My sleep study

This very exciting (yawn.) I'm now undergoing a sleep study. That is, I will be in a few hours.

It's all because my wife thinks I have sleep apnea. Apparently she is under the impression that ceasing to breathe during the middle of the night is unusual. Hah!

So I agreed to go through with it just to humor her. The upside? I get the TV all to myself tonight!

Lately I've been doing a lot of Twittering. WEll, I guess I haven't been doing it as much as being twittered by other folks. I'm following Lance Armstrong, who is a manic twitterer. So is Rainn Wilson, who is one funny fellow. Jimmy Fallon is also a Twitterer, I think he's mostly nervous about his upcoming talk show...which starts tonight by the way! I'm not sure how long I'll be into it. I'm sure if circumstances were different I'd be too busy to engage in such foolishment. But its a diversion for now.

So what's going on with Battlestar Galactica right now? I think there are only 3 episodes left and I can't wait for it to end. It was once so promising. The miniseries and first two seasons were gripping. Then they went to New Caprica...and the show pretty much jumped the shark.

The occupation was a thinly veiled commentary on the whole Iraq war (yawn.) The best part of it was when the Galactica jumped into the upper atmosphere... that was, for an engineer and space nut, exhilarating to watch...especially with the so-called accurate newtonian physics and all. Then the writers tried to cover patch up all the plot holes they'd opened up and it got really stupid.

First, the whole concept of their being 12 models. At first, no one knew who or how many human-looking cylons there were. It was suspenseful not knowing if the person next to you was a cylon. They introduced various characters then revealed them as cylons as necessary. Probably the best one was when Lucy Lawless was revealed. Well done!

Then they said, "Let's say there were only 12 models." Suddenly they had to utilize everyone who had been exposed so far over and over again. Some of them were forgettable such as Doral and the low-key doctor guy. What a waste of a concept. Then to further insult our intelligence, they said "OK, we've shown 7 so far, let's say the remaining 12 are the "final five" and make them so kind of special Cylons." What a crock. They tried to claim that this was intentional when we all know the writers are making this crap up as they go along. Sheesh.

The latest episode was called "Someone to watch over me" and in it Starbuck hallucinated about her father. I really just want to know what's the deal with Starbuck, and what's going to happen to the ship and then I'll be done. I have a feeling they're going to do some kind of Matrix Revolutions type ending ("all this has happened before, and it will happen again...unless something (Neo) does something different this time.")

Check please! I'm done!

Goal Setting

I've always believed that high achievers are driven by their vision and goals. In fact, you first have to have a vision in order to set goals. It is this process of defining your vision and then following through on your goals that I'm interested in at the moment.

What does it mean to have a vision, to be a visionary? Well simply stated it means that you imagine a world or a scenario or an outcome that doesn't quite exist today. I think the term visionary is usually applied retroactively though. For example, when Bill Gates envisioned a PC on everyone's desk running his software he was probably considered just a dreamer. Of course it came true so in hindsight he was a visionary.

It is the definiing one's personal vision that is captivating me right now. We are so inundated with opinions and things that are important to other people right now. For example, the news we get is filtered through the lens of the writers, editors, and agencies that produce it. Similarly for politicians and those that follow them (bloggers, etc.) They decide which issues are important to them, and through coverage by the press, they become the things we talk about over dinner, etc.

"Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things you couldn't do before."

.............White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, November 2008

He might as well have been explaining his boss's "stimulus" plan. WSJ Article

Pelosi is the worst liar ever

Or maybe I should say the best one?

The House passed an 812Billion dollar "stimulus" bill yesterday. The breakdown includes something like $111B for "medical" related spending. The majority of it is for Medicare/Medicaid. How much for science and technology? $16B.

The American people should be absolutely outraged at this!

To top it off, our illustrious, and bi-partisan speaker of the house, Nancy ($32M dollar) Pelosi had the nerve to go on the morning shows touting it as a victory for the average American. She is still harping on the fact that we've already "given" $700 to the banking industry. Oh and she also took credit for catching Citigroup trying to buy and $50M jet and then canceling the order. What a piece of work she is.

I wish she would crawl back into whatever crypt she escaped from!

Read for yourself: http://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/legislation?id=0273

By the way, it's 647 pages of bureaucratic bull.

