Month: July 2007

Finally a tame TMI Tuesday

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Wow, this has got to be one of the more tame TMI Tuesday’s I’ve ever seen. Anyhow, I’ve got a little time so here goes:

1. Toilet paper: over, under, or what the hell are you talking about?

Doesn’t matter at all. You’re either going to use it wipe your ass or blow your nose. The direction matters not since toilet paper is pretty much the same either side.

2. Toilet when you are done: everything up, seat down but lid up, everything down?

Everything UP! We are men, we’re supposed to leave the seat up.

3. When was the last time you kissed someone not your significant other? [I am talking about a kiss with some gusto not just a little hello or goodbye peck]

It’s honestly been a very long time, so long in fact that I cannot remember for the life of me. Hugged, now there’s one. Some friends of ours love to get all touchy/huggy which makes for some interesting moments. But kiss, uh huh, I don’t do the Roman custom, and I love my baby.

4. Would you rather have you significant other (this can be a hypothetical SO) have sex with someone else or fall in love with someone else? [You have to pick one.]

Since I know the difference between sex and love this one is easy. If my SO had sex with someone else I could deal with that. But if he fell in love with someone else, that would be a bit too much and the crazy Italian in me would come out with a vengeance.

5. If you had $1,000,000 to give away, how would you divide it up? Who and how much?

A couple hundred grand for myself and the SO to buy a home. Then the remaining $800,000, well first I’d pay off my friend Ky’s house, then my friend Mike’s house. That leaves me with a couple hundred thousand so I’d buy Keyron’s mom and her husband a home.

Bonus (as in optional): Tell us something that very few people know about you.

The fact that I worked for a talk radio show that used to broadcast live from a strip club might be a good one to tell people. Or that I did radio for 3 years on a college FM station because they had nobody else to run the station and didn’t want to lose their license.

Or how about the fact that I’ve got a lead foot. Seriously, I love speed.

Impeach NOW!

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Apparently an old-line conservative by the name of Paul Craig Roberts is concerned about the actions of the Bush/Cheney presidency.

First of all I firmly believe that the events of 09/11/2001 were either planned and implemented by the Bush Administration, or the knowledge of the plans for the event was transmitted to the Bush Administration and they chose to let it happen in order to galvanize public opinion in favor of invading Iraq.

It’s not like that hasn’t happened before, and as much as I venerate Franklin Delano Roosevelt he too played on the isolationist tendencies of the United States during that era and allowed the infamous events of December 7, 1941 to happen in order to ease U.S. entry into WW II. And a good thing too since without U.S. assistance Britain and France would have been German provinces while the Pacific would belong to the Japanese. But recent revalations indicate that FDR and his commanders knew the Japanese were pushing eastward towards the Philippines and Hawaii.

But the Bush Administration strikes me as very driven, and their ultimate goal is to bankrupt the government, to transfer our tax dollars into private hands. This is wrong and it needs to be stopped.

It is therefore necessary to do what a great number of citizens believe is the correct course of action, to impeach both George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Remember, if we do so the first Italian-American woman becomes President of the United States.

And while you’re at it, contact your congressmen and let them know that status quo is NOT the way you want to see things done.

The end of the ancient sun

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By ancient sun I’m talking about petroleum, otherwise known as oil or hydrocarbons. Whether you want to admit it or not, we’re running out of it.

Sure, there are technologies that could help us in the transition from type 0 to type 1, but without investment it isn’t going to happen.

Think for a moment about the role oil plays in our lives. Beyond generating power and locomotion, it’s also responsible for a large amount of our food supply. That should scare the ever loving shit out of you.

Comedian Robert Newman puts on a show called “The History of Oil” and it’s a fascinating tale. Every bit of it is absolutely true. One tidbit is that the first British invasion in WW I was Iraq. That’s right, Iraq.

He also lets on to the monetary choice of trade. Switching from the dollar to the euro would cripple the United States. Our money is fiat anyhow, not backed by a damned thing. Even that is highly suspect since the Federal Reserve System was formed in the early part of the 20th century by the very banks who we need protection from.

So what can we do? There are lots of things, from making your home more energy efficient, driving more energy efficient vehicles.

I plan to electrify a vehicle. I’m aware that hydrocarbon fuels will be used to generate the electricity used but it’s much more efficient on that scale than me burning gasoline to power a vehicle. I’d like to see grey water recycling too, since that means less water to pump in and less to pump out. And ultimately I’d love to tap into wind and solar power.

