Author: AirBeagle

         « Our Life in Michigan – 2005 North American International Auto Show »

Here are some pics taken by Frank and by me that I’ve been meaning to post: « Our Life in Michigan – 11- and 22-Jan-05 Miscellaneous Wintry Pics »

         « Our Life in Michigan – 11&22-Jan-05 Miscellaneous Wintry Pics »

I was in Kroger last night picking up some groceries. The place was packed, and one of the checkout lines extended past the newspaper rack. I reached over one woman’s basket to grab a copy of the Ann Arbor News. First she gave me a sour look, then she chuckled and said, “Read it and…

I added « Reality-Based Nation » to the blogroll because of wonderful, kick-the-fascists-in-the-face entries like this: ‘Earlier this week, we noted a pending appeals court case in Indiana (article) in which the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was being challenged. Yesterday, while Mr. Bush preached to the world about freedom and liberty for all people, the Indiana…

As we slog around in the weeks of snow that have been dumped on southeast Michigan, it’s mordantly amusing to see what happens in parts of the country that aren’t as used (inured?) to snow as Michigan is: A mere inch of snow was all it took to cripple North Carolina’s capital—and prompt plenty of…

« Airbus A-380 photos at Airliners.net » Looks like, at long last, &laquo the official rollout of the Airbus A-380 », the world’’s largest commercial aircraft, is finally at hand: ‘Airbus, which has delivered more airplanes than Boeing for the second year in a row, is about to unveil another No. 1: the world’’s largest passenger jet. The A380,…

Although it’’s not likely that the Emperor’’s anti-union and anti-worker administration is likely to heed it, « 

It seems more details have emerged about « Delta’s new pricing strategy » this weekend. ‘Under Delta’s new structure, prices for last-minute walk-up fares have been cut by as much as 50 percent, the long-unpopular Saturday night stayover requirement for lower-priced fares has been eliminated, the fee for changing nonrefundable tickets has been dropped from $100 to…

Another 3-4 inches of snow fell overnight; it was soft and fluffy, with no ice. So this afternoon, we took a ride downtown. The Grand continues to perform admirably; you have to do something really stupid to make it fishtail and it simply refuses to skid if you apply heavy brake. I’m loving the heating…

The weather has been abyssmal. Haven’t been able to get outside on the book since New Year’s, since the sidewalks and streets are just treacherous. Since I want to average 5 miles per day all year, I’m already in the hole and have lots of catching up to do. Blast it all.

I love how taken aback the “old school” newsgathering operations are that blogs scooped them, and in many cases surpassed them, in covering the South Asian earthquake and tsunami catastrophe. The best quote I’ve heard in this regard was today on NPR: a “technology contributor” named Xeni Jardin said, breathlessly, that bloggers aren’t just “fat…

Details are still slightly hazy, but « United’s pilots are fighting the weird backroom maneuvering » which resulted in us taxpayers getting soaked with the responsibility of the pilots’ pension fund, thanks to United’s epic and clueless executive mismanagement: ‘Pilots at United Airlines will fight plans for an involuntary bail-out of their pension scheme, threatening to unravel…

I was going to get a good start on my riding program by biking every day, but alas, it was not to be. I biked five miles on Saturday the first, but as I was returning, I noticed the rear tire was low. So I went to the gas station at Packard/Stadium to air it…

I enjoy all the year-end lists that pop up on the WWW around this time, mostly because they demonstrate that if there’s one thing the Web’s good at, it’s making lists. I also enjoy realizing that there’s about a snowball’s chance in hell that I’ll get around to reading, seeing, and listening to all of…

Today comes news that « the Emperor is planning permanent gulags in a number of countries to hold persons merely suspected of … well, doing something of which the Emperor does not approve »: ‘The Bush administration is preparing plans for possible lifetime detention of suspected terrorists, including hundreds whom the government does not have enough evidence…

It’s 55 degrees outside ….. the snow has almost melted ….. the radio announcer just said that if this isn’t a record warm temperature for New Year’s Eve it must be close. Sigh.

While the Emperor stubbornly sits on his ass in Crawford and turns a Norwegian official’s comments about rich countries being stingy into a fascist agit-prop campaign against the UN, « donations via Amazon to the International Red Cross are over $2.3 million and rising ». With the death toll topping 80,000 today and climbing, every penny will…

It’s hard for me to write anything about Christmas without coming across as cynical and bitter and old and jaded and all that stuff. So I won’t. I’m thankful for Frank and for Bayley and for David and all my other friends. I’m thankful for my nice, comfortable warm home and a full stomach. I’m…

Looks like « USAirways’ CWA unit is the latest union to cave to bankruptcy/liquidation threats » ‘Reservations and gate agents at US Airways approved a new contract Thursday that cuts pay by 13 percent and provides the airline some of the relief it says it needs to avoid imminent liquidation. The Communications Workers of America, which represents…

Looks like United wins another one; « Independence Air is about to scuttle its independence »: ‘Independence Air, which has struggled since its launch six months ago as an independent low-fare carrier, has been asked by bankrupt United Airlines to return as a feeder carrier, a company spokesman said on Thursday. Rick DeLisi, a spokesman for Independence…

2004-12-26 01:04:59 We spent quite a bit of time driving around in the Jeep today. The seven inches of snow and hard-packed ice on side streets were quite fun. The Grand was rock-solid and never slipped or slid unless I forced it to. In some ways, it’’s a bit boring. But I’‘ve never been accused…

Well, I see that, on a day which is supposed to be the holiest to ‘Jesus is my hero’ types like himself, the « Emperor delivers his most hypocritical Christmas message ever » ’[The Emperor] on Saturday urged Americans to help the neediest among them by volunteering to care for the sick, the elderly and the poor…

On Christmas Day, the one day of the year when ‘Goodwill Toward Men’ is supposed to prevail, comes news that « our post-retirement future is in the hands of a buncha nuts and partisan political hacks »: ‘Nearly everyone agrees that it will be hard, perhaps impossible, for [the Emperor] to overhaul Social Security without bipartisan support….

