Wednesday Frebruary 6, 2008

Hey people! What's up? Yea it's been a while, but I'm trying to figure out how to maintain my blogging activities. I decided to start up an account on myspace, and I have a blog there. Now I have to decide how often to do this, and where to do most of it. For now, I'll be posting different things here and on myspace, so if you want the whole story, you'll have to check both of them. My myspace name is "runs with beer". Several other people use that name too, but I'm the real beer runner. The others are just imposters and will be dealt with in due time. I have my photo on my page, so you'll be able to tell which one is mine.
A quick word about local news items. You may have heard that there's been a surge in gang violence in Monrovia, where we used to live. Yes, the stuff that's been happening is near where we used to live. Keep in mind though, that things get inflated in the press. We don't have open warfare breaking out. Still though, I'm glad we live where we do. Gang bangers are notoriously bad shots (maybe it has something to do with holding guns sideways) and the bullets have to go somewhere.
And finally, we made it through super duper extar mega Tuesday without being campaigned to death. And what did it all mean - essentially nothing. Everything is pretty much as it was before. Such is the nature of politics.

Tuesday December 18, 2007

Time to start panicking if you haven't finished your holiday shopping. At this point you need to be thinking about gifts cards if you still can't decide what to get someone. Just go do it - they'll get over the impersonal aspect of it. Worried about shipping times? Remember that amazon.com will let you buy a gift certificate and email it to someone (just think, you could do all your shopping on the 24th!)
We're finally getting into the holiday spirit here. In southern California there is no snow, so it's a bit harder to do. The holiday baking is mostly done, and the decoratons are up. We even have some time to sit and relax. Life is good.

Friday December 7, 2007

Pearl Harbor day! If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you're an idiot who's destined to relive history (yea I know you don't get it. Just go back to your xbox and let us make the decisions for you). A long time ago on a military base far far away, we used commerate the day by getting drunk and watching Tora Tora Tora! several times. It was entertaining to watch your own base being blown up. I also remember standing at attention on Dec 7 as the flag was raised, looking over at the mountians where the Japanese bombers first appeared. It's a bit of a wierd feeling.
The news this week is so full of material to write about that I have a hard time choosing one or two things to mention. Let's start with Bush's comments about Iran. Let's see, they were dangerous because they were developing nukes. Now suddenly we find out that they haven't been developing nuke weapons for the last few years, and guess what? They're still considered just as dangerous! Where is this guy coming from? If we draw no distinction between what a person/group/nation does and what they might someday do, do we have an option other than declaring everyone on the planet (including a substantial number of Americans) an enemy? I used to think Bush was an idiot. Then I figured that anyone capable of becoming President must have at least average intellegence (we won't discuss common sense). Now I'm begining to wonder about his mental health. He's definetly paranoid, and probably schizophrenic. Good thing he has only a year to go. How much trouble could he get us in to in that time?
And thinking of Bush's replacement, let me say that Mit Romney is an idiot. Honestly, "freedom requires religion"? What a stupid thing to say! The primary modus operandi of any religion is to control it's group of followers by imposing rules, commandments, restrictions, and all kinds of limits. Religion is that exact opposite of freedom. Now, you could make a case for religion providing a framework for a workable democratic "free" society like we have. After all, complete freedom is also known as chaos and anarchy. But that's not what he said. Mit, you're a moron, and I think your 'religion speech' just killed your chances for the nomination.

Thursday October 25, 2007

Fire storm California - that's what the news headlines are saying right now. Indeed, huge areas of southern California are in flames at the moment - just not as much as you might expect from watching the TV news. The good news is that we are not directly affected, and are not likely to be affected. Many friends, coworkers, and aquaintences have been impacted though. Some of our SCA friends have been evacuated, and others are working their tails off voluntering to help those who are temporarily homeless. It's a very busy, and rather tense time.
How to describe things here? It's strange (not surreal - that adjective applies to areas much closer to the flames). The smoke in the air is affecting everyone in Southern California right now. Asthma sufferers are having a rough time, and even a relatively short walk outside (30 minutes or so) can result in a sore throat and burning eyes. The sunlight is much more diffused than normal, with a yellow/brown color to it - similar to the lighting effects used in movies to convey a "desolate wasteland" feeling to a scene. The smoke clouds hang dark and heavy on the horizon, giving us some spectacular sunrises and sunsets. It's even more colorful than the sulphur dioxide sunsets we see in the summer time when the smog is thick. Visibility is similar to a heavy smog day - everything dissappears into a grey mist after a mile or so.
Most people saw this coming a long time ago. Whenever we have a very wet winter, the desert plants go crazy growing large and thick. We see that start happening in February and think "my what beautiful flowers", followed quickly by "this is going to make for a terrible fire season in the fall". It's a tragedy that people are displaced and homes destroyed, but I have to wonder how much could be done by clearing brush and doing a few controlled burns in August and September. And speaking of preperations, how prepared are you? Do this exercise: Assume you have one hour or less to pack what you can and evacuate. What would you bring? Make a list, then walk through your house and actually touch each thing you want to take with you. I bet it takes longer than you expect. Then look at your list and the size of your vehicle. Would it all fit?
Just a few things to think about.

