February 2010

A letter to the Phoenix City Council

February 18, 2010

Dear Councilman Claude Mattox: Okay, so this article appears in today’s Arizona Republic: the City of Phoenix is about to spend $6  million to buy a vacant motel so the property can be handed over to Arizona State University to expand ASU President Michael Crow’s overweening plans to expand his empire. Let’s see if a [...]

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Another backyard project under way

February 17, 2010

“Under weigh” is actually the correct phrase, a nautical term. But let’s go with the flow. The tidal flow, of course. Old-timers here will recall that a year ago I had the bright idea of digging the sand and weeds out from between the flagstones in my front courtyard and filling in the spaces with [...]

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Rant: Costco’s consumer-proof packaging

February 16, 2010

So I did end up springing for $25 (plus 8.3 percent tax, for a total of $27.06) to buy the yearned-after mineral make-up from Costco. Pretty nice stuff. I like it. However… Take a look at this: That large flat chunk of annealed plastic and cardboard is what Costco deemed necessary to deliver five small [...]

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Stumbled Upon: Still think nuclear power is the lesser of the evils?

February 15, 2010

Good lord! This came up in StumbleUpon: Chernobyl Today: A Creepy Story Told in Pictures. Go there if you dare. And don’t miss the link to the oral history about the Chernobyl event. I remember when Chernobyl happened, and also remember receiving the news that milk (human and bovine) and other  products in North America [...]

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Financial Freedom: Escape from debt and build savings

February 15, 2010

Debt and savings are directly linked. Every dollar you have to pay toward debt is a dollar you can’t put into savings. Making your money work for you—investing plenty of savings in instruments that will pay returns that one day will support you—is key to building financial freedom. The only way you can get off [...]

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Beautiful!

February 14, 2010

Chant choir performed at tonight’s evensong service. It’s a monthly event in which a professional musician performs for about an hour before a high-church service that is almost all chanted. This evening was amazing. Our director, Scott Youngs, performed a spectacular organ recital. The church has a world-class organ, and in fact the building itself [...]

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