Sunday, June 11, 2006, 02:14 PM - Cool Stuff
Doug and I went to Montecello yesterday, the home of Thomas Jefferson. I thought it was an absolutely beautiful and efficient home. Unlike typical mansions of the rich, everything in the Jefferson home had purpose and function. I liked the fact that he believed in ordinary staircases instead of the huge spirals that were so popular with the wealthy of the time.
It was also cool how he designed all the bedrooms such that the beds were built into the walls. How efficient! Many of the rooms had high ceilings and skylights.
He designed his own home. He invented the double-pane window concept. He also made windows that also worked like doors (you slid them up from the floor and just walked out!)
The only sad note was the knowledge that he owned over 100 slaves in his lifetime. While it is generally thought that he did not abuse or torture his slaves, the fact that he actually OWNED other human beings is something that strikes me as abhorrent. It was a pretty standard practice in the Southern states, however. And although Jefferson was an enlightened man of his time, he was still OF THAT TIME.
Jefferson's genious made me realize, of course, how short-changed we are nowadays with respect to Presidents. Here's how I see it:
Thomas Jefferson: He could speak, read, and write seven different languages fluently.
George W. Bush: He has never demonstrated the ability to read or write. He can barely speak English, much less any other language.
Thomas Jefferson: He couild play two musical instruments and composed music in his spare time.
George W. Bush: He cannot play any instruments. He has no interest in art of any kind and is generally fearful/distrustful of those that do.
Thomas Jefferson: As a man of science, he collected many scientific instruments and enjoyed performing experiments in his house.
George W. Bush: He has no interest whatsoever in science and has a pathological fear of those who do.
Thomas Jefferson: Was a man who promoted religious tolerance and the seperation of Church and State.
George W. Bush: He is a Bible-thumping religious bigot who misuses the Bible to push his austere Right-Wing agenda. He promotes the idea of a theocratic oligarchy based on ultra-conservative Christo-fascism.
Thomas Jefferson: He owned over 5000 books and read every single one of them.
George W. Bush: He is not known to have read any book except for the Bible. He is not known to actually own any books at all.
Thomas Jefferson: He was a natural-born tinkerer. He designed locks, clocks, doors, and all manner of appliances for the home.
George W. Bush: He has never demonstrated any desire to invent anything, and generally distrusts/fears those who do.
Thomas Jefferson: He was an expert chef and knew how to prepare French cuisine.
George W. Bush: It is not known if this man has EVER prepared a meal for himself.
Thomas Jefferson: He was skilled at various money-making trades, including farming, brewing, map making, surveying, architecture, and wine making.
George W. Bush: He has never held down a single job that his daddy didn't get for him -- including the Presidency.
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( 3 / 1698 )Sunday, May 14, 2006, 08:47 PM - Cool Stuff
Hanuman wrote something KIND on his website for his mother. But my mum and I share a rather darker sense of humor.
"M" is for the Meatloaf that turned out like shoe leather.
"O" is for the occasional Oven fire.
"T" is fur the Terror behind the wheel.
"H" is for the Horrible, yet Hilarious home videos
"E" is for the many Ethanol-based concoctions at Red Lobster
"R" is for the Ringing of the smoke alarms when dinners ready!
Put it all together, well... you get the idea!
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( 3 / 1091 )Saturday, May 6, 2006, 01:52 PM - Cool Stuff
Now, some people drive really conservatively because they don’t know how to drive. Other people, like myself, just don’t like getting tickets. But I *do* occasionally like to push the pedal to the floor. So when Doug and I were heading out this morning and Doug said, “You have to drive faster because we’re running late,” I replied, “You don’t have to ask me twice!”
I got my little Civic Hybrid up to 95 MPH on i83, and you could *really* hear the electric motor whine! I drained 85% of the battery pack in 5 minutes with this driving! Then I took the exit ramp so fast that two of the car’s wheels almost came off the ground. Slowing down for the ramp brought the battery pack up to 45%. Then I gloated on the Beltway as we blew past a SUV that almost seemed like it was standing still, and some dude who was actually reading the Baltimore Sun while driving. Again, I drove the battery down to 20% with 90+ MPH driving. When we exited on Greenspring Avenue, it had this long, straight downhill segment that allowed the kinetic energy recovery system to boost power back to 80%. At the bottom of the hill I floored it again. There’s nothing as exciting as driving 87 in a 30 MPH residential neighbourhood! Driving the batteries down to 25% again, we sped into the parking lot with a mighty screech and the smell of smouldering rubber.
