Good morning, everyone.  Didn't have much to say yesterday.  The clouds and rain finally moved out about mid day.  Soon enough that I got out and cleaned out two of the tomatoes that were pretty well spent.  I also got the German thyme cut back and transplanted into one of the beds.  I have noticed a few gardening blogs posting about overwintering plants in containers.  Most say that if the plant is hardy in your growing zone it should do fine in the containers.  I'll find out.  We expect very cool temperatures most of this coming week--today we might not even see the 70s.  I don't mind the cooler temps.  I rather like most seasons--except winter.  I really don't like snow.

Well, if the Postmaster General is right, we might not have a national postal service by winter.  If he is depending on Congress to extend the Postal Service a life line--I wouldn't hold my breath.  The system has several problems: the shift to e-mail, rising costs for fuel, and a political system which demands it pay its own way as though it were a for-profit corporation but then micro-manages on issues like rate increases and service levels.  I notice the article I linked to focuses much blame on labor contracts with no-lay-off clauses.  So we have another (quasi-)public union taking the brunt of the blame.

I agree, Kay, and, for me, the concerns are even more immediate than grandkids (I don't have).  If those idiots in Washington succeed in changing Social Security and Medicare eligibility rules, like extending the age to 67 or 70, any time in the next couple of years my youngest brother and sister will be forced to work longer and will receive less.  They are just that long under 55 which is the usual cut off for such changes.  For the younger generation (the nieces, nephews, and grandnieces and grandnephews) I am afraid that they will have to redefine the 'good life.'  What I defined as 'good' when I was their age I doubt is really attainable--simply not enough resources to consume on that heroic as scale any more.  I would like to see everyone able to find rewarding work that adequately supports a comfortable life, get an adequate education, have needed medical (including dental and vision) care, and have enough leisure to enjoy family and friends.  But as long as we rely on crony and predatory capitalism we will never get it.