Let's see...

where were we? No place in particular, so this post should pick up the theme nicely.

I spent the day at Microsoft today, in a brainstorming session. I find these things kind of fun, if you're with a good group of people. Today's group was pretty positive - aware of the challenges involved in some of the ideas we had, but openly discussing them with an eye towards trying to make things happen. Now, if I had any authority, I'd be able to see some of this through. As it stands, it's more likely that this kind of thing will get lost in the shuffle.

There are other things going on that I will not jinx by discussing, but life is moving forward. I'm feeling more at peace with the direction things are going than I was a month or two back, and a number of scenarios are possible. We'll just have to see where things go.

By the way, it's good to be the king. Microsoft may be the great satan, but they do have some really cool toys to play with.

I am up to my eyebrows

in a major, major webcast presentation and the testing is not going well. Fortunately in the comments to my last post Valerie (who has a very nice blog, by the by) provided an important reality check.

Seems a classmate of hers from years back unfortunately passed away at a very young age. As it turns out, her classmate's brother was a gentleman named Michael McHugh. A random thing, except it happens to be that Michael was murdered on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center. And of all things, the 2,996 Project assigned Michael to me as a subject to blog about more than two years ago.

I had, of course, completely forgotten I had even done it.

I went back and reread my tribute to Michael Edward McHugh, Jr. As it turns out, not that long ago several people who actually knew Mr. McHugh had commented on the post. They seemed to appreciate my attempt at honoring a man I'd never heard of.

The internets is a funny place where random events connect total strangers. Occasionally something pops up to remind you that the daily grind of our lives can be pretty trivial when compared to other people's reality. So take a moment on a random November day to remember Mike McHugh, his recently passed brother John McHugh, and wish the family some consolation. It helps to put things in their proper perspective.

Seriously...

how do you lose a pyramid?

4,300-year-old pyramid discovered in Egypt

Presidents & Promises

I don't want to make much of Tuesday's results. The guy I wanted (albeit reluctantly) for the job didn't get it. The nice part about democracy is sometimes you lose, and the American version says you suck it up and work harder next time.

Any number of people, including many conservatives, are describing this as a great, historic moment for America. I don't buy it, perhaps because I didn't grow up during the period when this would be unthinkable.

I think I might actually be post-racial, unlike the people falling all over themselves about this. Because I don't care in the slightest that he's black, and I never did. I don't think this is a great moment for America, because I believe the President-elect is mistaken in what he believes is good for America. I think his economic policies will damage this country tremendously, and his judicial approach will take away American freedoms.

I would gladly have voted for a black man (or woman) who matched my beliefs in the power of the American citizen's abilities to take care of themselves. I would not have voted for a white man who believed, as I think Obama does, that American citizens are children who need nannying.

I wish him and the rest of us luck, and I hope sincerely that I am wrong about the Administration and Congress about to take over the reigns of government. I will gladly admit I'm wrong if America is a better place to live in 4 years. But if I'm right...

Once again

I attempt to make the point that the usual reference to Europe as the place and style to follow has its limits:

Hamilton rejects Ecclestone's comment that racism in F1 started as joke

Ecclestone is in effect saying "boys will be boys" and writing off the casual racism of Europeans I have mentioned in the past. So I ask - why exactly do we want to be like these people?

So?

Headline in Newsday the other day:

Lawsuit: My husband's brain is missing

All around the world I can hear billions of wives saying "Yeah? Join the club, sister."

Lest you think

I have permanently packed it in, I am still around. The last batch of holidays concluded this evening, which is my excuse for not following up the last post.

I remain unhappy with my professional lot, but the rest of life is fine for the most part. The trouble with all the holidays packed in to a single month is... well, they're packed into a single month. There's not much time to settle down, and by the end of it we're all pretty sick of it. A friend pointed out we were at our synagogue (which is an offshoot of the main one in town, and thus only meets weekly rather than daily) 21 out of the last 29 days; when you consider we usually have services in the building eight days out of a normal month, that's a lot.

As for the other, I am resigned for the moment to where things are. I'm back to cranking out the necessary paperwork, and the phone is ringing a bit which is good. I admit I'd rather the Lord not tease me any more - if it ain't gonna happen, I'd rather not get my hopes up.

So I apologize for the overdramatic fit of pique last week. Last Saturday we read Ecclesiastes at services, and it's a healthy reminder that most of our petty concerns are fleeting and meaningless. This too shall pass.

Well, that's it

A perfect opportunity slips away, again. It was all but in the bag. "Hiring Freeze" is the excuse this time, and frankly, I've had it. I'm pissed off at God, the economy, the Wall Street jackasses who caused it, the elected schmucks who encouraged the behavior that caused the collapse, and at the current organization for putting me in this position.

I'll accept that God is trying to get a message across to me, but damned if I know what it is.

I admit to wondering

now that the 700 Billion has been approved (including the $50 extra large to the Moldavian-American Borscht Friendship Alliance and Field Hockey Team for their efforts to create a creamier consistency to sour cream), what happens next? See, the Dow is down today almost 4% AFTER we've pledged all this money to no one in particular worth mentioning. Henry Paulson said we'd save the economy, but I think he might have been the tiniest bit mistaken.

Look, believe it or not, I'm not panicking. I take a long-term approach to investing, and I'm surprising myself by how calm I am about it. But I have to ask the folks who clearly seem to be panicking - what now? You swore the economy would die without something; you insisted this bill was the only thing that can save us. And now we're still tanking, at least on the surface.

I have no answers, but it's not my job to provide them. Let's all remember one thing - it is actually possible for us to make things worse without half trying.

Somewhat tardily

I'd like to wish my three remaining readers a joyous and meaningful New Year. Unlike some other persuasions, we Hebrews use the turning of the calendar as an opportunity for prayer, introspection, and above all repentance. Like all humans (shocking as it may seem) I do have my faults. This time is meant for me to reflect on those failures and attempt to repent them and correct them.

Part of that, of course, involves asking forgiveness from those we have hurt, intentionally or not. So I ask pardon from any of you I may have offended.

Naturally it's also a time to ask God for blessing for the coming year, and I certainly have some specific requests of the Lord. I don't know how well I've done over the last two days, but I certainly prayed with purpose this year. What will be will be, and at the end of it all we depend heavily on God's mercy and patience with us weak-willed humans.

Holiday itself was nice - out for lunch yesterday, guests today. A beef roast referred to locally as brick roast was outstanding - cooked in red wine, low & slow, and I think I had six slices. It went over well with oldest child as well. Lots of prayer, shofar blowing, too much food - does it get any better?

So happy New Year all around, and may we all be inscribed in the Book of Life.

I have a question

about this photo:

Swiss daredevil Yves Rossy...

The caption reads:

Swiss daredevil Yves Rossy, seen here flying in May 2008, will attempt to cross the English Channel next week, propelled by a jet-powered wing strapped to his back, an aide said.

Since when do daredevils need Aides? This whole seat-of-the-pants thing has gotten more corporate than I ever expected.

I am getting

extremely antsy about the situation that's developing, and I expect I'll be totally nutty by the time I can take any active steps to find out what's going on.

I imagine the Lord is making me sweat this out so I'll learn some patience, but I can't say I'm enjoying it. The paranoid side is waiting for the whole thing to blow up, the hopeful part just wants it done so I can proceed. Neither side is handling the wait very well.

