The article says, "The project will enable MBTA to increase train speed to 80 mph." I wonder just how much of the route is sufficiently free of grade crossings to allow travel at that speed. And unless new rolling stock is included in the package, I can't imagine that the trains are physically able to do it.
Oh, the Strange... And now for some Weird Japanese Thing.
I'd heard of this before, but the BBC picked up that story about the Japanese guy who "married" a character from a dating sim. It's somewhat amusing that "SAL9000" (the guy) doesn't give out his real name out of chance of embarrassment; goodness, he did the "wedding" on the Internet and he's in a BBC news story. Not exactly the way to hide yourself.
I did note some eons ago that the about the only reason to have a realistic human looking robot was for a, umm, companion. And with this, and what I've seen of progress towards more human robots it's going to be the Japanese who finally do it.
Klyfix is now recalling an episode of the second Ghost in the ShellTV anime in which there was a club of people who do kinky relationships with androids; I recall one of the Tochikoma asking another (this was in the English dub) "Are these what they call perverts?" Well, an odd thing, at least, but maybe in a few decades, not so much.
Evening review Last night I got out of work about 5:30pm, which put me a bit behind schedule. I had enough time to stop at the house long enough for a bathroom break, then it was off to see Miss Boo's holiday concert.
Those kids are damn good!! The jazz band, the concert choir, the percussion choir, the trombone choir all in the first half of the show were very well played/sung selections and I am pleased that it was NOT the songs from countries that we never heard of before that I've sat through in her last school system. These were holiday traditional songs. They reflected the area we live in. I was not able to stay for the whole show, but seeing Miss Boo was the reason I was there, and I needed to get the van to the garage for the brake job.
Got the van over to the mechanic just before he left for the night. I should have it back Monday night. Keeping my fingers crossed that it's not TOO expensive.
Finally had dinner in the area of 9pm from all the running about. Crocheted more blanket and watched a good episode of NCIS on the DVR.
Reflections It has been a year of incredible changes, both needed and not wanted. I look back now at what my life has been, and I can't say I've always been happy with how I handled things, but I can say that my past is what brought me to the person I am now.
There have been people in my life I wish I'd never met, others who have drifted out that I miss from time to time, experiences I wouldn't trade for the world and others that I wish I could erase from my mind.
I was not a perfect wife. In reflection, I could never have been what he wanted me to be, and I don't think he even realizes it. For his future, I can sincerely say I hope he has found his happily ever after.
I have not been a perfect daughter. My mom and I had our closure before she passed away. I was just fine with her after a lifetime of trying to be better for her. My father...well I don't think he'd ever tell me if I was a disappointment or not. He just accepts the things he cannot change and moves on.
I have not been a perfect mother. In October I beat myself up wondering what I did that was so bad to make my kids want to live with their father. Now, at this moment, I see that by being the kind of mother I am I've given them the freedom to experience new things, including the freedom to live with someone I do not feel is a positive role model. They both know they can talk to me about anything at all. I may not be happy with the subject matter, but I CAN discuss things rationally with them. Agree to disagree at times, sure.
Life has moved on. I could continue to beat myself up over the past, wondering forever what was so wrong with me that blah couldn't blah me. I don't choose to.
To my friends here who moved on with life, congratulations on figuring out quickly the best way to enjoy life. For those who haven't quite gotten it yet, I know you will one day hit the point I have.
Happily ever after doesn't have to mean romance and marriages and lifelong partnerships. Sometimes happily ever after just means enjoying life as it happens.
"I'm not ashamed - i'm gonna show my scar" Billy left us two years ago and while the world has been a much quieter place, We carry on and we sing about him, speak about him and his spirit is alive in SO many of us. The music he loved brings us great memories, and moments to bawl our eyes out. But music is what has helped hold me together in the pain of losing my dearest and very first friend, a sibling who helped me to make it through the toughest times. Little did I know his leaving this world so early would be the toughest times yet. And what did I look to in those darkest moments? MUSIC. Some turned to Faith, some turned to therapy, so didn’t turn to anything or anyone. In those first few months, I immersed myself in music. I would go out for a drive, by myself, and play songs that i could sing along or scream along to. Even in the days we were in Virginia Beach, music came to comfort me, to help me confront my feelings, my pain. I feel that Bill would send me this music – i turn on the radio and The Offspring’s “Gone Away” would instantly start. Another day, i’m driving around in the freezing rain, feeling despondent and lost, and the radio begins Smashing Pumpkins ‘Muzzle’, which i feel is Bill’s song. It’s not a song you would usually hear on the radio. I sang along and sobbed through it and ended up stopping the car, screaming alone in the car, angry at those people that blew up New York, angry at Sarcoid for existing, and even angry at Bill for leaving me, for leaving us. After bruising my hands and arms from beating the car, right afterwards “Your Spirit’s Alive” by the Dropkick Murphys came on – and i felt the hint through the music. Bill’s spirit is alive, in me, in all of us, in our nephews and my daughter. Two years later, my scar of loss is still healing, and it opens up here and there to help me get the hurt out some more. But I feel that peace has finally started to come to me. Somehow, i woke up yesterday morning and felt OK. I felt Bill smiling at me from somewhere and telling me he was ok, and get up and have an AWESOME day. Which is exactly what i did. I will continue to Carry On, live my life to the fullest and honor my brother however I can. THANK YOU to everyone who has supported us, Bill’s Friends and Family, through these two years. I leave you with my usual signature of lyrics. These being from My Chemical Romance, from a CD given to me by a great lady and I hope she knows how much it means to me, even all these years later.
