Month: September 2004

Finally got around to reading The Federalist (have been trudging through the introductions for a whle now in my pre-slumber reading), and right away in Federalist #1 Hamilton hits with a quote to add to my list (a long one, but worth it, imho:

So numerous indeed and so powerful are the causes which serve to give a false bias to the judgment, that we, upon many occasions, see wise and good men on the wrong as well as on the right side of questions of the first magnitude to society. This circumstance, if duly attended to, would furnish a lesson of moderation to those who are ever so much persuaded of their being in the right in any controversy. And a further reason for caution, in this respect, might be drawn from the reflection that we are not always sure that those who advocate the truth are influenced by purer principles than their antagonists. Ambition, avarice, personal animosity, party opposition, and many other motives not more laudable than these, are apt to operate as well upon those who support as those who oppose the right side of a question. Were there not even these inducements to moderation, nothing could be more ill-judged than that intolerant spirit which has, at all times, characterized political parties.

Would that these words would be heeded by the braying Ds and the trumpeting Rs.

I had promised my mom I’d come home after I returned from England to fix some things. I finally made it to Beaumont today, and here are the things that I have done:

• Show how to tape things recorded on TiVo (so that they can watch it upstairs)
• Fix the printer (although it magically fixed itself)
• Fix doorbell (almost-70-year-old wiring shot, will have to replace with new battery-operated wireless unit)
• Run new amortization schedules for employee loans
• Fix broken internet connection
• Replace broken fixture in kitchen sink

In return, I got some awesome ribs for dinner and will be getting gumbo for lunch tomorrow. Woohoo!

Jerome and Anne are giving me grief because I told them I sorted my show t-shirts by year. In my defense, I did this while going through all my clothes and setting aside things for Purple Heart…and since I was in a cleaning mood, I decided to go whole hog and organize the t-shirts I was keeping: show shirts and ‘historic’ shirts are set up on the shelf to help preserve them, while the gifted shirts and gimme shirts are in the regular rotation.

Yes, I am a geek.

Have trapped two more, a juvenile and a big, nasty adult. I called Animal Control to pick up the adult, set the cage in the shade, and went to take care of clients. When I came back, Animal Control had not been by, but the possum had expired. I called them to cancel the live pick up and to arrange a dead pick up. They still had not come by as of 10:30 this morning. Yuck. Think I’ll revert to releasing them in Memorial Park.