So the Chicago Public Day Care System’s wardens—who, on average, earn $76,000 a year—are striking because the 16% pay increase over four years offered by the city just won’t cut it. Meanwhile, the Chicago school system has a dropout rate that’s close to 50%. But if you question the right of public sector union workers…
late summah.
This is Crystal Lake, just a hop and a skip down the road from Castle Frostbite. “Crystal Lake” seems to be a popular name for lakes around here.
how to react to an armed robbery attempt, textbook solution.
Here’s a video of an attempted armed robbery at an Internet cafe in Florida. Three guys rush in, guns in their hands…and the security guard, seated behind a desk, gets up, draws his gun, and starts firing not three seconds after the bad guys open that front door. http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c3#/video/bestoftv/2012/08/31/pkg-security-guard-shoots-thieves-internet-cafe.weshpkg-security-guard-shoots-thieves-internet-cafe.wesh This was in the wee hours…
this is why we keep our first aid kits stocked.
We spent much of the day helping some friends move into a new house. The kids helped too, mostly by staying out of the way and doing stuff like this:
the first return on our avian investment.
Behold! The first egg from our little flock of laying hens. When I factor in the cost for the flock, the feed, the labor, and that deluxe chicken house and run, that egg is worth about three grand.
cluckheim calls for aid.
The new patio, pieced together from leftover granite and marble countertop pieces. A little while ago I was out on the new patio area, putting together some planters and trinkets the wife had ordered for the new outdoor space. As I was screwing together the driftwood planter, I heard the characteristic “red alert” bawk-bawk-bawking of…
battleship.
My friend Mark went to visit USS Iowa (BB-61). Being a 3D animator type, he took a metric crapton of detail pictures. If you’ve never been on an Iowa-class battleship, or you’re just a sucker for those big-ass ships and their big-ass guns, his Picasa page of the trip is worth a look.
crayola davinci.
Oh, this gave me a much-needed laugh today: Amateur botches Spanish fresco restoration The once-dignified portrait now resembles a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic, [the BBC correspondent] says.
just around the riverbend.
When we moved to New Hampshire, we tossed our joint collection of CDs into a bunch of boxes. After our move, they languished in the garage for a good long while before I got around to sorting through them and ripping worthy stuff into iTunes. One of the CDs I found in the wife’s half…
from the castle frostbite cocktail labs.
I think up cocktail recipe. You mix. You drink. Is good. The Ginny Weasley In a highball glass: 2 oz. gin 1 oz. vodka Splash of grenadine for color Fill up with ginger ale It’s a nice, refreshing summer drink that packs a bit of a punch. Serve on the rocks or straight up.