From many sources....
For one, there are those who say that when the Large Hadron Supercollider is fired up, it could well end the world, by forming unstable mini black holes, right here in River City. But others say no, even if it did, they'd vanish immediately. Seems like the sort of thing you'd want to be Real Sure About, doncha think?
For another, I took too much insulin tonight, and am consequently a little on the spacy side, at the moment. Not to worry. Probably.
And then there's the well-known peacekeeper, Al-Sadr, who told his troops (does your cleric have his own troops?) to stop fighting, but oh yes, he wants amnesty for all of them, and release of the captured ones... and they get to keep their arms, too. Sounds like a get out of jail/pass GO and collect two hundred dollars combo deal... but of course, I don't understand Iraq the way, say, Jawge does...
I think I'll go get some sleep. Perhaps things will be clearer in the morning. Oh, and the Calvin quote in the header? It comes from here.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Tsk Tsk TSA
Nipple rings are a threat to our flying public? I'm aghast to think that we've lived this long under the shadow of this insidious threat to god, nation, and liberty. Thank goodness the bright men (apparently, men only) of the Lubbock TSA detected and deterred this evil woman and her dastardly plot.
Should the need arise, I volunteer to throw myself on any woman brandishing nipple rings in a threatening manner.... (Note: Must be cute.)
Should the need arise, I volunteer to throw myself on any woman brandishing nipple rings in a threatening manner.... (Note: Must be cute.)
Sunday, March 30, 2008
SubPrime
From the New York Times magazine interview with Paul O'Neill:
Q: Its so hard to understand how the subprime mortgage crisis has triggered a financial crisis of global proportions.
A: If you have 10 bottles of water, and one bottle had poison in it, and you didn't know which one, you probably wouldn't drink out of any of the 10 bottles; thats basically what we've got there.
What a great analogy!
Q: Its so hard to understand how the subprime mortgage crisis has triggered a financial crisis of global proportions.
A: If you have 10 bottles of water, and one bottle had poison in it, and you didn't know which one, you probably wouldn't drink out of any of the 10 bottles; thats basically what we've got there.
What a great analogy!
Tired
I'm tired of tired.
I was reading an article on the Economist's View blog entitled Is Poverty Caused by Irrational Behavior. The thrust of the article: Yes, by normal standards -- but those normal standards don't apply to people who are poor, because what a normal (ie, non-poor) person would regard as a rational reason for acting, or not acting, a poor person would not. One person calls it the bee sting analogy: if you have a bee sting, you take care of it, but if you have multiple bee stings, the motivation to take care of one specific one is much less.
Now, as it happens, I think that's a silly analogy, but the underlying concept, I can buy into. Its distantly related to why I think the 'economic stimulus' package isn't going to work. The rational approach from the economists is, here's some money, and the rational person will spend it, end of discussion. In actuality, I think people will either spend it on things they need but could not have otherwise afforded (which, granted, is towards the goal of the package), or they'll save/invest it. Some will pay off bills -- also a good thing, but doing nothing toward the goal of the package. Similarly, a person who's poor has a different view of whats required, and what a rational approach to life is. If a drug addict, they may well say 'here's my next fix' instead of 'golly, guess I'll go buy that KitchenAid mixer I've been eyeing'; if they've not been able to pay the rent for three months, they are not likely to say 'I'll just hand this directly over to the landlord', because there's no motivation to do so. So the underlying concept, that standard rational man economics don't apply to the poor (at least, not without manipulation; lets hear it for behavioral economics), makes sense to me.
But along the way, the writer uses this phrase:
"It's Econ 101 that's to blame," Karelis says. "It's created this tired, phony debate about what causes poverty."
I hit that phrase, and it derailed me. I stopped thinking about economics and started thinking about lazy writers, and about semantics.
I assume that this is the same 'tired' that shows up on home renovation shows -- You know, everything in this kitchen works, but its just so TIRED. I take it to be a short form of " I don't like it; its been around for a while, and I want a change. It's not necessarily wrong, nonfunctional, or ineffective; I just need some novelty, some difference."
I'm tired of it.
I was reading an article on the Economist's View blog entitled Is Poverty Caused by Irrational Behavior. The thrust of the article: Yes, by normal standards -- but those normal standards don't apply to people who are poor, because what a normal (ie, non-poor) person would regard as a rational reason for acting, or not acting, a poor person would not. One person calls it the bee sting analogy: if you have a bee sting, you take care of it, but if you have multiple bee stings, the motivation to take care of one specific one is much less.
Now, as it happens, I think that's a silly analogy, but the underlying concept, I can buy into. Its distantly related to why I think the 'economic stimulus' package isn't going to work. The rational approach from the economists is, here's some money, and the rational person will spend it, end of discussion. In actuality, I think people will either spend it on things they need but could not have otherwise afforded (which, granted, is towards the goal of the package), or they'll save/invest it. Some will pay off bills -- also a good thing, but doing nothing toward the goal of the package. Similarly, a person who's poor has a different view of whats required, and what a rational approach to life is. If a drug addict, they may well say 'here's my next fix' instead of 'golly, guess I'll go buy that KitchenAid mixer I've been eyeing'; if they've not been able to pay the rent for three months, they are not likely to say 'I'll just hand this directly over to the landlord', because there's no motivation to do so. So the underlying concept, that standard rational man economics don't apply to the poor (at least, not without manipulation; lets hear it for behavioral economics), makes sense to me.
But along the way, the writer uses this phrase:
"It's Econ 101 that's to blame," Karelis says. "It's created this tired, phony debate about what causes poverty."
I hit that phrase, and it derailed me. I stopped thinking about economics and started thinking about lazy writers, and about semantics.
I assume that this is the same 'tired' that shows up on home renovation shows -- You know, everything in this kitchen works, but its just so TIRED. I take it to be a short form of " I don't like it; its been around for a while, and I want a change. It's not necessarily wrong, nonfunctional, or ineffective; I just need some novelty, some difference."
I'm tired of it.
Brekfuss
Years ago, I was tickled to realize that the overwhelming majority of kid actors sounded the same. They didn't sound normal; they all spoke the same way, frequently with the classic valley girl intonations. They didn't say Breakfast; they said Brekfuss.
Well, this morning, they could have called it whatever they wanted, because it was awesome. My wife was up much of the night (on call for work), so I did it. And if I do say so myself, I did us proud.
Softly cooked home made waffles (with white chocolate chips). Crisp bacon. Coffee (three quarters Chocolate Orange; one quarter Starbucks Breakfast). And, the piece de resistance (French for Hot Damn) -- sliced strawberries and a pool of molten chocolate for dipping.
Hot diggety!
Well, this morning, they could have called it whatever they wanted, because it was awesome. My wife was up much of the night (on call for work), so I did it. And if I do say so myself, I did us proud.
Softly cooked home made waffles (with white chocolate chips). Crisp bacon. Coffee (three quarters Chocolate Orange; one quarter Starbucks Breakfast). And, the piece de resistance (French for Hot Damn) -- sliced strawberries and a pool of molten chocolate for dipping.
Hot diggety!
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Makes Sense To Me
It actually does make sense. I read comments from economists -- Ben Stein, for example, who I know is better known as an actor than an economist -- saying that there is almost no correlation between massive profits and high gas bills, or between massive CEO salaries and high gas bills, and I think ' Well.. maybe. But I kind of doubt it. ' Truthfully, I tend to assume that the massive profits are because we use so much of it; the massive cost, because dapper young men in crisp white shirts are gleefully bidding the price up. But, dammit, no one else is acknowledging this as a problem, so even though I don't really understand it, I'll listen to someone who says they agree -- and they have a solution. It doesn't hurt when they sound like they care about me-- something most politicians seem to have forgotten.
Taped
I was going to send this image to a person whose blog I read, who occasionally mentions the dearth of decent guys in her area, intending to say something like 'Hey, why not print this on handbills and scatter them where these clueless guys can see it? ' Because I get the feeling that this person is a really nice person, not to mention, a sexually intense one, given half a chance, but none of these bozos are giving her that chance. I just thought that was wrong, and this would be a funny way of talking about it, and sympathizing with her. But then I thought: it might come across the wrong way - does she really need a married guy advising her, even as a joke? -- so I didn't send it.
But I do wonder about the image. Why is there tape on it?
But I do wonder about the image. Why is there tape on it?
Baking, Cont'd
Okay, so I wasn't particularly happy with the results of those cupcakes. There were, off the cuff, four problems.
.
First, the recipe calls for a fair amount of slicing and dicing -- one and a half plus four of this, eggs at room temperature, sift those, that sort of thing. I'm the kind of baker who likes to just dive into a recipe. I've learned, but not well, that if a recipe has multiple steps, you ought to at least read through them once. Every so often, not doing so -- or not doing so thoroughly -- burns me. This was one of those times.
Second, pouring the batter into the muffin tins was a pain. There ought to be a way to pour quickly and concisely; give me X amount of ounces in each cup, and use all the batter you practically can. As it was, I think I left a tenth of it in the combination of the mixing bowl, the Pyrex jar I poured with, and the spatulas. And the amounts varied between a half a tin and a little more than three quarters. There's got to be a better way.
Third, the recipe calls for a pastry bag in two places. I don't have one. I know that its possible to simulate one with a ziploc bag, and I've done that in the past, but it seems fairly messy. I don't know whether a genuine pastry bag would be any better. As it is, I cored the cooled cupcakes, scooped in the butter/peanut butter mixture, and replaced the cores. Not a particularly clean or elegant solution, but the ganache should cover it. It also calls for multiple mixing bowls. I've got one for the mixer. (I know: problems of the idle rich). But still - having to clean the bowl before the next step, or trying to just do it by hand -- you don't get particularly good results.
Fourth, thats assuming the ganache comes out well. By this time, I was more than a little ready to be done, so I winged it. Bad move. I ended up with a thin, syrupy ganache which didn't harden as it ought to have done.
So most of this is my fault; a little is lack of tools. I don't like failing. Will I try this recipe again? Perhaps....
.
First, the recipe calls for a fair amount of slicing and dicing -- one and a half plus four of this, eggs at room temperature, sift those, that sort of thing. I'm the kind of baker who likes to just dive into a recipe. I've learned, but not well, that if a recipe has multiple steps, you ought to at least read through them once. Every so often, not doing so -- or not doing so thoroughly -- burns me. This was one of those times.
Second, pouring the batter into the muffin tins was a pain. There ought to be a way to pour quickly and concisely; give me X amount of ounces in each cup, and use all the batter you practically can. As it was, I think I left a tenth of it in the combination of the mixing bowl, the Pyrex jar I poured with, and the spatulas. And the amounts varied between a half a tin and a little more than three quarters. There's got to be a better way.
Third, the recipe calls for a pastry bag in two places. I don't have one. I know that its possible to simulate one with a ziploc bag, and I've done that in the past, but it seems fairly messy. I don't know whether a genuine pastry bag would be any better. As it is, I cored the cooled cupcakes, scooped in the butter/peanut butter mixture, and replaced the cores. Not a particularly clean or elegant solution, but the ganache should cover it. It also calls for multiple mixing bowls. I've got one for the mixer. (I know: problems of the idle rich). But still - having to clean the bowl before the next step, or trying to just do it by hand -- you don't get particularly good results.
Fourth, thats assuming the ganache comes out well. By this time, I was more than a little ready to be done, so I winged it. Bad move. I ended up with a thin, syrupy ganache which didn't harden as it ought to have done.
So most of this is my fault; a little is lack of tools. I don't like failing. Will I try this recipe again? Perhaps....
Baking?
There are times that I'm a little sorry that I probably won't get to go to the CIA's one week baking course (at least, without paying for it myself). Then there are recipes which suggest that perhaps, given their results, its a good thing that I won't be going.
This is one of them.
* 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
* 1/2 cup boiling water
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 sticks plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 2 large eggs, at room temperature
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 cup creamy peanut butter
* 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1) Preheat the oven to 350° and position 2 racks in the lower and middle third of the oven.
2) Line 24 muffin cups with paper or foil liners.
3) Put the cocoa powder in a medium heatproof bowl.
4) Add the boiling water and whisk until a smooth paste forms.
5) Whisk in the buttermilk until combined.
6) In a medium bowl, sift the flour with the baking soda, baking powder and salt.
7) In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat 1 1/2 sticks of the butter with the granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
8) Beat in the eggs and vanilla, then beat in the dry ingredients in 2 batches, alternating with the cocoa mixture.
9) Carefully spoon the cupcake batter into the lined muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full.
10) Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the cupcakes are springy.
11) Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.
12) In a medium bowl, beat the peanut butter with the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter until creamy.
13) Sift the confectioners' sugar into the bowl and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
14) Spoon all but 3 tablespoons of the peanut butter filling into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch star tip.
15) Holding a cupcake in your hand, plunge the tip into the top of the cake, pushing it about 3/4 inch deep.
16) Gently squeeze the pastry bag to fill the cupcake, withdrawing it slowly as you squeeze; you will feel the cupcake expand slightly as you fill it.
17) Scrape any filling from the top of the cupcake and repeat until all of the cupcakes are filled.
18) In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer.
