The lost episode

We have added another Apple product to the long list of electronic devices in our home.  The Apple tv device will allow us to spend countless more hours on the couch.  Hmmmm......  Not sure this was the best move, in retrospect.  We may actually cancel the costly uverse account, so that might be a good tradeoff.

I was lobbying for a Roku (as I am on an Android kick lately), but I lost that battle.  The Spousal Unit (SU) was right, the Apple tv was incredibly easy to install, and it has a slick interface.

[borrowed from http://chicagomaroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/DowntonAbbey.jpg]

I went to bed early last night, and I got up early to find that SU had downloaded the third episode of Downton Abbey from season one.  For some reason, our local public TV station did not buy that episode from the BBC, and it created lots of confusion in our household.

First I blamed it on the DVR not recording that episode.  These mistakes sometimes happen when the tv programming info is not completely accurate.  It happens quite frequently when a sporting event goes longer than scheduled.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then the replays of season one came out, and I was sure that we would be able to recover the lost episode, with all the critical scenes when Lady Mary sleeps with the Turkish diplomat.

Tonite is the final episode of season three.  So sad, but at least Game of Thrones will be airing new episodes soon!

Who is in charge?

My husband and I have watched WAY too much of what I would call "News-o-tainment" in the last 6 years.  Given that we are on the left of the political spectrum (in the USA), the bulk of that viewing is centered around MSNBC.  We can spend 2+ hours a night watching this stuff.  I call it stuff because the big issues are discussed by the various commentators one after another.  They all take a slightly different spin on these similar stories, but the major nuggets are still the same.

They are most often discussing craziness inside the Beltway, but all the studios are in NYC.  I started to wonder why they are all in New York when a lot of the stories they are covering are happening in between Maryland and Virginia.

Right now I am watching a segment of "UP with Chris Hayes" where they are discussing what is dragging down the economy.  I must admit that I like TV programs that make me think about things more deeply (as long as they are not messy emotional things.........)

So I had a revelation about why this is, and it has to do with these two guys pictured below.

borrowed from http://www.thegmanifesto.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/bull-and-bear.gif

"Politicians need to understand that governing by polls is a real problem," said Paul Krugman.  He might not have said problem, but I am too lazy to back up the DVR and figure out what the actual word was.  The message is still the same though, and that is that the fiscal cliff was a figment of the overworked amigdullae of certain politicians who think that the stimulus was a REALLY bad thing and the members of the media who like to make things sound more dire than they actually might be.

There was no way that Wall Street was going to allow our nation to default on their debt.  It just wasn't going to happen.

Hence the title of this blog.  Are the legislators in DC really controlling the course of our nation's finances, or is it the two animals pictured above, known for their fury and hibernation, respectively.

Think about it, and please leave a comment if you would like to engage in some political debate!

cool customers

Yesterday was quite fun (exclusive of the TWA 800 flashbacks) but draining.  I participated in an ice rescue exercise in Ohio which simulated the crash of a commuter airplane into Lake Erie.

Lots of adrenaline flowing even though it was not a real emergency.  Everything went pretty well other than one first responder who was injured when she slipped on the ice and fell.  That was a firefighter who did not have ice cleats on.  Bad move when you are try8ing to pull a heavy aluminum skiff across slippery melting ice.  I was so excited to put on my drysuit and play in the cold that I left my cleats up in the building, but I took tiny little steps and wasn't pulling anything heavy.

Here are a few good pictures of the event from the Coast Guard's visual imagery database:

overhead shot from a Dolphin helicopter

coasties waiting to be rescued

amazing what you can do with a chainsaw!

I know it looks like a banana, but this inflatable we call the Skiff-Ice.  You blow it up with a scuba tank.

These are all from the short haul part of the exercise, where the rescuers walk out on the ice to recover people in distress.  The ice here was not very thick, so it could not support the weight of the airboats.  The long haul location was in Sandusky Bay to the south, where the ice was much thicker.

If you check out this site, you can see more of the pictures from the sunny day near USCG Station Marblehead.