Our New Zealand Adventure

Still waiting ...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:55:00 +0000

Still no power at our house as of around noon today. The Union Leader is reporting that PSNH won't be able to restore power to some isolated areas until after Christmas. I'm thinking we're truly SOL, since the line we are on serves only a few houses. :sigh:

No school today because of the snow, but I expect I'll be back to work tomorrow. We'll see what Friday's storm brings ... then Sunday's storm ... it could be that tomorrow and Tuesday are the only days we have school. I really don't understand why we haven't followed the lead of some other districts and just thrown in the towel until 2009.

Still no power

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:15:00 +0000

Just a quick update: we're still in Peabody. The house is still without power. No school today, not sure about tomorrow, but with bad weather coming in tonight and a possible 6+ inches of snow on Friday, things aren't looking good on any fronts.

The official line from PSNH is that some people in the state could be without power until early next week. Living in the woods on a line that serves a dozen houses, I'm not hopeful that we'll be back before Monday or Tuesday at this point.

Storm update

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 12:44:00 +0000

We’re in Peabody, Mass, at the Homewood Suites. Power went out late Thursday night and we awoke to a mess—ice covering everything.

All night long it was like gunfire outside. I could hear the trees snapping off and falling—all night. Thankfully the boys—and Debi—slept through it all!

Epping looks like a tornado hit it, with trees and powerlines down every where. We had the tops of 4 pines around the house come off—nothing close enough to the house to do any damage, but a couple were down across the driveway and needed to be cleared out. We went to McDonald’s for breakfast—it was one of the only places in town with power. They couldn’t take credit cards and their registers weren’t working, and they had a line out the door. Right after we got our food, *their* power went out!

We decided to go to a hotel, but everything around either was already booked or didn’t have any power, so we decided to try down here. On the way down, I was down to my last ½ gallon of gas when we finally found a gas station that was open. All the way down Route 1 to Newburyport, there was no electricity. The first gas station we passed had about 2 dozen cars lined up, so we went a little further down and found one with a more reasonable line.

The good news is that the hotel gave us a ‘storm rate’ so we’re just paying $99 per night, which is about half the regular rate. So we’re gonna make the most of it and go into Boston today. We’ll be here for two nights (at least) since they’re saying it could be *days* before we have any power. Right now about half the homes (or maybe more) in NH don’t have any power and it’s the same through northern and western Mass, upstate NY, and Vermont and Maine.

The boys have spent their time playing their Nintendos, watching TV, and bugging us to go in the pool.

(I originally sent this out via e-mail yesterday, so pardon any tense errors.)

UPDATE: Looks like power is still out in Epping and the gas situation has not improved: Powerless Gas Pumps Fuel Anxiety. The hotel we are in has quite a few other 'storm refugees.' The manager told us a lot of people in similar situations have only made one night's reservation and according to the news, the extra out of state crews may be arriving late today, and the temperature in the teens today will make it difficult for much work to get done. I'm hoping we can get back tomorrow, but something tells me it might be Tuesday before we have power. We'll see.

History

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:48:00 +0000

Discussing the importance of last night, it occurred to me as someone too young to remember the moon landing, the important events in US history that people my age or younger have memories of are of Reagan being shot, the Challenger disaster, September 11th, and Hurricane Katrina. While there was much to be proud of in the way that Americans rose to the challenge of 9/11, it was a reaction, not a choice that we made, not a direction in which we chose to move. The truly great moments in recent history we were witnesses to, not parts of, and happened elsewhere ... the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Last night was a truly great moment in history--and one which we made happen.

Wait ... I haven't typed it yet ...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:08:00 +0000

President Obama.

President Obama.

President Obama.

If McCain had run the way he lost, he would have won

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:20:00 +0000

Thank you, Senator McCain. We accept your earnest good will and best efforts.

YES WE DID!

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:52:00 +0000

And NOW WE CAN!

And a shout-out to early adopter Nomals -- you go girl!

I'd like to say it was my superb sign holding skills

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:14:00 +0000

Coz as you know, I got mad skillz ...

Epping Obama-1765 McCain-1518

But, considering the resources the Obama campaign poured into little old Epping, tonight's results do not surprise me. Obama got game--ground game.

