The black out media was an amazing exercise in just how weighted the
image of North America is.  You had to stop and think to understand
that the vast majority of north americans were unaffected.  Hell, as a
Mac user I was more affected by the sobig virus, (had to help out some
misguided friends by downloading fix files and tools, burning cds and
delivering them).

BUT, I was really impressed by heroism of them big city people,
enduring all that hardship with hardly a complaint.  We had a heat wave
going on at the time.  The temperature went over 90 five days in a row!
  I stayed in the air conditioning or the shade at all times, and
complained bitterly.  I refused to paint the house on two days.  Guess
I'm just not that tough.

But then, I've always taken to heart the words of the Rock Man, "You
see what you want to see, and you hear what you want to here, you dig?
and the immortal, "You boys been messin' with the bees?'  So, at the
dinner table I say, stop your complaining, stop making smart ass
cracks.  If you want this guy out of office, understand why he got as
many votes as he did and figure out how to pursuade people who voted
for him in the past, not to do it again.  Sitting here making fun of
him will guarantee that he is elected, this time."  (I have to be real
careful not indicate that this person was elected, because that
immediately changes the direction of the conversation and the point is
lost in the frass.)

Hey, enough pontificating for this morning.  I believe someone in Rome
is responsible for that anyway.

-jc

On Tuesday, August 26, 2003, at 06:31  PM, Ruth Barton wrote:

> Ralph,  You missed out on the VT trip AGAIN?  And I've got all these
> old
> screw drivers and water pump pliers here waiting for you.  Ruth
>
> PS:  The blackout was just a media event to us.  If we hadn't had the
> radio
> on we wouldn't have known anything about it.
>
>
>
>
> At 4:15 PM -0400 8/15/03, [log in to unmask] wrote:
> In a message dated 8/14/2003 8:43:24 PM Eastern Daylight Time, RLWALTR
> tried to write:
>
> There were no problems of any consequence for me with today's blackout.
>
> Seconds after I got off the subway on my way from my office to the Port
> Authority Bus Terminal (at the usual time, I might add), the lights in
> the
> Times Square subway station flickered out.  I got my trusty little
> Maglite
> flashlight out of my briefcase, turned it on (the batteries worked!),
> and
> walked on out of the subway station up into the afternoon sunlight and
> saw
> that the building lights and traffic lights on 42nd Street were all
> off,
> and walked another block to the Port Authority.
>
> Lights and power inside there were also off (except for minimal
> emergency
> lighting), so I walked up the escalators to my bus gate, got on the
> bus,
> and came home.  We could see during the bus ride that traffic lights
> were
> out in New York and most of northern NJ,  and that there didn't seem
> to be
> any plane traffic to or from Newark Airport, but power was on in Summit
> when my bus got here, and all was in order at home.
>
> That is all the news I have to report.  Mollie and Debbie are on their
> way
> up to Vermont this afternoon to pick up Michael at camp, and I have not
> heard from them, but will forward their report upon receipt.
>
> Over and out.
>
> Ralph
>
>
>
>
> Return-path: <[log in to unmask]>
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Full-name: RLWALTR
> Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2003 20:43:24 EDT
> Subject: Non-Blackout Non-News from Summit
> To: [log in to unmask]
> CC: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask],
>         [log in to unmask]
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
> boundary="part2_112.274fc531.2c6d86ac_boundary"
> X-Mailer: 8.0 for Windows sub 6014
>
> There were no problems of any consequence for me with today's blackout.
>
> Seconds after I got off the subway on my way from my office to the Port
> Authority Bus Terminal (at the usual time, I might add), the lights in
> the
> Times Square subway station flickered out.  I got my trusty little
> Maglite
> flashlight out of my briefcase, turned it on (the batteries worked!),
> and
> walked on out of the subway station up into the afternoon sunlight and
> saw
> that the building lights and traffic lights on 42nd Street were all
> off,
> and walked another block to the Port Authority.
>
> Lights and power inside there were also off (except for minimal
> emergency
> lighting), so I walked up the escalators to my bus gate, got on the
> bus,
> and came home.  We could see during the bus ride that traffic lights
> were
> out in New York and most of northern NJ,  and that there didn't seem
> to be
> any plane traffic to or from Newark Airport, but power was on in Summit
> when my bus got here, and all was in order at home.
>
> That is all the news I have to report.  Mollie and Debbie are on their
> way
> up to Vermont this afternoon to pick up Michael at camp, and I have not
> heard from them, but will forward their report upon receipt.
>
> Over and out.
>
> Ralph
>
> --
> Ruth Barton
> [log in to unmask]
> Dummerston, VT
>
> --
> To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
> uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
> <http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>
>
>
John Callan, Architect, Inc.
Historic Preservation and Museum Services
784 Deerwood Circle
Lino Lakes, Minnesota  55014-5433

(651) 486-0890
[log in to unmask]