2009 Sprint Cup Schedule for MS-Outlook

I'm doing this as a service to my fellow man.

I entered the entire NASCAR Sprint Cup 2009 schedule into my MS-Outlook. Since I sync my Outlook with my mobile phone, I'll never miss another race! I'll actually be notified one hour in advance of each race thanks to the reminder feature.

I'm making this file available for purchase through ebay! Please help me send my kids to college!

Close Encounter of the R2 Kind

A few weeks ago I had a little time to kill on a layover. So I took the shuttle from Dulles to the Udvar-Hazy annex of the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. It's a great place for any space or plane nut to spend a few hours. It's actually on the grounds of Dulles airport and there's a $1 shuttle from the terminal.

One of the pop culture exhibits is the "Mother Ship" model used in the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." It was interesting to learn that the model was made from parts of other commercially available models such as model trains.





I was also surprised that the builders attached some very small inside jokes that were too small to appear in the final film, but can be found on the model if you search long enough. I found a tiny TIE fighter, a graveyard, and some other things.

Here's a closeup of my little buddy, R2-D2, standing on the hull:

New Compound Word

Let's say you're in the middle of explaining your new idea to a colleague. Before you can finish they make a sarcastic remark about your idea that totally derails your train of thought.

I call that getting "snide-tracked."

Winter Wonderland

O Canada! I flew in from Charlotte to Montreal via Toronto tonight. I'm always amazed at how formal and high strung the customs folks are. They're very stern! I thought Canadians were kind, easy going folks. But every time I come in I get the 3rd degree and they don't seem interested in any tomfoolery!

I'm sitting in my hotel room at the Aloft hotel at the Montreal airport (YUL.) The roads around the hotel are pretty clear but the snow is piled up as high as 6 to 8 ft on the edges of the parking lot. If only the kids could see it!

Separated at birth?

Blago! Vinny! Together again!

Antoher Liberal Conundrum...

Barack Obama was swept into the Presidency by (the promise of) a wave of change. He was able to build excitement throughout the nation for a complete change of course from the preceding 8 years of sheer hell. (By the way, please disregard the first 6.5 years of unchecked real estate appreciation.) So, change is what the people want and change is what he will deliver.

He even convinced voters in NC to get on board that train of change. All good. In fact, record numbers of new voters registered including people who for one reason or another decided not to vote in previous elections (uh-oh.) These people do apparently watch a lot of television.

They voted along party lines, thinking that all democrats represent change, and all republicans represent a failed system.

You know who ended up in our Governor's seat? A candidate who has been in the capitol for 22 years! Who lost? A maverick Mayor from Charlotte who would have shaken up the legislature, fought for lower taxes, and directed some much needed attention to the western part of the state.

They weren't for change after all.

And that's another liberal conundrum.

Auto industry bailout

Well here is the first battle of our next President's term. Yes, I know his term hasn't officially started yet...not sure if he knows that.

The US auto industry, which has been pillaged for decades by union slimeballs, is finally almost out of cash. They had a good run, in fact, during the 1990's era of cheap gas who didn't have an SUV? In fact, I still have a Suburban, one of the kings of the guzzlers. That's a long story in itself. Suffice it to say it was poor judgement along with poor timing. We drive about 50 miles a week in it. But let's separate the car business from the truck business.

The truck lines have kept Ford and GM afloat for years. It's the car lines that are the problem. They've been getting hammered by the foreign versions which boast more appealing design, more thorough engineering, more efficient performance, and frankly more solid build quality and reliability.

In most businesses you either improve your product, cut your costs, or go out of business. The threat of going out of business is what forces the first 2 options. Why should the auto companies be immune to that possibility?

I know the impact such companies have on affiliated businesses and jobs. But I believe those will not be greatly affected. Why? Because foreign companies are making their cars here now! I see this as an opportunity for the foreign manufacturers to have access to all of those side industries and labor.

Where will this have the most impact? In Michigan of course and upon the union members who are sucking at the teat of the auto companies. Who supports the unions? President-elect Obama.

I smell trouble brewing.

Let the car companies go bankrupt. Let the unions fizzle. Then let new companies rise from the ashes. Then a new crop of workers who appreciate their jobs and hopefully don't want to drive their companies into the ground will arise.

Don't reward poor performance and corruption at the taxpayers expense!

