Friday November 10, 2017

Friday November 10, 2017

Blog time 1220 at Panera:

It was cold but sunny this morning.  It was 19 when I left.  I bundled up so my ride to the Y was pleasant.  We had a dusting of snow on the trail.

The cold weather must have driven everyone indoors because the Y was very crowded.  I did the normal routine this morning.  

Despite sun the temp have risen only 3 degrees when I left the Y.  Usually at Panera I sit near the fireplace because of its warmth.  I will change next week because on these cold day I have multiple layers on and it is too warm near the fireplace.

Not much in the Alpena and London papers this morning.  I did read that POTUS is in Danang, Vietnam for a meeting today.  I have spent a lot of time in Danang.  It is on the South China Sea.  I was involved in building a high tech communications center on Monkey Mountain.  We also expanded the airport.  Nancy and I visited Danang on our recent trip.  She thought it was neat.  Danang has great beaches.

A lot of talk is coming out of the Asian talks.  I question if all the talk will produce anything positive like a decent trade agreement.  As I have mentioned many time I believe in free trade.  I hope we have knowledgeable and pragmatic negotiators.

Is China going to push its control of the South China Sea to the detriment of its neighbors.  The have just completed the construction of a monster dredge that can excavate 5,000 cubic meters an hour.  They call it the island builder.  China is the 500# gorilla in the room but Vietnam has been successful in recent armed battles against China.  A world arbitration court recently said that China does not have a claim to these man made island.  China ignored the court.

The Senate revealed their tax plan.  So now both Senate and House must reach a compromise plan.  The optimists say we will have a plan before Christmas.  I hope so.

As soon as I got home I took a walk around the block.  The temperature had risen to 25 but that is still cold.  

Quick lunch and then we got in the Escape and headed to Trader Joe’s for some wine, eggs and veggies.  Trader Joe’s was very crowded in fact Nancy said it was the busiest she had ever seen.

At home I headed downstairs to finish reading the papers and clear my in-basket.  Nancy called me upstairs to listen to a noise she heard in our attic.  Do we have critters living in the attic.  Maybe!  I will crawl up tomorrow to see if I can find any evidence.

Tomorrow is Veterans Day and Houlihan’s is offering a free meal to Vets.  I found my discharge card so tomorrow we will beat the crowd by having a late afternoon dinner.

I wish the USA would adopt the metric system.  I think it is a superior system and the USA is the only major country who have not adopted it.  Will it happen in my lifetime?  I sure hope so.

Chicken noodle soup for dinner.  Love soup!  We watched an episode of Doc Martin on Acorn before turning in.