Top Ten Absurd Snippets from Planet Tewksbury:

10. I didn’t know that this year we’ll get another month of usable sunshine. Did you? Selectman Joe Gill brought up the change in Daylight Savings time this year during a meeting, and I have to say, I was rather surprised. If you or someone you love is a real techie then you probably already know all about the change. But if not you should know that this year we’ll all be Springing Ahead March 11th rather than April 1. That’s right, as part of yet another federal program aimed at saving energy (which, I’m all for) we’ll be mucking with our inner clocks nearly a month early this year. Personally, I’m not sure whether be delighted or annoyed. Maybe it will snow.

9. Speaking of snow, where is it? If I wanted a snow-free winter I’d live in Malibu, California. Oh, wait; they’ve already had more snow this year than Boston. I want snow days, hot cocoa, sledding, maybe a nip of frostbite. Come ON, its winter. I don’t want to even speak of that groundhog; I have nothing nice to say.

8. Pet Peeve; the vernacular, only found in spoken English “a whole nother,” as in, “Melba, I got a whole nother idea about that home based worm farm.” Would someone, please, tell me what in the world is a ‘nother.’ Yes, I recognize that what some people are trying to say is ‘another whole’, which is also useless. Just say “another.” It works nicely all by itself.

7. After the election I made a few predictions about who would run for President in 2008. I’d just like to take a moment to gloat: Hillary is in the race “and in it to win.” So, that means she won’t settle for a Veep nomination. Ok. Obama is also running. He may be an inexperienced first term senator, but he’s in it. McCain is running, Romney is running, and just this week former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani threw his hat into the ring. He’s “in it to win” too. This is going to be a fun Presidential race leading up to the primaries.

6. At a recent presentation to the Home for Little Wanderers in Boston, a consulting firm used my blog as an example site for a business practice change. I know this because a friend of mine who works in development for The Home sat in on the meeting. When she asked why they used my little blog out of the thousands out there in the ether, she was told that I am a, wait for it, “Sphere of Influence.” So, you read it here first. Apparently the consulting firm wasn’t aware that most weeks I have 3 visitors that stay an average of 3 seconds. But, if you want to visit a real, sort of, sphere of influence, check out my blog at jaynespeak.blogspot.com.

5. Governor Patrick finally decided not to cut the tolls on the Mass Pike. Anyone shocked? No? Of course not.

4. Like the Presidential race for 2008, Tewksbury’s Selectmen race for 2007 looks just as jam packed, although there are two seats. With one incumbent and so far, four other hopefuls, I hope we’ll see a friendly, but informative debate. I nominate myself and the other members of the Tewksbury Press Club to moderate the debate, held of course, at the Tewksbury Country Club (we’ll settle for the gym at TMHS though) and to be broadcast on the cable/FiOS access channels. Residents can send in questions beforehand, call them in live during the debate, or even attend the debate. I’ve spoken to all the candidates and they are all savvy to town politics, know the issues, and have an alarming capacity for quotability. Bring on the Policy, the Lincoln-Douglas, let’s have a debate!

3. Not to beat a frozen horse, but if it is going to be this cold, I think we ought to have a little bit of snow; perhaps just enough to cover the remnants of leaves I did not finish raking in the fall. Although, truly, it really is not cold unless your nose freezes together when you breathe.

2. At the Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday night, in rather frigid cold air, I met some teachers standing outside, demonstrating, and making sure that people know they’re there. I’ve seen a lot of these teachers, at lots of meetings. I haven’t seen any other members of unions in town demonstrating anywhere. The fact that these folks are out in the cold trying to prove a point, that they mean business, probably ought to signal a wider message for the town at large. The budgetary rope, if you will, only stretches so far and this time, the ends aren’t meeting. I hope contract mediation works and pronto because the gulf between teachers, the school committee, parents, and taxpayers is yawning wider as we exceed 100 days without a contract.


1. What could be the most absurd snippet from planet earth? Well, surely there’s plenty of choice. We could go for the Lovesick Astronaut in Adult Diapers story, everyone loves a romance. Or perhaps the Lite Bright Cartoon Network “performance Art” marketing stunt, which probably did more for that silly program than all the Lite Brights in all those other cities put together. One thing is for sure, we are rarely cursed with boring news these days.