Things a liberal robot might think

I am a loyal and devoted liberal Democrat.
I believe Republicans are bad and their policies are evil.
I believe Republicans are narrow-minded fascists.
I do not agree with their choices.
Colin Powell is a Republican.
And Colin Powell endorses Obama.
So Colin Powell’s choice must be bad.
But I think Obama is a good choice and I am a liberal Democrat.
Therefore do I agree with a conservative Republican?
Illogical, illogical, must compute!

Vote Your Conscience, but get all the facts first

This column by Dr Krauthammer is a convincing argument for McCain. I noticed he didn't mention anything about Gov Palin though.

McCain for President, Part II

By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, October 31, 2008; A19


Last week I made the open-and-shut case for John McCain: In a dangerous world entering an era of uncontrolled nuclear proliferation, the choice between the most prepared foreign policy candidate in memory vs. a novice with zero experience and the wobbliest one-world instincts is not a close call.

But it's all about economics and kitchen-table issues, we are told. Okay. Start with economics.

Neither candidate has particularly deep economic knowledge or finely honed economic instincts. Neither has any clear idea exactly what to do in the current financial meltdown. Hell, neither does anyone else, including the best economic minds in the world, from Henry Paulson to the head of the European Central Bank. Yet they have muddled through with some success.

Both McCain and Barack Obama have assembled fine economic teams that may differ on the details of their plans but have reasonable approaches to managing the crisis. So forget the hype. Neither candidate has an advantage on this issue.

On other domestic issues, McCain is just the kind of moderate conservative that the Washington/media establishment once loved -- the champion of myriad conservative heresies that made him a burr in the side of congressional Republicans and George W. Bush. But now that he is standing in the way of an audacity-of-hope Democratic restoration, erstwhile friends recoil from McCain on the pretense that he has suddenly become right wing.

Self-serving rubbish. McCain is who he always was. Generally speaking, he sees government as a Rooseveltian counterweight (Teddy with a touch of Franklin) to the various malefactors of wealth and power. He wants government to tackle large looming liabilities such as Social Security and Medicare. He wants to free up health insurance by beginning to sever its debilitating connection to employment -- a ruinous accident of history (arising from World War II wage and price controls) that increases the terror of job loss, inhibits labor mobility and saddles American industry with costs that are driving it (see: Detroit) into insolvency. And he supports lower corporate and marginal tax rates to encourage entrepreneurship and job creation.

An eclectic, moderate, generally centrist agenda in a guy almost congenitally given to bipartisanship.

Obama, on the other hand, talks less and less about bipartisanship, his calling card during his earlier messianic stage. He does not need to. If he wins, he will have large Democratic majorities in both houses. And unlike Clinton in 1992, Obama is no centrist.

What will you get?

(1) Card check, meaning the abolition of the secret ballot in the certification of unions in the workplace. Large men will come to your house at night and ask you to sign a card supporting a union. You will sign.

(2) The so-called Fairness Doctrine -- a project of Nancy Pelosi and leading Democratic senators -- a Hugo Chávez-style travesty designed to abolish conservative talk radio.

(3) Judges who go beyond even the constitutional creativity we expect from Democratic appointees. Judges chosen according to Obama's publicly declared criterion: "empathy" for the "poor or African American or gay or disabled or old" -- in a legal system historically predicated on the idea of justice entirely blind to one's station in life.

(4) An unprecedented expansion of government power. Yes, I know. It has already happened. A conservative government has already partially nationalized the mortgage industry, the insurance industry and nine of the largest U.S. banks.

This is all generally swallowed because everyone understands that the current crisis demands extraordinary measures. The difference is that conservatives are instinctively inclined to make such measures temporary. Whereas an Obama-Pelosi-Reid-Barney Frank administration will find irresistible the temptation to use the tools inherited -- $700 billion of largely uncontrolled spending -- as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to radically remake the American economy and social compact.

This is not socialism. This is not the end of the world. It would, however, be a decidedly leftward move on the order of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. The alternative is a McCain administration with a moderate conservative presiding over a divided government and generally inclined to resist a European social-democratic model of economic and social regulation featuring, for example, wealth-redistributing growth-killing marginal tax rates.

The national security choice in this election is no contest. The domestic policy choice is more equivocal because it is ideological. McCain is the quintessential center-right candidate. Yet the quintessential center-right country is poised to reject him. The hunger for anti-Republican catharsis and the blinding promise of Obamian hope are simply too strong. The reckoning comes in the morning.

letters@charleskrauthammer.com

How often did Obama vote with Bush?

Obama's attack ads trumpet that McCain voted with Bush like 90% of the time (or more.)

Well Mr. High and Mighty voted with 41% of the time and with his party 96%. So much for being a force for change.

41% of the time Obama voted with Bush.

McCain bucked his party 19% of the time (nine senators bucked their party more) while Obama bucked his party only 4% of the time. That is, McCain was more than four times more likely to stand up to his party (and their political pressure) than Obama.

Also note that Obama didn't vote 228 of the 568 times (40.1%) he could have voted for during his total time in the senate.

http://www.cqpolitics.com/cq-assets/cqmu... (party/Bush unity)

http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category... (missed votes)

Warning from the Mecklenburg GOP

Suggestion

ALERT

As Friday evening is Halloween, and there is usually much mischief, please take down your campaign signs (especially the McCain/Palin signs) for the evening and put them back up Saturday morning.

This may help save some of our signs and therefore some money.

Economy's Silent and Heavy Toll on Children

Homeless Rates Among Children on the Rise
By JUSTIN ROOD
October 27, 2008—
In once-booming Northern Virginia suburbs, children who never had to worry about having a roof over their head don't know where they will sleep tonight.
In Cincinnati , newly-homeless families are splitting their children up among relatives because they can't find shelter together, much less feed everyone.
In Las Vegas , sons and daughters of the city's housekeepers and kitchen workers -- already living on the margin of the American economy increasingly rely on "weekend food bags" from their school in order to feed themselves from Friday afternoon to Monday morning, when they can eat a subsidized school breakfast.
Welcome to the economic crisis for thousands of Americans too young to have a mortgage, a retirement account, or the right to vote.
"Normally we would get a few calls now, our phones are ringing all day long," says Kathi Sheffel, coordinator for homeless services for Fairfax County Public Schools.
In Fairfax as in many other school areas, homelessness among students is up about 25 percent from last year and last year's figures were a sad increase from the year before, according to First Focus, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan group which pushes to improve public policies that affect children. The group is conducting its second annual survey on homelessness among students.
"We now have families that are more middle-class, that have run into issues they didn't expect and have become homeless," explains Fairfax 's Sheffel. Some families lost their home after defaulting on a home loan or a parent lost a job, she says, but many became homeless because the home they rented was foreclosed upon when their landlord didn't pay the mortgage.
When children lose a home, their health and studies suffer. "Kids in greater number are coming to school who probably haven't eaten breakfast. Who don't have access to a washer and a dryer. Who live with fear," explains Karen Fessler, a school official in Cincinnati , Ohio . "How important is a long division problem when they don't know where they're going to sleep tonight?"
The New Homeless
In Cincinnati , homelessness among students is also up more than 25 percent from last year, according to Fessler, the homeless education liaison for the city's schools. Families are having to split up to survive, she explains.
"It reminds me of stories my mom told me about the Depression," says Fessler. "People with three, four, five children are having to farm their children out" because it is financially or logistically impossible to stay together, she says.
The new homeless in Cincinnati , says Fessler, aren't from the ranks of the chronically poor, but are families whose tenuous livelihoods are being crushed by the fallout of the economic crisis.
"We're seeing that more families who were living on the edge, paycheck to paycheck, who can't make it anymore," she says. "Families who were just barely hanging on, now. . . can't hold it together."
"It's alarming," says Phillip Lovell, a policy expert at First Focus, discussing how the economic meltdown is hitting kids. But just as alarming, he says, is that no one is talking about the plight of children when they talk about the troubled economy.
"You'll hear next to nothing from most politicians about how this is effecting kids and what they're going to do about it," says Lovell.
In Las Vegas , many of the 600 children who attend Whitney Elementary call home the "daily-weekly-monthly" hotels that ring its small campus -- including the massive Sportsman's Royal Manor, whose medieval-themed architecture led the schoolchildren to call it "The Castle."
Lunchtime at Whitney is where you can see the real effects of the economic crisis, says school counselor Vicki Bustos. At Whitney, 85 percent of her students now qualify for a free or reduced-price meal.
"It's tremendously worse we can see the hunger in the lunchroom," Bustos says. "There's less food for them at home now. For a lot of them, lunch is their only meal."
The foreclosure crisis has battered Las Vegas , and the economic meltdown it triggered has kept the Strip in the worst business slump it's seen in at least a quarter century. That means fewer jobs for the parents of Whitney's Elementary's students, says Bustos. Some leave town. Others double-up in other families' apartments. For most, resources to feed, clothe and care for their sons and daughters is stretched to breaking.
Weekend Food Bags
Three years ago, Whitney officials realized many students had no food to eat over the weekend -- in fact, were taking ketchup packets home from the school cafeteria to eat for dinner. Rounding up donations from local businesses, they started putting together "weekend food bags" of pop-top canned goods, Slim Jims, and other food that needs no preparation, since most of the families' short-term apartments have no kitchens.
Last year, says Bustos, they handed out 120 or so bags each week. This year, they're up to 161 a week, and expect to be giving out 250 per week by Christmas.
Of course, the economic downturn also hits those trying to stave off its impact. While many of Whitney Elementary's programs rely on private donations, the Clark County, Nev. school district is worried its tax-funded homeless aid programs will face cuts soon.
In Cincinnati , the nonprofit which supports the school system's homeless services has struggled to raise money to meet the students' needs.
That frustrates youth advocates, who see hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars going to bail out financial giants, while children are suffering.
"The bailout and everything how is it really going to cycle back down to the individual person?" asks Fessler in Cincinnati . "When are we going to see the impact of that on an individual, human being level?"
Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

