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16119. RickNelson - 8/10/2005 8:10:58 AM 
Dad taking the boy for a stroll along the coastal, waterbreak.
My brother inlaw's kids are the three to the right, my sister inlaw's kids are the middle holding Jacob, and the two to the left. My daughter, now 20 is in the top middle.
16120. RickNelson - 8/10/2005 8:17:58 AM 
This is Andrea and Jacob at the beach in Miri City, Sarawak, Malaysia. You've read about these sunsets before.
16121. alistairconnor - 8/10/2005 8:21:13 AM I can see the first picture, not the other two.
"Yahoo! AtroCities
The web site you are trying to access has exceeded its allocated data transfer. Access to this site will be restored within an hour. Please try again later."
Damn. I'll have a look later. 16122. RickNelson - 8/10/2005 8:22:47 AM Drat! Is there a more reliable site to save pictures for loading? 16123. alistairconnor - 8/10/2005 8:40:03 AM People use Shutterfly. 16124. RickNelson - 8/10/2005 9:03:01 AM Dang it, I'm tired now, it's 3am. I've been trying to sign up for Shutterfly, now that I've downloaded the free program.
Something is messed up via the server or my settings.
I hooked up Roadrunner cable just this past evening.
3 meg took 9 seconds. Using my 56k it would have been over an hour. 16125. RickNelson - 8/10/2005 9:04:50 AM hmmmmm. I can see the pictures at the present time, but I have re-opened the photo page where they reside. It's a Geocities, Yahoo site. I figured it would be a quick trial for staging photos. But, if it's only active when I've loaded the page, I wont like it.
Now I'll test that theory. 16126. RickNelson - 8/10/2005 9:07:17 AM I've closed that browser window, and I can still see them. I know that it isn't supposed to matter, but I can't shake trying weird solutions.
Well, as alistair noted, it was the server exceeding the allocated data transfer rate. I hope it will show these from now on? 16127. RickNelson - 8/10/2005 9:28:19 AM dang it, they've disappeared again. This transfer rate is way to low, it's their scam to make me buy the pro version. I'm gonna get rid of two of the six photos, and maybe these four will always be available.
The site states I have to wait an hour to access my page.
Sheesh. 16128. alistairconnor - 8/10/2005 9:29:19 AM Your browser has a local copy in cache, because you've already seen the pictures. That doesn't prove that other people will be able to see them...
I can see them all now! Ah ooh wow! I love that cousins picture. And the sunset of course...
The problem is, once a few people take a look at them in any given time period, you'll hit your transfer quota again... shutterfly would be better, if you can get it to work for you.
Congratulations about the broadband, it's time I checked out the rumours that I could get DSL at home... 16129. Magoseph - 8/10/2005 4:15:17 PM Thank you for sharing your pictures with us, Rick. It's nice to see Jacob, especially. 16130. judithathome - 8/10/2005 7:54:34 PM Great looking kiddo, Rick!
I could tell you all kinds of stories.
Well, I could probably tell you a few, also...I am very politically active in this village and know exactly what you are talking about. We may be miniscule but this village is just a large town writ small. We have petty people on the council and we have competent people on the council and we have the same sorts of issues here that you have there.
I suspect that there's a whole lot more to local politics than what you see and hear about, though.
I suspect you are wrong.
Procedure is one thing and then there are different divisions within each town, village or city that really need people with more than a pasing familiarity of specialization (code, utilities, tax laws, etc.)
Jen, I choose not to take offense at your implication that a job such as this is beyond my capabilities but be that as it may, there are few tax specialists, lawyers, or city planners stepping up to run for office here in my village. There was a plumber who ran for mayor and lost because he nearly punched the mayor out in a little squabble over codes; there is a retired liquor salesman who is deaf in one ear...a high school dropout who can't even speak properly in public but is a good ole boy who is now serving on the council; there was a man who ran last year because he was in dispute over property lines with the woman he ran against and in his campaign letter, he maligned her to the extent that only 17 people felt comfortable voting for him.
I may decide not to run but it won't be because I don't know the politics of this place or because I can't do the job.
16131. alistairConnor - 8/10/2005 8:27:05 PM Go for it Judith
What's the electoral system? Do you need to be on a ticket with this mixed-bag crowd, or can you stand in your own name? 16132. Magoseph - 8/10/2005 8:36:16 PM Hey, Jen, how is your pregnancy going? 16133. arkymalarky - 8/10/2005 10:28:08 PM Blast my blasted isp. I can see two adorable pictures. Your son is an absolute doll, Rick! 16134. arkymalarky - 8/10/2005 10:29:22 PM Oh, and if I recall, you need to make sure you're not blocking popups to get through Shutterfly. I may be wrong about that, though. I have run into that problem several times lately. 16135. judithathome - 8/10/2005 10:33:59 PM Do you need to be on a ticket with this mixed-bag crowd, or can you stand in your own name?
No ticket, just one person against another. There are five council seats and two of them are going to be contested in May 2006. Two year terms.
I would be running against the retired good ole boy. His original win was by one vote.
16136. wonkers2 - 8/10/2005 10:54:02 PM Go for it! 16137. arkymalarky - 8/10/2005 11:02:41 PM This is not advice to Judith--she's been involved in her community for many years and knows the ins and outs of the politics there enough to make a decision about running for office. This is just thinking out loud about something that I've been observing as a very politically active person for the last few years at the state level. It's really very interesting, and if I hadn't fallen into teaching I would have really enjoyed working on politics (outside elective office) for a career, instead of in conjunction with a full-time job like I've been doing--far too much to deal with at one time, imo.
For people who have been involved in politics, the big question is usually where they can have the most impact on the issues they care most about at whatever level of government they're focusing on (local--city or county, state, national). For myself and the issues I am active about, I am better off not to run for an office, even assuming I could win. I have had a lot more impact communicating with politicians and networking and strategizing. But for a couple of the people I've worked most closely with, the opposite would likely be true, because they're excellent at working inside the system and within its structure, and they're organized and focused enough to push priority goals through the process. In fact, one of them won a state legislative seat and had to give it up before taking office due to health reasons. I actually think he had more impact on the issues important to him outside elective office, though he would have made a great legislator (his replacement is also very good, though).
There's also the consideration (as with the man I just mentioned) that once you're on the inside you can rarely continue your work on the outside. So, sometimes it needs to be a group decision whether an individual would be too valuable in his current role (recruiting participants, communicating with legislators and/or the press, leading and organizing groups, strategizing, etc) to run for office where he would have to focus on all his constituents and their interests and give up his other duties. The more local the office, the more impact you can have as an elected official, depending, of course, on the size of the community you're serving.
The dynamic between elected officials and active citizens--throwing in those who are professional, non-elected politicians or political strategists--has become fascinating to me, especially the strategies they employ and the interworkings that help them achieve their goals.
One of the most interesting developments I witnessed was when two groups who seemed to want the same thing simply could not work together, and a regrouping between two groups who differed on everything but one issue worked together well on that issue--probably because they didn't have expectations of mutual support on their other issues. Kind of like finding out you get along much better as a roommate with the weirdo you met in Freshman English class than you did your best friend. Politics really does make strange bedfellows. I never really believed that until I got so involved myself.
And it's very addictive. 16138. wonkers2 - 8/10/2005 11:13:31 PM I also am enjoying greater political activity since semi-retiring from employment. Wish I'd gotten involved earlier.
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