Presidents' Day Connections

Yesterday as I  read in my current book, I was struck by a personal connection to the  history and the subject.  I am reading Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch's The First Conspiracy The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington.   The book is interesting and keeps me turning the pages.  http://bradmeltzer.com/Nonfiction/The-First-Conspiracy

In Chapter 29, in the midst of New York City,  Washington is in the middle of April of 1776.  Brad and Josh have documented this  story well. And I am intrigued by the fine points and intricacies of what for me has always been,  ah war, ah, fighting, ah we won.   I  have an idea of the larger picture and can rattle off where battles were, but my interest has been increasing as I find my own personal history intertwining in some of it.  So I pay attention.

But this time Washington's move outside of the city to a residence away from the bustle of New York City  crosses my own personal recent history.   Washington was moved to a  manor house called Mortier's or  as they write, "known as Richmond Hill", outside of the  busy downtown of New York City  near the Hudson.  This residence  at the intersection of Varrick and Charlton.

I jumped!  I have only recently made it to New York City and stayed right there!   My husband now works for a company right there!   Wow, talk about tying recent history to old history and having a nice picture in my mind.  They called it "wooded and secluded section of Manhattan's west side."  (page 138  chapter 29.)  No longer.

But wow. How cool!  And we had tramped by the federal building Federal Hall   on New Year's Eve where  George had been sworn in as president 13 years and two weeks roughly later. So my mind has lit up soaking all of this in, resorting my mental pictures of it all, and picturing an old city and the early forms of federal and military service. 

A Christmas Carol 175 years

The tangible world encroaches on the ether world and has for aeons.  Perhaps more specifically, at the juxtapositions of the world and the mind,  ghosts do tread and sometimes not lightly.

My better half just joyously told me today was the anniversary of Charles Dickens' publishing of A Christmas Carol.

As I sat down at my computer the BBC's post of  A Christmas Carol   was in front of me.  It was not just the anniversary, it was the 175th anniversary: https://tinyurl.com/yb5hphpt

And in that moment, words from a book I read last February spoke to me, again.  Charles Dickens was acquainted with  Lady Ada Lovelace.    Dickens met Lovelace through Charles Babbage in the 1830s.  They were friends until her death in 1852.

That better half had just blogged  A Christmas Carol for Adafruit.  Ah, yes spirits listen and speak.

Enchantress of Numbers by  Jennifer Chiaverini  an excellent book.  I had a rough start with it, as understanding a prodigious child is quite overwhelming.  But the book intrigued me deeply as I wandered through it. As it ended I was  thinking and wondering much about our recent and incredible advances through a world that Lady Ada had conceptualized long ago. 

Then on a trip that day to Barnes and Noble I picked up Mr. Dickens and His Carol  by Samantha Silva out of Idaho, first novel.  Lovely book so far, I am very much enjoying it.

For further enjoyment of  Mr Dickens' Carol,  I share this from Nerdist's posting.
https://tinyurl.com/Neil-Gaiman-reads-Xmas-Carol

Ancestry NAD New Ancestry Discovery Disappearances

This morning while digging around on Ancestry  I hopped back and forth to Facebook to look at the ISOGG page.   NAD   New Ancestry Discoveries (NAD)  were being bantied about by posters.
I decided that since the discussion was so current that I would offer those missing NADs  my couple,
Goggan and Nelms!   I made the offer and then went back to Ancestry to double check names before I bestowed them lock, stock, and barrel upon the unsuspecting individuals.  Low and behold, they were nowhere to be found!   What happened to my NADs?   Has anyone else lost their pseudo families?

Love to hear the reports!

Greece. The name conjurs myths, heros, drama. Drama, Greek at its core. Tragedy and comedy. If, Greece is the canary, as one writer put it this a few springs ago, then there is plenty of comedy and tragedy to come. What can we learn from this? We need to watch and think and learn.

There is more to the past than meets the eye.