MS Outlook / Internet Explorer script error when printing

I repaired my MS Outlook and MS Office a couple of times today and yesterday. (Don't ask.)

When trying to print a receipt email in html format that contained animated graphics (java I believe) I got the following error popup window:



It says the following:
! An error has occurred in a script on this page

Line: 2233
Char: 1
Error: Unspecified error
Code: 0
URL: res://ieframe.dll/preview.js (I think it could also refer to preview.dlg)

I searched on the internet for the solution and most of them involved some sophisticated editing of the registry, adding/deleting printers, adding/deleing add-ons and on and on.

I went so far as to reinstall my outlook which wiped out my email account settings. I even reinstalled IE8 (b2.) Nothing worked.

Then I found a post with this simple command line:

Go to Start/Run and enter the command:
regsvr32 ole32.dll

I did it and guess what....IT WORKED!

Sometimes the simplest solutions are the ones that work after all. Thanks to whoever found this!

My attempt at a Late Night Comedy Joke

I don’t know about you but my mailbox is getting bombarded with fundraising requests from all sorts of charities that are struggling and desperate. Why just today I got an urgent letter from Sarah Palin!

Evolutionary History of Liberals and Conservatives

Humans existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters and gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in winter.

The 2 most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundations of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into 2 distinct subgroups: Liberals and Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early human ancestors were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as "the Conservative movement."

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q's and doing the sewing, fetching and hair dressing! This was the beginning of the Liberal movement. Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as 'girlie-men.'

Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy and group hugs and the concept of democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.

Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare.

Another interesting revolutionary side note about liberals: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't "fair" to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, Marines, athletes and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to "govern" the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America . They crept in after the Wild West was tame and created a business of trying to get MORE for nothing.

Here ends today's lesson in world history:

It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to respond to the above and a guilt feeling before simply laughing, denying and forwarding it. A Conservative will be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately

Where's the outrage???

Gas prices have finally fallen below $3 a gallon in response to the worldwide demand reduction. Now OPEC ministers want to have an emergency meeting to cut production by 2 million barrels a day. They want the price per barrel to be up around $100. This will allow them to continue building their monuments and edifices to excess.

What have we heard from our politicians? Nothing.

Deja-News

And now from the "Haven't we heard this before files" comes one of today's top stories: "US troops kill No. 2 leader of al-Qaida in Iraq"

How many times have we killed the number two guy in either Iraq or Afghanistan? I guess they reshuffle the deck every time so I'm sure #2 will be killed again in a few months.

I really just have 1 burning question....Why can't we kill #1?