Thursday October 11, 2007

Recently back from Great Western War X, I can report that the new site worked very well. We actually had grass - even on the battle field! It was nice to not have the dust clouds. The site is long and narrow, meaning that if you want to participate in both equestrian and target archery, you'llbe doing a LOT of walking. On the other hand, the activities that most people (at least ones like me) were interested in were reasonably close together. Thanks to Lady Katerina for claiming a prime spot for the Barony of the Angels. We had a nice grassy area with shade trees, across the street from the battle field, and less than 50 yards from merchants row. It was nice camping and seeing our friends, but I must admit that it was nice to be back home with all of our modern convieniences.
On a somber note, one of our cats died yesterday. Sam was about 13 years old. He was our "special child" having had brain and eyesight damage from a parasite several years ago. His health, which had been not so great anyway, took a sudden turn for the worst. Despite his howling and uncanny ability to knock over more things than the other four cats combined, he will be missed. He had a good life and died with family around him.

Friday September 14, 2007

I'm back on the air after recovering from a computer crash - not really a crash, but close. My computer refused to startup, saying that Windows was corrupted. If your computer comes with all software pre-installed, guess what? You're pretty much screwed when it comes to rebuilding your system. I was lucky in that I was able to get a free copy of windows (legally), and I eventually got access to the data on my old hard disk, which is where all the drivers were. Anyway, I'm back up! Because of my recent experience, I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to back up thier data right now.
I realize that I haven't been making many entries lately, but i want to try keeping up with it. The world needs my whit and wisdom, and I've been slacking off (sorry).

Thursday June 28, 2007

It seems that everyone I know is starting to use Myspace or something similar, and now they're telling me that I should too. Actually, I'm tempted to. The main reasons that I haven't are: 1) That I'm not real good at keeping up with such things (as you know), 2) I already have this web site where I can spew my opinions into cyber space, 3) I don't like the fact that places like Myspace use the site to harvest information about me for marketing purposes, 4) Sites like Myspace give you a lot of options, but limit you none the less. I like the unlimited format here, 5) I prefer to present myself to the world without lots of animated advertising surrounding my message, and finally 6) It's just plain more geeky to build your own site from scratch and hand code everything.
Happy High School graduation to Leanne!! We wish we could have been there.

Friday March, 2007

The web site is finally back on line! It took a while, but I finally did it.
This week we have sad news. Monty, our companion and protector for the past 13 years died this week. He had a very hard hitting and fast spreading form of cancer. He died peacefully with family members around him. For those of you who drink, please drink a toast to his memory. For those who don't drink, stop being wusses and start - then hoist a toast to his memory.

Monday January 28, 2007

Thinking of getting your own web site? Well here's some advice - DO NOT host it with Total Choice Hosting. They suck. In fact, as I'm writing this I have no idea when I'll be able to post it because they suspended my account. My domain name was set to automatically renew but they let it expire and then claimed that it wasn't their fault. They will also periodically screw up the billing on the hosting and not tell you that there's any problem. Your first indication of a problem is when your site disappears, and then you have to wrestle with their customer service people. Right now they want me to pay an extra eighty dollars to get my domain back out of some kind of limbo account (a coincidence that they make extra money if the domain expires?) which I won't do. As soon as the domain is released, I will reregister it with another provider and get the site back up. Until then I'll keep updating the files.

Monday January 8, 2007

We're into a new year - have you made any resolutions? How many have you broken yet? I'm not a big fan of resolutions per se, but I do like to set goals for the year. Last year I set a bunch of goals, but didn't look at the list very much during the year. Not surprisingly, I didn't achieve many of the items on the list. Rather than talk about any specific goals or resolutions, I thought it would be a good time to think about how to keep the goals you set. Here's my plan: Make a list (yes, actually write it down). Now share the list with someone (wife, significant other, friend... doesn't have to be anyone particular). Then post the list where you'll see it often and be reminded. Finally, review the list often - at least monthly - and talk about it with the person you shared it with. I will do this and let you know how it worked next year.

