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I hate that it always turns out to be the “best of poor choices”, or lesser of evils.

I like Bernie, but doubt he will get anything done with our government. I prefer him because he doesn’t appear to be as sinister or in the pocket of people/corps I dislike as much as Hillary, or especially the repubs.

Hillary is supremely qualified to be president, but I don’t trust her to do the job or back the horses I support. .

  • I’m against the Patriot act, (She is pro),
  • I’m pro legalization of marijuana. (she’s against)
  • I’m Pro-gay rights (She flipflopped)
  • I’m Anti Keystone XL pipeline, she’s supported dirty oil
  • I’m pro equal pay for equal work (so is she – so that’s one!)
  • I’m for a single-payer healthcare system (she really is not)
  • I don’t think work should be taxed at a higher rate than investment (she’s against, again)
  • I am (and was) against the 2002 gulf war (she was pro, but has changed her tune now.)

That said, I suspect she will win the democrat nomination, and that’s better than anyone on the republican side as far as I can tell.

As for Bernie –

  • He’s not a proven leader.
  • I wonder why Vermont’s two biggest political leaders, Governor Peter Shumlin and Senator Patrick Leahy, have endorsed Hillary.
  • He’s 75. That’s an old dude.  What’s his expiration date in a job like President?

So, his disadvantages seem to rise over Hillary’s (the bullet list above were all items Bernie and I agree on.)

 

Originally published at The Scotto Grotto (org). You can comment here or there.

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nbeach1

Feels like Florida with this filter.

nbeach2

Right after the rain

nbeach3

sploosh

A quick moment in time here.

Originally published at The Scotto Grotto. You can comment here or there.

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According to reports the generating plant at Chalk Point is connected to a substation on Ryceville Road in Charles County. The insulator from this line failed and released the power line that connects to the substation which caught on fire when it hit the ground. Reports say the explosion was over 100 feet tall.

SMECO lineman, Kevin Thomas, said PEPCO and SMECO are jointly investigating the explosion, there is no estimate as to how long it will take to repair the substation. The utility companies are in the process of switching the power as a work-around. When asked why this substation was causing such a large outage Thomas said that this transmission line goes over the entire United States.

Power is beginning to be restored throughout the area.


Update:
Power outages may be linked to a switching station located in Charles County on Ryceville Road. Reports are also being made that 13 metro stations are without power.

There have been reported power outages across the entire Southern Maryland area.

Traffic lights out throughout Southern Maryland – treat intersections as a 4 WAY STOP & PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

Be on lookout for police on foot at intersections controlling traffic.

See the most updated SMECO map here: http://stormcenter.smeco.coop/m.html

Originally published at The Scotto Grotto. You can comment here or there.

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Let’s see here, dear journal…

Friday, Paul sussed out a great solution to the site’s issues – It’s loading now, and fast! After a week of data drag and timeouts he went with 2 things.

1) I changed how caching was done on her pages
2) I indexed 7 columns in her database
once that bottleneck was gone, all the Access-driven pages flew
it works so well I applied that caching model to our pages.
 On Test where there’s no caching, the combined total query execution time was around 230-250ms.  Throwing a 30 second cache on the 2 main queries that the others draw from dropped that to 5-11ms.

Upgrade to CF10 seems to be solidly in place now.

http://www.adobepress.com/articles/article.asp?p=2044525
http://www.carehart.org/blog/client/index.cfm/2012/3/7/charlie_areharts_ultimate_cf10_new_features_list

We should probably also find a list for CF9, because we picked those up during the upgrade from 8 too.

Friday night wasn’t much fun for me – long commute home, sitting next to a guy that was drunk. Apparently he does construction of some sort in DC. I relocated as soon as I could, but the first 45 minutes of the ride home was like being next to a smelly and loud goat.

Got home in a time to get back in the car and head south for another 45 minutes to Laughing Buddha for dinner with the in-laws.  The food there is usually very good, but they must’ve been having a rough night… this was the first time I didn’t want to finish my meal, or keep the leftovers. That said, they are awesome 99% of the time.  I’ll let them know later on – I’m confident that they can take constructive criticism.

Returned home, and promptly zonked right out.

