Today my wife Jennifer and I mark our 19th wedding anniversary. Our life together so far has been better than I ever could have imagined, and I look forward to all that lies ahead in our 20th married year and beyond.
I love you Jennifer!Today’s ruling by a Federal judges that the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping of Americans is unconstitutional give hope to those who believe that the powers of the President are not unlimited, but that even the President, ESPECIALLY the President, is subject to the rule of law.
Federal Judge Orders Halt to NSA Wiretapping
The Washington Post, 8/17/06
We have a new member of the family today, an upright piano that we found on Craig’s list. The price was right. It was offered for free to whomever would come and haul it away. After sharing the link with my piano-playing brother (who advised us to go for it), and visting it with my wife and daughter, we agreed to take it. Wisely, I hired a moving company to pick it up and deliver it, a decision that was well reinforced by watching the effort it took to unload it and get in into our house.
The piano is a ‘Kingsbury’ model upright, manufactured by the Chicago Cable Company. Based on its serial number, it’s likely this piano was built between 1905 and 1910. It needs some work. Several of the keys are missing their ivory, and it needs to be tuned. A bottle of furniture polish will go a long way to reveal some beautuiful wood. And we’ll need to find a matching bench or stool. I’ve been promising my wife a piano for years, and with our addition in the works, we will soon have the room needed to accomodate it. We always had a piano in my home growing up, and so did my wife. So it feels right having one. And I’m intrigued by its age. How many owners has this particular piano had in its 100 years? How many parties have gathered around it? How many players have pounded its keys? Then again, I’m apprehensive. I’m not raising any little Mozart’s here. Will I be able to bear the “music”? I worry this may join ‘keeping one of the kittens’ as a decision I will regret. Time will tell.It may happen that by later today, Tropical Storm Chris will mature and become the first named Hurricane of 2006… Hurricane Chris!
I’m not sure if I prefer for Chris to be a big and strong hurricane, or for it not to amount to much. I guess the latter. I’m sure all of the Katrinas in the world would prefer not to have had their name attached to last year’s devastating storm.
UPDATE: OK, so Chris petered out… never even made it to Hurricane strength. Nice storm.
My brother said that this year, for my birthday, he didn’t want to give me the usual gift certificate from Amazon.com or iTunes. In looking for something different, he settled on something dear to us both, and I found myself with a gift certificate to spend at budshop.com. Check it out, it’s impressive the number of things you can buy with a beer label on it. But I found it difficult to zoom in on just which such thing to get.
We are in the midst of remodeling our home, and as a result my home office will end up in the basement, and I figured that I would decorate with something of a pub feel to it. And so I was drawn to the various pub signs and mirrors that were available. But initially nothing grabbed me. Until I saw this one. It shows a scene from April 1933, with a team of Clydesdales delivering beer to the United States Capitol at the end of Prohibition. It appealed to me both for the local flavor of a Capitol scene, and the message of hope it shares in reminding me that in time, all dark days must pass. And so too will the current ones we find ourselves in today. What I didn’t consider when I ordered the thing, was how large it actually is. It’s quite a specimen. Thanks Bro, it will hang proudly in my basement pub/office.Justice on a Short Leash
Why did the president cut off investigation of the NSA’s domestic surveillance program?
The Washington Post, 7/22/06
Because he thinks he’s above the Constitution, that’s why.
UPDATE: Like I said…
If the president has constitutional problems with a bill, the task force said, he should convey those concerns to Congress before it reaches his desk. The panel said signing statements should not be a substitute for vetoing bills the president considers unconstitutional.
“The President’s constitutional duty is to enforce laws he has signed into being unless and until they are held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court or a subordinate tribunal,” panel members wrote. “The Constitution is not what the President says it is.”
Bush’s Tactic of Refusing Laws Is Probed
The Washington Post, 7/24/06
We’re on our way home from watching the Nats beat our Cubs, only to find ourselves trapped in stopped traffic on the Wilson Bridge. According to the radio the lanes ahead will be closed for about the next 20 min. Damn!
As you can tell from the ‘What I’m Reading’ block in the right column of my blog, I don’t read a lot of fiction. Most often my reading tastes tend towards history, biography, politics and current events. And so when recently home in California on vacation, despite having packed a few books, I was glad to accept a recommendation offered by each of my parents to read Orbit by John J. Nance.
The premise is that sometime in the near future, private space travel has continued to advance in the direction already started by SpaceShipOne in 2004. Kip Dawson, a pharmeceutical company executive in a troubled marriage and some issues with his son, thinks he’s scored a dream getaway when he wins a contest for a ride into orbit offered as a promotion gimmick by American Space Adventures. And so it begins. But shortly after arriving in space, a micrometeor pierces the ship, kills the pilot, and knocks out all communications. And Kip finds himself a castaway in Orbit, knowing that he will run out of air in five days.
No spoilers there, you can get that much from the book jacket. The book goes back and forth between Kip’s thoughts and actions as he deals with his looming demise and the scant hope of any happy ending for him. While back on Earth, the world follows his story with the fascination that is always paid to such human tragedies as babies who fall in wells, or miners trapped underground. It was a good read, a fast read, and an entertaining read. A good summer book, thanks for suggesting it Mom & Pop!
Caseys & Geltmakers have gathered here in San Diego this fine summer Mondsy. We’ve got about 30 minutes to wait until Shamu takes the stage. We’re seated in the “Soak Zone”, so I guess we’re gonna get wet. Should be nice.