Tuesday November 10, 2006

How about those elections, eh? I guess there's hope for democracy in America after all. Did you notice that Bush aged about 10 years overnight? Let's hope that he finally decided to look up the word 'bipartizan', because he sure hadn't done it before.
So..today we celebrate vetrans day. Yes that's right. For all you typical oblivious Americans out there, the reason you have the day off is that you're being given time honor the nations vetrans. And are you doing that? Hell no! That would mean placing importance on someone other than you, and we all know how likely that is. And that is why I'm putting forth a call to cancel most of the minor holidays on our calendars. They've become nothing more than an excuse to have a day off. A day off is a fine thing, but we should call it what it is instead of pretending to do something noble.
Here is my proposal: Right now most people have about 10 or 12 work holidays per year. Instead of celebrating crud like presidents day or columbus day, just give us an extra 2 weeks of vacation each year and let us pick the days. Christmas, New Years Day, and Thanksgiving can stay because they're pretty big (If you're not of christian leanings, you can pick another religious day in December instead). Other than that, keep it flexible and people will be happier.

Tuesday August 29, 2006

Today marks the one year anniversary of hurricane Katrina hitting the Louisianna and Mississippi coastlines. The area is still far from recovered (likely to take a generation) and people are still trying to put their lives back together. In light of this, it seems a good time to think about our own situations. Everyones homework for the week is to think about the following questions and ACT ON THE ANSWERS.

Would you evacuate your home if the government recommended it?

Would you leave if they mandated it?

How would you leave?(What if your car didn't work or gas was not available?)

If your family got split up, how would you get back in contact? (Out of state contact person? Do your kids know the phone number by memory?)

If you lost everything except the clothes on your back right now, what would you do?(could you still prove your identity?)

If your job went away and wasn't likely to ever come back, how would you find another one (assuming the job market within a 500 mile radius was saturated)?

Which of your important documents should be copied, and the copies stored out of state?

Thursday August 10, 2006

Yes, you read that right - it's taken forever for me to update the blog. Better late than never though, eh?

We're coming up on general elections in November! Why mention that now? Because it takes some time to get to know the candidates. Don't think that you can read a voter guide the day of the election and have enough info to make a reasonable decision. Start now and get to know who's running.

We have survived the summer heat wave without incident. Hopefully the rest of the summer will be a bit less hellish.

Tuesday May 16, 2006

There's been a lot of talk lately about illegal/undocumented immigrants and what to do about them. As I was considering the problem, I kept coming back to the very idea of citizenship. How do we end up with a system where I might be allowed to have a certian job and another person isn't, based solely on what town we were born in? Doesn't that seem a bit draconian? I would think that by now we could have come up with a better way to do things.
I can see how something akin to citizenship might be needed in a day and age where the government provides a large amount of aid, and papers are required to exist in the day to day world. The problem comes in when you assign citizenship poorly. I haven't come up with my personal suggestion for a solution yet, but I think that citizenship should be optional and easy to earn if you want it. It should also not be required for residency. I'll consider it and add it to my list of things to change when I become emperor.

Thursday April 27, 2006

If a person is unable or unwilling to properly care for something given to them, how should you handle the situation? Do you try to make him change his ways? Do you mandate that he change before being given more? Or do you just try to give him more than he can squander/waste/break? This is the image I keep getting in my mind when I think about the current gas supply in the country. We waste the majority of the gas we use. We make unnecessary trips, and consume huge amounts of fuel because a single person feels the need to drag two tons of steel with him wherever he goes.

Is the solution to the problem merely to increase supply, knowing that much (most?) will be wasted? Or should we make people use it more wisely? The question is a no-brainer in my book.

Fifty years ago a group of politicians and business leaders made a decision to dismantle the mass transit systems in the United States and focus on what has become known as the car culture. We've built our cities with the belief that each person will provide their own transportation and will be able and willing to travel large distances in their day routine. Now we have people who live fifty or more miles from their job or school and think nothing of it. We travel the same distance for recreation without batting an eye. Families and friends are widely spread out and we see no problem with it.

We need to start changing that. When gas hits ten dollars a gallon, how will you get your kids to the school twenty miles away, and yourself to work thirty miles in the other direction? Especially when you're feeding a Hummer? We're headed for a real crisis, and the time to start working on the solution is long past. We need to start building meaningful public transportation, and locating ourselves and our public infastructure more intellegently.

Think about the short term too. What would happen if someone (you can think of a group or two) cut off all oil coming into the country? There are several ways to do it (that I won't mention here, since that would make me a terrorist). What would you do when gasoline for personal vehicles wasn't available at any price? Think about it now, and hope I'm just another alarmist nut.

Tuesday March 14, 2006

Wow, I just realized how long it's been since I posted anything. Sorry about that. I realize that the world needs more of my whit and wisdom, and didn't mean to deprive anybody.

I just wanted to send a message to the world at large: On behalf of all the Americans with at least half a brain, I'd like to apologize for everything Pat Robertson has ever said and done. We think he's an idiot too. Our laws limit what we can do about it though. Please ignore him...we do.

February 10, 2006

Part of life in southern California is occasionally seeing a movie or TV show being filmed. The first time seeing it, people tend to get excited and want to see more. After a while you take note of it but mostly ignore it. This week I realized that I'd been here a while when I came to work, saw the filming trucks, and immediately thought "damn it! now there won't be any good parking spaces open".

And speaking of the filming trucks at work - in case you haven't figured it out already, the show "numbers" is filmed at Caltech, and we see them here on a regular basis.

Tuesday January 3, 2006

Happy new year and all that jolly stuff. We've definetly lost the whole party animal groove. This year for New Years Eve I only had a couple of beers, and didn't realize that midnight had arrived until hearing the fireworks going off outside. Once apon a time I was part of a group who looked down on the "amatures" on New Years Eve because they just couldn't hang with the rest of us. Now, I may not party hard all night, but at least I don't head to the bars to 'show the youngsters how to drink like a man'.

With the new year comes the whole resolution thing. Personally, I've never made New Years resolutions. I prefer to set goals that I can work towards during the year. I won't list them all here, since it's kind of a private thing. What I will do though is give some homework to all my readers out there. Take a look at how things went last year, and come up with at least three goals for the next year. Then try to work towards those goals during the year. It may make a difference knowing which direction you're going.

Thursday December 22, 2005

I'd like to take time out to personally thank all the people who took vacation this week. My morning commute has been much better than normal. Today I got here in half the normal time and didn't see anyone doing incredibly stupid things. Keep up the good work.

Wednesday December 21, 2005

Happy Solstice everyone! Today is the shortest day of the year. This is when we celebrate the suns decision to start coming back, so be sure to hoist a beer and celebrate.

Tuesday December 13, 2005

You're probably wondering why I haven't posted any new blog entries in a month. Well, I went out and got me a copy of World of Warcraft, and have been playing it a lot. For those of you that are familiar with the game, look for a dwarf hunter named Tolya on the khaz goroth server. Stop me and say hi (and mention my website) and I'll give you a nifty gift.

Tis the season of hectic celebration! It seems that every year we have another holiday party to attend. This year we'll be going to three that we haven't been to in previous years. It's a burden being popular, I guess.

Thursday November 10, 2005

Wednesday November 2, 2005

For the weekly government flashback we have Rumsfeld talking about raising troop levels in the face of rising casualties in a foreign war that the majority of Americans don't support. What's that they say about those who don't study history?

I would also like to add one observation from the weeks news that most people seem to have missed. The Vice President's top aide was indicted on charges of lying to a grand jury about how and when he leaked the name of a high level CIA officer. What stands out to me is that there are no charges relating to the fact that he revealed the name (a felony, by the way). There is also no talk of charges against the Vice President for revealing the name (and remember folks - a Vice President can be impeached just like a President can). There's definetly more to the story than we're being told.

Thursday October 27, 2005

Wednesday October 12, 2005

OK, so I've been neglecting the blog for a bit. Life has been crazy. The last three weekends have been Collegium (SCA event taking the whole weekend), a trip to Virginia for a wedding, and Great Western War (SCA event that occupied Thursday through Monday). I'll try to be more vigilant about writing for a bit.

Friday September 16, 2005

The car manufacturer Bugatti announced this week that it will soon begin production on a car that will have over 1000 horsepower. What the hell were they thinking!! A thousand horsepower!? You've got to be a special flavor of idiot to think that this is a safe vehicle. Even a professional race driver is going to have problems handling that thing. I personally don't want any of those vehicles on the same road that I'm using. Many cars are suicide machines, but this is a suicide/homicide machine and should not be allowed on the road.

Friday September 9, 2005

Today we have another step taken towards establishing the modern American equivalent of the Nazi regime. A Federal Appeals court ruled that it's legal to arrest a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil and hold him indefinitely without filing charges. That means that your government could grab you off the street today and keep you locked up forever without even stating which crime you allegedly committed. Do you feel better protected? I sure don't.