Saturday was Pi / Pie / Pye day, of course.

Spent most of the day taking it easy – I drifted in and out of sleep pretty much until we left for dinner.. . recovering lost sleep after an exhausting week, I suppose.

We celebrated by  going for pizza at 3 brothers (after much deliberation – prior to that, it was going to be a trip to Annapolis for Cheeburger Cheeburger, then Maggiano’s, then the Double T Diner for Pie… ) I was perfectly happy with our Sicilian Pizza solution – I was fairly surprised that it is no longer on the menu, but they can do one if asked.

Post- Pizza, Chris and Allison bounced to TJ Maxx while Larry and  I hit Safeway for some essentials. Made it back home about 10 or so, and we stayed up for maybe an hour watching YouTube before hitting the sack.

Sunday we went to Brunch with the Meyers – met their daughter (Paige) their niece (Kelly), and friends Jeff and Lucie (and their two adorable kids, names out of my noggin) . Jeff and I hit it off pretty well, a common love of comics / RPG tabletop and classic video games. He may have convinced me to give Arrow another try.  Seasons 1-3 are on Netflix right now… if the bus has WiFi, I may make the attempt on the commute home during the week(s) ahead.

So, I finally got to eat at the Rod & Reel (Rotten Eel). The food was OK… standard buffet stuff. decent waffles, decent omelets. They weren’t very interested in high-speed busing the tables. There was a huge crush of people which meant lines and navigation issues. Our reservation was for 11:15, but we really didn’t get a spot to sit in until nearly noon.  Not my thing – plenty of other breakfast spots to visit.

Returned home and we zonked out again. After napping for a while, Allison and I just hit the house hard and caught up with a bunch of chores that just needed doing, and had been put off too long.  We ended up having leftover pizza for dinner, and sacking out after that.

My mood over the course of the weekend has been rather hyper-sensitive. Got a bit of a case of the hives, back was achy at the least and very painful at the worst. I was not a happy camper – irritable, cranky, and a bit negative in thought.

Newton was a good boy.
image

Originally published at The Scotto Grotto. You can comment here or there.

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Commute Conversation:

  • More issues w/ Geraldine – she’s done at her gig for sure
  • Books read as kids – SF/Fantasy (Madeline L’Engle, Xanth Series.)
  • Passing of Terry Pratchett
  • Good Omens
  • Neil Gaiman (Writing is good! Scientology and Amanda Palmer are blech!)
  • Al Gore on his part in the Internet, and his being misquoted

Newton was really grumbly last night – I got quite worried for a bit. He didn’t want to be touched at all. Low growls and stayed on his perch until I put on my CPAP. He settled down soon after, and was fine today. I was seriously considering taking him to the doctor if his issue continued this morning. Fortunately, he was in far better spirits and rambunctious, though I’ll be keeping an eye on him, since he’s had little sneezles off and on since winter came. I worry about my buddy… he’s getting older.

The newton (N) is the SI unit of force. It has dimensions m kg / s^2. My Newton is that integral to my world.


Mr. Wood went back to the hospital yesterday, right after coming home last night. I’m hoping he’ll be ok, but suspect that he had a stroke, and will need more in-depth care from here on. It’d be a shame if something happened to him on the same day as Sir Terry.

[Update - He passed away at 7pm last night. He was a great guy, a kind neighbor and friend to us.]

“All right,” said Susan, “I’m not stupid. You’re saying humans need … fantasies to make life bearable.”

Nᴏ. Hᴜᴍᴀɴs ɴᴇᴇᴅ ғᴀɴᴛᴀsʏ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ. Tᴏ ʙᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ғᴀʟʟɪɴɢ ᴀɴɢᴇʟ ᴍᴇᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪsɪɴɢ ᴀᴘᴇ.

“Tooth fairies? Hogfathers?”

Yᴇs. As ᴘʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴄᴇ. Yᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ sᴛᴀʀᴛ ᴏᴜᴛ ʟᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ʟɪᴇs.

“So we can believe the big ones?”

Yᴇs. Jᴜsᴛɪᴄᴇ. Dᴜᴛʏ. Mᴇʀᴄʏ. Tʜᴀᴛ sᴏʀᴛ ᴏғ ᴛʜɪɴɢ.

