It’s at this point in the day — Kate off to school, me still unshowered — that I pause to recheck the calendar and figure out everything I have to do in the next eight hours or so. Today the answer is: Oy. A lot. As much as I’d like to stay here on the couch, chin in hand, looking pensively at the fall color outside the window, alas I cannot. So I’m giving myself until the end of my current cup of coffee to get something up, and that’ll just have to do, my little cupcakes.
It isn’t helping that the sky is darkening by noticeable degrees as I write. The streetlights just came on, which means a downpour is moments away. I hope the adult supervisors released Kate from her morning safety-patrol station early; I’d hate for her to walk the remaining two blocks in wet shoes. (Yes, my daughter is in the safety patrol. She sought out the sign-up sheet on her own. I’m thinking it may portend a career in law enforcement, in which case I plan to be one of those old ladies who smokes pot on the sun porch of the nursing home, “for my glaucoma,” just to drive her insane.)
The rain is the result of winter approaching. Tomorrow it’ll be 20 degrees colder and by Friday, when the American League playoffs come to town, the forecasters say we may see a few snow flurries. I wonder if that’ll take the starch out of the A’s, who are probably unused to snow flurries on a baseball field. We shall see. I maintain no opinion on the outcome of the series, other than a generic, “Go, us.” It’s fun to be in a baseball town at playoff time, though; everyone’s in caps with the Olde English D and there’s a certain merriment in the air. If you’re fortunate enough to live in a Sunbelt state or somewhere that property values are rising, well, you live in a different place. It’s glum here in the Mitten, where the economic gloom and doom is nearly apocalyptic. A house down the street with the same square footage as ours just sold for $60K less than we paid not even two years ago. Families are swallowing hard and making tough decisions: Ride it out or cut and run? Fall is always a little melancholy, but this is something new.
So I guess I’m saying we could use a World Series run right about now, if not for distraction than just because it’s nice to get a little good news in the morning paper.
The WashPost has a story on the Ohio governor’s race, where, surprise surprise, “the culture wars are being eclipsed as a voting issue by economic worries.” Well, it’s about goddamn time. The Republic nominee, Kenneth Blackwell, is running in part on the usual mixed grill of “values voter” issues — abortion and, especially, keepin’ fags from marryin’ up. Buckeye voters are saying that stuff doesn’t matter, not this year, and it gives me hope for the future of not only my native state, but all the rest except possibly Florida and Texas, which are lost causes anyway. I’m neither the first nor the last to point out that these are ultimately the most cynical of issues, a Red Scare for the new millennium. We have bigger fish to fry. Or, put another way, when families are wondering if they even can even afford fish to fry, all the rest is just static.
My friend Jennifer Brunner is running for Blackwell’s old seat, Ohio Secretary of State, the one he disgraced with the 2004 Ohio election debacle. Here’s hoping it’s a landslide.
Coffee’s gone. The shower awaits, and the day’s sprint.
Dorothy said on October 11, 2006 at 9:58 am
We’re cheering for the Tigers at our house because their manager, Jim Leyland, used to coach the Buccos in the ‘burgh. He’s also married to a Pittsburgh gal, and as far as I know, they still have a home there. Go Tigers!
And I don’t mean to gloat, but I’ve still been wearing shorts and tank tops here in SC when I get home from work. We still had temps near 80 this week and last. I’m hoping it cools off a lot, though, before the 21st when we want to take a drive and see some fall colors in Saluda. The insurance company approved a wheelchair starting on the 20th, so we’ll be rolling!
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Jane said on October 11, 2006 at 10:00 am
I’m giggling at the idea of smoking pot just to drive your law enforcement daughter crazy. Too funny.
It’s dark and gloomy here in northern IL today as well.
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Danny said on October 11, 2006 at 10:45 am
I’m cheering the Tigers because they beat the Hated Ones. I mean, the Yanks have an allstar and/or potential hall of famer at every position, but first base. Give me a break.
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Danny said on October 11, 2006 at 10:53 am
So I guess I’m saying we could use a World Series run right about now, if not for distraction than just because it’s nice to get a little good news in the morning paper.
You might think that, but be careful what you wish for. Detroit has a long history of declaring nuclear war on itself as a way of celebrating a major-sports win. Come to think of it, I think that is the way the D celebrates a loss too. Nothing says joy like shootings, stabbings, fires and cops in riot gear. WooHoo!
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Connie said on October 11, 2006 at 11:24 am
I grew up cheering for the Tigers and always will. My uncle John was a GM bigwig, and we got to use GM’s 3rd base line seats a couple of times a season. I still miss Al Kaline.
