Random Tuesday
My mind wanders over the Tuesday landscape and digs up these random thoughts.
*~*~*~*
Lincoln Chafee doesn't have a snowball's chance of succeeding in the Democratic race for President, but he does have at least one interesting idea. It's probably not going anywhere either, but maybe it should. Maybe it is time that we joined the rest of the world and adopted the metric system.
At this point, only the United States, Myanmar, and Liberia cling to our old-fashioned non-metric system. Myanmar and Liberia will most likely accept metric long before we do. Our political system is too hidebound to unbend itself to accept something as sensible as the metric system. After all, feet and inches, pounds and miles are all part of "American exceptionalism," aren't they? And that's something we are so inordinately proud of, as we beat our chests and trumpet it to the rest of the world.
Moreover, there is a lot of fear of metric abroad in the land. Many will agree with my husband who says he is too old to learn a new system. He's wrong, of course. Anyone who can master computer technology and our complicated entertainment system as he has can certainly master something as commonsense as metric.
But he need not worry. It's probably not going to happen anytime soon. Nevertheless, Lincoln Chafee earns points in my book for bringing it up.
*~*~*~*
We are a week-and-a-half away from the official beginning of summer, but our daily high temperatures are topping out at 94 degrees Fahrenheit. (There's that non-metric system again!) With such high temperatures, it hasn't taken long to begin to dry out the soil that was utterly saturated by our May floods. Yesterday, I even had to water some plants!
Well, a possibility of rain is in the forecast again so perhaps we'll get a moderate amount over the next few days so that I don't have to water again. A non-metric inch a week would be about right. Of course, we gardeners and farmers are never satisfied.
*~*~*~*
Many Game of Thrones fans are pretty dissatisfied these days, too. Where the hell are they going with this story? It seems to have strayed so far from the books. The people running the show seem to revel in cruelty for cruelty's sake.
They argue this point, of course. The Game of Thrones is, in their telling, less a political war than a war among the prominent religious sects of Westeros and Essos for dominance. This season on HBO that is certainly what it has become, and we know that throughout history, especially the history of the Middle Ages upon which these stories are based, religious fanaticism has spawned the cruelest, most inhumane acts of which humans are capable. The cruelest of these may be the deliberate sacrifice of an innocent child in a horrific death as happened on last Sunday's show.
Even the showrunners felt called upon to explain that one and offer a justification as part of the show's narrative. Only one more episode left. Do I dare watch?
*~*~*~*
My beloved Houston Astros have fallen into a bit of a funk lately, losing five games in a row. Even so, they still lead their division by three games and if a few of those balls had just bounced the other way, it would still be five games or more.
We've been hearing about the shortstop phenom Carlos Correa for a while now as he made his way through the minor league system and yesterday the Astros decided it was time to call him up to the big leagues to perhaps bring a spark to the team. He's a twenty-year-old kid and it seems a lot to ask of him, but they've been asking a lot of young kids for years now. Some of them have responded - looking at you, Jose Altuve!
Incidentally, Carlos Correa at shortstop is listed at 6'4" and Altuve at second base is listed at 5'6" (which may be generous). A more Mutt and Jeff combo one can hardly imagine. But they are a Mutt and Jeff with talent to burn and they should be a lot of fun to watch.
*~*~*~*
Lincoln Chafee doesn't have a snowball's chance of succeeding in the Democratic race for President, but he does have at least one interesting idea. It's probably not going anywhere either, but maybe it should. Maybe it is time that we joined the rest of the world and adopted the metric system.
At this point, only the United States, Myanmar, and Liberia cling to our old-fashioned non-metric system. Myanmar and Liberia will most likely accept metric long before we do. Our political system is too hidebound to unbend itself to accept something as sensible as the metric system. After all, feet and inches, pounds and miles are all part of "American exceptionalism," aren't they? And that's something we are so inordinately proud of, as we beat our chests and trumpet it to the rest of the world.
Moreover, there is a lot of fear of metric abroad in the land. Many will agree with my husband who says he is too old to learn a new system. He's wrong, of course. Anyone who can master computer technology and our complicated entertainment system as he has can certainly master something as commonsense as metric.
But he need not worry. It's probably not going to happen anytime soon. Nevertheless, Lincoln Chafee earns points in my book for bringing it up.
*~*~*~*
We are a week-and-a-half away from the official beginning of summer, but our daily high temperatures are topping out at 94 degrees Fahrenheit. (There's that non-metric system again!) With such high temperatures, it hasn't taken long to begin to dry out the soil that was utterly saturated by our May floods. Yesterday, I even had to water some plants!
Well, a possibility of rain is in the forecast again so perhaps we'll get a moderate amount over the next few days so that I don't have to water again. A non-metric inch a week would be about right. Of course, we gardeners and farmers are never satisfied.
*~*~*~*
Many Game of Thrones fans are pretty dissatisfied these days, too. Where the hell are they going with this story? It seems to have strayed so far from the books. The people running the show seem to revel in cruelty for cruelty's sake.
They argue this point, of course. The Game of Thrones is, in their telling, less a political war than a war among the prominent religious sects of Westeros and Essos for dominance. This season on HBO that is certainly what it has become, and we know that throughout history, especially the history of the Middle Ages upon which these stories are based, religious fanaticism has spawned the cruelest, most inhumane acts of which humans are capable. The cruelest of these may be the deliberate sacrifice of an innocent child in a horrific death as happened on last Sunday's show.
Even the showrunners felt called upon to explain that one and offer a justification as part of the show's narrative. Only one more episode left. Do I dare watch?
*~*~*~*
My beloved Houston Astros have fallen into a bit of a funk lately, losing five games in a row. Even so, they still lead their division by three games and if a few of those balls had just bounced the other way, it would still be five games or more.
We've been hearing about the shortstop phenom Carlos Correa for a while now as he made his way through the minor league system and yesterday the Astros decided it was time to call him up to the big leagues to perhaps bring a spark to the team. He's a twenty-year-old kid and it seems a lot to ask of him, but they've been asking a lot of young kids for years now. Some of them have responded - looking at you, Jose Altuve!
Incidentally, Carlos Correa at shortstop is listed at 6'4" and Altuve at second base is listed at 5'6" (which may be generous). A more Mutt and Jeff combo one can hardly imagine. But they are a Mutt and Jeff with talent to burn and they should be a lot of fun to watch.
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