The news is that GM is going to drop the Pontiac model in its entirety.I'm going to miss it. As a kid, the Pontiac was a step up from the Chevrolets my parents drove. The distinctive Indian head logo you'd see in a garage needed no words of explanation. 
I owned only one Pontiac, a Catalina. Our neighbor said they weren't as good as they used to be, but we got good service out of it. I used it to drive our twins home from the hospital, and we took it to Boca Raton when we moved from Tallahassee. The Pontiac GTO was the first muscle car, with an 8-cylinder engine. The Beach Boys sang about their "little GTO." So did a group named Ronny and the Daytonas. I'll miss it, but considering I haven't bought one since 1975, I'm not shocked they are closing their doors for good.
OK, so I'm one of the millions of old folks who have discovered Facebook. The young folks who jumped into Facebook earlier need not worry (too much) about their parents wanting to snoop over their shoulders. We are having too much fun re-discovering people we haven't seen since our time in the Army, college, high school, and even elementary school. I have noticed that the bloggers in my family (including me) don't "blog" as much as we used to. Our limited time for such stuff is being consumed by Facebook, where you can make editorial comments like this one knowing who your audience will be. Writing on a blog reminds me of the classic poem, "I sneezed a sneeze into the air. It fell to Earth I knew not where, but hard and cold were the looks of those in whose vicinity I snoze." I don't know who will read this - if anyone - but I know my "friends" in Facebook will see my little status updates and photos I put in my album, and I'll see theirs.So, I'm not saying goodbye here, but if I seem to be doing this even less frequently than usual, you'll know why. If you want to keep up with me more often, you'll have to join Facebook and become my "friend."
I have a very low tolerance for "talking heads" on TV, but there are a few in particular I would like to single out, if for no other reason than to vent my spleen.("Vent my spleen" is from a medieval notion that the spleen was the source of a hot temper, and by "venting" it, one would be letting loose of one's anger. Think of it as primitive anger management. Now, you are smarter than you were 30 seconds ago!)The people I would like to hear nothing from again include: Nancy Grace. How can a woman so beautiful and so smart be so utterly obnoxious? I'll bet she uses commercial breaks to change into dry panties. I cannot watch her on our big TV any more because, if I hear the phrase "tot mom" one more time, I will throw something at it. Is there any other case in the country going on besides the Caylee Anthony case? Jim Cramer: This guy is CNBC's resident expert on the stock market. He appears to be off his meds, hopping and jumping around, while the TV cameras roll from left to right, zooming in and out. It's enough to induce an epileptic fit in a healthy person. If I could hear him on the radio I might pay attention, but I fear he'll have a heart attack one of these days.Lou Dobbs: Before the last election, Dobbs' main agenda item consisted of illegal immigrants. That's basically all he talked about. Now, he ranting about anything "liberal," including the liberal media, who won't cover the stories he thinks important. One of these days he will vomit green bile, right in front of the camera. Newt Gingrich: This blowhard brought us the "Contract On America" in 1994. Now, the liberal media keeping bringing him back for sound bites. I frankly don't care what the man says. Rush Limbaugh: Need I say more? The guy is stark-raving bananas. He was the featured speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference, misquoting the Preamble to the Constitution and otherwise raving like a loon. Now conservatives are amazed that Democrats are trying to make him look like the new face of the Republican Party. If he isn't, who is? Perhaps one of the governors who want to turn down federal money?I could go on, but I think I'll shut up myself and go to bed.
A few random thoughts before heading off for work:Our lives are marked by little pieces of paper we collect along the way, beginning with birth certificates, then high school and college diplomas, honorable discharge certificates from the Army, professional licenses to practice, and so forth. I got a horrible one in the mail yesterday - a Medicare card with my name on it. I have my parents' cards around here somewhere, but this one is mine. Holy cow. Most guys my age, who grew up during the Cold War, never thought we'd live so long. I'm tempted to ask, "God, can I really be old enough for this?" But God's answer would be, "Yes, dummy, and you know it. Now leave me alone so I can worry about 300-pound athletes who think I'm supposed to protect them from injury while they run over each other at 30 miles per hour." Changing subjects: If the feds want to pump money into infrastructure to get the economy going, why not give it to state and local governments that build and maintain the roads, bridges, sewer treatment plants, and so forth? God knows how many of Florida's bridges are ready to crumble. By infrastructure, I do not mean Clearwater's proposed new marina. The waiting list at the marina on the beach is so long they expected a huge demand for the new marina but only three or four people have paid deposits for slips. Give that idea up, commissioners. Put that money where it will do more good. I also do not mean those miniature traffic circles I see under construction, so small they fit within street intersections. Those things are traffic hazards and a waste of money. I can understand why several of President Obama's appointees have serious income tax problems. When you see federal tax money going to the banks so they can spend millions to redecorate their offices, pay huge bonuses to the "good people" who ran them into the ditch, and plan getaways in Las Vegas, you wish you could get away with not paying, too. Those appointees are powerful, successful, big-time politicians; you wonder how many smaller fish simply haven't been caught yet.Isn't it refreshing to see our president look at a TV camera and admit that he screwed up? The American people can forgive someone who 'fesses up and does not play the duck-and-cover drill we are accustomed to seeing. My children haven't "blogged" for weeks. I wonder whether FaceBook has taken the place of blogging? The kids went to FaceBook and now us old folks have, too. I've contacted several high school friends I haven't seen since graduation. I suppose that means the kids will abandon FaceBook and find another place where they can hang out, electronically, without us old folks looking over their shoulder. More later -
Earlier today it seemed that Google, the source of nearly everything I know, had shot itself in the head. For awhile, if you went into Google and entered any search, no matter what for, you got this message: "warning - visiting this web site may harm your computer."
As a test, I searched for the two major daily newspapers in the Tampa Bay area and then searched for "mapquest," and got the same result. For fun, when I searched for "google.com" using Google, it appeared there, too!
The main problem was that you couldn't go forward and take your chances. You had to go back and try again, which failed for the same reason. You had to wonder if someone had hacked Google and caused this to happen. I don't know who Google's competitors are, but they just got a major boost. This may have been a temporary glitch, but I'm looking for a good alternative.
George W. Bush has four more days plus a few hours to occupy the office of President of the United States. I'd be happy if he would hit the road for Texas tomorrow and be done with it. The following web site is counting down the hours, minutes and seconds until high noon on January 20, at which time his term of office ends and the term of Barack Obama begins: http://inaugurationday2009.com/schedule.htmlTo my friend(s) from high school and in-law(s) who have been sending me bad jokes about Barack Obama, please understand that I am deleting them faster than you are forwarding them. (Why are none of them ever original to the sender?). They are not funny and I am not amused, or would not be amused if I bothered to look at them. You may as well just relax and see what happens over the next four years. Mr. Obama won. Get over it. To paraphrase what our British cousins say when the royal crown passes to another head, the President is gone to Texas, long live the President.
The topless island got its top installed, and now the kitchen looks done except for a few odd jobs by the electrician. Finally!
Three months away, more or less . . .
The kitchen, functional and nearly finished.
All I wanted for Christmas was our kids together with us at the same time, which is getting harder and harder as time goes by. Here we are at First Methodist of Clearwater on Christmas Eve. Glorious!
Here's an update as of tonight (Friday): The plumber came in (two of them) and they installed the kitchen sink and connected the line to the ice maker. The new kitchen window is now installed. We now have the flooring installed, the cabinets installed (still missing a couple of doors), the granite countertops installed, all the tiles for the backsplash installed (still needs grout), and all of the appliances except the oven and microwave. The electrician still has a few odd jobs. The island in the middle of the kitchen and the window sill will be installed Monday. I replaced the rack in the hall closet. Tomorrow (Saturday) or Sunday I will put a second coat of paint in the dining area and parts of the kitchen, hang a shelf back on the wall, attach a new duct to the clothes dryer, and replace a shower head, and then I may as well mow the front and back yards. THEN I'm going to sit back and eat grapes while my wife moves everything that was in the kitchen back in the kitchen. To appreciate how far this project has gone since it started, scroll down to see earlier photos. At the bottom, click on "older posts."
I'd said I might slip in a small detail from time to time, so here's a small detail.
Starting today, this is the last photo I'm going to upload until our kids come home and see the final project completed, although I might slip in a small detail here or there. I mean, we have to save something to surprise them for Christmas!
The cabinet man began installing the cabinets today. He is a perfectionist. I like perfectionists!
The cabinets have arrived! With any luck they will be installed on Friday, or at least the lower cabinets will be, so the counter man can get started.
You have to look sharp to see the differences since last Thursday.
The progress may seem slow judging from this photo, but we now have a ceiling and walls with the gaps filled in.
New ceiling, in rough form, now that there isn't much left to tear out!
Slo-o-o-o-w progress. What's hard to see here is the new ductwork for the heating and air-conditioning, and the electrician's wiring, outlets, and "cans" for the overhead lighting.
What was once a kitchen is now just empty space, waiting for the electrician, the HVAC man, and the guys to install the flooring, the cabinets, the counters, the appliances . . . not to mention the ceiling . . .
