Rant: My daughter Kara is in Flordia and she is very scared.She is only 24 and she lives in Hillsborough county.

Rave:Just spoke to her a few minutes ago, its raining really hard and its very windy, but she is ok.

Rave; Its definitely not too hot here in western Pennsylvania. Donna you could bring your sweater and live here. It is currently 59 degrees.

Rant: we have a pool and were in it only three times this summer.

Happy Friday the 13th.

kc

carib, I agree that he should step down for being so stupid. I don't think it is outside the political relm to appoint unqualified friends but he got caught.

It has been known by many people for years that he was gay.If his wife and friends say they didn't know,there lying.

GoTravel,
There is much more to the story in NJ than appointing his boyfriend. He was also coming under increasing pressure because two of his advisors, including his largest campaign contributor, we're caught on tape recently in bribery related situations. One was attempting to provide a witness in a bribery case with prostitutes to entice a change in their testimony.

In terms of the level of anger that many of my fellow New Jersey residents are expressing, few care about the gay issue. What my colleagues are annoyed about is the fact that this guy had zero qualifications as Homeland Security liason in a state that was the base of operation for the first World Trade Center attack and lost several hundred residents on 9/11.

In addition, property tax increases are going through the roof because of a budget mess. To spend $110,000 on a flozzy, man or woman, when some towns are being hit with 50% property tax increases is criminal. (One colleague, who lives in a very nice Northern NJ suburb had his property tax bill go from $15K to $30K this year.)

The above qualifies as a Rant.

Ryan, question, not trying to be difficult:

given all of his above abuses, why did he come out and say "I am gay and I am resigning". was this maybe to deflect everything else? why not admit to doing the BAD stuff, who cares if he is gay. seems like he is trying to distract everyone from the other stuff?

I have not read the articles about this yet so perhaps I will learn the answers to my questions later.

Jocelyn: My son is training for the NYC Marathon (which is a rave) and he alternates his runs between two pairs of shoes. He started doing this when his knees started to hurt (he's only 21). Between 300-500 miles, midsoles lose some of their cushioning properties. Heavy runners or over/under pronators may wear out shoes sooner. At around 300 miles he checks his shoes, how they are wearing and this seems to have had a positive result for him (and he hasn't had knee pain since - knock on wood - it's the 13th ya know!)

Flygirl,
I think getting a politician to publicly admit to the "bad stuff" is about as unlikely as getting Michael Moore and Rush Limbaugh to sing a chorus of "That's what friends are for" together.

What McGreevey allegedly did might be considered a crime. My view is the really bad stuff was and is going to come out on its own. His press conference was intended to put on the happy face. When he gets called before a Grand Jury, then we'll see the unhappy side.

Ryan

That's a funny image. Anyone seen the
site jibjab.com. there's a goofy film in there with Bush and Kerry and assorted characters, singing this land is my land

Ryan, flygirl makes an excellent post. According to him, the resignation is about his infidelity and him being a homosexual.

According to the press, it is about the republicans raising cain about his infidelity and homosexuality.

My hope is that all of our Floridian Fodorites stay safe and make it through this hurricane with flying colors ((R))

Rave: All the great running advice Jocelyn_P is getting :-D

Rave: The cool front made it to south Texas...in August! Woo hoo--my arm pits are very happy today!! b(

Rant: Mosquitos...if there comes a time when you don't hear from me it's because I died from malaria...or west nile... 8-X

Rant: b( should be more like :-)

rave: There really is no place like home. I love to travel, and was in Houston last week w/my husband for pleasure, had a great time, and then went directly to NYC w/my son for work and fun for 4 days, and had a great time, but I am so tired and so happy to be home. I want to sleep in my own bed and just walk around my own house, do my laundry, pet the rabbit, and work in the soggy garden. I hope this feeling is not the result of getting older and more tied to my home and wanting to be there.

rant: Active hurricaine season. Aside from concern about Florida based souls on this board and other friends there, we are going to the Outer Banks for 2 wks, leaving a week from now, and the possibility of evacuation w/my 2 kids and their three friends is not a fun vacation thought.

jor, has your grass stopped growing so fast since it is getting cooler there?

Rave--DH gave his letter of resignation to his boss today and signed the job offer letter with another company!

Rave--The new job is local so we dont have to move again!

Rant--Cracked a tooth, need a crown. Bad timing too with the change in insurance. Oh well, thats life!

Rant--Found out a close family friend died and I had to break the news to another family member.

Rant--The hurricane of course. Hoping everyone stays safe!

Rant: Nasty hurricanes and tornados!

Rave: We don't get hurricanes in Buffalo!

Rant: It's only August 13th, and the leaves are changing....what's up with that???????

Rave: I'm off to a beautiful beach house in Cape Cod in two weeks!

Rave: The clouds cleared and it was a beautiful, sunny day here in Chicago, and especially at Wrigley Field

Rant: The Cubs lost :(

Rave: We had first row dugout box seats, courtesy of a friend -- right at field level. Amazing to be that close to the players and the action! I posted a few pictures on our Chicago Webshots album: http://community.webshots.com/album/148245132zkoGZY

Rave: I've spent the better part of the last two weekends in Chicago with visiting relatives, and the city really looks great. I need to get in more often.

Rave: On a traveling note, I just booked FF tickets today for a 13-day vacation to Naples and the Amalfi Coast next June. Time to get to planning...

Rant: Next June is so far away....

Rave: Also booked a ticket to visit my mother in Scottsdale next month for her 70th birthday (although I learned that United turned ORD-PHX into a Ted market; not sure if that is a rant or rave)

To all those in the path of Hurricane Charley, take care and stay safe this weekend.

To all others, happy weekend!

Rant: Regarding my previous post about my broken AC ...

Repairman came today to install new disposal and fix dryer. I told him about the motel-size AC in my sunroom that hadn't worked for 3 months, and he offered to look at it. When he reached down and turned the knob, out came a blast of icy cold air. What the heck?! Now, why wouldn't the darn thing work when my big AC was broken? I have got to be living in the twilight zone ... :?

Donna

Saturday night rave: I went to a local specialty running store and bought two new pairs of running shoes. I will NOT use them for awhile as I'm still hurtin', but I plan to ease back into it slowly, along with Pilates for core strengthening. Thanks for all the great advice!