MAJOR thanks to Dave for coming over yesterday to help me install an attic fan. I’ve got a little flashing work yet to do on the outside, but the rest of it is finished (and looks totally pro), and I so could not have done this without him.
Now if I can just finish up the job without breaking too many more roofing tiles….
I should have some rain handling louvres arriving via FedEx this week. I’m tearing out the gutters behind the garage to put these up and see how they work. If all goes well, I’m going to do the entire backside of the house. The gutters there right now are continually clogged thanks to our oak trees, so I figured it might be worth getting rid of the gutters entirely by using a water-handing product that isn’t susceptible to clogging. Plus then I won’t have to deal with the clogged downspout in the southeast corner.
Along the front, we’ll be installing Gutter Love It, a perforated PVC pipe with a silly name. The gutters out front are OK, so I figured this was a good, permanent solution.
We met Joe, Carol, and Ella up in Wilsonville at Chili’s for dinner. Hard to believe how quickly kids grow. Ella is so big! And I love that she smiles a lot. Elisha has just gotten into the smile game herself and should definitely pick up some pointers from Ella.
Near the end of our meal Jonah was constantly whining for “more Joe, more Carol” which made little sense since nobody had left yet. Then when it came time to go, he was like, “bye” and immediately stopped whining. It was pretty funny to me, but my that boy is a puzzle sometimes.
Thanks to Joe, Carol, and Ella for the dinner get-together!
I was hit with multiple emails from Democratic political organizations on the evening of and the day after Bush’s John Roberts Supreme Court nomination. I think Jon Stewart’s Daily Show hit the nail on the head (props to AndewSullivan.com’s Daily Dish):
Stewart: So after yesterday’s announcement of Bush’s pick for the Supreme Court, how is the left wing reacting?
Correspondent: Well, Jon, they’re outraged over Bush’s pick, and they have been for weeks.
Roberts may not have been who you or I would have selected, and God knows nobody on the left cares for his conservativism (or his age, 50), but this is what we get for losing a presidential election. The president has the power to name whoever he likes and assuming the nominee is qualified—and Roberts is—the Senate should confirm. After all, “advice and consent” only goes so far, and it doesn’t include picking the candidate.
This deference to presidential prerogative explains why I was in favor the Robert Bork nomination, as he was highly qualified (according to the American Bar Association) and my objection to the Clarence Thomas nomination, as he was not. Bork’s political past in the Nixon-era and Thomas’ trumped-up brouhaha with Anita Hill need never enter into the proceedings in my estimation. I’m not arguing that avowed Nazis or KKK members, if nominated, need be confirmed even if qualified. I don’t think respect for a president’s judicial preferences goes that far. But Bork in particular was castigated for political views which, frankly, are today not at all outside the mainstream. Indeed, his philosophy forms the basis of much of conservative jurisprudence in America.
But with the Roberts’ there’s not even that sort of baggage to handle, which makes the left-wing arguments about his unsuitability all the more difficult to stomach.
You should do your own research, but I happen to think that Pfizer (PFE-NYSE) stock is a very good buy right now. If you’re feeling lucky (and have a higher tolerance for risk), Schering Plough (SGP-NYSE) looks inviting as well.
Now that it’s had a couple of bug-fix revisions, Mac OS 10.4 (“Tiger”) seems worth of a purchase and install. Rumor has it that 10.4.3 is due in mid-September, but from the sounds of it most folks are running 10.4.2 successfully, and I’m eager to join the Tiger party. I’ll let you know how it goes.