soapbox

Jodi Picoult’s “Nineteen Minutes” won’t even be published until March 6. Students at Hanover High School were among three schools in New Hampshire and Massachusetts given advance copies to study. In the novel, an ostracized teen living in Sterling, N.H. — a wealthy, Upper Valley college town on the Vermont border — goes on a school shooting rampage, killing 10 people in 19 minutes.

This “Sterling” town shares many things in common with Hanover: Sterling has Sterling College, and its neighbor towns are called Lebanon and Norwich. So some people think it may inspire a real shooting. In the novel the high school shooting happens today@_@. Tim (the professor) said the school principal sent an email this noon saying everything is OK, except 18% students didn’t show up. I guess today is really an exciting day for those high school kids…

So, the insulation project is underway right now. Unfortunately, the guys overestimated where they could get their van. The proper way to pull up to the back door is
1. As far up the hill as you can go in a straight line
2. Back to the rear door.

Instead they did
1. Go a little ways up the hill.
2. Try to turn.
3. Spin your tires and slide sideways into a gully.

Note that the step on the back of the van is basically touching the ground and there are electrical guy wires preventing forward movement. They’re bringing in another truck to pull them out once the insulating job is done. I’ve roughly erased all the branding off the side of the truck so no one gets too embarrassed.