Here's Donna's Christmas Village up on the entertainment unit. Actually, there were a few more pieces we couldn't fit, plus the 'skating ring' set.

If you go over to Shot's Shack you'll see a few more Christmas pictures there.

Not only Friday Cat Blogging (tm) but Pug blogging as well.

That's Chops, Marissa's dog checking me out; Wilber, Kristina's gift guard-cat; and Babie (who shares the apartment with Donna and me) with her new catnip mouse (a Christmas gift from her Dad).

These were all taken on Christmas day.

I was sorry to learn of the passing of former President Gerald Ford when I woke up this morning. Even though I certainly didn't agree with all of his decisions, I honestly believe that he made them with only the best interests of the country, as he saw them, in mind. The pardon of Nixon obviously will always the major thing for which he will be remembered.

Donna and I send our deepest sympathy to his wife and family on this sad occasion.

Just a quick note this beautiful morn to wish one and all a very, Happy Holiday & Merry Christmas!

Hope you get to spend the day with family and/or friends, doing whatever your heart desires. Mind the 'nog and don't get behind the reins of your sleigh if you've had a bit too much Christmas Cheer!

It's hard to believe that in a month I'll be celebrating four years of doing this blog. In the next few weeks I plan on trying to make a few changes in its appearance and content. I also hope to get back to posting on a more regular basis, even if only a few lines several days a week. I've been told by several folks that they keep track of me (and Donna, of course) via the blog. I'm a notoriously bad correspondent!

I may also change a couple of things at Shot's Shack, but only in regards to the links. Several are outdated and haven't changed since I originally linked to them. I may even add one or two.

Since I don't post as frequently as before, I sometimes feel that talking about a certain political or social event is a waste of time. Generally, a couple of days have already passed since it was in the news or I've already seen a dozen other bloggers saying pretty much what I would (although in a much more intelligent and knowledgeable manner).

That being said, I believe that we may be seeing some radical changes taking place in Iraq in the New Year. I don't know exactly what, but the events of the last few months seem to be leading up to something major. I would not rule out a coup or at least a major change in the Iraqi government, as it is now configured. I have to admit that I don't know how an increase of American troops into the country would effect things, for better or worse. I also have to state that I don't know how I feel about that.

You could make the case that putting more troops into Baghdad, even temporarily, might aid in keep those already there safer. However, what then?

I don't know that an rapid withdrawal is the best answer, since it would cause a horrible situation for any coalition troops or Iraqi citizens who worked with/for our forces left behind. Those of a certain age will well remember the footage of the our final days in Vietnam, with troops and civilians all trying to get on the last few planes & helicopters.

That being said, I think that it's time to gradually begin redeploying both American and allied units. Certain areas in Iraq are beyond the ability of our troops to keep secure. Week-long sweeps, followed by withdrawal have proven ineffective as various factions simply move back in. It might be that all we can do is to ensure that the citizens of Baghdad remain safe in their homes from attack. Perhaps, if we can do that things will settle down long enough to allow a further decrease in all non-Iraqi military.

Better minds than mine are working on all this, so I think these will be my final comments on the situation until after the new Congress begins meeting in January.

I've made a few changes to links over on the Left. Don't have anything against those particular folks or organizations but it was getting pretty long. As I haven't had much time lately to keep up with as many blogs I felt cutting down on the links wouldn't hurt anyone. The political blogs are easy to locate either from links from those I kept up or from searching on topics in which you're interested.

For those who may be interested in what I have to say, over at Shot's Shack you can find my latest (and possibly last) book review for the Joe Bob Briggs folks. I explain the reasons over there as well. Plus I've removed the Joe Bob link from here and moved it to Shot's Shack, since that's more popular culture oriented than this one.

By the way, my first day training with Orange County Public Library was pretty easy. The folks there couldn't be nicer, Brian & Roxanne especially. I'll let you know how things progress.