There's a Jewish saying - "Hashem Yirachem" - God will have mercy, that is often used when putting yourself in His capable hands and trusting that He knows what's best. I've been using it a lot lately, and I mean it most of the time. Mostly I am accepting of this particular hand, but the potential for success is pretty high, and the failure of this one would be devastating.

What will be will be, but I admit that I'm not learning the patience part as well as I probably should.

Why, specifically

I don't care for a certain type of liberal, particularly in the celebrity arena. I can't find a link anywhere, so treat everything in this post as "alleged."

As I saw it the other day, and Rush Limbaugh mentioned a few minutes ago, actress/commedienne Sandra Bernhard reportedly warned VP candidate Sarah Palin not to come to New York, or Ms. Bernhard would have "several of her big black brothers gang-rape" Ms. Palin.

Leaving aside Ms. Bernhard's reputation as an in your face, on the edge humorist, there are many reasons why any self-respecting person should be grossly offended by such a statement. Let me suggest a few:

• It suggests Ms. Palin should be raped
• It suggests Ms. Bernhard would like to see that happen, and would aid it happening
• It suggests that black people would be doing the raping

The issues:

• Women, especially liberal women, have for a very long time decried rape as top on the list of worst crimes men can commit
• Any woman who would recommend such an idea should, by most lights, be shredded by the usual suspects in the feminist movement
• The connotation of black men raping white women is one of the oldest and most racially charged canards in the book
  

Now, I don't need to point out that had this come from a conservative comedian this would be all over the place. I accept that this is the media universe we live in, and such statements by a liberal never see the light of day. Probably not a bad thing - normal people shouldn't be forced to read about this sort of stupidity over their morning coffee.

But this is why I hate these celebrities - the logic behind such a pronouncement (if there is any) is beyond twisted, it's repugnant. Hate Sarah Palin, knock yourself out. Campaign to have her defeated. Vote against her. Attack her policies as mean, unfair to poor people, whatever. But this sort of thing is not funny, clever, intelligent, or remotely mature. As long as this sort of thing is acceptable to liberals in public or private, I will consider it both morally and intellectually bankrupt as a political philosophy.

From the too easy department

Poll: Obama tops McCain as football-watching buddy

Yes, but we're not electing a football watching buddy - we're electing a president. I would be happy to sit & watch a game with Obama, but that's not quite the same as asking him to run the free world.

To the AP: Seriously, boys & girls - if you're going to drop crap like this up there, so easy that even I can respond with a takedown, you probably should find another line of work.

Things are

moving in a positive direction. I don't wish to say any more at this point, but I am quite hopeful for the first time in a long, long while.

Updates will come if they are necessary - these things are a long way from being in the bag, and I'm horribly paranoid about jinxing them.

There's really no need

to remind anyone of the significance of today's date. It's seven years and a lifetime ago, and I was sitting exactly where I am now, 15 minutes before the world changed. Let us remember those who fell, but also those who caused their loss and what they want for this small world we live in.

God bless the memory of the innocent, and damn the memory of the guilty.

Am I the only one

who finds it both funny and ironic that the following youtube video:

Steve Cohen Campaigns for Obama on House Floor

is coming on the floor of the Congress from a guy named Cohen?

Tom Petty

said it best. The waiting is the hardest part.

Do I need a change of scenery?

Maybe it's time the North came back to carpetbag - wall-to-wall, and believe me it'll be wholesale prices or better:




Group dangles $50K for Jews who move to Ala. town



Get that deep-fryer ready, Possum Papa, and be sure to clean out all the treyf. 50,000 smackers doesn't go far up here, but I imagine in Dothan, AL we can get a whole lotta corned beef to deepfry with that money.

I'm confused

moreso than usual, anyway, by the following article:



Gov. Mom



So the whole point of the Post's take on this interesting question is that there's a question about the correctness of Palin's choice. The author writes

"Although a clear majority of mothers today are in the workforce, studies show that the pendulum has swung back, and most are skeptical about mothers working full time; they see part-time jobs as the ideal."

So, did I miss something in the last 40+ years of feminist theory? I thought the whole point of being a liberated woman in the modern age was that you not only could, but should do it all. Anyone who questioned a woman's ability to do both her family job and her paid job (and both equally well, incidentally) was a sexist pig looking to keep women barefoot, pregnant, subservient, etc. So now we have a perfect example of the feminist ideal - running a family and a state - and we have to raise the issue of whether or not she's qualified to do both? And ask if it's the right thing to do to her family?



I for one believe in two things. First, if at all possible, a parent should stay home with their kids. I happen to think it's better for the mother to do, but we all knew I was a Neanderthal already. No one raises your kids the way you do, and if you can afford it, better to have a parent home. Second, since that's not always possible, I believe people should acknowledge that something has to give. You can't be a superstar mom and a superstar employee and dedicate equal time to both. It's not possible to do it without sacrificing something, and that's the calculus every family faces. You shortchange work or your family when you try and do both, and that's something that has to be recognized (though not necessarily changed - people survive all kinds of rough childhoods.)



But I remain confused about the sudden change of rhetoric. When Hillary Clinton is running, it's a historic moment to show women have finally arrived. When Sarah Palin runs, it's time to see if a woman is properly balancing her priorities. This should be the pinnacle of the ideal of having it all, and instead it's something to worry about. You don't suppose the party of the woman in question has anything to do with the reporting, do you?

On vacation

Took the family to Dorney Park/Wildwater Kingdom in the northern parts of Pennsylvania for a few days. The fact that it took as much time to get from Long Island to the George Washington Bridge as it did to get from there to Allentown, PA should give you an idea of NY traffic problems.



We still had a good day for the half-day we've been here so far. A bit of waterpark, a bit of non-waterpark, and all of tomorrow to go. I think oldest may have gotten a bit dehydrated, but I hope a night's sleep and the water we made her drink will help. So more park tomorrow, then off on Friday for a weekend in DC with friends, and by the time I get back to the office I will have been gone 10 whole days. I actually had a reason to check my work calendar tonight, and there's 50 emails waiting for me.



I didn't bother reading any of them.



There's other news possibly, but I'm too paranoid to write about it. Updates will follow if circumstances make it necessary.

Old, Fat, & Happy

That's my answer to the following question posted on LinkedIn:



What is Your Personal Vision and Ambition Statement for the Year 2020?



I'm sure there are better answers than mine, but there are a lot worse answers too.

BWAHAHHAHHA

Check out what's new in History on my gadget-thingy below. Today's significant event is Bill Clinton's manly military strike in response to the African Embassy bombings. Full details on Operation Infinite Stretch are here.



Frankly, I'd rather have seen something on the Battle of Yarmuk or most of the other events listed for August 20 than revisit the Clinton administration's lame response to an attack on US property and lives. Still, it was a decent laugh to start the morning.

So here's my Question,

assuming Mr. Hassett is correct in the following article:



Democrats Offer Lesson in Misleading on Taxes



Where is the AP's retraction? I see no reason to doubt Hassett, who I assume has actually read the report in question, whereas the AP has a much less dependable track record. On the face of it, when I heard the original news story my first assumption was that the story had it wrong. Anytime you say 90% of anything chances are good it's an exaggeration; when you suggest that the country's biggest taxpayers pay no taxes at all, most rational people with even a slight understanding of economics have to think something's screwy.



I take Hassett's illustrations to heart - measuring GE in the same bucket as the Hot Dog vendors is by definition ridiculous; add to that the financial sense of reporting your earnings as wages rather than profit, and it all starts to make sense. So I repeat the question - where is the banner retraction to replace the banner headlines about corporations paying no taxes? Mr. Clemens' remark about lies, damned lies, etc. seems appropriate here.



