This one has always puzzled me

From the Boston Herald: (my emphasis)

A state trooper attempting to shoo a Mercedes Benz ML320 illegally idling in a bus lane at Logan Airport was hit and dragged by the SUV as its obstinate driver, a Wellesley wife, allegedly sped off to avoid getting a ticket.

Investment manager Margaret Greer, 57, of 24 Windsor Road, was released on personal recognizance yesterday following her arraignment in East Boston District Court on charges of assault and battery on a police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon and failure to stop for police. An automatic plea of not guilty was entered on her behalf by the court.

How does one rate getting a non-guilty plea automatically entered for you at court?  Is this a standard procedure for what amounts to a hit-and-run on a police officer?  I thought they usually responded with small-arms fire to these situations.

RIP Natasha Richardson

I always respected her and her husband, Liam Nesson, as classy and classical actors.  I also respected them because they largely kept to their craft and didn't spout off about their political beliefs every chance they got in front of a microphone.

My thoughts are with Liam and their two children and the rest of their families.

Here's hoping Liam isn't in front of a microphone in 6 to 9 months calling for mandatory helmet use while skiing.

Sent from my G1...

Strike two

I'm not going to go into the details when Google is available, but Jay Severin's behavior on the 10th Annual Kiss Me I'm Imus show on Tuesday morning was strike two.  His behavior since through his agent means that I'm no longer going to go out of my way to listen to his show.

Maybe I missed it, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't called Kiss Me I'm Severin.

I just want to make sure I have the details right.  You appear on his show for the better part of ten years, knowing full well what a cantankerous bastard he is, and then write a formal letter to him requesting that you are no longer invited on to the show when your feelings are hurt on a few appearances.

Okay.

Then, in the days leading up to the Kiss Me I'm Imus show, you go on the record that you won't go on the show unless invited.  I have no direct knowledge about whether or not you got an invite, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume you didn't.

Okay.

Then on the day of the Kiss Me I'm Imus show, you have the temerity to go up on stage to interrupt Imus to do what?  Wish him well with his cancer?

After all your talk over the years about how tough you are, about how many bar fights you've won, you sure looked like a scared little girl running off that stage.

I'll be looking for the next radio ratings numbers to come out to see how you're doing.  If you do go down, it'll be interesting to see if you change your tune.

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Strike one

On Monday I tuned in to WTKK to listen to Jay Severin as I usually do on the drive home and he was holding forth on the subject of the AIG bonuses.  I did not listen for very long because Severin finally did something that he had failed to do in the decade he's been on the air.

He pissed me off.

His position was that what AIG did in terms of bonuses was none of our business.

My first reaction was to turn off the radio.

After a decade of talking about how our money is taken from us at the point of gun, for him to give AIG carte blanche with our money seemed patently ludicrous.  I simply could not understand how he could take that position.

Sent from my G1...

A thought occurred to me over the weekend...

Nothing earth-shattering, but a notion seemed to gel in my head.

For all my life, I've been trying to understand why men and women
approach situations so differently. I've witnessed this difference in
approach in my mom and dad, the women I've dated, and my two wives.
I've seen it in my brother and sister and I've seen it in other
couples. And now I think I understand the difference.

Men are goal-oriented; women are task-oriented.

I'm not saying this insight is going to solve the "war of the sexes";
hell, it may not even help me understand my own wife and daughters.
But I just wanted to write it down.

This could be the one silver lining that is in this whole TARP and ARAR mess.

Ever have one of those days...

...when you can't get anything done because of people interrupti...

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Doing my part for global warming...

Dead oak trees make for toasty living rooms

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I have got to move out of this state

Coyote, as usual, hits the nail on the head with this post.

Now that's just cold...

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/offbeat/view.bg?articleid=1143931&format=text

Wow.  I'm speechless.

GapMinder

Very slick site I just stumbled across:

http://www.gapminder.org

Enjoy!

Marketing is key

I realize that this probably just due to laziness, but there is a reason why I'm paying Shell for gas and not Citgo

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UPDATE: I did this from my phone, and now viewing it on the computer, I realize just how hard it is to see the CITGO sign in the background.  The Shell station I'm at is selling gas for $1.55/gal.  Just across the street, the CITGO station is selling gas for $2.65/gal.  Understandably, I'm at the Shell station.

Seven month countdown starts now...

Life At New Animal Farm Won’t Be All That Bad

I can't wait.

I'm getting old

My oldest turned 15 today.  This coming summer will filled with driving lessons.  Time to start saving for a new clutch.

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Why was this stopped?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7798270.stm

Unless the receiving couple can be shown to have a history of abuse/neglect/imcompetence when it comes to child care, why shouldn't they be allowed to keep the child?  They clearly want the child, and the biological parents clearly don't want the child.  Let the child go to where it is wanted.

Lyme disease sucks

It really does.

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The Ice Storm of 2008 IV

My wife's job requires Internet access, so sometime on Saturday or Sunday I called Charter to report an outage.  Today I received an automated phone call from Charter:

This is Charter Communications calling in reference to the outage that you reported to let you know that service has been restored. Thank you. Good-bye.

How can they report to me that my service has been restored when I don't even have power back on yet?

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I'm waiting for my visit from the non-union fairy godmother...

I tuned into WTKK 96.9 briefly over the weekend to hear this come from one of the two mouth-breathers known as the hosts of the "Joe and Huggy Show": 

Now, I'm a member of a union, and while on paper it looks like we make 60 to 70 dollars per hour, after you figure in retirement, medical, dental, life insurance, car insurance and all that other stuff, we really only make 20 to 30 dollars per hour.

I cannot comprehend the mindset that would think this way.

The Ice Storm of 2008 III

Today was spent locating, buying, transporting and installing a 5700 watt gas-powered generator.  We now have heat, water and refrigerator.  The sound of a flushing toilet has never sounded so good.

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The Ice Storm of 2008 II

It's 12:49 AM and I'm wide awake after draining the pipes.  I had gone outside for more wood for the woodstove and checked the thermometer.  20F.  The hallway from the kitchen to Fee's office had been quite cold and I couldn't stop worrying over the pipes.  So I opened the faucet in the basement sink and went around and opened all the other faucets all over the house.  No ice chunks came out, so I guess I did it in time.

My neighbor lost a huge double tree in the storm (two trees that had grown right next to each other and shared a root ball).  One side went down and absolutely smashed a shed of his.  The other side went down on all the utility lines for his house and mine.  At the base of the trunk, both trees are easily 24" in diameter.  National Grid has no idea how bad it is up here.  I doubt we'll have power again any time soon.

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