to them all the time, every now and then sure, but when I want my space Iwantitnow!
I would say that in my marriage Art is the dog person, and I fill the cat person shoes. That is not to say that I don't love my dog, I just have many more rules/limits than Art does about him licking or breathing on me, leaning or laying on me. Art could curl up on the floor and be drooled on for hours and not care one bit. He's just happy to be hanging out with the dog. I like my cats. They are smart, independent, and maybe a little snarky at times. They disappear when they want to be alone, but will let you pet them when they feel like it. They don't take it personally if you get up and walk away in the middle of petting them. But, if I am at a party or someones house I am much much more likely to play with their dog than their kid, so it's not that I don't like dogs, I just prefer cats...
I think that cat people are more vociferous about being cat people, or more clearly not being dog people. We have one friend who tries to give us his wife's dog every time we see them. The other just tells us how rotten his dog is and how she's out to get him! She seems to be pretty sweet, although terrified of him! One of those cat people is working on our house. It is funny to watch him with the kitten monster. They scoop her up, and snuggle her, or give her a string or piece of box to play with while she is "helping" him.
01 December 2007
Real or Fake?
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Ah, the holidays. One of my favorite times of the year. Sure the days are getting shorter and colder, but with that comes the season of friends and family, hot mugs of cocoa by the fire, snuggly warm sweaters, and Christmas. Christmas was a very big holiday growing up. My Mom would have the Christmas tree up by December 1 at the latest. Dad would put Christmas music on the turntable, and we would have egg nog, and dec the tree. They used to try to make us wait until Christmas day to open presents but soon realized that we were much more likely to not get up at 4:00am if they let us open one on Christmas Eve. My brother and I were pros at peeling the tape back to peek into our presents. One year, I had a bad moment and made a mess of a present I was peeking into. It was a stuffed cat. So I tucked her into the branches of the Christmas tree. Of course, I forgot all about it, and my Mom found it when we took the tree down that year-Oops!I grew up with a fake tree. All of my friends, except one, had fake trees. You take it out of the box, fluff it up and decorate. After Christmas you stuff it in the box and put it in the closet until next year. Done. Ours had a little scent pine cone on it that you could put wintergreen smell into. Now, my Mom has a fake tree that also has prestrung lights.
Art is a purist. He always had a real tree growing up. Even with his allergies. They would go pick a tree out, haul it home on top of the car, and water it religiously, endlessly picking up pine needles that have found their way to every corner of the house. Then fight the dry scratchy tree at the end of the season and try to get it out of the house with at least a few pine needles still on the tree, then you have to dispose of the tree... I prefer a bonfire :)> There is nothing like the smell of a Christmas tree. But fake tree users swear by the tree scented glade plug in.
We will be getting a real tree this year. For years we didn't get a tree because we always went to Colorado and I didn't think cleaning up pine needles for three months was worth it if we weren't even going to be home for the holiday. Last year the family (in NE)came to our house so I got a big honkin' (real) tree and decked it out. I think a tradition was born... To sate my fake tree itch I do have a tacky fiber optic one that I put at the store. I absolutely love it!
Real or fake tree, I love this time of year. I look forward to having so many of my family and friends around, will miss terribly our friends and family in Colorado, and I look forward to my Christmas tree!
Although, with our kitten-monster starting her flying lessons, (you should have seen the death defying leap from the loft stairs to the sofa, or should I say almost the sofa--ouch!--) does anyone know where I can get rubber ornaments? I can't wait to see how high she gets in the tree!
30 November 2007
How much does a chicken weigh?
There are many people in life that will pose thought provoking questions that range from the mundane to the fantastic. There is a question so obscure, yet so frequently asked that we are left scratching our heads. Because we are professionals do we have an extrasensory knowledge that the average person does not? How do you live up to the sense of urgency with which the question is asked? It seems harmless, an innoculous little question that should have a simple and straight forward answer, so what's the big deal? Um, short of a crystal ball, full house schematics, a weather audit for the spot where the house is, full knowledge of what temp the people in the house want, know how often the doors open and shut, air leaks in windows, etc., a planetary weather control system or at least forecaster... it is impossible to answer. "How many pellets will I need a day/a month/this year?"
Art's favorite answer when people ask how long a hopper/bag will last is "You can go all summer on one bag!" but the irony is generally lost and the response is a glazed, deer in the headlights, puzzled look.
I usually turn it around and ask, "What will the temperature be on January 18 at 3:00 in the afternoon?" They look at me and say, "That's impossible to answer." I just nod...
We expect it from the average consumer who is probably looking for more detailed information like, "How much heat does this unit put out on high/low?" and "How many pellets does it take to produce said heat?" But yesterday we had a peer in the industry call to ask how many pellets the boiler uses. He's been doing this longer than we have!
So I would like to submit "How many pellets will I use?" to the "Why did the chicken cross the road" hall of fame.
27 November 2007
Need gift ideas?
For the person who has everything.
Want to be in control?
Good old Yankee practicality
Never wonder...
from stupid.com
25 November 2007
Small change
After three very llllooooonnnggg weeks DH finally got a chance to look a the washer last night when he got home from work. My official complaint was that it wasn't spinning (fast) and not draining the water. He unhooked the water and pulled it out of its little cubby then turned it on to see what was going on. Off it ran, spinning like a mad hamster's wheel. Crap. If it wasn't broken at all I would be really ticked! So we put a pair of pants in, hooked the water back up, let if fill a little with water then fast forwarded to the spin cycle. No spinning, no draining. I actually felt a little relieved. Who wants to have made such a fuss of having to go to the laundrymat for so long, only to have nothing wrong?!? But, quickly back to damn, the washer's still broken... After fussing and draining, and prodding by hubby, and tool fetching, button pushing, light holding, and cat herding by me he found the problem. The drain pump was clogged. Our water is so bad and rust riddled I expected a gob of goo the size of a shoe, but alas it was Art's pocket clutter that was the culprit. We pulled out eight years of change, nails, bolts, washers, etc... It feels much better now...
24 November 2007
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