So a word to all of us - take what you read with the appropriate grain of salt; in the case of the AP, I recommend a grain the size of the moon.

More Blog Mucking About

Seems as though Google now has even more crap to clutter up one's blog with. (So I ended on a preposition? Whaddaya gonna do about it?) Google Gadgets seems to include thousands of little doohickeys that add everything from semi-naughty pictures to quotes from every bible in existence.



Some looked OK, so I added two on the right - Today in History and Hubble images. I'd prefer not to bother with stock tickers or Super Mario games, but if the masses request it I'll consider adding them. For about 2 seconds, and then we'll go back to the bland dictatorship that is this trivial corner of the internets.

Whoa

Can it pop a wheelie?



I think at 18 I knew what a screwdriver was. Nice work, man, and keep it up.



H/T to the Corner, where Mr. Robbins notes that left alone, we can come up with answers far better than government.

Oh Beloved Europe

I heard this story about the Spanish basketball team the other day (though this is more commentary than reporting, and identified as such, happily):



Gasol, Calderon question fuss over photo



What it brought to mind immediately is not the particular childishness of the Spaniards here - most of the rest of us stopped doing this in Kindergarten. It made me think of the liberals who go on & on about how we need to be more like Europe, how the Europeans are more in touch with their feelings, how they're nicer, more sophisticated, etc.



A dirty little secret about Europe these people never acknowledge is the incredibly casual racism that you bump into over there. I've been to England three times (and no, this makes me neither particularly experienced nor a jet setter), and each time I've run into people making the most disparaging comments about other races without a second's thought. The most interesting case came from a taxi driver of clearly foreign extraction (South Asia as I remember) ripping into members of another ethnic group as being dirty, classless, etc.



I'm not all that surprised, frankly, at the behavior of this basketball team. The ancient tribalisms and the powerful nationalism of European countries hasn't really died out - it's available anywhere you choose to listen carefully enough. I don't much care - I still vote by the "Sticks & stones will break my bones" theory, and I think all the hypersensitive types (yes, I mean you Sharpton & Jackson) need to relax a little. But I am disturbed by the constant drivel coming out of the left that all we need to do is be more like the Europeans and the world will magically be a happy place.



Europe is a beautiful place that has many wonderful people and culture, but let's not miss the crap that comes along with it.

Doctor Rocker

Neat story:



Brian May, guitarist for rock band Queen, completes Ph.D. thesis following 30-year hiatus



Sure beats the Honoris Causae Harvard hands out like Pez. Has Ozzy Osbourne ever used a pressure-scanned Fabry-Perot Spectrometer? Did Mick Jagger ever record high-resolution spectra of the Zodiacal Light?



I think not.



(H/T to the Corner)

So...

There's not a whole lot to report on around here. Junior grows like a weed, which is her job; the other two continue their fun at camp.



My problems of before remain as they were - more of the same, and precious little relief in site. A few things are cooking, but not to my satisfaction yet. The big issue now is morale, and finding a way to keep on an even keel. Some days are good, some are not.



Not much use, is it? Makes it perfect blogging material.

Your Mainstream Media

finding that crucial hidden demographic:



100-year-old Americans see election 2008 as historic



Shall we call this Gen Willard Scott?

Puttering

Took the day off, and I was poking around here & blogger has added a bloglist thingy that includes some info off the RSS feeds of some of the stuff I read. I'm going to try it for a bit & see if I like it.

Ingenuity

and possibly too much vodka/tequila/you name it leads to this:



Chess boxers slug it out in the ring



I can only imagine that hockey chamber music or smash mouth watercolors are not far behind.

Soviet Jokes

Apparently a running theme was going on in one of the blogs over at National Review - old Commie jokes. I liked this one:

The express train is running from Warsaw to Legnica (site of a big Soviet Airforce Base in the communist years) when it suddenly jumps the tracks and runs off into the woods. After a while going through the woods, it returns to the tracks and somehow gets back on. The conductor goes up to the engineer and says, "What are you, nuts? Running off into the woods like that." The engineer replies, "There was a Russian general standing on the tracks." The conductor berates him, "Then why didn't you just run the #%$$^%$ over?" to which the engineer replies, "That's just it, he ran into the woods."

I sense a whole area of humor I need to get familiar with.

Dodged a bullet

The Odyssey, and its clunky transmission, are thankfully still under warranty. Three or four weeks later and we'd probably have been screwed. So they will call next week to set up an appointment to replace the whole shootin' match on their dime. Per the good Mr. Possum the replacement only has a 12,000 mile warranty, but the way Mrs. Skinny drives (in miles/year, not leadfoot) that'll last us two years.



By which point we may be looking for a replacement anyway, so it all works out. It made the $60 (!) I spent on a rental yesterday while they looked at it seem a bargain, though that's an awful lot for the Chevy Speck I rented. I'm still pleased at the results, either way.

Hotel Skinny

We've had guests of one sort or another for close to a month now, and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I love my family, I love Mrs.' family, but I'm tired of changing sheets in the guest room, feeding extra people, and not being able to walk around in my skivvies. They've all been good houseguests, but we're booked through at least mid-August and I think I'd like it to be just the five of us again for a little while.

Sigh

It's always the same, isn't it?




The Not-So-Lost Tribe



I have no problem with you highlighting the plight of native tribes in heavily logged areas. Make all the teary-eyed pictures you want. But why, why do you need to make stuff up? You ruin any point you were trying to make by faking things, so why do it? There's always an excuse from people like this, and the argument always comes back to "truthiness". It should be so, therefore anything I do to promote that is not only acceptable, but somehow beneficial.



The Shema prayer ends with "I am the Lord your God, Truth." Truth is essential to a moral and ethical life, and to be in firm concert with God's plan. Lacking truth is lacking in Godliness, and yet so many of these people believe that the ends justify the means. It's sad, and it's stupid.

At Long Last

the intranet redesign project is live. It's taken more than two years of effort, meetings, more meetings, even more meetings, but we've finally launched the site. I've been so incommunicado over the last month because of all the work that was necessary, but in the end we have essentially the site we intended. Not perfect, naturally, but awfully good considering the amount of work involved.



But. But.



A superior that need not be named deserves to be hit by a bus. I'm not pleased at myself for wishing harm on another human, but they deserve it. Not a thank you. Not a "we couldn't have done it without you." Certainly not a bonus or other formal recognition for me doing their job for them. Just insulting emails asking where everything else she wants is. Never mind that go-live is just the beginning for what has to happen, what with all we pushed off until now.



So the inevitable, I hope, will happen. I will offer my services elsewhere, and hope that even if the praise is as hard to come by, I will be making enough additional money to compensate a little. There's no reason to treat your employees like servants, unless you don't care whether or not they remain your employees.

Environmentalism has Officially Jumped the Shark

How do I know? Viz. the following, courtesy of LiveScience via Yahoo:



Environmentally Friendly Bombs Planned



I grant you that toxic chemicals are, well, toxic, and we're trying to save the planet. But if there was ever anything unfriendly for its environment, wouldn't most of us say a bomb would be example #2 (following AlGore himself, naturally)?



I know there are non-deadly reasons people use explosives. But let's face facts - the reason most of this stuff is out there is to make really, really big booms that eliminate whatever (or whoever) was standing there before. Leaving dust, debris, and destruction behind. Most employers of this technology aren't really all that concerned about a coupla liters of toxic byproduct.



