Dept. of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happinefs

Not only do we get a celebration of one of America's favorite semi-foods, but we get a yellow car point as well.

A monument to the marshmallow: Peep store near D.C. is talk of the town - The Boston Globe

Just Born, maker of the chick- and bunny-shaped marshmallow Easter favorites called Peeps, is officially opening the first store devoted to them today.

The Peeps & Company store will open today in National Harbor, a mall and convention center in Oxon Hill, Md. (Jacquelyn Martin/ Associated Press)

Thanks to Friend Bill for the tip.

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This is one in an occasional series of notes regarding the greatness that is America, the greatness that is our dream.

via Publishing the Declaration of Independence (Journeys and Crossings, Library of Congress Digital ReferenceTeam)

The future of books

A while ago, I posted a picture of the garage where we lived. After my father finished building the house, the garage became, first, a garage. Then, my mother opened a book store. If I recall correctly, my father was away a lot of the time, working construction jobs that would take him away from early Monday morning to late Friday evening. The Westminster Book Shop gave my mother an interesting project and a chance at a dream.
You'd never have a more passionate bookshop owner than my mother. You'd also not likely have a more unlikely owner. She'd rather give books away than sell them, read than market, talk than run a business. We lived nearly three miles from town, so there wasn't a lot of walk-in traffic. She didn't drive at the time, so, well, you get the idea. As difficult as it was for her to accept at the time, it probably wasn't a bad idea that my father decided to reclaim the garage for a welding business. (Interestingly, he wasn't great at running a business, either, and had more freedom working for other people than working for himself. Another story for another day.)
Out of that time, of the book shop, came the Hakkarainen Clipping Service ("No obligation to read, acknowledge, or return."), a practice that was, for my mother, as natural as breathing, to send newspaper clippings, magazines, books, and anything else written to someone for whom this might be interesting. It's what blogging looked like in the Eisenhower era, except that the messages were delivered to one person at a time and the communications medium was the mailman.
Spin forward a half century and we have plenty of new things to consider. One intriguing site came across the wire this morning by way of this post, Building communities: Introducing Bookfuturism.com « Snarkmarket. The site is Bookfuturism | mapping the future of reading: "Bookfuturism.com is a digital commons and multi-user blog open to anyone interested in the future of reading."
It's a new site with just a few contributors so far. The threads around newspapers and books and such are things that we've discussed here and elsewhere around town. So, let's see where it goes.

So, now, Facebook is telling me what I can't post.

I tried to put a link to the Rolling Stone top 100 albums of the decade on my Facebook wall:

I get this:

So, now I have to know what might be bothersome to someone someplace for some reason?

Dept. of Christmas

Matthew 10:34-36 (King James Version)

 ³⁴Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
 ³⁵For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
 ³⁶And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

Matthew 10:34-36 - Passage Lookup - King James Version - BibleGateway.com

frontières sans frontières

In last Sunday's New York Times, Scott Shane describes The War in Pashtunistan. The Pashtun people have occupied a broad area that spans the Afghan and Pakistani borders, a unity that predates the borders drawn by the British in 1893. Most of the Taliban are Pashtun and move within Pashtunistan as they need to. The American soldiers often find their pursuit of the bad guys halted because our troops have GPS units that can tell them where the border is located and our rules of engagement respect national borders.

The idea is simple once you think about it for a minute. While history is full of examples of conquering nations redrawing the national boundaries of those whom they (temporarily) control, natural ethnic 'nations' persist for generations, centuries, and millenia.
It gets really bad in some places, such as the lands known variously as Israel and Palestine or the many-named Congo regions or the Balkans. Groups who have occupied the lands for hundreds and even thousands of years contend with other groups who have been there for as long or as longer.
Yugoslavia was held together by Tito's force of will. When he died, the regional reverted to its Balkan nature.
Sometimes, nations get desperate to secure their borders. The BBC has a story about a wall that Egypt is build to keep people from Gaza from crossing the border. Walls are nothing new (Great Wall of China). This one on the Egypt-Gaza border is special, though. It's 18m deep, made of bomb-proof metal, and intended to prevent Gazans from tunneling into Egypt to acquire food, guns, and other essentials.
The arctic peoples, Saami in northern Europe, Inuit, Athabascan, and Aleuts in northern America, Yakuts and dozens more in Russia, by necessity of their nomadic lives, cannot afford to be too careful about national boundaries, a notion that often is problematic for their more southern governments.
Also in the Sunday Times, James Bradley recounts Teddy Roosevelt's role in the war between Japan and Russia in the early 20th century. Although Roosevelt won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in settling the war, the settlement may have set the stages for Japanese expansionism in the succeeding decades, resulting in the attack on Pearl Harbor and all that followed. Roosevelt brokered a deal that effectively erased Korea as an independent nation, giving control to Japan, and establishing Japan as Asia's natural leader.
An essential part of war, diplomacy, and pretty much everything else in life is understanding what's most important to the other guy. We easily fall in the thinking-trap that what motivates us also motivates other people. We assume that murderers are deterred by the threat of capital punishment. We assume that all groups aspire to be democratic republics, respecters of borders, human rights, and the power of the Christmas message.

There, I Fixed It: Epic Kludges + Jury Rigs That’s Not Traumatizing Or Anything «

The other may have a completely different world view. We might disagree, even to the point of believing that the other is beyond redemption, but, if we ignore how the other sees the world, we do so at our great peril.

Yesterday's weather today

see more Funny Graphs

More on blogging and news

Every time that I think about bloggers as citizen journalists, I also remember Gomer Pyle shouting "Citizen's Arrest" on the dirt streets of Mayberry (21 sec. video clip ). We see a wrong and we write about it.
Recently, local writers Nicole and Jeff have posted interesting pieces about bloggers as journalists. Nicole, in Citizen Journalism in Brattleboro: An Interview « Nicole, Worcester, shows how Brattleboro VT has developed a community of contributors and identifies some of the challenges associated with coordinating a team of volunteer and usually amateur writers. Jeff's piece, Wormtown Taxi: Journalistic Legwork, demonstrates that the local professional journalists are less than thorough in using basic, publicly available resources to complete a story.
Somehow, then, from this highly irregular legion of professional journalists join with paid and unpaid bloggers to consume and produce streams of news from credible and incredible sources.

As long as you don't look too closely, it just might work.
Which means, of course, that it's time for the federal government to weigh in.
New FTC guidelines for endorsements and testimonials went into effect last week. Among other things, the guidelines try to ensure that bloggers disclose any financial interest in the products, services, or business about which they write.
Seems reasonable. You, faithful reader, should know if my opinions are shaped by my desires for revenue enhancement.
So, naturally, the blogosphere sees this move by the FTC as attempt to control free speech by redefining bloggers as advertisers, that 'mommy bloggers' will be subject to $11,000 fines per blog post if they fail to disclose that they received a free sample of anything, that this is part of a great takeover of the news industry in general.
Look, we're in areas that are simultaneously new and yet with precedent. The role  of the federal government in news goes way back. The newspaper industry has long benefited from favorable postage rates. When technological advances in the 19th century reduced printing processes, it became practical for non-traditional (i.e., poor, immigrant, non-white, or non-English-speaking) publishers to deliver news by and for new communities.
And with the growth of foreign-language newspapers came the concern, even among relatively liberal New Yorkers, that the radicals might be taking charge.

via New-York tribune. (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, July 20, 1919, Image 60 - Chronicling America - The Library of Congress

Fortunately, with the exception of the Finns, Russians, and Hungarians, most immigrant groups behaved well and weren't very radical at all.

More on primary politics and news

• Are we well-served when the media, in the interest of being fair and balanced, present each candidate as having an equal chance of winning when the pre-election polls and the actual vote count showed that this race was over in September? And, that for the final, it's over now?
• At 8PM last night, I was driving home from the provinces and turned on the radio to try to find some election news. WBUR and WBZ had full-time coverage, but no data at the time.
  
