Up bright and early and I notice the "hot one" The Burlington Free Press' all-girl Statehouse team of Nancy Remsen (l) and Terri Hallenbeck (r) have in the Monday edition called: "To understand the Douglas agenda, you need a glossary."
Amen, sisters!
I even had this nice shot in the can of the two Freeps' political reporters as they were teaming up on the loquacious gubernatorial spokesman Jason Gibbs last Thursday, right after Gov. Jim Douglas' weekly presser.
So this is what that was about, eh?
Cool.
By the way, that's the late, great Republican Gov. Deane Davis (1969-1973) on the wall between them. Deane Davis - the Republican who brought Vermont the sales tax and Act 250.
Can't imagine Republican Gov. Jim Douglas championing either, can you?
As Hallenbeck and Remsen put it:
Douglas speaks a special language when he talks about his political vision; he has names for everything. Jason Gibbs, his spokesman, said the terms often develop spontaneously during policy discussions. Gibbs described several "ah-ha" moments when a group of words suddenly became a useful way to describe a policy.
Ah, yes, the lifelong professional pol has clearly mastered the art of propaganda. His words paint the nicest pictures - just ask Democrats Douglas Racine, Peter Clavelle and Scudder Parker.
"The Agenda of Affordability"
"Promise Scholarships"
"Global Commitment to Health"
I even put a line in there about how some readers might wonder about the Freyne Brain's health, what with yours truly writing something complimentary about my favorite Gannett-owned chain newspaper!
Which is when my right hand jumped from the mouse to the keyboard and, en route, knocked over the fricken' coffee cup. And you guessed it. Keyboard meet coffee!
I had a Kensington wireless for six months. Liked it. I work in a reclining position (the way the Romans would have) with the keyboard on my lap.
Life, you know, is not so much about what happens, as it is about how you handle what happens.
I certainly felt an inner urge to go completely nuts. Why?
Because my keyboard is the window into my computer and unable to make that connection, life is utterly useless! A complete waste of time!
Did I really say that?
I also realized life is full of challenges, and this was one of them. Don't panic. Make another coffee. Small Dog Electronics on Dorset Street opens at 10.
I was there 10 minutes early. In time to get this shot of Jane Murphy of Burlington, a retired nurse, who was there for the store opening. She was after some kind of doo-hickey for a flash-based drive transfer.
Beyond me.
But she did smile knowingly when I told her why I was there - her daughter had done the cereal-and-milk version of my coffee cup keyboard encounter, she told me. Turned the board upside down, got the hair dryer.
Same result - a trip to the computer store!
Now I've got a Made-in-China Logitech wireless. Eighty bucks.
Expensive coffee, eh?
*Freyne Brain Update:
As for the Sunday afternoon brain scan at the Mary Fanny (FAHC), behold the Philips MRI 3T - the latest in big German-made magnets that are used to see inside the human brain and body. Cutting edge technology, as they say, and this one is the first 3T in Vermont.
That's MRI Technologist Marcia Ryan, and yes I did go in and stick my head in a little cage and most of my body got slid into that little hole in the MRI machine in the next room
Since writing about my first MRI a couple weeks ago, I've heard from folks who've been there. Several asked about music.
The first MRI machine that checked the Freyne Brain - a mobile unit out at Fanny Allen - had no musical option. This one did, and Marcia got me the headphones (hadn't been much demand.)
Unfortunately, she didn't have the classical cd and the jazz one just wasn't my kind of jazz. So I winged it with the ear plugs. Took 40 minutes. Less noisy that the first MRI. Better ear plugs. Almost dozed off halfway through.
Next time, I'm bringing my own music.
This MRI was for checking chemical levels in the brain. Comparing my slightly shiny left-front temporal, language-center lobe with another spot.
I trust all the LSD from 1970-72 is gone, eh?
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