De-Christmasification

Last View of the Christmas Tree
January 5, 2019

It happened yesterday. 

The de-Christmasification of the house is complete. Well, lest you wonder, I provided a link to the word Christmasification in the urban dictionary.

Chris and I worked through most of the day to get the Christmas decorations into the boxes and back into their storage places. It was a difficult process given we have many decorations and they were everywhere around the house. 

It took, all told, about six hours form start to finish, remembering of course that we had already taken down the exterior decorations. The decorations are back in the boxes and the boxes are back in the attic. The attic is, of course, above the garage and accesses via rickety steps.

I do so hate lugging the boxes up and down from the attic. 

Gear Case Kit for Stanley
Garage Door Opener

As an added benefit, the garage door opener broke during the process. The gear case failed and so I had to go on line and order a replacement  I have repaired it once before, a few years ago and I am fortunate that I actually have the ability to rebuild the motor. I have been advised that the way my garage door opener is installed cannot be replicated today and it would require a major change to replace the entire unit. Ugh!

Always something it seems.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Nero is Warming Up

People sometimes say things that reveal how they really view the world and the situation at hand--and it can be scary.

Trump Suggests Government Shutdown Could Last for ‘Months or Even Years’ - The New York Times

A sweeping statement such as was made by the president is frightening. Not just personally, but for the sake of the entire nation and all of the people of the world who depend upon the United States. 

The idea that our leaders have devolved to making such threats shows a lack of appreciation for the things that are truly important in America. 

This just shows how bad things really are and how egos are blinding our leaders to what is truly important and good about America. Closing the government for years would be cataclysmic and possibly begin a chain of events form which we might never recover. Not only that, but even a threat such a this is a clear violation of The Constitution because the executive branch and the Congress would be in a situation where they would not longer be meeting the following:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

All of can think of is the image of Nero fiddling while Rome burns.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

New congress? Same old Stuff?

It was a momentous day yesterday as Nancy Pelosi became the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House for the second time. In fact, men don't do it that often, the last time was six decades ago.

So now we have a Congress divided. But, in reality, the Congress has been divided for two years now. I was encouraged by Ms Pelosi's words provide at least a veil of bipartisanship. Perhaps, the Congress will unite against the Executive and begin to move the country forward on a more moderate course. 

We can only hope that the Congress can begin to forge a more realistic course. 

I must be dreaming. 

The first thing the Congress needs to do is to get the government moving again? End the shutdown!

I'm dreaming, I'm sure. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Moving Forward?

The second day of 2019 dawned and it was much like many of the days left behind in 2018.

It is funny how I think about the passing of years in a linear fashion, with a forward and a back. Why not an up and down like a ladder? I don't know. Perhaps it is because we perceive time linearly and therefor there is a forward and reverse. 

On one hand, each day can be much like the other, yet they follow in a progression. 

Yesterday, for instance, was much like the last few days of 2018. The day was cool, but not cold and overcast all day. The lack of sunshine is becoming standard for the region.

But, for me, this is a three day week. There is a Monday (yesterday), a Wednesday (today), and a Friday (tomorrow). I could get used to this. 

Well, day three is upon me! It is time to get moving and face the joys of the day. My big question for the day is: Will the sun shine?

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Day One is Complete

The problem with New Year's Day (NYD) is that I really don't feel like doing much because of the activity from the night before celebrating the arrival of the new year.

Chris and I broke the mold this year and actually accomplished a few things on NYD. 

Given that the day was warm we managed to get the Christmas lights down off the house. I felt that we needed to take advantage of the opportunity that the day presented to us. And, it really is not fun to take the lights down when it is cold and freezing.

Chris also swapped out the Christmas dishes. So we are back on the day-to-day dishes that we will use until Christmastime next year.

2019 is about to become like other years as I head off to work today, for the first day fo the year. Ugh. 

I would like to say the days are getting longer, but today will only be 4m 24s longer than the on the solstice. 

We will see what the day brings. Happy January 2nd.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

And so 2019 Arrives

Sydney Fireworks on NYD

The New Year has arrived! Partying out the old and ringing in the new has happened and I am sitting here in my chair looking out at the first dawn of 2019. A squirrel, oblivious to the change of the year, is scavenging on my deck looking for the peanuts that Chris puts out for the birds.

The first dawn is gray, much like 2018 which is just departed. But it is not raining.

Chris and I in a NYE Selfie
December 31, 2018

I know there are 364 more dawns to experience this year and I know that each one will be different.  

I looked back at my first blog of 2018 and I noted that the temperature outside was 4.5 degrees! Today it is a balmy 55 degrees here at the house.

And so here some thoughts for 2019:

I hope that 2019 is drier than 2018. It should not be too hard since 2018 set a record for the most rainfall EVER in the Baltimore-Washington region. At items I thought I was living in Seattle.

