Dear October 2008

Dear October 2008,

You sucked. I am glad you are done. Go away. Now.

Sincerely,

Me.

Runts

So, here is my Halloween story. I hope you enjoy it.

You know what runts are, right? They are hard candies that are shaped like various fruits - strawberries, bananas, oranges. Actually, beneath the tough exterior, they are just little bits of sugar goodness. But to get to them, you have to position the Runt between your teeth to crack it just right, and hopefully, not damage your teeth. I am addicted to these. It doesn't help that one of my coworkers keeps a never ending jar of these on his desk.

I often find myself making excuses to go over to his desk and grab a handful. Sometimes, I put them in a cup, sometimes I keep them loose and sometimes, I'll put in my pocket for later (don't judge me). Now, this last location is important, and it sets up what happened last night, before our FPU class.

Sometimes, after FPU, I come home so full of adrenaline that I find it difficult to go to sleep. For years, I have taken various sleep aids, and often refer to them as my "Little Blue Friends," or LBF for short. Last night, I thought that I would be smart and take a couple of these along and take them around 8:30.

Everything was going well. I was asking questions to the class from last week's lessons. Everyone was participating. For some reason, I absent mindedly put my hands in my pockets. I felt something round and small down there. My mind got excited: I had found a forgotten Runt. I cradled it between my index finger, and my thumb and decided that I would just, casually, eat it. I popped it in my mouth, positioned it between my teeth to crack the candy shell and...

Squirt.

Followed by the absolute worst taste. My face clinched up, and everyone figured out that something had happened. I confessed, but, I only said it was some "medicine"

This happened at 7, and the class was finished at 9. I was working against the clock as the 50 mg of Diphenhydramine was working its way into my system. I felt like Dennis Quaid in DOA, knowing that I was working against the clock.

Cindy did not buy the medicine line. She figured out what I had done. She laughed about it later, as around 8:15, she said I really sounded sleepy.

So, there you go. That's my Halloween story. There was candy, and it happened the day before Halloween. That counts? Doesn't it?

Sometimes, the Song just Fits

As I was leaving work today, I plugged in my MP3 player. Scrolling through, I saw that I had put downloaded the Big Fish Soundtrack. "Five O'Clock World" by the Vogues is one of the tracks. It's one of those songs that when you hear the opening riff, you recognize it. Perfect song for the drive home (and, in keeping with the Creative Loafing, I ripped one of the lyrics off for my header).

Up every mornin just to keep a job
I gotta fight my way through the hustling mob
Sounds of the city poundin in my brain
While another day goes down the drain

But its a five oclock world when the whistle blows
No one owns a piece of my time
And theres a five oclock me inside my clothes
Thinkin that the world looks fine, yeah

Starbucks Tie Figher

Some creative individual (not me) has recreated a Tie-Fighter completely from stuff you can get at Starbucks. Click on the image to embiggafy and take a look at the detail.

Happy Birthday Kate!

Just wanted to give a shout out to my 11 Year old! Happy Birthday!!

New Toy

On Saturday, I bought a new toy: a Laptop Computer.

It was defintely a want. And, as Dave would say, I am debt free, I have an emergency fund fully funded and I can pay for in cash. Still, I was a little bit sad when they took Uncle Benjamin away.

I came upstairs to finish off the last episode of Spaced (I think Simon Peg is just the kind of guy I would like to hang out with and have a pint of cider with), and do a little web surfing at the same time. You know what? Laptops are incredibly hot on the bottom side. Uncomfortably so.

I am thinking that I can conserver electricity this winter by using my laptop as a bed warmer. Right before it's time to retire, I will fire it up and stick it down at the foot of the bed to keep the tootsies warm.

Hopefully I don't stay up all night Facebooking (crap, another verb).

I have decided to remove a couple of post from my blog.

Typically, I do not do this, however, I realized that it may have been short sighted on my part. Out of respect to my employeer and to not cause any undue worry from family members, I thought it to be the best choice.

I wrote the post out of frustration right after a difficult time for our company. Luckily, I have a great boss who was much more concerned about me than what I wrote.

And that means a lot.

