This past weekend Management and I abdicated all of our usual responsibilities, leaving Gabi with my folks and dropping off the dogs at a kennel, so we could get off the treadmill and wander aimlessly. We had tickets to see Jim White up at MASS MoCA and it presented the perfect opportunity to forget about our daily lives and with a full tank of gas and several cups of coffee we wandered the back roads up into the Berkshires.
The first day was gray and ominous but it captured well that slow fuzzy-headed feeling that had enveloped us over the past couple of months. With no real agenda we stumbled into odd little nooks and crannies like an abandoned summer camp miles down a dead-end that was listed on our GPS as being a restaurant only to find solace in friendly people at places like Ozzies Steak and Eggs.
After checking into the hotel Management took a long nap and I wandered about abandoned buildings and train yards in the rain.
By Sunday morning, the skies cleared and we awoke bleary eyed to bright blue skies.
It was a fine weekend and got us thinking about shaking off suburbia, now and then, and seeing what lay outside our towns and off the highways.
Courtesy of my father this morning:
There are men - now in power in this country - who do not respect dissent, who cannot cope with turmoil, and who believe that the people of America are ready to support repression as long as it is done with a quiet voice and a business suit. — John Lindsay
Thirty-eight years later it still carries the same weight if not more.
In this context marriage is a LEGAL institution not a religious one. Way to legislate hate. As for Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas my expectations have always been much lower, however, shame on you “values voters” who only respond to dog whistles.
Out the door around 5:30 this morning to hit the polls as soon as the doors opened thinking, “This will be a snap!” To my surprise the line was already 100 deep and growing but the atmosphere was festive and excited with the first voter emerging pumping his first to a chorus of cheers, whistles, and unrestrained clapping.
As usual it is invigorating to cast my ballot but that isn’t to say I am exactly thrilled with the country’s prospects and I can only hope that my fellow citizens open their eyes to see the real motivation beyond the “Values Vote” and the endless fear mongering that has dominated the national dialog for the last 7 years. Our grip on the process beyond slipping and our grasp beyond tenuous. We do not own the process and in the “ownership society” are becoming more akin to serfs laboring in a corporate feudal system.
When you go to the poll ask yourself hard questions about your canidate of choice. Question their motivation. Ponder what is at stake for them and what is at stake for you. And think deeply on who “owns” them because very likely they do not and will not answer to the electorate. Maybe if we keep questioning real change will occur.
Gabi enjoyed her first Halloween outing more than we could have ever anticipated. She was thrilled to get dressed up and asked, “Am cute?” We took her to the center of town where the local businesses and town throw a large party with games, candy, hay rides, and haunted houses. While Gabi made her way from candy stop to candy stop I took some pictures of the acrobat who performed a slow seemingly tortuous routine of rolls and extensions on the ropes. After she had her fill of the festivities we took her by her great-grandmother’s to show off her costume.
Jumped on the RC just before it went official late this afternoon (EST) so that I could beat the crowds. One of the faster upgrades that I have experienced with the package downloads taking around 20 minutes on my 6MB DSL and the install and clean up taking a little under an hour. So easy it was kind of boring.
Highlights are the revamped network manager which now has support for mobile connections which will make it easier for me to poach one of the Verizon data cards from work should the need ever arise. The new Bluetooth wizard also appears to have upped the functionality and UI quotient so I’m looking forward to pulling out my headphones and going wireless again.
Downsides are that the shutdown button has been subsumed to logout/fastuser switching something I nearly never do but could understand the logic for a desktop user but, seriously, who uses a desktop these days anyhow? Unrelated to the actual upgrade but still nagging issues are the Glipper crash on launch and the fact that my webcam still remains unsupported (05e3:f192 Genesys Logic, Inc.)–I’ve got to complain about something, right?
Overall, I’m happy with how things turned out. Thumbs up to the Ubuntu team for all their hard work. Thanks!
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