Oscars
Million Dollar Baby deserved the Oscars. I still can't recommend the film. It is just too depressing.
I've read some blogs from Australia and England that complain about the time of the broadcast. In England it was in the middle of the night. In parts of Australia it was at a funny time on Monday night. Now, England has its (hey, I used it correctly) own Oscars type show that I cannot remember the name of at the moment. I bet if the U. S. Oscars broadcast at a friendlier time, they wouldn't feel the need.

BTK
I was born in Wichita Kansas. Now this guy has been grabbed in a town just north of Wichita. Either his daughter's DNA helped capture him or not. Some of the details are sketchy right now. I hope justice is served in this case. Kansas has a death penalty, but it doesn't apply because the last killing took place before it was reinstated. I find that disappointing.
I feel like I lost my home town. Now when you mention Wichita, I think of this prick instead of the place where I was born. Hopefully, that will wain.

Syria and Lebanon

At intervals throughout the evening fresh groups of demonstrators, wrapped in the red, white and green colours of Lebanon's flag, marched into the square chanting slogans accusing Syria of murdering Mr Hariri, who died with 16 others in a massive bomb attack outside a nearby hotel. As the crowd swelled, impromptu debates broke out beneath the statue's uplifted torch of freedom. ... Syria maintains that its presence is still necessary to prevent renewed civil war and that it will withdraw when asked to do so by the Lebanese Government - an unlikely request considering that Lebanese governments are traditionally reliant on Syria. SMH

They are right about someone needing to stick around to keep the place from boiling over. It would, ironically, have to be a similar situation to the one in Iraq. Hopefully, the number of terrorist attacks would not be as high in Lebanon.
I'm reading on blogs and hearing hints in the MSM that people in the Middle East really like the idea of Democracy. a blogger in Iran actually said some of the students say they want the U. S. to invade. They are exaggerating, I'm sure. Egypt is making some election reforms. I'm not sure what they really mean to the electorate. Time will tell. They might be the start to something good though. I say the best way to export Democracy is "Bay Watch".
One of the blogs had a photo posted from Beirut. It was a protester with a small sign that read "Hey Syria, who's next?" Nice.

Word of the day
matrilinear (matrilineal): Man takes woman's name upon matrimony. (roughly)

Day
It is pretty outside. I have no intention of sucking it up. I'm tired of giving in to the whole "enjoy a nice day" cartel. I just made the worst cup of coffee ever. I really should alert the media. Instant coffee, powdered milk, you get the idea. I'm watching South Park and Lexx reruns. My office chair broke. The bolts that hold the back on snapped. (No chubby comments please.) Not only are the pointy end of the bolts still stuck in the bolt holes, the brackets are bent. This chair was only like $25 when I bought it several years ago. I need to just get another one. Any one headed to Office Depot?

Yoga
Cynthia's Comments
I know that pose that Anna was doing. Hey, I have tons of Yoga DVDs you can borrow and copy. You'll just loooooove Denise Austin. And you don't have to wear tights. Get yourself into shorts and a t-shirt and you'll be fine. And no shoes. I can just picture you in a hunting shirt, jeans, steel toed boots and a hat, wondering why it's hard to do the poses in that gear.
My Response
Wow, I don't own a pare of shorts.  =\  That's impressive. To live in the South and not own a pare of shorts, and not even know it until you go looking.

Weather
It has been reining all weekend. I remember one of the guys at work wanting good weather so he could take the family out on the boat. No such luck. It is cold. It was so pretty Friday, while I was at work. Isn't that always the way? I suppose It doesn't rain any more statistically on weekends than it does on weekdays. I wonder if the added exhaust of the commuter's cars somehow influence the weather patterns of the city. I remember reading the ambient temperature of cities dropped a degree or two when the flying ban happened just after 9/11.  In Summer it really does rain every afternoon at 3:30 near where I live. The weather pattern over Houston sucks gulf coast moisture inland. It just makes my area at about 3:30 pm.  I've noticed this only because I'm walking down the road to the bus stop at 3:30 pm. Nearly every typical Summer afternoon I notice thunderheads roaming around. It is nearly 5:00 am. I just looked outside. A happy couple just walked down the parking lot either to a car, or to an apartment. The rain stopped long enough for them.
Normally, I'm up by now. I get up at 4:30 and run off to work. It takes me 40 minutes to get to work. It is a ten minute trip in a car. Less than that if there is not traffic. It is interesting on mornings like this morning. The rain makes the world look different. The ground looks like it is hazy. The street lights look wavy. The trees wiggle around in the breeze like they are trying to dodge the drops. Sometimes the moon shows low.  The moon looks lost behind a heavy rain. It is cool when the moon is half hidden behind cloud. On cold days the ring around the moon is massive. The ice in the atmosphere on high makes a one color full circle rainbow.

Recorder
I had a dream last night about playing the recorder in elementary school. I still sucked at it. I never understand why they force kids who obviously have no musical talent to try and play an instrument. Sometimes I still don't understand grownups. I'm 36 for God's sake.

Law
I have been wondering this for a long time. States have been abusing the Eminent Domain laws for decades to take land away from lawful owners so they can make more tax revenue from Wall Mart and the like. It is about time they used their powers for good instead of evil.
I've wondered if they could use Eminent Domain to take patents away from software companies that decide to sit on them to prevent competition.

"Interesting take on the Eminent Domain case now before the Supreme Court. Could the same logic behind using Eminent Domain to take real property be used to take a Patent? Apparently some states are contemplating taking drug company patents to force lower drug prices." From the article: "Patents are the key to huge drug-company profits. The industry will fight vociferously to protect them. In West Virginia, where the issue came up last summer, industry lawyers warned a legislative advisory council away from proposing such action on patents, claiming it would be unconstitutional. " SlashDot

Blog Surfing
The last couple of days I've been surfing. This means hitting the "next blog" button at the top of my blog page. I use my blog page every time because that way people who view their web page tracking information. That way, I get some back hits. Something else I've caught myself doing is leaving comments on people's blogs. When I read a blog entry that isn't half bad, I hate to see "0 Comments" at the bottom. It drives me nuts. They should get some feedback. I like getting feedback (hint).

