As you grow older, long ago memories seem to dim yet other specific memories seem to be recalled with even greater clarity. One such memory for me was the introduction of a book. Not just a childhood book but my first real adult book with little type and unrecognizable words. That book was A Field Guide to Birds of North America by Roger Tory Peterson.
I can't remember the exact date but I know I was about 7 years old when I happened to catch my mother peering out the back window with an open book in her hand. I had probably seen this many times before but only on this day was I curious enough to ask what she was doing. It was short lesson but one that has stuck with me for fifty years.
To this day, consciously or otherwise I identify birds in the yard, while traveling on the highway or the ball field or anywhere else I happen to be, exactly the same way. She would first show me the family by the body size and shape by silhouette and then the bird and gender itself by colors. To this day I have the same curious enjoyment as my mother did, staring out the window at the bird feeder. There just seems to be a calming of the body and mind watching birds.
It was this Christmas that brought these events back into memory so clear that I felt I was almost back there. One of my Christmas presents was a new copy of the Field Guide that was a replacement for my previous edition which was also a Christmas gift in 1984 that was replacing an even older version.
From the moment I got that first Peterson some 50 years ago, I was hooked on books. It was this book that gave me another even greater connection to books. It was because of this book that I knew that the Houghton Mifflin publishing company had a warehouse in our town.
I was in high school at the time and had saved $350 from other jobs to have a 1958 candy apple red with black highlights, Chevrolet Impala, 348 cubic inch, 3 on the column shift sitting in my driveway waiting for me to get my license.
The problem of course is once you get that license and the freedom of anywhere travel that an automobile gave you, it resulted in your introduction to an up coming life time of bills. It didn't matter, a car meant a whole new world to be explored even if it meant having to drive to work after school to afford it.
The Houghton Mifflin warehouse was the source of the money necessary to keep the old gas and repair hog on the road. The building was enormous and the total number of books on hand exceeded that of the Boston Public Library. My job was to fill orders from the many shelves and send them up for packing. One of those books was the field guide and I soon found out that I was not the only one who had an interest in it since every night I would fill many orders that included Peterson.
Although at the time I had little interest in opening school books and my recreational reading was limited to science fiction and civil war battles, I found that I didn't mind reading a six volume set of Churchill on the second world war, or anything else that might have caught my eye. From the moment I got there I used any free moment to have a book with me or just to search the thousands of shelves for titles.
Funny how one event can stick with you a lifetime. Now getting closer to retirement in another decade, I don't dream of a golf course or sunny clime or world travel. Turn up the heat, turn off the television, give me a nice comfortable chair, some books and all that time to enjoy them.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Perplexed
I continue to be perplexed over the town's stubborn attitude toward the forced sewer main. Finally, after a number of years the town is looking seriously at the issue of the age of this line and what to do about it. This portion of the town sewer system was built in the mid 60's and unfortunately the route that was chosen happens to go directly through the towns main well field.
The line is under constant pressure as the pumping station at Terrace Hall Avenue pushing sewerage up Mall Road where is crests at South Bedford Street, from there it gravity feeds down into Woburn.
Preliminary estimates for the project have range between 4 and 6 million dollars. What hasn't been talked about much is keeping the line intact but using vinyl lining to greatly extend the life of the line. This is a common practice that we have used in the past and this would substantially reduce the costs of a complete new construction.
The argument against this has been that the line can't been examined or worked on because it is under pressure all the time and a camera can't be sent in there because of that pressure. That argument can be refuted with these questions. What would happen if the line failed? How would a repair be performed? We know this answer because other lines have failed in town. The process is pretty simple. The entire system through out the town has a network of manholes that enable access into the pipes. When a failure occurs, a temporary jump line is constructed from one manhole to another over the damaged area to enable flow free access to the area that has failed.
Maybe the solution to this problem is a complete new line however, it would seem that exhausting all the other more economical alternatives would be a better way to approach such an enormous project. In the interim, at the very least, the town should be testing for sewerage leaks along the length of this line that goes through the Great Meadow. If they wait to find indications of a leak by testing at the water treatment plant it will be way to late.