“And when you're gone we want you all to know
We'll carry on, We'll carry on And though you're dead and gone believe me Your memory will carry on We'll carry on Until my heart I can't contain it The anthem won't explain it”
I absolutely believe honesty is the best policy in a relationship. Having been married to someone who kept secrets, and myself keeping painful parts of my past secret for so long I know first hand how damaging that can be.
I think the key to total honesty is keeping in mind that you may not agree with something someone honestly tells you. When you remove the fear of repercussion, it makes being honest alot easier. Agree to disagree sometimes and your world will be a far happier place.
So here I am, waiting anxiously to see if Kevin makes it through to be Top Chef (nobody spoil me!), and meawhile staring at a copy of The Baby-Sitters-Club #56: Keep Out, Claudia!, which I have contracted to recap.
In case you hadn't noticed, my life is weird.
At any rate, welcome to the Very Special Episode in which the babysitters learn about Racism. Although... they don't actually learn much about it, and now that I think about it they don't do much about it either. And frankly the title sounds more like the kids won't let Claudia join their Kewl New Klub, or something.
Can you help us move a freezer? sinboy and I have purchased a chest freezer that we'll be storing at a friend's place in Chestnut Hill; the plan is to spend a week there in early January, cooking things for the Arisia green room and storing them in the freezer. The problem is that right now, the freezer is in Somerville. If you or someone you know have a truck or van that will accommodate a 35" x 34" x 24.5" appliance and can lend it to us on Saturday to get the freezer from Somerville to Chestnut Hill, please let me know.
The Democrats should run with this. If the Republicans are going to force this reading, well, the Democrats should force the Republicans and Joe Lieberman to actually do the filibuster on health care reform. None of this "Oh gosh golly we can't get cloture to stop debate so we'll just give up" crap and instead make them try and talk it to death. No faux filibuster, make them do it for real. Naked, in a snowstorm, while being attacked by wolverines.
Umm, okay, not the stuff in the last sentence but if the Republicans and Joe Lieberman are going to kill health care reform they should be made to work for it.
Of course the Democrats really should say "The heck with this filibuster nonsense" and do away with it, and then do a health care reform that would really work without being crippled by compromises to appeal to a tiny number (Three? Five?) of Senators who probably won't vote for the thing anyway. Yeah, if they kill the filibuster the Democrats will be at a disadvantage when the Republicans retake the Senate, but maybe they can hold on to it longer if they actually accomplish something.
More Bad Christmas Music and a Wild Tangent As I think I've noted before, I'm not fond of a lot of Christmas music. It's the most annoying thing about the season, well, at least close to the most annoying thing about it. And if one goes shopping one will surely be pummeled by Christmas songs.
Not too long ago I went shopping and over the speakers came the tune "Santa Baby." This is a song that should be sung in a somewhere between seductive and sleazy style (seriously, c'mon) but the version they were playing was, well, more modern and with less punch. Bland.
So I went looking for a video with the tune being sung by Miss Piggy, didn't find one worthwhile, and instead went for a song originally sung by a Scottish band but in this vid sung by a Japanese music program meant for J-Pop. Yup, the umpteenth Hatsune Miku video. I'm a silly person.
For some reason I looked up Greenland on the Wikipedia. And I noticed a couple of things. One that they were making steps towards independence from Denmark, and the other that Greenland gets a subsidy of about $633 million, around $11,300 per Greenlander.
Umm, yeah. They want independence, but they have a huge subsidy from the Danish government.
How, exactly, are they supposed to function as an independent nation?
There are a number of countries on our little dirtball that have minimal populations, and/or minimal resources and cannot function as a modern society without outside assistance and connections of some kind. Greenland is huge of course (although mostly under humongous glaciers, at least until Global Warming wipes them out) but most of these countries are teeny tiny islands.
Why exactly should they be striving to be full-fledged nations? Why should the rest of the world be treating them as full-fledged nations?
Not saying that they should have no control over their local affairs, but I don't see much reason that they should be trying to be actually independent with their own currencies, foreign affairs, military, independent economy.
Near as I can figure it's a misguided nationalism; the idea that they should be a country even though they really don't have enough to really be a country.
Eh, it's a silly thing to wonder about. And with global warming and rising seas most of those postage stamp sized countries will be gone before long.
Minor Irritation : PDF BOOKS I really Wish that folks who make PDFs that are sold be intelligent about the rights they issue the folks who buy them. I really would like to place Comments/Bookmarks on documents, so that I can mark my place or make personal 'notes' in them like I can with a Paper edition of the book.
If you want to sell it as a book, and ask prices like a Book, I expect to be allowed to use them with the FEATURES of a Book! Otherwise you'd better 1) Tell me before I buy what I cannot do with it and 2) Price it accordingly.
A Book I cannot bookmark, cannot put Little Notes in, or Flags or write in the margins in or quick reference within is only HALF the Price as far as I'm concerned, especially when it is a Book that Is Used for REFERENCE and not just a novel!
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