No interviews scheduled yet this week, but I'm having my fingerprints taken this Wednesday as part of the background check for both Orange County & Mission Viejo. I'll also start my training with OCPL next Monday, so that's a positive sign. Also, both the City of Carlsbad & Long Beach have informed me that I've gotten through the first phase and will be considered for full-time positions. Fingers remained crossed, if a bit numb.

One strange thing was that OCPL has you to take an 'oath' when you're hired. You have to swear (or affirm) that you'll uphold the Constitution against the usual suspects. It was like joining the Navy again and something I've never had to do for a civilian job before.

Once again, the fires you've read about are northeast of us and we're in no danger. On the other hand both rattlesnakes and cougars have been sighted in the Ladera Ranch area. Sadly, a coyote was struck and killed by a car about a half mile from here. Personally, all Donna and I have spotted have been the occasional rabbit in the early evenings out back.

Donna and I had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving with Marisa's family up north of here. In fact, rather near the areas now being threatened by the fires. We'll be returning the favor come Christmas with Donna doing the cooking honors at Kristina & Marisa's place.

Sorry, for not being a more regular poster lately. Once I have a job and more regular hours, I'm going to make an attempt to get here at least every few days. Speaking of which, I want to apologize for not keeping up on my blog scanning either. The only ones I seem to get to are by Elayne Riggs and Mark Evanier, plus Tony Isabella sends me his TOTs a few days early.

In case you're wondering, the seismic activity has been increasing the past few weeks. There have even been a couple of 4.0 events here in SoCal, but nothing to shake us out of bed yet. :-)

Seismo says:"Keep a flashlight in your nightstand."

Donna and I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

It's a bit overcast, but will be in the 70s here today. We're having dinner with Kristina, Michael and Merissa at Merissa's parents. That will be about a two hour drive north of here, but should be a nice day overall.

I'll try to fill you in on everything tomorrow.

How could I NOT post something about O.J. Simpson today? I'm sure you've all heard about the up-coming television interview and book, "I didn't kill her, but IF I did this is how I did it." (or something like that)

What advise, if any, is the guy being given that he would agree to take part in something like this? It can't be simply a matter of money, since O.J. seems to be leading a pretty damn nice lifestyle despite 80% of the American public thinking he murdered two people. Does he really miss the attention and public focus this much?

I think the folks at Harper-Collins should be ashamed of themselves, but as they are owned by Robert Murdoch's corporation, I doubt they had much real say in the matter. While I don't think I'll be watching the actual interview, I'm sure that I'll read & hear more than enough from other sources to be able to get the main points.

Lastly, I can't believe that anyone, least of all The Juice, thinks that this will change the way anybody feels about him. If anything, I suspect, it would push some of those on the fence over to the "GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY" side.

A few photos from the Veteran's Day tribute

Donna & I attended in Mission Viejo, this past Saturday.

The American Heroes group produces large poster size memorials of U.S. troops killed in Iraq & Afghanistan. Copies are given to family members and the larger posters are displayed in schools, institutions and in public memorials such as this. It was quite moving as you can imagine.

I'll experiment with the "new" Blogger tomorrow, but wanted to just post quickly.

Happy Veteran's Day to my fellow vets! Whatever the period in which you served, you have our respect and eternal thanks for what you have done. For those still in uniform you have our appreciation for a sometimes thankless job, often far from family and loved ones. May you return home soon!

Donna and I attended a local salute to the men & women who have served in uniform earlier. I intend to post some photos tomorrow.

Boy, on top of the great victory of so many Dems yesterday, we get the surprise departure of Rumsfeld. Appeared that some reporters were (rightfully or not) upset that G.W. lied to them (according to how you view his statements last week) about Donald Rumsfeld remaining in his position. I watched both the Presidential news conference this morning and the later presentation of Bob Gates as the Sec. of Defense nominee. Pretty damn interesting television!

I actually spent a good part of last night (until around 11:15PM) and much of today, switching around from CNN to MSNBC, CSPAN, local stations and even for laughs Fox News. Absolutely fascinating stuff all over the place. Great seeing the talking heads switching gears as the results began coming in and even this morning when the announcement was made.