19) Off the heat, add the semisweet chocolate to the cream and let stand for 5 minutes, then whisk the melted chocolate into the cream until smooth.
20) Let the chocolate icing stand until slightly cooled and thickened, about 15 minutes.
21) Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the icing, letting the excess drip back into the pan.
22) Transfer the cupcakes to racks and let stand for 5 minutes.
23) Dip the tops of the cupcakes again and transfer them to racks.
24) Spoon the remaining 3 tablespoons of peanut butter filling into the pastry bag and pipe tiny rosettes on the tops of the cupcakes.
...and no, I didn't make the rosettes. No pastry bag, doncha know... and by that time, no desire to fake one.
This is one of them.
Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Filling and Ganache
* 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
* 1/2 cup boiling water
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 sticks plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 2 large eggs, at room temperature
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 cup creamy peanut butter
* 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1) Preheat the oven to 350° and position 2 racks in the lower and middle third of the oven.
2) Line 24 muffin cups with paper or foil liners.
3) Put the cocoa powder in a medium heatproof bowl.
4) Add the boiling water and whisk until a smooth paste forms.
5) Whisk in the buttermilk until combined.
6) In a medium bowl, sift the flour with the baking soda, baking powder and salt.
7) In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat 1 1/2 sticks of the butter with the granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
8) Beat in the eggs and vanilla, then beat in the dry ingredients in 2 batches, alternating with the cocoa mixture.
9) Carefully spoon the cupcake batter into the lined muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full.
10) Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the cupcakes are springy.
11) Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.
12) In a medium bowl, beat the peanut butter with the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter until creamy.
13) Sift the confectioners' sugar into the bowl and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
14) Spoon all but 3 tablespoons of the peanut butter filling into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch star tip.
15) Holding a cupcake in your hand, plunge the tip into the top of the cake, pushing it about 3/4 inch deep.
16) Gently squeeze the pastry bag to fill the cupcake, withdrawing it slowly as you squeeze; you will feel the cupcake expand slightly as you fill it.
17) Scrape any filling from the top of the cupcake and repeat until all of the cupcakes are filled.
18) In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer.
19) Off the heat, add the semisweet chocolate to the cream and let stand for 5 minutes, then whisk the melted chocolate into the cream until smooth.
20) Let the chocolate icing stand until slightly cooled and thickened, about 15 minutes.
21) Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the icing, letting the excess drip back into the pan.
22) Transfer the cupcakes to racks and let stand for 5 minutes.
23) Dip the tops of the cupcakes again and transfer them to racks.
24) Spoon the remaining 3 tablespoons of peanut butter filling into the pastry bag and pipe tiny rosettes on the tops of the cupcakes.
...and no, I didn't make the rosettes. No pastry bag, doncha know... and by that time, no desire to fake one.
Watched
My daughter said that her watch had stopped working, so I took it to get a new battery. Gee, they said, we tried a new battery, but it still doesn't work. My wife speculated that it had gotten wet. Sly fox that I am, I said to my daughter 'It doesn't seem to work, as if it had gotten wet or something.' "Gee:, she replied, "it worked after the last time it got wet".
Hmm....
So we're apparently going to get her a new watch. Now, when I was in the jewelry store, I noticed their display of Rolexes, along with a discreet sign to the effect that they required ID before letting you try one on (!). We won't be doing that, or even going their to look at inexpensive watches. But maybe this time, we'll look at water-resistant ones. Or not -- I don't know what that adds to the cost. I don't buy watches all that often -- the one I'm wearing now is about fifteen years ago, on its third band; prior to that, I had a bulky one that I bought in Thailand (touring there courtesy of the Air Force). I do have a very nice, sleek black one that my wife gave me, which I wear for Special Occasions (I have to look every so often to see if its battery still works). I also have a wind-up pocket watch that was my grandfathers, back when he was a railroad conductor. Its a cheap one, but I keep it secreted away, because I like it.
A new watch? That I have to pay for? Watch me.
Hmm....
So we're apparently going to get her a new watch. Now, when I was in the jewelry store, I noticed their display of Rolexes, along with a discreet sign to the effect that they required ID before letting you try one on (!). We won't be doing that, or even going their to look at inexpensive watches. But maybe this time, we'll look at water-resistant ones. Or not -- I don't know what that adds to the cost. I don't buy watches all that often -- the one I'm wearing now is about fifteen years ago, on its third band; prior to that, I had a bulky one that I bought in Thailand (touring there courtesy of the Air Force). I do have a very nice, sleek black one that my wife gave me, which I wear for Special Occasions (I have to look every so often to see if its battery still works). I also have a wind-up pocket watch that was my grandfathers, back when he was a railroad conductor. Its a cheap one, but I keep it secreted away, because I like it.
A new watch? That I have to pay for? Watch me.
Doing The Numbers
I have never been someone who is comfortable with numbers. I understand their utility, but I've never gotten much satisfaction from them. To this day, I don't really understand people who do. In fact, when I first met my wife, she told me that she was a math major, and I thought 'well, this is someone I won't have much in common with'.
But over the years, I have found a certain amount of pleasure in getting things to add up -- in particularly, checking accounts. I'm usually surprised to find that there are people who can't balance their checking account. Surely, I think, they could, they just don't want to. And then I found that my wife has difficulty with that, and I had to rethink why that might be the case. Its not a fear of numbers, certainly, and its not an inability to do it -- so what is it? And now I think that part of it might well be that the bank, itself, doesn't go out of its way to make balancing simple to do. They assume that of course anyone can do it; how hard can it be, and so they give you the basic numbers, and thats it. If -- as happens with my wife -- you get slammed when an unexpected automatic deduction occurs, they shrug and say well, you should have known that was going to happen; you should have made provision for it. I had a roommate once who always rounded his checks up, when recording them -- if the check was for seven dollars and eighty one cents, he recorded it as eight dollars -- so that, so long as he never went negative on the register, he'd know he had enough money in the account to cover checks. That never made sense to me.
Of course, when you do have a banking problem, banks seem to regard it as an opportunity to make more money. One month, my wife had three overdrafts in a row - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Fortunately, our bank - a credit union - just transfers money from savings to cover it (as well as sending you a crisply written letter -- snail mail), so it isn't a big deal, but still -- guys, when the first one is needed, don't you think its possible that I'd want to know right away? So we can keep any more from surprising us? And, of course, a regular bank will then charge you an Overdraft Fee, each and every time. Credit card companies will take your payment and apply it such that the payment covers their fees, first -- and only then what the fee is based on, so if you happen to have underpaid the bill -- as I did once -- you can go for two or three months, generating fees, before you notice. Do they tell you? Of course not -- they're in the business of earning money, not helping you out.
Yesterday, at the lunch, I asked a former coworker how she handled recording all those micro-share stock purchases, and she just grimaced. Apparently, I dodged a bullet on that one; I told them to send dividend checks, and so I got 1099's for them. She had told them to reinvest the dividends (which actually makes more sense), and as a result, her tax return requires her to show how much every dividend was, and how much stock she held each and every time . She said she was seriously considering not reporting it -- not because she wanted to hide it, but because the keepers of the records made it so difficult to answer the questions.
Of course, she could always ask the IRS for help. Ho, ho, ho.
Numbahz. They'll get you, one way or another.
But over the years, I have found a certain amount of pleasure in getting things to add up -- in particularly, checking accounts. I'm usually surprised to find that there are people who can't balance their checking account. Surely, I think, they could, they just don't want to. And then I found that my wife has difficulty with that, and I had to rethink why that might be the case. Its not a fear of numbers, certainly, and its not an inability to do it -- so what is it? And now I think that part of it might well be that the bank, itself, doesn't go out of its way to make balancing simple to do. They assume that of course anyone can do it; how hard can it be, and so they give you the basic numbers, and thats it. If -- as happens with my wife -- you get slammed when an unexpected automatic deduction occurs, they shrug and say well, you should have known that was going to happen; you should have made provision for it. I had a roommate once who always rounded his checks up, when recording them -- if the check was for seven dollars and eighty one cents, he recorded it as eight dollars -- so that, so long as he never went negative on the register, he'd know he had enough money in the account to cover checks. That never made sense to me.
Of course, when you do have a banking problem, banks seem to regard it as an opportunity to make more money. One month, my wife had three overdrafts in a row - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Fortunately, our bank - a credit union - just transfers money from savings to cover it (as well as sending you a crisply written letter -- snail mail), so it isn't a big deal, but still -- guys, when the first one is needed, don't you think its possible that I'd want to know right away? So we can keep any more from surprising us? And, of course, a regular bank will then charge you an Overdraft Fee, each and every time. Credit card companies will take your payment and apply it such that the payment covers their fees, first -- and only then what the fee is based on, so if you happen to have underpaid the bill -- as I did once -- you can go for two or three months, generating fees, before you notice. Do they tell you? Of course not -- they're in the business of earning money, not helping you out.
Yesterday, at the lunch, I asked a former coworker how she handled recording all those micro-share stock purchases, and she just grimaced. Apparently, I dodged a bullet on that one; I told them to send dividend checks, and so I got 1099's for them. She had told them to reinvest the dividends (which actually makes more sense), and as a result, her tax return requires her to show how much every dividend was, and how much stock she held each and every time . She said she was seriously considering not reporting it -- not because she wanted to hide it, but because the keepers of the records made it so difficult to answer the questions.
Of course, she could always ask the IRS for help. Ho, ho, ho.
Numbahz. They'll get you, one way or another.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Lunch
Today, I had lunch. The occasion was the departure of one of my former coworkers from the office where I worked. She's not leaving IBM, though. Her move is a serious improvement -- she won't be on call, won't work on weekends, won't have to deal with auditors, won't have to deal with customers. Oh, and she'll be working from home. To say that I am envious would be to put it mildly -- but if this could have happened to anyone (other than me, of course), I'd have picked her, because she's a really nice person who works really hard, and she deserved it.
So they took her out to lunch. I've never understood why organizations usually take you out to lunch when you're leaving. They don't take you when you arrive, they usually don't go out while you're there -- but when you're leaving, sure, lets do lunch. I came along, and I'm glad I did. It was nice to see these people again... and it was nice to find out that they're in the middle of another audit. I liked missing that. I miss the tech stuff, I miss the people, but audits? Keep 'em.
Let's do lunch.
So they took her out to lunch. I've never understood why organizations usually take you out to lunch when you're leaving. They don't take you when you arrive, they usually don't go out while you're there -- but when you're leaving, sure, lets do lunch. I came along, and I'm glad I did. It was nice to see these people again... and it was nice to find out that they're in the middle of another audit. I liked missing that. I miss the tech stuff, I miss the people, but audits? Keep 'em.
Let's do lunch.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Ganached
The brownies turned out to be not too terribly horribly bad. They had a light, moist texture, and you could taste the sweetness of the Mascarpone cheese. The ganache didn't come out as thick as I'd have expected, but it wasn't bad, either. I'd make it again.
A Este Momento...
... my upper jaw hurts, a little...but not a lot. Its always a thrill to hear the surgeon say to the nurse 'Was that a hint?', and have her reply 'I'll help you take the sutures out...'. Okay, he said, Suture Removal 101, here we go. Which actually went reasonably well, though I could have done without hearing him say 'Oh, that ones not going to come out....oh, there we go'. Hey, I'm awake here, you know?
The brownies are in the oven. I don't know how they'll taste, but I'll say this: brownie batter made with mascapone cheese is very rich. I'm going to go into shock just from what I licked ... and I haven't even made the ganache yet. How many will escape the house and go into my wife's office tomorrow, hard to say... I do wonder why the recipe specifically points out to beat it by hand. I did it, but it didn't mix as well as it would have with the mixer. I've seen that kind of instruction on bread, with the gluten thing, but never brownies. Cookies, sometimes.
...and I did a little bit more on the taxes.
The brownies are in the oven. I don't know how they'll taste, but I'll say this: brownie batter made with mascapone cheese is very rich. I'm going to go into shock just from what I licked ... and I haven't even made the ganache yet. How many will escape the house and go into my wife's office tomorrow, hard to say... I do wonder why the recipe specifically points out to beat it by hand. I did it, but it didn't mix as well as it would have with the mixer. I've seen that kind of instruction on bread, with the gluten thing, but never brownies. Cookies, sometimes.
...and I did a little bit more on the taxes.
D Day
Which stands for Dental Day. Also Denial Day. Also Dammit.... but I'll be okay. I will survive (cue the music), even as I wince when they grab a piece of skin instead of suture. What? they'll say. Did that hurt? Oh, no...I always wet my eyes and gasp. Its a nervous condition.
And I get to work more on taxes today. Its a weird thing -- I'm still a little irritated at the ticky-tacky records they want -- gosh, Bill Gates must stay up way late to do his, huh? -- but now that I have a spreadsheet with the required values, and its just a matter of keying every damned one in, I feel better. Feel like I'm in control. Its important to me, control is. I like it. Just like spontaneity -- its a good thing (in its time and place). Ahem.
I need to return that Strengths book today (the libe wants it back) but then I'll get it again. I want to think about it. I may even buy it, mirable dictu. A friends daughter, years ago, said to me that she was aghast to see how her mother was buying and reading books on Your Teens Character, and Helping Your Teen Succeed, and all of that. Its a parent thing, I told her -- and now, I think Oh, yeah. I mean, heck -- this is my daughter we're talking about.
God help me, last night I went to sleep thinking Why doesn't Hillary quit? Because she's not a quitter... and because she wants this so badly, her teeth hurt. Gotta respect that... and she'd make a fine Veep, doncha think?
Everyone knows what DNA is. (Extra points if you know what RNA is!) But -- is this home DNA extraction kit for real?
Last night, my wife and I went for a walk. Still a truncated one, but now we're up to about, oh, a mile or so. Course, as slowly as I walk, so that my hip doesn't wake up and say HEY, Knock It Off!, thats twenty-plus minutes, but still, this is good. Its about three times what I was doing a couple of weeks ago.
And I get to work more on taxes today. Its a weird thing -- I'm still a little irritated at the ticky-tacky records they want -- gosh, Bill Gates must stay up way late to do his, huh? -- but now that I have a spreadsheet with the required values, and its just a matter of keying every damned one in, I feel better. Feel like I'm in control. Its important to me, control is. I like it. Just like spontaneity -- its a good thing (in its time and place). Ahem.
I need to return that Strengths book today (the libe wants it back) but then I'll get it again. I want to think about it. I may even buy it, mirable dictu. A friends daughter, years ago, said to me that she was aghast to see how her mother was buying and reading books on Your Teens Character, and Helping Your Teen Succeed, and all of that. Its a parent thing, I told her -- and now, I think Oh, yeah. I mean, heck -- this is my daughter we're talking about.
God help me, last night I went to sleep thinking Why doesn't Hillary quit? Because she's not a quitter... and because she wants this so badly, her teeth hurt. Gotta respect that... and she'd make a fine Veep, doncha think?
Everyone knows what DNA is. (Extra points if you know what RNA is!) But -- is this home DNA extraction kit for real?
Last night, my wife and I went for a walk. Still a truncated one, but now we're up to about, oh, a mile or so. Course, as slowly as I walk, so that my hip doesn't wake up and say HEY, Knock It Off!, thats twenty-plus minutes, but still, this is good. Its about three times what I was doing a couple of weeks ago.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Reading
I'm still working my way through the book on Your Child's Strengths. I'm not sure what to make of it. Some of the things that she says sound right to me, and others sound like New Age nonsense. For example, she'll say that telling a kid that they have to do well in school now in order to be able to get into a good school later doesn't do much to motivate them. Well, yeah, I'll agree with that. Then she'll follow that up with the observation that kids really want to learn, and I think that I've not actually seen that, myself. In selective areas, sure. As a whole, though, no. Not to say there aren't omnivorous learners out there, but I don't think its the norm. Much as I'd like to believe that all you have to do is expose kids to the opportunity to learn, and they will, I don't think thats actually the case.
Have to admit, my attitude toward that is a little biased at the moment. I was reading a blog the other day that's written by a teen (or pretty close), listing things that she thought important for parents to know. One of them was 'Don't say that we just want you to do your best, and then give us grief when the result isn't as good as you want'. At first, I thought 'well, maybe', but the more I thought of it, the more I thought 'why shouldn't I give the kid grief for not doing as well as possible?' I think the YCS book would hold that its more important to figure out how the kid learns best, and encourage that style (how? in a structured school, how?); failing that, though, what are you supposed to do? Shrug? Say 'Oh, gosh, I wish you'd done better....would you like some ice cream?'
The idea sounds good... but I don't know how well it actually plays out in reality.
Have to admit, my attitude toward that is a little biased at the moment. I was reading a blog the other day that's written by a teen (or pretty close), listing things that she thought important for parents to know. One of them was 'Don't say that we just want you to do your best, and then give us grief when the result isn't as good as you want'. At first, I thought 'well, maybe', but the more I thought of it, the more I thought 'why shouldn't I give the kid grief for not doing as well as possible?' I think the YCS book would hold that its more important to figure out how the kid learns best, and encourage that style (how? in a structured school, how?); failing that, though, what are you supposed to do? Shrug? Say 'Oh, gosh, I wish you'd done better....would you like some ice cream?'
The idea sounds good... but I don't know how well it actually plays out in reality.
Changes
This evening, my daughter came back from CCD a little agitated.
She said that her CCD instructor had said that gay people were bad. My daughter said that she didn't agree with that, and didn't like that the instructor had said that. I don't know whether I was more pleased with the attitude itself, or that she had developed an opinion on her own. She knows that's what we think, but this one, she generated herself. I really like that. The kiddo's definitely growing up.
And if If I needed further proof, just seeing her walk across the kitche, in her black T shirt, black leggings, and snug camo shorts would have done it for me. When did my slender daughter develop hips? Not to mention, a wiggle?
She said that her CCD instructor had said that gay people were bad. My daughter said that she didn't agree with that, and didn't like that the instructor had said that. I don't know whether I was more pleased with the attitude itself, or that she had developed an opinion on her own. She knows that's what we think, but this one, she generated herself. I really like that. The kiddo's definitely growing up.
And if If I needed further proof, just seeing her walk across the kitche, in her black T shirt, black leggings, and snug camo shorts would have done it for me. When did my slender daughter develop hips? Not to mention, a wiggle?
Bake? Moi?
But first, an unsolicited commercial. If you have the opportunity, look at African Kelli's blog. She's really an amazing person.
Okay, the baking. I haven't baked for a while, and I miss it. For the longest time, I went without upper teeth, save only for occasionally wearing a temporary 'appliance' (yes, I had a microwave in my mouth; saves no end of time, and keeps my breath fresh, too). It was no big deal. Now its been about two weeks since The Great Implant Implantation Surgery, and tomorrow the sutures come out. Which I'm not really looking forward to, as it can sting, a bit, and I'm somewhat of a wimp when it comes to that kind of thing. But once thats done, I'll have a mouth thats more or less back to normal, or at least what passes for normal with me. I won't be able to wear the appliance until its modified (apparently, they need to cut holes in it so it will fit around the implant sockets). In a right and just universe, that'd take a couple of days, but since we're talking dentists here, I'm thinking a couple of weeks. Ugh.
What this means is that if I bake something, it needs to be soft. Of course, I could just make chocolate chip cookies and eat them soft, but what I think I'd like to try is some brownies. But not just any brownies. These.
Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies, With Ganache
* 1 cup unsalted butter (plus more for preparing pan)
* 3 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 cup cocoa powder
* 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, softened
* 3 large eggs, at room temperature
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325°. Butter an 8-inch square glass baking pan and set aside.
Place the butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at half power in 30 second intervals, stirring between each heating. Continue until both are completely melted.
Sift sugar and cocoa powder. Add to the butter/chocolate mixture. Beat in (by hand) the mascarpone, eggs, and vanilla extract until smooth. Fold in flour and salt.
Pour batter into pan and spread evenly.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in pan on cooling rack.
Ganache
* 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
* 6 tablespoons heavy cream
* 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Place chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, heat the butter and cream over medium heat, stirring constantly. When mixture is almost boiling, pour over the chocolate. Let stand for 30 seconds. Then, stir until smooth.
Pour ganache over cooled brownies and spread evenly.
Allow ganache to firm before cutting brownies. Brownies may be placed in refrigerator to expedite this.
Yields 16 brownies.
Article printed from Bake or Break Recipes: http://www.bakeorbreak.com/recipes
Any volunteers to come and eat them?
Okay, the baking. I haven't baked for a while, and I miss it. For the longest time, I went without upper teeth, save only for occasionally wearing a temporary 'appliance' (yes, I had a microwave in my mouth; saves no end of time, and keeps my breath fresh, too). It was no big deal. Now its been about two weeks since The Great Implant Implantation Surgery, and tomorrow the sutures come out. Which I'm not really looking forward to, as it can sting, a bit, and I'm somewhat of a wimp when it comes to that kind of thing. But once thats done, I'll have a mouth thats more or less back to normal, or at least what passes for normal with me. I won't be able to wear the appliance until its modified (apparently, they need to cut holes in it so it will fit around the implant sockets). In a right and just universe, that'd take a couple of days, but since we're talking dentists here, I'm thinking a couple of weeks. Ugh.
What this means is that if I bake something, it needs to be soft. Of course, I could just make chocolate chip cookies and eat them soft, but what I think I'd like to try is some brownies. But not just any brownies. These.
Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies, With Ganache
* 1 cup unsalted butter (plus more for preparing pan)
* 3 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 cup cocoa powder
* 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, softened
* 3 large eggs, at room temperature
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325°. Butter an 8-inch square glass baking pan and set aside.
Place the butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at half power in 30 second intervals, stirring between each heating. Continue until both are completely melted.
Sift sugar and cocoa powder. Add to the butter/chocolate mixture. Beat in (by hand) the mascarpone, eggs, and vanilla extract until smooth. Fold in flour and salt.
Pour batter into pan and spread evenly.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in pan on cooling rack.
Ganache
* 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
* 6 tablespoons heavy cream
* 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Place chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, heat the butter and cream over medium heat, stirring constantly. When mixture is almost boiling, pour over the chocolate. Let stand for 30 seconds. Then, stir until smooth.
Pour ganache over cooled brownies and spread evenly.
Allow ganache to firm before cutting brownies. Brownies may be placed in refrigerator to expedite this.
Yields 16 brownies.
Article printed from Bake or Break Recipes: http://www.bakeorbreak.com/recipes
Any volunteers to come and eat them?
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Tacky Taxy
At the moment, I'm not particularly thrilled with the Infernal Revenue Service.
We realized about a week ago that we'd neglected to include some money received as part of a stock sale on our tax statement. Okay, no problem, just amend the return. And amending is actually pretty easy.
But because its a stock sale, the Infamous Revenue Service wants to know exactly how much each piece of the sale cost, and what the going price was, and how big that piece was, and when you got it.
Six Years Worth of Acquisitions. In Little Bite-Sized Chunks. Each One On A Separate Line.
Oh, my good lord.
We realized about a week ago that we'd neglected to include some money received as part of a stock sale on our tax statement. Okay, no problem, just amend the return. And amending is actually pretty easy.
But because its a stock sale, the Infamous Revenue Service wants to know exactly how much each piece of the sale cost, and what the going price was, and how big that piece was, and when you got it.
Six Years Worth of Acquisitions. In Little Bite-Sized Chunks. Each One On A Separate Line.
Oh, my good lord.
Want Compensation?
From Memory Alpha:
The Heisenberg compensator (or Subspace Field Compensator) is a component of the transporter system. The compensator works around the problems caused by the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle (hence the name), allowing the transporter sensors to compensate for their inability to determine both the position and momentum of the target particles to the same degree of accuracy. This ensures the matter stream remains coherent during transport, and no data is lost.
When asked by Time Magazine in 1994, "How do the Heisenberg compensators work?" Mike Okuda replied, "They work just fine, thank you."
The Heisenberg compensator (or Subspace Field Compensator) is a component of the transporter system. The compensator works around the problems caused by the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle (hence the name), allowing the transporter sensors to compensate for their inability to determine both the position and momentum of the target particles to the same degree of accuracy. This ensures the matter stream remains coherent during transport, and no data is lost.
When asked by Time Magazine in 1994, "How do the Heisenberg compensators work?" Mike Okuda replied, "They work just fine, thank you."
Communicating
I think this is a good analogy for writing a blog.
From the Copper comic. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be an RSS feed for it.
Werk?
I think I'm really getting used to this not-working thing.
When I took the year off after leaving EDS, I wondered how long it would take before I didn't automatically think of myself as a programmer. After all, I'd been doing it for 22 years -- surely I would still reflexively think of myself that way, feel that I needed to do that in order to 'identfy' myself. I was surprised, then, to find that after six months, that identity was essentially gone. Granted, there were distractions during that period -- my mother'd hurt herself, we were having the kitchen remodeled and the nook extension built -- but still, it came as a bit of a surprise. I'd always heard that one of the biggest problems with retirement, or even just not working, was loss of identity. In my case, it seemed as easy as taking off a jacket. I didn't have a different one to put on, but that seemed minor.
When I was summarily ejected from IBM, I expected much of the same. Although I didn't identify with IBM as much as I did with EDS (six years versus twenty two), I still thought of myself as a techie, and the loss of that identification would, I figured, resonate with me. I still perk up, after all, when I hear my wife on a teleconference, talking about a system upgrade or a problem they're having. Don't get me wrong, I never was a great tech -- my strength was persistence, not knowledge -- but I enjoyed it, and I figured I would miss it. As it turns out, what I missed was earning money, and, actually, not all that much. We both have retirement plans, and we have a goodly amount saved, so as long as we continue to meet daily expenses out of daily income, we're cool. I'd like to earn money, I'm just not particularly willing to go enter into someone else's work environment to do it.
