In a page with banner ads “Still caught in the cycle of depression?” and “Find a Therapist Near You” is an old (July/August 2001, but reviewed in May of this year) article entitled “Why I Hate Beauty“.

It explains something I’ve suspected about Cape Cod employers but have never seen documented, i.e., why young, attractive people ALWAYS get hired, regardless of the job and their qualifications.

This is a tourist area and as a result, a slew of college students descend every summer to take low-paying jobs in restaurants, stores and motels, simply to be able to “hang out” with their pals on the Cape.

Being surrounded by these people, even for only part of the year, employers have developed a sense of ENTITLEMENT: they only want to see the young, the fit, the good-looking in their places of business.
It’s a fact. The psychologists say so. And to bring home the point, they even advertise their services to those of us who are depressed because we don’t fit the bill.

So, THERE.

It’s been humid, not the best conditions for working outside. Even simple tasks take a huge amount of effort.

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I’m thinking about what makes an ideal summer house, the kind that fosters subliminal memories for years later.
Part of it has to do with the weather, and the light. Today is picture-perfect, not too warm, sunny, a light breeze. If this were 19th century Provence, one would not be surprised to see an Impressionist perched on a wooden chair in a lavender field or a Mediterranean beach.

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Many people were enraged this week when “Kenny Boy” Lay died of a heart attack, thus opening the possibility that both the shareholder class action and SEC lawsuit against Enron could be derailed.
Because Lay died before sentencing, his conviction will probably be erased on the basis that he did not have a chance to appeal, a strange quirk in US law. Since his criminal conviction will be reversed, some pundits have predicted problems ahead with the civil suits.

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Mashpee’s annual Fourth of July celebration took place last night on a fine summer evening, marking the end of a week of fireworks, both public and private.
Thank goodness.

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No thunderstorms, in fact, no rain of any kind yesterday, which was nice for fireworks and not so great for the gardens. Maybe it’ll be another rainless summer, all humidity, no real precipitation.

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The mystery plant with the bowl-shaped yellow flowers is an Evening Primrose, also called a Sundrop (Oenothera fruticosa, var. Youngii).
It’s been tough to ID because it’s a different variety of Evening Primrose than most nurseries sell – it flowers in the day, and it has long stems, as opposed to the short, woody type that only grows about six inches high.

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Yesterday, Bob and I went fishing. I’d wanted to do something special with him before he starts his summer term after the Fourth of July, and that had been his request.

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It was a very wet weekend, but only cloudy this morning and not too warm, and since the grass was pretty dry, I finally got the lawn mowed.
Now it’s sunny and hot, and I can hear the drone of someone’s outdoor power equipment. All I can think is, “You poor b*.”

It’s a pity that software development, a noble profession, has to be performed by software developers.
I am so tired of dealing with egotistical spoiled brats, a sentiment echoed by some of the more candid recruiters I know.
To add injury to insult, they finally found the source of an outbreak of measles in the John Hancock Tower which made almost a dozen people sick. It was an unvaccinated computer programmer – from India – brought over by Investors Bank & Trust last month.
This little exercise in cheap imported labor (he was brought over to Boston, home of some of the finest universities in the world, including MIT just across the river, because of his “expertise”) is costing the taxpayers $400,000 in vaccines.
In addition, several hundred workers at three companies were told to stay home.
Measles can cause severe complications in otherwise healthy children and adults, including encephalitis, a painful and sometimes fatal disease.
Computer programming: a noble profession. Too bad it has to be practiced by programmers who make other people sick both with their attitudes and their airborne diseases.