Thursday September 8, 2005

As I watch the disaster in Louisiana after hurricane Katrina, I find myself sympathizing more and more with the people who are refusing to leave their houses. If they've had almost everything lost and/or destroyed, and know that looters will take the rest when they leave, why should they go? Especially when the police are telling them that they can't take more than a single bag, if they're even allowed that. There's also no guarantee that they'll be moved to a place that's any better.

I think the biggest factor for me (assuming my family was ok) would be the pets. We have a dog and five cats who depend on us, and who are better people than many people I've met. If I was told to leave with only the clothes on my back and not take the pets, I really don't think I'd go. The relief workers and disaster planners have to think about that and plan for it. Otherwise we're going to start seeing police getting shot over a dog's well being.

Wednesday August 31, 2005

This is the 25th anniversary of the rise of the Solidarity party in Poland, and the overthrow of communism there. So what, you say? Well, that period in history has much to teach us. During the height of power for the Soviet sphere of influence control was firmly maintained. When regional unrest occurred, it was quickly and forcefully put down. When the Poles started to make noise, everyone expected the same thing to happen.

As the Solidarity movement gained strength, a number of outside entities offered assistance in the form of supplies. We all thought they would want conventional weapons to fight with, but refused military help. Instead they wanted printing presses, typewriters, photocopiers, and similar supplies. That was when the world started to realize that Lech Walsea and his party might just have a chance to beat the Communists. We all stood in awe as they mobilized masses to big to be put down, and defeated armies without firing a shot. It was amazing to watch. I cheered them on along with many other Americans. Their example must not be forgotten. When we act together, we can change things.

Monday August 22, 2005

World of Warcraft - to buy or not to buy? I've been playing Diablo II for so long that my expansion pack player CD stopped working. I had to reinstall the non-expanded version and keep playing that way. Now I want something new, and WoW (as it's generally known) looks like just the thing. The only problem is that I want to keep having a life outside of computer games, and WoW is one of the worst ones for time wasting. What to do? If only there were some good non-network games out there that would let me pause and/or save any time I wanted to. Anybody know of any good ones?

Friday July 29, 2005

I realize that partisan politics as practiced in the U.S. usually consists of accepting the current party position and repeating it endlessly as if it were holy scripture. I however, have been saddled with the curse of critical thought and a memory. For that reason, I was amazed at Bush's recent campaign to promote CAFTA, the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Remember NAFTA? Remember how Clinton proposed it and all the republicans started talking about how free trade will destroy the American economy? Remember how everyone supporting it was labeled an enemy of the American worker? Remember how the republicans spent years (and still do) blame a huge amount of our economic woes on NAFTA? So.....what exactly has changed? Sometimes the political realm boggles the mind.

Tuesday July 19, 2005

Like many people this time of year, we are planning our summer vacation. We usually travel back to the Midwest to visit relatives in the summer, and are doing so again. The big difference this time is that we are driving instead of flying.

Why drive? After looking at the cost, it's much cheaper for three people to drive versus flying and renting a car at the destination. Also, the increased security measures have made air travel even more of a pain than ever. I think a lot of people are thinking the same way, and that does not bode well for the airline industry. They still have the business travelers but the vacationers are driving more than ever. I think we'll be seeing a (continued) "trimming down" of the airline industry.

And what new business opportunities might arise from this? Well, it would be a good time for Amtrak to be looking at filling the gap. Since they can take huge numbers of people at a time, they have the potential to keep fares down. What they really need to do is take a page from the airlines book and start running routes the same way - between major cities without all the stops in between. If they could get me from Los Angeles to Des Moines faster and cheaper then driving, I'd be giving them a serious look.

Monday July 10, 2005

Have you reserved your copy of the new Harry Potter book? Are you one of those people trying to find out the plot before the book is released? Today's news says that a "small number" of books were accidentally put on sale early. I find it hard to believe that a bookstore, amid all the hype, could just forget that the release date wasn't here yet. I bet that if we looked into who bought those copies, we'd find that every one of them is a friend or relative of the owner of the store (or potential dating material).

So...what's the deal with the total lack of patience? The story isn't going to change in the next week. The book will be just as good even if we waited another month for it. Don't let the advertising companies manipulate you so easily. Anxious to read it? Fine, so am I, but I can't see trying to get an illegal copy of it before the release date.

Tuesday July 5, 2005

Another 4th of July holiday has come and gone. It is actually Independence Day, though it's seldom called that. It made me think about the colonies declaring independence from England so long ago, and what a huge thing that was.