Even the most casual opportunities seem to stimulate the feeling of 'work? me?' in my psyche. I read in a local paper of a local 'high tech' company that was hiring retirees who were willing to work part time. Gee, I thought, I didn't know we had high-tech companies in the local town. Well, its high-tech only by comparison to, say, Burger King; the kind of thing that fifteen years ago would have been pretty amazing (You work in computers? Wow!) but now is pretty mundane. And what I found, in thinking about it, was 'well, heck, if they aren't really doing big machine stuff, I don't want to be bothered'. It took me a while to realize that I could have substituted anything into that qualification. No particular job really excites me. Thats not to say that there aren't jobs that sound interesting, and even ones that I'd apply for, but the truth seems to be that if I never work again, that would be okay, too.
It reminds me of a story I heard years ago from a fellow who runs a major employment agency - Challenger, Gray - saying that he was doing outplacement testing of an accountant who'd been laid off as part of a restructuring. Gee, he said, surprised, your scores for numerical aptitude aren't all that high. Well, the guy replied, maybe thats why I never liked being an accountant.
Whatever happened to thirty or so years of work ethic? Did I make a mistake, thirty years ago?
When I took the year off after leaving EDS, I wondered how long it would take before I didn't automatically think of myself as a programmer. After all, I'd been doing it for 22 years -- surely I would still reflexively think of myself that way, feel that I needed to do that in order to 'identfy' myself. I was surprised, then, to find that after six months, that identity was essentially gone. Granted, there were distractions during that period -- my mother'd hurt herself, we were having the kitchen remodeled and the nook extension built -- but still, it came as a bit of a surprise. I'd always heard that one of the biggest problems with retirement, or even just not working, was loss of identity. In my case, it seemed as easy as taking off a jacket. I didn't have a different one to put on, but that seemed minor.
When I was summarily ejected from IBM, I expected much of the same. Although I didn't identify with IBM as much as I did with EDS (six years versus twenty two), I still thought of myself as a techie, and the loss of that identification would, I figured, resonate with me. I still perk up, after all, when I hear my wife on a teleconference, talking about a system upgrade or a problem they're having. Don't get me wrong, I never was a great tech -- my strength was persistence, not knowledge -- but I enjoyed it, and I figured I would miss it. As it turns out, what I missed was earning money, and, actually, not all that much. We both have retirement plans, and we have a goodly amount saved, so as long as we continue to meet daily expenses out of daily income, we're cool. I'd like to earn money, I'm just not particularly willing to go enter into someone else's work environment to do it.
Even the most casual opportunities seem to stimulate the feeling of 'work? me?' in my psyche. I read in a local paper of a local 'high tech' company that was hiring retirees who were willing to work part time. Gee, I thought, I didn't know we had high-tech companies in the local town. Well, its high-tech only by comparison to, say, Burger King; the kind of thing that fifteen years ago would have been pretty amazing (You work in computers? Wow!) but now is pretty mundane. And what I found, in thinking about it, was 'well, heck, if they aren't really doing big machine stuff, I don't want to be bothered'. It took me a while to realize that I could have substituted anything into that qualification. No particular job really excites me. Thats not to say that there aren't jobs that sound interesting, and even ones that I'd apply for, but the truth seems to be that if I never work again, that would be okay, too.
It reminds me of a story I heard years ago from a fellow who runs a major employment agency - Challenger, Gray - saying that he was doing outplacement testing of an accountant who'd been laid off as part of a restructuring. Gee, he said, surprised, your scores for numerical aptitude aren't all that high. Well, the guy replied, maybe thats why I never liked being an accountant.
Whatever happened to thirty or so years of work ethic? Did I make a mistake, thirty years ago?
Monday, March 24, 2008
Mr. Compassion
From ABC News:
Wrapping up a nine-day overseas trip to Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney was asked, in an exclusive interview with ABC News, about the effect on the nation of today's grim milestone of at least 4,000 U.S. deaths over the five-year Iraq war.
Noting the burden placed on military families, the Vice President said the biggest burden is carried by President Bush, and reminded ABC news that the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan volunteered for duty.
Wrapping up a nine-day overseas trip to Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney was asked, in an exclusive interview with ABC News, about the effect on the nation of today's grim milestone of at least 4,000 U.S. deaths over the five-year Iraq war.
Noting the burden placed on military families, the Vice President said the biggest burden is carried by President Bush, and reminded ABC news that the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan volunteered for duty.
Monday, Monday
I'm still in bed; what a slug. Hey, I got out to get this laptop. Does that count?
My daughter is home. I don't know how she is right at the moment, but last night, she was obviously glad to be here. That trip must have been rougher on her psyche than I thought. I think she's glad she went, but I also think that could she have come up with a reason to ask that we come up and get her, yesterday morning, she would have. And the scary part is, I might well have done it. I don't pamper her, but I don't like seeing her unhappy.
Woke up smiling, partially because I slept well, partially because I dreamt well. One of those 'I've got to remember the details of that dream' dreams. File it away in the vault, just on the off chance I can do it intentionally some time....
Daughter's off today, wife's working. As for me, I'll be paying bills and wrapping up taxes. Yowza.....
My daughter is home. I don't know how she is right at the moment, but last night, she was obviously glad to be here. That trip must have been rougher on her psyche than I thought. I think she's glad she went, but I also think that could she have come up with a reason to ask that we come up and get her, yesterday morning, she would have. And the scary part is, I might well have done it. I don't pamper her, but I don't like seeing her unhappy.
Woke up smiling, partially because I slept well, partially because I dreamt well. One of those 'I've got to remember the details of that dream' dreams. File it away in the vault, just on the off chance I can do it intentionally some time....
Daughter's off today, wife's working. As for me, I'll be paying bills and wrapping up taxes. Yowza.....
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Finances and New York City
There are a series of interesting articles in today's New York Times centering on the crises striking the financial and housing industries. They can be summarized as a) is more/more effective regulation needed in the financial services market, and if so, what kind and how intense, and b) does the abrupt loss of stratospheric income to a series of brokers and their toadies, ah, staff mean that the economic climate just became a bit more palatable to people without that nosebleed level of income?
The general tone of the former is that while everything pretty much agrees that the current financial services meltdown is the result of overextension and what someone once called Irrational Exuberance (Hi, Alan!), these things happen, and if we were to establish new controls, strengthen old ones, or otherwise constrain the financial services industry, then we would be limiting their ability to generate wealth (true enough) which would be a bad thing (not so true). If, for example, a brokerage had to back up investments with a certain amount of money, then it would make less investments (true enough); such investments would likely be of the surer type, which would limit the downside, but would also mean less gold-plated investing. Why do I scent a whiff of trickle-down economics in there?
As for the latter, the feeling is that the money-stuffed denizens of Wall Street's upper tiers have been bidding the hell out of all of the possible services and amenities, making it virtually impossible for the average person (who, relative to any other city, is doing Quite Well, but relative to Manhattan, is Just Scraping By) to partake without giving up, oh, paying the rent. To see these people abruptly dropped from the heights is therefore both gratifying (Down to their last forty million? How will they survive?) and the opening of opportunity, as restaurants begin to admit the merely affluent hoi polloi (use the rear entrance, please), and galleries lop a zero or so from the prices of some of their works. But only some.
Makes me glad I no longer live there.
The general tone of the former is that while everything pretty much agrees that the current financial services meltdown is the result of overextension and what someone once called Irrational Exuberance (Hi, Alan!), these things happen, and if we were to establish new controls, strengthen old ones, or otherwise constrain the financial services industry, then we would be limiting their ability to generate wealth (true enough) which would be a bad thing (not so true). If, for example, a brokerage had to back up investments with a certain amount of money, then it would make less investments (true enough); such investments would likely be of the surer type, which would limit the downside, but would also mean less gold-plated investing. Why do I scent a whiff of trickle-down economics in there?
As for the latter, the feeling is that the money-stuffed denizens of Wall Street's upper tiers have been bidding the hell out of all of the possible services and amenities, making it virtually impossible for the average person (who, relative to any other city, is doing Quite Well, but relative to Manhattan, is Just Scraping By) to partake without giving up, oh, paying the rent. To see these people abruptly dropped from the heights is therefore both gratifying (Down to their last forty million? How will they survive?) and the opening of opportunity, as restaurants begin to admit the merely affluent hoi polloi (use the rear entrance, please), and galleries lop a zero or so from the prices of some of their works. But only some.
Makes me glad I no longer live there.
Julia Taft
I don't as a rule read obituaries -- I'm not old enough yet to look to see if I'm in there -- but I'm glad that I read this one. She sounds like a genuinely admirable person -- and in government, yet.
Reading, Thinking
We had another thought about an elevator. Its not a complete thought, but -- our house, being a bilevel, has a front door on one level, with steps going up and down to the levels. Okay. Take out the up-flight. Put the elevator there, wiping out the up-flight and the closet that's below it. Open the wall into the living room, put a new up-flight from the landing into there. Leave the down flight as it is. Granted, that leaves the minor problem of the front door, which would open right into where the 'new up-flight' would be, but it's a thought....
My daughter went up to her grandmothers house yesterday. She's sorry that she did. First off, the routinely late aunt was seriously late, on the order of two and a half hours late. Normally, its about an hour late. Second, when they got there, the aunt insisted on calling to tell us that it was a wonderful drive up; the daughter offered the opinion later that it wasn't wonderful, it was just okay - four people, small car. I reminded her that for that aunt, 'okay' equates to wonderful. If it actually had been wonderful, that would have equated to fabulous, unbelievable. Did I mention that this aunt used to live in southern California? Third, it was decided that the four of them, minus the father, including the grandmother, should go to the movies. Since the grandmother (allegedly) only likes G Rated movies, they saw: Horton Hears a Who, which, my daughter told us afterwards, was even worse than she thought, the experience made even more delightful by the presence of screaming kids in the theater. She can hardly wait to get home again. Apparently, this morning the aunt had a vociferous argument with her daughter because you could, gasp, see the strap of her camisole. And on Easter! In her old home-town church!
I think it's hideous that we're willing to take people into the military, or into government service, send them into Iraq, but then find them lacking when it comes to citizenship. Hideous, reprehensible, abominable. BushAndCheney-like.
Reading the Sunday papers, I see again where white people just cannot possibly understand the rages that black people feel each and every day. Okay. Since you say I cannot, I guess I won't try. Yes, I know thats not what you want -- but, given that you've said I cannot, and given that my feeling is there is no upside here for me, why should I make the effort? That's rhetorical... somewhat. But if Obama loses the nomination because of that pastor's intemperance, a status of him is going up on my mantel, right next to the statue of Nader, while I go find my shotgun for some in-home target shooting. And I don't even have a shotgun.
On the plus side: Happy Easter!
My daughter went up to her grandmothers house yesterday. She's sorry that she did. First off, the routinely late aunt was seriously late, on the order of two and a half hours late. Normally, its about an hour late. Second, when they got there, the aunt insisted on calling to tell us that it was a wonderful drive up; the daughter offered the opinion later that it wasn't wonderful, it was just okay - four people, small car. I reminded her that for that aunt, 'okay' equates to wonderful. If it actually had been wonderful, that would have equated to fabulous, unbelievable. Did I mention that this aunt used to live in southern California? Third, it was decided that the four of them, minus the father, including the grandmother, should go to the movies. Since the grandmother (allegedly) only likes G Rated movies, they saw: Horton Hears a Who, which, my daughter told us afterwards, was even worse than she thought, the experience made even more delightful by the presence of screaming kids in the theater. She can hardly wait to get home again. Apparently, this morning the aunt had a vociferous argument with her daughter because you could, gasp, see the strap of her camisole. And on Easter! In her old home-town church!
I think it's hideous that we're willing to take people into the military, or into government service, send them into Iraq, but then find them lacking when it comes to citizenship. Hideous, reprehensible, abominable. BushAndCheney-like.
Reading the Sunday papers, I see again where white people just cannot possibly understand the rages that black people feel each and every day. Okay. Since you say I cannot, I guess I won't try. Yes, I know thats not what you want -- but, given that you've said I cannot, and given that my feeling is there is no upside here for me, why should I make the effort? That's rhetorical... somewhat. But if Obama loses the nomination because of that pastor's intemperance, a status of him is going up on my mantel, right next to the statue of Nader, while I go find my shotgun for some in-home target shooting. And I don't even have a shotgun.
On the plus side: Happy Easter!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Discoveries
We went for a bit of a drive this afternoon, scouting out areas where houses are being built, and we made two discoveries.
First is, expensive houses are going up all over the place. The least expensive was about three hundred thousand dollars.
Second is, these places are fifteen to twenty minutes off the main road -- and the connectors are two lane roads. By contrast, we're three minutes from the main road. Also, we have local infrastructure, such as malls and shopping -- they don't. They likely will, and sooner than I think -- but not at the moment.
Both of those increase the perceived value of this house, we think. Not deciding factors, but certainly affecting the decision.
First is, expensive houses are going up all over the place. The least expensive was about three hundred thousand dollars.
Second is, these places are fifteen to twenty minutes off the main road -- and the connectors are two lane roads. By contrast, we're three minutes from the main road. Also, we have local infrastructure, such as malls and shopping -- they don't. They likely will, and sooner than I think -- but not at the moment.
Both of those increase the perceived value of this house, we think. Not deciding factors, but certainly affecting the decision.