  
  • 'BUR went on for quite a while, giving equal perspective on each candidate's position and campaign, as though it was going to be a close race.
  • Dan Rea on 'BZ, meanwhile, concentrated on the real story, that after such passion surrounding the death of Ted Kennedy, less than 20% of the electorate voted.
  • Meanwhile, we're sending an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, where voters have reportedly had their fingers cut off for the act of voting.
    
• NECN is reported to have said that Martha Coakley was rehearsing both an acceptance and a concession speech during the hour that they waited for the votes to be counted. Was her campaign that clueless that exit polling hadn't told her by 9AM that she was going to win big? Or that she should let people know that she was rehearsing both speeches?
  
• I have never, ever, ever had such an onslaught of robocalls as I've experienced with yesterday's Democratic special election primary. It's been on the order of two or three calls on behalf of each candidate each day. To their credit, it was impressive that each candidate has been able to array such a list of supporters and get the phone machines cranking out the calls.
  
• When the race started in the summer, it seemed as though Martha Coakley would walk away with it all, which she did. The other three were determined to make it a real election.
  
• Last month, some friends asked who we supported. The agreement among this group of Democrats was that all were pretty good and would represent us as we'd wish, but none inspired real passion. I, for example, wish that Barney Frank had run, bringing his intelligence, wit, and doggedness (not to mention how well he undermines the stereotype of what gay men are supposed to look like) to the election and to the Senate.
  

No patent for patent leather shoes

Our attitudes regarding patents, and their cousins, copyrights, struggle to be clear and simple. Recalling the basic premise of patent law, that, to be patentable, an invention must be novel, non-obvious, and have utility. It's got to be new, creative, and work.
The basic premise, that a creative individual ought to benefit from that creativity, but that society at large also has a countervailing interest of having ideas freely available for our use and for future invention, is defined in the Article 1, Section 8, of the U. S. Constitution

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

Note that the words patent, copyright, and trademark are not used; those terms were established by later legislation and affirmed by court cases.

From simple and noble, honoring the garage tinkerer, we've reach point, as one Microsoft engineer and holder of eight patents, notes,

never search, view, or speculate about patents. I was confused by this guidance till I wrote and reviewed one of my own patents. The legal claims section—the only section that counts—was indecipherable by anyone but a patent attorney.

Originally, patents were intended to reward physical inventions, such as the cotton gin, light bulb, or transistor. With the  patenting of software, and the establishment of the U. S. Court of Appeals and its jurisdiction over patents, the number and type of patents has grown including business process patents that are now the subject of a U. S. Supreme Court case. (See The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's Impact on Patent Litigation.)
The Supreme Court, in Bilski v. Kappos, is now considering whether business processes that ideas and processes are patentable. Groklaw's transcript shows that the justices are skeptical of the claim. (The official transcript is available on the Supreme Court site.)

JUSTICE SCALIA: You know, you mention that there are all these -- these new areas that didn't exist in the past because of modern business and what-not, but there are also areas that existed in the past that don't exist today. Let's take training horses. Don't you think that -- that some people, horse whisperers or others, had some, you know, some insights into the best way to train horses? And that should have been patentable on your theory.

MR. JAKES: They might have, yes.

JUSTICE SCALIA: Well, why didn't anybody patent those things?

MR. JAKES: I think our economy was based on industrial process.

JUSTICE SCALIA: It was based on horses, for Pete's sake. You -- I would really have thought somebody would have patented that.

While we await the Court's decision, we're left to ponder how  such a noble idea wound up with such silly attempts and/or results:

• IBM's attempt to patent the 40-minute meeting; Slashdot | IBM "Invents" 40-Minute Meeting
An application to patent spam email processes was tossed out of court because the solution was obvious - Slashdot Your Rights Online Story | Federal Appeals Court Tosses Spam Patent
• What's brown and sticky? A stick, US006360693B1 - An apparatus for use as a toy by an animal, for example a dog, to either fetch carry or chew includes a main section with at least one protrusion extending therefrom that resembles a branch in appearance.
  

and contention:

• An international intellectual property war looms as is India moves to patent yoga poses in bid to protect traditional knowledge.
  
• Software patenting has been a scourge in the global technology industries, let loose by a misinterpretation of US patent law by lower court judges biased in favor of patentability.
  via Software Freedom Law Center Files Brief with Supreme Court Arguing Software Cannot Be Patented

A whole new industry, called by non-practicing entities (commonly known as patent trolls), whereby companies buy up patents, sue others who might be infringing on those patents. The patent trolls don't actually make anything, except money.

via Dilbert comic strip for 09/09/2009 from the official Dilbert comic strips archive.

• Everyone hates patent trolls (except, perhaps, the patent trolls' mothers) - To troll or not to troll, is that the question? | The Open Road - CNET News
  
• Patent Trolls Erode the Foundation of the U.S. Patent System
  
• Channel Intelligence Sues Just About Everyone Who Offers Wishlists
  
• Intellectual Ventures, co-founded by former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold, has moved into a new phase, by selling patent rights to companies who will sue and pay IV a portion of the bounty:
  
  
  

  Intellectual Ventures has started selling some of its 27,000 patents to people who aren't afraid to sue -- and in some cases IV will get a share of the prize. It's a scary scenario for tech companies that may end up in the legal crosshairs, but industry observers say it was only a matter of time
  

  
  
• Leading to an effort to patent the process of patent trolling: Halliburton Tries To Patent Form Of Patent Trolling.
  
• To which the good guys respond by buying patents with a promise not to sue: Trolling for Patents to Fight Patent Trolls.

So where do we go from here?  Likely, we're going to spend the winter waiting for the SCOTUS ruling on Bilski. While doing that, we can sit back and admire an American inventiveness with no apparent limits :

U.S. Pat. No. 6,805,607: Scented doll with the appearance of an aged person.via They Invented What? (No. 142) « Anticipate This!™ | Patent and Trademark Law Blog




U.S. Patent No. 7,574,752 Garment with Integral faux thong extension and associated method

via Fake Thong

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The patent is for a process for creating patent leather which, in turn, is an old process for treating leather so that it has a high gloss finish. You can start your research here. I'm tired and the Simpson's are on.

What's wrong with this picture

Hint: it's empty.
On a snowy day, the feeders should be filled with birds. I saw one squirrel earlier this morning, but that's it.

The struggle is never over

The Wingnuts Daily (WND.com) are launching a new campaign to bring back the old.

Join the call to return to Reagan's values

© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Ronald Reagan warned while he was president that government's view of the economy could be summarized with, "If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." Now WND's new "I WANT YOU TO FIGHT SOCIALISM" Pin is the top seller at the WND Superstore.

The pin is part of WND's latest line of banners, buttons and bumper stickers. The series of products features an exclusive, original design of a vintage Reagan that is modeled after the iconic Uncle Sam recruitment posters of the World War I era.

And, lest we forget, Bloom County reported on the impact of The Great Communicator's vision as it happened:

Let us also not forget that libertarians of the time were skeptical of Reagan's true conservatism: The Myths of Reaganomics - Murray N. Rothbard - Mises Institute.

From About the Mises Institute: "You have found the world center of the Austrian School of economics and libertarian political and social theory."

Crime in suburbia

From The Landmark (subscription required):

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Be careful during hunting season

Deer season (shotgun) opened Nov. 30 and runs through Saturday, Dec. 12. Deer season with primitive firearms is Dec. 14-31.

Hunting may start one half hour before sunrise and continue until one half hour after sunset, and is not allowed on Sundays.

via Be careful during hunting season | www.thelandmark.com | Landmark

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[Editor's note: There were 22 suspicious items this week.]