Things I've noticed
I have noticed a couple of strange things. (based solely on my opinion.)
* Good blogs have more comments.
* Good blogs have pictures people took themselves.
* Good blogs make sense more often than not.
* Bad blogs seem to have plenty of hits regardless of content.
* Bad blogs use too many ellipsis points.
* Bad blogs have lots of pictures of stuff people took off the net.
* Bad blogs have lots of "stuff" all over the place and no content.
There are some really horrible attempts at communication in the blog-sphere. There are some really well composed writings too. Some people have a flair for evil. Some comment on a boring day and make it sound like a feature film.

Note
I can not remember the difference between "its" and "it's".

"It's" with an apostrophe stands for "it is." "Its" without the apostrophe means belonging to someone or thing, ... and yes, differentiating between "its" and "it's" can easily drive one mad. Accurate Writing and More

Boring Fridy Night

The Publishing Process
I remember taking a publishing class many moons ago. It covered the following.
Creation: Some hack vomits forth dribble and declares it a masterpiece.
Editing: The process of stabbing the creator and twisting the knife.
Revision: Whipping the creator until they fix the chicken-scratch. Changing it into a work of art.
Marketing: Telling people they need what you have.
Printing: Something about paper and inc and sleeping in the back room of a print house until the middle of the night to make sure they don't mess it up.
I was trying to find some better information on OOP (Object Oriented Programming) for Visual Basic 6 this morning. Of all the things people look for on the net, you would think you could find something helpful on this topic. I ran across all kinds of poorly written forum entries and a ton of listings and reviews for books that are no longer in print. Simply put, no one really knows how to explain this stuff. You have to do it for a while to get it. While reading several unhelpful online instructions, I realized, none of these people were forced to go through the publishing process. The publishers would have told them they were nuts and the useless information would have been, thankfully, lost forever. The Internet is grate if you are just looking. When you are looking for something specific, you have to dig. When you are looking for something useful you have to sift. When you are trying to change things, forget it. No one will listen. Your plea is lost in the universe of babble.
Someone once asked how, in the 1860s, Civil War soldiers could write such brilliant pros on the battlefield. 1) They didn't have cable. 2) Stupid people dropped out and did something else. I bet literacy was only about 20% among working class whites in the South in those days. 3) If they wrote crappy diary entries, they didn't get published.
On a side note, the professor I had in this publishing class went nuts the next semester. She showed up with purple hair, acting very strange. I'm not sure if someone showed up with a big butterfly net, but I understand they had to cancel her classes. I never did hear what became of her.

The Fools!

The Department of Homeland Security has named Claria, an adware maker that online publishers once dubbed a "parasite," to a federal privacy advisory board. An executive from Claria, formerly called Gator, will be one of 20 members of the committee, the department said Wednesday. "This committee will provide the department with important recommendations on how to further the department's mission while protecting the privacy of personally identifiable information of citizens and visitors of the United States," Nuala O'Connor Kelly, the department's chief privacy officer, said in a statement. Claria bundles its pop-up advertising software with ad-supported networks such as Kazaa. Recently, the privately held company has been trying to seek credibility by following stricter privacy guidelines and offering behavioral profiling services to its partners. CNet

Talk about putting the fox in charge of the hen house.

Floods in California
This is an airport in California that has lost a good portion of it's runway to the flooding. A river washed away the bank and ate the supporting land away.

The photo below is an in flight photo of the airport before the damage. I don't know how long these links will last. If you look closely, the water flow of that river seems to be pointing straight at the spot where the erosion happened. In other words the river just tried to straighten out the curve. I cannot figure out which way the river flows. It looks from the above picture like the water flows from top Right to lower left in the below picture (based on the ripples).

I get a kick out of aerial photography. Below is a 1995 snap of a friend's apartment complex. Click for a larger view. It is a 1995 photo from TerraServer.


Work
I've asked recently to be added to another project at my day job. I'm not giving up the old tasks. This project is one of the big pushes for the future. I feel stuck on a bunch of legacy stuff that is all slated to disappear. Though, they have been pushing back the dates for years. No biggie. That sort of thing happens all the time. I want to be prepared for the next thing. It will be nice getting back into some "real" programming  At least, it is more "real" than what I have been doing.
This is in the Engineering field. The trouble is, all of engineering is leaving the U. S. I should have gone into sales, or marketing, or plumbing. I'm not sure who will have a job in this country in 50 years. Doctors are being outsourced to India. Hell, they are experimenting with outsourcing order taking at fast food restaurants. I have to say, I went to Wendie's today and the lady taking my order didn't speak a word of English that wasn't printed on the top of the register. I would welcome someone in India who speaks better English Telecommuting to take my order. I wonder in what country I will have to live in order to find work in the U. S.

Yoga
I've been looking into yoga lately. I've downloaded some example videos. Between that and what is online, I bet I can figure things out. If I do it in my living room, I don't have to ware "tights" in front of anyone. That really is the only thing stopping me from taking a class. If I can't do it in jeans, I don't do it in front of anyone I'm not having sex with.
Here are Anna's comments on a yoga experience.

[random conversation that ends up here] Anna: I herniated my disk in yoga Me: What is the name of that maneuver? Anna: The one where your standing with your feet shoulder distance apart and you bend over and your left hand touches your right foot with your right arm extended straight up to the sky. Me: "pop" ... "ouch" ... "uh-oh" Anna: More like strain, huh, wonder what that was.  guess I pulled a muscle.  wonder why it still hurts two weeks later.  wonder why it's even worse a month after that.  huh, now I can't feel my toes.  An MRI?  Is that where you get shoved into a culvert and x rays are taken?  scary.  hello Mr. Neurosurgeon.  how soon can I get released after surgery?

I need to be careful. Trust me, I'm taking it very slow. I've only don't that one move where you warm up so far. I know some one who teaches classes. She says the whole point is not to rush things. Get in to a rhythm of doing it every day or so before you worry about what routines you follow.
I know a person who assumed yoga was all a cult thing. Some people call yoga a religion. I call those people misdirected. Yoga makes you feel good. That is allot more than some people get from religion. I have direction, so I do not fear ill guidance.

Prick
This guy is accused of plotting to assassinate president Bush. I am a red blooded American. It pisses me off no end when people plot to kill my leaders. True, he has not been convicted of anything yet. The people in the court room don't need to laugh when the proceedings take place. This is a serious even. Do not insult me and my country. If you hate it here so much, put it in a blog!

