Walking In L.A. [but not PA]

2008-11-14 - 12:51 p.m.

So yesterday, being a day off, I spent the whole day relaxing. Roommate Jim came through a couple times, but other than that I had the place to myself.

I did my two loads of laundry, but other than that...I didn't do a damn thing.

Except the crossword. And that had its challenges. I wound up putting it aside and coming back to it. There was a deadlock in the middle and, after my break from it, I was able to get it finished.

There were three clues that messed me up:

Four letters, "Mongol's tent" - "YURT".
Five letters, "rot-resistant wood" - "ALDER".
Five letters, "bring out" - "EDUCE".

"Educe"? "Yurt"?? More words I'd never heard of, ever.

And the website I use when I'm home (and the one Brin uses to help when I'm doing the puzzle at work on my break), www.oneacross.com, was down. I had to use another site that only gives word possibilities. At oneacross.com, you can also input the clue as well as the known letters.

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There's talk of Barack Obama creating a White House "Climate Czar", and - you guessed it - Al Gore was on the short list.

His Goreness, however, is declining the position.

Of course he is - he owns a company that sells "carbon credits", so that would be a conflict of interest right there. And he's making far more money by giving speeches.

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A twenty-five-year Marine veteran (whose son was killed when the U.S.S. Cole was bombed), who works as a civilian employee at Camp Lejeune, has a couple of anti-Islam bumper stickers on his car. The Marines have now cited him for displaying "offensive material", and have banned his vehicle from all federal installations.

This includes Arlington National Cemetery. Where his son is buried.

A lawsuit has been filed on the Marine's behalf against the commanding officer.

I hope he wins. He has just as much right to express his opinion as anyone else.

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In Pennsylvania, a bus driver was fired for striking and injuring a pedestrian. This is the third time in eight years that this driver has hit someone, including a doctor who died from his injuries.

His union is fighting the action, saying the driver's previous driving record isn't relevant to his current firing (he had been fired for hitting the doctor; the union helped him get his job back).

Remind me not to walk the streets of Erie, PA.

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Okay. Much to do this weekend. We're going to have thirty-five parties at work tomorrow.

Have a good weekend. Mine will be busy.

Be seeing you.

Jeff - 2008-11-15 14:46:07 - http://musicman6724.diaryland.com
This is exactly why unions need to be disbanded. The day of the union's usefulness is long gone.

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Bob - 2008-11-15 18:54:32 - http://shadowgm.diaryland.com
Union guy here. We're not all a bunch of corrupt, inept scumbags, Jeff. (Well, hard to tell when the media is worshipping that tax-dogding, unlicensed welfare case named Joe Wurzelbacher.) And given that we're in the midst of an economic crisis where corporate leaders are being bailed out by taxpayers (including said useless union types), and STILL paying out bonuses to themselves and/or holding posh retreats on our dime, who really needs the kick in the pants? The union worker?

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