I switched the tires on the Bobcat today from the smooth good-weather ones to the knobby snow/mountain tires for winter. It’s time to go try the thing out on the snow and ice. I’m eager to get back in shape and get things going so I can be ready to do some serious riding this…

         « Our Life in Michigan – Christmas Day 2004 »

« Our Life in Michigan – Christmas Day 2004 »

« Our Life in Michigan – First Big Snowfall of Winter » It’s really grand out there, but this stuff is so dry and fluffy, one cannot make a decent snowman [sniff]. Still, it’s about time we had something fluffy and white on the ground. The beagle, however, much prefers the couch …

It took a while … a very long while … but finally a « Florida appeals court has upheld an award to a flight attendant who blamed secondhand smoke on airliners for bronchitis and sinus disease »: ‘A state appeals court upheld a $500,000 award to a flight attendant who blamed secondhand smoke on airliners for her…

The weather today was sunny and it got up to 40 degrees, which is actually the warmest it’s been in at least 5 or 6 days. We’ve had a run of blustery, chilly weather here in southeast Michigan. On Monday night the temperature went down to 1 degree below zero, which is probably the coldest…

‘From The Observer comes a great article about the « one man who remembers the 1914 Christmas Truce »: ‘The words drifted across the frozen battlefield: ‘Stille Nacht. Heilige Nacht. Alles Schlaft, einsam wacht’. To the ears of the British troops peering over their trench, the lyrics may have been unfamiliar but the haunting tune was unmistakable….

I had to run over to Auburn Hills this evening and the Jeep passed the 500-mile mark with no problems. The biggest shock has been the abominable gas mileage: 13.4 on the first tank, which was just driving around Ann Arbor. This evening driving home, the monitor said I was getting 18. 13 and 18…

Amendment 2 went into effect as the law in the state of Michigan at midnight. I don’t really have anything else to add.

« Was the founder of the Republican Party and our Greatest President gay? »: ‘The subject of the 16th president’s sexuality has been debated among scholars for years. They cite his troubled marriage to Mary Todd and his youthful friendship with Joshua Speed, who shared his bed for four years. Now, in a new book, C. A….

« Peace On Earth, Goodwill Toward Men won’t fit under this Christmas tree »

Wow … it’s been a hellacious eight weeks. Ever since my poster presentation on October 20, it’s been one wave of insanely intense schoolwork after another (although, as always, procrastination stuck its head in there along the way as well). I watched election coverage and updated the results all night on Election Night for the…

Let’s sing some C(onsumerism)hristmas Carols, shall we? All together now: « To the tune of Let It Snow »: ‘Oh, the war in Iraq is frightful, But for Lockheed and pals it’s delightful, Since the Pentagon continues to pay, Let ‘em stay, let ‘em stay, let ‘em stay. ‘Insurgents show no signs of stopping, Americans can’t stop…

More snow overnight in southeast Michigan, a welcome sight … but the temps rose as the morning went on to 37-38 degrees, so the snow melted pretty quickly. The skies stayed gray all day, though. The snow was still a nice sight. I walked to Kroger this afternoon and reveled in the white and the…

There is excellent reading/viewing/listening « at the Oral History Project of the Urban School of San Francisco »: ‘We went through a number of Dr. Mengele’s dreaded selections where we would have to remove our clothes on the pretext of a medical checkup. During the time between while we stood in line waiting for Dr. Mengele to…

« Our Life in Michigan – Snowy Saturday »

I’m getting close to my first fillup on the Grand. Since it’s a bigger tank, it will probably cost me more, even though it gets me further down the road. After one week, I’m even happier with the Grand than I thought I would be. The more I look at it, the things that I…

An historic moment: « the first US passenger jet to land in Vietnam since 1975 lands at Ho Chi Minh City ». Oddly enough, it was flown by bankrupt United Airlines, and odder still, carried as a passenger … wait for it … David Hasselhoff, of all people. ‘United Airlines Flight 869, from San Francisco, arrived in…

Rain all week ….. the occasional patch of blue sky ….. even eerie fog and gloom on Tuesday (I think it was Tuesday). But no snow. Aargh! It’s supposed to snow 1 to 3 inches tonight. I’ll believe it when I see it.

Sadly, I haven’t actually ridden the bike in a month. What with the new drug for the arthritis, and the subsequent nasty allergic reaction to aforementioned drug, and the onset of cold and rain, the Bobcat is in the basement attached to the stationery stand, awaiting a more opportune time to get out and about….

So Ann Arbor middle schoolers today tell explicit jokes about incest during their lunch periods. Who knew?

Apparently, « Imperial troops are putting wounded Iraqis out of their misery by shooting them in the head », kind of like you’d put down a horse: ‘A U.S. soldier pleaded guilty at his court-martial Friday to killing a severely wounded 16-year-old Iraqi, the military said. Staff Sgt. Johnny M. Horne Jr., 30, of Winston-Salem, N.C., was…

What did I hear this afternoon wafting from a window of a classroom in Mason Hall but Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” not as the soundtrack to an anti-war protest in the Diag as it probably was on this campus almost 40 years ago, but as the soundtrack to what was probably…