Detroit suburban housing prices and the decline thereof was covered on Morning Edition/NPR this a.m. Including a real estate firm in Gross Pointe that handles only bank foreclosures and has 4 times the listings it had at this time last year, needs desperately to hire more help, but has no space in which to put them.
And the house behind mine, about 1/3 less square feet and a busy road, just sold for what I paid 6 years ago. We’ve been trying to decide if that is good or bad.
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ashley said on October 11, 2006 at 1:28 pm
Perspective is a good thing.
“It’s glum here in the Mitten, where the economic gloom and doom is nearly apocalyptic. A house down the street with the same square footage as ours just sold for $60K less than we paid not even two years ago. Families are swallowing hard and making tough decisions: Ride it out or cut and run?”
Yesterday, they declared the water in the 9th ward potable for the first time since the flood.
My house, since it didn’t get water inside (just 4 feet of standing water outside for 2+ weeks) actually gained 15% in value after the deluge. New Orleans is supposed to be the one place where the Real Estate bubble isn’t going to burst.
Of course, there are certain sacrifices that must be made for this…
“So I guess I’m saying we could use a World Series run right about now, if not for distraction than just because it’s nice to get a little good news in the morning paper.”
Geaux Saints!!!
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nancy said on October 11, 2006 at 1:32 pm
Today, potable water, tomorrow, the world!
Always good for a reality check, you are.
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Maryo said on October 11, 2006 at 3:53 pm
My daughter did the safety patrol thing this year too. We figured she likes having the authority. She certainly displays that with her younger sisters.
Or maybe I’m just hoping if she goes the law enforcement route she can be like McNutty in The Wire, who in Ep. 6 (and I’m not going to be giving anything away here, non On-Demand watchers) hands his cell phone to “a suspect” for his phone call before he gets shoved in the wagon, and another officer says, “What, you a Democrat or something?”
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Danny said on October 11, 2006 at 4:05 pm
Off Topic: Just got back from lunch. We have had the Board of Directors visiting the last two days. Interesting to see the strength of the security detail. It looked like an episode of 24.
One of our suppliers came for a meeting today. When he tried to park in the normal visitor area a man in a black suit, dark sunglasses and ear piece approached, motioned him to roll down the window, and told him he would have to move along.
I wonder what it is like to live in that stratosphere.
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Dorothy said on October 11, 2006 at 5:25 pm
I hope I never have the opportunity to find out, Danny. I rather like blending in with all the normal folk.
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nancy said on October 11, 2006 at 5:27 pm
When two of the KR honchos visited Fort Wayne, we were told (and I never confirmed that) that they traveled on separate planes, so that if one crashed the company could still soldier on. You know, like the British monarchy. Rule, Brittania.
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joodyb said on October 11, 2006 at 5:47 pm
i am looking out on a snow-globe scene here on Cedar Street as we speak. it’s supposed to be 60 again on saturday. oy.
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Danny said on October 11, 2006 at 5:49 pm
Nance, I had similar thoughts. These guys may be looked upon as “captains of industry,” but it seems largely a ceremonial position.
I think I’ll go home early today. Loss of productivity means one less olive in their martini.
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Dwight the Troubled Teen said on October 11, 2006 at 5:55 pm
“it gives me hope for the future of not only my native state, but all the rest”
Me too! In the country in which I live, we are enjoying phenomenal, sustained “real” economic prosperity. In my country, our president cut taxes and ended up spurring economic growth that returned more revenue to the treasury than under the previous tax structure.
We have a saying here in my country: “IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID!”
Gosh, I’m lucky to live where I do! I don’t mean to gloat, though. I’m sorry things aren’t as good in your nation, Nancy. Does your country have an election cycle soon? Maybe fortunes will reverse for your nation’s people if you can get the opposition party into power.
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nancy said on October 11, 2006 at 5:57 pm
Don’t be an asshole, Dwight. Is economic growth spurred by tax cuts raising $2 billion a week for us to flush down the toilet in Iraq? Guess we better cut us some more taxes, then, because we sure are running up a bill there.
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Bob said on October 11, 2006 at 6:38 pm
“When two of the KR honchos visited Fort Wayne, we were told (and I never confirmed that) that they traveled on separate planes, so that if one crashed the company could still soldier on. You know, like the British monarchy. Rule, Brittania. “
Such inflated egos. In forty years as a galley slave for corporations, I observed more than once that when execs die or quit, finding a replacement may take months or even years. Meanwhile, things go on pretty much as usual.
With staffing levels cut to the bone among the people who actually do useful work, though, the absence of one assembly-line worker, order taker, warehouse person or customer service rep is felt immediately by front-line supervisors, coworkers and customers.
