September 14, 2009
To be honest, I've sort of been ignoring the budget impasse that's been plaguing our Pennsylvania state government. I've been through several of these before in other states (and I remember well a couple federal ones), and everything always turns out OK in the end. There's partisan bickering, a few services that don't affect me shut down temporarily, and every public television and radio station in the state starts freaking out. It's annoying, but the effects are usually limited,...
August 13, 2009
I just wanted to say a few words about the health plan I used to have at Adobe, and you can take those words for what they're worth. I'm saying my piece here because I never hear anyone talk about this sort of thing, and I think it's relevant to the debate....
February 24, 2009
After a brief interlude in contemporary non-fiction (I highly recommend The Post-American World —the audiobook is read by the author, who has both a compelling argument and a compelling voice), I've returned to the classics on my Audible wishlist. I've been listening to Dickens' Bleak House, and a passage from it that I heard today struck me as particularly apropos to our times....
May 12, 2008
I might be the only person in the U.S. who's happy that gas prices are nearing $4 a gallon. Yes, I wince when I have to fill up my own gas tank, and I have sympathy for those who drive for a living, but I still can't help smiling whenever the news reports that people are walking, using public transit, and bicycling more, or that sales of small cars are up among those who must drive....
December 6, 2007
From a New York Times article entitled Teenage Birth Rate Rises for First Time Since ’91, in which abstinence-only programs are criticized (rightly, IMHO), comes this hilarious quote:...
April 30, 2007
It's the dance sensation that's sweeping the nation['s gym classes]: P.E. Classes Turn to Video Game That Works Legs. Rock on!...
February 5, 2007
Did y'all know that Daylight Saving Time is being extended this year? Instead of starting on the first Sunday in April and ending on the last Sunday in October, it'll now start on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. In other words, DST will start on March 11 this year instead of April 1, and it'll end on November 4 instead of October 28....
December 27, 2006
I hate it when I have a logjam of things to write about; usually the result is that nothing at all comes out. I'm in the process of trying to clear the jam and let a couple logs through at a time. To whit:...
September 4, 2005
From School Monitor, an interview with Jonathan Kosol in today's NYT Magazine:...