“They’re not the same at all!”

Rᴇᴀʟʟʏ? Tʜᴇɴ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜɴɪᴠᴇʀsᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ɢʀɪɴᴅ ɪᴛ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ғɪɴᴇsᴛ ᴘᴏᴡᴅᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ sɪᴇᴠᴇ ɪᴛ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇ ғɪɴᴇsᴛ sɪᴇᴠᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇɴ sʜᴏᴡ ᴍᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴀᴛᴏᴍ ᴏғ ᴊᴜsᴛɪᴄᴇ, ᴏɴᴇ ᴍᴏʟᴇᴄᴜʟᴇ ᴏғ ᴍᴇʀᴄʏ. Aɴᴅ ʏᴇᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀᴄᴛ, ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴡᴀs sᴏᴍᴇ sᴏʀᴛ ᴏғ ʀɪɢʜᴛɴᴇss ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜɴɪᴠᴇʀsᴇ ʙʏ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ɪᴛ ᴍᴀʏ ʙᴇ ᴊᴜᴅɢᴇᴅ.

“Yes. But people have got to believe that or what’s the point?”

Mʏ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ ᴇxᴀᴄᴛʟʏ.

Originally published at The Scotto Grotto. You can comment here or there.

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This alert has been updated.
Winter Storm Warning remains in effect from Midnight Tonight to 9 pm EST Thursday.
  • Precipitation types, wintry mix, then all snow, heavy at times.
  • Accumulations: snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches.
  • Timing: rain changes to wintry mix around midnight then all snow Thursday. Snow heaviest Thursday late morning to mid afternoon.
  • Temperatures: in the mid 30s, dropping into the lower 20s.
  • Winds: north 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 20 mph.
  • Impacts: roads will be snow covered, visibilities will drop to around a Quarter-mile at times, making travel dangerous.
Recommended actions

A Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Significant amounts of snow are forecast that will make travel dangerous. Only Travel in an emergency. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight. Food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency.

Originally published at The Scotto Grotto. You can comment here or there.

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24 hours of gaming going to help sick kids.

Please help, if you are able.

Originally published at The Scotto Grotto. You can comment here or there.

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It's that time of year again!

I'm on a mission to save kids and I need your help. My local Children's Miracle Network Hospital treats thousands of children each year, regardless of their family's ability to pay. These kids are facing scary stuff like cancer, cystic fibrosis, and injuries from accidents to name just a few.

In about a month, I'll be participating in this huge worldwide celebration of the social impact of gamers of all kinds from video games to board games and tabletop RPG's! It's my sincere hope that you'll find it in your heart to support my efforts with a monthly pledge or one-time gift that will go directly to my hospital.

Your donation is tax-deductible and ALL PROCEEDS go to help kids.
I need your help to reach my goal for the kids. Please make a safe, easy donation online today. Click the "Support This Participant" button on this page to get started. Thank you so much for supporting my efforts!

Scott von Berg

A fundraising page for Scott von Berg

from Scott von Berg @ Google+ http://ift.tt/1CSWPgZ
via IFTTT

Originally published at The Scotto Grotto. You can comment here or there.

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Owings man arrested after falling asleep on bench with drugs on lap
North Beach, MD – 9/16/2013

By Press Release, Calvert County Sheriff’s Office

On September 13 at 5:43 p.m. Sgt. G. Hollinger responded to the intersection of Bay Avenue and 2nd Street boardwalk in North Beach for the report of an intoxicated person.

He observed a male sitting alone on a boardwalk bench who was asleep.  He had suspected drug and drug paraphernalia material in his lap and on the bench next to him.

Gerald G. Bowen, Jr., 28 of Owings, was arrested and charged with possession of a schedule II drug; Propacet, possession of a schedule II drug; Oxycodone, possession of a schedule II drug; Morphine Sulfate, possession of a schedule IV drug; Alprazolam, possession of a schedule III drug; Hydrocodone, possession of a schedule I drug; Marijuana less than 10 grams, and possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia; a metal smoking device. CDS Violation Case #13-54600

Originally published at The Scotto Grotto. You can comment here or there.

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