Friday, March 21, 2008
PopUp
There's a classy little scene in Star Trek III where Doctor McCoy, who's being a little rambunctious in a bar (the result of being infused with Spock's katra), is being braced by a Federation security guy. This being the Federation, he doesn't just whip out a badge, he holds up a credit-card-sized wallet gizmo, out of which pops an ID card - up / down, little chirp at the top (now you see it, now you don't, wanna see it again? tough). Its slick, and who knows, maybe it actually works, and doesn't really rely on the holder flicking it up and down with his thumb.
I thought of that when I saw this.
I thought of that when I saw this.
Assuming the Position
I just read an article on the subject of a survey done at a Massachusetts middle school. One of the questions was 'do you think the school's vision statement accurately represents how the school is run'. That's a restatement, by the way. I'll let you (how nice of me) read the article if you want, but it got me to thinking, briefly, about vision statements and mission statements.
I love those things. I loved them when they first became popular, I loved them when it turned out that they were way harder to do than they were to write, and I love them now, when they are for the most part meaningless. I think that life (It's life, Jim, but not as we know it) is so difficult and complex and just generally distracting that its nice to have a touchstone to be able to look at every so often, just to be able to say 'Are we doing that?' Occasionally, you can even say 'Do we still believe that?' Granted, neither of those is likely to occur with any kind of routine, the second even less than the first. No one likes having to question what are supposed to be the core verities of their lives, and when you're asking 'do we still believe that', thats just exactly what you're doing.
People (serious people) have made careers out of these things -- describing them, analyzing them, explaining them, showing why this kind is Good and that kind is Bad. I'm a simple guy, and I think simply, as a rule (and yeah, I know that simply doesn't always mean Right). I think of Vision statements as a way of saying 'this is what we're all about; this is why we exist, period'. Mission statements, I think of as somewhat more tactical; they say 'Here's the kind of things we're going to do, the values we're going to espouse, the ways in which we're going to act'. I don't think that vision statements buy you all that much. Mission statements, I think, give you more bang for the buck. If you believe in Vision statements, you might not agree. Certainly, given the choice, I'd prefer a position as a Visionary than a Missionary -- pays better, and you get to be on talk shows -- but thats just me. As far as actual content, I prefer the latter.
In the article I mentioned, the kids were asked if the school's vision statement was true. Most of them did not. (This did not go over particularly well with the school administration, which is what the article is actually about). I just asked my daughter if her school has a mission statement, and she said that she thought it might be the Code of Conduct (I will not lie, cheat, or steal, but waterboarding is okay -- no, wait, that's not right). I remember reading it, once, while I was at the school; it stick to my intellectual ribs the way that Jello sticks to your physical ones. Looked good, insubstantial as all hell.
The thing is, we all find it easier to say good things than to do them, and life sometimes gets in the way. We get actively offended when people say that we aren't doing what we so loudly proclaimed, at the twilight's last gleaming, to be totally key and basic to our lives. We sometimes find it helpful to hedge, in that regard. A local cleaners used to have a big sign about how their customers happiness was the Most Important Thing. There were about ten qualifiers after that, though, which substantially reduced the impact of the statement. Then again, given the recent experience of that cleaners down in DC with the missing pants and the belligerent judge/customer, perhaps thats a good thing. Maybe mission statements should have that kind of qualifier.
Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.
I love those things. I loved them when they first became popular, I loved them when it turned out that they were way harder to do than they were to write, and I love them now, when they are for the most part meaningless. I think that life (It's life, Jim, but not as we know it) is so difficult and complex and just generally distracting that its nice to have a touchstone to be able to look at every so often, just to be able to say 'Are we doing that?' Occasionally, you can even say 'Do we still believe that?' Granted, neither of those is likely to occur with any kind of routine, the second even less than the first. No one likes having to question what are supposed to be the core verities of their lives, and when you're asking 'do we still believe that', thats just exactly what you're doing.
People (serious people) have made careers out of these things -- describing them, analyzing them, explaining them, showing why this kind is Good and that kind is Bad. I'm a simple guy, and I think simply, as a rule (and yeah, I know that simply doesn't always mean Right). I think of Vision statements as a way of saying 'this is what we're all about; this is why we exist, period'. Mission statements, I think of as somewhat more tactical; they say 'Here's the kind of things we're going to do, the values we're going to espouse, the ways in which we're going to act'. I don't think that vision statements buy you all that much. Mission statements, I think, give you more bang for the buck. If you believe in Vision statements, you might not agree. Certainly, given the choice, I'd prefer a position as a Visionary than a Missionary -- pays better, and you get to be on talk shows -- but thats just me. As far as actual content, I prefer the latter.
In the article I mentioned, the kids were asked if the school's vision statement was true. Most of them did not. (This did not go over particularly well with the school administration, which is what the article is actually about). I just asked my daughter if her school has a mission statement, and she said that she thought it might be the Code of Conduct (I will not lie, cheat, or steal, but waterboarding is okay -- no, wait, that's not right). I remember reading it, once, while I was at the school; it stick to my intellectual ribs the way that Jello sticks to your physical ones. Looked good, insubstantial as all hell.
The thing is, we all find it easier to say good things than to do them, and life sometimes gets in the way. We get actively offended when people say that we aren't doing what we so loudly proclaimed, at the twilight's last gleaming, to be totally key and basic to our lives. We sometimes find it helpful to hedge, in that regard. A local cleaners used to have a big sign about how their customers happiness was the Most Important Thing. There were about ten qualifiers after that, though, which substantially reduced the impact of the statement. Then again, given the recent experience of that cleaners down in DC with the missing pants and the belligerent judge/customer, perhaps thats a good thing. Maybe mission statements should have that kind of qualifier.
(*) We will do all of the above except for the parts that are difficult; those, maybe.
Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.
Odd Observation
There's a web blog that I found which is moderately interesting, about cooking and such. I read it via Feed Demon, which lets me call it whatever I want. The blog might have an actual name of Knives; in FD, I can call it, say, Cutting Remarks. Which gives you a good idea of the level of my humor, as a rule.
I just unsubscribed from the blog. Not because I didn't like it, but because when I'd connected FD to it, I'd used the actual name of the blog -- which is so cute, I would wince every time I saw it. I know -- why didn't I just change it? I don't know. Somehow, it was just easier to pretend it didn't exist.
And now, unless I bump across it again, it doesn't.
I just unsubscribed from the blog. Not because I didn't like it, but because when I'd connected FD to it, I'd used the actual name of the blog -- which is so cute, I would wince every time I saw it. I know -- why didn't I just change it? I don't know. Somehow, it was just easier to pretend it didn't exist.
And now, unless I bump across it again, it doesn't.
Modern Policing
There are jobs of which its commonly said that you really can't judge it without doing it. One of those is being a cop, particularly, being a cop in a big city. I don't doubt that such is the case. But when I read about cops using their cruisers to chase people on foot (not just chase after, stop, get out, get them, but chase after, bump with, sometimes so hard the person goes flying) -- I feel perfectly competent to judge them -- and when I learn that the police department merely suspends involved cops for two days, if at all -- I've got to wonder. Because I've got to say, this kind of thing is very disturbing to me.
I think the official position would be 'This is disturbing to us, too', and the unofficial position would be 'You don't understand', and possibly ' These people aren't jaywalkers, they're scum - thieves, rapists, murderers - so, anything we do that results in deterring them, catching them is all okay'. I think of that as the waterboarding defense, and from the safety of my own home here in rural Pennsylvania, I scorn it. I know that being a cop, even here, is a long way from Andy and Barney -- but I scorn it.
I'm sure Dick Cheney would approve, though, so it must be okay.
I think the official position would be 'This is disturbing to us, too', and the unofficial position would be 'You don't understand', and possibly ' These people aren't jaywalkers, they're scum - thieves, rapists, murderers - so, anything we do that results in deterring them, catching them is all okay'. I think of that as the waterboarding defense, and from the safety of my own home here in rural Pennsylvania, I scorn it. I know that being a cop, even here, is a long way from Andy and Barney -- but I scorn it.
I'm sure Dick Cheney would approve, though, so it must be okay.
Dell Dull
Last night, my daughter mentioned that the freebie IBM flash drive that I'd given her had broken. I wasn't all that surprised -- the other freebie one had also broken -- but it bugged me a bit. I know she likes having one. My wife suggested that we get a replacement by using the free Dell gift card that we'd gotten when we bought the laptop. That sounded good to us, so we went to the Dell site (which is not impossible to navigate, though I can never go there without thinking about the article I read a year or so ago regarding their variable prices - they vary according to how you come in, how long you're there, and how long since you were last there), found a couple of drives, and ordered them. Not painless, but okay, it was done.
This morning, my daughter asked when we might expect them to arrive. Thinking of Amazon, which gets stuff shipped pretty quickly, as a rule, I said 'Probably Monday; if we're really lucky, maybe Saturday'. Well, Dell isn't Amazon. How much are they not Amazon? Its twelve hours later, and they still haven't even acknowledged that the gift card is valid to be charged. They did send a note saying they were working on that.
Dell? Dull.
This morning, my daughter asked when we might expect them to arrive. Thinking of Amazon, which gets stuff shipped pretty quickly, as a rule, I said 'Probably Monday; if we're really lucky, maybe Saturday'. Well, Dell isn't Amazon. How much are they not Amazon? Its twelve hours later, and they still haven't even acknowledged that the gift card is valid to be charged. They did send a note saying they were working on that.
Dell? Dull.
Adolescence
One of the things that some parents (who, me?) sometimes forget with an adolescent is that the kid is transitioning from being an actual kid to being an actual adult. We tend to focus on the things that the kid does which aren't as they should be (as an adult would do them). A good example of that is going on here right now, as my wife and daughter are having a discussion about how much cleanup my daughter should do in her room, my wife feeling 'quite a lot' and my daughter feeling 'good the way it is'. Phrases like 'when I was a kid' and 'when you were a kid' are being bandied. No overt hostility, but clearly a simmering disagreement.
But what I like to remember, and I mean that in two ways, is that half an hour ago, my daughter was walking around, picking up things for her overnight trip to her grandmother's house, and doing so quickly and neatly. And in the middle of it, she made a call to a friend to discuss a school project, during which I heard her quickly outline a proposal for changing the way they were doing something, based on an observation she'd made while doing it. At which time, I thought 'oh, my'.
I like to tell her that I notice such things. This time, I didn't, because it was essentially a private conversation -- but I did.
But what I like to remember, and I mean that in two ways, is that half an hour ago, my daughter was walking around, picking up things for her overnight trip to her grandmother's house, and doing so quickly and neatly. And in the middle of it, she made a call to a friend to discuss a school project, during which I heard her quickly outline a proposal for changing the way they were doing something, based on an observation she'd made while doing it. At which time, I thought 'oh, my'.
I like to tell her that I notice such things. This time, I didn't, because it was essentially a private conversation -- but I did.
Orbital High
Downstairs, we have a framed poster that we bought years, decades ago. It's called The Rockies, The High Plains, and the Intermountain West. This isn't that, but it has much the same feel.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
50 Ways
I know there must be 50 ways to leave your lover, but this guy appears to know a couple more...
Houses Are Plastic
Which is something that an architect said to us when we were first thinking about doing something in addition to adding the garage. After we saw his bill for just doing the preliminary (and last!) sketches, we realized that the plastic he had in mind was in our wallets.
This is, we know, a Problem of the Idle Rich, but one thing that s on our minds -- well, mine, anyway -- is the Elevator Question. I've no idea what it costs to add a residential elevator. If I had to swag, I'd say around $40,000, from start to finish. Even if it was a quarter of that, though, it carries additional freight which scares me. For example, where do you put it? Our house is the traditional bilevel style, with three bedrooms, two baths, kitchen, dining room, and living room upstairs, and two bedrooms, bath, and den downstairs. To put in an elevator, two of these rooms would have to be impacted. Do we lose the master bedroom and the storage area below? Doing that is okay for downstairs, but for upstairs means either adding a new bedroom over the garage, or moving into one of the downstairs bedrooms (both of which, incidentally, are currently in use!), possibly merging them into a larger room. Or do we merge the two smaller bedrooms upstairs (again, both in use), and somehow add the elevator with access from the garage to the central upstairs hall?And then theres the question of cost. If we did all of this, would we end up with the most expensive, not to mention oddly designed, house around?
You can see why building new does being to exert a certain fascination...
================
We thought up a way. Still not at all sure its a good idea, but -- this is what the back of the house looks like. The structure on the deck is the kitchen nook we put in about eight years ago.
So -- extend the right two thirds out about six feet, from the right side of the deck (lose the stairs) to the left side of the garage. Enclose it. Put the elevator inside, accessible from both extended areas. Use the remaining space to expand the bedroom above, and the storage room below. And maybe - probably not, but maybe -- enclose the area under the deck, too.
Is it doable? Dunno. Financially feasible? Probably not. But it wouldn't change the 'look' of the house, at least from the front, while still giving us the functionality we'd want, plus a little. So ... maybe.
