Okay, downright cold out there. Didn’t drop below zero, but we very nearly ran out of Fahrenheits last night. Between the cold and the wind that was gusting to over 50 mph, I didn’t have a big urge to get outside yesterday. In fact, I made two trips out. One was to refill the bird-feeders, since the critters need extra fuel in the cold weather too. The other was to head down to the Stone Arch Bridge to take a full-moon picture.
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| stone arch bridge & moon |
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When I got down there, I was initially confused. The moon was supposed to have risen, but I didn’t see it. Turns out, it’s much farther north in the sky this month than last, and was hiding behind the buildings across the river. Once I figured out what was going on, I set up the tripod and clicked off a half-dozen pictures. This is the one I like best, though I wish I’d moved the tripod that last foot or two to get the moon centered in the power-pylon. But I think the trip was worth it. Already one person on Flickr has called this picture a favorite, which is gratifying.
I also pushed my new furniture around a bit in the bedroom. I was planning to move my bed in there yesterday, but one of the legs snapped off the vanity while I was moving it, so I spent some time repairing that instead. I also discovered that I need some power-strips or extension cords to get the electricity where I need it before I can set everything up, so that’ll be part of the plan for today. I had gotten used to the idea of being able to slowly nibble away at projects like this, but the other news from yesterday is that I now have an official start-date for a new job. I’ll be someone else’s employee, and I’m won’t have even a fraction of the free-time I currently do, so I’d better get this project completed.
- Chad posted A letter from Terry Keegan to Hennepin County, talking about the smoking ban. Mitch adds the point that smokers are a multiplier. They bring friends along. And there’s another multiplier. Smokers tend to stay longer and spend more in bars than non-smokers. But the Minneapolis and Hennepin County smoking bans mean that folks are either driving to Ramsey or Anoka counties or staying home. I didn’t know exactly how bad things were at Keegan’s, since I’ve only been in there a couple times since the ban started, but it doesn’t surprise me. Things are bad at all the bars I used to patronize regularly. As I pointed out in 2004, it was about ten percent of the bars in California that folded when they put their state-wide smoking ban in place. I suspect the numbers will be higher here, especially this winter. In CA, you can sit at an outdoor patio nearly year-round. I don’t think that’ll fly here. But hey, I’m spending less in bars and drinking less in general, so that’s good for me, right? Terry’s letter was prompted by Hennepin County consider[ing] changes to smoking ban law, which will directly help exactly zero bars in Minneapolis. Minneapolis has its own ban, and one that probably won’t be going away, at least if Tweedledee has anything to say about it. I feel bad for bar-owners like Terry and Joe, but I just don’t see how they’ll survive this winter. [mitch and metro mpls]
- In a defeat to the PorkBusters, The ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ Is No More. Yeah, that’s right, it was a defeat. The bridge got cancelled, but instead Alaska gets a blank check for the money. So the politicians get to duck the heat for a while, but the bridge will probably be built anyhow. Or Alaska will come up with some other way to spend the money. [fark!]
- The rollout of UK’s ‘24×7 vehicle movement database’ begins and the stated goals are: catching speeders, catching untaxed and uninsured vehicles, and oh yes, locating anyone who sets off red-flags in terrorist databases. But hey, you don’t have to worry about the system if you don’t have anything to hide, right? Tell that to White House staffers who say
You’re always being watched, always under suspicion, always second-guessed.
[claire] - A new blog, Police State USA
discusses the transformation of the USA into a police state.
So far, so good. It will go into the list of daily reads for now. [claire]