Which raises to me the likely ironic aftereffect of enviro-safe bombs. How long before Hamas or Al-Qaida steps up to a microphone somewhere and piously declares that as Islam is fundamentally committed to saving the planet, all homicide bombers (excuse me - freedom fighters) on their way to "convert" buses full of schoolchildren and shopkeepers will now switch to the kinder, gentler IEDs and strapped-on explosives.



Greening the Ethnic Cleaning, indeed.

Conferencing

Got a couple days this week to poke around the big city at a conference. Nice mostly just to get out of the office a little. Things have not improved appreciably, so any excuse not to be there is welcome. Not a ton of consequence at the show, but it's helpful to find out what people doing real work in the area are busy with. And I had a nice burger with pastrami on it for lunch with some colleagues who went to the conference.



Another day of it tomorrow, plus some other business I have to take care of. And maybe a nice juicy steak to top it all off.

Yuck

Cleaning out the garage is a reasonable activity for mother's day. Stuff to toss, a little organizing, right?



Let me say that the unexpected object I had to remove from a double stroller (which we had just offered to the expectant couple across the street, BTW) put a severe damper on the joy of a neat garage.



That object would be a late, former member of the family Sciuridae. The disgusting remains had damaged the stroller, so I had to Indian Give (can I still use that term?) and set aside the conveyance for conveyance to a garbage dump.



I remain extremely creeped out by the experience.

Say Hello to My Leetel Frien' - Ex Utero Edition

Look who showed up on Sunday:






Cute, huh? Another girl (4 against 1 at my house now; anybody know where I can rent a Port-a-Potty?) 6lbs, 9 oz, 18 5/8", and in an awful ^%$# hurry. One hour from first contraction to outside baby. Worth the trip, though.



So there I was, happily leading services for the congregation on the last day of Passover, at a point where I couldn't stop, and the phone buzzes (I had it on vibrate so as not to offend anyone.) Who else would be calling? Finish up, hand off to someone else, call MIL, she says "I think we're getting ready for the baby", I walk home, half an hour later, there she is. Best part is the guy who took over for me at services, also named Dan, is the last guy who got beeped in the middle of leading services. He was doing the additional service for Yom Kippur, though, and it's not like you can just grab someone to take over. I at least made it easy for them.

All right, Outta the Pool

Mr. Possum loses this one; no additional SkinnyJuniors as of yet. Plenty of matzah and associated GI distress, a considerable lack of sleep, but no babies delivered Chez Skinny at any point over the extended holiday weekend.



Mr. P had selected a girl, arriving on 4/20. Mrs. Skinny would've been happy to oblige, but Jr. ain't quite ready yet. Updates as events warrant.

Word Invention

Terry sent me this link from Iowahawk the other day, where the good Raptor describes his brief visit to Postville, IA and the surprising accumulation of Orthodox Jews floating around that end of Flyover Country. I've known about this group for a while - they've established a major kosher meatpacking plant out there, presumably to be closer to the cows.



In any event, I mentioned to Terry that there's a book out called Boychicks in the Hood, in which author Robert Eisenberg describes his visit out there to see the Jews in Iowa. Which led me to coin what I think is a new term to describe noticeably Orthodox Jews living in rural parts of America:



Hayseedic: adj. - pertaining to or describing an ultra-Orthodox person living and working in traditionally rural, non-Jewish areas of the United States. cf. RebNeck, Yankel Reb.

There's a point at which

you start to ask yourself why you bother.



Today's one of those days.

Why Brer Jimmah

should be kicked out of the US and his citizenship revoked:



Carter Pays Tribute to Terrorist Mass Murderer



Perhaps the Georgia Nut will now fully embrace Hamas by signing up be a suicide bomber.

If You like to Grill

or even if you just like to eat, can I recommend you join Weber Nation?



I am watching their chef on a video podcast grilling some marvelous looking steaks. He hasn't even put them on the grate and I'm salivating.

The Lovely Jordana

has sent along a link that will leave the transportation buffs (like my Dad) glued to their computers for a day or 70:



London Transport Museum



Your spouses will hate me forever, or thank me for getting you off facebook for a while.

Archives in the News

Nothing ever dies in this modern media world, as Wally World found out:



Candid Camera: Trove of Videos Vexes Wal-Mart



It's a marvelous tale of handshake deals, unintended uses, unintended consequences, and the ability of Americans to turn lemons into lemonade.



I imagine the exec who killed the arrangement with this video company is no longer a "new Walmart Exec" but an "ex-Walmart Exec." This highlights a real problem in all organizations regarding institutional memory and the dangers of losing it or missing the value in it. Chances are the exec looked at costs and said "we can get this cheaper." Not a ridiculous idea, but it REALLY would've been worth investigating the parameters of the deal, not to mention saving the tapes for posterity, archival use, etc. Lessons to learn, folks.



Thanks to an archive buddy for passing this one along.

Statistics

I can't think of a task I'm less suited for than sitting here like a yutz and attempting to collate statistics on web usage. I can't figure out what the important numbers are, and I'm supposed to be providing them to a group of people who know even less than I do about what we should be looking at.



I'm sure there is value in these things somewhere, but heck if I know how to dig it out. The process itself is beyond mind-numbing, and it takes forever to do. I know every job has crappy tasks that just have to be done, but this is one that never should have gotten dumped in my lap. Not only do I hate doing it, but I'm no good at it and my time would be better used elsewhere.



Though I guess that's true in a great variety of ways around here.

Want to meet a Hero?

Meet a hero.



Mind you, I don't recommend this as an idea to try at home, but the instinctive reaction by L/Cpl Croucher was to save his fellow Marines. What's the British version of Semper Fi, anyway?



Nice job son - you done good.

The More I Talk to Some People

the less they clearly know or understand. In my current situation, it becomes more painfully obvious that people that I was OK with before are actually dumber than dirt.



It's OK to be dumber than dirt; but if you're talking to someone who knows far better than you what's going on, and who is clearly smarter than you are, take a safe route. Say "Dan, is it under control? I'm too busy to deal with this right now - if you say we're OK, then we're OK." Leave it at that, and I won't be shaking my head in wonder that you're doing anything more advanced than stocking groceries.

Terminal Boredom

n.- the effect of attempting to complete two tasks at once that, individually, cause the employee to fall asleep at his desk. cf. mind-numbing, repetitive.

Speaking of Sniffs

I appear to have picked up a cold someplace. Considering that the cough I developed in February still hasn't gone away, it's getting me a little irritated.



I know, I know - boo-frickin'-hoo.

Had a Sniff or Two

Nothing concrete, and I continue to crank out the personal documentation on a slow but semi-steady basis, but there have been a few encouraging inquiries.



None of it matters until it matters, but as I continue to ride the emotional and mental roller coaster, each sign of interest is a brief reminder that I'm not entirely useless or unwanted. This is not a pleasant exercise to say the least, but you just have to keep plugging away.



A colleague in the identical (and I mean identical) boat to me believes in sending out hundreds of feelers; I guess I disagree with him. Anything within 100 miles, within a football field of what he's looking for gets a shot. I don't know if it's the right approach, but I'm being more selective. If it looks like something I want, I try it; if I'm grossly underqualified, or it looks stupid, I'm not even wasting the time.



In the end I guess it doesn't matter that much - you only need one, and with the Lord's help (though I admit a touch of peevishness that He's not filling me in on His plan) the right one will appear whether you try for one opportunity or 1,000.



If I keep telling myself that, I imagine I'll start to believe it.

In Honor of the Day

A classic. One I'd never seen, actually.