Interesting that while Da Arnold easily retained his office he had no 'coattails' to speak off when it came to state-wide offices. Except for the position of Insurance Commissioner, which went to a Republican (beating a Dem accused of taking large amounts of cash from the insurance industry), Democrats won most of the high-profile spots. Senator Feinstein easily won re-election and former governor Jerry Brown was elected to the Attorney General post.

Back in New York it really wasn't a surprise to see Hillary Clinton easily get re-elected, despite her being hated by some pretty powerful folks. It's on to '08!

Most of the Propositions went down to defeat, but some transportation related ones supported by the Governor and many Dems passed.

On the job front, I appear to have got an "On-Call Librarian" spot here in Orange County and should start training in a week or so. Another interview, for a similar position, seemed to go pretty well also.

Feel real good about today's interview, but we won't know for at least another week. I have two more scheduled this week. On the plus side, Donna will be starting her new job on the 20th.

Since everybody else in the blogosphere has made some prediction I might as well get in my two cents.

I expect the Democrats to be the majority in the House, but by not as much as we'd like to see. It will be difficult, should the GOP members vote as a bloc, to begin any serious investigations on just what has been going on in the Defense Dept. and the White House for the past six years. Also, you know that his Smugness and Master Dick will do all they can to obstruct any type of oversight into their actions.

Sadly, I don't believe the Dems will have quite enough seats to regain the Senate, although it will cut down on the clout of some GOP members. Given some moderates still among the Republicans I think that changes could be brought about unless the split is such that Master Dick has the deciding vote.

Here at Chez Chaput we'll be splitting our votes among Democrats, Greens and the Peace & Freedom Party. Actually, I'm the one going for Third Parties in those cases where I have decided to vote against any incumbent. We're also voting for some of the Propositions & Measure, against others. I won't bore you with which tonight.

Unless things look especially nasty early tomorrow evening (remember the three hour difference) from New York, I don't expect to have any comments until Wednesday. I just know that some of you will actually be interested. :-)

You would think that being 'between jobs' I'd have much more time to blog, but I'm finding that looking for work seems to be taking up a lot of my time.

Had one interview this past Monday, but I'm not sure how it went. I think I'm too old in some cases or come across as too Nu Yawk in others, if you know what I mean. I have three interviews scheduled for next week, both at public and academic libraries. Two are for part-time/on-call positions but I'd like to think that those would be a foot-in-the-door to full-time.

Still waiting to hear from several other places, where I've done phone interviews. Yet another place has informed me that my resume has been passed along to the Hiring Manager, so I'll take that as a positive note. Should I even get an interview at this last place I'd feel that I was moving to a whole different level in my career. I'd like to think of it as a "dream job", but that might put a jinx on the thing. Trust me, I'll let you know if I do get called in and you'll never believe it in a million years!

Quick political comments....

Senator Kerry, please get a professional joke writer next time, okay?

To paraphrase one of those 'man on the street' comments in today's paper: "Kerry's not running for anything, so who cares?"

In all my years in Brooklyn & in Connecticut suburbs I've never the number of election signs endorsing one candidate or ballot measure as I do here in The OC. If you see one sign in a yard, you'll easily see a half dozen in the next one. Surprisingly I have only spotted a couple of bumperstickers on cars, but have seen several people standing on corners twirling banners with the names of candidates.

Speaking of which, the concept of 'spinners' is new to me. Apparently, businesses (geneally real estate agents it seems) hire folks to stand at intersections twirling large signs advertising a sale or 'open house.' You even see them listed as a job in the Classified section of the local papers. Most seem to be young men or teenage boys, but I have spotted a few females. Occasionally they'll where a silly hat or something to further get your attention and I even saw one Santa Claus the other day.

Have I mentioned how much I love California?

If you check out the Comments section in my post of yesterday (10/25) you'll find a link sent by Blue Gazelle to photos of the Riverside County fire. The local paper had some also, along with a map of the affected area, but the pictures at the link pretty much tell the tale.