Holden

Monday, November 23

7:32 a.m. Trash in roadway on Salisbury St.; removed
1:01 p.m. Suspicious person on Princeton St.; OK, looking at home for possible purchase

Tuesday, November 24

1:45 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle at town pool
1:57 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle on Main St.
5:40 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle in lot on Main St.
10:36 a.m. Caller reports hearing two gunshots last night on Bullard St.
11:44 a.m. Suspicious vehicle on side of road on Manning St., one male occupant; testing phone signal
3:12 p.m. Caller found receipt for missing shotgun
3:12 p.m. Walk-in to turn in rifle; insufficient paperwork
5:07 p.m. Keys to vehicle flushed down toilet; car will be in lot for awhile
6:22 p.m. Parties throwing eggs on Union St.

Wednesday, November 25

12:22 a.m. Party sleeping in passenger’s seat on Highland St.; OK, listening to music with friend
1:57 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle in lot on Shrewsbury St.
1:35 p.m. Small female cat found on Old Broad St.
5:08 p.m. Trailer stopped in middle of Chapel St.
11:59 p.m. One male transported from restaurant home

Thursday, November 26

1:12 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle in parking lot on Main St.; OK, limo waiting to pick up
6:37 a.m. Suspicious person on River St.; looking for dog
8:40 a.m. Runner assisted during road race
10:48 a.m. Missing dog found
5:05 p.m. Dogs with Framingham tags lost in woods on Harrington Dr.
8:30 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle on Britney Dr.
11:37 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle on Bailey Rd.

Friday, November 27

1:01 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle on Salisbury St. at Dawson Recreation Area; advised to move along
1:46 a.m. Suspicious person on foot on Main St.; walking home
6:16 a.m. Someone left a frozen turkey on porch on Autumn Circle overnight; wondering if similar pranks reported
3:52 p.m. Dog found on Wyoming Dr.
8:13 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle on Wachusett St.
11:209 p.m. Parties dispersed from Eagle Lake
11:21 p.m. Vehicle hit with egg near Thayer Circle

Saturday, November 28

8:34 a.m. Firewood missing on Salisbury St.
8:45 a.m. Loud noises/banging behind business on Main St.
9:04 a.m. Photo scavenger hunt in Holden and Rutland
11:29 a.m. Tree leaning on service lines on River St.
1:40 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle parked on Wachusett St. for some time
2:07 p.m. Skateboarders on Shrewsbury St.
2:40 p.m. Truck broken down on Bullard St.
4:50 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle on Union St.
5:41 p.m. Lost wallet dropped off, owner will pick up
6:59 p.m. Suspicious person on Malden St.
11:41 p.m. Pumpkins smashed on Reservoir St.

Sunday, November 29

12:21 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle on Main St.
12:29 p.m. Jersey barriers not easily visible on River Rd.
7:52 a.m. Individual sleeping in vehicle in lot on Main St.; told to move along
10:30 a.m. Metal plate on Main St. falling into hole
2:36 a.m. Parent will be in to speak to officer about son being arrested
4:42 p.m. 911 Report of injured coyote; no contact
5:07 p.m. Lockout of motor vehicle on Britney Dr.

Paxton

Monday, November 23

6:48 p.m. Missing beagle, West St. Dog later located

Tuesday, November 24

2:20 p.m. Motor vehicle lockout, Richards Ave.
2:44 p.m. Rutland PD advises suspicious person in area of Rockland St. substation

Wednesday, November 25

3:30 p.m. Caller wants to speak with officer about ongoing issue with contractor, Nanigian Rd.
5:10 p.m. Disabled motor vehicle, box truck in bad location, Rte. 31
7:50 p.m. Report of suspicious tan vehicle, Pleasant St.

Friday, November 27

1:05 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle parked in front of home, Briarcliff Ln.
11:32 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Moore State Park, Sawmill Rd.

Saturday, November 28

1:03 p.m. Report of gunshots behind house, Crowningshield Dr.
5:12 p.m. Assist citizen with motor vehicle lockout, Burtenmar Cir.
5:33 p.m. Large tree branch in road, Pleasant St.
8:55 p.m. Tree on power lines, request for light department, Grove St.
9:52 p.m. Large bonfire, Richards Ave.

Sunday, November 29

1:15 a.m. Loud party, Richards Ave. Fire in back yard
4:40 a.m. Glass and other debris in roadway, Pleasant St.

Princeton

Monday, November 23

5:48 p.m. Request for light department, town-wide power outage

Tuesday, November 24

5:19 a.m. Medical assist, Mirick Rd.
5:50 p.m. Notification, Beaman Rd.

Wednesday, November 25

4:08 p.m. Traffic safety hazard, Main St./Gleason Rd.

Thursday, November 26

4:46 p.m. Medical assist, Ball Hill Rd.
8:04 p.m. Medical assist, Mirick Rd.

Friday, November 27

6:32 p.m. Medical assist, Ralph Rd.

Saturday, November 28

10:00 a.m. Traffic safety hazard, Westminster Rd.
10:44 a.m. Assist light dept., Ball Hill Rd.
11:11 a.m. Traffic safety hazard, Gregory Rd.
11:25 a.m. Request for highway department, Gregory Rd.
12:27 p.m. Public service, Main St.
4:01 p.m. Traffic safety hazard, Worcester Rd.

Sunday, November 29

12:22 a.m. Abandoned motor vehicle, Allen Hill Rd.
3:01 p.m. Disturbance, gun shots, Rhodes Rd.

Rutland

Monday, November 23

3:05 p.m. Report of deceased cat in road, Main St.
6:00 p.m. Person at station to talk with officer, Main St.
7:36 p.m. Person at station to speak with officer, Main St.

Tuesday, November 24

2:31 a.m. Assist Paxton PD with crowd control at Anna Maria College
10:05 a.m. Caller requesting officer stop at his home, E. County Rd.
10:28 a.m. Person at station to be fingerprinted for employment purposes, Main St.
12:00 p.m. Person wants to file complaint, Main St.
2:35 p.m. Suspicious male hanging around new electrical substation, Pleasantdale Rd.
3:49 p.m. Complaint about speeding bus, Bigelow Rd.
6:05 p.m. Caller asking for assistance with possible bad business deal, Maple Ave.
6:59 p.m. House broken into, E. County Rd.

Wednesday, November 25

6:29 a.m. Caller reports neighbor making a lot of noise, Maple Ave.
7:07 a.m. Person at station to speak with officer, Main St.
10:35 a.m. Person at station with noise complaint, Main St.
1:05 p.m. Person at station to speak with officer about his sons, Main St.
5:23 p.m. Car alarm sounding, Prouty Ln.

Thursday, November 26

7:20 a.m. Report of vehicle speeding, Rte. 122
8:27 a.m. Report of gun shots, Michael Dr.
6:28 p.m. Neighbor’s door open all day long, Maple Ave.

Saturday, November 28

12:47 a.m. Loud noise, banging on floor, Main St.
8:40 a.m. Police remove debris from E. County Rd.
11:05 a.m. Caller reports front door open, no one around, dog got out of house, Central Tree Rd.
12:22 p.m. Person at station to be fingerprinted for employment purposes, Main St.
1:37 p.m. Power out on Weaver Farm and Thurston Hill roads
2:11 p.m. Officer picked up golden retriever, Campbell St.; retuned to owner
4:07 p.m. Wire down in road, Rte. 68
7:51 p.m. Man fell down next to road, Pleasantdale Rd./Main St.
7:57 p.m. Person wants to speak with officer about being harassed, Pleasantdale Rd.
8:49 p.m. Two people hanging around outside building, Maple Ave.
9:40 p.m. Four youths knocking on doors, Emerald Rd.

