Last night after I mused about my fond childhood memories of the Velda Rose hotel in Hot Springs, I looked it up on the internet. Sadly, the hotel had received perhaps the worst set of user ratings I have ever seen. I usually discount, slightly, hotel user ratings, because in my experience folks get out of shape about things that are in the "sometimes there is a glitch" category. But these reviews included something like 80% reciting that the hotel was a poor experience. Perhaps I'll try the Comfort Inn instead.
The United States Chess Federation instituted an odd requirement that members have to register to vote in their upcoming elections. Tonight I entered my ID, birthdate and membership PIN number. I wonder how this advances the cause of democracy.
I love to shop eBay for bargain binoculars. I have had this feeling ever since I got a pair of old Mohrson binoculars (which I always called "the cheap French binoculars") at an auction, years ago. They finally gave up the ghost last years, after years of good service to me to close out what was undoubtedly decades of fine service to the world. In case of rapture, look to see if your flying companion is a pair of cheap French binoculars.
Over the weekend I won another auction (actually, two, but that's a different story). I got some hambletonian vintage binoculars, along with this fashionable leather case. Now when I go birding, I have a second pair to share with anyone accompanying me. I looked at the moon tonight, and it looked lovely in magnification. It turns out the moon is very sharp indeed.