The smell of smoke is even stronger today, Michael says he can even smell it up in Laguena Niguel. Besides the four dead firefighters a 'civilian' has also been killed, making the arsonist into a killer as well. The FBI, along with state & local police are investigating the situation with a $100, 000 reward being offered for the capture and conviction of this low-life (or perhaps more than one).

Maybe I've been listening to my old friend S.H.Otis too much lately, but I said to Donna that I think they should turn the arsonist over to the firefighters BEFORE placing her/him under arrest.

Speaking of S.H., he's really pushing a NO on Prop 86.

In case any of you were wondering, the Twin Pines fires in SoCal are more than fifty miles northeast of us here in Ladera Ranch. Still the sky is murky and you can smell smoke if you go outside. Apparently, according to the Dallas Raines (the weatherman on Channel 7) wind conditions are blowing the smoke this way towards the ocean. Sadly, four firemen have already lost their lives the first day of this fire, which is the result of arson.

Although I was familiar with the Santa Anna winds, I had never heard of the 'red flag warnings' which go along with it. It's been very dry of late and the winds can easily spread any sparks, whipping them into something dangerous.

On the job front, I've heard bad news from one job and am waiting to hear about at least three others. I have one interview with a public library scheduled for next Monday and another the following week. Between the two I hope to be hearing from two different colleges, plus I'm doing another stint at Southern California Institute of Technology next week.

Oh, and remember that we've NEVER been about "Stay the Course" no matter what you may have heard!

Just quickly checking in to let you folks now how things are going. Sadly, not much has changed since last time. Neither of us has a full-time job yet, but we both have done interviews and are waiting to hear back. We're also both sending out resumes via e-mail and fax to just about any place which might be interested.

I went to a Job Fair in Irvine yesterday which was pretty much of a waste of time, plus it cost me six bucks to park my car after being told it was free. Won't be going to a job fair held by these particular folks again!

The only quick political note I have is that I am totally confused by the various ballot initiatives out here. Hard to get all the Propositions & Measures straight, let alone sifting through all the pros & cons. I think I'm voting YES on 86 and NO on 87, but that might only be until the next round of ads. If I have it right I'm voting for Big Tobacco on one and against Big Oil on the other. I know I'm agreeing with Bill Clinton and Al Gore, so whatever side they are on that's who'll get my vote. I'm kind of a Democratic whore on that, I guess.

I'm really not sure what to think about extending Measure M, so if you can help me out on that I'd appreciate it. It is supposed to continue the taxes which are used to improve the highways out here, of which I'm becoming a real fan. Wider and faster!!!

By the way, Seismo says we should have a "preparation party" to ensure we're ready for earthquakes. Hard to argue with a dog dressed like an Australian soldier (or whatever he is supposed to be).

That's if for now, mates!

Began working a part-time job yesterday at a vocational college in Anaheim. They needed someone on staff with an MLS and I was lucky enough to have posted my resume with an agency only a day or so before.

Had an interview in Newport Beach today and also got a call from Ontario for a follow-up to my initial one last week. Tomorrow we'll see how I do with a telephone interview with a local college. Things do seem to be looking up.

Donna and I had a nice meal with Michael, Kristina and Marisa last evening in Newport Beach. (That's the two of them on a recent cruise to Mexico.) Went to the Melting Pot to celebrate Kristina's b-day with fondue. I can't recall the last time I had fondue, but remember my first wife, Betsy, loved it so we used to go to a place in Boulder when we lived there.

It's been years since I've subscribed to a newspaper, or even picked one up on a daily basis (not counting the freebies like AM New York). Working at the library I had access to the four major NYC papers plus lots of local & weekly ones as well. We have been buying the Sunday OC Register since moving out here to check out the Classifieds for jobs, so when the paper offered a special discount if you got the Saturday & Sunday papers delivered so we decided to take advantage.