I am hopeful that I will see 2020 dawn from the deck of a cruise ship in the Caribbean! I had a similar wish on New Year's Day, (NYD) 2014 for the beginning of 2015--it sadly, did not happen.

I believe that my treatments for prostate cancer were successful and that I will receive confirming test results during 2019.

I hope that my family will be healthy and prosperous during 2019! 

From my 2017 NYD blog, I am hoping that the divisions in our country can be repaired and we can begin to move forward. It is terrible that the government is in partial shutdown as we begin the year! But, then, as I reviewed my blogs I note that there have been other NYD where I make similar comments.

In closing this first blog of 2019, I provide the thoughts I wrote  for the dawn of 2010:

I hope and pray that this year is better for you and your family than last year.
That you will receive and recognize blessings beyond your imagination.
That you will find love, companionship, and fulfillment in all you do.
That you will be true to yourself, and to God in your life and your profession and in the decisions that you make every day.
Do not sell or lose your integrity.

May the seas of life be calm for you,
But when the seas are rough, may you be on a big ship firmly in the hand of God
And may you sail on into the future
with hope, and excitement ready for the challenges of the hour, day, week and month as they come knowing that in the end--you are never alone, no matter how lonely you feel and that we have all been there in some form before--so do not isolate yourself from friends and make it a task find a person who used to be a friend--and reconcile with them this year.

Happy New Year!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - December 31, 2018

1. It is the last day of 2018. As we reflect go the year behind us, here is hope that 2019 will be much better for all of us.

2. I find it hard to believe that my end of the year vacation, eleven days off, is coming to an end after tomorrow. I have very much enjoyed being off from work, but I am ready to get back into the thick of things.

3. It is good to get a few little projects accomplished around the house. There always seems to be something to do, but knocking a project off the list gives a feeling of accomplishment. 

4. The NFL regular season ended yesterday. Here is the final installment of the family NFL weekend results. It is is important to note that two of the family teams ended as Division Champions and are hosting playoff games next weekend!

  Ravens (10-6) defeated Browns 26-24. Ravens won AFC North
  Cowboys (10-6) defeated Giants 36-35. Cowboys won NFC East
  Steelers (9-6-1) defeated Bengals 16-13
  Redskins (7-9) lost to Eagles 0-24

5. What are you doing for New Years Eve? Please be careful and do not drink and drive. Call a Lyft or an Uber. Most areas appear as if there will be rain.

6. When do you take the Christmas decorations down? This coming weekend will find our decorations back in the box for another year.

7. The government shutdown continues. It is unfathomable to me that they believe that they can run a country in this manner. Our leaders should be ashamed of themselves for their pettiness and lack of desire to lead the country forward while the rest of the world leaves us in the dust.

8. Today in History. On this day in 1999, the United States, in accordance with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, officially hands over control of the Panama Canal, putting the strategic waterway into Panamanian hands for the first time. Crowds of Panamanians celebrated the transfer of the 50-mile canal, which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and officially opened when the SS Arcon sailed through on August 15, 1914. Since then, over 922,000 ships have used the canal.

Headlines

Trump Digs In, Darkening Hopes for a Deal to End the Shutdown - The New York Times

Empty Homes and Protests: China’s Property Market Strains the World - The New York Times

How a Crackdown on MS-13 Caught Up Innocent High School Students - The New York Times

China factory activity shrinks for first time in over two years, 2019 looks tougher - Reuters

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

Today, we're taking a break from the concerns and the bustle of the work-a-day world. But we're also making a new beginning... Let us renew our faith that as free men and women we still have the power to better our lives, and let us resolve to face the challenges of the new year holding that conviction firmly in our hearts. That, after all, is our greatest strength and our greatest gift as Americans. 


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Ringing the Year out in Style

With the arrival of great weather yesterday, we took the opportunity to make one last trip out to visit some wineries.

The View from Big Cork Winery
December 29, 2018

It turned out to be a great way to spend the better part of the day and we also discovered another very enjoyable winery in the area. 

Chris and I took decided to drive about an hour away to visit some wineries. We love wine and enjoy going the wineries to taste the wines and talk to the wine makers about their work. Creating good wine is almost like an art form. Yesterday, we started by going to Big Cork Vineyard in Rohrersville, Maryland, to pick up the wines that had waiting there. The winery is is a beautiful part of Maryland. It is very rural, similar to where we grew up in Upstate New York. After retrieving the wine and sampling the current offerings we set off for a winery in the area that we had not yet visited. 

