Walked a trail-to-be with a group today. Lots of picking our way through the puckerbrush. Saw a lot of footprints, from the tiny print of a fawn to this big moose print. I put a pen knife next to it for scale. Melissa was working in Triplet Park today and showed me their new hobbit tool shed. She and Pat were having a discussion about the round door which doesn't open (a bigger door opens in the back). Pat pointed out that for a 3 year old, a door that doesn't open messes with their fantasy life. Melissa pointed out that kids would not actually go in there because it's a tool shed.
Last week at work I spent a lot of time writing a 3DES piece of two-way encryption in Java. That's the easy part; it's a standard algorithm. Encrypts, decrypts just fine. But the results need to match those of an Oracle 3DES function in the aptly named dbms_obfuscation package. In Java I can convert to Oracle's RAW datatype which is a hex rendering of a string or convert to whatever, but I can't get it to match the Oracle function's results. The Oracle function is a black box; I can't see exactly what's going on in there so it's a guessing game. I like a good puzzle, but we probably need this thing working next week. Complexity? Some, but nothing approaching the complexity of a dozen personalities trying to work together through a lot of shifting options toward a decision. Which brings me to...
The Townie Report (Hi Sue, et al)The observers at the town office committee meetings had grown into a group of hecklers and even when they were not allowed to speak you could see them miming their disapproval, writhing in their chairs with disapointment. Clem sent out a fiat making one of them the facilitator for the committee and added Bob Curry to the group. I don't see why the committee couldn't just elect its own chairman; isn't that what real committees do? Actually, messing with the committee this way violates the article the town passed in March creating a committee where selectmen could not be a majority; so I don't think heckler as facilitator will fly. Another wrinkle is that our thuggish governor (his motto should be "Not as bad as Jindal, really") is refusing to sign off on bonds that were approved by voters in 2010 ( More about that) and one of our bulding lot options involves a deal with Maine Farmland Trust and their grant. The towns that were smart enough to apply for grant money are towns that are boosting their economy and their tax base by doing projects in their downtown area. Unity is that kind of town, a place that people want to move to because it's continually improving itself. Hopefully there will be enough pressure on the governor to make him get over himself and follow the will of the people. In the meantime, several towns with carefully planned projects are scrambling.