Cool Forum Names I Want to Use
Some of these would double as good DnD character names.
YoyoGrenade
MartiansShmartians
whatcamaslacker
ugmabald
ScantRant
SirBitchAllot (drat, taken)

Time
I've been debating tracking my every waking moment in a calender for a couple of days or even a week. I mean everything. I might find out why I don't seem to get anything done. If I figure out how many useless hours I spend doing things that don't relax me or accomplish tasks I might straighten out my time line.
What has prompted this is a statistic I heard on BBC radio that 70% of children (asked in the UK) say they need a vacation. I have a theory that humans used to work more hours on a farm for example, but they were not required to perform as many tasks as we are today. Nor, were they asked to comprehend as much as we are today. This little experiment of mine won't prove much. I would, however, like to know where the hours are going.

Metro
Well, Metro was pretty easy this time. The driver was late and the wait at the Metro place was quick because of it. I had to give the same explanation I give every year. I wasn't picked up until 11:55. I could have gone in for a half day and nearly did. However, I wanted to sleep in more. I didn't get home until 4:10. That is about normal actually. All in all it went well. Yes, they were open on President's Day. Technically, they are a private company.

Red Hat

Top Linux seller Red Hat acknowledged on Friday a misstep in its relations with technology enthusiasts but said the profit motive is helping it to mend its ways. The problem came in recent years when Red Hat threw its energies into a stable product called Red Hat Enterprise Linux. RHEL let the company grow from a small market of technically savvy customers to the large market of mainstream customers. But in the process, Red Hat left those "early adopters" behind, said Michael Tiemann, vice president of open-source affairs. That was a problem because Red Hat--a pioneer in the business of open-source software--believes customers should be directly involved in designing and creating products from the earliest stages. C-Net

I remember saying this three years ago when I learned that Red Hat wanted to abandon the community that gave them their position in the market. I stopped using Red Hat when they went to Fedora. They said "Oh, sure ... we will support Fedora. You bet'cha." I didn't believe them. It was a good thing I didn't believe them. Fedora isn't the best distro. I use Mandrake. It was rated the easiest to use not to long ago. As freaky as companies are getting about their property rights, it is worth having a good "free" operating system that you can throw on an old box. Windows just plane doesn't work after a couple of years. Neither does Linux really. If you have no reason to upgrade anything you might leave a machine running for a decade without a reboot. That is not what I mean. Windows falls apart under its own weight. All operating systems need to be patched for security and virus reasons. Odds are, the machine you get came with Windows on it. If the people just reinstalled the operating system, they would probably fix any problem they had with the machine. People would rather put the old computer in the closet and let it rot rather than let some one have it who can get some use out of it. The trouble is, you have to buy a new copy of Windows in order to upgrade to the latest security stuff. With Linux, you can get a new copy of the operating system and get some use out of the old box. I refuse to pay for Windows twice on the same machine. That is why Linux and alternate OSs exist.
If you hit my web page with all the pictures, that is coming off the Mandrake Linux machine in my apartment. So are most of the pictures on this blog. I use it for a file server as well. Before I stopped running it, that machine also ran SETI.

METRO
Well, It looks like Metro Lift is getting its act together. I have an appointment for tomorrow. They pick me up at 11:54. which means 11:30. I could almost go in to work for  a half day. Forget that. I intend to sleep in and tack care of this business with as little fuss as possible. Wish me luck.

Credo of the Long Lived King
I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?

Book
I'm listening to The Ringworld Engineers. This is the second book in the series. The Ring World series is fiction about a "world" built by intelligent beings to eliminate overcrowding. I forget the dimensions, but it is something like a million times the surface area of Earth and nearly every inch of it is habitable. Nice idea. Inherently unstable though. Too many characters really. I don't the portrayal of sex. The sex scenes seem to be out of place. The author seems to have a hang up about inter species matting. It gives me the willies. (that didn't sound right) I like the description of everything. You can tell this book was written by a math major. Not just by the numbers, but by the way things are described. ]

Saturday Night
I walked up to the stop-n-rob for a soda. I have to say there are good times to walk up there after dark on a Saturday. If it is just before 8:00 the traffic on that street outside my complex is nuts. Between 10:00 and 11:00 it is not bad. People are either home or where they are going by that time. After say midnight, the drunks start showing up. Early Sunday morning is creepy. I got a pint of Ben and Jerry's Vanilla. It should have gotten Blue Bell.

A quiet Los Angeles suburb is being terrorized by a crossbow-wielding killer who haunts the rooftops. The optimistic Lauren (Melanie Lynskey, HEAVENLY CREATURES) invites her whole department to her house for a weekend party, but only two intrepid guests show up. Grace (Mary Lynn Rajskub, 24) is the shy, awkward girl who nobody really likes, while the outspoken Gina (Sheeri Rappaport, LITTLE WITCHES) is unhappy at being stuck with the others for the weekend. While early suspicion grows into the certainly that there is a stalker lurking about, the girls` terror mounts as the murderer moves in for the kill, and their surroundings close in around them. Shot mostly in the daylight, this low-budget thriller makes good use of sound and light to increase the sensation of claustrophobia--which was the original title of the film--and the talented actesses play off each other well, making this a truly suspenseful, terrifying ride. Also featured in a cameo role is Judith O’Dea from NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

Syria is Next
I've said this before.

Relations between the U.S. and Syria are coming under increasing pressure after the U.S. admitted it has "an increasing list of problems" with the country. CNN

The word "Beirut" became an adjective to describe destruction. I remember commenting that someone's dorm room looked like Beirut sometime in the nineties.

No Guns = No Freedom

Armed with sticks and stones and hard-bitten desperation, Togo's opposition movement waged a 38-year losing battle against the oppressive military regime of President Gnassingbe Eyadema. ... Restless, jobless and short on patience, the youth of Togo's beach-front capital say weaponry is the only way to bring down the Gnassingbe military dynasty, which has made fear and intimidation a bedrock of Togolese society. ... The young people's cry for blood gives pause to older opposition figures, who say peaceful resistance is still the only way to win their struggle. "Violence is never a solution," veteran opposition leader Harry Olympio says. ... "We have no way to defend ourselves," said Carrie, who had long braids and pink-painted toenails. Her friends looked on in rigid silence, except to urge her to be quiet. "It's up to the international community to give us weapons," she said. "Striking and demonstrating isn't doing us any good. We need guns to properly fight the government." ... Keith, who had a skull-and-crossbones tattoo on his meaty shoulder, took a long pull from a marijuana joint the size of a Cuban cigar and stared away, lost in his thoughts. "Man," he said. "I don't even like the word 'guns."' CNN

I'm starting to understand why things are so fucked up in Africa. They have given peace 38 years (in this particular situation) and gotten nowhere. It seems like you can't fire an AK in Africa without hitting a genocide, a revolution, and a diamond mine with blood on its hands.

(Joke) Who's your Daddy?
This is from Anna Banana again. She is a good source of random jokes and recipes.

When someone puts in for Child Support, the proper thing to do is to find out who the father is and see why he is not providing support. The following are all actual replies that Dallas women have written on Child Support Agency forms in the section for listing father's details. Or putting it another way... Who's yo Daddy! These are genuine excerpts from the forms. Be sure to check out number 11. it takes the prize and #3 is runner up. 1. Regarding the identity of the father of my twins, child A was fathered by Jim Munson. I am unsure as to the identity of the father of child B, but I believe that he was conceived on the same night. 2. I am unsure as to the identity of the father of my child as I was being sick out of a window when taken unexpectedly from behind. I can provide you with a list of names of men that I think were at the party if this helps. 3. I do not know the name of the father of my little girl. She was conceived at a party at 3600 Grand Avenue where I had unprotected sex with a man I met that night. I do remember that the sex was so good that I fainted. If you do manage to track down the father, can you send me his phone number? Thanks. 4. I don't know the identity of the father of my daughter. He drives a BMW that now has a hole made by my stiletto in one of the door panels. Perhaps you can contact BMW service stations in this area and see if he's had it replaced. 5. I have never had sex with a man. I am still a Virginian. I am awaiting a letter from the Pope confirming that my son's conception was immaculate and that he is Christ risen again. 6. I cannot tell you the name of child A's dad as he informs me that to do so would blow his cover and that would have cataclysmic implications for the economy. I am torn between doing right by you and right by the country. Please advise. 7. I do not know who the father of my child was as all blacks look the same to me. 8. Peter Smith is the father of child A. If you do catch up with him, can you ask him what he did with my AC/DC CDs? Child B who was also born at the same time.... well I don't have a clue. 9. From the dates it seems that my daughter was conceived at Disney World; maybe it really is the Magic Kingdom. 10. So much about that night is a blur. The only thing that I remember for sure is Delia Smith did a program about eggs earlier in the evening. If I'd have stayed in and watched more TV rather than going to the party at 146 Miller Drive, mine might have remained unfertilized. 11. I am unsure as to the identity of the father of my baby, after all when you eat a can of beans you can't be sure which one made you fart.

Goals
I work best with goals. I remember someone telling me years ago that before you sit down at a computer to "learn something" you need a goal. I find this is true with just about anything. I understand why there are exorcises at the end of he chapters now. I'm in a position to make goals for others now.

Lunch
I've gotten some serious mileage from my birthday this year. Today a different group of folks went out with me. Now it must be said, that it doesn't take much of an excuse to get a small group together to head out. The following topics were covered.
MS150. (another link)
Japanese goth weddings.
Coworker's inadequacies.
Unique automobile smells.
The proper attitude for some one who drives a BMW.

!Choice

"This is the right deal at the right time," Verizon's chief exec, Ivan Seidenberg, said in a statement Monday. He said the merger will allow the company to "drive efficiencies, increase cash flow and pursue new revenue opportunities." Translation: Verizon expects to make a lot of money. ... "This is really bad for consumers," he said. "The first thing you'll see is a reduction in quality of service, followed by a slowing in price decreases and a slowing in innovation." Shames added: "Any semblance of competition has pretty much been stamped dead by the gold rush we're seeing in the telecom business right now." In recent months, phone companies have deflected charges of a renewed monopoly-in-the-making by pointing toward potential competition from the cable industry. ... Moreover, he said many consumers' bills will go up because phone and cable giants increasingly will offer only packages of bundled services, not individual products like high-speed Internet access. "Companies always say that the next merger will be the one to unleash competition," Cooper said. "The reality is that these are consolidations. They take alternatives away from consumers." SFGate.com

How dare they try and tell me this is good for the consumer. Our government won't stop this kind of crap because our government makes money off the over all phone bill. The higher the phone bill, the more tax revenue they make.
So, what happened to AT&T Wireless? Cyngular bought AT&T Wireless, but not the name "AT&T Wireless". SBC is buying AT&T, minus the Wireless unit, bu including th rename "AT&T Wireless".  What does this mean? SBC intends to buy Cyngular at some point, probably. Or, SBC intends to compete with Cyngular. I'm with T-Mobile. They have a toe hold in Europe.

Anna's review of Vargo's

Here's my review of Vargo's: Vargo's is absolutely wonderful. The food was fabulous. I had a shrimp & crab cake appetizer that was wonderful and a good size, Wyatt had scallops that were really good & he raved about the sauce. We both had the Vargo's salad that had feta, ginger pears, mandarin oranges and a vinaigrette over an iceberg lettuce wedge. For a main course I had Snapper Ponchetrain that was wonderful - especially the lump crab meat. Wyatt had steak with a mushroom sauce that was absolute perfection. Both came with mashed potatoes that were in a heart shape and baked/fried - it was like a tarter tot on the outside and mashed potatoes on the inside! Great! Also baby carrots and green beans - yawn. For desert Wyatt had ordered the heart shaped chocolate roll, but switched to crème Brule which I also had. The waiter went ahead and brought the roll along with our two crème brules. Good thing he switched. That chocolate roll was the only bad thing served. It was spongy and watery at the same time. Not good. The crème Brule was good, not as good as our other food had been. I was really impressed that there wine list is very very reasonable. Most of the wines were in the $30 range! The one I picked was $19.50!!! It was a Berringer Gamy Beaujolais (sp?). Since Wyatt had steak and I had fish, we needed one that would pair with both. It's actually a great wine for the price. That's my new favorite restaurant! Anna Banana

Reason 2
What this means is the length of time between the now and out perception of the universe, is the age of the universe.
This means, that the length of time between the now and our perception of it is infinite. It is infinite because it is all of time.
This exorcise only proves I need a girlfriend.

Reason
When looking at the past, the only possible outcome to events, is the outcome that happened. There are no "what if"s. There are no "could have"s. There is only was.
When looking at the future, the number of outcomes are limitless. There are no guarantees. There are no certainties.
The past does not move. The future does not move. The now, moves.
Future, past and now, are three states of the same continuum.
Without now, there is no matter.
Without now, there is no space.
Without now, there is no energy.
Mater is only what we bump into while floating around in space. Without time to travel from one point to the next, mater, space, the energy used to pass from one to the other, need not exist. There for, everything in the universe only exists for the moment that it is being observed. By the time you realize a moment has past, it is gone. There for, it is impossible to for the universe to actually exist.

