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Still cold and dark
The sheepie got at least a temporary reprieve. Vet says it's probably one of three things, old age, injury, or Paralaphostrongylus tenius. He could find no evidence of injury, and the third choice is a parasite infection commonly called "brain worms" (ewww) that comes from deer. A typical parasitic worm, it has a two host life cycle that involves deer droppings, and slugs (ewww again.) Since none of our sheep have been on open pasture where deer pass through for over five years, I rule that one out. So old age and arthritis it is, and Shaun gets a series of three cortisone shots to see if it will get him back on his feet. He's also dehydrated a bit, so we're mixing molasses into his water to get him to drink more. He doesn't seem to be in pain much, and the vet agrees, so we didn't have him put down right now. We'll give him a week or so and see if he responds to treatment. If he has to be sent off to sheep heaven, what to do with the remains when the ground is frozen like iron becomes a major issue.
I did not watch the inauguration, though I did hear the oaths administered (complete with fluffs by both parties in Obama's case.) In spite of the raves from many quarters, I was disappointed in his speech, which ran far too long without saying nearly enough. The only good point, I thought, was when he said that Americans as a whole have been avoiding making hard choices that must be made. We can't have our cake and eat it too, in other words. This has been blatantly obvious to me for many years, but politicians and voters from both sides of the aisle continue to think they can do that.
Our library's 100th anniversary display of books is out in the case now, and I still find it interesting. We have the top ten best selling adult novels from 1909, reacquired from used booksellers in 1909 editions or as close as we could get. These were surprisingly inexpensive, in fact. All ten, including shipping, added up to about $50. We also have a set of nine modern reprints of children's books that were popular in 1909, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Wind in the Willows, The Call of the Wild, and Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.
I did not watch the inauguration, though I did hear the oaths administered (complete with fluffs by both parties in Obama's case.) In spite of the raves from many quarters, I was disappointed in his speech, which ran far too long without saying nearly enough. The only good point, I thought, was when he said that Americans as a whole have been avoiding making hard choices that must be made. We can't have our cake and eat it too, in other words. This has been blatantly obvious to me for many years, but politicians and voters from both sides of the aisle continue to think they can do that.
Our library's 100th anniversary display of books is out in the case now, and I still find it interesting. We have the top ten best selling adult novels from 1909, reacquired from used booksellers in 1909 editions or as close as we could get. These were surprisingly inexpensive, in fact. All ten, including shipping, added up to about $50. We also have a set of nine modern reprints of children's books that were popular in 1909, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Wind in the Willows, The Call of the Wild, and Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.
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The texts of "He's gone."; which I both received and sent at 5pm GMT are unforgivably cynical, and typical of European attitudes to this event. It goes to underline how utterly despised Obama's predecessor was over here that Obama's inauguration should be secondary in importance to Bush's departure. I only hope he can deliver the goods for America and the wider world. He seems to be starting off his term as America’s Blair. I really hope he does not finish his term in the way Blair finished his. A catalogue of disappointment, betrayal, and missed opportunity. Good luck, Tivo, and good luck America.
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I mean he flew from Washington to Philadelphia, just so that he could take the train from Philadelphia to Washington, and retrace the route that Lincoln took. Nothing good can come from such blatant superficiality.
I remember how we thought about Bush getting re-elected and re-inaugurated 4 years ago, and how we turned our sights yet again to four years in the future for when brighter days might finally come. But now that that future we looked forward to is supposedly here, the victory rings shallow and hollow. It is a great disappointment. Possibly even a greater disappointment than 4 years ago, because now we really DON'T have anything better to look forward to than what we have now (with the possible exception of getting things back to how they were 4 years ago) which, to put it mildly, kind of sucks. :-/
Having said that, I am sure that things can only improve from this point, but as to whether Obama is going to be the cause of that, or whether the US or the world is going to get back to its full potential because of Obama specifically, I say no freakin' way possible.
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The only "hope" I ever had for Obama was the hope that we wouldn't have another Republican administration. The best I can say for him is that he is nothing like Bush, where McCain was nearly a clone of Bush, just a bit more warlike.
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