There's been a Sighting

Shoulda posted this earlier, but kinda slipped my mind. There's been an Actual (well, Virtual) GOYL sighting. Check out the comments to this post.



By the sounds of it we're in similar situations, which explains her disappearance. Anyway, GOYL, welcome back however briefly to the world of blogging, and even if things are down, some of us are still checking up on you now & again.

Why I don't trust Experts

Via Yahoo/AP:



Experts: Years before dollar regains value, prestige worldwide



Conspicuously missing from the story is the length of time it took the dollar to slide. Look, I don't understand anything about economics. A dollar is still a dollar, though I guess it buys less and that makes it weak. Either way, what'd it take for us to go from gangbusters to a weak dollar? Six months?



Where, precisely, is it written that it will take years to come back? Things can turn up as quickly as they turn down, and there's no guarantee that Europe's economic problems (which I assume are varied) might not cause similar problems for the Euro.



At the end of it all, like the weathermen and the global warming crowd, too much of this is guesswork for my taste. They all have pet theories they've been waiting years to see turn real, and now that a down cycle has finally hit they're crowing about how right they are. I have no idea why they love doom & gloom so much, other than it's Bush's fault. My only actual concern is if one of the Democrats gets elected, these central planning ouija-board pundits might actually be in a position to ruin the economy.



In which case they're correct - it will take years to regain prosperity.

Be Sure

Your Sin will Find you Out



Politically speaking, I could not be happier to hear this. The man is a self-aggrandizing, bullying jerk, and to have this land on his head makes me happy. As always, I feel badly for his wife and family, but this couldn't have happened to a more appropriate slimy politician.

Sigh

More of the same. Confused orders. Deadlines moved up suddenly to yesterday. No communication at all. Negative messages stated outright - while not to me directly, by extension it all applies to me as well.



You know what else? I'm bored. I imagine there are things I need to do, but I don't feel like finding out what they are. I suppose I could clean up around here, but at the best of time that's not terribly motivating.



Sorry to kvetch, but there's not much else to do.

I know

it's bloody late, but I played hockey so I'm still up. Anyway, some positive developments today regarding opportunities available. Means nothing until it means something, but there's some hope and that's a good thing.



Incidentally, on a completely unrelated note, strange things happen when you mistype things. Should you happen to type "skinnydan.blogpsot.com" (note the transposed letters) you end up at something referred to as a "mega site of Bible studies and information."



It also suggests (not that I read very carefully) that my lack of faith in Jesus is likely to doom me to eternal damnation or some such overly warm final embrace.



Strange place this internets, and odd that anyone would waste the time to squat on a variation of this useless drivel center. Still, I suppose it keeps them occupied in between doses of medication.

Needless to say

No such luck. There is a new normal, and I've just had to learn to deal with it. So I do whatever I absolutely have to, and no more. I listen to stupid comments and keep my mouth shut. I get unnecessary instructions, and I just say "OK."



It's a dumb way to live, I grant you, but it's a way to survive.



Oh, did I mention I also got sick as a dog about two weeks ago? Two days of 102 fever, followed by all sorts of nasty side effects, including gums so swollen I couldn't eat. I have no idea what the Lord might have in mind for me, but if He's trying to tell me something I have to say it would be easier to grasp some of the messages if they'd come in one at a time.



If the Frogs or Locusts show up looking for me, tell them I'm unavailable please.

Peaceful interlude

All the above (or below, whichever) was interrupted for the most part blissfully by a vacation in mid-January. The in-laws were kind enough to sponsor a trip down south, to beautiful Lake Buena Vista, Florida.



Why, yes, I believe there are a few things to visit down in that part of the world. Something about a Mouse...?



So we did the Disney thing, and everyone had a good time. We did nothing but Disney - the kids are a little young and a lot too fraidy-cat to try Universal, and there was plenty to do in Walt's kingdom anyway.



Short version: Disney Hollywood Studios (nee MGM Studios) on Monday, Magic Kingdom on Tuesday, Epcot on Wednesday, Animal Kingdom on Thursday, and back to Magic Kingdom on Friday. A Princess Breakfast, lots of characters signing autograph books, gift shop after gift shop after gift shop. We actually kept much of the spending to a minimum, and having the in-laws with us helped a lot.



It was a nice change of pace, and by the middle of the week I was actually able to forget about work a bit. I deliberately left the laptop home, and didn't check email or voicemail all week. At that point I figured there was really nothing I could or would do about work anyway. My other thought was to see if a little time and distance would help and maybe life would go back to normal.

What the Hell????

This is a part of my life where I want to be a little circumspect. It remains in the state that began six weeks ago, and changes to it may take some time. Talking too much about it (and certain people managing to find out about it) could create even more headaches, and there's enough going on right now. Should things happen as I'd like, I will explain more clearly in the future.



You may recall changes were made professionally - someone got fired who deserved it, and all was to be well.



Oh how wrong a person can be.



Things are not well; discussions of important benefits to me went from Topic A to Topic Z. Rude, thoughtless, and ignorant comments have been directed to me and others, and for no reason we can fathom. I am tainted by association, and I believe the reason for the change has nothing to do with me or my work.



Naturally this all began right in the middle of the crisis with Dad. No one's even asked how he is in weeks. The timing could have been much, MUCH better. Either way, the writing is on the wall. I don't even think they know they're sending the messages they are, but I'm reading them loud and clear anyway.



I am taking the steps I have been forced to take, and with luck I will make my own change. The sad part is, and the one thing I will not forgive, is that they made me not care. I loved where I was, and they made me not only hate it, but not give a damn, and that's something I can't forgive.

Where to begin?

How to explain the 180-degree turn in my life over the last six weeks? Things that were no longer are, and things that were not suddenly have become.



Cryptic? You betcha. Paranoid, me?



You have no idea.



Seems safest to begin at the beginning, with one of the two scheduled items for the new year. Dad had been to the doctor last Sep or Oct, and they saw something they didn't entirely like. So I recommended he go talk to one of the guys here, world-renowned for that particular part of the anatomy. The long & short was scheduled surgery for early January. So Pop goes in, figuring on a 3-5 day stay in the hospital, then 4-6 weeks recovery.



So here comes the first curveball, and it's a doozy. He's in for a few days, and if anything he seems worse as time goes on, not better. I'm there every night till 9-10PM, my brother's there all day (including, heroically, staying by himself there for Shabbos so dad would have company.) Sunday night he is in terrible pain, and Monday they tell us they're taking him in for emergency surgery in an unrelated area. I am now running all kinds of insane, paranoid fantasies in my head that he's not going to survive.



Happily, none of them came true. The second surgery went well, and Pop was quickly on the mend. He's home and recuperating now, and while he's looking older (and thinner) than he did before, he's mostly himself again. I think he's getting a little depressed, but he's been on the shelf for a long time, so I don't blame him.



So, that was stress enough, without...

Today

is the fast day known as Asara B'Tevet (Literally 10th of the month of Tevet). Naturally, as a day without food, I chose today to provide small holiday gifts of homemade fudge to co-workers and friends here.



Some days I'm just not that bright, you know?

I don't normally

do what the sports & politics geeks refer to as liveblogging, but I am sitting with the laptop and the MNF game on. All I can say from the half attention I am paying is that so far it ain't exactly a barn burner.



The Bears have fallen mightily since last year's Super Bowl appearance, and other than knowing there was an adult situation a few years back, I don't know the first thing about Minnesota. Seems so far to be a game full of dopey penalties and zero offense. Even Devin Hester can't save this game for me right now.

