Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wild, Wacky, Nuclear Vermont!
It's no secret that I truly love America's second-least-populated state, Vermont. I love the weather, and the goofy people, and the economy (which is primarily based on maple syrup, skiing, and graduate programs in writing). I also noticed that Vermont is the second-best state for children's health and number one for maternal health, which is quite an accomplishment for a relatively poor state. Sure, your kid's doctor may be Howard Dean, but at least everyone has a doctor! (Dean, a physician, actually is responsible for many of Vermont's health-care accomplishments).
The goofiness of Vermont came to the fore again yesterday as the New York Times reported that the state's only nuclear power facility may shut down because of maintenance issues. Here is the really interesting part of the article:
After part of a cooling tower collapsed last August at Vermont’s only nuclear power plant, the company that runs it blamed rotting wooden timbers that it had failed to inspect properly.
So, they built their nuclear reactor out of WOOD? Does this strike anyone else as somewhat odd? Next, will we be told that Mississippi built their reactor out of straw?
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If Vermont can cobble together a nuclear reactor, I have to believe Iran can do it. If they can get enough wood.
# posted by 
: 10:32 AM
: 10:32 AM
I think I'd rather have a wooden Nuclear Reactor make by Vermonters than a cement one made in many other American states. It's the flintiness.
Vermont's economy also includes Ben & Jerry's and a bunch of food co-ops.
Vermont's economy also includes Ben & Jerry's and a bunch of food co-ops.
# posted by : 10:39 AM
: 10:39 AM
We used to have a running joke in college about whether Vermont actually exists. I've never met anyone from Vermont. I've never heard anything significant about Vermont. It must be a lie!!!
# posted by : 11:19 AM
: 11:19 AM
Oh, Vermonters do exist . . . I had a student from northern Vermont, which is supposed to be incredibly remote, whose dad was somehow getting a PhD in anthropology and he (my student) and his younger sister had been taking their turns in the family rotation cooking dinner since they were like thirteen. My student was a junior in high school and he made the best mashed potatoes I ever had . . . he was vegetarian, of course . . . also made tofurkey for Thanksgiving dinner . .
I think he's at Marlboro College (VT) now, where the students help make big decisions like who gets hired.
Those You Tube videos are funny (click the "goofy people" link).
I think he's at Marlboro College (VT) now, where the students help make big decisions like who gets hired.
Those You Tube videos are funny (click the "goofy people" link).
# posted by : 3:03 PM
: 3:03 PM
I was at a boarding school in the middle of nowhere in India, where my Vermont kid and others from the US, and all over the world, were . .. so Thanksgiving dinners were a big deal.
Lest you wonder why I knew that my student was a great cook . . .
Lest you wonder why I knew that my student was a great cook . . .
# posted by : 3:14 PM
: 3:14 PM
I am comforted by the thought that those thrifty Vermonters (Vermontians? Vermonites? Vermin?) used timber in their nuclear reactors. I wish Texas' coal plants were made of stale lasagna noodles.
And yes, Vermont does, indeed, exist. And should one of those writing programs offer me a teaching job, away I would go.
One question: are you sure Vermont has FEWER people than either North Dakota or Wyoming?
RFDIII
And yes, Vermont does, indeed, exist. And should one of those writing programs offer me a teaching job, away I would go.
One question: are you sure Vermont has FEWER people than either North Dakota or Wyoming?
RFDIII
# posted by : 3:28 PM
: 3:28 PM
Ok, couple of things:
Just because someone says they have seen Vermont doesn't make it true;
Just because someone says they know someone from Vermont doesn't make it true;
Just because someone says they are from Vermont doesn't make it true;
Just because the government has force-fed us this Vermont lie for the past 217 years doesn't mean that it is true!!!
You're living the Vermont lie!!!
Ice cream?? Hippies?? Nuclear reactors made out of candy canes?? Ask yourself, how could this all be in one state that also has the second smallest population in the entire country?? Hmmmm...THIS DOES NOT MAKE SENSE!!!
Just because someone says they have seen Vermont doesn't make it true;
Just because someone says they know someone from Vermont doesn't make it true;
Just because someone says they are from Vermont doesn't make it true;
Just because the government has force-fed us this Vermont lie for the past 217 years doesn't mean that it is true!!!
You're living the Vermont lie!!!
Ice cream?? Hippies?? Nuclear reactors made out of candy canes?? Ask yourself, how could this all be in one state that also has the second smallest population in the entire country?? Hmmmm...THIS DOES NOT MAKE SENSE!!!
# posted by : 5:43 PM
: 5:43 PM
I like how they blamed the rotting wood timbers and not the terrible inspectors who failed to do their jobs.
My favorite Vermont story is one from my aunt, who went to a town meeting there where the town impeached President Bush in the name of the Constitution. If Vermontians actually bothered to read the Constitution, they would have quickly determined that it does not allow them to do so, nor does it magically turn them into United States Congressmen.
My favorite Vermont story is one from my aunt, who went to a town meeting there where the town impeached President Bush in the name of the Constitution. If Vermontians actually bothered to read the Constitution, they would have quickly determined that it does not allow them to do so, nor does it magically turn them into United States Congressmen.
# posted by : 10:26 PM
: 10:26 PM 
It is sad to think about their nuclear reactor being reduced to a big pile of wood, which the photo looks like. Also, sad that the nuclear reactor on The Simpsons is more sophisticated.
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# posted by : 10:01 AM
: 10:01 AM << Home
