CBS 6 in Albany recently ran an interesting You Paid For It segment taking a look at how much money our “trusted” Senators are spending to run their offices.
Here is the video.
I wish CBS provided us with a breakdown of how this money was spent but regardless of that, this seems like an awful lot of our money being spent in a time when the state is on the verge of bankruptcy. I’d also like to know how much money these fat-cats are getting for daily meal allowances.
Trying to figure out what to do with all your old skateboard decks? Why not turn them into lamps! That’s what a new company called Skateboard Lamps is doing and the end result is amazing. The lamps are made from three decks joined together with an uplight concealed in the center, which can be dimmed by touching the lower bolts on any of the three decks.
The company sells completed lamps made from new high quality Maple or Bamboo decks with a clear urethane protective coat for $179. If you want to turn your own used decks into a lamp, you can send them to Skateboard Lamps and they will return a finished lamp to you for $99. You can also purchase a lamp kit for $79 to make your own lamp, which might even work with snowboard decks.
For more information, pictures and to buy, check out Skateboard Lamp’s website at www.SkateboardLamps.com.
I came across the following two pictures on one of my favorite design blogs.
Unfortunately, and with respect to the blog’s author, for me, items like the two above symbolize everything that is wrong with our society. Louis Vuitton garbage bags and gold platted rubbish pails that cost $10,000 (yes for real) are decadent on an Ancient Rome scale and we all know how well that story ended. I think I’d rather install a vomitorium in my kitchen before purchasing one of these items. Even before the recession, I had a hard time accepting trash cans that cost hundreds of dollars. Its a can with only one purpose – to hold your garbage. It’s not supposed to be a conversation piece or the sparkly icing on your design cake.
Please don’t get me wrong, I’m all for having a beautiful home filled with nice things but it’s hard to stomach spending tons of money on something designed to be thrown away or to temporarily hold your garbage when there are people in our town and cities eating out of trash cans on the street.
I really like our Governor, David Paterson. I feel that he is one of the few politicians who will make unpopular yet necessary decisions and says what he really means. His latest example of a no BS speech was yesterday in response to rumors that a upcomming NY Times article has some damaging dirt on him. Paterson said,
“The only way I’m not going to be governor next year is at the ballot box and the only way that I’ll be leaving office before is in a box,”
Columbia County Current 