The line is under constant pressure as the pumping station at Terrace Hall Avenue pushing sewerage up Mall Road where is crests at South Bedford Street, from there it gravity feeds down into Woburn.
Preliminary estimates for the project have range between 4 and 6 million dollars. What hasn't been talked about much is keeping the line intact but using vinyl lining to greatly extend the life of the line. This is a common practice that we have used in the past and this would substantially reduce the costs of a complete new construction.
The argument against this has been that the line can't been examined or worked on because it is under pressure all the time and a camera can't be sent in there because of that pressure. That argument can be refuted with these questions. What would happen if the line failed? How would a repair be performed? We know this answer because other lines have failed in town. The process is pretty simple. The entire system through out the town has a network of manholes that enable access into the pipes. When a failure occurs, a temporary jump line is constructed from one manhole to another over the damaged area to enable flow free access to the area that has failed.
Maybe the solution to this problem is a complete new line however, it would seem that exhausting all the other more economical alternatives would be a better way to approach such an enormous project. In the interim, at the very least, the town should be testing for sewerage leaks along the length of this line that goes through the Great Meadow. If they wait to find indications of a leak by testing at the water treatment plant it will be way to late.
Grudge match
All year long Patriot fans and I assume Patriot players had looked forward to a rematch against Peyton Manning and the defending champion Indianapolis Colts. Last year's conference championship had been a bitter disappointment for us after we had taken what appeared to be an insurmountable lead. At half time I was at the airport on my way back from Vegas and I can remember asking people Peyton who? I should have known better than to be so cocky because they came roaring back and later I was admitting Manning's greatness.
So we are not going to get our grudge rematch. This has left some fans elated that we won't have to face Manning and can get to the business of winning the Superbowl without having to unseat the defending champions.
However, on the other side of tomorrow's championship game is a team that has waited all year long for a grudge match. San Diego was last year's prohibitive favorite to go the distance. They finished the regular season 14 and 2 and had a total of nine players going to the Pro Bowl.
What happened next left a bitter taste for the San Diegans. With that great record, a roster of incredible talent and two weeks to prepare to play the Patriots on their home field, they failed miserably.
Tomorrow brings the opportunity to both wipe away the stain of that defeat as well as the chance to place the Chargers in the annals of NFL history. New England is now in a role reversal, at home, with a glorius 17 and 0 record facing a team that is injured in key areas and a 13.5 point under dog. If the Chargers pull the upset, non Patriot fans across the land will laud them forever.
So we are not going to get our grudge rematch. This has left some fans elated that we won't have to face Manning and can get to the business of winning the Superbowl without having to unseat the defending champions.
However, on the other side of tomorrow's championship game is a team that has waited all year long for a grudge match. San Diego was last year's prohibitive favorite to go the distance. They finished the regular season 14 and 2 and had a total of nine players going to the Pro Bowl.
What happened next left a bitter taste for the San Diegans. With that great record, a roster of incredible talent and two weeks to prepare to play the Patriots on their home field, they failed miserably.
Tomorrow brings the opportunity to both wipe away the stain of that defeat as well as the chance to place the Chargers in the annals of NFL history. New England is now in a role reversal, at home, with a glorius 17 and 0 record facing a team that is injured in key areas and a 13.5 point under dog. If the Chargers pull the upset, non Patriot fans across the land will laud them forever.
Beware, this game could be a continuation of the Patriots inexorable march toward perfection or it could be one of the curious twists of fate where the inevitable dominance of the expected gives way to redemption for the previously humbled.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Edwards Obama coalition?
The tiny cracks in the veneer of the Hillary Clinton campaign are beginning to look like crevices. It can't be confirmed at the moment because the polling data available between the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary isn't going to be available till the primary is over. It is easy to see in campaign events that Obama is surging against her.
Her third place finish in Iowa leaves her with a conundrum. If she attacks the front runner Obama then she inadvertently helps Edwards. Apparently, Edwards had a counter strategy worked out when Clinton attacked Obama in yesterday's debate, he immediately went to Obama's defense.