Sunday, November 29

12:14 a.m. Complaint about noises from apartment, Maple Ave.
9:09 a.m. Officer removes phone line from roadway, E. County Rd.
1:49 p.m. Gun shots in field near residence, Irish Ln.
9:54 p.m. Assist Oakham PD, Old Turnpike Rd.

Sterling

Monday, November 23

9:17 a.m. Caller complaining about dog that barked and growled at her dog while she was out walking, Leominster Rd.
9:29 a.m. Police escort requested, Worcester Rd.
10:40 a.m. Escort services requested, Bridge St.

Tuesday, November 24

11:06 p.m. Several people at end of driveway, Chace Hill Rd.
11:30 p.m. Officer investigation, S. Meadow Rd.

Wednesday, November 25

3:31 p.m. Report of black Labrador running in roadway, Princeton Rd., Main St.

Thursday, November 26

12:31 a.m. Traffic stop, individual transported to home on Redemption Rock Trl.
5:50p.m. Caller reporting people running in yard, Chace Hill Rd.
5:56 p.m. Road rage incident, person struck person and kicked door of vehicle, Leominster/Chocksett Rds.

Friday, November 27

6:19 p.m. Officer requested for youth on four-wheeler speeding, Laurelwood Rd.

Saturday, November 28

4:50 p.m. Holden PD requests officer check on whereabouts of person that owns vehicle parked by the DCR gate in Holden for three days, Chace Hill Rd.
5:24 p.m. Report of gunshots and erratic vehicle, Old Princeton/West Rds.

Sunday, November 29

10:46 a.m. Dead cat, Redemption Rock Trl.
12:20 p.m. Caller found stray golden/Labrador retriever, Maple St.
12:34 p.m. Officer at home where burglar alarm sounding, N. Row Rd.
12:37 p.m. Officer checks building where burglar alarms sounding, Leominster Rd.

One thing to say about Tiger Woods

As Robin Williams said: http://bit.ly/8i5hxR

No matter what, we've always got the weather

Holden, Massachusetts (01520) Conditions & Forecast : Weather Underground

History in the unmaking

This morning's Telegram piece by George Barnes, Landmark furniture factory meets the wrecking ball, about the demolition of the Nichols and Stone building in Gardner comes with, as is true with most deaths, sadness but not surprise.
I was born in Gardner and grew up nearby. My grandparents raised my father and uncle in a three-decker on Pine Street, within walking distance of his job in the Kelly Brothers factory.
After high school, I worked for a short time at Gem Crib and Cradle. I was and am no carpenter, finish/Finnish or otherwise; I worked in the shipping department. Even there, my skills were limited. I walked off the edge of a loading dock and needed a dozen stitches in the back of my leg.
I had and have pride in Gardner. For quite a while, I had the annoying habit of turning wooden chairs over to see where they were made, noting with excitement when the chair came from a Gardner company.
There's plenty to be said about Gardner in particular and industrial cities and towns of New England in general. Friend Connie has written her personal history of the city in Chair City of the World. In addition, Mount Wachusett Community College offers the Greater Gardner Furniture History Documentary Project.
When we read history, we make our way through facts such as dates, descriptions of events, maybe a photo or several. History is really, though, about tracing the many paths that got us here.

We have a Nichols and Stone chair in our study, a surprise gift from Sandra and sneakily delivered by my father. It's a college chair. My alma mater has hundreds of them on campus. Most people look at the chair and see the college insignia. I look at the chair and see where it and I came from.

By negligence or by attack ...

There's no question that 9/11 was a major assault on our nation and our psyche. It led us to two wars, major changes to security, privacy, and judicial policies, and made us feel more vulnerable than any time in memory. There were bad guys who did it and we're gonna go get them.
And while we reflect on that, let's also reflect on Bhopal, where more people died immediately and 10-fold more have died prematurely or who suffered without the mercy of death or those who were born maimed - all by the criminal negligence of Union Carbide of India.
(To their credit, Union Carbide has a portion of its web site devoted to the Bhopal disaster: Bhopal Information Center.)
On December 3, 1984, 40 tons of methyl isocyanate burst into the air, the result of water improperly added to a chemical mixture at the plant.  Depending on how you define 'immediately,' between 4,000 and 15,000 died immediately.
And it gets worse. The BBC recently tested drinking water near the now-vacant plant and found the water contained 1,000 the safe limit of carbon tetrachloride.
Last night's broadcast of BBC America news included an interview with a woman whose 22-year-old son has been severely developmentally disabled because of her exposure to the chemicals.

"The gas ruined his life," says his mother. "Sometimes I wish God had never given Jagdeesh to us. It would have been better if he had never been born."

via BBC News - Bhopal survivors fight for justice

Meanwhile, guess where the American news media are. Of Drudge, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and Fox, only NBC had a front page story about the anniversary.

via Industrial disaster still haunts India - South and Central Asia- msnbc.com

Everyone else has Tiger Woods, Climategate, and the White House party-crashers well-covered. Imagine if a news outlet, on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, filled the top half of the page with the story of a golfer who's been sinking his putts elsewhere. Or carried a story about, and I'm not making this up, a woman who is comforted by the image of Mother Mary on a pancake.

via 'Virgin Mary' Pancake Brings Arizona Woman Peace - ABC News

The people who were killed or maimed 25 years ago were poor and far away. Besides, it was an accident.

Why Holden needs three pharmacy chains

Not only do we get Literary Links that lead to CVS, we also get paper towels for cheap. (Walgreens has a slight price edge.)

via Paper towel Ratings (subscription required)

Meanwhile, it's a real test of our love of Baby Jesus that we do our shopping at a place that has a creepy reindeer presiding over it all:

via Rite-Aid circular for 11/29/2009 thru 12/05/2009

Sometimes, you've got to read a sentence all the way through

...

via My Journal - WSJ.com (subscription required)

Not So Pretty in Pink: The Uproar Over New Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines

What we really need is a new women’s health movement, one that’s sharp and skeptical enough to ask all the hard questions: What are the environmental (or possibly life-style) causes of the breast cancer epidemic? Why are existing treatments like chemotherapy so toxic and heavy-handed? And, if the old narrative of cancer’s progression from “early” to “late” stages no longer holds, what is the course of this disease (or diseases)? What we don’t need, no matter how pretty and pink, is a ladies’ auxiliary to the cancer-industrial complex.

via Not So Pretty in Pink: The Uproar Over New Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines

Crime in exurbia

Massachusetts State Police issued a statement today:

Today at 10:29 am, Troopers from the State Police Barracks in Springfield responded to reports of cows walking on Route 91 South, near Exit 8, in Springfield. Upon arrival, the Troopers located two heifers, estimated to weigh approximately 500 pounds each, walking in and out of the travel lanes. The investigation revealed that a latch on a trailer that was hauling the animals to Enfield, Conn., had become dislodged. The cows then escaped into slow-moving traffic.
To ensure the safety of the motoring public as well as the safety of the animals, Troopers subsequently shut down Route 91 South in order to remove the animals to a safe location.

via Imagine 128 being shut due to cows | Universal Hub

Three things in one day

via Sober in a Nightclub: Things to do today...

That sound that you hear ...

is the sound of Israeli bombers and fighter jets warming up ...

BBC News - Iran 'planning 10 new uranium enrichment sites'

The White House said the move was "yet another serious violation of Iran's clear obligations".

Meanwhile, Britain described the news as "a matter of serious concern" and potentially a "deliberate breach" of UN resolutions.

Why comment moderation is a good thing

If I didn't moderate comments, I might have missed this one:

Between rain and snow is the wind

Usually when there's a strong northwest wind, we have a tough time getting the fire in wood stove to behave. We get a strong downdraft and the room fills with smoke until the stove pipe is hot enough to draw the smoke up and, most importantly, away. This morning, however, the fire started nicely.
There are a couple of places where the weather-stripping around the back door need to be replaced. And, I'm not sure if the downstairs thermostat is behaving properly. And, I've been meaning to install FreeBSD 8.0 on a virtual machine to, you know, see what's new. I'm pretty happy with Ubuntu most of the time, but 9.10 has a couple of annoying bugs.

