"Think about superbugs and the ongoing waves of immunological imports from the world's swamps and jungles. Think about terrorists with bioweapons. And then think again about the undeniable fact that every single underinsured American is a gaping hole in the safety net that protects us all from a catastrophic epidemic. This really is one of those cases in which none of us are safe as long as even one of us is left at risk. And from a purely economic standpoint: would you want to invest in a country where there was a significant risk that an epidemic or a bio-attack, managed by incompetent officials, might force you to shut down your business at a moment's notice?" -- Sara Robinson, "Mythbusting Canadian Healthcare, Part II: Debunking the Free Marketeers", 2008-02-11
Did not get to Balticon. May or may not babble about that decision later. Meantime, have a ( photo of grape buds pretending to be melons ) (or you can go directly to the larger version on Flickr).
These are currently about 2mm across. (For folks who don't think in millimeters, that's roughly the size of one of the sprocket holes on 35mm film.) They're on the grape vine that's still trying to eat my house even after I severed it in a few places with a saw several months ago. (It was blocking a path and I needed to get past it.)
For the record, if a lack of wind allows you to keep the windows open during a rainstorm, rain hitting young grape leaves on the vine bordering the window is startlingly loud.
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