In news from the "It's about time" files, Casey Anthony was finally formally charged with her daughter's murder. What a tragedy all around. First, for little Caylee, who never had a chance. Second, for Casey's parents. I can only imagine the heartbreak at losing first their granddaughter and now their daughter. It's maddening to hear Casey's attorney predict vindication and all that but I guess that's his job. If only he could persuade Casey to finally tell the truth.

Her is his exact prediction for the trial's outcome. Let's see in about a year how prescient he was. By that time the publicity from this trial will have catapaulted him to celebrity status.

"I sincerely believe that when we have finally spoken, everyone, and I mean everyone, will sit back and say, 'Now, I understand. That explains it,'" Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez, said Tuesday as he stood next to his client before the indictment was issued.

Now if only they could get that other smug, cold-hearted son of a B, Drew Peterson.

Constructive Activism vs Shouting out the window

Yesterday someone proudly told me how they yelled out the car window at some Pro-Life activists who were marching outside the local Catholic Church. They were proud to shout out their view that "It's a choice!" and told me how stupid the Pro-Lifers are.

First of all, this post is not about my feelings on that particular issue one way or the other. What bothers me is the attitude of the yellers. On the one hand, there were people who had a belief, who chose to hold up signs and try to bring awareness of those beliefs. On the other hand, there are dissenters who spotted them and choose to roll-down their window and hurl insults.

Now the ironic thing is, the person who yelled out the car window is a gay activist. I know that he attends rallys and events where they hold up signs and are jeered by protesters. I guess that's part of the reason he feels duty-bound or obligated to insult pro-lifers or anyone else who doesn't support his agenda.

I am not saying I agree with the pro-lifers completely. But I empathize with their passion. To them, life begins at conception and they are opposed to abortion because they, in their hearts, believe that someone has to fight for the rights of that (potential) baby. We can argue about blastocysts, embryos, viability, etc. but that is an enormous issue and not the point of this post. How can you fault them for having a belief and having the guts to stand on a street corner and support that belief? They have just as much right as you do to stand with a sign that reads "legalize gay marriage" or something to that effect.

Anyway, the whole subject bothered me for the rest of the day. It seems to me that if you are truly passionate about a subject, you should learn the other side's argument and beliefs as much as you know your own. You should address the root of the problem by writing letters to the editor or going to meet with the people who you disagree with. My point is there are much more constructive ways of being an activist than yelling insults out of a car window.

IRON MAN DVD

Link to the Candidates!

A couple of weeks ago I got LinkedIn to John McCain. Yesterday Sarah Palin accepted my request to link. This just seems so funny. The whole point of LinkedIn is to expand your network for mostly business reasons. By linking to people you know, you can find out who they also know and therefore share opportunities and other stuff.

Now all of the candidates are using it as another place to post their platforms. I guess it was inevitable, what with the advent of the Web 2.0. and social networking. It still seems kind of weird though.

Interestingly, I can't link to Barack Obama, Hillary/Billary, and Biden. Apparently I need to know their email addresses...which I don't. Is this some kind of commentary on their willingness to connect with me, the "common man?" Do I need to be an elite who knows their email address?

Ah, who cares! I can't wait until all this political theater is over! My portfolio is dropping every day!

Letter to my Senators (Richard Burr and Elizabeth Dole)

Message sent to the following recipients:

Eric Banks
Charlotte, NC 28211-2905

September 25, 2008

Dear Senator Burr and Senator Dole,

Senators,

Our country is at a crossroads. We are at the mercy of OPEC member nations at a time when our very economy needs a shot-in-the-arm. I urge you to do everything in your power to stabilize the world oil market in the short-term while, in parallel, supporting the long-term solution, energy independence.

America has always been the beacon of hope for the world. Our world not only needs new energy alternatives to keep the engine of industry going in the short-term, but to power the world economy for the next two hundred years.

American innovation can lead the world down this path.

First, I would like to see short-term solutions such as offshore drilling and greater use of clean-coal, put into place immediately. We are the Saudi Arabia of coal!

Second, I would like to see more tax revenue diverted towards education, specifically towards alternative energy research and development. Make this a strategic goal for America for this generation! This should be an effort akin to the Industrial Revolution, which shot America to prominence in the world economy.

Third, more needs to be done to commercialize alternative technologies.
Duke Power is leading efforts to commercialize solar farms in NC but that is just the beginning. Tax breaks for commercial alternative energy companies are one idea. Subsidizing homeowners to help them get off the grid is another.

