Monday, December 14
The Del Rubio Triplets Sing Winter Wonderland -- The 12 Days of Christmas
Today is the first entry for my 12 Days of Christmas. Each day, until December 25th, a new posting will celebrate the season. Today is the amazing Del Rubio Triplets as they performed Winter Wonderland on the Pee Wee Playhouse Christmas Special for 1988. I have this special on video, but you can watch the whole show for free on Pee Wee Herman's website at www.peewee.com. There may be a few more clips from this special here before the 12 days are up! I love that show!
Saturday, December 5
Guess Where I Was -- 10 Years Ago
Sunday, November 29
Thursday, November 19
House Committee Passes Partner Benefits Bill
The bill is now likely to move to a full House floor vote, which many anticipate could take place before the end of the year.
Debate over the bill split along party lines with Democrats emphasizing the concepts of fairness and equality and Republicans objecting to the legislation on the basis that it would begin to redefine marriage or would create special rights for LGBT people.
Wednesday, November 18
DC Doing Same-Sex Marriage Right
The DC Council seems to be standing up to the Catholic Church threat of leaving a third of the city's poor in the lurch if the bill passes. The church has threatened to abandon its charity and adoption work in the city because gay marriage would violate the institutions core values. As we all recall from our bible studies, "the Lord said, feed the poor and clothe the naked, unless the gays can get married. In that case, let them go to hell." With all the gay priests out there abusing children, isn't it a bit self-righteous of the church to take such a hard line? I'm happy, at least, to see the tactic not working. I wouldn't think it is helping make the church look very Christian.
UPDATE: 11/19/09 -- Lawyers for the Alliance Defense Fund and Stand4MarriageDC have filed a lawsuit in DC Superior Court to get the initiative on the ballot.
Sunday, November 15
Flowers at Eastern Market
Saturday we had a lazy day and then went to Archer and the Boyfriend's house for one of their trademarked dinner parties. The boyfriend outdid himself with a wonderful dinner and the wine flowed all night. We had a great time. I was a little hung over this morning, but not too bad.
This morning I had some leftover quiche for breakfast and this afternoon we went for a walk to the park and browsed around at Eastern Market. It was a warm and beautiful day, perhaps the last nice day on a weekend for the year. I took the photo of the flowers while we waited in line at the Market Lunch, where Shane got a burger. I was still full from the quiche. You can get a better view by double clicking the photo,
Saturday, November 14
Delay Getting Florida House
We were suppose to be the proud owners of a beautiful house on a canal in Punta Gorda, FL, by now. Closing was set for yesterday, but good old Friday the 13th lived up to its reputation. The survey on the property discovered a bit of a problem. This is how it was explained to us:
I understand that you have been made aware of the problem where the home sits on the land. Apparently when this home was built the City Board looked the other way and let it be built without a variance. Also everyone who has purchased the home before you either paid cash or didn’t request a survey. Today with all the problems with foreclosures every mortgage company is requiring a survey. This home is one of the reasons.Before this week, I didn't know the meaning of the word "variance." Basically, the house has an easement -- the house is built over part of the land the city could claim for utility use, or for whatever. We are waiting for the city to give us an exemption. So, we do not own the house yet. We will not own the house by Thanksgiving, so we won't be going to Florida over Thanksgiving week as we planned. We hope to go to closing sometime during the week of December 7th and are planning to start driving to Florida on December 11th for a week. Cross your fingers!
If we don’t get this cleared and you were to close, then you may never be able to sell it or even give it away. Back in Illinois I saw a property that didn’t get a variance and when the seller tried to sell it, the County told him that he could not sell it or if he did he would have to tear down the home first. Not many options. We have an option today and we must take that option in case it may not be there down the road after you own it.
Now I know that is not what you wanted to happen since you must cancel all of your plans and change dates on your insurance etc and I feel very bad for you. But your lock is good until Dec 13th so I would change my insurance date to Dec 11th and see what happens. The zoning official said that it would take 21 days from the time of application before we could close. It is my understanding that the Seller’s Agent has started working on getting the application completed at this time and I am picking up the revised Survey tomorrow to take down to the zoning official.
UPDATE 11/19/09: As of today, the bank that owns the house has still not submitted the variance application. It takes 3 weeks after the application is submitted! The bank can't sell the house until this problem is resolved, so WTF are they waiting on?
Thursday, November 12
Recent TV Observations
Wednesday, November 11
Perfect Song for a Cold, Rainy Day
Yo Yo Ma and James Taylor do an amazing version of "Here Comes the Sun" from Ma's album, Songs of Joy and Peace, which came out last year. It is the perfect thing to listen to on a cold, rainy day. Skip to about 1:45 into the video to get right to the song.