Friend's Weekend
I'm boring. Here is a friend's weekend to read. Followed by three of her recommended recopies.

	The Fox & Hound is LOUD. Not a good choice of place to catch up with 2 friends I hadn't talked to in a while. But it was a good time. Saturday I got my hair done (3 hours - it's tough being a girl!) and the went to Benihana (fun, and not that expensive like everyone was saying. Meals start at $15 and go to just below $30, which includes soup, salad, shrimp, vegetables, rice and green tea) and to see Anything Goes, a really good musical. They had a neat set -- it was set on a cruise ship and they had a set that rotated with the bow of the ship and then an interior room. When they would rotate it, there would be a funny scene going on in the room on the side of the ship. We stayed at the bar at the Hobby Center until about midnight. Yesterday I went on a cleaning rampage and poor Wyatt got caught in the crossfire. All he had to do was scrub the patio furniture, the screens and the windows. I did the kitchen, bathroom, moved the living room furniture to vacuum under, laundry, moved the bed to vacuum under, etc, etc, etc. Once my place is clean, I'm buying recliners. That's a good incentive. Anna Banana
	Cooking is easy. people just think it's hard. There are only about 5 techniques, and then you just mix them up. Nowadays there are a lot of easy-prep meals at the grocery store. Here's a recipe for you: Shrimp or Crawfish ettouffee in a big saucepan (I'd say medium, but probably the biggest one you have) add: one can cream of mushroom soup (I don't like mushroom so I use cream of chicken) one can of cream of celery soup one can of Rotel tomatoes one small little jar of minced garlic put on stove on medium high (like # 8) in ANOTHER pot, boil some water. Add two pouches of Success brand boil-in-bag rice in 10 minutes, remove from heat. Add a package of (thawed) frozen pre-cooked shrimp or crawfish to pot #1. Pour the water out of pot #2, shake the water off the bags-o-rice, do a quick rinse of the pot (not with the rice!) Pour the rice from the bags into the semi-clean pot and add some butter, stir. By that time, the shrimp or crawfish should be warmed up. If you'd like, add butter, Tabasco, Chohola, other seasoning. Get bowl, add rice, ettouffee & spoon and smile. Lighting a candle is optional, but suggested.
	Recipe #2 Cooking Directions - Bring 3-1/4 cups of water (for saucier product, add an extra 1/4 cup water) and 1 tablespoon margarine (optional) to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in rice mix. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. (10 minutes in, add the sausage) Remove from heat and let stand about 5 minutes. Stir before serving.
	Recipe #3 (the easy one) Buy a bag of Mahatma brand red beans and rice (it comes in a bag that's tube-shaped) and a package of link sausage or polska kelbasa. Follow the directions on the bag.

Hillbilly Valentine

Hillbilly Redneck Frenchman Valentine Poem Collards is green, my dog's name is Blue and I'm so lucky to have a sweet thang like you. Yore hair is like cornsilk a-flapping in the breeze. Softer than Blue's and without all them fleas. You move like the bass, which excite me in May. You ain't got no scales but I luv you anyway. Yo're as satisfy'n as okry jist a-fry'n in the pan. Yo're as fragrant as "snuff" right out of the can. You have some'a yore teeth, for which I am proud; I hold my head high when we're in a crowd. On special occasions, when you shave under yore arms, well, I'm in hawg heaven, and awed by yore charms. Still them fellers at work, they all want to know, what I did to deserve such a purdy, young doe. Like a good roll of duct tape yo're there fer yore man, to patch up life's troubles and fix what you can. Yo're as cute as a junebug a-buzzin' overhead. You ain't mean like those far ants I found in my bed. Cut from the best cloth like a plaid flannel shirt, you spark up my life more than a fresh load of dirt. When you hold me real tight like a padded gunrack, my life is complete; Ain't nuttin' I lack. Yore complexion, it's perfection, like the best vinyl sidin'. despite all the years, yore age, it keeps hidin'. Me 'n' you's like a Moon Pie with a RC cold drank, we go together like a skunk goes with stank. Some men, they buy chocolate for Valentine's Day; They git it at Wal-Mart, it's romantic that way. Some men git roses on that special day from the cooler at Kroger. "That's impressive," I say. Some men buy fine diamonds from a flea market booth. "Diamonds are forever," they explain, suave and couth. But for this man, honey, these won't do. Cause yor'e too special, you sweet thang you. I got you a gift, without taste nor odor, more useful than diamonds... IT'S A NEW TROLL'N MOTOR!! From Bratt

Evening
It feels magnificent outside. There are storms in the distance. I can see the lightning flashes as planes circle around the really horrible bits.
While standing out on my balcony, I heard my next door neighbor talking on the phone. She strikes me as about 24 or so. Her windows and doors were all closed, but the walls are thin. She said something to the effect "He said ... Then I said ... Can you believe ..." I assume she was talking to a girlfriend about some guy.
I'm watching a show about terrorism. It is called "The Grid". It has a bunch of known New York actors. It takes a liberal point of view of the whole tracking terrorists and the money. It has an NYPD Blues or maybe One of those New York Lawyer TV shows.
Then, I watched a Battlestar Galactica. One of the new ones. I don't have cable. A friend recorded it. So many shows about fear. This is a very special Battlestar Galactica. The blond (Starbuck) passed her boyfriend through training and he died because of it. He was also the son of the captain. She has to reconsolidated her self to train a bunch of green recruits. They get caught training out in the open and the show closes with a "To be Continued".
It's like 9:45 and all I want is another cup of coffee. I took a nap through most of today. Poker fell through last not. One of the guys said a $20 buy in wasn't worth his time. Fuck him. Go loose your money somewhere else. This is a friendly game. I'm pretty sure my beginner's luck has warn off. Someone told me I have so many tells that they are too confusing to track.

Caution

North Korea
I've been wondering for a while why the North Korean government wants to deal straight with the U.S. instead of it's neighbors. Powell sums it up nicely in the quote below.

"The North Koreans desperately want to make this a U.S.-North Korean problem to see what else they can ask us for, to pay them, to reward them for their misbehavior," he said. "And we have chosen not to do that, not to get caught in their trap again." usinfo.state.gov

So, it boils down to money. Kim Jong-il wants a pay-off. He wants the U. S. taxpayer to prop his oppressive government up because it cannot possibly maintain a successful economy.

