TGIF, Everyone.  We have nicely cool temperatures and rain.  We had rain off and on yesterday and last night.  We were assessing the gardens over morning coffee.  It is looking a bit ragged after all the heat.  I haven't started the cabbage and kale yet but I may be cleaning out a couple of the pots anyway.  The tomatoes are blooming again--they pretty much stopped during the heat.  Mom noted that this cool down is a bit early--we usually get 70s in mid-September.  But everything has been about a month off.  Unfortunately, it is also more than a bit unpredictable.  If I had given in to my optimism during the March heat wave (remember that unseasonal 80 degree stretch?) and planted the garden I would have lost everything in the April freeze.  Some over-enthusiastic gardeners did.  Well, no gardening work today.  Let's see if I see anything on the 'net.

Oh, yes!, Kay, our elections are an incredible waste of money.  And I would say time as well.  I wish we could somehow limit both the amount of money spent and the campaigning time.  I wonder how many out there are like me and ignoring, as much as possible, both the 'news' coverage and the ads.  I don't care at all about the dueling insults (Romneyhood vs Obamaloney) or the ads on both sides that stretch the truth out of any recognizable shape.  And we have had two years of this crap.  Actually if you consider  the fact that the Repthuglican knives have been out since the day after the 2008 election, we have had four years of continual electioneering.  I am glad you are having a good time working on Obama's campaign out there.  Between the two I definitely prefer Obama.  In fact, I haven't seen a Repthuglican I would waste my vote on.

Charles Hugh Smith at oftwominds provides an analysis of three big expenditures common in modern society that have been sold as sure-fire investments but which are, in fact, massive wastes.  I have, over a good number of years, come to the same conclusions.  I grew up with all of these 'values' drummed into my head: get a good education and get a good (read lucrative) career that will allow you to buy a house (the bigger the better) and provide health care and retirement benefits.  That bargain has broken down all along the way.

We just got back from some errands.  I have decided it is time to go back to using the public library.  I don't want to accumulate any more books since I am in the process of seriously whittling down my collection.  And I have found that a number of books that sound interesting simply aren't once I begin reading.  I do have a Nook but I have a couple of reservations about that as well.  I find that reading off screens as much as I do puts a strain on my eyes.  Reading from paper isn't as much a strain as the Nook.  Also I just don't want to trust a high tech system that can fail at multiple points.  We also needed to get new pencils (Mom goes through them with her crosswords puzzles) and wanted to look at the bird feeders at Home Depot.  We found a couple that are light enough for the shepherd's hook.  They are now hanging waiting for some birds to find them.  But on the way home, as we were stopped at a traffic light, I looked over at the sign at the gas station on the opposite corner and asked Mom, 'Am I reading that sign right??  $4.14 a gallon??'  I hadn't gone suddenly blind.  That was the price.  It has gone up by $.15 since last Tuesday.

I have said often during the last decade or so that we have to act on the premise that we have no privacy in our modern age.  This piece from Undernews simply confirms that assessment.