YES WE DID!

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:48:00 +0000

YES WE DID! YES WE DID! YES WE DID! YES WE DID! YES WE DID! YES WE DID! YES WE DID!

One more thing ...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:12:00 +0000

When I arrived at the polls at 7:45 (for an 8:00 open) there was already a line about 70 yards long of people waiting to vote. And at 8:00, when they opened, about an equal number showed up. And it was steady all morning.

NH is Obama Country!

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:06:00 +0000

Just got back from holding an Obama sign at the local polling place then picking up some goodies for a celebratory gathering this evening. What a morning! Memorable events in no particular order:

1. McCain supporter yelled at us because there was no one at the polling place holding a McCain sign! :)

2. As I voted, I could hear the woman in the next booth telling her child, 'Fill in that bubble right there, just like you do on a test. You're going to be able to tell everyone you voted for America's first black President.'

3. Two crazy-ass Rethuglicans yelling 'Heil Obama' at as.

4. A woman coming out of the school and walking past us said to me 'I just want to shake your hand.'

5. A woman who was 80 years old if she was a day winking at me and giving me a sly little 'thumbs up.'

6. Pappa V out there like he was 20 years old again.

7. Democratic sign holders outnumbering republicans by at least 4-to-1. In New Hampshire. In Epping.

The champagne is chilling!

'Save me Jeebus!'

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:54:00 +0000

It's often difficult for me to remember which parts of the Bible count and which don't.

You can't unring a bell

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:23:00 +0000

The most remarkable part of the video is the audience's reaction--or, more specifically, non-reaction. Sure, there's a smattering of applause, but there's a lot more shocked silence. McCain is reaping what he has sown ... and I'm predicting not only are his campaign's days numbered (not really going out on a limb there), but his days in the Senate are ticking down now, too. Oh, and Sarah Palin's gonna be on talk-radio, between Republican felon and domestic terrorist G. Gordon Liddy and Republican drug addict and Dominica prostitute-lover Rush Limbaugh.

Driving down 95 today ...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:50:00 +0000

headed south just north of the Hampton tolls, I notice a gold Mercedes with two bumper stickers on the trunk: "Give Impeachment a Chance" and "Mission Accomplished My Ass.' Behind the wheel, decked out in all his Red Sox supporting splendor, is Bangor, Maine's most famous resident, the Man Who Loved Tom Gordon. We drove along side him for a few seconds, but we didn't want to make a big deal out of it--however, someone need to tell Mr. King that it's hard to be inconspicuous when you have the cruise control locked in at 65 mph on 95!

Tune into the game tonight and I'm sure you'll see him sitting in the stands.

Sarah Palin did an outstanding job during the debate

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:30:00 +0000

except that it's pretty clear she thinks she running for hostess at Cracker Barrel.

More unions doing good ...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:54:00 +0000

Mine Workers Protest Anti-Obama Ad

This is what we need!

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:41:00 +0000

Please give if you can

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:41:00 +0000

My cooperating teacher, Dick Tappan, is dealing with some serious medical issues and needs some financial support.

Dick is one of the many people who helped me to become who I am today and I know that he's touched many, many lives.

Please consider giving whatever you can so he and Sally can focus on Dick getting well, rather than on Dick paying the bills.

Saving Mr. Tappan

There's a donate link on the first page.

Thanks you all.

The woman knows nothing ... nothing.

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:38:00 +0000

Now that I have posted some pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:34:00 +0000

your regularly scheduled mocking of the trainwreck that is McCain/Palin will continue.

Some random pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:32:00 +0000

Alright, I realized just how long it had been once I took the memory card out of my camera and saw the pictures of our container being loaded onto the truck in NZ! So, without further delay ...pictures!

Bush in a dress

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 11:51:00 +0000

The most dangerous person in America, hands down.

What do liberals have against moles?

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 01:13:00 +0000

McCain gets Rickrolled ...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:57:00 +0000

And I have too much time on my hands?

Real McCain of Genius

noreply@blogger.com (Jon A) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:06:00 +0000

He's right: it isn't the duty of government to bail out people who at irresponsibly--it's the government's job to bail out investors who act irresponsibly.