Do a quick search and find a copy of the Declaration of Independence. In it is a list of the reasons for breaking away from England. Any time the question comes up of "how hard must you push a group of people before they will turn on you and declare war", look back at this list. If you think of it in terms of being ruled/controlled from afar, you get a feel for the magnitude of the problem. Personally, I think it was an enormously ballsy move. They were spitting in the face of one of the strongest nations in the world. The signers of the declaration had to know that most of them would be killed in the coming war. Would you or I have the courage to make the same move?

Thursday June 23, 2005

God Bless America. We hear people say it all the time. We see it on t-shirts and bumper stickers nearly every day. What does it mean though? Do the people displaying the message ever really think about it? In many cases it's synonymous with "God favors us above all others". It provides a way to identify ones self with a particular political philosophy, at the same time daring others to oppose you and (presumably) God.

I find the whole thing to be a bit senseless. If there really is a supreme being in the Judeo-Christian image that most Americans expect, isn't it a bit presumptuous to think that he cares about the political borders we've established? From God's point of view, why should he care about the United States as a country? Remember that we're talking about a supreme being here - fully capable of seeing and dealing with each and every one of us individually.

So, what are we saying with "God Bless America"? Are we hoping that he blesses us? Are we requesting that he bless us (without even saying please)? Are we commanding it (watch out for lightning bolts!)? Say it if you want, but think about it too. I just may ask you about it, and you really should have a coherent answer.

Tuesday June 21, 2005

Happy Solstice! For those who don't remember their High School astronomy, this is the longest day of the year. It is also the official start of summer. Starting tomorrow, the days will get shorter and shorter until December 21st - the Winter Solstice. Half way between, we have the equinox on September 22nd, when the day and night are the same length. Each of these days was a celebration day back in the pagan days. Since I don't follow the pagan ways, I can't tell you about the holidays, but it's still a good excuse to have a beer and celebrate.

Tuesday June 7, 2005

The NRA types and "gun rights" enthusiasts will often say that we need an armed populace to protect against tyranny. The theory is that an armed citizenry cannot be forcibly controlled because they can fight off oppression. I've often thought about how true that may be. I mean, would a bunch of armed civilians stand a chance against a well trained and equipped army? Even if many of them had prior military training?

Right now we have a chance to see exactly how that scenario might play out. I Iraq we see a well trained and equipped army squaring off against a group of civilians. The civilians have better weapons than we would expect to see in the U.S. (AK-47's and RPG's are everywhere, as opposed to the deer rifles and shotguns that make up most American firearms). The Iraqi insurgents also have combat experience - something that very few American insurgents would have in the early stages of a resistance.

So how well are the insurgents doing? Not very, at least in military terms. They manage to kill a few people each day, but they're not really accomplishing anything. If the Army was free of political restraints, the insurgency would be in very serious trouble. They're an annoyance, but that's about it.

Next time the conversation turns to the second amendment, I'm afraid the gun supporters will have one less argument on their side.

Wednesday May 25, 2005

Living in Southern California sure gives one a different perspective. Take last night for instance. As I was outside playing with my brewing equipment, I looked up and saw seven helicopters all hovering around the portion of Interstate 210 near our exit (about 4 blocks from the house). My first reaction was mild curiosity. I went inside to see if any news channels were showing anything - and caught a quick glance of police cars at the side of the freeway before they went to a commercial. Curiosity changed to amusement, and I went back to my toys. That type of thing is slightly interesting, but not really unusual.

Another aspect of life here is the brown cloud. Air pollution in Southern California is always a problem. This morning, it made visibility less than a couple of miles, and probably even less than that. It's really no big deal. Most people don't even notice it after a while.

Thursday May 19, 2005

As many of you know, I work on the campus of Caltech. As I was wandering around campus yesterday, I was thinking about how much nicer the place was compared to any other place I've worked. It really makes a difference having a well landscaped, peaceful area to walk in when you need a break. Our culture doesn't place enough emphasis on such things, and we have the health statistics to show for it. If you're an employer, please make some nice quite spot available to your workers. Morale will greatly benefit from it.

Quote of the day:
In heaven all the interesting people are missing.
Friedrich Nietzsche

Wednesday May 18, 2005

The new Star Wars movie comes out tonight! Loads of people already have their tickets, and a few die hards are in line at theaters. While I am looking forward to seeing it, I'm not nearly hard core enough to try getting in on opening night. Maybe I'll see it in a week or so.