Texas Facts
A friend of mine sent me this list in email. I thought I would immortalize it here. It took ages to get the bullets to look right. The spell checker blew a gasket on some of the lingo. My favorite fact is in red. I've been told that Texas really is a sovereign nation that has simply asked to be treated like a state.

	If ya'll already know all these facts about Texas, scroll on down and read the Texas version of the Ten Commandments. Have a good day, ya hear? Texas Facts : Nobody asked for them, but here are some little known Texas facts. I know ya'll just can't wait to read 'em! I never read these facts before so thought you might want to know a little more about our State!! If ya'll live in another state, we're sorry for ya!! or maybe not??? Beaumont to El Paso: 742 miles Beaumont to Chicago: 770 miles El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas World's first rodeo was in Pecos... July 4, 1883. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full time coach for Rice University in Houston. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America's only remaining flock of whooping cranes. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978. The worst natural disaster in U.S. history was in 1900 caused by a hurricane in which over 8000 lives were lost on Galveston Island. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20, 1969, was "Houston." King Ranch is larger than Rhode Island. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a US. rainfall record of 43" in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July 1979. Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY, instead of by annexation. (This allows the Texas flag to fly at the same height as the US flag.) A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period after Dr in Dr Pepper. Texas has had six capital cities. 1. Washington-on-the-Brazos 2. Harrisburg 3. Galveston 4. Velasco 5. West Columbia 6. Austin The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. (by 7 feet). The name Texas comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas" meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas. The State animal is the Armadillo. (An interesting bit of trivia about the armadillo is they always have four babies! They have one egg which splits into four and they either have four males or four females. Well...I thought it was interesting anyway!) The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston.
	THE TEN COMMANDMENTS - TEXAS STYLE People here in Texas have trouble with all those shalls and shall nots in the 10 Commandments. Folks here just aren't used to talking in those terms. So, some folks out in west Texas got together and translated the "King James" into "King Ranch" language: Ten Commandments, cowboy style. Cowboy's Ten Commandments posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in Fairlie, Texas. (1) Just one God. (2) Honor yer Ma & Pa. (3) No telling tales or gossipin'. (4) Git yourself to Sunday meeting. (5) Put nothin' before God. (6) No foolin' around with another fellow's gal. (7) No killin'. (8) Watch yer mouth. (9) Don't take what ain't yers. (10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff Now that's kinda plain an' simple don't ya think? Y'all have a good Day............... Ya hear.

The Other Side of the Lights
I drive around the lot, looking for a place to park, I pay the fee for admission and find a seat. I order a drink. The music starts. I've never known love. I've found only those who want to play for a while. The sun is down. The people are loud. The band begins to play. The world stops for a while. It is kind of like life. When you are born, you see the light. When you find Jesus you see the light. When you die you follow the light. When you perform on stage, you are on the other side, just for a moment. All eyes, all ears for just a while are on you. Don't screw it up. The world stops to let you fly. The hands that play, the voice that sways, the smile that lies, just for a while. The stage is the razor's edge between life and that thing we all wonder. The lights.

Day
I got to work. I did some work. I left work. I got home at like 11:30 (half day), now I'm typing in my blog.
I'm on my way to watch Jen Rathbun in a little bit. Hopefully I'm going out to lunch with some friends tomorrow and then I'm off to play some low stakes poker in the evening.

Anime

I've had people ask me what is up with Anime. Why do people like it. It is just a cartoon after all. Well, look at the screenshot below and tell me that looks like any of the American cartoons you have ever seen. The Japanese respect the genera and put forth effort to make it good. Each series is on it's own. This series is based on the "Ghost in the Shell" movies. The detail is wonderful. They fact that they use sunshine in the animation takes my breath away. Most of the time when you mention Anime people think of those cutesy big-eyed flicks, or Pokemon. Not I. I think of "Ghost in the Shell" and "Princess Mononoky".
It is not the painstaking attention to detail. It is not the amazing depth and broad spectrum of shadows. It is the fact that some one in Japan wants to make this Anime and, more importantly, people in Japan want to watch it. This is just one series. The cutesy stuff has a niche too. It is the depth of the market that makes good Anime. Not the depth of color or character.

FireFox Goes Mainstream
It is the beginning of the end for FireFox. Yahoo announces a beta tool bar for FireFox. I have dreaded this day. I really don't like Yahoo Tool Bar. It is far too Yahoo centric. I use Google every day. I don't like Google Tool Bar because it is too Google centric. I feel that both of these products5ts limit my choice, not enhance my surfing.
A bunch of my friends use Yahoo Messenger. When you install YIM you basically have to install Yahoo Tool Bar. I don't like that either. I'm switching to GAIM for that reason.

Metro
Well, Metro jerked me around. I called in last night and they had no time listed for me today.

Nukes, Nukes Everywhere
Between North Korea and Iran, some people in the Western governments are loosing sleep. It scares the hell out of me that either of these countries have nukes.  North Korea swears it has Nukes. Iran is obviously going after Nukes. Oh, they say "we are only using the technology to produce energy." That is like saying you own a baseball bat just to play baseball, when you have never set foot on a baseball diamond, and every one knows you want to bash America's head in with it.

Hits
Cynthia's suggestions for getting hits on your blog. Cynthia's comments are in black. I've add some of my own comments in red.
The biggest factors I have noticed in my blog hits are:
1. POSTING! Regularly. When you post, you get put at the top of the "next blog" list for people hitting the Next Blog button. Also, people can see the last few minutes worth of updated blogs so you're likely to get stuff immediately after you publish. When I don't post for a while, like I haven't lately, my hits go waaaaay down.
I agree with this whole heartedly. This will keep people coming back too.
2. Linking - Link to other people's blogs and comment on them. They'll do trackbacks or go to your profile and then hit your blog. Be active on other people's blogs and they'll be active on yours. Put something in your blog description saying that people can become contributors by contacting you.
I need to do this myself. My numbers suffer because I don't follow through like Cynthia does.
3. Membership to blog-type groups. Blogroll, Bloglines, Technorati, Blogdex, etc. maintain lists of blogs and people look for content basedo on them.
4. Keywords. This is hard to control, because you don't want to write about stuff that's not relevant to you, but I get hits all the time when people search for MS 150, Saint Arnold, or Aussie Bushman Grill. This is hit or miss and almost accidental, but it drives traffic.
This is one that I've tried. I get sick every time I catch a hit coming in on the word "martegraw". Properly spelled Marti Gros by the way (It's French for "Fat (gros) Tuesday (Marti)").

