Torrid Day

Its still hot, though not as hot; probably about 90 or so. We took a short walk down to the bridge and back, which, given the humidity, was enough to make me appreciate the AC all over again. I like a cool house. I recall visiting a friend in Texas and being surprised how easily I got used to being inside, and then being startled by the heat once I stepped outside. Not that it was all that hot, but the difference really grabbed me. I tried not to do that too often. It didn't help that the car I had at the time, an AMC Hornet, didn't have air conditioning. The fan did have a setting called Cool, but that was apparently assuming you were driving in northern Maine or so. I guess Less Hot wouldn't have fit on the dashboard lettering.

Good meal tonight - Sloppy Joes. I've posted the recipe before. This time I did something different; not sure what, but it had a tang it doesn't normally have. We liked it, but it did take a little getting used to. I think it was the red wine vinegar - I don't recall adding that before. I saw one of those TV chefs advise, the other day, that if you're cooking with wine, to make it a good wine, one that you'd be happy to drink -- that way, if the meal goes south, you can salvage it with a couple of belts from the bottle. Interesting concept.

I've been reading a lot about the conclusion of the Democratic nomination race. So far, only a few people have said that it was of course inevitable that... the conclusion reached was the only one that could be reached. Jon Stewart, on The Daily Show, did a nice little piece of talking heads over the last year repeatedly saying that Clinton had it locked, there was no way Obama could win or even come close. Perhaps they could use some of that wine, about now. I did see one person who said that he wanted to point out that the margin of victory wasn't overwhelming, so, congratulations to the victor, but don't get cocky. I can agree with that. An article on the Money CNN site compared Obama's financial proposals with McCains, and the part that really got me was their note that Obama hasn't been very forthcoming on how he intends to pay for all this stuff. Its all good, but at what price? The only thing I can say about McCain's plans is that since he intends so little change, funding won't be much of a problem. Of course, in either case, a positive budget flow seems to be the least of their concerns.

Finished Ask for It. If I were the sort of person who recommended books, I'd recommend this one. Like some others -- such as Getting To Yes -- the concepts are simple and straightforward. It's the application that can be difficult, more so, apparently, for women. The book does a decent job of addressing that. Speaking of reading -- I don't know which is worse -- that I used to read stuff like this.... or that I still would, if I could figure out how to get it without looking like an idiot.