In my last job, I got into a heated discussion about whether the Star Wars series is a good story that won't fit into a single movie, or an idea that was over done with episode 5. I like long epic type stories, complete with spin-offs (if they're done right). I guess some people just can't handle anything longer than a sit-com episode.

Tuesday May 10, 2005

Time to step back and calibrate our perspective on the world. What I mean is that we're spending way too much time and energy on things that don't really matter, and not enough on those that do. So, here are some suggestions to think about:

It Doesn't matter what you drive, as long as you're a good driver.
It doesn't matter what kind of computer or operating system you use, as long as you do something worth while on it.
It doesn't matter what any two people do in the privacy of their own bedroom, as long as nobody is getting hurt.
Be any religion you want (or none), but understand that others have that same right.
We (or most of us) live in a community with others. What affects the group, affects us all to some extent. Keep this in mind.
Assign blame when it's due, but accept it also.
Don't complain too loudly about something if you're not willing to help change things.
And lastly (for now), don't use politics as a way to spout insults without having to think about them. Be able to back up what you say and what you believe.

Friday May 6, 2005

I want to post something today, but I'm drawing a blank.

Thursday May 5, 2005

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!

Tuesday May 3, 2005

Triple espresso with breakfast kicks ass!!! Zoom Zoom Zoom!!!!!!!

Friday April 29, 2005

Hey did you hear Bush's press conference last night? We're no longer dependant on foreign oil!! We're now dependant on foreign sources of energy. I guess that had to be changed because of our crippling dependence on European solar panels, Asian wind mills, and South American hydrogen fuel cells.

We need to admit the truth: We are the petrochemical crack whores of the world. We'll keep performing unnatural acts for anyone with a puddle of crude oil underfoot, and the only way we'll kick the habit is when we're forced to.

Just my opinion...

Thursday April 28, 2005

I have long held the position that people who own loud car stereos have terrible taste in music. For that reason (along with a few others) they should turn it down (or off) and not subject the rest of us to that crap. This past week I actually heard someone playing good music (Ozzy Osbourne) on his "shake the neighbors windows" stereo. And ya know what? It still sounded like crap. The speakers were positioned and tuned for a listener inside the vehicle, not someone 15 feet away.

Because of that, I've had to slightly revise my philosophy. I'm now willing to admit that someone with an Uberjerk stereo might have good taste in music. Because of the way is sounds, though, I stand by my statement that you need to turn it down or turn it off, because nobody else wants to hear it.

Friday April 22, 2005

This week I've been struggling with one of the most evil organizations in the world: Bank of America. The beginning of the problems was my fault, and I admit it. I forgot about an automatic payment and ended up in the red. What followed is the real struggle. As I tried to keep up with the cycle of deposits to get back in the black, followed by NSF charges that sent me back into the red (generating more NSF charges), it started getting ridiculous.

In the end, I learned a few things that I wanted to pass along:

1. The person you talk to on the customer support line has the authority to reverse any bank charges that have been made. They'll tell you they can't do some things, but they can. If you're a good enough bullshitter, you can get everything taken care of.
2. Sometimes the bank will charge you for things that are supposed to be free. I used to think that this was a mistake when it happened - no longer. You see, most people either won't notice the charge, or won't complain. This is a major money maker. Watch your statement and call them when they do this. They'll reverse the charges without argument.
3. Don't use their on-line customer support to complain about charges. All your messages appear to go straight into the null file.

Tuesday April 19, 2005

A couple of weeks ago I bought my first motorcycle, photos of which are located on another portion of this site. I've been taking it to work on a daily basis, and have discovered a whole new philosophy of travel. In a car, all you have to do is move one hand and one foot (for an automatic), and have the stereo to distract you. Because of that, a persons mind is seldom involved much in driving. It's like the whole driving function is performed by a "peripheral vision" of the consciousness.
On a bike, it's completely different. Both hands and both feet are doing things, and it all must be coordinated. The environment - road conditions, weather, smells, and lots of other variables are more noticeable. When your attention starts to wander, your rhythm starts to drift, and you notice that shifting is not so smooth, or you're hitting bumps that should be avoided, or something like that. There's also the quick glance in the mirror to reveal a close up view of an SUV's grill where there was open road before. You're immediately reminded to get your attention back to the road.
It reminds me of the Jedi philosophy to "always keep your mind on the moment" And by staying focused on the present, you give a whole different feeling to the ride. It's more vibrant. It gives a sense that you are participating in the moment, rather than sheltering yourself from the unpleasantries of the region between points A and B. I find that I like it.