Edward's intent is clear, the Democratic contenders immediate problem is to continue to smash Hillary's aura of invincibility. What began as a trickle of doubt in Iowa will become a torrent if she has a third place finish in New Hampshire.
Her performance has given party regulars more and more ammunition to say out loud what many have been whispering for months. She simply cannot win in November, so why bother to nominate another loser?
What does look increasingly more attractive to Democrats is an Obama/Richardson ticket or an Edwards/Richardson ticket. It works geographically as well as experience wise because by having Richardson on the ticket it blunts some of the criticism of having an Edwards or Obama at the top of the ticket that is bereft of any real business, governance or foreign policy experience.
A more tempting combination could be Edwards and Obama together . Although both are light in almost all areas it seems as though this could be more of an attribute than a detriment. Politics as usual seems to mean continued gridlock in Washington in almost every area that Americans consider to be top priorities.
Social Security, immigration, Palestine, energy policy, the twin deficits and defense spending are all areas in which nothing has been accomplished by a now Democratic congress.
Perhaps a couple of populist neophytes with a combination of charm, good looks and happy go lucky platitudes is what the country really wants.
Her third place finish in Iowa leaves her with a conundrum. If she attacks the front runner Obama then she inadvertently helps Edwards. Apparently, Edwards had a counter strategy worked out when Clinton attacked Obama in yesterday's debate, he immediately went to Obama's defense.
Edward's intent is clear, the Democratic contenders immediate problem is to continue to smash Hillary's aura of invincibility. What began as a trickle of doubt in Iowa will become a torrent if she has a third place finish in New Hampshire.
Her performance has given party regulars more and more ammunition to say out loud what many have been whispering for months. She simply cannot win in November, so why bother to nominate another loser?
What does look increasingly more attractive to Democrats is an Obama/Richardson ticket or an Edwards/Richardson ticket. It works geographically as well as experience wise because by having Richardson on the ticket it blunts some of the criticism of having an Edwards or Obama at the top of the ticket that is bereft of any real business, governance or foreign policy experience.
A more tempting combination could be Edwards and Obama together . Although both are light in almost all areas it seems as though this could be more of an attribute than a detriment. Politics as usual seems to mean continued gridlock in Washington in almost every area that Americans consider to be top priorities.
Social Security, immigration, Palestine, energy policy, the twin deficits and defense spending are all areas in which nothing has been accomplished by a now Democratic congress.
Perhaps a couple of populist neophytes with a combination of charm, good looks and happy go lucky platitudes is what the country really wants.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Iowa fallout?
The population of Iowa is about 2.9 million and represents almost exactly 1% of the U.S. population of 299 million. Of the Iowa population only about 1% take part in the Iowa caucuses. From over all election point of view the caucus results don't really prove much for the winners of the event. This is born out by a Boston Globe graph http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/05/nh_factor/ that shows the insignificance of a win in Iowa over the last nine presidential election cycles. During that time only 2 Iowa winners have gone on to the presidency while 7 New Hampshire winners have gone on to become President of the United States.
With those results in mind, it is a mystery why both parties continue to take the caucus seriously. Iowans on the other hand are holding onto their privileged position in the presidential process with all their might because the amount of money spent by candidates in the state amounts to one of the biggest industries. Mitt Romney might have been the biggest employer in Iowa for the past 6 months.
The biggest service that Iowans might perform is to pick out the losers rather than the ultimate winners. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd were caucus night withdrawals and on the Republican side Ron Paul looks like his 15 minutes is about over.
The inevitability of a Hillary Clinton nomination took a hard hit with her third place finish. What her 30% indicated was that when seen up close and personal on a daily basis, 70% of the Democratic players wanted someone else. This is no where near an end for Hillary but if her slide continues in New Hampshire it could be the death knell for her candidacy.
