October 2007

There were 50 posts published in October 2007 (this is page 4 of 5).

Amtrak

I had unusual travel plans for my recent business trip to Annapolis. First I flew to BWI on Southwest (which curiously didn’t have all of their new line arrangements yet in place). I rented a car for the Annapolis leg of the trip. When I got done with work today, I returned the car to the Baltimore airport (via the Baltimore-Washington Parkinglotway), where I planned to catch a train south to Fredericksburg.
Continue reading →

Craigslist fun

I had a little fun on Craigslist this morning:

Wanted: Desalination Plant – $1
Reply to: sale-446914297@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-10-12, 8:41AM EDT

Willing to trade lightly-used lawn mower in good condition for large desalination plant. Must have capacity for several million gallons per hour.

Will throw in weed whacker and accessories for water pipe that can reach the coast.

* Location: Raleigh
* it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 446914297

Of course such a thing does not exist, as the biggest dasalination plant in the world, Dubai’s Jebel Ali plant, produces 300 million cubic meters of water per year according to Wikipedia. I toyed with changing “millions” to “thousands” but I thought it was funnier with millions.

In Spite Of Ourselves

I tuned my rental car’s satellite radio to Radio Margaritaville this morning and fell in love with this colorful song. I gotta check out the rest of John Prine’s work!

In Spite Of Ourselves
John Prine and Iris DeMent

She don’t like her eggs all runny
She thinks crossin’ her legs is funny
She looks down her nose at money
She gets it on like the Easter bunny
She’s my baby I’m her honey
I’m never gonna let her go
Continue reading →

How I spent my summer vacation

What a short, strange trip its been. I guess I can tell you now what has stolen my blogging time for the last few weeks.

It was a little after noon when I got the call from Esther, Rodger Koopman’s campaign manager, telling me that Jessie Taliaferro had conceded the race for Raleigh District B city councilor. The call marked the end of five weeks of intensely hard but curiously satisfying work to help get him elected.
Continue reading →

Kouncilor Koopman!

Its official now: Rodger Koopman will be Raleigh District B’s new city councilor! At noon today Jessie Taliaferro announced she is not seeking a runoff.

Man, I can’t tell you how happy I am. Rodger’s team worked very hard for this. We took on an established,formidable candidate and won against all odds. Its a huge victory for Raleigh’s grassroots – everyday people who care enough about our city to get involved.

Congratulations to Rodger. Kudos to Jessie Taliaferro as well for her classy decision. While I’m at it let me offer my apologies for my rather harsh previous post.

In Annapolis

I’m in Annapolis today and tomorrow. Tomorrow evening I meet Kelly and the kids in Fredericksburg and we all head west to Warrenton for the night.

Saturday is my high school reunion. The Herndon High School Class of 1987 holds its 20 year reunion in Reston, Virginia. I hope to catch up with my old friends. Should be fun.

Shoes optional

I’m just now putting shoes on for the first time today. That’s one of the cool things about working from home.

Thank goodness it wasn’t a fiber line

How many thousands of gallons of fresh water are being wasted on the current Cary gas line fire? And for what? The drilling truck involved has long ago burned off its fuel, the truck (and road) is a total loss anyway, there is nothing around it that can catch fire (or that hasn’t already caught fire), and firefighters aren’t trying to extinguish the fire but are letting it burn out. Can some of my firefighter buddies tell me what these guys hope to accomplish by aiming hoses at it, other than practicing their aim?

On a related note, is there a reason firefighters must use fresh water to fight fires? Can’t they use reuse water just as easily and safely?

Bonus link: Check out the fire from the perspective of the N.C. DOT traffic camera on the scene.

Koopman Krushes!

Yesterday was a huge victory for Raleigh’s grassroots as District B city council candidate Rodger Koopman not only put Jessie Taliaferro on notice, he thoroughly cleaned her clock – coming within five percent of booting her out outright. As a volunteer for the Koopman campaign I have relished the chance to put our citizens back in the driver’s seat when it comes to deciding Raleigh’s future.
Continue reading →