Virginia Thomas, aka Mrs. Clarence Thomas, aka wife of Supreme Court Justice, called Anita Hill and left a voice message more »

Home Again! 19,000 miles and 30 some states. I need to go back to double check how many states exactly. We spent 2 nights in Flagstaff then drove 140 miles to Phoenix where we stayed at my brother's condo for three more nights. more »

Bob Gourley, in the comments, asked about the status of the glaciers in Glacier National Park. I suspect it was a leading question and that he knew the answer already. more »

We're getting ready to move out this week, emptied the trailer and reloaded it, got Von's plants in the car.... more »

My daughter, Jennifer, flew to Baltimore, where her mother lives, and will be attending the ceremonies today. I am looking forward to hearing from her. I keep hearing others say that the long nightmare of the Bush administration is finally over but I… more »

Taped the HBO presentation of the inaugural concert yesterday. I haven't been much caught up in the inauguration yet but that did it for me. I kept getting chills down my spine. Pete Seeger was great and hearing the unsanitized version of "This Land"… more »

So I talked to my brother last night and he had an interesting factoid. He lives in Springfield, Illinois and he told me he had visited the state capitol to kill some time recently. While there he went by the governor's public office and found that the… more »

Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents for what U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald called a "staggering" level of corruption involving pay-to-play politics in Illinois' top office. More here. My brother,… more »

You can see we have decided to change the appearance of the blog. I hope you like this one. Note at the top of the page a tabbed link to Greg's Rants. I have resisted doing much politics or union related stuff here since I suspect most could care less… more »

Well, it happened. Last night Von took our American flags out of storage and we hung them for the first time since 2000. The hard work of governing begins in 76 days and we need to work just as hard to help pass a progressive agenda. Most important is… more »

From ESPN: "I have the absolute worst fantasy league football partner. Just try to get the guy to return a call. Or a text. You need a damn court order. He's Barack Obama. And, yeah, I guess he's busy, but why was I the one who had to fly to Dayton… more »

I always have had personal reservations about civil war re-enactments since I believe honoring the war actually means honoring the Confederate flag. Which is too much about honoring racism. Some who support flying the Confederate flag will say that it… more »

Matt Taibbi writes for Rolling Stone magazine and just started a blog. This discussion of the financial melt down and credit default swaps helped me understand a bit better the issues here. Matt is at times profane but also profound. more »

Of my 58 years I have been an Oregon resident for 52 of them. I lived in California while I went to college and about two years in Washington when I got my first job in insurance. It was a difficult thing to do particularly at this time when I lose a ch… more »

Von decided to help out with the recall campaign for SEIU 503 Statewide President Joe DiNicola by meeting with a team of people at the Department of Revenue building in Salem the day before yesterday. Revenue is Joe's home base and he has a handful of l… more »

I know a lot of the people who visit our blog work for the State so I wanted to mention the Union election for the Board of Directors that is happening this month. You will be receiving a ballot this week, they are being mailed today, Monday, March 10.… more »

I see that SEIU international has endorsed Obama. I am, as always, proud to me a member of this Union. It ain't perfect but it is the best one out there. Be prepared for much dissing by the media of Obama's campaign. I see the new meme will be that… more »

We've been hanging out at the RV park the last couple of days trying to get over a bad back. I pulled a muscle in the middle of my back and just can't seem to get it to go away. I think it was caused by the way I lean on my cane when walking. It is no… more »

I closed yesterday with saying we would be doing something fun. Well, Von had a different idea and we spent the entire day doing chores so not much to pass on this morning. We will be going sight seeing today though and I will post photos after. Supe… more »

I watched the entire Democratic Pary debates last night. The only one of the 17 they've held so far that I've watched. I was expecting a train wreck but was delighted that the candidates were cordial and focused on policy and on attacking Republicans.… more »

While not being the political junky I used to be before retirment I have started to follow the primaries more closely. Rumor has it this early morning that Edwards will withdraw from the race. He has been my candidate of choice and I was very pleased w… more »

I made it home from Corvallis to Mesa. I drove almost straight through driving 1300 miles in 23 hours. I slept about three hours and stopped 6 times. I bought my son's 2000 Volkswagon Jetta TDI (diesel) from him and got 46 mpg for the trip. I kept th… more »

Taking Bentley to the vet for a prescreening for his neutering tomorrow. The new photo gallery has many new photos, more to follow. check it out. Greg more »