This is, we know, a Problem of the Idle Rich, but one thing that s on our minds -- well, mine, anyway -- is the Elevator Question. I've no idea what it costs to add a residential elevator. If I had to swag, I'd say around $40,000, from start to finish. Even if it was a quarter of that, though, it carries additional freight which scares me. For example, where do you put it? Our house is the traditional bilevel style, with three bedrooms, two baths, kitchen, dining room, and living room upstairs, and two bedrooms, bath, and den downstairs. To put in an elevator, two of these rooms would have to be impacted. Do we lose the master bedroom and the storage area below? Doing that is okay for downstairs, but for upstairs means either adding a new bedroom over the garage, or moving into one of the downstairs bedrooms (both of which, incidentally, are currently in use!), possibly merging them into a larger room. Or do we merge the two smaller bedrooms upstairs (again, both in use), and somehow add the elevator with access from the garage to the central upstairs hall?And then theres the question of cost. If we did all of this, would we end up with the most expensive, not to mention oddly designed, house around?
You can see why building new does being to exert a certain fascination...
================
We thought up a way. Still not at all sure its a good idea, but -- this is what the back of the house looks like. The structure on the deck is the kitchen nook we put in about eight years ago.
So -- extend the right two thirds out about six feet, from the right side of the deck (lose the stairs) to the left side of the garage. Enclose it. Put the elevator inside, accessible from both extended areas. Use the remaining space to expand the bedroom above, and the storage room below. And maybe - probably not, but maybe -- enclose the area under the deck, too.Is it doable? Dunno. Financially feasible? Probably not. But it wouldn't change the 'look' of the house, at least from the front, while still giving us the functionality we'd want, plus a little. So ... maybe.
Routed
I'm thinking of doing a hardware upgrade to our home network, and I'm looking for ideas.
We have a router that's hardwired to our desktop PC (what might be fairly called our aging desktop PC). It's a wireless router, and our three laptops - the new one, the old one thats essentially got Alzheimer's, and my wife's work PC - talk wirelessly to it, and from thence to the Interweb. We've also got two printers, both of which are hard wired into the desktop PC. One's plugged in with a USB cable; one with a parallel cable. Finally, we have an external hard drive, which isn't really hardwired into anything; it sits on the desk where the desktop PC resides, and if I want to use it, I plug it into a USB jack; ditto for when I want to transfer backups from the laptop.
What we want to do is change the way things are configured. Specifically, we want to be able to get to the printer(s) without having to have the desktop PC on, and I want to be able to get to the external hard drive without having to schlep over and plug in the jack. Such a bother. I know that I can get a wireless router into which the USB printer can plug. I don't know if I can get one into which I can also plug the external hard drive, let alone the parallel printer. Finally, if we do this, I would like to use the existing router for something useful. I seem to recall reading once that routers can be used as repeaters, to extend the range of the 'base' router, but I'm not sure about that.
Any thoughts?
We have a router that's hardwired to our desktop PC (what might be fairly called our aging desktop PC). It's a wireless router, and our three laptops - the new one, the old one thats essentially got Alzheimer's, and my wife's work PC - talk wirelessly to it, and from thence to the Interweb. We've also got two printers, both of which are hard wired into the desktop PC. One's plugged in with a USB cable; one with a parallel cable. Finally, we have an external hard drive, which isn't really hardwired into anything; it sits on the desk where the desktop PC resides, and if I want to use it, I plug it into a USB jack; ditto for when I want to transfer backups from the laptop.
What we want to do is change the way things are configured. Specifically, we want to be able to get to the printer(s) without having to have the desktop PC on, and I want to be able to get to the external hard drive without having to schlep over and plug in the jack. Such a bother. I know that I can get a wireless router into which the USB printer can plug. I don't know if I can get one into which I can also plug the external hard drive, let alone the parallel printer. Finally, if we do this, I would like to use the existing router for something useful. I seem to recall reading once that routers can be used as repeaters, to extend the range of the 'base' router, but I'm not sure about that.
Any thoughts?
City of Light
Paris, the city of light? Mais non, mon cherie -- look at these images of Chicago, apparently found by them on the Rubin R. Roche/Delobbo.com website. Magnifique!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Gamy
I have never been much of a fan of games. That's not to say that I haven't played them -- mostly the classics, like Monopoly and Risk, and I enjoy chess, though I'm not particularly good at it -- but I just don't think of games when I need a pasttime or a diversion. For that, I'll read a book.
Occasionally, I wonder about the people who get really into role playing games. A couple that I've known really get into it -- one spoke animatedly about having a Skype session with several team mates as they all individually maneuvered their characters across what I think was a World of Warcraft scene. The recent death of its creator brought Dungeons and Dragons back to mind after not thinking about it for years; one of my coworkers was a D&D freak, and would occasionally go to a gaming session wearing his cowled robe as a way of getting into the mood. I could not understand that, but fine, he liked it. Not for me, though.
If I were to play such a game, I think I'd prefer one where you played against a programmed intelligence, and could take a lot of time to mull over moves and actions. There might be battles, might not, but the goal wouldn't be to score crisis points or skill levels or whatever the buzzwords are, but rather to influence events, make deductions that were validated by later events, that sort of thing. Business, research, warcraft -- the venue almost wouldn't matter. Just the intellectual pleasure of the game.
Now that would be worth a cowled robe or two.
Occasionally, I wonder about the people who get really into role playing games. A couple that I've known really get into it -- one spoke animatedly about having a Skype session with several team mates as they all individually maneuvered their characters across what I think was a World of Warcraft scene. The recent death of its creator brought Dungeons and Dragons back to mind after not thinking about it for years; one of my coworkers was a D&D freak, and would occasionally go to a gaming session wearing his cowled robe as a way of getting into the mood. I could not understand that, but fine, he liked it. Not for me, though.
If I were to play such a game, I think I'd prefer one where you played against a programmed intelligence, and could take a lot of time to mull over moves and actions. There might be battles, might not, but the goal wouldn't be to score crisis points or skill levels or whatever the buzzwords are, but rather to influence events, make deductions that were validated by later events, that sort of thing. Business, research, warcraft -- the venue almost wouldn't matter. Just the intellectual pleasure of the game.
Now that would be worth a cowled robe or two.
Strawbe - what?
I found this image here. I liked the contrast of the strawberries and the black/white surroundings. Then my eye was caught by the shiny surface just above them.... hmmm... Must be that the photographer really doesn't like to share strawberries, hey?
Voting Machines
Voting maachines are compltly safeafe. They are secure and kinnot be haccked or caused ot lie. You can trusst them. Efter all, its only yur vote.
by Diane C. Walsh/The Star-Ledger
Plan for voting machine probe dropped after lawsuit threat
by Diane C. Walsh/The Star-Ledger Monday March 17, 2008, 7:01 PM
Union County has backed off a plan to let a Princeton University computer scientist examine voting machines where errors occurred in the presidential primary tallies, after the manufacturer of the machines threatened to sue, officials said today.
A Sequoia executive, Edwin Smith, put Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi on notice that an independent analysis would violate the licensing agreement between his firm and the county. In a terse two-page letter Smith also argued the voting machine software is a Sequoia trade secret and cannot be handed over to any third party.
Tell me: why are these people allowed to do this?
Go Team
I heard something funny the other day. Apparently (I guess I should qualify this, because its a rumour), the prostitute favored by currently-disgraced-but-sure-to-be-rehabilitated governor Spitzer was once hired by the actor Charlie Sheen to dress as a cheerleader and perform sexual acts while chanting his name.
All that money apparently doesn't buy happiness -- just, as I've heard it said, helps you look in more interesting places.
All that money apparently doesn't buy happiness -- just, as I've heard it said, helps you look in more interesting places.
Obama's Speech
I'm not much more willing to think about race than anyone else. I cringe when I hear the rolling tones of professional orators on the subject, and I flinch when I hear the carefully picked words of politicians on the subject. If I hear both at once, its as if I am afflicted by St. Vitus' Dance.
When Obama made his speech, I read it. I hate to admit it, but I wasn't sure what to make of it. He didn't say I was right in the way I feel, and he didn't unequivocably defend his pastor's comments. I didn't expect the first, but I sort-of expected the second. Some of the things he said made sense to me; others, I thought were 'I need to tie this to my campaign; heres how I do that'. I'm not really good at extracting underlying meaning, though, so I could be wrong. Overall, I didn't think it was a magnificient speech -- which relieved me. Perhaps I expect too little of myself, but magnificient speeches scare me, a bit. They set the bar way too high. Just saying that we need to think about race is a scary concept. Its probably right, but its scary.
I would bet that he would not have brought up the concept if he hadn't been forced to do so. I wonder about that.
This New York Times column makes a couple of points that I hadn't elicited.
When Obama made his speech, I read it. I hate to admit it, but I wasn't sure what to make of it. He didn't say I was right in the way I feel, and he didn't unequivocably defend his pastor's comments. I didn't expect the first, but I sort-of expected the second. Some of the things he said made sense to me; others, I thought were 'I need to tie this to my campaign; heres how I do that'. I'm not really good at extracting underlying meaning, though, so I could be wrong. Overall, I didn't think it was a magnificient speech -- which relieved me. Perhaps I expect too little of myself, but magnificient speeches scare me, a bit. They set the bar way too high. Just saying that we need to think about race is a scary concept. Its probably right, but its scary.
I would bet that he would not have brought up the concept if he hadn't been forced to do so. I wonder about that.
This New York Times column makes a couple of points that I hadn't elicited.
HBR Jabber
I've mentioned in the past that when I was really into management theory (which now I think of as 'my misguided youth'), I would read the Harvard Business Review. I saw it as my guide to how the people who run businesses actually think - what they value, how they set those goals that come out on the company emails and whatnot. I did not see myself as ever being one of them, but I felt that if I knew what they were aiming at, I'd at the least know the concepts, be able to use the buzzwords. Golly, my managers would say, you really are in tune with the curent thinking, Bill. Come over here and sit in this comfortable chair.
It didn't quite work out that way.
A few moments ago, I came across a web page for the HBR, and like a reformed pot smoker scenting the faint aroma of the weed, I thought Hmmm....let's see what they're up to.
Well, for starters, there's this article - Staying Upbeat Through a Downturn - When recession looms, its critical to spread confidence throughout your organization. Here's how to do it. Did you notice that the hyperlink's page name is 'BuckEmUp'? At least they do note that nobody likes a smiling fool.
And there's an offer to sell this book -- Retirement: Good news: there is no need to retire. There is no need to pack up your desk or attend one more retirement party. Why? With the widening gap between the number of workers and the demand for talent, employers are looking to keep smart, productive workers. Only, perhaps, their definition of smart and productive isn't quite the same as mine....nor is their intent about paying for such qualities. This is, after all, a C-level managers manual, and they aren't usually too concerned with their worker's problems.
I don't think I'll drink the Koolaid, this time around.
It didn't quite work out that way.
A few moments ago, I came across a web page for the HBR, and like a reformed pot smoker scenting the faint aroma of the weed, I thought Hmmm....let's see what they're up to.
Well, for starters, there's this article - Staying Upbeat Through a Downturn - When recession looms, its critical to spread confidence throughout your organization. Here's how to do it. Did you notice that the hyperlink's page name is 'BuckEmUp'? At least they do note that nobody likes a smiling fool.
And there's an offer to sell this book -- Retirement: Good news: there is no need to retire. There is no need to pack up your desk or attend one more retirement party. Why? With the widening gap between the number of workers and the demand for talent, employers are looking to keep smart, productive workers. Only, perhaps, their definition of smart and productive isn't quite the same as mine....nor is their intent about paying for such qualities. This is, after all, a C-level managers manual, and they aren't usually too concerned with their worker's problems.
I don't think I'll drink the Koolaid, this time around.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Zapped
It would not be an exaggeration to say that I adore my wife. I really do. I might say that she isn't perfect, but if pressed, I would have a hard time coming up with a way that she is not perfect -- if not objectively (well, what about Urdu? Can she speak Urdu?), then certainly for me. A better match cannot be imagined.
It is therefore with some chagrin that I mention that this afternoon, she inadvertantly pulled a Classic Wife Statement on me.
I had opened the refrigerator door, and, noting that the gasket was pulling away from the door, said 'you know, we should get this gasket fixed'. To which she replied 'Actually, I'm thinking that next year we ought to replace the refrigerator. It's twenty-three years old, after all.'
Huh?
(Speaking of which, have you seen those Viking refrigerators? My good lord. There are restaurants that don't have as good a refrigeration system).
It is therefore with some chagrin that I mention that this afternoon, she inadvertantly pulled a Classic Wife Statement on me.
I had opened the refrigerator door, and, noting that the gasket was pulling away from the door, said 'you know, we should get this gasket fixed'. To which she replied 'Actually, I'm thinking that next year we ought to replace the refrigerator. It's twenty-three years old, after all.'
Huh?
(Speaking of which, have you seen those Viking refrigerators? My good lord. There are restaurants that don't have as good a refrigeration system).
EJ
When NPR wants to show two sides of an issue, they tend to pick two editorial writers. One of those is EJ Dionne, who writes for the Washington Post. He's written an interesting column, here, on the current Bear Stearns financial mess, and how the people who got into it are getting government assistance in getting out, despite spurning governmental oversight and control. I'm sure that to the cognoscienti, the BS mess isn't at all like the Enron or LTCM meltdowns -- but to me, it's deja vu, all over again. All we need now is Mike Millikan...