Monday April 11, 2005

I have realized that I started formatting the blog the wrong way - with the newest entries at the bottom. That made it harder to stop by and check out the latest entry. I have reformatted it to put the newest entries on top, so hopefully it will be easier to use.

I missed the Friday entry, so I'll put Friday's in today, and Tuesday's in either on time or a day late.

As tax time rolls around, most of us are either panicking or acting all smug about getting our forms in by January 3rd. Everyone seems to have their own favorite bit of advice to pass on, and so do I. So...here are Todd's tax tips:

1. DO NOT file your returns using any of the tax preparation software packages. If your returns are easy enough for the software package to completely handle things, then you could probably do it by hand as fast as you could on the computer, and save the cost of the program. If your return has any significant level of complexity, have an accountant do it. There's a reason that they need four years of college to do their job - it's far too complex for a non-specialist to understand.

2. If your return is real simple, you can minimize the process. If you qualify for the 1040E-Z form, don't bother doing any work. Just sign the form, attach your W-2, and mail it off. The IRS will fill it out for you.

3. To delay or not to delay? Should you wait until April 10th to start, or try to have your returns mailed in by mid January? Well, think back to your school days. If you were assigned a paper and given a month to write it, did you start right away or wait until the night before it was due? If you waited until the night before, then you'll most likely end up driving to the post office at 11:55 pm on April 15th to get your returns sent out. Be honest to your nature, and don't keep telling yourself that it'll be different next year. You know it won't.

4. If you end up having to pay money to the IRS, don't panic. It happens. You don't have to send all of the money right away. Send a partial payment and they will send you back a payment schedule to let you pay the rest of it. I've done it and it works.

Tuesday April 5, 2005

With the Patriot Act up for renewal, I've been thinking about some of the changes that have been made as a response to the September 11 attacks. One of the most troubling is in the structure of the intelligence community. The big emphasis is on central control and sharing of information. That might be a good thing, if you can be assured of no security leaks.

Does anyone remember the name Aldrich Ames? How about the Walker family? Do you have any idea how much damage a well placed spy could do in the current structure? All Osama needs is one person in the anti-terrorist intelligence community, and he has everything.

I only hope that someone at the CIA has thought of this, and is keeping things compartmentalized while assuring Congress otherwise.

.....just my opinion.

Tuesday March 22, 2005

There are some in congress that want to apply the same censorship rules to cable and satellite TV that are currently in place for broadcast TV. This is being done in the name of decency. I won't get started on the concept of decency - that will likely come in a later entry.

The whole idea here is fundamentally flawed. It's the old "some people can't accept responsibility so the rest of us have to change" situation. Each and every cable or satellite TV subscription has an adults name on it. That adult must take responsibility for the service that he/she has chosen to bring into their house. If you don't want your kids watching something, don't let them. There are lots of ways to do that - again, this is something that's likely to be discussed in detail at a later date.

There are a couple of things that we need to understand. Not everyone is appalled by the programming being offered. If they were, the cable companies wouldn't show it. I personally enjoy the occasional movie full of violence, profanity, and nudity. I will not accept someone else telling me I can't have that because they gave junior his own cable connection in his room and now they're concerned about what he's watching.

Another thing to understand - your teenagers will find adult content if they want it. Just as we all found it (before cable TV and the internet too!), so will they. You can't stop it. You can influence their attitude about it and answer their questions that arise because of it, but you will never completely prevent it.

This effort is being led by Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska. Feel free to write to him at 522 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510, or call him at (202) 224-3004 to tell him your opinion on this subject. You should also contact your own representatives and ask them to oppose tightening the censorship rules. You can find the contact information at www.senate.gov or www.house.gov.

Wednesday March 16, 2005

We the people of the Arrogant States of America declare that it is our god given right to seize any and all land, resources, people, and anything else we can think of without having to give reason or explanation. Furthermore, we have a right to squander said resources and then feel offended when supplies run short.

In like manner, we declare that our way of living and thinking is the one true way, being by nature superior to all others. It is our right and duty to impose this on all the world.

I'd write more but it's starting to get depressing, thinking about how many people actually believe that crap.

Tuesday March 15, 2005

This is the debut of this here blog thing. I don't know if it'll go anywhere. I may end up deleting it for lack of interest after a few weeks - we'll see. This isn't the format you see on most blogs. This is actual HTML coding without the advertising all over the screen. If you want to have a presence on the web, you should learn some basic coding instead of using someone else's utility. It's not hard.

Quote of the day: Attitude is no substitute for competence, by Eric S. Raymond in his book The Cathedral and the Bazaar.