Monday Musings - March 4, 2019

1. It is the first Monday of March and the weather forecast for the weeks appears more suited for January. The nightly lows are going be in the teens for the next few days.

2. I am waiting for Spring. Maybe there will be warmth and flowers soon. I see leaf buds on the trees.

3. Although a big snow event was predicted for the overnight hours, I awoke this morning to no snow after a nearly day long rain event.

Unloading
Danby, NY
March 1, 2019

4. Home ownership is great, except when repairs are needed. For instance yesterday, one of the toilet seats needed replacing. Let me assure you that I do not enjoy playing with toilets!

5. During our quick trip to Upstate New York, we had the opportunity to experience snow and cold. Personally, you can keep that weather. There was not one palm tree in sight.

6. I am frustrated with my Sunday newspaper delivery. It is supposed to be on my driveway by 8 AM and it frequently, as happened yesterday, does not arrive until after 10AM. By then, I am no longer interested in reading as the day is well underway.

7. Ithaca, NY, is a strange place with respect to roads. There is one road that I have used since I was living there to come down the South Hill and for some unexplainable reason the city has closed one of the more important streets connected to it. Go figure. It does have a very difficult about 150 degree turn at the bottom, but people have been making that turn for decades, until recently when they closed off the street. Perhaps modern drivers are not as adept as more mature vehicle operators. My school bus used to make that turn.

8. Today in History. On March 4, 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is inaugurated as the 32nd president of the United States. In his famous inaugural address, delivered outside the east wing of the U.S. Capitol, Roosevelt outlined his “New Deal”–an expansion of the federal government as an instrument of employment opportunity and welfare–and told Americans that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Although it was a rainy day in Washington, and gusts of rain blew over Roosevelt as he spoke, he delivered a speech that radiated optimism and competence, and a broad majority of Americans united behind their new president and his radical economic proposals to lead the nation out of the Great Depression.

Headlines

After India Loses Dogfight to Pakistan, Questions Arise About Its ‘Vintage’ Military - The New York Times

Tornadoes Kill at Least 23 in Alabama, Official Says - The New York Times

Trump blames Cohen testimony for failed deal with North Korea - The Washington Post

U.S. and China said to appear close to deal to roll back tariffs - Reuters

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

"Our policy of peace through strength has been vindicated wherever it's been tried…the future for world peace is bright if we Americans continue to stand firm, stand tall, and stand for freedom."


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD