Sunshine

The Morning After has dawned, revealing very little damage locally. No idea yet what Kyle may have done to Nova Scotia, and I wouldn't wish ill on some really polite neighbors, but better them than us . . .

Meanwhile, damage assessment on Washington's "perfect storm" continues.

And, speaking of The Perfect Storm, a Maine writer got some public attention she maybe didn't want:

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=212766&ac=PHnws

I suspect there's more to that story than has seen print.

Season's Greetings

And to those in the audience of a Jewish persuasion . . .

L'shanah tovah tikatevi v'taihatem.

Grumpy

Well, the latest bit of news on the banking industry hits our retirement fund for a serious whack. So now all you "bailout" critics can vent at will -- the move comes too late for us, therefore worthless . . .

Sideways effect

Shoving Kyle's course a few degrees eastward of north left us with a total of under 3" of rain, here in town. The nearest coastal reports got 6" to 7" . . .

And they didn't pass it anyway . . .

These are professional stunt congresscritters, kiddies. Don't try this at home.

Dilemma

Another of the joys of the two-party system, as currently run 'round here. "Vote the bastards out" is often a good slogan, but I have a sitting US Representative running against a sitting US Senator. Can't vote *against* both of them . . .

An example, drawn from life, about how the credit crisis hits Main Street

I am, as you probably have figured out, involved in the construction industry. I design buildings. Other people build them. This generally is a good plan.

Most building contractors operate on what is called a "bank line of credit" for day-to-day cash flow. They borrow money to build a $20,000,000 school or courthouse. They don't front the cash for your public (or private) project out of their own deep pockets. Instead, they buy steel and concrete and man-hours using bank money, bill for the work *in place* on a monthly basis, and somewhere from two months to a frigging *year* down the road from when they did that work, they get paid from the school board's or county's construction account.

No line of credit, no work.

And banks have been cutting those lines of credit.

The wisdom of the ages

"Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made."

Otto von Bismarck