Musings While On Cloud Nine

Musings While On Cloud Nine

*Just thinking* …

I love hot, humid weather but I have to admit that it was great to wake up Monday morning to that refreshing, dry, cool northwest breeze. Does that mean I am just a dyed in the wool New Englander (loves variety in weather) or am I just getting old? Both, no doubt.

Am I off base, or am I right in thinking that we’re spending a lot of time beating each other up about side issues and not focusing on the one thing that can get Little Rhody and the nation back on track … JOBS?

So far the much touted hurricane season has not been very impressive. But it’s early and we still have a long way to go.

Weather Trivia Question: What was the last tropical cyclone to hit Rhode Island in the month of July and when did it occur?

“Bonnie” was a reach as a named tropical storm … virtually nothing more than a cluster of thunderstorms. I can’t really blame them, but the government and people running the oil spill cleanup in the Gulf overreacted. I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry. Sort of like hauling your boat if a hurricane has even a small chance of coming anywhere near Narragansett Bay.

I grew up in the days when rosters and lineups for major league baseball teams seemed to be etched in granite from one year to the next. If you follow the Red Sox these days, it’s like the wedding gown sale at Filene’s Basement with players coming and going to and from the Pawsox on a daily basis. I sort of liked Daniel Nava on the big club but the honcho of the conveyor belt said his time was up.

Speaking of baseball, what is with the DL (Disabled List) these days? I mean, it seems like these guys go on it for a hangnail. God knows that Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, and Sandy Koufax had their injuries but how much time did they ever spend on the DL?

Only in Rhode Island Department. Can you believe that the biggest political buzz these days is in the Lieutenant Governor’s race? This for an office that has no other official duties other than to take over for the Governor when there’s a vacancy or disability in that office. Some are even suggesting that the Lieutenant Governor’s office should be abolished.

Can you believe it? Now we’re talkin’! The Patriots hit the practice field tomorrow! And the first preseason game is just over two weeks away. I know it signals the winding down of summer but it means the start of my favorite sports time of the year … the Patriots and football!

Maybe I’m just too much of a cynic but can’t we ever just simply move ahead and accomplish any innovative, worthwhile project these days? Does it seem like the offshore wind farm project is getting bogged down in the bureaucratic and legal morass that seems to follow anything that government tries to do? Then again, maybe I’m too impatient and way off base on this.

Did you see where Massachusetts and Rhode Island have just signed a treaty? Well, not really but they agreed to coordinate planning in an area of “mutual interest” between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard for offshore wind farm development, which, by the way, does not include the Block Island Deepwater project? What, were they worried that the Rhode Island and Massachusetts navies were going to eventually do battle over the territory? Don’t be so serious! I’m just kidding!

Weather Trivia Answer: That would be Tropical Storm “Bertha” on July 13, 1996. Top wind gusts were around 50mph at T. F Green in Warwick and up to 75mph in the Newport area.

*Gotta go* … Phone’s ringing. Probably a pollster wanting to know how I’m going to vote in the “hot” Lieutenant Governor’s race.