There hasn't been much going on so here's a bit of an update and some links to some interesting stories I've come across over the past few days.
Doctor visit - As I mentioned earlier, Timothy's MRI was cancelled earlier this week. Michelle had to take the girls for a regular doctors checkup yesterday. Poor Abby had to get three shots. She didn't cry but she was pretty mad about it. Michelle noted that the questionnaire you fill out is getting pretty invasive with its questioning -- almost big brother, nanny state'ish with lots of lifestyle questions.
Telegraph stories - The Nashua Telegraph had two stories that caught my eye. The first, "Milford wants more from Web" covered the investigation by the town leadership into the viability of bringing digital fiber to the home. I filled out the survey last month. The questions essentially boiled down to "Would you pay $40 for tv and $40 for broadband internet?" My answers came down to "heck yes! I pay more than that now!" My monthly Adelphia bill is already higher than that since they provide my television and internet. The second story, "Pay hikes lowest since 1970s" discusses how low pay raises have been this year. At ARC we had no raises this year and actually have to spend significantly more for our benefits this year. Effectively I've had a slight pay cut. Yet I'm not complaining! There are plenty of skilled engineers who are unemployed. Better a slight pay cut than unemployment income! I'm feeling that this will pass within a year. The bond market has gone up 50% in the past six weeks. The GDP was significantly higher than anticipated and unemployment has not increased. When the economy was booming, ARC was extremely generous. Now that we're recovering from recession, the company has tightened its belt like most other tech companies.
Homosexual "Marriage" - The topic of state sanctioning of homosexual unions as equivalent to heterosexual marriage has been a buzzing topic on the news and internet this past week. There has been a lot of back and forth between some high ranking conservative webloggers. An initial volley by Stanley Kurtz in "Beyond Gay Marriage" caused a response by noted homosexual conservative Andrew Sullivan which drew a followup by Kurtz in "Marriage Radicals". Interesting reading if you want to see both sides of the argument.
Minox mini digital camera - One of my favorite vendors of miniature cameras, Minox, has come out with a 2 megapixel digital "spy" camera -- the Minox DD1. Also seen here.