Doesn't Take Long
Okay, so Eliot's out because he spent tens of thousands of dollars on hookers. New York's first black -- not to mention, first legally blind -- governor is sworn in. A new day has dawned. And then this shows up:
Gov. David A. Paterson today admitted to adultery with multiple women while serving in the Senate, including a state employee, who presently works in the governor's office.
Ho-kay, movin' right along.....
Gov. David A. Paterson today admitted to adultery with multiple women while serving in the Senate, including a state employee, who presently works in the governor's office.
Ho-kay, movin' right along.....
Writing Checks
We went to see the designers for the downstairs bathroom remodel, and when we were done, we wrote them a check for about a third of the cost of the project. The plan is that they'll start some time around the beginning of May. The project should take about a month to complete, and for about two days, possibly just one, the bathroom won't be usable. We figure we'll migrate my mother upstairs for that day, letting her sleep in my daughters bedroom, or possibly on the upstairs couch, if she'd prefer. She really needs continual and frequent access to a bathroom!
The finished result should look pretty nice -- brighter, warmer colors, walk-in tub with slidable shower head (attached or hand-held), an ADA-height toilet and sink, non-skid flooring, new cabinets in the laundry room. I would have been content with the existing laundry room ones, but my wife really wanted new ones -- the ones that are there now are about thirty years old, and warping -- so thats what we're doing. A small closet will be built into the laundry room, too. Its kind of ironic to be thinking about whether we want to stay in this house, while at the same time spending this kind of money on it. I don't expect that we'd get back but a fraction of it if we sold the house; on the other hand, we know we need it, and it'll be such an improvement, it will be a strong selling point when we DO sell.
We took the opportunity to look at a zero-barrier shower display they had set up. It was pretty nice. As they had it, the setup is about half again too large for our master bath (which is pretty small), but perhaps we'd be able to do something like it anyway. Not right away, though!
The finished result should look pretty nice -- brighter, warmer colors, walk-in tub with slidable shower head (attached or hand-held), an ADA-height toilet and sink, non-skid flooring, new cabinets in the laundry room. I would have been content with the existing laundry room ones, but my wife really wanted new ones -- the ones that are there now are about thirty years old, and warping -- so thats what we're doing. A small closet will be built into the laundry room, too. Its kind of ironic to be thinking about whether we want to stay in this house, while at the same time spending this kind of money on it. I don't expect that we'd get back but a fraction of it if we sold the house; on the other hand, we know we need it, and it'll be such an improvement, it will be a strong selling point when we DO sell.
We took the opportunity to look at a zero-barrier shower display they had set up. It was pretty nice. As they had it, the setup is about half again too large for our master bath (which is pretty small), but perhaps we'd be able to do something like it anyway. Not right away, though!
Sleeping
I think that Barack Obama is keeping me from sleeping.
I've mentioned that I was having difficulty sleeping, asking myself 'what he will say about those two things' without any idea who he was or what the two things were. About two hours later, I drifted off to sleep, and almost immediately started having what might be called nightmares, though they were not so much of a horrifying type as of an excessively pedestrian nature. Its hard for me to characterize, but this is kind of what it was like: I was taking inventory of the things in our house for some reason, only I had to do it by item - first every pencil in every room; then every knife in every room; then every book in every room, then.... so that it was a very tedious process. I was aghast at the amount of effort involved (not to mention, clueless as to why I was doing it), when abruptly it occurred to me that I could do this by room - all of the pencils in a given room, then all of the knives in that same room, all of the books there, and so forth. But my relief was short lived: I was wary of this 'room' idea, unable to figure out where it had come from, if it might mean missing something, and was it something I could do at will if I started. I was scared by it.
This is not a restful dream. I've heard of a concept of lucid dreaming, where you can direct the contents of a dream; I tried (Laker Girls! Laker Girls!) but I had no luck at all. Each time I'd go back to sleep, I'd be there doing that inventory again, asking myself the same questions, over and over.
I think that part of it is because I'm a little stressed; I am damn tired of this cold, which is in its fifth day, and still lingering, delivering up the occasionally hacking, throat-jarring, chest-convulsing explosive cough, and part is because I'm stressed by having such a minimal ability to eat; anything that takes any kind of chewing or masticating at all, I can't do -- last night I tried to eat a piece of toast, and it was a sad sight. So just as I'm in a position where I sure could use some comfort food, I can't make use of it. I know this is going to start getting better soon, but still, darn it: I want it now now now.
But thats not the extent of it. I feel like, relative to the 2008 elections, I'm letting my side down. I am not calling people, sending letters, making donations. Last year I recall thinking that although I didn't like being laid off, at least this would free me up to get involved with the local political organization, because it was so important for the Democrats to win, and win big. It wasn't that I demonize Republicans; as foul as many of them are, I take it on faith that there are many decent ones. Its more like cleaning up after a septic tank explosion. Theres so much thats wrong with our country, so much thats gone wrong and been done wrong, that its going to take a lot of concerted effort to even start cleaning it up. There will be people who don't want that to happen, or who are wiling to let it happen provided that their own pet projects and bailiwicks aren't touched; we need to clean up these localized cesspools. I think that the half life, if I can mix metaphors, of these corruption (literally: corruption) is very long, but I think we can start the process, despite the scum who would stop it.And though it sounds naive, I thougt that Barack Obama would be the one to do it. Not to say that I thought him the Ubermensch would who save us all from ourselves, doing the impossible, cleaning out the Augean Stables, righting the wrongs, restoring the traditional values. He's such a sterling individual, though, I thought This is the guy. This is the one who can make it happen. He can remortar the edifice that prior to the Bush disaster we thought was invulnerable to depredation, rot, decay. If anyone can, he can. I thought that, and though I'm skittish about this pastor thing, I still think it. I still think he's the one.
But I'm not doing squat to make that happen. I haven't volunteered, I haven't given, I haven't - anything. I've had good reason -- illness, other actions -- but when I think of all that this country has to do, I get very down on myself for not doing something more than what I've done. Sending in one lousy donation? Thats it? Yeah. So far, thats it.
I feel as if I'm letting him down, letting our side down. And thats making it awfully tough to sleep.
That, and this godforsaken sinus clogging chest rattling cold.
I've mentioned that I was having difficulty sleeping, asking myself 'what he will say about those two things' without any idea who he was or what the two things were. About two hours later, I drifted off to sleep, and almost immediately started having what might be called nightmares, though they were not so much of a horrifying type as of an excessively pedestrian nature. Its hard for me to characterize, but this is kind of what it was like: I was taking inventory of the things in our house for some reason, only I had to do it by item - first every pencil in every room; then every knife in every room; then every book in every room, then.... so that it was a very tedious process. I was aghast at the amount of effort involved (not to mention, clueless as to why I was doing it), when abruptly it occurred to me that I could do this by room - all of the pencils in a given room, then all of the knives in that same room, all of the books there, and so forth. But my relief was short lived: I was wary of this 'room' idea, unable to figure out where it had come from, if it might mean missing something, and was it something I could do at will if I started. I was scared by it.
This is not a restful dream. I've heard of a concept of lucid dreaming, where you can direct the contents of a dream; I tried (Laker Girls! Laker Girls!) but I had no luck at all. Each time I'd go back to sleep, I'd be there doing that inventory again, asking myself the same questions, over and over.
I think that part of it is because I'm a little stressed; I am damn tired of this cold, which is in its fifth day, and still lingering, delivering up the occasionally hacking, throat-jarring, chest-convulsing explosive cough, and part is because I'm stressed by having such a minimal ability to eat; anything that takes any kind of chewing or masticating at all, I can't do -- last night I tried to eat a piece of toast, and it was a sad sight. So just as I'm in a position where I sure could use some comfort food, I can't make use of it. I know this is going to start getting better soon, but still, darn it: I want it now now now.
But thats not the extent of it. I feel like, relative to the 2008 elections, I'm letting my side down. I am not calling people, sending letters, making donations. Last year I recall thinking that although I didn't like being laid off, at least this would free me up to get involved with the local political organization, because it was so important for the Democrats to win, and win big. It wasn't that I demonize Republicans; as foul as many of them are, I take it on faith that there are many decent ones. Its more like cleaning up after a septic tank explosion. Theres so much thats wrong with our country, so much thats gone wrong and been done wrong, that its going to take a lot of concerted effort to even start cleaning it up. There will be people who don't want that to happen, or who are wiling to let it happen provided that their own pet projects and bailiwicks aren't touched; we need to clean up these localized cesspools. I think that the half life, if I can mix metaphors, of these corruption (literally: corruption) is very long, but I think we can start the process, despite the scum who would stop it.And though it sounds naive, I thougt that Barack Obama would be the one to do it. Not to say that I thought him the Ubermensch would who save us all from ourselves, doing the impossible, cleaning out the Augean Stables, righting the wrongs, restoring the traditional values. He's such a sterling individual, though, I thought This is the guy. This is the one who can make it happen. He can remortar the edifice that prior to the Bush disaster we thought was invulnerable to depredation, rot, decay. If anyone can, he can. I thought that, and though I'm skittish about this pastor thing, I still think it. I still think he's the one.
But I'm not doing squat to make that happen. I haven't volunteered, I haven't given, I haven't - anything. I've had good reason -- illness, other actions -- but when I think of all that this country has to do, I get very down on myself for not doing something more than what I've done. Sending in one lousy donation? Thats it? Yeah. So far, thats it.
I feel as if I'm letting him down, letting our side down. And thats making it awfully tough to sleep.
That, and this godforsaken sinus clogging chest rattling cold.
Middle Muddle
Its the middle of the night, and I'm wide awake.
For the last hour or so, I've been waking up enough to wonder about a question, and then drifting barely back to sleep again before waking to think about the question again. Initially, the question was something like 'I wonder what he will say about those two things', which is rather difficult to answer. After a while, I tried forcing myself to think about anything else, so long as it was specific. When I got to the point of wondering why Picard's Enterprise didn't have a Science Officer, I figured that maybe I ought to get up and have something to eat -- some Jello, say. I'd have preferred Rice Krispies but my mouth's still on the tender side. They told my wife that the sutures would not dissolve, but had to be manually removed; thats as may be, but one small piece came out all by itself. As for the rest, I can feel the swelling going down. I set up an appointment for a week this Thursday to do the manual removal. They've done that once before, and as I recall, then didn't use anesthetic, seeming surprised when I would flinch at the sensation of cold forceps against tender skin. I'm hoping that will have gotten better by then.
Reading some military fiction about wonderful technology, and seeing the occasional article about what the Army is using now or in the near future, I wonder if military uniforms are evolving into 'imperial storm trooper' kinds of outfits, with interlocking weaponry and telemetry.
Tomorrow -- or today, I guess -- Obama's giving his speech on race. I'm looking forward to hearing it, and you've got to believe he's going to use all of his oratorical powers in constructing and presenting it. I hope that its enough to deflect -- I don't hope that it will end -- all of this discussion about the paster's speeches. Guess we'll see.
For the last hour or so, I've been waking up enough to wonder about a question, and then drifting barely back to sleep again before waking to think about the question again. Initially, the question was something like 'I wonder what he will say about those two things', which is rather difficult to answer. After a while, I tried forcing myself to think about anything else, so long as it was specific. When I got to the point of wondering why Picard's Enterprise didn't have a Science Officer, I figured that maybe I ought to get up and have something to eat -- some Jello, say. I'd have preferred Rice Krispies but my mouth's still on the tender side. They told my wife that the sutures would not dissolve, but had to be manually removed; thats as may be, but one small piece came out all by itself. As for the rest, I can feel the swelling going down. I set up an appointment for a week this Thursday to do the manual removal. They've done that once before, and as I recall, then didn't use anesthetic, seeming surprised when I would flinch at the sensation of cold forceps against tender skin. I'm hoping that will have gotten better by then.
Reading some military fiction about wonderful technology, and seeing the occasional article about what the Army is using now or in the near future, I wonder if military uniforms are evolving into 'imperial storm trooper' kinds of outfits, with interlocking weaponry and telemetry.
Tomorrow -- or today, I guess -- Obama's giving his speech on race. I'm looking forward to hearing it, and you've got to believe he's going to use all of his oratorical powers in constructing and presenting it. I hope that its enough to deflect -- I don't hope that it will end -- all of this discussion about the paster's speeches. Guess we'll see.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Goofy
I've seen articles in a couple of places of late saying that when the current president is out in public, he seems to be unexpectedly cheerful. Goofily cheerful, is how one article put it.
At first, I thought this might just be the manifestation of his attitude that he never looks back, never apologises. He might be, I thought, just saying that things are as they are, no reason to get all upset about it. And as he gazes around at a political landscape that is dry and barren for his party, and an economic landscape thats self-destructing, perhaps he simply feels that he just needs to soldier on. No reason to let it ruin your day, at least, out where some one might be pleased to see that he was less than a most happy fella.
Then I wondered: could it be that he's under the care of someone who's dispensing anti-depressant drugs?
