podpolia

Political Commentary

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:31:57 +0000

Me: “If you don’t have exact change to pay for your vocabulary workbook, you can still get one – several people have paid for theirs already, so I have some change.”

A Student: “Do you have Obama’s change?”

Links

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 01:48:03 +0000

Your “paranoia” and “low, low prices!” links for the day.

Busy Busy Busy

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 01:13:52 +0000

I’ve gotten a long-term sub job for this Fall, so I’ll be a little busy trying to get ready for a while here. There likely won’t be any posts for a bit – I need to have 3 books read in the next week, plus lesson plans, etc.

An Editorial You’d Never See In America

admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:30:00 +0000

It’s very sad that the British media are now more free (or at least, more willing) to criticize the U.S. President than the American media generally seem to be.

UPDATE 8/13/10 18.35: I was very amused by one commenter on this article:

The 11th reason is because Obama is a “Pole Turtle”. If you ever see a turtle sitting on top of a fence pole you know the following: He didn’t get up there by himself. He doesn’t belong up there. He doesn’t know what to do while up there. He certainly isn’t going anywhere and you have to wonder what kind of dumb ass put him there in the first place.

Certainly sums that up.

Thanks, Barack!

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:23:03 +0000

Well, my health insurance just went up another 15%. Yeah, those of us who like our insurance can keep it, alright, but we have to pay an arm and a leg for it.

Doomsday Shelters

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:26:06 +0000

… the vaults were never meant to save anyone.

“Space Rocks Of Doom”

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:29:36 +0000

Adding “of doom” just makes ANY caption better, but particularly when it’s about aliens trying to kill someone.

Inspiring The Clock Tower

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:01:04 +0000

I’m currently visiting family in Berne, Indiana, and happened to be in town for the installation of the roof and spire of the Clock Tower currently being built in town. I got some pictures of the event – there was quite a crowd gathered around watching – and since the local paper doesn’t seem to have coverage of the event yet, so I thought I’d post something about it.

The big event was scheduled for 9.00 AM, Friday the 18th of June. The clock tower then:

Before the work began

If you look really closely, you can see camera crews on top of the church behind the tower. You can also see the roof (on the ground to the left) – the spire is on the ground behind the tower itself. Right around 9.00, the construction crew rigged steel cables from the top of the enclosure around the bell to connect it to the crane:

Preparing to hoist...

The crane was then connected, and after a bit of checking underneath of the roof, it was lifted:

Going up!

When it got to the top of the tower, the crane stopped and the crew adjusted its location so that it would sit properly:

Adjusting the alignment

When they had it where they wanted it, the crane slowly lowered it into place, and all visible activity ceased for quite a while, presumably while the crew was fastening the roof to the top of the tower. Eventually, two workmen climbed up from inside the roof next to the bell, and then to the top of the belfry. They disconnected the cables to the crane, and waited while the spire was solidly attached to the crane. When that was done, the spire was hoisted:

About to be inspired...

The spire was then lowered over the two men atop the belfry, who correctly oriented it, and then it too was lowered into place and fastened down.

The spire in place

Another view

The construction – at least of the structure itself – seems to be complete. There is still more work to do before the dedication (during Swiss Days) in six weeks, but eventually it is supposed to look like the original clock tower in the original town of Bern, Switzerland:

The original Bern clock tower, ca. 1900

It’s interesting to think what the original Swiss settlers of Berne, Indiana would have thought of this. Some of them at least were probably familiar with the original tower. Their descendants have managed to recreate a piece of those settlers old world in the middle of the new.

UPDATE 6/20/10 10.00PM: The Berne Tri-Weekly News has a video of the roof raising here.

Burnt Cabins

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:03:39 +0000

I took a couple of pictures in the middle of May around Burnt Cabins, and have finally gotten around to posting them.

The first always gets a laugh when I drive past it. The first part of the sign may be on the National Register of Historical Places, but somehow the Laundry-Mat doesn’t seem to fit:

Burnt Cabins Mill & Laundry-Mat

The other one needs very little explanation. I refer to it as the “existential road sign”:

Existential Road Sign

Hmm…

admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 03:07:21 +0000

This seems to explain quite a bit.