Saw this

the other day, and thought given the previous announcement that it was good timing:



Researchers discover why pregnant women don't topple over



I'm glad to see them putting my tax money to good use, but I'm not quite sure I see any practical application to the information. Sure, now I get how Mrs. Skinny manages to stay upright, but I still don't think it's getting me out of washing dishes or changing nappies when the time comes.



Still, it keeps the science folks out of trouble.

So...

I have dropped at least one hint, (and to one Alabama Marsupial, several) that something's up chez skinny. Terry thinks it's a medical condition, which, in effect, it is.



Say Hello to my leetle frien':







I know, I know, it's a little grainy and out of focus. I think I used the wrong F-stop or something.



So indeed, there is another small parasite headed our way come the spring. The ex-utero two have taken to calling it Little Matzah Ball, which is appropriate since we are due right around Passover.



This particular gestation has not been without its issues. I was planning to say something here a while ago, but we had a disturbing last 3-4 weeks, courtesy the medical establishment. One of the zillions of tests required in this nation before you are considered fit to reproduce came back as positive for a genetic disorder known as Trisomy-18 (you can read about it from the dedicated folks over at the Trisomy 18 foundation).



When the midwife describes said disorder as "incompatible with life", it certainly does make you pause a bit. Unlike its cousin, trisomy 21 that's involved with Down's Syndrome, children with this genetic anomaly generally don't survive the first year if they make it that far. Needless to say, we were not prepared for that particular development. What followed is standard - more tests. Amnio for the Mrs, prayer for me. Thanks to the piece of crap lab the insurance insisted we use (thanks for nothing, Quest Diagnostics! I hope some marketing jerk is reading this and tells everyone I think you people suck!), we had to wait three full weeks for results.



Which were negative. Which in this case is a good thing. So we are, happily, one of the thousands of people out there who got a false positive from one of these dopey blood tests. I'm glad of the results, but I can't say the last month has been fun. When you and your spouse begin discussing the euphemistic "options" if the worst happens, most people are not in a great place. Happily it's all moot, even if I have not enjoyed much lately.



Anyway, that's the big news around here. Work has increased, but not my paycheck. The children grow up, and I grow out. Life continues, and thankfully the Lord agreed with me on this particular question.



Look for a Little Matzah Ball this spring, coming to a Skinnydan nowhere near most of you.

Leftovers

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, apple pie, chocolate chip cookies were consumed.



Effluvia from sick child were cleaned up, sheets, PJs, towels were washed.



Guest room was slept in so sick child could stay in my bed.

Oh Dear

This leaves a bit to live up to. All you riffraff will have to go read something more appropriate for your education level.

An American Hero

Pilot of plane that dropped A-bomb dies



Oh, I know all the AP wants to talk about is the suffering the bomb did, and I see an implication of callousness in Tibbets from the author. But anybody who knows a damn thing about war in general, WWII, and the Japanese behavior prior to and during the war understands that the bomb was frankly the lesser of two evils.



There's no minimizing of the suffering here, but let's get real - how would the Japanese civilians have fared during a genuine invasion of the Home Islands? How many Allied troops would have been killed? How long would it have dragged on? Add to that Japanese behavior towards civilians in Manchuria, Korea, Burma, etc., and it's a little hard for me to to see moral injustice on the part of the US.



Rest in Peace, General.

Caught this little gem

over at CNN:



Warmer temperatures tied to wildfires, scientists say



Apparently it's again tied to global warming. What's conspicuously absent, however, is any discussion of our forestry and land-management policies. This stood out to me a bit:

Those plants grow back quickly after a fire, and several species of wildflowers only grow in areas that have burned, Rocca said.

Swetnam said smaller, surface fires are good for forests because they destroy shrubs and other brush without hurting trees.

What I sense is missing is a discussion of how the controlled burns of past eras have been banned, thanks largely to the environmental movement. I can't claim to know a ton about it, but I've heard folks talk about it on the radio.



So I'd only ask this - is it possible that the environmental horror we're now supposedly doomed to suffer has been caused in part by enviromentalism? I imagine there are some who are crying over the destruction of so many trees. Yet the same types have argued that we can't manage things properly because of the trees. So now we've lost the trees, billions of dollars, people's entire existences, and actual lives.



Yep, smart policy there.

The heavens opened

officially on Thursday. Someone lost their job, and it was a long time coming. Four years or more of incompetence and indifference came to a head, and the head on the block was theirs.



I suppose I should have more sympathy, but they brought it on themselves. I didn't care much for this person personally, but I for one could've managed with them if they put the slightest effort into their work. My interactions with them were peripheral, but the few direct efforts I had to deal with did not impress me. This person was full of buzzwords and superior attitude, followed by lack of action and complete ignorance.



Others I talked to felt bad for this person, but I can't bring myself to. Be sure your sin will find you out, and you can bet it did. I wonder why it took so long, but other people have more patience with this kind of thing than I do.



The upshot of all this is more work for me. I fully intend to try and force the issue to bring with it commensurate title and financial rewards, but I need to be patient about that kind of thing here. I also feel there's some tension and not a little confusion reigning right now, so I think I need to let certain things said to me kind of slide off my back. With any luck things will smooth out in a few weeks, and we can make some progress.



I see this as a tremendous opportunity, despite the immense additional workload it will bring. Things couldn't possibly have been worse, so we have nowhere to go but up.

Storm Clouds Are Brewin'

But they are hopefully bringing a healthy rain that will wash away several years' worth of grime.



I can't really say anything more about it right now, but it explains (somewhat) my parsimonious postings of late.



Other, equally weighty news is also in the offing, but there's no reason I can't say anything about it. I'm just being coy. Call it snottily smug if you must, but it amounts to the same thing.



Updates will follow in their appropriate time.

Interesting bit of History

up for grabs:



Rare Magna Carta to be sold at Sotheby's in NYC



I've never liked the popular impression that this was a constitution in the sense to which we understand it today. A la the reporter's comment "The Magna Carta established rights of the English people and curbed the power of the king."



What it established (and no, I haven't read it in ages) was the rights and privileges of a select class of people vis-a-vis their feudal obligations to their lord, and the limits of his authority. As a foundation document laying the groundwork for basic rights of man, perhaps, but hardly a declaration of freedom for all citizens. I'd personally consider it akin to limiting the power of central government, and providing more autonomy to the other rich, violent jerks keeping the average citizen impoverished and beholden. And yes, I oversimplify, but it's a blog folks, not a dissertation.



In any event, it's yours for a piddling $30 mil.

Ya know what?

People really like chocolate.



The kids' school does an annual chocolate sale to raise money. Given the cost of tuition, I find that a little ridiculous, but OK. Sell $500 worth of sugary crap, earn a prize worth about a buck-fifty on the open market. For the last two years, I have resisted bringing any to work - I feel like it's annoying people.



It seems people like being annoyed.



I left a box of 40 bars (at $1/each) upstairs in the kitchen here at the office at about 9AM. When I last checked it at about 2PM, there were five bars left. More importantly, the box (when full) was mostly almond, which I dislike. Of the 5 remaining bars, none were almond, so I guess the huckster company behind all of this (part of Reader's Digest, apparently) knew exactly what they were doing.



On top of all that, my dad took three bars last week back home to my brother's kids. Oldest niece called up that night placing an order for another 36 for her and her friends. So pop is picking up another box at the kids' school right about now. Any leftovers will be brought back here tomorrow.



