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GRAFFITI -- November 19, 2007 thru November 25, 2007>> Link to the Current Week <<Last Week << Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun >> Next Week Welcome to Orb Graffiti, a place for me to write daily about life and computers. Contrary to popular belief, the two are not interchangeable. About eMail - I publish email sometimes. If you send me an email and you want privacy or anonymity, please say so clearly at the beginning of your message. |
 
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November 19, 2007
0656 - Good morning. Every once in a while, on the CNN site, I click a link that takes me to their "Political Ticker" blog. I'll then often read the first two or three items, skim a few more, and search to see if they're still totally ignoring Ron Paul except when he can't be ignored. This seems to be the case with much of the media. But then CNN puts up something like this: Illegal Ron Paul currency seized. Way to skew perception of a story, CNN. The first paragraph is always the sound bite. I love some of the comments, though.
One of the recent perma-features on CNN is called Planet in Peril. Excuse me, but HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! Seriously, folks, a planet in peril has a big one of these on a short time-to-impact trajectory. And even then, the planet recovers to a rich biosphere within a very short time (relative to the age of the planet). Now, CNN wants you to post what you're doing to "save the environment". Me, I'm getting ready to start burning stuff, when the talking heads flip positions again, and start bemoaning the Coming of the Ice. Look, environments change, species adapt. Or they die. The rise of humanity on this planet has made for big changes, and lots of species have failed to adapt. That's okay, too, new speciation will occur to fill the ecological niches freshly available. It just takes time. Or a big rock. Or a plague. Read Earth Abides sometime. I don't worry for the planet at all. And humans will go the way of all species, sooner or later. In the meantime, live well, don't be wasteful, but don't worry overmuch ... except about the politicians. And the "science" being inflicted upon our economic systems by the greenies. Them, you can worry about.
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November 20, 2007
0655 - Good morning, more or less. What I didn't mention yesterday morning was that I woke up at 4AM with a sore throat. Sigh. I guess I can spend my Thanksgiving break griping and whinging. In reality, TheraFlu and Zicam lozenges are helping a lot. I can always hope that it's a fast-moving bug, no?
After today, I'll be taking few days off. Although tomorrow and Friday aren't holidays, I'm going to be home, and hopefully nothing bad enough to warrant me driving in comes up until Monday... well, not then, either, if I had my druthers. I'm going to eat well, read, rest, and do very little else, if I can swing it.
The job title is Chief Commercialization Officer. Something about that title rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it's because that the greatest likelihood is that his gig is commercializing (that is, helping the university to keep the profits from) products that are developed on the taxpayers dime. I've always, always believed that one of the biggest ripoffs of our modern era is the way in which tax dollars go to make other people rich, and the data is kept private, or bloody expensive. It doesn't make me angry enough to climb a clock tower ... but it's close. I ran across that while formatting Jerry's CMR Mailbag last night.
Me and my cold are going to work. Ciao!
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November 21, 2007
1504 - Good morning afternoon. Overall, I felt much better yesterday. This morning, I'm paying for that - the cold is migrating. Sigh. Back to yesterday, I did feel better until evening, when I saw that the Maryland General Assembly had committed legislative assault and battery on my profession. Along with bumping up the state sales tax by 20%, they made that sales tax apply to all the sorts of work I do. That is, all the sorts of work that a great many firms and consultants do, here in Maryland. No, they didn't apply the revised sales tax to all sorts of services ... just computing services. Please note that I always thought that a sales tax applied to a tangible good - something that can be purchased. I wonder how many consultants are going to start charging for non-computer related work, and do the computer stuff for free.
Slept in this morning, after waking several times through the night. I see a lazy day in my near future. And now, several hours later, I remember that I never got around to putting in a timestamp and posting. So it goes.
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November 22, 2007
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November 23, 2007
 A table full of holiday fare |
1724 - Merry Thanksgiving, belatedly. Just because I have a cold doesn't mean I can't whip up a mean holiday table full of food. We had a few guests over for supper, as I'm sure that you hope, seeing that much food. As it is, there are plenty of leftovers. The triple chocolate cake and the rolls came from the Amish market up in Annapolis. I baked the turkey breast, and threw the ham into the same oven for the last hour and a quarter. I started the broccoli to steaming just as I was mashing the potatoes. For once, everything was ready at the same time. We ate much, and well.
The weather's been a bit off. Yesterday we had a short warm spell - it got up to 73 by mid-afternoon. But then the wind started picking up, and the temperatures dropped 15 degrees within an hour, and another 20 by the time it was dark out. Today it's having trouble getting up to 43 degrees. Oh, and that lovely tree full of red leaves? They'd been falling all week, and finished yesterday, less than four days after that picture was taken. Today has been a day of naps, snacking, and naps. Right now I'm feeling a bit peckish again. Later...
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November 24, 2007
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November 25, 2007
1400 - Good afternoon. Yesterday was an extremely lazy day, composed almost entirely of eating and sleeping, yet again. I'm also mostly over my cold, just in time to head back to work tomorrow morning. Not much else to report: Shopping, mulching leaves into the back lawn, that's about it. Oh, and of course...
Our fine men and women in uniform were high on my list for gratitude this Thanksgiving. Let's face it, they're tops in my book every day! And War, no respector of holidays, still takes its toll. My condolences to the families and units of the fallen:
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