I am no expert, but believe we can do more right now to move us away from being at the mercy of OPEC member nations.

Please help to make this a strategic goal to keep our country first in the world for the next several generations.

Sincerely,

Nicole Kidman credits fertile water with pregnancy - Yahoo! News

Nicole Kidman credits fertile water with pregnancy - Yahoo! News

These are the people (Hollywood types) who are recommending, nay, demanding, that we vote for Obama as the next President?

Scary

Ba-Rockin' the Queen City

Barack (The One) Obama spoke in Charlotte yesterday. Apparently he and Michele just realized they'd better get down here. Of course 20,000 of their adoring flock showed up to say "Hello." My stepson went to try and see him at the last minute then found out those who got to see him went at 7:30 in the morning.

As he was on the way out I kidded him about going to see the "Rock Star." I think he thought I was joking. When he got back he was wearing an Obama T-Shirt! I chuckled to myself.

Gas shortage

There are 3 gas stations at the intersection of 2 major roads about 1/2 a mile from my house. All 3 ran out of gas last Friday when threats of widespread destruction by Hurrican Ike caused a gas-panic in Charlotte. Not only that, but the few stations that had gas jacked up their prices to $4.29 or higher. One station has gotten a shipment or two but for as of last night all 3 were dry again. However, on the plus side, the price on the signs is marked down to $3.99 so at least we've got that going for us.

I keep thinking about the best chapter in Glenn Beck's book (An Inconvenient Book) about the coming energy crisis. Basically it will be an economic disaster unprecedented in history. The best solution is to develop alternative energy sources now and use "clean coal" technology to get us through the short term. Why don't we hear more about this from the presidential contenders?

Repair a Lawnmower - wikiHow

Repair a Lawnmower - wikiHow

Sarah and the Bridge

I don't understand the furor over Sarah Palin and the bridge to nowhere. I guess its actually only a furor to the left as they try and dig up dirt on her. Today some judge from her past has been "discovered" who allegedly warned her not to seek the firing of her brother-in-law. Mind you she was a private citizen at the time.

So here's what Obama's commercial says. Governor Palin supported the bridge to nowhere as a candidate, then was against it.

So where is the problem here? She was running for Governor and supported federal money for projects in her state. Then, after she was elected and did more research, she opposed the bridge but kept the money. It seems like she was looking after her state's best interests.

I think the left may be trying to insinuate a double standard here.

They're probably still upset that Kerry was caught flopping on the war issue. He admitted he VOTED for the war, then voted against it.

There is a big (HUGE) difference between a candidate supporting a project then changing her mind and an EXPERIENCED US Senator voting to declare war!

My Garmin 305 won't turn on or power up

My heart just about stopped today when I went to use my Garmin 305 and it was completely dead. I tried a couple of different chargers and it wouldn't come to life. I went on a bike ride without it hoping it just needed to charge for awhile.

It still wasn't working an hour later. Luckily I found this tip on the gamin website:
http://www8.garmin.com/products/faq.jsp?product=010-00467-00

You have to hold down the "reset" and "mode" buttons simultaneously then push the on/off button while holding them. It powered right up and all is right in the world again!

First Compressor and Nail Gun

I finally decided to join the millenials and upgrade for a hammer to a nail gun. This was after years of being in denial, thinking it was a luxury I didn't need, and generally believing most people were still getting by with hammers.

Some recent projects I've done just would have been so much easier with these modern wonders. I recently framed a music band practice room and updated all the mouldings in a bedroom. At least for the bedroom I borrowed a friend's Paslode gas powered finish nailer.

I bought this combination kit after walking by it many times in my local Home Depot:



It was tucked away on an end-cap display with a price reduced sticker. I got it for $99! I checked online and it originally was listed for $249, but I think sold for $199. Anyway, I figured even if the guns are junk at least the compressor looks pretty good and I didn't own one.

Impatient, I used it last night to secure some baseboards in the music room and put up two pieces of exterior siding. I managed to do both without shooting myself. So far so good.

Next I'm going to whip together a dog-house. Should be fun!

What's going on

Gas just crossed (north) of $4 / gallon here in Charlotte. My lifelong talent for good timing continues to amaze me. We bought a Chevy Suburban, the largest land yacht on the market, last summer when gas was a paltry $3/gallon. What great timing.