Thursday, November 5
Wednesday, November 4
Haters Win in Maine - My Letter to Sen. Snowe
The Honorable Olympia J. Snowe
United States Senate
154 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-1903
Dear Senator Snowe,
I would like to be able to thank you for your support of the civil rights of Mainers regarding the vote on marriage equality on November 3, 2009. I would like to thank you, but I cannot. Your silence on the subject helped ensure the bigots and haters in Maine won, taking away a basic civil rights to many Maine citizens before it was even enacted.
It is understandable why you remained silent on Ballot Question 1. Why risk losing support from either side on such a divisive issue? Your silence keeps everyone guessing on where you stand. Why get down in the weeds? Perhaps your support of marriage rights for all Mainers would have made a difference (and perhaps not). We will never know. It seems to be easier to play it safe with the goal of staying in office. Why bother to have the integrity to stand up for what is right and lead on important issues? Those politicians may not win re-election.
Of course the consequence of this vote is that gay and lesbian couples are not afforded the same rights as heterosexual couples. That may seem a small price to pay. However, the youth of Maine get a message from a vote like this – that being gay or lesbian is wrong – a defect – something of which they should be ashamed. I hope you are not too troubled that, by remaining silent, you are basically reinforcing that message. It is easy to understand why the suicide rate for GLBT youth is many times higher than it is for straight youth. Try to imagine growing up in rural Maine knowing you are a homosexual and the overwhelming message you get is that you are sick and not deserving of the same rights as "normal people."
Though I am currently not a constituent of yours, my partner and I do own land in Sedgwick, ME. My partner grew up in Maine (he knows first-hand what that is like for a gay kid). We still love Maine, though. We had hoped to build on our land and to live there in retirement in 8 years. Obviously, we are rethinking that plan.
In addition, we have always enjoyed vacationing in Maine every year. This past year, we rented a house on Little Deer Isle for two separate weeks. We won't be returning to Maine next year. We won't be buying any Maine products (we're going to miss shopping at LL Bean). We don't support places that basically tell us that our rights do not matter.
I am hurt and angry that Maine has rejected marriage equality. I am also saddened that you have chosen to remain silent on this issue. I hope you will reconsider your actions and, in the future, show Maine the way a leader leads. Thank you.
Tuesday, November 3
Thursday, October 29
Friday, October 23
Monday, October 19
Our Furnace Tale of Woe
On Thursday morning, I used my trusty Angie's List to find a well-rated repairman and scheduled an appointment for Thursday afternoon. I talked with them later that day, and they pointed out it was raining, and since this involved electrical equipment, they couldn't work on it until it wasn't raining. I said fine, and made another appointment for Friday. It continued to rain. I made another appointment for Saturday. Guess what? Rain. Luckily, we have a gas fireplace we used to keep warm over the weekend.
The repairman finally came this morning (the fourth appointment scheduled). A fan motor needs to be replaced. The repair is going to cost at least $900 (including $20 off coupon) and he has to come back again once they get the part. This isn't the best time for this to happen, since we're in the process of buying a house in Florida. What can we do, though? We need heat. Waaaa!
Sunday, October 18
Florida House Update
Thursday, October 15
Today Marks 25 Years of Federal Service!
Today is my 25th anniversary of working in the Federal Government. I started working at the U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory as a temporary GS-5 at Aberdeen Proving Grounds at Aberdeen, MD on October 15, 1984. I was an Editorial Assistant reading very dull technical reports all the live-long day. There were four of us in a room. My desk was opposite a girl that smoked like a chimney. We didn't have any computers. We had to make any edits using an eraser, white-out, and a typewriter.
I worked at BRL for 10 months before getting a permanent Government job at the U.S. Army Engineering Topographic Laboratories in Fort Belvoir, VA, as a clerk typist, GS-4. I was able to transfer into an Editor-Writer slot after a few months that was at the GS-5 level and became a GS-7 after a year and a GS-9 after another year. I mostly did "technology transfer," which is as boring as it sounds.
I stayed at ETL (later TEC) for 11 years and eventually became the acting supervisor of the office and a GS-12. That is where I found out one of my employees was exposing himself to little girls, so I had him arrested. That is also where I decided being a supervisor isn't my cup of tea.
I then got a position at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, as a Public Affairs Specialist. This was a much more interesting job. I got to work with reporters, write consumer recall press releases, and play with recalled toys. I stayed there for 10 years and got my GS-13.
Now I'm at another agency that shall remain nameless. I've been here for more than 2 years and I mostly answer Congressional mail. It is a great job. I'm eligible to retire in 8 years. I may stick it out here, or who knows where I may go next?