Good morning to you all. Thankfully it is calm and sunny. The winds yesterday were in the low hurricane levels. The worst of the storm lasted only 15 to 20 minutes but during that time it really did a job on parts of the area. Over in Illinois it left about 800k people without power--which according to ComEd is the worst in the company's history. The local newspaper (online) reported about 20k Nipsco customers were affected in northwest Indiana. Thankfully, again, not us. Though we lost cable/internet we did not lose power.

The little sunflowers came through pretty well and are looking quite pretty and cheerful out in the patio again. The only tomatoesI found with any real damage are the German Queen--one major branch broke--and the Brandywine--also one major branch. Otherwise, I think it is only getting the plants tied back up and trimmed.

This is an interesting notion. I noticed that some of the comments were a bit harsh--some because, of course, no congress and senate will ever make such a move which really isn't Buffet's fault. But I think there would be serious Constitutional issues as well if they did have the guts to do it. Remember when some states tried to impose term limits? But I would love to see the Treasury decide that the first paychecks that would not go out if the debt limit isn't raised are those for the legislative and executive branches. I am sure that would light a fire.

So the stock market over here followed the rest of the world's markets yesterday and finished a good bit lower. The stories say the causes are weak economic data and the concern over Italy's finances. I find the sudden attention to Italy a bit amusing since the economic reports have talked about the PIIGS for some time. That is Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain. All five have had looming fiscal crises for the last two years at least. But there are also seismic rumbles from some of the Eastern European countries as well. Surely the so-called experts can't be surprised by this slow train wreck. What really kicks my skepticism into high gear is how they think anything they have done will really fix the problems. More debt for countries already so far in debt they can't possibly pay it off except under conditions of economic growth it would be delusional to expect.

Like you, Kay, I have no desire for an iPhone--and I am an Apple fan and user for nearly three decades now. When AT&T was the only vendor for the iPhone that was a deal breaker because I have been very happy with Verizon. Now that Verizon can market the iPhone I find that I don't really want the 'smart' phone. Several of my relatives talk about how handy theirs are but we simply don't want all of the features. We surf the internet enough on our computers. If we go anywhere we are not familiar with we get the maps on-line before we go so we don't need to get directions on the phone. Once upon a time I probably would have rushed out and got the new toy but now I don't feel the need to get the latest gadget or toy. I have pared down my 'things' over the last few years. When my portable CD player died Mom suggested she get me a new one for my birthday. I thought about it for a minute and told her not to bother. I realized I hadn't used the one that failed for over a year and carrying around the CDs was a bother I didn't really want to deal with any more. I never bothered with an iPod or mp3 player. We used our old computers until Mom's died and we got the two laptops. My old computer is still upstairs because I put all my CDs are on the iTunes file. I did yield to temptation, as I noted on an earlier post, and bought a Nook. I like it well enough but it won't replace traditional books. Technology is interesting but I am getting very selective of what I buy and whether I even replace worn out technology.

Yeah, Lois, I did have an anonymous comment. Most of those are simply links to products or 'unsuitable' (read porn) sites and I simply delete them. Sometime ago I posted my rules: no sales, no flaming, nothing rude or obscene, and nothing anonymous. I have become very adept at using the delete key or consigning something to the spam folder.