I love to drive!
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( 3 / 1384 )Tuesday, May 2, 2006, 08:13 PM - Cool Stuff
Doug has lost 22 pounds on his weight loss plan. He lost two pounds this week. I am REALLY proud of him!
A lot of people in his family are big, but he's bucket genetics! I am really happy for him!
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( 3 / 1344 )Monday, May 1, 2006, 05:26 PM - Cool Stuff
I added a forum for my roleplaying game (located at www.gaianar.com) It's pretty cool. I don't know how many of the readers here enjoy Dungeons & Dragons, but I wrote a roleplauying game from scratch that is in the fantasy RPG genre. The big difference here is that my game is FREE, heh heh.
Aside from game topics, I'm going to use the forum to host political rants as well (including a special section dedicated to bashing Bush!)
If anyone wants to check it out, just visit my RPG site and click the "Gaianar Forum" icon on the lefthand menu bar
World of Gaianar
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( 3 / 1377 )Thursday, April 27, 2006, 08:55 AM - Cool Stuff
Last night’Doug and I had dinner with Larry, my friend and former supervisor. The company I used to work for closed 90% of its stores. In the late 1990s, we had 80 locations and now the company has EIGHT. Larry runs the last remaining store in Maryland.
He seemed to be doing okay. His wife went back to work now that his income has dropped 75%. On the other hand, he doesn’t work 65-hour work weeks anymore either.
Somehow, Doug and I got talked into helping him sell wireless phones at a baseball game on May 12th. Ha ha ha! Doug has never been in sales. On the other hand, I’m not one to turn down some easy side-money!
The thing to know about the cell phone industry is that it is rapidly moving away from a brokered/contracted product. I predict that within five years, cell phones will just be sold “off the shelf” without contract or credit check. The end user will just key in a credit card number and use on-screen prompts to select rate plans and features.
Personally, I don’t sign contracts anymore. The “full” price of a phone is a lot less than the early termination fee. Besides, most “free” phones on contract are junk.
It was nice meeting up with Larry again, however. We had pizza and salad at Pizza Hut. It was a pleasant evening.
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( 3 / 1156 )Monday, April 17, 2006, 09:03 PM - Cool Stuff
I can honestly say that I had the kind of Easter holiday that I enjoy the most: a nice church service and a good dinner with Doug.
The church service was great. I had a five-bell assignment and also sung tenor. The Choirmaster's selections were ultra-tough as always, but we pulled it off flawlessly!
Then, Doug and I visited two friends for a while before we went out for Easter dinner. We had ham steak and mashed potatoes at the Nautiloid. It was just Doug and I -- no crazy relatives. Very nice! No fuss, no muss/
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( 3 / 1574 )Saturday, April 15, 2006, 08:05 PM - Cool Stuff
Doug and I had an *awesome* time in New York today. We saw "Three Penny Opera", starring Alan Cumming. The play was very strange and had a lot of cursing. The musical score was quite odd.The lighting was bizarre. It featured the life and times of Mack the Knife.
We bought cheap seats, which meant that our ears popped when we climbed the stairs! Our seats were so *small* that they could double as torture devices.
But other than uncomfortable seats, we had a real BLAST!
http://indigohalo.com/pblog/index.php
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( 2.9 / 1433 )Wednesday, April 12, 2006, 08:20 AM - Cool Stuff
So far, the diet/exercise plans that Doug and I are using *really* seem to be working! Doug is on the Jenny Craig diet and does a 2-mile power walk about three times per week. I’m on a low-fat diet and do a 5 km run at the gym three times per week.
The result? Doug has lost 19 pounds in two months and I’ve lost five pounds. Very cool!
Right now, I weigh 197 and would *like* to weigh 185. Doug now weighs 310 and would *like* to weigh 250. It just goes to show you that diet and exercise (not fads and funky herbal supplements) really can make a difference!
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( 3 / 1265 )Monday, April 3, 2006, 07:29 PM - Cool Stuff
Just a quick update: my partner, Doug, is now up to a total of 17 pounds lost on the Jenny Craig diet -- in just six weeks! Yay![ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink |
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