As of 12/31 she had an average 6.5%http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/nh/new_hampshire_democratic_primary-194.html#market lead in New Hampshire over Obama, however it seems that there is a palpable sense of a surge in his support. New Hampshire has moved to the left over the past decade as a lot of Massachusetts natives have fled North to escape the "Massachusetts Miracle" of high taxes, health care costs, tuition expense, housing and traffic. At this point, Obama is the darling of the "moonbat crowd", as Howie Carr likes to describe the liberal wing of the party.
The current Clinton spin is to harken back to Bill Clinton's first run where he became known as the "comeback kid" when his candidacy was revived in New Hampshire. However, a run away win by Obama after Clinton losing what was an almost insurmountable lead not to long ago would be a hard to deny indication that Clinton is a loser.
Not much was learned in Iowa on the Republican side other than evangelicals will vote for one of their own. In fairness to Huckabee he seems to be relaxed and likable and not at all intimidated by the handshaking or debate process. Huckabee has inserted himself into the race but has not dealt any knock out blows to McCain, Giuliani or Romney. Of the big four, only Romney runs the risk of a complete knock out in New Hampshire. If he does not win or finish in a close second in what is basically a favorite son election, then he is likely to be running for the vice presidential nomination the rest of the way.
I can't help feeling that Huckabee is the Republican version of Jimmy Carter. If he is indeed to become a major player let's hope that parallel is incorrect.
What conclusion can be drawn from the Iowa vote is that no real conclusions can be drawn. It is the very beginning of this race and now more players are potential winners than before we started. Clinton is not inevitable and Edwards and Obama smell blood in the water. Huckabee and McCain's stock has risen, Romney has fallen a bit and soon Giuliani will join the fray.
With those results in mind, it is a mystery why both parties continue to take the caucus seriously. Iowans on the other hand are holding onto their privileged position in the presidential process with all their might because the amount of money spent by candidates in the state amounts to one of the biggest industries. Mitt Romney might have been the biggest employer in Iowa for the past 6 months.
The biggest service that Iowans might perform is to pick out the losers rather than the ultimate winners. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd were caucus night withdrawals and on the Republican side Ron Paul looks like his 15 minutes is about over.
The inevitability of a Hillary Clinton nomination took a hard hit with her third place finish. What her 30% indicated was that when seen up close and personal on a daily basis, 70% of the Democratic players wanted someone else. This is no where near an end for Hillary but if her slide continues in New Hampshire it could be the death knell for her candidacy.
As of 12/31 she had an average 6.5%http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/nh/new_hampshire_democratic_primary-194.html#market lead in New Hampshire over Obama, however it seems that there is a palpable sense of a surge in his support. New Hampshire has moved to the left over the past decade as a lot of Massachusetts natives have fled North to escape the "Massachusetts Miracle" of high taxes, health care costs, tuition expense, housing and traffic. At this point, Obama is the darling of the "moonbat crowd", as Howie Carr likes to describe the liberal wing of the party.
The current Clinton spin is to harken back to Bill Clinton's first run where he became known as the "comeback kid" when his candidacy was revived in New Hampshire. However, a run away win by Obama after Clinton losing what was an almost insurmountable lead not to long ago would be a hard to deny indication that Clinton is a loser.
Not much was learned in Iowa on the Republican side other than evangelicals will vote for one of their own. In fairness to Huckabee he seems to be relaxed and likable and not at all intimidated by the handshaking or debate process. Huckabee has inserted himself into the race but has not dealt any knock out blows to McCain, Giuliani or Romney. Of the big four, only Romney runs the risk of a complete knock out in New Hampshire. If he does not win or finish in a close second in what is basically a favorite son election, then he is likely to be running for the vice presidential nomination the rest of the way.
I can't help feeling that Huckabee is the Republican version of Jimmy Carter. If he is indeed to become a major player let's hope that parallel is incorrect.
What conclusion can be drawn from the Iowa vote is that no real conclusions can be drawn. It is the very beginning of this race and now more players are potential winners than before we started. Clinton is not inevitable and Edwards and Obama smell blood in the water. Huckabee and McCain's stock has risen, Romney has fallen a bit and soon Giuliani will join the fray.
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