A Funny Thought

Have you seen the commercials for that drug that helps out, with, well, you know...It comes in a little blue pill, and I think you can get samples from your doctor, but you have to ask with a straight face. As if somehow, this is a love pill. I don't think it is.

However, you have heard the disclaimers at the end of their "Viva" Las Vegas commericals, right? Where they tell you if the "effects" last for more than four hours you need to go the emergency room.

Have you ever wondered what the conversation would be like at the three hour and thirty minute mark? Is it a go or no go. You have to think about this.

And then, what kind of pants do you wear in? Obviously, jeans are out of the question. Do you go with sweat pants and a long shirt?

And once you get in, and go through all the check in procedures, where you have to detail the nature of your emergency, you get to sit in the waiting room with all of the other patiences with "actual" emergencies. All of them looking at you, wondering why you are there. Maybe they can figure it out.

I wonder if that procedure was just thrown in there to cover the company's interest. "Sooo, theoretically, how long could the effects last? We'd better tell them to go to the emergency room at around, what five hours? No, Four?" Ok. Four it is. Seriously, who would follow through with that?

Not speaking from personal experience, of course.

Just wondering.

To Boldy Go

Lighter Fare

With all the hub-bub surrounding me right now, I thought I would resume regular programming. Here is a picture from the upcoming Star Trek Reboot. Is it me, or does this look like a SNL skit?

A New Hope

I was just going to post this picture and leave, but, once I saw it out there, I wanted to make a comment.

In this political season, both sides are talking about hope and change. But I don't want to go there. What came to my mind was how the Bible often uses this word.

"For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." (Rom 8:24).

Daniel Webster gave several defintions for hope. One of them is "an opinion or belief not amounting to certainty, but grounded on substantial evidence". It differs from a wish in that it implies an expectation that what is hoped for will be gained. Hope teaches us patience.

Peter ties hope and faith together: "so that your faith and your hope are in God." In both cases, the gaurantor is God. Who you are hoping in is as important as what you are hoping for. Do they posses the ability to provide what you are hoping for?

Forbes Votes Against Revised Bailout Bill

Washington, D.C., Oct 3 - Congressman J. Randy Forbes (VA-04) released the following statement today after voting against the revised bailout bill, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008:

"When I voted against the first Wall Street bailout bill on Monday, I did so because I was not willing to risk $700 billion of taxpayer dollars on a plan that I, after talking with senior Treasury officials and the former chairman of the FDIC, was not confident would work. The second bailout bill we voted on today contained a number of positive provisions, including increasing FDIC insurance coverage for American families and businesses. Even with these improvements, the core of the bill remained the same - the federal government will purchase $700 billion in bad assets from private corporations who have made poor financial decisions, and there is still no assurance as to whether the expenditure of $700 billion will solve the problem at hand. It became a bit like adding ornaments to a Christmas tree that no one wants; no matter how many ornaments were added, the problem was still the tree. I could not support a bill that leaves us with no backstop if it fails."

Senate Passes HR 1424 Last Night! Excise Tax Exempted For Wooden Arrows...Children Rejoice

There are other alternatives to fixing this. Last night, our Senate passed their version of the Bill, HR 1424. It whopped out at 400+ pages.

In addition to our economy, it also has sections that has provisions related to film and television productions (sec 502) and a section for income averaging for amounts received in connection with the Exxon Valdez Litigation. My favorite is sec 503 - Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by Children.

A vote of Nay is a vote against the children!

This bill has been around for sometime, when it bore the name of Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. Instead of proposing a fix for the economy, they have rolled it all up with a bunch of other issues (like hiding peas in the mash potatoes to make the peas taste better).

We need some common sense up there in Washington, instead of the Politics as usual.

Pray

There is a book called QBQ by John Miller. It is short, and can be read during a lunch break. But what is packed within the pages is very powerful concept about practicing personal accountability and addressing blaming, complaining and procrastination. So, what can you do for this current economic situation? Have you prayed for your leaders in Congress? I don't care if they are Republican or Democrat: the reason they have any authority to govern is because it was granted to them by God - pray that they embrace wisdom. There is a spirit of fear that has been exacerbated by our media - we need to be praying for them as well. Fear is not a fruit of the Spirit - how is it affecting you?