The World Bank and Stimulus Funding

Today marks the 64th anniversary of the founding of the World Bank. There is an interesting connection between this anniversary and President Obama's stimulus package.

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were created via the efforts of the Bretton Woods Conference of 1944 which took place at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The Mount Washington Hotel is a beautiful place but an international conference like the one in 1944 would be impossible to hold there today because of the lack of available bandwidth at the hotel for Internet access, cell phone coverage, etc.

That deficiency is about to change as Bretton Woods Telephone was awarded one of the first broadband stimulus grants and loans made under the Recovery Act (aka the Stimulus Bill). Bretton Woods' application was just one of 18 out of hundreds of applications that were approved for the first round of money. What makes the tiny Bretton Woods Telephone company so special? They have less than 1,000 access lines. The one thing they have that makes them special is the Mount Washington Hotel.

After seeing that Bretton Woods Telephone was picked from so many applications that would have benefited much greater population bases, I have to admit that my first thought was that President Obama was planning a Bretton Woods Conference of his own. Could he be planning something new for the World Bank or the IMF? If so - Bretton Woods would be the correct historical backdrop. And by the time the conference is announced - the Mount Washington Hotel should have the bandwidth needed to host such a conference.

My Friend Jim's Imaginary Friend

Imaginary friends are often a normal part of growing up. It is not unusual for children to have imaginary companions. It can be kinda cute. But when you are talking about a man nearing 40 having imaginary companions - well that's just kinda creepy.

Sure Jimmy Stewart was amusing with his 6 foot imaginary rabbit but Jack Torrance was less cuddly in The Shining. I'm reminded more of Jack Torrance because this week I was up at the Mount Washington Hotel which is eerily reminiscent of the hotel resort in The Shining.

What am I talking about? Well let me explain.

Tuesday after a fine dinner at the hotel my friend Jim and I went down to the hotel bar called "the Cave" located in the basement of the resort. Like most bars - it had a bathroom nearby. Nothing unusual about the bathroom at all. Or so I thought.

After a number of beers I had to use the facility. Nothing special. When Jim used the facility he came back talking about how strange it is to see a bathroom attendant in the restroom of a bar like the Cave. I saw no such bathroom attendant handing out paper towels but Jim gave such a vivid description of an older bald black man that I assumed that maybe the guy came on duty after I had used the urinal. However, the next time I used the bathroom - once again there was no bathroom attendant.

I came back and kidded Jim for his choice of imaginary friend. He could have picked anything but he picked a bathroom attendant to be his invisible companion? Jim swore that the guy was real and that the guy's name was Felix. I asked Jim if by chance Felix looked anything like Scatman Crothers?

The next time Jim went to the bathroom - there was Felix with paper towels in hand. Jim went to the use the urinal and while doing his business "let out an A-bomb that shook the bathroom stalls". By the time Jim zipped up. Felix the imaginary bathroom attendant was gone.

I guess vampires can't stand garlic and hotel ghosts can't stand the smell of Jim's farts. I don't blame them. They're like someone lit a bag of potato chips on fire using a whole can of lighter fluid.