I got nothing today (that’s not entirely true, I have a bad mood, and I read an entire book, neither of which is useful to this endeavor), so here’s a shot I snapped while Anne was here that I really liked (and discovered on my phone the other day).
(photo is part of this set)
Yesterday we drove to Blackwater Falls. The day was beautiful, the trees were gorgeous, it was in general a fabulous time.
Just heard an interview with John Raese, Republican candidate to replace Byrd in the US Senate.
In an almost astounding case of, “Fuck you, I’ve got mine!” Rease said he wants to get rid of the minimum wage. “Asked if the federally mandated minimum wage should be abolished, Raese answered, ‘absolutely.’”
A couple of notes here, the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. If an employee worked 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year (which never happens mind you) they would have an income of $15,080.00 a year. The median income in WV in 2008 was $37,528. For the US as a whole it was $52,029, and in that same year, 17% of West Virginians had income below the poverty level.
Raese believes that West Virginians should be at the mercy of their employers in determine what is a “living wage” (Let me tell you, the minimum wage ain’t it)
He also doesn’t like regulation of industry, so not only does he believe that businesses can pay you as little as they want, he also seems to believe that industry can do whatever they want to the environment, their employees, their customers–that they answer only to their investors.
Yeah, we saw how well that‘s worked out.
And Raese’s record on safety speaks for itself as does his record on government spending.
Radio is playing post-game interview, announcer asked about penalties, to which Coach Stewart replied, ‘For as long as I am coach, I will never, I will NEVER allow my boys to play dirty football.’
Thank you Coach Stewart.
The weather has finally turned cool, and although we still desperately need rain, all we got were cloudy skies.
Decided to wander around the main campus today with my camera. Probably should have gone earlier in the morning when there were fewer people, but I picked a few buildings I liked and shot pictures, ignoring the students wandering by.
Wandered around the downtown campus this afternoon (pictures of that tomorrow). The light was terrible, but I enjoyed the walk anyway.
Went to the Arboretum today. Didn’t go very far on the trails, as my ankle is not up to those kinds of hills yet, but it was a beautiful day, and nice to be walking around outside.
It is really wet outside.
Riiiiight
So I’ve been busy, which is why you get these pictures of the 4th of July fireworks a week late.
But at least I’ve posted something?
Since it was supposed to rain, we decided to go to Blennerhasset Island instead of Blackwater Falls.
This had the added advantage of taking us to Parkersburg so we also got to spend time with Julliene. (OK, and Brian & Stacie as well.)
It didn’t rain at all, and was instead gorgeous.
Another thing we did yesterday was go Newell WV to visit the Homer Laughlin China Co and Fiestaware Outlet.
As previously mentioned, I have Fiestaware for my dishes. I like the variety of colors, and the fact it’s a WV company is just icing on the cake. However, I wouldn’t have gone to the factory/outlet except for the fact that Jeri was considering Fiestaware for her new dishes, so we went. (Why yes, Michael does have the patience of a saint.)
I added some extra dishes to what I already have, and picked up some matching napkins, but what was most awesome (and what Michael talked me into) was Fiestaware flatware.
Just perfect.
However, what fascinated me most was the giant pile of broken dishes outside the factory.
Since I was quite tired and sore by this time, Jeri got the closeup of the pile.
Go view the larger size. It’s fascinating.
Monday we took Jeri & Vince to Cooper’s Rock. Since the weather was hazy, hot, and humid, we waited until late afternoon to go, and even so still didn’t stay long.
Despite the heat, it was gorgeous, and we had a good time. The only sad part was that because I’m still limping along, jumping and climbing (even just a teeny bit of climbing) were right out.
As I mentioned to my friend Erin on twitter, I think it is fitting that the death of Senator Byrd has created an extra long Independence Day weekend to West Virginians.
Most who have never lived here do not understand precisely what Senator Robert C. Byrd meant to the state and its residents. They know he was was a member of Congress longer than anyone else ever. They know he was called the King of Pork. They may even know he had been majority leader, minority leader, and President Pro Tem of the Senate. What they don’t understand–can’t understand really–is what all this meant to those of us who lived here.
Senator Byrd had a checkered past in some ways. He was born in a time when racism was accepted and spent the first part of his life believing in those principles. However, he came to discover that outside differences mean nothing, and he came to profoundly regret his earlier beliefs and apologized for his earlier beliefs and actions.
Senator Byrd was the first person in his family to go to school past the second grade. While he was in Washington D.C. representing West Virginia, he got his law degree by taking night classes. But his education was far greater than that. He was a musician, a lover of poetry and verse, and he revered the Constitution and this country.
He went to Washington DC with one objective–to represent his state and to do everything in his power to improve the lives of its citizens. The “King of Pork” wasn’t an insult to him, or to those of us who lived here. He didn’t want to build a bridge to nowhere, he wanted to bring in money to improve the state and its population. He helped us build roads. He helped us build infrastructure. He helped drive government agencies and projects to the state. And he helped build the educational system in the state.
The building in which I work is officially called the Robert C Byrd Health Sciences Center, and within that complex of structures we have one of the top Rural Health programs in the country. The money he brought in did far more than provide jobs–it helped to create an educational system dedicated not just to educating future health professionals but to improve the health of all the citizens of the state by sending its students throughout the state to help provide health care in isolated and impoverished areas.
This is the legacy he left us.
He helped create systems that do more than create a handful of jobs, these systems support and improve the entire state and all its citizens. These systems attempt to reach out to those in isolation and poverty and provide them with the things that most people take for granted: Roads. Education. Health care.
He was a great man, and his like will not be seen again.
Have your say:
http://www.wvucommute.org/ for faculty, staff and students
OR
http://www.morgantowncommute.org/ if you’re not connected to WVU.
I’m living at the liquor store! Next year? Under the bridge!
OK. I didn’t mean I wanted mother nature to ADD to the incidence rate. I just wanted to know how common it was.
House across the street has some nice icicles.
Back to work tomorrow.
Michael took these on his Blackberry as we were coming home from the grocery store (pharmacy, Target, lunch…)
Took the plow three tries to get up the hill, and they ended up losing the chains on at least one of the rear wheels in the process.
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