I have to wonder - would people normally buy all this crap, or do they soothe their consciences about eating candy by saying it's going to a good cause? Either way, I've got a pocket full of singles and my kids are in line for a cheap, lead painted Chinese toy that will break the first day.

Every time

you think you've seen it all, here comes more silliness:



Glamorous politician wants law to allow 7-year itch



Leaving aside that I don't find a fifty year old, twice divorced libertine to be glamorous, these are the kinds of crazy things that come out of people's mouths when they're interested in attention more than substance. I don't know if she's serious about marriages only legally lasting seven years. I don't much care if she is. Clearly, though, there are a lot of nutballs in the world, and unfortunately too many of them get elected.



I don't suppose we could institute a seven-year lifespan on politicians, could we?

Laugh of the Day

Dan Rather sues CBS, Viacom for $70M



Ole' Dan thinks he got the shaft from CBS for their "intentional mishandling" of the aftermath of the story he chose to run, despite the holes in it the size of a National Guard jet.



What's the Frequency, Kenneth, indeed.

Oh, and By the By...

Shana Tovah to all and sundry. May we all be blessed with a happy, healthy, and sweet new year.

More Conversations

Less peculiar, but more welcome. Got an email from Mrs. Skinny's cousin, who is over in Afghanistan doing the police-type work he used to do in the Great Northwest. He's just looking for Taliban instead of more home-grown ne'er do wells.



Cousin is, as the rest of that particular branch of the family tree, one of the most decent people I've ever me in my life. Well educated, well read, and a lot of fun to hang out with. I should think of him every day, but I don't, which is sad. He's certainly risking his life, though he said I need to look out for myself far more than he does. He travels around with a troop of Polish airborne guys, which he claims is like riding around with a legally armed motorcycle gang.



All the same, I worry about him, and hope he stays safe. It's worse for people with husbands and fathers overseas I grant you, but he's still family and he's a long way from home. Mind you, he says he's in great shape - toting 50 lb. packs around 7,000 feet above sea level is one solution to staying fit, but I'm not sure we all need to head to Downtown Kandahar just to get healthy.



Anyway, I've got a small piece of my heart over in harm's way, so add a thought or prayer for him if you've a mind to.

Strange Conversations

I'm just back in the office after an offsite meeting, the door is closed, and somebody knocks.



There is New Executive Recently Promoted, doing a tour of the building. NERP asks for a brief tour, then says "how do you know when all this stuff is ready for you to take?"



Well, here's a pretty how-de-do.



So I explain briefly about Records Managers and how they feed things to archivists, and see to it that records make it through their life cycle, and end up in the archives when they're ready.



Mind you, I've been asking about getting an RM here for 5 years, so it's a little shocking to have such a conversation out of the blue. I don't know if this will lead to anything, but I'm glad somebody took an interest for five minutes.

Science!

Toddler Study Proves Humans Outsmart Apes



"In other Sciency-type stuff, Apes clearly still lead by a wide margin of intelligence over reporters and headline writers."

Don't you Hate When that Happens?

Study: Wrong fish used to save species



You're all set with a 5/8" fish, and it turns out you needed the 1/2".

Well, Duh.

You Are a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

You are a traditional person with very simple tastes. In your opinion, the best things in life are free, easy, and fun. You totally go with the flow. And you enjoy every minute of it! Your best friend: The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Ham Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

Any idiot would know about my issues with Ham Sammiches. From Jordana, via Diane. Mind you, I don't actually like cheese at all, grilled or otherwise, but I guess that's besides the point.

Left Coast Blogging

Out to the wilds of Californy to visit the in-laws, and thus I have some time to blog. Flight was not bad as these things go - we had a power outlet in one of our two rows, and I was able to compute some while flying. I'm the web guy for two archivists groups, and with the annual meeting happening next week, there's a lot to update. Plus the kiddies could watch movies and leave us be.



Things seem tough on the airlines - they're now charging for ALL food on board. Though they haven't figured out how to charge us for what we bring on our own. That's coming, I imagine. No room in the seats, long waits to get in to the waiting areas, long waits to take off, no food, lousy movies. There's not a lot to recommend flying any more, other than if you got to get from one place to another, it's a way to do it.



Either way, both we and our luggage made it. I'm here until next Tuesday, when I'm off to the aforementioned conference in Chicago. Mrs. and family stay until Sunday of Labor Day.

The weekend

is sort of a long, drawn-out blur. We had lunch on Shabbos with some friends, which started somewhere around noon and ended around 6PM. I don't think we were eating the entire time, it just felt like it. Our hostess is a good cook, which explains partly the length of the meal.



Not content with a full prandial day, I decided like a moron to stay up half the night editing our latest podcast. The sound quality has improved dramatically, but I still had to splice together a show out of 7-8 takes, and that took until 2AM. As it turned out I had no other time to edit anyway, so I'm glad I got it done so the rest of the group can review it. Still, there wasn't as much sleep as there ought to have been. Last week was among the longest, and most difficult in the 6 and 1/2 years I've been here - just a lot of grief from a lot of people, and a lot of work. I should've used my opportunities to sleep better, but that's life.



Sunday was jam-packed - I joined Mrs. at the picnic for her local La Leche League. I was surprised too - it isn't a group for leering at women! Mrs. has been crazed in preparing for this, which is why a) she was painting a banner at 4PM on Friday instead of getting dinner ready, and b) she stayed up 'til 2AM herself on Saturday night. The picnic was nice, but I was ready to go home before she was. I did take the time to try and continue working with oldest on learning to ride a two-wheeler (as we had a lot more open space at the park) but I'm afraid it didn't go all that well. She gets going, and then just stops pedaling. I'll take advice on strategies if anyone has them.



Home for a brief rest, then across the street to start preparing the surprise barbecue for the other neighbor in the house next door. Poor guy turned 50 yesterday, so we all assembled and I got grill duty. It came off without a hitch, I burned very little of the food, and Mrs. Skinny brought out a tray of blondies (which I made, incidentally - it was one of four trays made this past weekend) on which she wrote "Happy Not 50^th Birthday Dan." For which I am grateful - mostly the not 50 part.



Home, kids to bed, watched Water, which turned out to be as funny as I remembered it, and collapsed into bed. All in all, a good if not exactly restful weekend.

Karl Rove Behind Another Plot!!!

You have to know that's actually coming:




Karl Rove to resign at end of August



One can only assume he wants to depress the nutters who will now have to change the tinfoil in their propeller beanies.



Unless he's secretly not leaving, and will be conducting his super-secret plot to destroy the world (women and minorities suffer most^®) in an even more super-secret way...

Best Birthday Card. Ever

To protect the Guilty

I will not go into details here. But I hate my job, or at least the people who are making it unnecessarily difficult. The wrong people are making decisions, and other wrong people are getting on my boss' case about me. Despite the fact that the time pressure is their fault entirely, not mine.



I'm not quitting, but it does make me wonder why I don't sit on my tuchus and do a lousy job the way some other people do around here. Failure to act gets no one fired, so why should I bother trying to accomplish anything?



I don't mean to get whiny, but it's been an unpleasant few days at work lately. I know, boo-frickin'-hoo, but this is the bulk of my waking hours, and I'd like to think I'm not a completely useless lump of employee.

Bias? What Bias?

So National Review has been making note today of an incident in the House last night where a vote was gaveled, meaning, I take it, that it is final. The Dem in charge thought it was a tie, when in fact it was passed. They then held the vote open so that enough people could switch their votes to the Nay side.