I have to admit that I generally only skim the editorials and Op/Ed stuff, since I'm about 180 degrees politically from were the paper stands on most issues. Out here the NY Times would look like the Village Voice. It is good to keep up on the local and statewide events going down and also to read some articles on national & international stories which tend to be missed by the television news shows.

I'm finding it very interesting to try and get a grasp on the measures & propositions coming up for votes next month, there appear to be a dozen or so. Naturally, the ones getting the most air time have to do with Props 86 & 87, which deal with a higher tobacco tax and pushes for alternative energy vs Big Oil, respectively. the OC Register has let me know about some other things, such as Prop 89 on campaign reform and Prop 90 which deals with Eminent Domain. You would think you could guess how I'm siding on all these, but you might be surprised.

Oh, before I forget!

The Sunday OC Register has a great column that I never would have seen in New York. Called "Seismo-Watch" it looks at the seismic activity of the preceeding week. There's a map showing all the 'events' and a 'local activity' scoreboard. I really get a kick out of the column's mascot, which is a dog in a ranger outfit called (ready for it?), Seismo. This week Seismo says: "Shake the earthquake blues and be prepared!" Apparently, we're going through a lull right now with only minor events, but writer/geologist Charles P. Watson reminds us that the last time a similar lull occured it ended with the Northridge Quake of '94. Cool, huh?

Back to the election...

I wasn't familiar at all with Phil Angelides, who is the Democrat running against Da Arnold for Governor. Sadly, he really isn't making a great show of it and most folks think that Schwarzenegger will be re-elected. Hard to believe given the Governor's low poll numbers a few months ago. Seems that Angelides & the Dems are trying to paint Schwarzenegger with the "Bush" brush, but it isn't really working. As disliked as the President may be, the current Governor has enough distance in his many of his positions so you can't mistake one for the other, despite the Dems worst ads. Personally, I think the anti-Angelides ads the Republicans have been running which use the Rove-ish 'flip-flop' thing on poor Phil appear to be more effective.

The only person I know I'm going to vote for, rather than against, this time out is Jerry Brown. The former California Governor and Presidential candidate is running for Attorney General. The worst his enemies seem to be able to come up with is that Brown is anti-Death Penalty. Considering my own warbling feelings on the issue, it won't prevent me from giving my vote to Linda Ronstadt's former beau.

I'll probably have some more political ramblings before Election Day, so stay tuned.

Like to keep you all updated on the work search out here. I've had two interviews here this past week. One a kind of 'walk-in', where I handed my resume to a the librarian who is hiring 'substitute/part-time' librarians in this section of Orange County. The other, this morning, was with the city of Ontario, which seemed to go pretty well. Fingers crossed!

I've got at least two more interviews scheduled for the next few weeks and have been sending out resumes like mad all over the place. Also, my resume posted on the ALA site actually got me a call from Tacoma, WA which I found kind of funny. I was actually stationed there for a few months in early 1970 while part of the commissioning detail for the USS Shreveport.

The weather here has been beautiful the last couple of days, cool in the evenings and short sleeve during the day. The Saddleback Range looks like it may have some snow on the very top peaks, at least from where we view it.

We are heading out to a Chili Cookoff tomorrow, which supports some animal shelter & rescue groups in the area. I'm really curious to see, smell & taste some of the entries, as I'm a big chili lover. Now that I know that this event is held I'm tempted to see if I might sign up to compete next year. I make a dynamite chili, which is actually a slightly different version of a recipe I was given years ago by Babs Prisco. I still call it Bab's Chili in my recipe file.

I was going to get into some political stuff, but decided at the last minute that other blogs and the talking-heads on TV have pretty much drained the life from the Mark Foley story. Heck, even Court TV is getting into the act so you know things are bad! To be honest, it doesn't seem that Foley broke any existing laws or actually had physical contact with underage boys, but the whole thing is pretty sleazy. The GOP isn't doing themselves any favors by attempting to shift the blame unto the Dems by saying it is all political. The House GOP leadership brought this on by not acting appropriately months (if not years ago).