In case you haven't guessed, I have a term paper to write. It's due next Friday. I have a pretty good first draft that I haven't touched in a month. I plan(ned) to write about some of the ways that intellectual property law touches blogging.
Most of the paper, I think, will deal with fair use and the recent FTC guidelines on endorsements. There's a boatload of other stuff in the news as well - Bilski (PDF), Groklaw - An Explanation of Computation Theory for Lawyers, Google's inclusion of  court opinions in Google Scholar, free and open source software, software licensing, and a limitless number of wormholes.
It's a rainy/snowy morning, a good time to settle in, do the paper, and then enjoy the rest of the weekend. I'll get started just as soon as I finish this article that's been sitting in my reading queue for several days, Splitting Time from Space—New Quantum Theory Topples Einstein's Spacetime: Scientific American.

Crime in suburbia

From The Landmark (subscription required):
[Editor's note: There were 14 suspicious items this week.]

Monday, November 16

8:00 a.m. 911 caller reporting no hot water, Dorothy Ave.
11:24 a.m. Suspicious van, Union St.; OK, party stopped for lunch
11:35 a.m. Two tires and rims dumped on property, Muschopauge Rd.
12:43 p.m. Parking issues, Sunnyside Ave.
3:40 p.m. Erratic driver, Bullard St.
4:43 p.m. Caller says younger son is home with friends over without permission, wants officer to remove individuals
4:59 p.m. Parking space altercation, Shrewsbury St.; one driver threw penny at the other’s vehicle, resulting in small dent
5:24 p.m. Erratic driver, Newell Rd.
5:26 p.m. Erratic driver, Main St.
5:35 p.m. Power flickering, Parker Ave.
5:40 p.m. Vehicle drove off from gas station without paying, Main St.
9:00 p.m. Caller says neighbor trespassing on property, Pinecroft Ave.

Tuesday, November 17

7:00 a.m. Suspicious vehicle with young male sleeping inside
8:47 a.m. Tree crew dropping limbs onto sidewalk and roadway, Jamieson Rd.
11:04 a.m. Motor vehicle lockout, Holden Commons Plaza
2:09 p.m. Damage to WTAG tower front posts, Shrewsbury St.
3:29 p.m. Resident blowing leaves into neighbor’s yard, Sycamore Dr.
4:19 p.m. Three youths in parking lot told to move along, Main St.
4:27 p.m. Situation resolved through diplomacy

Wednesday, November 18

12:06 a.m. Party called PD for ride into Holden; advised to call a taxi
9:30 a.m. Possible domestic by the side of road, Main St.; OK, just verbal argument
1:15 p.m. Suspicious male reported by mail carrier
2:50 p.m. 911 hang-up from pharmacy; accidental dial
4:40 p.m. Suspicious activity, male calling young kids to come up to apartment, Main St.
11:40 p.m. 911 caller thought he heard woman screaming in area of Winthrop Ln.; no sign of anything out of order

Thursday, November 19

2:40 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Autumn Cir.
2:42 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle in parking lot, Shrewsbury St., two parties sleeping inside
2:48 a.m. Worcester PD requests lookout for vehicle with two males wearing hoodies, unknown direction of travel; assist Worcester PD with search at Holden/Worcester line with thermal imager
8:52 a.m. Request for assistance with neighbor’s pitbull, Putnam Rd.

12:47 p.m. Rail Trail damage in Sterling reported in case it’s done in Holden
3:09 p.m. Kids assaulting other kids with sticks, Shrewsbury St.
3:55 p.m. Small child on side of Salisbury St. with no adult; getting picked up from day care
5:09 p.m. Kids on bikes; one stepped out in front of vehicle and spit on it, Boyden Rd.
6:52 p.m. Two large animals that resemble cats in road, Putnam Rd.
7:45 p.m. Missing dog, High St.

Friday, November 20

7:31 a.m. Catch basin flooding over, Rte. 122A/Sunnyside Ave.

Paxton

Monday, November 16

11:12 a.m. Loose dog going through rubbish, Howard St.
4:52 p.m. Disabled motor vehicle partially in roadway, Pleasant St./Reservoir Rd.
7:00 p.m. 911 hang-up, Pleasant St. Hunters in back yard
8:49 p.m. Abandoned 911 call, police respond to verify all OK, Grove St.

Tuesday, November 17

3:11 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Grove St.
5:15 p.m. Assist citizen getting car out of road, Crowningshield Dr.
5:41 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Old Lantern Cir.

Thursday, November 19

12:35 p.m. Dog defecating on front lawn and acting aggressively, Suomi St.
4:40 p.m. Possible gunshots behind Burtenmar Cir.

Princeton

Monday, November 16

3:28 a.m. Traffic safety hazard, Redemption Rock Trl. N
4:41 p.m. Public service, Mountain Rd.

Tuesday, November 17

7:23 a.m. Traffic control duty, Ball Hill Rd.
12:02 p.m. Officer investigation, Town Hall Dr.

Wednesday, November 18

1:16 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Fitchburg Rd.
8:15 p.m. Assist animal control officer, Brooks Station Rd.

Thursday, November 19

11:02 a.m. Disturbance, gunshots, Coal Kiln Rd.
5:41 p.m. Disturbance, motor vehicle, Main St.
7:54 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Stagecoach Rd.

Friday, November 20

5:37 A.M. Suspicious incident, Lovers Ln.
6:46 p.m. Assist other PD, Redemption Rock Trl./Beaman Rd., Sterling
7:24 p.m. Arrest: ... speeding, marked lanes violation, no inspection sticker, failure to wear seatbelt, reckless operation of motor vehicle, failure to stop for police,operating motor vehicle with revoked license, resisting arrest
[Editor's note: See Sterling report at this same date and time.]

Saturday, November 21

12:03 a.m. Assist fire dept., Houghton Rd.
6:11 a.m. Request for light dept., power outage, town wide
12:56 p.m. Officer investigation, Town Hall Dr.

Rutland

Monday, November 16

8:22 a.m. Person at station to speak with officer, Main St.
9:29 a.m. Business owner concerned because very punctual employee didn’t come to work and hasn’t called, requesting welfare check, Maple Ave.
10:26 a.m. Devereaux staff dropped off unknown substance found on school property, Miles Rd.
11:00 a.m. Loose sheep in road, Main St./Pleasantdale Rd.
1:51 p.m. General police services, Main St.
3:08 p.m. Wire hanging in roadway, Main St.
3:24 p.m. Police services rendered, Main St.
3:31 p.m. Person at station with license plate found on front lawn, E. County Rd.
3:30 p.m. Report of bus speeding mornings and afternoons, Bigelow Rd.
4:16 p.m. Report of gun on campus, Miles Rd.

Tuesday, November 17

11:33 a.m. Two people at station to speak with officer, Main St.
4:03 p.m. Person at station to speak with officer, Main St.
4:49 p.m. Gunshots in field next to house, Irish Ln.

Wednesday, November 18

1:58 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Maple Ave.
2:19 a.m. Remove debris from roadway, Main St.
11:22 a.m. Person at station to file complaint about speeding drivers, Glenwood Rd.
1:03 p.m. Services rendered, Maple Ave.
1:13 p.m. General police services, Pommogussett Rd.
6:05 p.m. Several calls about a large tarp blocking part of Maple Ave.
7:06 p.m. Person at station to speak with officer, Main St.