Republicans Angry Over House Vote



So the problem is it took me almost ten minutes to find a story about it in the mainstream media. Including the site I finally dug it up on, Fox News. Elsewhere, I get the standard fodder of "Administration screws up" "Gonzales must go" and "Bush Lied, People Died." But a mention of a flagrant violation of the rules by Democrats? Not a peep.



Leaving aside the particular importance of this vote, which appears to have been procedural rather than substantive, I can find no clearer demonstration of the crap that politicians play. Did the guy screw up and gavel too soon? Sure. Had he said "my bad - I screwed up, and I won't do it again" - no big deal. But to actively change the vote after? Criminal in my estimation, and worthier of censure than anything I've seen the libs claim about the administration.



Why? Because, for good or ill, there are supposed to be rules. They can be gamed, and bent, but they should not be broken in such a cavalier and clearly partisan fashion. Your elected government and mine is a cesspool of scheming dishonesty, and I'm embarrassed to be represented by such filth.



The press is aiding and abetting this kind of behavior, and they wonder why they are ranked so low on the trustworthy scale. Yes, this is a small issue. But you learn a lot more about people by how they handle the little things than how they manage the larger issues.

How's this

for a personal recommendation?



Sean Penn praised by Venezuela's Chavez



One can only assume that Ahmedinajad and Osama himself are also writing letters on Mr. Penn's behalf to all the colleges he's applying to.



Remember, folks - who you idolize and associate with says a lot about who you are.

IT'S...JUST...NOT...FAIR!!!

The great grand-daddy of us all (many of us, anyway), El Possumo, Dr. Possum hisself, is hangin' it up.



Personally, I fail to see why something as meaningless as a job is more important than the way I waste my day when I should be working.



The fact is, Terry blogs in part so I don't have to. Looking around here, you can see I've fallen off the wagon a bit myself over the last few months. But I could always count on Possumblog to check three or four times a day to see something weird, interesting, intelligent, or ever so slightly off color. And that was only in the quotes he put up every week.



I'm only blogging here because of him and Jim Smith - the two of them noodged enough that I started this here steaming pile of crappy electrons. Though truth be told we can lay some blame at Jordana's feet - I only found Boss Possum after seeing a link to her blog from National Review's Corner blog. It seems odd that I should continue when he stops - seems like the chain, broken at the top, should fall apart.



But that, in essence, is the point of blogging - once started, no matter who egged you on, you're on your own. This isn't meant to be a moralistic tale of an aging, balding Jew, raised by his PossumPappy to finally blog on his own two feet. The heading for this post is, in fact, completely mistaken. It is fair. It's entirely fair that the real Terry - not the entertaining raconteur of my bloglife - should continue to grow as a person and live the life he needs to lead for himself and his family.



That it will impact part of my life is noticeable, but in essence irrelevant. Blogging is a pastime for most of us, not a fungible career. And when advancement calls, pastimes have to take second place. I will miss the daily conversations of Possumblog, which is where the real fun was for me. It was a chance to talk to folks I find entertaining, a place to trade one-liners and gently snide insults with a group of people I would never have met otherwise.



Look, nobody died here. Terry remains around, and emails are always available. Heck, I might even start blogging regularly again, in the hopes that I won't lose touch with the crowd I "met" over at PB. It's nice to call you folks that I've never even met in person friends, leaving aside the oddities of a New York Suburban Hebrew palling around with a Southern Rednecked Christian Goober (hmmm - I sense a sitcom plot in there somewhere...)



Life will continue, and there's no "forever" here in the blogosphere. There's no reason Terry won't someday return, even on a semi-regular basis. But in the meantime, the internet has just become a less interesting place to hang out, and that makes me sad.



Shalom, Possumblog.

The Truth

will set you free:



A Senate Immigration Update



Or just prove that you're the big babies we all knew you were.

Well that's peculiar

The appearance of the word "crap" is apparently no longer damaging to young ears.



As a Noble Captain once said, "Damme, that's too bad."

Speaking of Medical Issues

Is the detail in this story really necessary?




Bush to have colonoscopy at Camp David



While I appreciate knowing that the President is being cared for, and that he's taken care of the constitutional needs of the nation, how much value is there in knowing that "The 2002 procedure began at 7:09 a.m and ended at 7:29 a.m. Bush woke up two minutes later but did not resume his presidential office until 9:24 a.m., after Tubb conducted an overall examination."



It's wonderful that the procedure only took twenty minutes, but let's face it - that's one event I for one would rather not have covered in quite such minute detail.

I'm sorry, did you say something?

Terry notes in an email that there have been no updates to you, my great unwashed masses, about my ears. The fixed one is in fact working perfectly fine, though I think the change is less noticeable than it was in the beginning. I notice things are much clearer in noisy situations than they were, although there are still times when conversations are a little hard to make out. I'm probably going to get the other one done at some point, which should help.



Updates on other body parts as events warrant.

Now, I like

Harry Potter as much as the next Muggle. I just finished rereading the first six books in anticipation of the last book in the series (though I have to wait until probably early next week for our British edition to show up). But this is a bit much:



U.S. college students seek the magic of Quidditch



I guess there are stupider ways for college students to entertain themselves, but is this really why these folks are spending upwards of $30 grand a year? I like geeks well enough, but can't they just go out and play an actual sport?



I can only imagine it's a short time before the "Co-ed, Naked Quidditch" t-shirts and sweats start appearing on campus.

Hee hee hee

I love people with a sense of humor:



AIRPORT ATTACKERS TO BE CHARGED UNDER ANTI-SMOKING LAWS



It all comes full circle (H/t to the Corner)

Homina Homina

Check this out:



Drury, Gomez agree to deals with Rangers



This is unbelievably big - they were two of the top three free agents available, and the Rangers got them both. But it's a LOT of freakin' money, and long freakin' contracts. I think I'm happy about it, but the Rangers have gone this route in the past with terrible results (Eric Lindros / Theo Fleury / Valery Kamenski etc., etc.) They have to sign Lundqvist, and I really want them to sign Shanahan and Avery, so I have some concerns that they've picked up two guys and ignored the rest.



What's also up in the air is Jagr's desire to play with either Drury or Gomez. He played well with Nylander (who I am sure is now gone), and he can be tremendously temperamental. If the pouty, whiny Jagr shows up instead of the committed player of the last two years, it's two steps forward, one step back.



I'm pleased with the signings, but concerned. Thus a word to the lunatics - let's not award ourselves the Stanley Cup just yet. Buffalo's performance in this most recent season should serve as a warning - unbelievable regular season, followed by a disappointing post-season. When Drury and Gomez help the Rangers win the whole shooting match, I will happily apologize for being an unbeliever at the start of this.

Your Government InAction

Friends are scheduled to leave for an international trip this week. Friends sent in passport applications (renewals, I think) more than 14 weeks ago.



Friends do not, as of this moment, actually have passports in hand.



10 Hours in line on Friday in a building where no food is allowed, the guards are well beyond rude, and they still have nothing to show for it. With any luck, after a return trip to the office today, they will get what they need.



This is a basic document here, folks. I can't imagine any way this entire transaction should take more than an hour and a half. You should walk in the door with two passport photos, a birth certificate, proof of current residence within the US, and walk out the door with a passport. You could build a house in 14 weeks if you needed to - you can't print up a document in less time?



I'm telling you - they should have just gone to Tijuana and entered illegally - they'd have been welcomed with open arms by our federal government. Actual citizens? %$#@ you, get in line and wait like the losers you are.