At first, I thought this might just be the manifestation of his attitude that he never looks back, never apologises. He might be, I thought, just saying that things are as they are, no reason to get all upset about it. And as he gazes around at a political landscape that is dry and barren for his party, and an economic landscape thats self-destructing, perhaps he simply feels that he just needs to soldier on. No reason to let it ruin your day, at least, out where some one might be pleased to see that he was less than a most happy fella.
Then I wondered: could it be that he's under the care of someone who's dispensing anti-depressant drugs?
Sickly
One of the minor pleasures, if I can call it that, of having a lingering cold is that even small things, when they work, can bring a great deal of pleasure. This morning, I slept again for about 90 minutes; waking and realizing how late it was made me think "Good; that's time when I was not awakened by sniffling or by throbbing in my jaw"; taking a couple of Tylenus with Sinus for a slight headache, but really to address this damned trickling down my throat brought me to appreciate the abrupt dryness of the sinuses that the med brings; and just now, when I made and ate some oatmeal, not to mention, finished the other two thirds of a bowl of cereal that I could not bring myself to eat this morning -- a very strange feeling, to be tired, and hungry, and yet not have enough energy to eat -- that all made me feel relatively flush. I am not better; I know that. Already I can feel myself thinking Sleep, yes, some sleep would be good.
But its possible that I actually am getting better. That would be nice. I'm really ready for that.
But its possible that I actually am getting better. That would be nice. I'm really ready for that.
2 EZ 4 Me
Sometimes, people make it way too easy. Take my sister in law, for example. She's a smart person -- really, she is. Honors in college, Presidential Intern, the whole bit. Highly regarded in her profession.
Four weeks ago, my wife told her that we needed a specific paper from her, coming from her parish priest, with the seal of the church on it. She said, no problem.
Two weeks ago, my wife reminded her of that, and was told that she hadn't yet talked to the priest, and would get it that week.
One week ago, my wife went down to her house for a couple of reasons, but also to pick this up. She didn't have it yet.
Yesterday, my wife went down to her house. She didn't have it. Said she'd look into it.
This morning, at 6:50, she called to say she'd found it -- it was in a stack of mail from Thursday. She'll fax it today. Then she hung up, without getting the fax number.
And the organization where she works normally, demonstrating competency and effectiveness in planning?
Why, FEMA, of course -- the folks who brought you Katrina: The Response.
Four weeks ago, my wife told her that we needed a specific paper from her, coming from her parish priest, with the seal of the church on it. She said, no problem.
Two weeks ago, my wife reminded her of that, and was told that she hadn't yet talked to the priest, and would get it that week.
One week ago, my wife went down to her house for a couple of reasons, but also to pick this up. She didn't have it yet.
Yesterday, my wife went down to her house. She didn't have it. Said she'd look into it.
This morning, at 6:50, she called to say she'd found it -- it was in a stack of mail from Thursday. She'll fax it today. Then she hung up, without getting the fax number.
And the organization where she works normally, demonstrating competency and effectiveness in planning?
Why, FEMA, of course -- the folks who brought you Katrina: The Response.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Notes from the Front
The front of my head, actually; if I could just stop sneezing, that would be nice. When I was a kid, my mother would say that it meant my cold was breaking up. I don't know about that, but I know that it is damned irritating to sneeze -- I think it was about eight times -- in a row, when my jaw already hurts.
On the bright side, I took Rach's advice and made myself a chocolate milkshake. Not at all bad. First one I've had in years -- and not a trace of malt powder or anything else in there. Total goodness - couple of scoops of chocolate ice cream, some milk -- and thats it. Oh, this will fix that weight loss problem!
And yesterday, I got the official notification from the Board of Elections that I am now officially registered as a Democrat -- and in time for the Pennsylvania primaries. Yes!
On the bright side, I took Rach's advice and made myself a chocolate milkshake. Not at all bad. First one I've had in years -- and not a trace of malt powder or anything else in there. Total goodness - couple of scoops of chocolate ice cream, some milk -- and thats it. Oh, this will fix that weight loss problem!
And yesterday, I got the official notification from the Board of Elections that I am now officially registered as a Democrat -- and in time for the Pennsylvania primaries. Yes!
NetFlixd
The other day, I rented Down Periscope, a comedy flick. I've seen it before (just about everything that I rent is something I've seen before), but I always enjoy it. This time, I did something a little different. I copied the disk to my hard drive so that I could watch it at will. I believe that the technical term for that is 'illegal'.
Afterwards, I mulled over why I had done that. After all, Netflix will let you keep the disk indefinitely. I pay about $18 a month to rent three, so if a single DVD costs about $20 (does it? I have no idea), then after about three months, it'd be worth it just to buy the darn thing. But if I had a video that I really liked, and I wanted to keep it for a year -- I could, no problem. In fact, I would bet that NF would be delighted -- they get my money; they have to do nothing in return. So why copy it?
The only thing I can think of is that this makes it mine. I'm not locked to 'got to have the disk in the drive'; don't hear the drive whining up when I turn on the laptop. I don't have the speakers getting automatically turned on after I was careful to turn them way down, or off, for some late-night watching. It takes less juice to watch it from the hard drive than to spin the CD. Its not much of a reason. There's a decent chance that I'll keep the video, too -- not planning to steal it, but that might be the result. And that, I'm sure, is illegal. But the convenience to me is worth the moral transgression.
Strange, huh?
Afterwards, I mulled over why I had done that. After all, Netflix will let you keep the disk indefinitely. I pay about $18 a month to rent three, so if a single DVD costs about $20 (does it? I have no idea), then after about three months, it'd be worth it just to buy the darn thing. But if I had a video that I really liked, and I wanted to keep it for a year -- I could, no problem. In fact, I would bet that NF would be delighted -- they get my money; they have to do nothing in return. So why copy it?
The only thing I can think of is that this makes it mine. I'm not locked to 'got to have the disk in the drive'; don't hear the drive whining up when I turn on the laptop. I don't have the speakers getting automatically turned on after I was careful to turn them way down, or off, for some late-night watching. It takes less juice to watch it from the hard drive than to spin the CD. Its not much of a reason. There's a decent chance that I'll keep the video, too -- not planning to steal it, but that might be the result. And that, I'm sure, is illegal. But the convenience to me is worth the moral transgression.
Strange, huh?
Weight Loss Secret
I had mentioned in a post (deleted due to a spam response) that I've lost a fair amount of weight in the last week. I'm not keeping tight monitoring, but I'd guess about three or four pounds. One person raised the question of whether there might be some malign reason for that. In thinking about it, my guess is not. I've gone to eating almost nothing, over the last three days - nothing solid, and only some light stuff otherwise. I even had to eat Rice Krispies very slowly and carefully because the inside of my mouth is pretty tender. From the experience I had when stitches were removed the last time, this will improve rapidly when thats done, and that will be in about a week -- at which time I will, amazingly, put on, oh, five or six pounds just by thinking about it. So, for those who have mentioned how its not really fair that guys can lose weight at will -- have dental implants put into your jaw. That'll do the trick.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Politics
I'm a little bemused by the discussions regarding Obama and the observations made by his pastor. I have to be careful here, because of the two Democratic hopefuls, he's the one I prefer; I don't want to cut him slack that I wouldn't give to Clinton.
It seems to me that he's probably being honest when he disavows the statements made by the pastor. That the pastor can say whatever he wants should be perfectly obvious. The concern is a) does this reflect what Obama actually and secretly thinks, and b) given the track record of black candidates in aligning themselves with the words of their spiritual leaders, will Obama, if elected, feel that he has to be guided by them. Going deeper, there's got to be the question: is this a Manchurian Candidate question? Is Obama, despite what he's said, actually a Muslim saboteur aimed at the political system?
The problem with words is that you can always deny them, always take them back. You can claim that you were misquoted (and perhaps you were); you can say that you were quoted out of context (which certainly happens). You can say that your opponent is slanting the issue, skewing it like a Swift Boat -- and thats possible. Its also possible that its all true, and only coming to light now.
It may not be a fair question, but its an honest one: is Obama hiding something that would affect his electability?
I think that he is not. I think that in the realm of words, he has done everything that you can reasonably expect in rejecting the inflammatory words of the pastor. I'm reminded of the time when President Johnson, attending a public mass, got to listen to the minister harangue him about the injustice of the Vietnam War. Surely, he was raging inside, and vented that when he was safely, privately alone. I would suspect that Obama is doing the same thing, raging about his candidacy being tarred by this brush. The question is, is there something to it? Beyond the suspicion, is there substance?
Given that nothing that he has said supports it, I would say no. Given that he has vigorously rejected it, I'd say no. The question will still come up, in various styles and flavors, and I'll listen to see if there is anything new, anything substantive -- but failing that?
No.
It seems to me that he's probably being honest when he disavows the statements made by the pastor. That the pastor can say whatever he wants should be perfectly obvious. The concern is a) does this reflect what Obama actually and secretly thinks, and b) given the track record of black candidates in aligning themselves with the words of their spiritual leaders, will Obama, if elected, feel that he has to be guided by them. Going deeper, there's got to be the question: is this a Manchurian Candidate question? Is Obama, despite what he's said, actually a Muslim saboteur aimed at the political system?
The problem with words is that you can always deny them, always take them back. You can claim that you were misquoted (and perhaps you were); you can say that you were quoted out of context (which certainly happens). You can say that your opponent is slanting the issue, skewing it like a Swift Boat -- and thats possible. Its also possible that its all true, and only coming to light now.
It may not be a fair question, but its an honest one: is Obama hiding something that would affect his electability?
I think that he is not. I think that in the realm of words, he has done everything that you can reasonably expect in rejecting the inflammatory words of the pastor. I'm reminded of the time when President Johnson, attending a public mass, got to listen to the minister harangue him about the injustice of the Vietnam War. Surely, he was raging inside, and vented that when he was safely, privately alone. I would suspect that Obama is doing the same thing, raging about his candidacy being tarred by this brush. The question is, is there something to it? Beyond the suspicion, is there substance?
Given that nothing that he has said supports it, I would say no. Given that he has vigorously rejected it, I'd say no. The question will still come up, in various styles and flavors, and I'll listen to see if there is anything new, anything substantive -- but failing that?
No.
DayTwo
I don't feel as good as I did yesterday morning, but I feel okay. I am having wildly varying desires about heat and cold. Last night, I slept with the electrical blanket on (lowest setting, but still); this morning, I opened the window to let the cool, verging on cold, breeze in. Ain't no satisfying me! But overall, I feel like, just a little bit, my brain is starting to come back to normal. Okay, I know thats no big deal, because I'm not one of your great thinkers, but still.... its nice.
Speaking of nice: if you like chocolate, you might find this page of interest. I'm not thinking too much about baking and stuff, this week. When the oral surgeon had told me, long ago, that I'd have to stick to soft foods, I was a little apprehensive until I found out that a great amount of what we routinely eat falls into that category. Even things like burgers and meatballs weren't out of the question, so long as I was willing to chop them into less-than-bitesize pieces prior to eating. But this week, and likely for a couple, I'm thinking: play it safe. Stick with the truly soft things. At least pudding ought to taste decent (I had some yesterday, and it tasted awful; my conclusion is that I still had some dried blood in my throat; mostly gone, now), and things like yogurt and such ought to be good, too.
We're going to go to the library today, where I am picking up that book that SusieJ recommended. Incidentally, if you've never looked at her site, I recommend doing so -- its really good. I spend a fair amount of time bouncing through sites; its amazing how many are a) telling you why what you eat is going to kill you; b) who you vote for is going to impoverish you, and c) but you can earn tons o'bucks following their twenty-three simple rules. (Which is why I like IttyBiz; she points out ideas, not shopping lists.) The result of seeing all this effluvia is that I appreciate quality sites -- and SusieJ's is certainly one.
Okay, thats it for now. Could someone go close that window?
Speaking of nice: if you like chocolate, you might find this page of interest. I'm not thinking too much about baking and stuff, this week. When the oral surgeon had told me, long ago, that I'd have to stick to soft foods, I was a little apprehensive until I found out that a great amount of what we routinely eat falls into that category. Even things like burgers and meatballs weren't out of the question, so long as I was willing to chop them into less-than-bitesize pieces prior to eating. But this week, and likely for a couple, I'm thinking: play it safe. Stick with the truly soft things. At least pudding ought to taste decent (I had some yesterday, and it tasted awful; my conclusion is that I still had some dried blood in my throat; mostly gone, now), and things like yogurt and such ought to be good, too.
We're going to go to the library today, where I am picking up that book that SusieJ recommended. Incidentally, if you've never looked at her site, I recommend doing so -- its really good. I spend a fair amount of time bouncing through sites; its amazing how many are a) telling you why what you eat is going to kill you; b) who you vote for is going to impoverish you, and c) but you can earn tons o'bucks following their twenty-three simple rules. (Which is why I like IttyBiz; she points out ideas, not shopping lists.) The result of seeing all this effluvia is that I appreciate quality sites -- and SusieJ's is certainly one.
Okay, thats it for now. Could someone go close that window?
Little Island
I found this image here. I don't know what it's supposed to be, or even if its real, but I like it.
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