Last Day in Keene, NH

Tomorrow we throw everything back into the Durango and head for Michigan. We were able to find a suitable apartment, but we had to spend a lot more than we wanted and the location isn't exactly what we were looking for. We wanted to be close to downtown, but everything we looked at in town had something that was a deal-breaker. All but one was simply too small, and that one had electric heat. In New Hampshire. The broker tried to convince us that the electric bills were only $140 to $160 per month. Yea, right. That was what our winter electric bills were in Arizona. Unless electrical rates in New Hampshire are something like $.001 per kilowatt-hour, there is no way you are going to heat 1,200 square feet for $160 a month. So we are a few miles outside of town in a 1067 square foot apartment that includes heat and hot water in the rent. Relatively new building, lots of storage, covered parking, the works. It's not officially ours until the lady runs all the paperwork on Tuesday, but we're pretty confident we can pass our criminal background checks.

When we get back, it's crunch time. We need to stage all our stuff in Debbie's mom's garage, reserve a truck, try to get some visiting in and finish up all the half-done projects at Debbie's mom's house. We need to roll out of Michigan on the Sunday (or Monday) before Thanksgiving so we have time to empty out the truck and get the apartment in some sort of order before Debbie's first day of work on November 30. Most of our stuff never got unpacked, so it shouldn't be too difficult, but we won't have any slack time. Anyone that needs something to do over the next week should feel free to come help.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world goes on. Bank failures are now up to 123. The rate seems to be slowing, but we are still looking at a bad year for banks. I wouldn't expect 2010 to be much better.

Meanwhile, at least one person in Britain gets it:

Ruth Lea, an economist from Arbuthnot Banking Group, told the Daily Mail: "This is all about control of the individual and you begin to wonder whether this is what the green agenda has always been about. It's Orwellian. This will be an enormous tax on business."

The "green agenda" has never been about anything other than the control of the individual. That's why you will never see Al Gore living the lifestyle he recommends for the rest of us.

The first attempt to get electric vehicles in the hands of normal people isn't going so well. So what's the problem? The big car companies? The evil oil corporations? Us benighted souls that just refuse to cooperate? Nope. It's local government bureaucrats. Why do I think we won't be hearing any speeches from our president demanding that local governments streamline the process of installing charging stations in people's garages?

It used to be that our society valued the extremely bright. Now we have schools run by small, petty people who seem determined to beat down any child showing above-average intelligence. For now, there are ways for super-brights to escape before they are permanently damaged. I would expect that to become increasingly difficult, just as it has gradually been getting more difficult for the last several decades.

An officer in the Army responds to the Fort Hood killings. Once again, political correctness prevented the obvious from being seen until too late.

Lastly, what has been suspected for some time can now be considered fact: there is water on the moon. That one fact removes an enormous barrier to a permanent human colony someplace other than Earth. Arthur C Clarke once said, "For all but a vanishingly brief instant near the dawn of history, the word 'ship' will mean—'spaceship.'" Now if we could just collectively grow a pair....

Well, tomorrow comes early and I've been sick as a dog all day, so I should try to get some sleep.