Thursday, November 19

11:12 a.m. Caller reports seeing very large wolf, Pleasantdale Rd.
1:08 p.m. Officer out of cruiser near pharmacy, Maple Ave.
1:39 p.m. Person at station to speak with officer, Main St.
3:44 p.m. Young, male student causing disturbance on bus, Miles Rd.
4:10 p.m. Report that people with truckload of beef are giving away “free steaks,” Maple Ave.
4:28 p.m. Person at station to speak with officer, Main St.
5:53 p.m. Very tame ferret found in garage, East County Rd.
8:53 p.m. Report of altercation between youths, Maple Ave.
8:55 p.m. Caller wants to speak with officer about dispute, Orchard Hill

Friday, November 19

10:35 a.m. Officer requested. Neighbors’ guest took parking place, Maple Ave.
2:51 p.m. Loose, small white dog, Welch Ave.
5:07 p.m. Person at station with skateboard they ran over in road, Main St.
6:15 p.m. Large branches in road, Prescott St.

Saturday, November 20

2:25 p.m. Person at station to report they hit a cat, Main St.
4:30 p.m. Someone shooting in area, Clealand Cir.
7:46 p.m. Caller says vehicle is “all over the road” and has no rear lights, Main St.

Sterling

Monday, November 16

6:12 a.m. Caller reports dog barking all night, Wilder Rd.
7:02 a.m. What appears to be German shepherd dragging hind quarters across field; may have been hit by vehicle, Chocksett/Clinton Rds.
8:48 a.m. Attempt to deliver summons, Jewett Rd.
4:11 p.m. Attempt to deliver summons; three residents home refusing to answer door, Jewett Rd.
6:20 p.m. Summons left, Jewett Rd.

Tuesday, November 17

7:32 a.m. Complaint about neighbors’ dog in caller’s yard again; violator fined $25, Belmont Dr.
9:54 a.m. Suspicious activity: Caller observed gray station wagon stopped at mailbox, then “disappeared,” Ridgewood Dr. OK, post office using civilian vehicles for delivery

Wednesday, November 18

6:31 a.m. Caller’s wife struck deer, unsure if still there, Worcester Rd.
4:15 p.m. Elderly beagle walking in roadway, Wiles/ Clinton Rds.
5:02 p.m. Red boxer with collar/no tags in caller’s yard, same as last week, Chace Hill Rd.
7:06 p.m. Attempt to serve summons, John Dee Rd.

Thursday, November 19

7:39 a.m. Burglar alarm, Kendall Hill Rd.; OK, accidental by mother-in-law
12:24 p.m. Dog went missing while husband cut lawn, friendly boxer with floppy ears, named Sampon, Pine St.
12:59 p.m. Chocolate Lab wandering Rte. 140, jumped into caller’s motor vehicle, requests animal control officer; advised not in on Thursdays but will try to contact, Redemption Rock Trl.
13:01 p.m. Animal control advises caller located dog tag, called Town Hall and is delivering dog home
1:39 p.m. Caller found puppy running around street, advised she did not know where she was. After discussion, determined she is on Rte. 110 3:17 p.m. Husky running alongside northbound lane, Rte. I-190
8:45 p.m. Officer requested to check on noises coming from garage, Elliott Rd.; nothing unusual located, something probably fell
8:53 p.m. Injured coyote in caller’s yard running only on front legs, Albright Rd.

Friday, November 20

10:51 a.m. Loose young male boxer causing traffic problems, Metropolitan Rd.
6:35 p.m. Car off roadway in ditch, Beaman Rd./ Redemption Rock Trl. Car still running but no one inside, driver possibly walking toward Princeton Rd.
7:24 p.m. Princeton PD requests assistance for driver who failed to stop, marked lanes violation and speeding more than 60 MPH, Redemption Rock Trl. Stop sticks deployed, both rear tires flat, vehicle swerved trying to strike officer at beginning of attempted stop. Princeton PD made arrest
9:51 p.m. Officer wanted to check suspicious male sitting at bank, appears drunk, Main St. Female in custody, parents paid $40 bail.

Saturday, November 21

7:50 p.m. Caller reports house egged, Maple St. Officer found no one throwing eggs, but did find smashed pumpkins at Waushacum/School Sts.
9:06 p.m. Report of cow lying in middle of Tuttle Rd. Officer arrived to find owner on scene

>Sunday, November 11

12:16 a.m. Leicester PD requests be-on-look-out for missing person, Clinton Rd.; called back to report person just arrived
1:05 p.m. Caller reports juveniles playing in swamp, Bean Rd.
7:26 p.m. Chocolate Lab missing, Beaman Rd.

More on DEC

It's going to be a rainy day. Here's a superb time-waster for the ex-DECcies in the crowd:
Index of /pdf/dec

via http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/competitiveAnalysis/Engineering_Strategy_Review_Mar82.pdf

A bit more about why Gordon Bell might be scared, from the same document:

DEC and IBM - the view of the future from the past

A glimpse into how DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) viewed IBM (IBM - What does IBM stand for? Acronyms and abbreviations by the Free Online Dictionary.) in 1983.

via http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/competitiveAnalysis/IBM_CorpCultureRept_Aug83.pdf

And, then, the paper notes that there are three types of corporate culture in the computing industry: marketing, technology, and financial. DEC was a technology shop, a board shop, as friend Tom described it, down to its corporate DNA. The next lines are heart-breakingly prescient:

Wind advisory, I think

Letters of Note: Unhappy Franksgiving

Many people were upset when Franklin Roosevelt changed the day of Thanksgiving from the last Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday (to boost Christmas spending) - Letters of Note: Unhappy Franksgiving:

I am afraid your change for Thanksgiving is going to cause the calendar manufacturers untold grief. If very many customers demand 1940 calendars to correspond with your proclamation, hundreds of thousands of dollars will be lost by the calendar companies, and in many instances it will result in bankruptcy.

And,

"I see by the paper this morning where you want to change Thanksgiving Day to November 23 of which I heartily approve. Thanks.
Now, there are some things that I would like done and would appreciate your approval:
1. Have Sunday changed to Wednesday;
2. Have Monday's to be Christmas;
3. Have it strictly against the Will of God to work on Tuesday;
4. Have Thursday to be Pay Day with time and one-half for overtime;
5. Require everyone to take Friday and Saturday off for a fishing trip down the Potomac."

Engage with Grace

Friend Patti at Networks, Complexity, and Relatedness reminds us that it's never an easy time to have certain discussions, but that's why they're important.
My parents were clear about what they wanted; not surprisingly, my mother put her wishes in writing. Both died at home under hospice care. Each in their way gave us a great gift by letting us travel that last, short distance with them. 

(To learn more please go to http://www.engagewithgrace.org.)

Somewhere between that last slice of turkey and the first slice of pie, think about this and talk if you can. It's not easy, but the important stuff rarely is.

They're not even playing football today

It's not a holiday in Canada today, so let's look at some recent news from and about our True North Strong and Free.

• You can get there from here: Grand opening for new Maine-New Brunswick border 
• But, the CBC reports that you won't make as much money: Immigrants face wage gap in Canada

The average hourly wage of an immigrant worker in 2008 was $21.44, $2.28 less than the $23.72 Canadian-born employees earn. The gap exists regardless of when the immigrant landed, the study found, though immigrants who landed within the previous five years had the largest wage gap, earning $5.04 less than Canadian-born employees. The wage gap was also about $5 an hour when comparing immigrant and Canadian-born workers who both have university degrees.

• That might be due to the fact that some of their gold has gone missing: RCMP rule out theft for Mint's missing millions
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Police are ruling out theft for $15.3 million in gold missing from the Royal Canadian Mint, though the mint isn't yet ready to say what happened to the fortune or whether it has been recovered.
  
  ...
  

  The mint is understandably relieved.
  
