- I think every team in the NFL is in training camp now. The Saints start their two-a-days today. They'll have a morning practice, a gazillion meetings, a meal, a gazillion more meetings, an afternoon practice, a meal, and a few gazillion more meetings today. Rinse and repeat for the next 4 weeks. They'll be doing this at their practice facility in Metairie, LA, a suburb of New Orleans. When they held training camp in Lacrosse, Vero Beach, or Jackson, it was all about getting away from the distractions of home, of bonding as a team, of having nothing to do but football, yada, yada ... Apparently, those things aren't as important as they used to be. And if you haven't heard ... Reggie Bush and his girlfriend have broken up.
- The new version of Movable Type that CrabAppleLane Blog II is run on promises "Faster performance, powerful search, dramatically more page views". I'm for that even though I don't know what "dramatically more page views" is. Haven't tried the "powerful search" but the "faster performance" was not noticed by me. Took 18 minutes to rebuild one of the blogs here. It was a tedious, but smooth, upgrade. There's something to be said for the smooth part. I started it at 9:25PM or so and got finished just before 11PM. No idea what I might have done if there had been a problem at 11PM so I'm thankful everything went well. Maybe you and I will notice the improvements over time.
- The now suspended "cash for clunkers" program wasn't a bad idea in theory. Personally, I don't think the mileage gap is large enough while the rebates are too large. I agree with the QOTD. It's better than giving out tax rebate checks. Most tax rebates disappear from the economy. They tend to pay down debt or go straight to a savings account. That's a sensible and responsible thing for a person to do with that money but it doesn't stimulate the economy, which is the primary goal. Cash for clunkers was most definitely stimulating. It had a secondary goal, too. It was putting safer, more fuel efficient vehicles on the road and taking gas-guzzling bombs off the road. Some may say I have my primaries and secondaries reversed but I don't think it matters. If congress can find a way to restart it, I think we might look back on this program some day as a decent investment.
41 days until football season ...
Quote of the Day
We believe that any extension of the 'Cash for Clunkers' program must go further in advancing the goals of better fuel efficiency and greater emissions reductions. We will not support any bill that does not meet these goals.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. and Susan Collins, R-Maine
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Formally called the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS; clever, these acronymic bureaucrats), the Cash for Clunkers program has excited potential car traders everywhere."
The Vikes do their training camp about 70 miles southwest of Minneapolis at Mankato State. Still close enough for some players to zip back home, though they have to be back by 11:00 P.M. That's what got Koren Robinson in trouble a few years ago. So do the Saints go home at night or is it still a dorm-like situation? If it's the former, then that's not really a training camp.
Don't know, for sure, Dave. This from Drew Brees on Twitter:
"Left my room at 6:30 this morning. Just walked back in the door of my room at 10:30 PM. A typical training camp day."
Doesn't sound like he's staying at home.
You are brave upgrading MT! I took me months to get the courage up last time I did it. The next time it changes significantly I think I might retreat to Blogger - it's getting to hard for a nontechy to cope with.
This is the 4th time I've upgraded since December 21, Fi. 4 times in 7 months is a little ridiculous. I started keeping a running page that day in December. It IS getting tiresome.