Hiddencroft Vineyard Smoke House
December 29, 2018

The second winery we visited was Hiddencroft Vineyards in Lovettsville, Virginia.  The winery was housed in a late-1700's dairy farm which obviously had been updated. Many of the barns and buildings were original and very interesting. The wines were very nice as well. After sampling the wines, we bought a bottle and sat outside around the fire pit to enjoy some munchies and the wine. The day was surprisingly warm, still cold but warm enough to be comfortable near the raging fire. We met some other people and enjoyed the wine for about 45 minutes before deciding head back home.

The beautiful day turned into a spectacular day of wine and friends and discovery. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Loss of Confidence

Well, it has happened, again.

Washington is a shambles and the mess caused by the leadership is being borne on the backs of the Federal workers.

Yesterday it was announced that there would be no 2019 pay raise although the formula for determining raises suggested a 2.1 percent raise. That raise would have just barely kept up with the rising costs associated with medical premiums, and the general cost of living. As it is, all federal workers will fall further behind. And some wonder why so many qualified federal workers are jumping to take higher paying jobs with contractors. 


Here is a partial list of the government shutdown casualties from the Axios newsletter:

All Smithsonian Museums and the National Zoo will close January 2, per NPR.

The Environment Protection Agency is set to soon run out of money, and will furlough employees on Saturday if no funding deal is reached by the end of the day Friday, 

Bloomberg Environment reports. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture had announced payments for farmers who have been hardest hit by the U.S. trade war with China. But with the government remaining shut down for more than a week, some farmers may not receive their promised checks and won't be able to receive farm loans or disaster assistance, according to the AP. 

The Federal Trade Commission will need to suspend all investigations and litigation by Friday, including a high-profile investigation of Facebook.

The Office of Personnel Management released a template letter Thursday for furloughed government employees to use to request smaller payments from creditors or landlords. One version of the letter included the suggestion that employees offer "the possibility of trading services to perform maintenance...in exchange for partial rent payments."

The last one really hurts. Some brilliant senior government executive is suggesting that federal workers trade maintenance services for rent. Really? Think about that for a minute. Would you really want a furloughed federal worker fixing your faucet? They may be great  as a security guard, but as a part-time plumber? They are skilled federal workers, and likely not trained maintenance people.

Frankly, people do not join the ranks of the Federal government to be used as pawns in chess match between forces of government.

That written, many Federal Workers are fortunate, so far, to be working for departments which have funding. Perhaps that is why this shutdown will last so long. Defense is so far unaffected, but the Coast Guard, on the other hand, is definitely affected. As are the people working for TSA and Customs.

While demanding border security, the very people who work to secure the borders are being furloughed or asked to work without an expectation of receiving a paycheck. 

Here are details for those agencies from CNBC:

More than 420,000 federal employees across numerous agencies will continue to work even as the government shuts down. They just won't get paid for it immediately.

Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee said that number will include more than 41,000 federal law enforcement and correctional officers from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and thousands of other law enforcement and correctional officers.

The vast majority of Department of Homeland Security employees will also work without a regular paycheck. The nearly 90 percent of workers in the agency affected by a shutdown would include 53,000 Transportation Security Administration employees, as well as 42,000 Coast Guard employees.

As many as 54,000 employees from Customs and Border Protection — the agents who are currently working to secure the southern U.S. border — were also projected to work without paychecks. By forcing a shutdown over border security, Trump was expected to cause the agents he often lauds for their efforts to stop illegal immigration to temporarily go without compensation.

Up to 5,000 Forest Service firefighters and 3,600 National Weather Service forecasters will also keep working without paychecks, according to Senate Democrats.

Federal workers should not shoulder the brunt of the dysfunction in Washington.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Trimming the Grasses

Grasses Shielding the Pool
December 21, 2018

Amazingly, we had three nice weather days in a row. 

That does not happen much around here. I was able to take advantage of the nice weather yesterday and finally trim the grasses around the pool.

Grasses Cut and Being Loaded into the Truck
December 29, 2018

I know it sounds kind of mundane and it is hard to get excited about cutting the ornamental grasses, but waiting until Spring when they have been crushed by the weight if the winter snow makes the problem even more difficult. 

The grasses make a very nice privacy shield during the summer months and their green is very pleasant to look at. During the winter, after they have bloomed, they become unsightly and they need to be cut before the new springtime growth can take hold. 

It is a big job and the truck can just barely handle all of the cuttings, but it is fun to strap down the mounded pile of grasses for the trip to the center where they will be turned into mulch. 

Now, the task is complete. I usually cut the grasses on Columbus Day and failing that Veterans Day, but the weather has been so bad that I didn't have the time I needed to allow them to dry before cutting and to have the ground dry enough to support the truck. I had the added benefit yesterday of a freeze which helped the still too moist ground support the weight of the truck. 

But the task is complete and now we can begin to accomplish other tasks. I still have a lot of wood to cut--so I guess that is my next task.

Oh, wait--did I mention that it is raining, again.

Ugh.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD