Blekh!!!

Keyboards Are Disgusting " A test carried out by Pegasus Lab on account for Swedish magazine PC För alla showed that a normal PC keyboard was infected by more bacteria than a normal toilet seat. More specific it contained 33000 bacteria per square centimeter, compared to 130 on a ordinary toilet seat. The tests also showed occurrence of up to 3100 fungi per square centimeter." Also note that unless you read Swedish, you still have plausible deniability when asked to windex yours. SlashDot

Well duh! I'm glad Swedish tax dollars were spent on this. I routinely ignore the filth associated with my keyboard. I suppose that helps, right?

Day
Vibrating pole
On the way home I stop and wait at a bus stop. At this bus stop is a huge utility pole. It is not your normal pole. It is like a meter around. The wires are the extra high versions. The poles are almost twice as high as normal. I lean against said pole while waiting. Today was quite windy. I could hear the wind whistling in the overhead wires over the sound of traffic. When I leaned against the pole, I could feel the vibration. It was fascinating. OK, I'm a geek.
Credit card woes
Last night I checked that there was enough money in my checking account to cover the Texaco bill. Thank God, there was. I paid it online and went about my evening.
I got to bed around 11:30 or so. Just as I was falling asleep, that little voice whispered in my had "Hey, those numbers didn't look right." Well, I cannot resist the call of the little voice that has saved my butt multiple times so I went and hopped back on the computer. Low, and behold I found some charges on my credit card that I most certainly did not make. They look like those fake companies that porn sites set up so people won't be embarrassed to pay the bill. I called right then and there. Good thing too. There were some pending charges that hadn't gone through yet.
So, I'm card-less for the next couple of weeks. That is a good thing really. We are about to head out to the grocery store and I will use my debit card instead. I double checked online today and the account is gone. I'm not sure how much I really owe, but I know rent and a couple trips to the store were on that card. Those will come back on the next one I'm sure.
Several years ago I had someone charge a couple of trips to some local restaurants on a different card. I'm pretty sure my card got lifted at a local eatery. I'm not sure, but I bet this trouble started from giving my CC to the apartment complex. That ends here.

U. S. Weapon Systems
Federation of American Scientists. Well it looks like they found a use for scientific web space. This page is an extended list of Department of Defense equipment. It has diagrams and photos of a bunch of military aircraft and some other systems. Though, I notice the naval systems are off line.

Frigging MLB
Basically, Major League Baseball wants a bigger piece of Fantasy Baseball leagues and their money. The argument is whether or not statistics become historical fact instantly after the game, or much later. Who owns it when? Who can prophet off it at a given time. Blah blah blah.

This leads me to a question I can't answer -- what on earth prompted baseball to adopt such a hard-line position on an issue it knows it probably can't win in the courts? Daniel W. Drezner

I was never a big baseball fan. First came the strike. That pissed me off from being able to sit through a game. I'll do it if there are friends involved. I even bought a couple hats and other crap that I didn't need. I don't play fantasy anything, but I am already sick of hearing the whining and I haven't even heard any yet.
MLB is a monopoly in my opinion and should be broken up. Each team should have to negotiate TV and other contracts. That should shut them up. Better yet, nationalize it and make the players get day jobs. you know, players used to have to have jobs to play baseball.

:-|
I just heard the words "Elle, Don't touch his butt!!!" come from our living room. I don't want to know. I do not want to know.

Park
We went to a par. We walked two miles. Elly had a great time playing on the play ground with all the other kids. It was tons of fun. No pictures. I didn't take any pictures. That is pretty much all that happened today. It was a pretty good day.

Ubuntu Blog
Some nice tricks. Give them a look.
It looks like they have the answer I've been looking for to get Windows Media files to work. The trouble is, I don't know what I'm doing. What the hell do I do with the data files, binaries and scripts? Maybe I'll figure it out.

Domestic Call
Iran is going to have nukes soon. Europe seems to want no part of stopping it. The U. S. Is already stretched. It is going to take a concerted effort to stop the Iranian government without wiping out the Iranian people.
You know what this all reminds me of? An old married couple. The U. S. is the old man who drinks and boasts a bit. He works hard and tries to keep the world together with a roof over it's head. Europe is like the old mother who wines and complains. She has a glass of wine tries to keep the family together by using diplomacy, but can't always convince the kids to play nice.
Thus, they fight. The UN trys to play counselor. Nothing seems to get done until there is a major crisis. Then the immediate family pulls together for a while. Just ask any cop what happens when you roll up on a domestic call and both members of the argument are about to be arrested. They band together against the cops.
When Iran pushes hard enough, they will get smacked by both parents. Then, hopefully, expelled and cut off from the family until they grow up.

Cookies
Something very ironic just happened. Nat, the Amazing Woman, is baking chocolate chip cookies. She sat down at her computer and instantly ran into third party cookies popping up all over the place. I don't think she caught the irony of the situation.
"mmmmmm chocolate chip coooooookies!!"
"BLEKKKH!! Third party cookies!"

Wal-Mart People
Nat and I just went to Wal-Mart at 1:00 in the morning. We needed cat litter and bread. We ended up spending $100 on all kinds of groceries. I didn't even get any chocolate milk. We grabbed a mat thing that says "Please wipe your paws" to put in front of the cat box. We got a bunch of those meals ready to cook that you put in the crock pot.
While there, we ran in to a guy who helped ups track down the mat. He was hauling a ladder around in one department and helped us find something in a different section of the store. When he didn't know where something was, he asked one of the other employees for us. That was kind of nice.
Lately, I've been hearing all kinds of folks bash Wal-Mart for their employment practices. Wal-Mart does twist the arm of suppliers to get a better deal. Why not? They would be negligent to the stock holders if the best deal possible was not pursued. People complain that Wal-Mart kills all the other local employers and small businesses. That is a particularly bad thing when Wal-Mart then pulls out of that market and leaves a husk of a local economy.
The guy who helped us was nice. Most of the folks there were working on restocking the shelves. I hated stocking. I worked at Randal's a million years ago. Yuck. No health at all. No benefits. Where I work now, I don't get any benefits to speak of. I'm able to beat their medical everywhere I look. I can't get child coverage for less than $650 a month. That is more than I pay in rent.
I'm rambling. Sorry. Hopefully, I'll have something more coherent later.

Yikes

I talked with Professor Budgie, my favorite chemist, last night. His conclusion was that if you give a bright high school student an unlimited credit card, and all the facilities he wanted, he would probably be able to whip up a nuke from scratch in a matter of months. They're not that hard to make ... but the good Prod pointed out that it would depend on how sophisticated a nuke you wanted. For example, our erstwhile high schooler could probably whip up a Hiroshima sized nuke in no time, given that unlimited credit card. But, if you wanted one that would take out, say, all of Israel, or a third of the US eastern seaboard, it might take a few months. And, mind you, that's starting from scratch. It was not a reassuring conversation. Happy Friday 13th. Red Hot Cupa Politics

The article was really arguing that it is too late for sanctions against Iran to work. Personally, I think the concept of sanctions is flawed. By the time any regime will feel the pinch of sanctions, they have made up their mind to follow through with whatever it was that is pissing off the rest of the world. I remember Iraq sanctions. Boy, did they work or what? Those sanctions also lead to Oil for Food scandals. The article above mentions that too. Of course, most of the same people who made money on Oil for Food are still in charge of the UN, so why would they do anything any different with Iran? Besides, the people of Iran don't want a war. It is the group of assholes in charge. Remember, they are not elected.

No Inspections

Iran is threatening to block the IAEA from inspecting various sites associated with Iran's nuclear program. Iran has adopted the North Korean play book, knowing that the IAEA is completely powerless to act. a blog for all

Do we remember how well this worked last time?

Options

The four options are best summed as follows: the ostrich, stepping up global pressure, Israel goes medieval on Iran's nuclear program with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch just as it did Iraq in 1981, and the US air strike. a blog for al

Are the pliers maid in China?

Joke

An engineer dies and reports to the Pearly Gates.  St. Peter checks his dossier and says, "Ah, sorry, you're in the wrong place." So the engineer reports to the gates of hell and is let in.  Pretty soon, the engineer gets dissatisfied with the level of comfort in hell, and starts designing and building improvements.  After a while, they've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and the engineer is a pretty popular guy. One day God calls Satan up on the telephone and says with a sneer, "So, how's it going down there?" Satan replies, "Hey, things are going great.  We've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and there's no telling what this engineer is going to come up with next." God replies, "What???  You've got an engineer?  That's a mistake -- he should never have been sent down there.  Send him up here." Satan says, "No way.  I like having an engineer on the staff, and I'm keeping him." God says, "Send him back up here or I'll sue!" Satan laughs uproariously and answers, "Yeah, right.  And just where are YOU going to get a lawyer?"

Those engineers, they just can't help themselves.

Artificial eyes one step closer.

God Help Us

In another case involving Delara Darabi, she was charged with murder. She, a teen-ager, will hang according to the court\u2019s decision in Rasht, northern Iran. She denied the charges. In still another incident, Nazanin, the victim of an attack, tried to defend herself against rapists. The Muslim males also tried to rape her niece who was with her at the time. Etemaad, the state-run newspaper, reported that the 18-year-old "confessed to stabbing one of three men who had attacked the pair along with their boyfriends while they were spending some time in a park west of the Iranian capital in March 2005." In the fracas, the boy friends got on their motorbikes and fled, leaving the two girls defenseless. With that, rapists proceeded with their attacks. Three Muslims "pushed her and her 16-year-old niece Somayeh onto the ground and tried to rape them." She then took a knife, stabbing one of the men\u2019s hand. The men continued with the attack. As the girls attempted to run from the park, the men bodily got hold of them again. Nazanin then stabbed one of the men in the chest. "The teenage girl broke down in tears in court as she explained that she had no intention of killing the man but was merely defending herself and her younger niece from rape." The decision of the court? Nazanin will be hanged to death. Such is life and death in Iran. Canada Free Press

These are the people who are about to get nuclear weapons. These are the people who want to take over the world and install this kind of justice called Sharia Law. Women are little more than property. They are to submit to rape rather than resist.

Suds (picture of the day)

[click for a larger image]

This is the apartment complex across the street from mine. I was waiting for the bus, talking to Nat on the phone and didn't even notice it for a second. A cop drove by and I think took a picture. I've seen this kind of thing done before, but never this well. You could still hear the fountain running behind the shiny cloud.
Nat has a timely post from last night about sneaking out of the house and being up to no good as a kid.. hmmmm. How ... timely.

Redundant Redundancy

... the Norwegian government is planning to create the seed bank next year at the behest of crop scientists. The $3 million vault will be built deep inside a sandstone mountain lined with permafrost on the Norwegian Arctic island of Spitsbergen. The vault will have metre-thick walls of reinforced concrete and will be protected behind two airlocks and high-security blast-proof doors. It will not be permanently manned, but "the mountains are patrolled by polar bears", says Fowler. New Scientist

They are going to dig a hole in a cold place and bury a bunch of seeds for future generations. If the environment changes people will have a bunch of seeds to start over. If the environment changes will the seeds work? I am all for backups,  You have to have a plan for restoring too.

VoIP and Terrorism
I'm sure you have heard all the hub-bub over getting a warrant before listening in on phone calls overseas. I think I have figured out what is really going on. There are people driving (and flying) around out there with their notebook hooked up to an antenna. They are searching for insecure WiFi connections. The practice is called War Driving. Well, I've figured it out.
What is happening is the bad guys are driving around and attaching to networks in neighborhoods and businesses. They are using equipment available on the open market. Maybe it is modified, maybe it is straight off the shelf. They probably don't stay attached to any one network for more than a minute. That means as they move around, they may hit a hundred different IP addresses in a short period of time. That means the NSA would only have a few seconds to get a warrant to tap that personal IP address and infiltrate the law abiding citizen's network.
I'm a dumb-ass and this is obvious to me.
Does that make more sense? Does that clear things up a bit? Shut up about it. Give the NSA a break. They have to deal with new shit every five minutes. I think there are 35,000 people working for the NSA in one way or another. They are all busting their ass to prevent the bad guys from killing my family and yours.

Elevator Stories
I would like to take a moment to rant about the elevators at work. For the first several years I worked in the building where I now find myself employed, I was on the first floor. I did not have to deal with the elevators with every move. Then, I was on the fourth floor. That is the top floor of the building. Right now, I'm on the third floor.
Because this is only a four floor building, the designers opted for hydraulic driven elevators instead of some cable driven mechanism. This has some advantages. The mechanism is smaller. The system is a bit more self contained. It has some drawbacks. The system is prone to mechanical trouble. At least, my personal opinion tells me so. The system is also slow. I would say it smells funny too. That may not be the actual elevator. I'm told the bathrooms vent into the shaft. Nice undocumented feature there guys.
The entire time I've been in this building, the elevators have been down one at a time at least half of the time. There have been one or two occasions where two of the four elevators was out of action at the same time. This is normally dealt with quickly. The elevators have been taken off line for extended periods for upgrades and maintenance. I'm still waiting for the day when all four go down simultaneously.
When I ride the elevator these days it feels like I'm traveling down a mine shaft. The car clunks and grinds. Every now and again there is a screech. Last year I got on the elevator on the first floor. It was early in the morning around 6:00 am. I hit three and waited. The door closed. Then, nothing. I hit the door open button and still nothing. Then I noticed the floor read out said "E" instead of a number at all. "Crap!" I thought. I experienced the "Oh shit" moment where you feel tingles and all the blood leaves your extremities. I'm claustrophobic. I started hitting buttons and hitting the "1" button seemed to open the door.
Not much later that day I found out someone got caught in the elevator and I shouted through to hit the "1" key to open the door. I heard they reset something to fix it after I complained. It seemed not to have learned its lesson.
There is no solution to this problem. It is not like the powers that be can just replace the elevators. I know the maintenance contractor has been here several times to adjust and repair the damn thing. I make sure my phone battery is charged before i ride. I honestly did not ride the elevator once when my mobile had a dead battery.
A friend of mine was caught in an elevator at University of Houston Down Town. He says the car was packed and got stuffy instantly. They were in contact with the fool on the other end of that on-board phone/intercom, but no one came to help them. They asked that the fire department be called and this person said they had called. After an hour and a half, someone on the elevator called 911 and the fire department showed up in ten minutes. The fire department said no one had called them. It turns out the person on the other end of that intercom had paged someone, and was waiting for their call back. Meanwhile, my buddy stood in a sweltering elevator with a dozen or so others who all remained calm. Fortunately, his professor was trapped with him. I suppose he could not deny the excuse.
I remember in psychology class discussing the fact that in western cultures we turn around to face the door on elevators. This does not happen in some other cultures. There were theories why this happens, but not concrete reasons.
Come now, if there has been a single post on this blog that should spawn a couple of anecdotes, it is this one. Please comment on your elevator stories.

Why didn't I think of that?
I hate it when someone comes up with a really good idea and I could have thought of it, but didn't. ptptphttpt ... sliced bread. BAH!!!!
The news story.
The web page .

Rank ≠ Right

Through the pitch-black night, the captain sees a light dead ahead on a collision course with his ship. The captain sends a signal: "Change your course 10 degree east." The light signals back: "Change yours, 10 degrees west." Angry, the captain sends: "I'm a navy captain! Change your course, sir!" "I'm a seaman, second class," comes the reply. "Change your course, sir." Now the captain is furious. "I'm a battleship! I'm not changing course!" There is one last reply. "I'm a lighthouse. Your call."

A really big rock out ranks the mightiest sea captain.

I said decaf GODDAMMIT!!!!

An explosive device was found in a Starbucks coffee shop in central San Francisco on Monday. The building was evacuated and a police bomb squad disarmed the device, authorities said. CNN

They should have just waited for someone to show up and ask forthe lost-and-found.

Weekend
Friday
What a full weekend. Friday, we saw Rumor Has it at Alamo. I did not think I would like it. I have friends who would say "that is not a Kelly movie." However, I did enjoy it. I enjoyed it because I had the opportunity to share the experience with Natalie. It was fun.
Saturday
What the hell did we do Saturday? Oh, ya. Two trips to Wal-Mart and good beans and rice that Nat made. We watched some movies and hung out at the lair. It was fun.
Sunday
Well, Sunday was interesting. I have some pictures.
We got up early for a Sunday. We fell out of bed at around 8:00 and ran down to my parent's place to pick up Elle. She had been spending the weekend there. We then drove to the opposite end of the world. We went to far north Houston well past the airport out 1960. Nat's Grandmother's best friend lives out there. Maybe she is her sister. I don't know. Anyway, she is in her eighties. She has lived out there for a million years.
I've seen these kinds of neighborhoods before. You have a major road. Off to the side of the road you have houses. They are highly varied. They are of different ages. They are different distances from the road. Rarely do you have one in front of the other. This is a plot of land that was divided up between family. They each built houses as needed. You almost always have huge yards. Who would not want a huge yard if they could get it? That was this neighborhood. Many of the families here were related somehow.
Elle Absolutely loved the yard. She ran everywhere. I will be surprised if she is not sore today. Nat showed Elle all the different plants growing around the property. There is one tree in particular that used to be a Christmas tree. It was then planted and flourished. (They did not cut it down, they dug it up.) We were far enough back from the road to let Elle have a longer leash.
The driveway was two strips of small gravel. Elle played in the driveway and tried to gather rocks. The Lady who lives there says "Every kid who comes here plays with that gravel. They usually pick it up and then start throwing it."
Nat then said "I know. I remember coming here and playing with the gravel when I was her age. My dad had to stop me and say 'Empty your pockets, she needs a drive way.'"
Elle never did throw it. Elle was in sight, but well far enough away that I could not see her face. I knew the look on it though. It is that look that I had on my face when I played in the dirt around my parent's house. It is the look on my face when I captained star ships to alien lands in the flower-bed.
There were trees. They are tall and proud trees planted in a row by human hands. By the hands of the people who live on the land. Gorgeous trees.
We all sat down to a lunch inside. I heard the most fascinating stories of moving to that spot, growing the plants, how the whole area has built up over the last several years, killing rabbits from the land behind their's and selling them for a dollar each to the "N"-word (I refuse to type it here right now) across the tracks. She is in her eighties, give her a break. She was about forty years old in the early sixties. She was a little girl in the depression. She was a teen during World War II. How I would love to hear more stories from her and Nat's mom.
I took a picture of the telephone in her house. I couldn't help myself. It is the center piece of a shelf full of family photos, and nick-nacks. There is a calender, notepad, pens, and an answering machine. I'll post the picture soon. You have to see it to get the feel of the hub of the outside world it is.
When we first arrived I could not help but notice how much stuff was laying around. I took a photo of the garage. I commented to Nat "This is what our place is going to look like when we are this age." You could tell that well manicured house had been slowly built over a long and full life.
Then, all too soon, it was time to go. We had plans for the rest of the day. It was good timing. The lady who had been up since dawn cooking, in her eighties, was tired and I'm sure wanted to take a well earned nap. I thought for sure I would be board to tears all day.
Nat Elle and I left. Elle instantly passed out. On the way back to my parent's place to drop Elle off, we passed three motorcycles. They were in civilian cloths,but they were clearly cops. They were riding in a line several meters apart. The whole time we were behind them I could only think of my father who was also on a ride that day. He tells me the ride was wonderful. He enjoyed every minute. They went to Brenham I believe for a burger. They chose back roads. They saw many people on the road out only to enjoy the beautiful day on motorcycles and in classic cars. They had a blast.
It was a magnificent day.
The weather now makes me worry about how hot it will be this Summer.
We dropped Elle off at my parent's place. They like watching her, but I worry we will ware out our welcome. We try to keep it to a minimum.
Then came the second half of our day. We went to a restaurant called Gringos on 59. I'm not sure how to spell it. The food was good. The service was OK. There was some confusion on the gratuity.
Nat and I were the first one's to show up at the restaurant. We ran into Jack, Adam's friend while waiting. Small world. I had to stop him later at the ice cream machine and ask him his name. I have got to have a learning disability with that. We were pretty loud and rowdy. I hope we didn't upset his evening.
It was Ken's birthday. It was to be a surprise party. As people began trickling in I got the best feeling of nostalgia. Some of the folks I had not seen for years. Nat and I used to hang out with these people years ago. There were old CB gang members and new Faire gang members. There was no resounding "SURPRISE!", but Ken was pleased with all the folks who showed up.
I got Ken a flashlight that takes lithium batteries. It is the size of a pen light, but as bright as a four cell Maglight, or so the package said. I was worried he would be a bit oblivious about it, but he liked it. He played with it at the table and used it to "attack" the media aka Scott and myself who showed up with cameras in tow. To be honest, I didn't notice what else he got because were were several meters apart on the huge table. I called him on his mobile and said "happy birthday" as a joke.
I followed the smokers out to the back landing where they ... smoked. We further discussed our plans for buying the Texas Renaissance Festival future birthday parties and a Goblin Nation trip to the Arizona Fair. We passed a plate around for left overs so someone could eat. Then we bought him a fajita dinner so he could eat better. Ken dropped ice down Missy's shirt. Mike dropped ice down Jen's pants. You would have thought she had a squirrel in there. Someone dropped ice down my shirt. We ate and talked and flirted. My God it was fun.
When we were to leave, we gathered in the parking lot. this is particularly important because this group used to hang out in parking lots. Heath let the air out of Mikes tire beforehand. While Mike knelt down to inspect the tire, Jen dumped a cup of ice down his back. That is, she tried. Every time she got close, he would turn and ask for a flashlight, holler at Heath for the air hose (Heath has a compressor on his truck) or make a comment. She finally got him though. I wish I had taken a video of that. It was classic.
Most of us made our way to Slick Willy's over on Murphy road. We had a toast (thanks Nat and Heath) there, and shot some pool. Nat put some good songs on the juke-box. I won the one game I played because the other person scratched on the 8. I've won the last couple of games like that. I managed to keep up with him for a while, I even accidentally sank two of my own balls on one shot. I've never done that during a game before.
When Missy and Jamie (her daughter) had to leave, Jen and I walked them out. I walked out to make sure Jen made it back in OK. There was a guy driving around the parking lot in a small four door car. He made me nervous. I noticed him again later when all of us were leaving. I hope he was some kind of security guard, but who am I kidding. He was some freak who likes watching drunk people leaving a pool hall.
When it was time to go, it was "good bye" and "call me soon". There were hugs and hand shakes. Future plans and some kisses. The couples had to leave to go get the kids. Ken and Jen said it. Nat and I said it all at the same time. More hugs in the parking lot. Off we all go with good memories.
We picked up Elle (Thanks a ton Mom and Dad). We went home. We put Elle to bed. We crashed ourselves. That sounds like life to me.

Off
We are off in a minute to go grab Ell and head off to grandma's house. We then return to go to dinner with some friends. This will most likely be the only post today. Prey for us. Thanks.

I don't have anything to say today. I'm just here. Tomorrow we have a Christmas thing to do with Elle during the day and a dinner with friends at night. Not sure how all that is going to work out. Well, that's it. I'm gone. Have fun.

Good to Know

You want to know all about someone's cell phone usage, like who they called and for how long they talked? You don't need a warrant. You don't need FISA. You don't even have to be a law enforcement officer. You just need to click on a website like Locate cell.com, or one of several others, send them the cell phone number and a credit card number, and in 24 hours or less they'll send you a list of every call made from that cell phone. And it's all perfectly legal. ... Sen. Chuck Schumer, doing something worthwhile for a change, is trying to get the practice criminalized. In the meantime, the FBI has issued a warning to all its field offices that the cell phone records of agents and informants are exposed to anyone who wants to buy them. The Chicago Police Department has likewise warned its officers of the security threat. Mark in Mexico

(Slashdot's 2 cents)
This is good to know. I like the fact that you only need the phone number. I get phone calls from a bunch of dyslexic hill-billies looking for a trailer parts place that happens to have a number similar to mine.
Ring, ring...
Me: "Hello"
Hill-Billy: "Ya, Y'all got a new fornistat for my short tong blah - blah - blah"
Me:  "Didn't you call five minutes ago? You have the middle two numbers switched in the phone number you dialed. It is XXX-X49-XXXX you are looking for, not XXX-X94-XXXX."
Hill-Billy: "What?!? ... ... ... Hang on. .. .. .."
Me: [click]
This scenario plays out every couple of days. I can tell some of these guys are on mobiles. I should start running these queries and calling their friends to convince them they have a learning disability and seek help. No, I'll just stop answering the phone unrecognized numbers.
This is a very minor annoyance in my life. It doesn't even eat up very many minutes. I do so enjoy complaining though.

Confuse-ish Say

Your Fortune Is Baby conceived on back seat of car with automatic transmission grow up to be shiftless bastard. The Wacky Fortune Cookie Generator

I've had worse fortune cookies.

Penny Arcade
I don't normally get off on Penny Arcade. They seem like a couple of jokers who aren't all that funny most of the time. They have some winners though. I think a bunch of people hang out there for the forum.
I'm off to order my pizza.

Remember
I just took one of those little online test tings that asked "what event do you most remember?" Well, there are so many.
* I remember eating dog food from a bowl before I could walk.
* I remember walking across a heater vent and burning my feet when I was three.
* I remember the first time I took a shower in PE class.
* I remember taking a walk down the bayou near my home some time during middle school and taking a bunch of pictures with my old Canon AE1.
* I remember crossing a frozen lake in Missouri City Texas. Not many people can say that.
* I remember a fight in the locker room in high school where one guy really wanted to kill the other. I tried to get to the coach's office before the fight broke out, but I didn't make it. I could have.
* I remember sitting in the high school library where we just happened to watch the shuttle Challenger launch because we were working on a project.
* I remember camping on the Guadalupe River with some CB friends and enjoying life down the rapids.
* I remember crossing Highway 59 on foot to call a tow truck in the middle of the night because Marble and I nearly drove the car into a lake on the day before Christmas Eve.
* I remember 9/11. I was in a meeting with some people out of state. Everything started happening slowly and built up.
I'm not sure what single events of the wedding and meeting Elle will stick in my head. I suppose I'm still too close to those to know how time will filter them.
What do you remember?

Day
Meeting
The meeting went ... "eh". I'm not sure how else to put it. It was twenty minutes long. We discussed my implementation for the next year. That means, how much of my time is allocated. The boss wants to to that kind of thing quarterly. That sounds fine with me. I'm pretty much satisfied with working where I do. As long as I'm learning things I feel pretty good about it. I just hope the new position will involve a bit more programming and teamwork.
Dinner
We went over to Mike and Ronnie's place last night for a great meal and a good time. Elle and Ben played, or is it fought over every toy in the house. We had to rein them in a couple of times. They are kids after all.
Home
I'm home now. It feels so good. I think I've found what I was missing all this time.

Day
Boss
I have a big meeting with the department head tomorrow about my workload and manpower requirements for this year. I just heard about it today. That is really a good thing because I'm a nerves wreck. It is no big deal. Still, It is the big boss. He is a cool guy. I'm sure you will hear all about it tomorrow.
Danial
Danial came over to drop off Elle's Jeep's charger. He said he was on this side of the world anyway, but I think he went out of his way just to do it. He is pretty cool.
Rape
There was a rape not all that far from where we live. The news report said a woman went to a store in the early hours of the morning with her son to get some juice. When she came back to the apartment, two men attacked her, robbed her, then raped her. The news mentioned the apartment complex had a bunch of Louisiana refugees in it. The news also said there is only one way in, one way out and no one saw them leave. I wonder if they live there.
Another lady was interviewed and she said "It makes me feel uncomfortable." I filled in her words in my head "It makes me feel right at home." because she had a Louisiana accent.
I need to start looking for a better place to live. I wish we could afford a house.
Dinner
We are supposed to head over to Mike and Ronnie's for a turkey dinner. I hope things work out that way. We haven't had a chance to get together in a wile. I'm sure you will hear about that too. At least, if it is a disaster. Good news goes unreported these days.
Off we go. Well, I better publish this. Nat is getting sick of the word "blog".

Munich
I agree.

WiFi
What a difference two years can make.

Notebooks everywhere I just walked past a conference room. There were fifteen people in there with at least ten notebook computers. Every notebook had a separate network cable. There were two hubs and a switch. My company has a paranoid view of wireless. I'm thinking one wireless router would have eliminated fifteen cables and obvious hazards. They wouldn't have spent twenty minutes setting up all the wires and wasted tape taping them to the carpet. The policy is just plain no. Oh, well. I suppose it is for the best. Kelly 2003-12-03

For the moment the answer is still no. However, they are at least doing some research into productivity changes and WiFi usefulness. There is a test WiFi hub on my floor. I cannot use it because A) I do not remove my notebook from the lock unless I cannot function otherwise. B) I am a contractor and thus, a second class employee who is undeserving of mobility. C) There is only one hub so I couldn't get very far. Some day they will get it. Some day they will not have a choice in the matter. As in 10/base-T vs 100/base-T they will be forced to upgrade. They tried to implement a VOIP system on a 10/base-T network with a 5 megabit half duplex connection to the internet. It didn't work.

Hey Man Nice Shot

Gazing through the telescopic sight of his M24 rifle, Staff Sgt Jim Gilliland, leader of Shadow sniper team, fixed his eye on the Iraqi insurgent who had just killed an American soldier. His quarry stood nonchalantly in the fourth-floor bay window of a hospital in battle-torn Ramadi, still clasping a long-barreled Kalashnikov. Instinctively allowing for wind speed and bullet drop, Shadow's commander aimed 12 feet high. A single shot hit the Iraqi in the chest and killed him instantly. It had been fired from a range of 1,250 meters, well beyond the capacity of the powerful Leupold sight, accurate to 1,000 meters. "I believe it is the longest confirmed kill in Iraq with a 7.62mm rifle," said Staff Sgt Gilliland, 28, who hunted squirrels in Double Springs, Alabama from the age of five before progressing to deer - and then people. "He was visible only from the waist up. It was a one in a million shot. I could probably shoot a whole box of ammunition and never hit him again." News Telegraph

It is a bit confusing here. Jim was not shooting a Kalashnikov. True, a Kalashnikov is 7.62x39mm rifle. However, when the U. S. says 7.62mm they usually mean a 7.62x51mm that is some times called a .308 caliber. They are not really the same thing. They will chamber each other's rounds and fire, however, the ballistics are quite different. It has to do with the number of times the bullet turns in the rifling of the barrel and the exact length of the over all cartridge. Every now and then they mean 7.62x54mm. That ammunition is based on the .306 round.
No matter how you measure it, that is a good shot. Most of the competition shooting for distance is done with .50 caliber. The bullet (the lead part that flies out the end of the barrel and does most of the damage) is heavy and keeps it's inertia for a longer period of time. Hitting a man sized target at that distance is a hell of a shot in any one's book.
Where does .223 vs 5.56x45mm come in to it? Well NATO never met a standard they didn't want to change for no better reason than to make it their own. I wonder what the difference between U. S. military MREs and NATO MREs could possibly be.

It's Hitler all over again
First Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Israel must be whipped off the map. Then he says the Holocaust was a myth. Now this Axis of Evil leader says the whole reason Europe put a Jewish state in the middle of a bunch of Muslims is because the Europeans really wanted the Muslims to finish the job.

Hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said the Nazi attempt to eradicate Jews in the Holocaust was a “Myth,” has now charged that European countries sought to complete the genocide by establishing Israel, a Jewish state in the midst of Muslim countries. “Don’t you think that continuation of genocide by expelling Jews from Europe was one of their (the Europeans’) aims in creating a regime of occupiers of Al-Quds (Jerusalem)?” the official Islamic Republic News agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying. “Isn't that an important question?”

"Hard Line"? Don't you mean "murderous", "evil", "nuclear armed", or "antisemitic"? My wife is hard line when it comes to the treatment of our daughter. My teachers used to be hard line when it came to homework and acting up in class. None of them threating to kill me because I'm the wrong religion. None of the people who know me have ever said they want to destroy my entire existence because they don't like my religion.
Why do people hate the Jews so much? I have a theory. Many centuries ago Christians were not allowed to lend money for interest. Muslims are still not allowed to do so. It was called usury. Now a days, usury is only used to describe exorbitant interest. Miss a couple payments on a credit card and you will see what I mean. Well, this lead to the Jews getting rich while the Christians and Muslims quietly borrowed money from the only people who would lend it to them, the Jews. The resentment continues. I really believe this is the seed of antisemitism.
Modern banks lend money to Muslims and call the prophet they make a charge or a fee.

Iran

I'd love to know what the US policy towards Iran actually is. On the one hand, the US encourages the mullahs to give up their nuclear capacity. On the other hand, we're working with the EU3, and the UN ... and nothing is being accomplished -- which may be the way the world wants it. Sanctions have been mentioned -- but Russia and China have indicated they'll veto them. Red Hot Cuppa Politics

How likely is it that the U. S. and Israel will allow Iran to achieve a nuclear weapon? I hope not. Do you suppose the Russians and Chinese, both of whom share borders with Iran and depend heavily on her oil, will lift a finger to save Iran if they thought the supply of oil would continue?

Of course, that doesn't’t mean that we aren't’t planning an attack, since it should be pretty damn obvious to anybody with a functioning brain that negotiations aren't’t working one little bit and time is running out — FAST. If we don’t, the Israelis will do it alone, because they have no choice. What it does mean is that we've reached the point where we find it useful to signal our intent to the Turbaned Tumblefucks of Tehran, which again means that the unproductive diplomacy dance is going out of style fast and our leaders are acknowledging that fact at long last. Acknowledging it openly, that is, since I’m sure that they've been aware of it for quite some time. The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler

I predict much to-do over semantics, rhetoric. diplomacy, and a few resounding booms.

Last Day of the Year
Today is the last day of the year of our Lord 2005. It has been a hell of a year for me. We just went to lunch with a friend and his family. It was a ton of fun. I missed hanging out. We talked about blogs and the Wikipedia debacle. We talked about kids and jobs. We talked about all the things that happen to us on a daily basis. It all made me think about things that happened this last year.
What happened.
* I Got Married - This was a big one. I love Natalie. I like being married to her. I like spending time with her. I wish I could convey that to her. We have our moments of poor communication. I feel that there is nothing we can't make work.
* I Became a step dad - That is I met Elle and married her mom. That makes me her step dad. That still feels funny. If any one asked me a year ago if I wanted kids, I would have said I had no idea. I wouldn't have it any other way.
* I camped at Faire. I always wanted to go camp at Faire. I hadn't had the opportunity before. If I could afford it, I would go to Arizona this February for another Faire.
* I bought my first real 35mm type digital camera. I had no idea I would like this much. I got a video camera too, but I have not used it as much as I had hopped. If I figure out how to pull video using Linux, I'll use it more.
* I moved. I hate moving. With Elle, we needed a bigger place. it is still not big enough. I wish I could give them a castle.
* We bought a car.
There must be a couple of dozen other things I could add to that list. That kind of covers it.
What did not change.
* I still have my vision. I worry every day that I will get a detached retina or some other catastrophic change will occur in my vision.
* I still have my health. Ever since I was diagnosed with a funky heartbeat (Early Ventricular Contraction) I worry with every sore rib, heartburn, or stomach cramp.
* We have not been robbed. I worry about that all the time too.
* I still have my parents. That is a good thing. Nothing bad has happened to them.
* I still have my job. I complain a lot, but I'm glad to be employed. I recently put updated my resume and set it adrift. Not sure if any good will ever come of it.
So, some very important things stayed the same.

In Other News

Tom LaPuzza confirms that the U.S. Navy has also contributed to the placement of dolphins in entertainment facilities. While a "retirement community" exists to care for Navy dolphins no longer in active service, downsizing in the mid-nineties forced the transfer of 18 Navy animals to marine parks in the United States and Tahiti. LaPuzza also states that strong information made available to the Navy shows the Soviet training program is "out of business", with the result that the animals are dead or have been turned over to marine parks. But the U.S. program is still in operation, on a stand-by basis. "They are a deployable unit," LaPuzza says. "If there was information that there would be an attack on a submarine base in Seattle, we would send them up there." Discovery

In other news a pack of well trained dolphins overpowered a night watchmen at a Sea World facility in Tahiti. The pack then took control of a local police station, armed themselves and took several hostages. their demands include the release of several "comrades" still being held near their native Russian Black Sea military training facili    ty, Fish, and the relaxation of inter-species marriage regulation across the world.

Witches of the Caribbean
This movie sucks. It isn't worth the space it takes up on a web server to tell you how much it sucks. Avoid at all cost.

Open Thread for Friday
I know full well that there are not really enough readers to this blog to have a proper open thread. I feel left out though. So, without further a-do. Here is my first open thread.

Complexity

Fortunately, studies show that we can learn to manage complex systems. There are people who have investigated complex systems management, and know how to do it. But it demands humility. And I would add, along with humility, managing complex systems also demands the ability to admit we are wrong, and to change course.  If you manage a complex system you will frequently, if not always, be wrong.  You have to backtrack.  You have to acknowledge error. You\u2019ve probably learned that with your children.  Or, if you don\u2019t have children, with your bosses. And one other thing.  If we want to manage complexity, we must eliminate fear.  Fear may draw a television audience. It may generate cash for an advocacy group. It may support the legal profession.  But fear paralyzes us.  It freezes us.  And we need to be flexible in our responses, as we move into a new era of managing complexity. So we have to stop responding to fear: Michael Crichton

Rarely is there a movie, TV show, or conversation that captures my attention so much that I won't go to the bathroom at the first inkling of need. Never has there been a text that has bolted me to my seat in such a way. Not, that is, until today. I found an essay on Complex Systems that I could not stop reading until i was done. I didn't even realize I needed to go to the bathroom until I had absorbed the whole thing.
I've heard that religion is an old way to control the masses. It worked before there were these things we call governments. Fear of hell and lust for the rewards of heaven have governed our actions since we walked upright. I personally believe the concept of language came about because one wanted to control another. Michael says we must stop responding to fear. I say we must step back and stop responding to all emotions to understand what is going on around us. Emotions are what guided us before we started to "think". Emotions kept us fed, warm, together, away from danger. We have thought our way out of these holds. The Japanese seem to be the closest to enlightenment if this theory holds true. Then again the Vulkans may be the most advanced. Perhaps there will be a day when Human kind surrenders completely over to logic and predictability. It won't do much for art and creativity. Those are both celebrations of complex systems.
I love complex systems. It is why I like programing. So many people think computers are complex. They are not. They only do one thing at a time. Only one line of code goes past a processor at a time. Processors may have multiple threads. Computers may have multiple processors. The truth of the matter is they can only handle one instruction at a time. they are actually quite simple attempts to manipulate math.
Mat is quite simple. I know mathematical theory sounds complex, but it all boils down to 1 + 1 = 2. I hate to tell every one out there with a degree in mathematics. Theory is speculation. Some of that theory gets things done. Theories about friction tell us how breaks will stop a car. Computers don't deal with theory. Computers crunch a bunch of ones and zeros. Programmers deal with theory.
Back to Michael's essay. He goes into detail about the history of the mismanagement of Yellowstone park. Yellowstone holds a special place in my heart because I've been there. I have memories that will last a lifetime. I saw the burned forest. I saw one bear. I saw one moos. I saw a couple buffalo. I saw a goat. I saw some birds. I saw some elk. I'm legally blind. That is quite an accomplishment. Michael goes into how humans, from the American Indians to the current administration have failed in the management of the park. Creatures come and go. Meadows go dry. Michael uses it as an example of failed management. i say it would all take care of itself if there were no humans getting in the way. I've said it before, that the Earth would be a very nice place to live if it were not for humans.
I'd say that we are the complication.

Katrina Crime Wave

The task force is the second program to increase police presence that the city has unveiled in recent weeks, amid concerns about manpower and a swelling homicide rate up nearly 25 percent over last year and 70 percent this month. Many of the problem areas fall in southwest Houston, particularly in apartment complexes housing numerous Katrina evacuees, White and Hurtt said. Houston Chronicle

I live in an apartment complex in South West Houston. I know for a fact that there are many Louisiana evacuees in my complex. I know for a fact that my wife has been harassed by someone from Louisiana in the complex in the last couple of months. I know that the only reason I do not move is because I'm broke.
More

A brawl that began in the Westbury High School cafeteria Wednesday and spilled outdoors capped weeks of growing tension between Houston students and Hurricane Katrina evacuees and resulted in the arrest of 27 students. ... "After Katrina, I hate to say it, but it's been chaos," she said. "It's really sad. It's truly sad." Some Houston students said the once-open social atmosphere at the school has become charged with new tensions since New Orleans students joined their classes. "The first two years I was here, we hung together, everyone knew each other," said a 17-year-old junior. "They just don't like people from Houston ... There's been a whole bunch of fights," he said. Houston Chronicle

Westbury High School (Map)
We live north of tat location by quite a bit. It doesn't make me feel any better. I keep hearing more and more evidence of conflict. I've heard rumors that my complex is going to raise rates next year because they are basically filled up with evacuees. It all makes me want to move far, far away.
Hearsay
I've heard that the list of cities with the highest murder rates only counted cities with more than 400,000 residents. If New Orleans had qualified it would have been the murder capital by a large margin for the last several decades. I have no proof of this. I cannot find a link.
Conclusion
How am I supposed to worry about all the crazy crap going on in the Middle East, China, the UN, Europe, Africa, Russia, and indeed the rest of the universe when bad things are happening in my back yard?

Out
We will be out this evening taking care of some left over Christmas stuff. Back later, or tomorrow.

Old Enemies Are New Again

After the Cold War, with the Soviet threat gone and with Democrat President Bill Clinton in the White House, terms such as "the peace dividend" became commonplace within the Washington Beltway and in the mainstream news media. No longer was the political establishment interested in defense, and the new agenda for the US was domestic. However, slowly and methodically Russia's steel-eyed leader Vladamir Putin began to rebuild and expand his nation's arsenal and its fighting forces. This new phase in Russia's military buildup has created fear in some quarters in the US that a new arms race exists. Recently the Russians deployed a nuclear ballistic system that their generals made clear could render US anti-missile defense systems ineffective, according to reports in the European news media. While Americans and Europeans celebrated the Christmas holiday, the Russian army activated a large number of Topol-M class missiles that can fit nuclear warheads and travel 6,000 miles, while rapidly switching their trajectory in order to neutralize any US- or European-based interception device. The National Ledger (blog)

The article goes on to rant about Russia's support of Iran having nukes and the Russians selling missile technology to Iran.
You know, I'm starting to understand the disconnect between the people of a given country and the government that controls them. I read blogs from Iran and all the people seem interested in is getting laid, satellite TV and decent cigarettes. The same seems true for Russians. So, why do the governments of these countries seem so hell bent on stirring up international shit? It is because there is a huge gap between the people and government figures. Not just an economic gap or social difference. There is a lack of reporting and criticism. The couple of people I've spoken with say they don't like what their governments are doing, but they don't feel they have any say in the matter. In Iran, I believe it. In Russia, I think the voters at least have some say. Perhaps not. What do I know. It is nice to have a perspective from some folks who lived there. It all makes me feel better about the US system. It really does sound like the worst possible system, except for all the others.

Go away Kofi

It was with some amusement that I found myself the target of a decidedly undiplomatic tirade by the U.N. chief at a news conference last week. The usually mild Mr. Annan erupted in an ad hominem attack, calling me "cheeky" and belittling me as an "overgrown schoolboy." Although I have covered the U.N. in minute detail for The Times of London since 1988, and have known Mr. Annan for almost all that time, he suggested I was not a "serious journalist." The cause of Mr. Annan's ire was a question I put to him about a Mercedes car that his son Kojo had imported into Ghana (and which cannot, now, be traced). The facts indicate that Kojo had bought the car in his father's name, thereby obtaining a diplomatic discount and a tax exemption totaling more than $20,000. The question about the car--to which Mr. Annan again refused to give a satisfactory answer--is part of the wider probe into his role in the U.N.'s Oil for Food scandal. Despite months of investigation, important questions about the integrity of public officials remain unanswered. If we are serious about U.N. reform--as Mr. Annan claims to be--they must be resolved. It is a time-honored tradition at the U.N. to bury a scandal by conducting an inadequate inquiry and then declaring the matter closed. Mr. Annan did precisely that when news first broke in January 1999 of his son's involvement with a Swiss firm that won a U.N. contract in Iraq ... Amid the clutter of unanswered questions, one query has the virtue of simplicity: Where is the car? I have been asking this for weeks at the U.N.'s daily briefing. It was this question that triggered Kofi Annan's outburst. He clearly wants me to shut up. I'm afraid, Mr. Secretary-General, that would be the wrong thing for me to do. Every schoolboy knows that. Opinion Journal

Sometimes, members of the MSM get it.
I distinctly remember the first time I heard of the Oil for Food project. I thought "No, it is going to end up a debacle." I thought the corruption would lead directly to Saddam's door. Then, the contractors would all receive a stern letter and be aloud to continue work. I really didn't think the UN <spit> itself, all the way to the top, would be at the center of a shit storm of theft, graft and outright lies.
I've never really liked the idea of a UN <spit>. It seems to style competition between countries. I know it was created as a cold war answer to the Soviet Block, but those days are long over. I tell you, the UN's <spit> days should be numbered. I just don't like the way small countries can leverage the UN <spit> to bully the US. Yes, bully the US. The very idea that Iran can stand up at the UN <spit> and suggest that another member country, Israel, be "wiped off the map" turns my stomach and makes me want to invest in canned food and shotguns. Then, find a nice split level cave in Wyoming.
I suggest a few simple ways of eliminating the UN <spit> as a threat.
* Stop paying for it. The US is the primary financial contributer to the UN <spit>.
* Veto everything until it is just not relevant any more. This would make the US look worse to the rest of the world?
* Arrest all members who have broken laws in the US. That should clear out the rif-raf, and bring the nose count at meetings down a bit. Diplomatic immunity my ass.
I could come up with more if I were not so drained from this cold and the jumbo can of caramel popcorn my mother gave me. Which, I've nearly completed. That is another blog entry. I'll rant more later.

Movie
HARLEY DAVIDSON AND THE MARLBORO MAN
I haven't seen this yet. I have always wanted to. I'm trying to find it. I did find a great review of the movie. At least, it looks like exactly the kind of movie I expected it to be. I might give my own, or not. We shall see.

Christmas Day
It is Christmas day. All through the house, not a creature is stirring. Except me and the cat. Hmmm. that doesn't exactly rime. Nat is in bed. She doesn't feel well. We were going to to go to Nat's mom's place for an early Christmas. We were at my parent's last night. We bot felt too bad to go though. Sorry Monica. Anyway. Ted picked Elle up. I've been trying to get her to pronounce her "L"s. She tends to drop them completely. I got Nat a digital camera. Her old one gave out. Elle got a Barbie Jeep that stays at Grandpa Mike's.
My head is killing me. Nat isn't feeling well. I'm going to go lay down after I skin the cat for crapping outside the damn box again.

MilBlog buddy
This is a friend's blog. He is in Iraq and comments on how proud he is to be part of freeing a nation.

Saturday, December 24, 2005 Still here Current mood: relaxed Category: Life   Well, it's Christmas eve and I'm in Iraq.  To be honest, it's not so bad.  Yeah, I'm away from my family and friends, but if anyone has been paying attention to the news, you'd know that Iraq just got finished with their elections.  Most people are like, "Yeah, whatever.", but the people here are thankful that we have brought them a chance to vote.  I personally was involved with making sure ballots were sent out to the right polling sites and tracked each truck that went out.  Then after the voting was complete, I (and the small group of 4 with me) tracked the trucks as they returned with the ballots.  During that time, we spent quite a bit of quality time with the Iraqi Army soldiers.  They told us, if it wasn't for the U.S. and all the allied forces, they would still be under Saddam's control and wouldn't have been able to have a voice as they do now.  People back in the states take for granted all the freedoms they have.  They don't have to worry about being killed for saying the wrong thing.  They don't have to live on only $100 a month and try to support a family.  We are a very spoiled nation and after just being here for 4 months, I now cherish the things I have more than before.  Be thankful every day that you live in a country that has so much freedom.  Even if you don't support what we are doing here, it won't stop me from sleeping at night because I know that I am helping a country with their freedom. I'm off my soap box now.  Have a good one. Scott

That is a MySpace blog so i have no idea if any one can pop in. Give it a try.

Word of the day
Cleptocrat: A politician, or other purveyor of paperwork with sticky fingers.

If I Were King

While declining to comment on whether the United States would consider kidnapping Hammadi, McCormack cited an example where U.S. Special Forces captured a militant leader in Iraq. ... Germany, which does not have the death penalty, rejected an early U.S. request for his extradition on the grounds that he could have faced capital punishment in America. ... At his trial, Hammadi confessed to helping stage the 17-day hijacking to help win the release of 700 Lebanese detainees held by Israel, but he denied any role in killing Stethem. But according to witnesses, Hammadi and an accomplice took the 23-year-old to the cockpit and beat him. Then they shot him and threw his body out of the Boeing 727 plane. Reuters

These are the times I wish I had 51 million dollars so I could offer a 50 million dollar reword for this asshole delivered on the white house lawn tied up in a sun dress with a big yellow ribbon and bow. He would have to be alive and capable of standing trial. No questions asked.
(Hat-tip LGF)

Whoo-Hoo Post 1000.

Day
I had a pretty good day today. I got some things done at work. Elle seemed to be in a good mood. Nat acts like she feels better than the last couple of days. I'm still sick. Nat put the angle on top of the tree. She just commented that really is starting to feel like Christmas around here. Between the tree, the presents and the wall covered in Christmas cards I suppose she is right. It feels good.
I spoke with Jenny over IM and we reminisced about past Christmases and many hot pans of Rice Crispy Treats. Those were the days you had to make them yourself. No one had thought of packaging them yet.
It is cool weather, but it is supposed to warm over the weekend. Christmas day is supposed to be even warmer. I can't wait to watch Elle open presents. It is too bad that Nat and I are so broke. We are not going to be able to buy nice gifts for every one. I know that is not what the day is all about, but it kind of hurts to be so broke at Christmas time.
I have some other friends who just got back from the Caribbean. They seemed to have fun.
Another couple are headed to Oregon to visit the family. They always have fun up there.
Most of the folks at my work are taking tomorrow and the remainder of the year off. It is just going to be us contractors next week.  A buddy's company takes the whole week off and doesn't count it as a week of vacation. In years past I've used this week to work on programming projects. I don't have much this year. Hopefully the transition I undergo soon will change that. I imagine I will get my time sheet filled out tomorrow and start looking for people to talk business too until the day is over. Sometimes, a direct will come by and say we can leave around 1:30 or so. Not too shabby.
It really seems like it was Thanksgiving last week. The Faire seems to have made the weekends feel shorter. Now, I have to find things to fill my time. The blog does wonders. I read current events like mad. I need to mark down all the blogs I frequent and put them in one spot. That might kill a couple of hours.
I need to go blow my nose and load up on drugs. Someone leave a comment for God's sake. Start a conversation.

Witch! Witch!

MONKS: Pies lesu domine, donna eis requiem.  [whack] Pies lesu domine, [whack] donna eis requiem.  [whack] Pies lesu domine, [whack] donna eis requiem.  [whack] Pies lesu domine... CROWD: A witch! A witch! A witch! We've got a witch! A witch! VILLAGER #1: We have found a witch, might we burn her? CROWD: Burn her! Burn! BEDEVERE: How do you know she is a witch? VILLAGER #2: She looks like one. BEDEVERE: Bring her forward. WITCH: I'm not a witch. I'm not a witch. BEDEVERE: But you are dressed as one. WITCH: They dressed me up like this. CROWD: We didn't, we didn't. WITCH: And this isn't my nose, it's a false one. BEDEVERE: Well? VILLAGER #1: Well, we did do the nose. BEDEVERE: The nose? VILLAGER #1: And the hat -- but she is a witch! CROWD: Burn her! A witch! A witch! Burn her! BEDEVERE: Did you dress her up like this? CROWD: No, no... no ... yes. Yes, a bit, a bit. VILLAGER #1: She has got a wart. BEDEVERE: What makes you think she is a witch? VILLAGER #3: Well, she turned me into a newt. BEDEVERE: A newt? VILLAGER #3: I got better. VILLAGER #2: Burn her anyway! CROWD: Burn! Burn her! BEDEVERE: Quiet, quiet. Quiet! There are ways of telling whether she is a witch. CROWD: Are there? What are they? Tell us, tell us.  Do they hurt? BEDEVERE: Tell me, what do you do with witches? VILLAGER #2: Burn! CROWD: Burn, burn them up! BEDEVERE: And what do you burn apart from witches? VILLAGER #1: More witches! VILLAGER #2: Wood! BEDEVERE: So, why do witches burn? [pause] VILLAGER #3: B--... 'cause they're made of wood...? BEDEVERE: Good! CROWD: Oh yeah, yeah... BEDEVERE: So, how do we tell whether she, is made, of wood? VILLAGER #1: Build a bridge out of her. BEDEVERE: Aah, but can you not also build bridges out of stone? VILLAGER #2: Oh, yeah. BEDEVERE: Does wood sink in water? VILLAGER #1: No, no. VILLAGER #2: It floats! It floats! VILLAGER #1: Throw her into the pond! CROWD: The pond! BEDEVERE: What also floats in water? VILLAGER #1: Bread! VILLAGER #2: Apples! VILLAGER #3: Very small rocks! VILLAGER #1: Cider! VILLAGER #2: Great gravy! VILLAGER #1: Cherries! VILLAGER #2: Mud! VILLAGER #3: Churches -- churches! VILLAGER #2: Lead -- lead! ARTHUR: A duck. CROWD: Oooh. BEDEVERE: Exactly! So, logically..., VILLAGER #1: If... she.. weighs the same as a duck, she's made of wood. BEDEVERE: And therefore--? VILLAGER #1: A witch! CROWD: A witch! A duck! A duck! BEDEVERE: We shall use my largest scales! [yelling] BEDEVERE: Right, remove the supports! [whop] [creak] CROWD: A witch! A witch! WITCH: It's a fair cop. CROWD: Burn her! Burn! [yelling] BEDEVERE: Who are you who are so wise in the ways of science? ARTHUR: I am Arthur, King of the Britons. BEDEVERE: My liege! ARTHUR: Good Sir knight, will you come with me to Camelot, and join us at the Round Table? BEDEVERE: My liege! I would be honored. ARTHUR: What is your name? BEDEVERE: Bedevere, my leige. ARTHUR: Then I dub you Sir Bedevere, Knight of the Round Table. [Narrative Interlude] NARRATOR: The wise Sir Bedevere was the first to join King Arthur's knights, but other illustrious names were soon to follow: Sir Launcelot the Brave; Sir Galahad the Pure; and Sir Robin the Not-quite-so-brave-as-Sir-Launcelot who had nearly fought the Dragon of Agnor, who had nearly stood up to the vicious Chicken of Bristol and who had personally wet himself at the Battle of Badon Hill; and the aptly named Sir Not-appearing-in-this-film. Together they formed a band whose names and deeds were to be retold throughout the centuries, the Knights of the Round Table. Here

This is of course from the geniuses of Monty Python. I will not top this dialog in my lifetime. How messed up is that? I'll never top this single funny scene. If I were to find myself lost in an enchanted forest and brought before the greater deity of wit and retort who smiled upon my forsaken, humorless mass, I would not be able to top this five minute collection of one liners.
By the way, you should hear it when the computer reads it. It is still kind of funny.

Dell, no, say it ain't so.

Let us travel back through time to one month ago, November 15th, when my mother asked me to order a computer as a surprise Christmas gift from my grandmother to my Aunt Annie, who has taken over the job of running the house and paying the bills since my grandfather died. "I will order it from Dell right now," I told her, and forthwith did, finding a very nice deal on a Dimension 3000 that set us back a little over $850 including shipping and tax. ... Keep in mind that I have been calling them every single day since we ordered the replacement, to make sure that the thing was actually percolating through the system. On Friday afternoon, five days after the replacement had been ordered, no one mentioned this little issue to me. Apparently, they stopped manufacturing the Dimension 3000 some time this weekend. Undoubtedly all the workers were in Hong Kong, protesting at the WTO. ... You would think, that with all the customer service problems they have been having, Dell would not want another customer out there saying "Dell strung me along for a month and then dumped me on the computer market five days before Christmas." You would think, in fact, that they would be falling all over themselves to FedEx me the closest thing they could find to what we ordered at no extra cost to myself. Or maybe you wouldn't think that. Maybe I'm some sort of woeful naif with an outsized sense of entitlement who believes that just because Dell's colossal screwups threaten to leave my family without a present under the tree for my much-put-upon Aunt come Christmas morning, that Dell should try to fix it. ... Update IV I seem to have inadvertently implied that Indians are incompetent and/or mean in the update above. The point was just that Indians presumably don't understand the cultural significance of Christmas, any more than I understand the cultural significance of . . . umm . . . that holiday where they throw colored powder all over each other. Although it looks like mad fun. I assume that Indians are just as compassionate and caring as Americans are. Although I have only met a small fraction of India's 900 billion people, my experience so far has been very pleasant. If we can generalize up from my small sample, Indians are lovely people indeed. Asymmetrical Information

I've had no problems with Dell support. I am, however, hearing nightmares all over the place. I've heard some stories from people at my work. I've heard stories from my friends. I may have to reconsider where I get my next machine. When I hear someone I know is a techy type tell me "They just don't care" (from a friend of mine) I have to stop and wonder if I should just build my own computers from now on.
I'm hearing these kinds of stories from different industries and from all over the place. It really sounds to me that the economy as a whole has decided that customer service is just not worth the money. It is an after the sale cost. Until there is some kind of shake-up nothing will change.
I'm sure there are just as many asshole Indian folks as anywhere else. The pay structure can still afford to pay people to be nice in India. That will change. Here in the states, I noticed many years ago the loss of "service with a smile" from just about every one. It happened in the mid 80s. Right about the time a huge recession came rolling through. The labor budget dropped and the first thing that went was the good nature.
I thought there were 1,080,264,388 Indians. Oh, look I'm right. =]

Jen's News Letter

This Thursday, Dec. 22, there will be wine tasting and gourmet hors d'ouvres at Pizza Roma's Little Italy from7-9pm.  Call 281-556-5555 to reserve your spot for delicious vino, complimented by the chef's specialties.  It's $25 per person, and it's a perfect retreat from the holiday chaos.  You're worth it! And you can bring your out of town family members, too. If you'd like to enjoy their regular wonderful Italian food, you can come on over and get in for free. Pizza Roma's Little Italy is at 12645 Whittington, just off Dairy Ashford, between Westheimer and Briar Forest. Happy Holidays!, Jen www.JenRathbun.com

We might actually show up to this one. We live about a block from that pizza place. I've always wanted to go there. They used to have a 57 Chevi (at least the hulk) that they had as decoration somewhere. They had to change the sign out front for a while because it had a huge lit up New York skyline that included the two tours. They went out of business for a while. They had a sign up that read "We ran out of doe." That was cute.

uuurgh
Sleeeeeeep. ... ... zzzzzzzzzzzz ... ...

What I want for Christmas
Actually, just get me a card. I'm not giving out gifts. If you want to get me something, get Elle something. That will make me happy. Oh, wait, I already blogged about that. Nothing that makes noise or too big. We are already getting one of those Barbie Jeeps from an uncle who missed a couple of Christmases. That toy is living at a grandparent's place.
Merry Christmas! I do not wish you happy holidays. I'll wish happy Honica. I'll say some other religious or state mandated holiday, but not if it is specifically designed to cover up Christmas with some generic rhetoric to keep from offending someone else. If you are offended by my religion, then you are not tolerant. If you don't want to say Merry Christmas then don't say anything at all. OK, <Kelly steps off soapbox> I surrender the floor. Go home to your families and enjoy every day. You only have so many.

Helping A Friend
Nat is in Far East Texas. A friend of ours needed some help and she volunteered. Nat is good people. Elle is over at Bills for the rest of the day. I've been on my own most of yesterday and probably will be most of today. You know, having the place to myself is not what it used to be. I just don't like it any more. I'm thinking that is a good thing.
I was thinking I could get a bunch of stuff done, but guess what. I've been a lazy lump. I've sat here and piddled around (U. S. definition of basically wonder around and get nothing of significance done) and watched some movies. I've commented on some web sites, read some blogs.
Oh, I killed three hours looking for a bolt action rifle that reverses for left handed use. I found one. The trouble is you cannot use the search term "left hand" or "ambidextrous" because they all have ambidextrous safeties. I found some purpose built left handed bolt action rifles. They are just as bad as a right handed one. I suppose I'm just going to have to avoid bolt action all together. There is always lever action. They jam more, but they work. I would get a semiautomatic, but people seem to frown on those. I'm probably not going hunting. If I do go hunting I will be more interested in taking pictures than shooting an animal. It would be nice to know how to do it though.
Anyway. I'm making a pot of coffee. I'm watching movies. I miss my family. Funny, that makes me smile.

Shhhh
I've heard before there was ammunition that you could use in a standard chamber firearm that makes no sound. I finally found a site that talks about some older technology that may be on that track.
That same page goes on to talk about an underwater sub machine gun developed by the KGB. Not too shabby.

More on Kong
Official Site
Nat had the best review I've heard so far.
Movie Notes
* The dinosaurs were better than the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.
* There was more to the monkey than stop motion/ CGI. The actor's feelings came through. He should get an Oscar out ever spending a frame in front of the audience. They need to make one if need be.
* The movie drips the grand feeling that used to be so hard to find in movies.
* Several panning action shots are used. I'm sick of in the car shots and static shots, but when you through on some impossible fly-by shots that look like a video game, they make the old time shots come together.
* There are a couple of scenes where Kong is far to personified as compared to a gorilla. However, the body language, sounds and facial expressions seem to pull it off. It is a love story after all.
* You really do pence Kong's pain.
* Naomi Watts does the best job of acting I've seen in a while.
* Jack Black didn't trash the roll half as bad I thought he would.
Believability
"Best movie ever" No, I would have to disagree. It was a good movie. Believability, well, that is a relative term. How much realism do you expect with a 25 foot beast?
* Ice skating 25 foot gorilla.
* The rooftops would not have held his weight as he jumped.
* His actions are too fast in some instances. A larger creature would suffer from slowed synaptic response.
* Why the hell were the planes flying so close? Why was the third plane to be grabbed flying that close?
Director
I could go on all day. This was Peter Jackson's dream. Well, good job Peter. It was worth a career in the movie industry to come out with this film. I hope you win a bunch of your crony's awards. I hope you go on to make more films. I hope some day you top Kong. Good luck.

Saw King Kong
Good.
That is all.

I should have known

Defeatism and defeatist entered the language in 1918, from French défaitiste, which was coined in reference to the Russians dropping out of World War I. Defeat itself is much older, of course. It comes from Old French defait, from a common Latin compound of dis- "un-, not" and facere "to do, perform." The original sense of defeat in English was "bring ruination, cause destruction." The military sense of "conquer" dates from c.1600. Done With Mirrors

Now that I think about it the word "defeat" sounds like a French word. It cracks me up that it is French. Now that I'm thinking about it, the word "surrender" sounds French too.