Federal Government Employment Levels Through the Years (including the U.S. Postal Service)

	Executive Branch civilians	Total U.S. population	Executive Branch employees per 1,000 population
1962 (Kennedy)	2.48 million	186.5 million	13.3
1964 (Johnson)	2.47 million	191.8 million	12.9
1970 (Nixon)	2.94 million*	205 million	14.4
1975 (Ford)	2.84 million	215.9 million	13.2
1978 (Carter)	2.87 million	222.5 million	12.9
1982 (Reagan)	2.77 million	232.1 million	11.9
1990 (Bush)	3.06 million*	249.6 million	12.3
1994 (Clinton)	2.9 million	263.1 million	11.1
2002 (Bush)	2.63 million	287.8 million	9.1
2010 (Obama)	2.65 million+	310.3 million+	8.4+

SOURCE: Office of Management and Budget. *= Figure includes temporary Census Bureau workers.

 http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2010/09/how_many_federal_workers_are_t.html

A long time ago, the Washington Post has almost a headline...  "Budget battles win little savings"  the writer who seems to think that the federal government is a separate entity. Last I heard,  congress is responsible. That was in a high school class.  But then Congress seems to think the same.    The above graph looks at the point that the country has doubled, but federal workers remain the same or close to it.

While federal workers will lose their jobs over not getting their work done, congress doesn't seem to have that problem. They make the rules for the government.  They are responsible for the budget.  They haven't delivered a budget on time in over 14 years.  Most if not all of the agencies and departments work on continuing resolution.  What are they doing over there?

Civilians listen to the blather and get up in arms.  Do they realize that the majority of expenditures are to normal Americans?  DO they realize that the infrastructure of their country is dependent on the government spending?  Do they  REALLY think we spend more on other countries than we do at home?  Foreign Aid is less than 1% of the budget, but that doesn't include wars.  Wars are separate.  And yes, Americans get paid to go to war.  It is one of our undiscussed issues.  Yes, we have a volunteer military, and it is good.  But when people don't have jobs and there is no where else to turn, guess where they have to go.   I respect and uphold the military, don't get me wrong.  But many of these people are on  Food stamps now known as SNAP, supplemental nutrition assistance program,     http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap , which they cut out of Farm Aid legislation.  So, we don't pay our military enough to feed their family and they can't get federal aid to help them.

Congress is at fault.  It seems everyone I speak with is feeling the same way.  Have they gotten the message yet?

Do they get the point that when they ask for information, it has to be legal? In other words, if they investigate anything,  Freedom of Information protects people, and congress can't just say, well, we are congress give it to us.  And that FOIA takes people and time and money.  If you want freedom, you have to pay something for it.  

(this was written long ago... but still of relevance.)

Moving, moving, moving, get those doggies moving!

Move is a four letter word.  I won't leave it at that, but I will stay away from more four letter words.  We are one week and one day from wheels up.   The amount of stuff we have done boggles my mind.  We have been blessed by the incredible things which have happened this week. We are  intensely grateful and are striving to move on the new happenings.

Daughter 1, job came through.  She starts the day we are wheels up.  That led to finding housing for her. Yesterday, done.  Blessed with a nice townhome and a REALLY NICE location near her work.
Thanks be to God.  I don't know how else to attribute it.

Daughter 2, stuff that needed to happen for her internship!  Very thankful.

We are able to leave them in place and ready to lead lives with us away.

Moving is crazy.  Twitching toes and wandering minds forget the pain involved in moving boxes and going through things.  Tape and markers be tools of the trade and they like to disappear.  THis move necessitated a new twist, a storage unit. Balancing the needs of now three households... that will be influx for   a bit.

Never a dull moment.  Never think it is all an ace in the hole, despite the wonderful provenance of such gifts as above.

The rental trucks are all booked up.... not at all possible,  nothing until Sunday. Nice lady from UHAUL spent about 45 minutes with me trying to figure it out. I was sure I had a truck from the one. But no dice.
Well,this morning, we had two trucks booked, and one from last night.  I am not paying a fine. Period.

The dogs are watching me with tails wagging.

George Knows by Mindy Mymudes a funny intelligent, doggy YA read.

I met a met a Bassett hound the other day, in  a book.  He has a big personality. He farts, he has an opinion and speaks dog, definitely.  The book, is an e-book called  George Knows by Mindy Mymudes. I will state here, I have known Mindy online now for going on 13 or 14 years.  I met her on an online AOL group for springer spaniels.  We have yet to meet in real life. I assume we will at some point.

George is a character. He is perfect for later grade elementary or middle school.  I know some fourth graders who would find him a cut up.   Told in first person Bassett Hound, the story is a part magical, part ecological, part mystery all rolled into a tight little bundle.  Available now as an ebook this is a cute read.

George will worm his way into your heart.  He has a definite sense of the absurd, a stomache that is never full and a good grasp on how to keep his pet, Karly in line.

Stop by  http://bassetbones.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/im-tracking-blogs-follow-me/   to check out George and look at the blogs he is meandering through.  Have a few cookies available, you will need them!