Anna's Answer to All Life's Problems
Butterscotch Bars  
2/3 cup butter or marg.
2 tsp. baking powder.
2 cups brown sugar.
1/4 tsp. salt.
2 eggs.
1 tsp. vanilla.
1 1/2 cups flour.
1/2 cup nuts (opt.)
Melt butter and add brown sugar.  When cooled, add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Spread and bake in a 9X13" pan for 30 min. at 350 degrees.

Pencil
Normally, I write notes with a black ball type pen. I use something that makes a bold line because of my vision. Today, however, I'm trying a wooden pencil. I just grabbed it out of the drawer. It is interesting. I forgot the sound a wooden pencil makes across the page. The wood feels far different from the plastic. I find myself not writing anything these days. I take most of my notes on the computer. Nearly everything I write is actually typed.

Day
Sorry I'm so boring. I did get stopped in the hall today and told that I was bleeding. It looked like someone had cut my throat. It was a mole. When I nick them, they bleed like mad. I hadn't even shaved today. I hit it yesterday. It must have itched or something. I won't even feel it when they bleed.
Metro jerked me around again. I was supposed to take tomorrow off and take care of the Metro Lift pass. The bastards didn't schedule me. Thanks, bastards. Now I will probably have to do it next week. I'm glad I didn't put in for vacation. I suppose I'll go in to work like normal. I hate those disorganized losers. You can tell it is really a government job.
A friend of mine calls me. She is waiting in her boyfriend's apartment parking lot. They were supposed to go to a movie and he is like an hour late. So, she bitches at me for fifteen minutes. Yes, I so enjoy getting the bitchy phone call and no make up blow-job. That just makes my day. Women!

Birthday
It was a busy day at work again. It felt good. I'm getting back into some programming. The software packaging I've don over the last couple of years is getting old. It is the same stuff over and over, yet you constantly have to learn the new problems.
I got both my lunch and dinner bought for me today. It was pretty cool. The conversation at dinner was great. I so rarely get to talk to people who like to banter about geek stuff. Adam tried (again) to give me EverCrack II. The box comes with one free month. It sounds like a blast to play, but I just don't want to get sucked in. I know it would amount to a bunch of sleepless nights.

Hits
I really think my mom is hitting my site and clicking on multiple pages to pump up my counter.

Lexx
I'm watching this series called Lexx. It is a poorly shot scifi TV show. The characters are shallow and the plots are kind of stupid. The chick is hot. She has a sexy accent of the German kind. I have a thing for German chicks. Wait, it isn't just German chicks. How do you spell "gkgkrgkrgkrkkrow"?
For the longest time I would have swore the Kai character was plaid by child of Kieth Carradine (Kung Fu, he plaid Grasshopper), but I was way off.
This show is terrible, but I can't stop watching it. I'm not even watching them in order, and it doesn't matter. They are repetitive and predictable. I can't stop! Well, there is some nudity.

Day
I said yesterday that I was trying very hard not to freak over Monday's work. Well, I did get allot done. I didn't get much done at the same time. It is funny how things work out like that. I figured out how to fix the one trouble that was really driving me up the wall. As normal, fifteen new things came up. It is like that. Feast or famine. Well, feast or feast lately. It is better to be busy.
The battery on my MP3 player died on the walk in to work this morning. Oh, it was raining, and muggy too.  I was happy on the way home. I had no MP3 player. It was raining. I mentioned to myself that it is a rare day that I'm in a better mood leaving work than on the way in.
When I got home, I ordered some comfort food in the form of hot-wings. I stumbled around the apartment and didn't get a damn thing constructive done. I finished an audio book.

Day
I'm off to a friend's house in a bit to avoid the Superbowl. I found a Mac OS 9.2.2 CD for them, because theirs has become corrupt and they need to fix an old box. I'm getting a home cooked meal in payment. I like that arrangement. We plan on watching some Star Gate reruns. The halftime show promises to be quite vacuous this year. Rob at work says he watches only for the commercials. I spend the rest of the year avoiding commercials, there is no point in stopping today.
I'm trying very hard not to let myself stress about work tomorrow. Work is picking up and I have to stay on top of things. It is amazing how much effort I've had to put into this one piece of software that just keeps finding new ways to torment me. What almost makes things worse is the vendor is kind and more than willing to help. I'm afraid the two of us are learning together. I just need to relax today and hit it hard again tomorrow. There is nothing new about tomorrow. It is all stuff I know how to do. It is all stuff I have done in the past (with a margin for new bugs).

Side Job Idea
A guy sold the advertisement space of his forehead on eBay for 35,000+ for one month. Where do I sign up?

Out to Eat
My parents took me out to eat for my birthday. We went to Crab Shack. It was OK. I enjoyed the time with my parents. They sat us on the outside. Normally, this area is open, but they had hung plastic tarps to hold in the heat from those huge space heaters restaurants have. It was uncomfortable because the cold air poured in from my right and the space heater backed my left. Oh, well. It was still fun hanging out with the parents for a while.
My dad (of course) wants a new truck. This is a constant in his life only dotted momentarily by buying a new truck. For some reason, he wants a diesel this time. He says he wants to get a fifth-wheel, but I don't buy it. He just wants a big truck that makes a growling noise and feels like you are steering a ship.
My mom wants a new laptop. I'm not sure what she is going to do with it. What am I doing with mine?
I didn't talk much.

Week
Man, what happened to this week? Five minutes ago I was walking into work Monday morning. Thank goodness it is over. It's been hectic. Every one at my office is sick. I can feel my glands trying to swell. I'm watching my hands every five minutes. It seems like everything is falling apart one minute and just plane falling the next. Some projects are just insist on exploding every chance. There is this one little piece of software I've been working on lately. The main executable file will not update. The vendor put the same version number on the file during compile and it will not replace during install. Even when I copy the executable file over top of itself, the old file is still there. I will try installing in safe mode Monday. That should do it. It will just take all frigging day. I have stuff piling up. It is always like that. Over the Christmas season, I sat on my hands looking for work. Now, I'm backlogged. I would rather be busy to tell you the truth. I wish stuff would work though. It would be nice If I were busy and things worked.

Family
For the first time in my memory, I actually wanted to meet with the extended family and have a mini-reunion. I've discussed it with a couple of family members before, but I knew it would go nowhere. The only time we ever meet is at funerals. That is kind of sad really.

Bus
Thursday afternoon on the way home from work I noticed a pretty girl looking at me. It was kind of strange, not what was happening, but that I picked up on it. I never do that. She was sitting with some guy, probably her significant other. She was slightly in front of me, across the isle. She snuck little peeks over her shoulder and smiled. She was in a business outfit, except for the boots. They were high-heel, black boots. She had brown hair and as far as I could tell she was in her late twenties. I felt the urge to go up and talk to her. I wonder if I would have found the guts if she hadn't been sitting with that guy.

Birthday Lunch
They had a birthday lunch for Cynthia and myself today. I couldn't go, because I wanted to work through lunch to get off in time to meet some friends for dinner. Not two minutes after every one left for lunch, my friend calls me and has to cancel. So, I miss out on both. Figures.

Badges
The company I work for is on a kick to make everyone swipe their badge to get out of the place as well as in.  I wish they would just implement a stinking time clock. If you are going to yell at people for the time they spend some where just come out and keep track of their time. I'm avoiding the front door. I've heard the term "Badge Nazi" used. There is no turn style or locked door to remind/make you swipe your badge at the front door. They have revolving doors on the side of the building. Those seem to work for the intended purpose. I wish they would follow through on things like this a bit better. It seems like the whole keeping track of people is half-hazard. I say do it or don't do it. Don't go half way and then complain both ways against the middle. What do I know.

OK, you can officially get ^anything^ online.

Dream
I had a funny dream last night. I was Israel in the late sixties. I was queuing up for a flight somewhere. I bought a ticket and walked out to the plane. It was just an open tarmac. The passengers just walked out to the plane and walked up one of those truck bound staircases. I remember looking around and thinking to myself "This is a lot different than it is in the future. No real baggage check. No real passenger check. It will be a few years until the 1970 Olympics and all the hijackings. It will be more than ten years until the Iran hostage affair." Then I thought in an even funnier voice inside my head that those statements are out of place in this dream.
Dreams only exist to keep the portion of our brains that make reasons for things that happen busy. That's why everything in a dream makes sense while you are in the dream. That is the part of your brain that needs a workout so much, that it exorcises every night. This means of reason must be important to survival. It seems like a waist of energy to have dreams when you sleep. You body continues to work, repair, digest, and dream when you are asleep. Dreaming must be as important as all the rest. Do lizards dream? Do insects dream? Do plants dream?

There are some dreams that I and many people I know have had.

• All my teeth fall out.
• Naked in public.
• Fighting
• Running in slow motion from a danger.
• Drowning.
• Swimming through the air (flying).
• Running so fast your feet barely touch the ground every 20 meters.
• Taking a test that I did not study for.

Any more examples out there?

Big Digger
This is the largest earth mover in the world..... built by the German company, Krupp, and seen here crossing a federal highway in Germany en route to its destination (an open-pit coal mine). It is cheaper to move the thing like this, than to construct or reassemble on site.
Specifications:

• The mover stands 311 feet tall and 705 feet long.
• It weighs over 45,500 tons
• Cost $100 million to build
• Took 5 years to design and manufacture
• 5 years to assemble.
• Requires 5 people to operate it.
• The Bucket Wheel is over 70 feet in diameter with 20 buckets, each of which can hold over 530 cubic feet of material.
• A 6-foot man can stand up inside one of the buckets.
• It moves on 12 crawlers (each is 12 feet wide, 8' high and 46 feet long). There are 8 crawlers in front and 4 in back. It has a maximum speed of 1 mile in 3 hours (1/3 mile/hour). ~ It can remove over  76,455 cubic meters each day. (100,000 large dump trucks at 40 [cubic] yards each)

Click on the image for a larger view.
These photos were originally emailed around. I've found some reference to this behemoth online, but I can't find any official photos. I hope I'm not stepping on any one's toes by putting them here.

Meetings
Sometimes meetings work. I was listening to some of the people in one of the departments tell me how things were getting done. Something just didn't sound right. I called a meeting with some folks just to get it into my head what was going on. Now we have a plan to fix some broken stuff and some fair ideas for future expansion. Most of the time meetings get in the way of getting things done. Every now and then they at least feel productive. I think that was the first meeting I've called in like two years.

Million Dollar Baby
I watched that show recently. It is one of those Oscar movies. It was a very well done movie. It was also very depressing. I'm glad someone ruined it for me before I saw it. I would have been disappointed. That is just the way I am. I don't like depressing. The person who ruined it for me said "I walked out of the theater feeling like I should slit my wrists or something." That is why I asked them to tell me the ending. It is by far the best film I will not recommend.
Clint Eastwood made all those Filo Bedo movies in the seventies and eighties like "Any Which-Way but Loose" and some others with the same name, plot and cast. They were about a street fighter trying to make a go. They were comedies. I would not call them great films, but I watch them whenever they just randomly show up on the dial. He seems to have a thing about boxing movies. Well, Clint got it right, so he can stop trying.

Quote of the Day
"The traditional method of attaining the emperor's seat, is to wade to the thrown through a sea of blood." Terry Pratchett, Interesting Times.

Support Morning
I spent most of my morning at work trying to get my passwords synchronized on a bunch of VAX (VMS) servers. I don't even want to get into why the company still uses these Dinosaurs. Digital wanted to get rid of the support before they were bought out by Compaq. Compaq tried several times to abandon support for VMS before they were bought out by Hewlett Packard. I have no idea if HP supports anything resembling VMS. There is absolutely no way to get hardware for the refrigerator sized servers. The Microsoft authentication system is all nice and automated. You don't have to call in to get your normal password fixed when something goes wrong. That is convenient. The VMS systems must drag on the whole support structure. They keep saying they are trying to replace those old systems. I'll believe it when it happens. It s amazing how many people depend on that old infrastructure. I bet if this company just dumped the old system and started new, they would save money. It is the transition where every one has to know both systems to get anything done. That is annoying.

This Guy Had a Wife ... for a While

Phnom Penh - A newlywed Cambodian husband caught by his wife in bed with the family dog angered her even more by proclaiming his love for the dog and asking for a divorce. Police said the 24-year-old husband was found by his shocked 20-year-old wife in a passionate embrace with the dog, a two-year-old mongrel bitch. Police said the man had since left his wife and moved back home with his mother. The whereabouts of the dog was unknown. POE

Here is the original story. Look, ladies, I promise to NOT set you on fire.