I needed to get some new glasses, so I went back to the same place I got my current pair to order the exact same glasses with a mildly stronger right lens.

The place I went was not the least expensive in town, but I went the last time because I could get them in an hour while I wandered around to the other shops.

So, I buy exactly the same frame, and while I expected an increase in price, what I didn’t expect was waiting over a week to get the glasses. I paid more than the last time and received less.

I discovered that everyone is sending glasses out and no one is doing any of the work locally in order to cut costs.

This is a tourist area. If a tourist breaks or loses their glasses, what are they supposed to do, especially, if they need them to drive?

We are spending more and getting less as corporations “cut costs” to increase their profits.

Who was the person responsible for all of the illegal activities at News Corp – it was the tea lady. Apparently under the Murdoch regime only the tea lady is allowed to know what is going on, and has the authority to sign a lot of six-figure checks to pay for all of the hacking and snooping.

It has to be the tea lady, because Rupert kept switching between being Captain Louis Renault and being “shocked” that there was illegal activity at the papers he owned, and then becoming Sergeant Schultz to claim he “knew nah-theenk” about what was going on.

James was just sorry, and I have to say he is one of the sorriest excuses for an heir apparent since Dick Cromwell.

Nothing was apparently part of Rebekah’s “remit”. She was simply paid a lot of money to go to the office and hang out with people. She didn’t actually have any real duties or responsibilities.

So, it must have been the tea lady.

[Note: See Number 7.]

Both Tropical Storm Bret and Tropical Storm Dora are still active, but both are paralleling their respective coastlines, and neither seems inclined to go rogue and devastate large population centers. Dora might spin up to a Category 3 hurricane and produce high surf along the coast of Baja Sur, but that’s a good thing for local economies based on visiting surfers from el Norte.

They are threats to shipping, but that’s about it.

The longer it goes on the stranger it gets.

Via Attaturk at Rising Hegemon, I discovered this story from the Guardian: Police examine bag found in bin near Rebekah Brooks’s home.

Doesn’t everyone ask their friends to leave their laptop, cell phone, and personal papers in parking garage trash cans so they can be picked up later?

I wonder when Inspector Clouseau will be brought in to consult and if Mr. Brooks is related to Mel.

Saint Paul Troix Chateaux – Gap

Distance: 162.5 kilometers.

This stage is a 159 kilometer uphill grind to reach the top of the Category 2 Col de Manse, and then a downhill suicide run into Gap.

Thor swooped off the mountain and took Gap, but the jerseys are unchanged and there are only minor changes at the front.

Thomas Voeckler ( Fra – EUC – 181 ) [Yellow] 69h 00′ 56″
Mark Cavendish ( GBr – THR – 171 ) [Green] 319 points
Jelle Vanendert ( Bel – OLO – 038 ) [Polka Dot] 74 points
Rigoberto Uran ( Col – SKY – 118 ) 10 [White]

Team: Garmin-Cervelo ( 051-059 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Thor Hushovd ( Nor – GRM – 051 )
Combative: Mikhail Ignatyev ( Rus – KAT – 195 ) [Red numbers]

They’ve gone 2,803.5 kilometers [1,742.0 miles] at an average speed of 40.6 kph [25.2 mph] ↑.

OVERALL STANDINGS:
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