On another topic, Dwight sounds like management material.
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Joe Koibiela said on October 11, 2006 at 8:14 pm
Being a commercial pilot that on ocassion fly’s so called big wigs around the mid west. I always laugh when they worry about taking one plane, They get to the airport and think nothing of JUMPING INTO THE SAME CAR!!!!
and no I do not know what happend in nyc today but it sounds like a accident.
Joe
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nancy said on October 11, 2006 at 9:06 pm
Bob, you were the one who told me that the carpet in the executive suite at Lincoln was so sacrosanct that they made the janitors wear those booties on their shoes, like docs wear in surgery, right?
Library patrons are now rubbing proletarian grime into it as we speak. Fittin’, eh?
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brian stouder said on October 11, 2006 at 9:38 pm
You know, a few days ago it was super-rich athlete guys with time on their hands, and strip clubs/wee hours/fistfight/vehicular assault/gunfire. Before that, it was rich powerful guys in congress with time on their hands, and young gullible pages.
And today it’s a super rich guy with time on his hands and a new airplane, plus a high-rise condo that jumped into his way.
One always reads that air travel is oh-so safe, and it is no doubt true when we’re talking about commercial airliners flown by well trained flight crews.
But honestly, violent death for rich guys in their toys has GOT to be a scarey statistic. The Steelers QB beat the odds (somehow), but not so for a host of other notables who thought they could literally fly high or drive fast.
Assuming this Yankee pitcher didn’t purposely kill himself (and I’m not convinced yet – considering how squarely he hit the tower) – still I don’t feel very forgiving. If the fool wanted to risk his stupid ass in his new toy – he could damned well have done it somewhere OTHER than over the most populous metropolis in the United States. (presumeably the dopey rules that allowed such sky larking in that airspace will be tightened up, no?)
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Bob said on October 12, 2006 at 5:08 am
“… the carpet in the executive suite at Lincoln was so sacrosanct that they made the janitors wear those booties on their shoes … “
That area was intended to inspire the awe that ancient folks were supposed to feel when entering a temple, I suppose. It was laid out as a peristyle, with a row of massive columns bordering each side of the elegant custom-loomed carpet. The floor between the edge of the carpet and the wall was Genuine Imported Italian Marble, polished to a soft sheen.
At the end of the room opposite the entry stood a raised pedestal supporting a life-sized image of Abraham Lincoln. It looked like a bronze, but when I actually touched(!) it (after checking carefully to make sure no one was watching), I discovered that it was some kind of non-metallic composite material. It felt like fibreglas.
Before the statue was mounted, when just the empty pedestal stood in the inner temple, I commented to an actuary friend that the pedestal was an altar on which the execs would sacrifice an actuary at the end of each month in which the company failed to meet its performance goals.
His response? “That’s probably a good idea. There are many more actuaries than virgins around here.”
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Jeff said on October 12, 2006 at 8:07 am
Note to WaPo: I’m a religious semi-conservative, with many friends much more conservative (and religious) than me, and we all have noted from waaaaaaay back that Blackwell is purely and simply an ideologue loon. His proposals are tinny, one-note whistles past the graveyard, and he’s never had much support in our quarters.
My fear is that he’s smarter than he comes across, and is a) getting people used to him, and b) will shift centerish enough to look moderate by comparison and run to replace Voinovich, and c) count on enough “well, he’s going to Washington where i don’t have to hear him so much” that he’ll get sympathy votes up from the moonbat anti-all-tax fringe to total 51%.
But relgious folk have noted his nuttery for quite some time in Ohio; he will lose big and pull many local candidates down with him, showing that the GOP misses its old title as “the Stupid Party.”
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Kirk said on October 12, 2006 at 8:23 am
yes, blackwell and some of the nutty company he keeps scare lots of people i know who are both conservative and religious. he’s going down, and dragging lots of other republicans with him.
and nance, don’t know if it’s still the case, but big bosses here (your former place of employment) never used to fly on the same plane. i know of parents who did this on vacation trips, too. joe makes a great point about people thinking nothing of jumping into the same car, where they’re much more likely to get bashed.
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nancy said on October 12, 2006 at 8:27 am
I didn’t know that, Kirk, but at least in the case of the Big D, you could say the executive layer learned about the hazards of air travel first-hand. (A publisher was killed in a plane crash back in the ’50s or ’60s.)
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Connie said on October 12, 2006 at 8:30 am
Hey I’ve been in those offices. I knew we were in the former Lincoln National, but was still quite amazed at the marble grandness of what is now the Allen County Public Library executive suite.
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Jim said on October 12, 2006 at 8:53 am
Go Mets! from a former Fort Wayne safety patrol ….
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