Thoughts while walking in the rain

We’ve been having some rain. It all started this weekend with a series of popping thunderstorms on Saturday. Saturday night I had a bunch of people over, just after a major thunderstorm, and everyone was commenting on how tranquil my dog was. “Well folks,” I told them, “there’s a reason they call those little pills tranquilizers.” My dog was stoned, but at least he didn’t tear the house up trying to find somewhere safe to hide.

It has kept on raining and the grass is now bright green. I’d plan to spend this morning with a few experts in the woods, looking at wildflowers… They all cancelled out. Since I had to work to keep my schedule clear, I decided not to let a little water ruin my chance to be out of the office. I put on a rain jacket and headed out into the wilds. Enjoy the photos. Because the ground was so wet, and I draw the line at wallowing in muck and didn’t take a lot of close up shots. I did get one of a May Apple. If the first sign of spring is Skunk Cabbage (see my earlier posts of them breaking up through the snow), when the May Apples begin to unfurl their parasols, it’s a good indication that spring is here to stay (It better be, my snow shovels are stowed away).

Yesterday, GM announced a restructuring plan. Will it work? Who knows. But what I’d like to know is this: Who are the idiots that brought GM stock yesterday, driving the price up nearly 20% (even with that gain, it was only trading barely over 2 bucks a share, and today it’s back down well under the $2 ceiling). According to the plan, if it works, the government will own half of GM common stock, the union's pension fund will own another large chunk, and then their bondholders will get a block of GM stock, leaving the current GM stockholders with approximately 1% of the company! Now granted, 1% is better than 0%, which is the other option, but that still leaves the question, why would anyone want to buy GM stock and become a current stockholder? The silver lining in all this is there’ll never be another Smokey and Bear sequel. By killing off the Pontiac line, Burt Reynolds will have to find another car in which to run from the cops while seducing Sally Fields.

Listening to all this talk about swine flue, it sounds as if Porky the Pig is getting his revenge or the horses of the Apocalypse are in the starting gate. But then, how long was it after I got back from Mexico that I started hacking? I still haven’t kicked the sinus/bronchial infection. Don’t worry; I’m pretty sure I don’t have swine flu. Just in case, I’ll try not to cough on the keyboard. I’d hate to infect my readers.

Breaking News: Realizing that the name “Swine Flu” was destroying what little self-esteem pigs have, our government is now encouraging us to call the illness H1N1. R2D2, president of the URA (United Robotics of America), called the latest government action an insult to hard working robots everywhere.

Was hiking in the rain while trying to beat an infection the brightest thing I've done? Probably not, but I needed the time to get away and think.