  "There's no theft," said Christine Aquino, mint spokeswoman. "It validates what the mint already knew, that we have extremely rigorous measures in place which makes us one of the most secure facilities in Canada."
  
  What happened to the more than half a metric ton of gold remains a state secret, at least for now.
  

  
  
  
  
• Meanwhile, our favorite non-dead-fish former-governor who can see both Russia and Canada from her house has a prescription for socialized medicine.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Palin Suggests Canada Should 'Reform' Health System To 'Let The Private Sector Take Over'
  via Pam's House Blend -  Time For Some Turkey Posts!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Cuz you don't want to try not to get H1N1 up there: Canada reports 'unusual number' of bad reactions to flu shots. Here's more on that from the Globe and Mail. 
• Finally, it's true, Canadians aren't playing football today. They've got their own thing going this weekend.
  
  CFL.ca - Official Site of the Canadian Football League
  

Another classic

Friend Bill sent me a link to this performance of Beethoven's 5th Argument by Sid Caesar and Nanette Fabray in response to my Silent monk sing-a-along from the other day.

We gather together for kibbles and scritches

We have company this weekend. Her name is Maya. She's a six-month-old Golden/poodle mix, a Goldendoodle of a dog. Her family is traveling for the holiday; she's staying with us until Sunday.

Maya brings good energy to the household.  The brain says puppy, even if the body says dog. (It's never polite to guess a lady's weight.) We've not had a dog who's more interested in playing than pretty much anything else, including eating. She's well-behaved. (She's been to school and it shows.) With young ears and young eyes, she hears and sees much and is curious about it all. Did I mention that she's ready to play?
She runs (bounces, really) full-tilt around the yard, gaining energy as she goes.

And Marley? He knows his world and he's sticking to it. He'll play outside for a while, but then wants to come back in the house. Occasionally, he'll get a bit cranky and fill his mouth with chew toys just to make sure that she knows that he can have anything that he wants.
And us? We can benefit from a dose of youthful energy, too. 

Silent monk sing-a-along

Don't be bringing that stuff around here

We want our own nonsense.

via Telegram.com

via Telegram.com

via Telegram.com

There, I fixed it.

The newswires are abuzz with a recall notice for a crib.  The drop-side, the side that, um, drops down so that you can lift baby in and out of the crib more easily, can fall out of position, leaving a gap into which the child can fall. Four children have died as the result of this defect.

• In this crib that's been sold with this defect since 1993.
• Among the problems with the crib are that some people installed drop-side upside-down.
  Therefore, the manufacturer is offering a repair kit that you can install to correct the problem that resulted from the drop-side being installed upside down.
  

via Consumer Reports on Safety: After four deaths Stork Craft recalls 2.1 million drop-side cribs

"More than one more thing"

From the Phillipston OntheCommon.com blog: "More than one more thing"

Two nights on the town

You might not think that it's a big deal, but, for us, going out two nights in a row is first-order news.
Friday night, Mike and Lynn took us out for a great dinner wrapped in great company at the Sole. We didn't get home until after nine o'clock.
Last night, we needed a few things for an on-going winterization project. We hadn't been to Lowe's in Lincoln Plaza in a long time, perhaps ever. So, it was dinner at Denny's and then across the street for our shopping.
Denny's hasn't had an easy time of it, mostly of its own making. The legacy of lawsuits isn't far away, even if the company appears to put things right.
Our server, Bobbie, was one of the we've seen anywhere. She was attentive and funny. When Sandra ordered a healthier choice for one of the side dishes, Bobbie offered the turkey bacon instead of sausage.
The meal was good and the coffee, even the decaf, was fresh.

The food was good, but we're not quite ready to have Denny's cater our Christmas breakfast.

As is common on shopping trips, we didn't find what we wanted, but came home with stuff anyway.  Some weeks ago, we bought some sheets of foam insulation at The Home Depot. Lowe's didn't have the same thing. Instead, we bought some bird seed, wrapping paper, and those little parafin fire starters for the wood stove. (Sometimes, the wood is wet and we need to get its attention.)
The display of Christmas stuff is like a highway accident. You want to turn away in horror, but you're compelled to look.

Making Baby Jesus cry at Lowe's

We were home a bit after eight o'clock and asleep shortly after the closing joke on The Vicar of Dibley.

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Interrupting sheep.
Interrupting shee
Bah, bah
p who?

Crime in suburbia

From The Landmark (subscription required):

[Editor's note: There were 23 suspicious items this week.]

Holden

Monday, November 9

12:30 a.m. Suspicious group in McDonald’s lot, Main St.
12:37 a.m. Suspicious vehicle unoccupied in Earl Johnson Florist lot, Doyle Rd.
1:03 a.m. Suspicious vehicle in Big Y lot; asked to move along
3:22 a.m. 911 call from Rutland about possible intruder; Rutland PD contacted
3:30 a.m. House egged, Walnut St.
10:01 a.m. Jeep all over the road, Rte. 122A
10:37 a.m. Bike recovered, Mt. Pleasant St.
11:02 a.m. Solicitors with no permit, Fort Sumter Dr.
11:33 a.m. Neighbor dispute, Main St.
1:18 p.m. Caller with question regarding suspicious activity, Colorado Dr.
2:27 p.m. Caller requesting escort to pick up paycheck
3:30 p.m. Caller to speak with officer about incident, Colorado Dr.
6:27 p.m. Caller reports inadequate safety cones at construction site, Holden St.
7:44 p.m. Tractor trailer stuck under railroad bridge, Main St.
9:12 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Wachusett St.

Tuesday, November 10

8:34 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Cranbrook Dr.
12:09 p.m. Suspicious vehicle parked in driveway, Sunnyside Ave.
5:49 p.m. Motor vehicle lockout, Main St.
6:26 p.m. Construction equipment obstructing vision on Holden St.
7:32 p.m. 911 caller about pet dog missing
8:22 p.m. Driver’s window shot out while driving in Worcester; advised to report it to Worcester PD
8:58 p.m. Caller reports neighbor sounds horn every morning at 6:30
9:58 p.m. Person waved down cruiser; suspicious about demeanor of those who showed up to give ride
10:21 p.m. Suspicious vehicle pulled into high school lot, swerving in lanes

Wednesday, November 11

10:00 a.m. Moving van blocking travel lane/view, Shrewsbury St.
10:53 a.m. People ringing doorbell, Wachusett St.
11:34 a.m. Party in road on pocket bike; told to keep off roadway
12:53 p.m. Suspicious male acting strangely, Shrewsbury St.
12:59 p.m. Debris in roadway, N. Adams Rd.
3:20 p.m. West Boylston PD reports Holden resident in station to report NSA and NASA trying to control him through cell towers/technology; he hears Christmas music constantly
5:17 p.m. Resident reports power out, Brunnell Dr.
6:57 p.m. Keys found, Main St.
7:41 p.m. National Police Association League calling Parker Ave. resident for donation
7:49 p.m. Strange phone number on caller ID; resident unable to call back

Thursday, November 12

10:02 a.m. Vehicle lockout, Shrewsbury St.; car is running
11:06 a.m. 911 report of argument with brother
11:24 a.m. Well-being check on canine
1:44 p.m. Plastic debris in road, Main St.
2:37 p.m. Construction plates shifted, making passing difficult, Highland St.
2:42 p.m. Dog running in and out of traffic, Salisbury St.
6:43 p.m. Mailbox missing, Mason Rd.
8:56 p.m. 911 call about dog barking for hours, Wachusett St.