Another thing I’m starting to do is grow my own food stuff, though this year it’s just tomatoes and squash. Next year I’ll expand that a bit. Oh I know, it takes energy to grow food but mostly it just takes water and a little TLC.

We just have to take stock of our lives, and tune out the constant drone of mass consumerism.

My reading list for the next week or two

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I’ve got three books in the list.

  • A History of Science and Engineering in the Bell System: Switching Technology 1925-1975 G.E. Schnidler, Jr. Ed.


    • I’m very interested in the history of telephony and this book spans the time between manual service to the first electronic telephone switch (ESS). It applies to part of my job which is managing an Avaya Prologix PBX, and it helps my understanding as to how they built the system.

  • Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister


    • I have an interest in project management. I’m also a team builder and knowing more about what makes a team tick intrigues me.

  • Outlook 2007 Inside Out by Jim Boyce, Beth Sheresh and Doug Sheresh


    • This one is pure reference since our office is migrating to Exchange Server 2007 (Over the objections of two of the systems guys, myself included!) and Outlook 2007 on all desktops.

    Even though I have formal education, I still love learning new things. I guess you could call me an autodidact.

    Something a little lighter

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    So, what kind of pet would you be? I’m a traditional pet damn it, nothing interesting like a boa constrictor.

    You Would Be a Pet Cat

    Independent and aloof, you don’t like to be dependent on anyone.
    And as for other people, you can take them or leave them. You often don’t care.
    You live your life by your own rules. And you have deep motivations that no one truly understands.

    Why you would make a great pet: You’re not needy or greedy… unlike other four legged friends.

    Why you would make a bad pet: You’re not exactly running down to greet people at the door

    What you would love about being a cat: Agility and freedom

    What you would hate about being a cat: Being treated like a dog by clueless humans

    Shutting down the creationists

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    Good video here. I’ve watched each of these folks in videos, Eugenie C. Scott, Ken Miller, David Dreamer, et al. and they all make extremely good points in defense of science. I’ve even had some very nice email exchanges with Prof. Miller.

    But as is always the case, the sum is greater than the parts. And this nine minute video proves it.

    Prof. Barbara Forrest, PhD is a professor of philosophy, and she accurately sums up the creationists. They are people who cannot accommodate modern science and as she says “Even most aspects of the modern world.”

    These are people who are too afraid to move forward. To afraid to think for themselves and decide that creationist dogma is just what I call it, dogma being pushed for many decades upon we people.

    The other part that concerned me is the NSF man on the street studies. According to James L. Powell, PhD half the people think we lived with dinosaurs, while the other half question evolution. I wonder though, where does that leave me? I don’t believe we lived with dinosaurs and I sure as hell don’t question evolution as evidenced by my many posts on the subject.

    I wonder what it is about religion that so captivates and imprisons the human mind. It saddens me to think of all the wasted cognitive effort involved in believing the unbelievable.

    Say what bitch?

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    Well, it seems that a British writer got onto a cruise with 500 readers of the National Review. In Ship of Fools, Johann Hari finds out what the neo-cons REALLY think about we liberal folk.

    One woman has the stones to say that:

    Of course, we need to execute some of these people,” I wake up. Who do we need to execute? She runs her fingers through the sand lazily. “A few of these prominent liberals who are trying to demoralise the country,” she says. “Just take a couple of these anti-war people off to the gas chamber for treason to show, if you try to bring down America at a time of war, that’s what you’ll get.” She squints at the sun and smiles. ” Then things’ll change.”

    Cupcake, some of we liberals can’t wait for your old guard to die off and then when you lose your mouthpieces, you’ll realize what a fool you are. Because no doubt, people like that woman are fools. Yet it is due to those fools that we’ve suffered 6+ years of George W. Bush & Co.

    I also love the parts where the neo-cons obviously don’t understand the Constitution of the United States. And one particular neo-con is a federal judge and he doesn’t understand the Constitution.

    In addition we also have the black man who is against affirmative action while others would like to suicide bomb the U.N. It’s almost surreal.

    I’m so happy that the Democrats re-took congress in 2006, but these folks see it as a disaster. Lets see, what has congress done in the past six months or so? They’ve had hundreds of oversight hearings, blocked nomination of ideologue judges to the federal judiciary, and generally acted in the manner that congress should, as a check against the unlimited power of the executive or judicial branches. Seems people have forgotten about checks and balances based upon approval ratings for congress. Most of the reason for the low approval ratings is that people have finally wizened up to the fact that our politicians are well paid for, just not by us.