Lynne ydw i

The New Year

Roger asked what everyone was going to be doing this new year’s eve, and I figured it warranted a blog entry of it’s own.

I’ll be home curled up on the sofa. Around 7:30 EST I’ll plonk myself down in front of the pc and frantically look for a site or radio station where I can hear Big Ben strike midnight in London. Either I’ll call my mom and dad, or they’ll call me and we’ll listen to Big Ben together.

I’ll spend the next few hours hanging around (usually I’ll fall asleep) until the fireworks at Snug Harbor (4 blocks from me) wake me up, my son will come running down the stairs, my hubby will open the front door, and all three of us will watch with the rest of the street as the sky is illuminated.

15 years in the States, and I still ring in the New Year at Greenwich meantime. The ball dropping at time Square 5 hours later is somewhat of an anti climax.

Uncle Sam screws up again

…and of course it inadvertently benefits those on the higher end of the pay scale AGAIN!

Unbelievable . Did you know that business owners have a substantial tax write off if they buy a huge SUV. Really, it’s a huge deduction. Buy a $47,000 Ford excursion, and have an immediate tax rebate of $32,000.

On one hand the government is trying to make cars more efficient so as to decrease the USA’s dependency on foreign oil, and reduce greenhouse gases, but on the other hand, encouraging the rich to go out and buy these gas guzzlers.

The mind boggles.

First Capture

After an hour or so, I finally figure out how to connect the camcorder up to the pc, get sound, and capture a still :)

As promised, this is how my street looked at 9:30 last night when we came home.

Used the software which came with the camera, as you can see it’s idiot proof.

Ulead needs to be studied a little more, needs a little bit more brain power to figure out the editing side of it. There are so many formats to pick, and I haven’t a clue when it comes to video editing. Looks like I’ll be picking someone’s brain in the New Year :)

Ebbw Vale

Ebbw Vale is located in the South East of Wales. It is an old steel making town, which employed a large percentage of the population. The Steelworks was finally shut down completely in June 2002, and the last of the steelworkers marched through the town on their day of departure. ebbwvale/right The last part of the steelworks pictured in the background was recently demolished, and a hospital is rumored to be built on the old site.Ebbw Vale was the center of attention in the UK, when it was host to the 1992 Garden Festival. The reclaimed landscape has since been turned into a housing community, with parts of the garden festival still visible, and a small shopping center with a view of the surrounding landscape is one of the local attractions.

festival/left Personally I think they should have built an amusment park. It would have been a continuing source of revenue for the town, not to mention a good employment source. Instead we have housing way out of the price range of any young locals hoping to stay in the area.
View slideshow of Ebbw Vale

The Malls seem full

I’m watching fox 5 news this morning, and they zoom to the local Malls, some of which have been open since 6am this morning.

You have got to be kidding me. Come on, own up, which of you dizzy people got up early this morning and headed out shopping, or to return gifts?

Snowy Christmas after-all

Whoo hoo, it’s snowing like crazy here, and has been since early this afternoon, I’m so pleased. It’s been a long time since we had a white Christmas here on Staten Island.

I took two hours of movie today with my new camcorder, and when I figure out how to grab some stills from the end with all the snowy scenes I’ll post some pics. Don’t hold your breath though, I swear the manual is thicker than the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Couldn’t take my digital Camera with me, I had to grab the batteries out of that this morning for some game my son received.

Continue “Snowy Christmas after-all”