Friday, November 13

1:21 a.m. Assist lost motorist, Main St.
2:45 a.m. Rutland PD requesting assistance
5:45 a.m. Vehicle repossession, Brattle St.
7:42 a.m. Caller believes vehicle stolen; was repossessed
8:30 a.m. Bike left on side of road, Fox Hill
11:58 a.m. Tractor trailer truck hit bridge and ripped off roof, Main St.
2:41 p.m. Caller injured and locked out of home, Pilgrim Dr.
5:02 p.m. Steel plates shifted, causing hazard to traffic, Highland St.
5:07 p.m. Lost dog, Moscow Rd.
6:11 p.m. Small wild animal in garage, Donald Ave.
6:43 p.m. Fight in Wong Dynasty parking lot, Towle Dr.
6:42 p.m. Woman driving without lights for about four miles, Main St.
8:45 p.m. Stray cat, Main St.

Saturday, November 14

12:17 a.m. Suspicious vehicle parked in lot at Dawson Recreation Area; dispersed
1:07 a.m. Suspicious vehicles, Industrial Dr.
2:57 a.m. Lights on in dairy, Salisbury St.; building secure
8:32 a.m. Caller’s truck window appears to have been shot out by BB during night
10:33 a.m. Suspicious incident, Donald Ave.
3:18 p.m. Two parties trapped in elevator, Boyden Rd.
4:28 p.m. Vehicle collided with deer, Old Broad St.

Sunday, November 15

12:21 a.m. Suspicious person refuses to produce ID, claims he’s Fred Astaire; wants to lodge complaint about activity on Main St.
2:58 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle at Trout Brook; OK, Boy Scouts at lodge
6:53 a.m. Street light down, Mayo Dr.
9:10 a.m. Utility pole hit by green vehicle, probable front-end and headlights damage, Mayo Dr.
3:17 p.m. Glass in road, Mayo Dr.

Paxton

Monday, November 9

1:48 p.m. Erratic driver “all over the road” heading toward Holden, Holden Rd.
2:09 p.m. Loose dog near church rectory, Richards Ave.

Tuesday, November 10

10:18 a.m. Suspicious person driving down road taking pictures of mailboxes, Hemlock St.

Friday, November 13

9:14 a.m. 911 hang-up. Police check, no problem at residence, William Allen Dr.
6:06 p.m. Two large hay bales in roadway, West St.

Sunday, November 15

4:12 p.m. Caller reporting that stream under Brooks Rd. is flooding her home
5:25 p.m. Caller reports that cars are parked on mulch bed. Wants cars removed, Camp St.
8:55 p.m. Tree limb across roadway, Pleasant St.

Princeton

Monday, November 9

3:55 a.m. Assist fire dept., Calamint Hill Rd. S
5:13 p.m. Assist other PD, Sterling Rd.

Tuesday, November 10

7:14 a.m. Motor vehicle lockout, Main St.

Wednesday, November 11

6:24 p.m. Traffic safety hazard, Allen Hill Rd.
4:30 p.m. Request for animal control officer, Rhodes Rd.
9:30 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Worcester Rd.

Thursday, November 12

1:10 a.m. Open gate, Mountain Rd.
9:14 a.m. Request for animal control officer, Rhodes Rd.
3:46 p.m. Safety issue, Redemption Rock Trl. Message delivered
5:08 p.m. Request for animal control officer, Calamint Hill Rd. S

Friday, November 13

12:30 a.m. Assist other PD, Old Oak Ave.,Westminster

Saturday, November 14

12:30 a.m. Narcotics, E. Princeton/Merriam Rds.
12:12 p.m. Assist light dept., Beaman Rd.
12:21 p.m. Request for light dept., Beaman Rd.
1:34 p.m. Assist fire dept., Birchwood Rd.
5:59 p.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Brooks Station Rd.

Sunday, November 15

12:16 p.m. Assist fire dept., Stagecoach Rd.
1:46 p.m. Disturbance, motor vehicle, Gregory Hill Rd.
7:18 p.m. Assist animal control officer, Rte. 140 N

Rutland

Monday, November 9

8:32 a.m. Small dog running loose, Main St.
10:04 a.m. Car being driven on wrong side of road, Main St.
11:15 a.m. Person at station to speak with officer, Main St.
1:27 p.m. Small dog running in the road, Maple Ave.
1:35 p.m. Person wants to speak with officer regarding cars speeding on her road, Birchwood Rd.

Tuesday, November 10

5:19 a.m. Branch in roadway, Pommogussett/ East County Rds.
8:42 a.m. Person at station to speak with officer, Main St.
10:08 a.m. Two people want to talk about detail officer for flu clinic, Main St.
11:55 a.m. Loose dog, Main St.
2:41 p.m. Person at station to speak with officer, Main St.
3:40 p.m. Person at station to speak with officer, Main St.
8:09 p.m. Six heifers loose near DPW area

Wednesday, November 11

12:00 p.m. Person dropped off license plate found on Bond St., Holden
12:48 p.m. Stray dog found at home on Maple St. Owner found
4:42 p.m. License plate returned to owner, Lewis St.
6:18 p.m. Caller wants officer to look at weather stripping that she thinks was sliced, Maple Ave.

Thursday, November 12

6:38 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Maple Ave.
9:00 a.m. Person wants to speak with officer about former employee that won’t return key, Main St.
10:01 a.m. Man says former employee is making multiple harassing phone calls to him, Main St. Civil matter
4:47 p.m. Latch on garage is broken, Blueberry Ln.
8:15 p.m. 911 call, school staff has control of situation, Miles Rd.

Friday, November 13

9:57 a.m. Suspicious motor vehicle, Maple Ave.
3:10 p.m. Rubbish container repossessed, contents dumped, Park Way
9:34 p.m. Someone bothering vehicles at end of Demond Pond Rd.

Sunday, November 15

12:24 a.m. Car off road, driver unable to get vehicle out of ditch, Barrack Hill Rd.
1:52 a.m. Assist motorist finding gloves, Main St./Kenwood Dr.
6:23 a.m. Request for record check, Main St.
2:25 p.m. Report of dog attacked by another dog, Cherylann Dr.
7:15 p.m. Erratic driver, Main St. Slow driving due to fog
11:34 p.m. Caller bitten by his dog, Central Tree Rd.

Sterling

Monday, November 9

12:22 p.m. Report of hens killed by fisher cats. Advised to bring domestic animals in before dark -- very active time of year for wildlife, Griffin Rd.
11:54 p.m. Officer wanted, suspicious activity at two homes on Walnut St.

Tuesday, November 10

8:03 a.m. Theft of bulldozer, Northeast Blvd.
2:33 p.m. Check on vehicle identification number of dirt bike left at home, Clinton Rd.
3:07 p.m. Officer wanted to check on suspicious landscaping truck, Pratts Jct. Rd.

Wednesday, November 11

12:02 p.m. Pocketbook found beside Pratts Jct. Rd.
5:02 p.m. Caller reporting solicitation calls for donations, Lakeshore Dr.
5:48 p.m. Person at station to speak with officer about family problems, Leominster Rd.

Thursday, November 12

11:32 a.m. Report of person calling asking for money. Call not from relative, Redstone Hill Rd.
1:54 p.m. Documents stolen, Swett Hill Rd.
6:10 p.m. Person at station to report something struck and damaged her windshield, Leominster/Laurelwood Rds.

Friday, November 13

1:08 p.m. Elderly person locked out of house, Justice Hill Cutoff Rd.
6:13 p.m. Officer investigation, Wiles Rd.

Saturday, November 14

5:25 p.m. Truck blocking post office drop-off, Clinton Rd.
6:08 p.m. Assist at store with person having difficulty placing order, Main St.
8:19 p.m. Suspicious activity, delivery trucks with open doors, Redemption Rock Trl.
9:16 p.m. Caller arrived home to find her dog outside and man’s wallet in the house, Rugg Rd.

Sunday, November 15

1:00 p.m. Caller reporting group of people drinking beer, Griffin Rd.
4:18 p.m. Caller says her phone isn’t working and husband just released from hospital, Kendall Hill Ln.