Monday, June 19, 2006, 07:14 PM
Every once in a while I get this sort of migraine attack that has all the features of a migraine headache, except for the headache part. In other words, I get dizzy, my stomach gets upset, I feel weak in my legs, and my vision fills with a torus of green fire.
This usually only lasts ten minutes or so. But after it goes away, I feel totally wiped out. I think it's called an "occular migraine", since it affects vision, but doesn't hurt.
I think the trigger for it today was that it was just ROASTING hot today, and the air conditioning was on the fritz last night. This made me sweat all night, which dehydrated me. But then after work I foolishly tried to do 5km at the gym. I got about halfway through it before I got sick. Ugh. It really sucked.
At least I only get the full-blown migraine about one every 18-24 months (whereupon it lasts for for 30-45 days!)
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( 3 / 1190 )Monday, June 19, 2006, 12:29 PM
I have to confess to a certain piece of almost inexcusable vanity. I dye my hair. [Shock... Horror...]
The problem with being of Irish descent is that my hair started going grey in my early 20s. Lemme tell ya: it sucks looking 45 when I'm only 36. That's why I dye my hair. Oh well. Is vanity one of the seven deadly sins? I can never remember.
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( 3 / 1171 )Sunday, June 18, 2006, 03:43 PM
I was both saddened and outraged today as I was watching CNN at the gym during my workout. CNN has a "Fathers' Day" segment in which soldiers in Iraq could make a 15-30 second greeting to his/her families at home. Some of the soldiers had been in Iraq for the whole three years without a break or a duty rotation. Some were badly injured.
The field hospital segment was pretty ghastly. Nothing's too good for Bush's political contributers, but the Administration didn't seem to be spending a lot of cash on our soldiers' medical care.
One of the Fathers' Day calls was from a terribly wounded soldier who was being treated for a grenade injury. He was trying to convince his yound daughter that he was going to be okay even though he was bleeding from a dozen wounds.
I pray that George W Bush can be made to pay for the lives he has ruined with this endless, pointless, illegal war. I hope that the Democrats take both houses in November, and that the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld triumvarite will be tried for war crimes and imprisoned -- forever.
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( 3 / 1009 )Thursday, June 15, 2006, 09:03 PM
I finally got to the halfway point in my 1-year probation at work. This is a big deal, since if I hadn't been cutting the mustard, I would have been dismissed on Monday. But actually, I scored reasonably well on my performance evaluation.
Basically, on a scale of 1 to 4, I scored a 2.34. I needed a 1.75 to keep my job. So that's not super-high, but it was more than enough to keep my job!
I get my first raise (a small one) on July 1st. Yay! Only six more months before I get permanent status!
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( 3 / 1067 )Tuesday, June 13, 2006, 08:25 AM
I thought of some more cool, uber-left ideas on how to contain the SUV problem. These are really inspired:
-- Make larger parking lot spaces for SUVs, but place them all the way in the back of the lot. Reasoning: I'm tired of my car getting dinged when a Land Yacht parks next to me and bangs my car with their door.
-- Charge double at parking garages. Reasoning: When I park my car in the morning, I frequently see leftover spaces next to SUVs because the vehicles are so big that other cars can't park next to them.
-- Charge triple at toll booths. Reasoning: Because these vehicles use triple the resources of a family sedan (9 MPG vs 27 MPG) and weigh three times as much (6000 pounds vs 2000 pounds), they should pay proportionally more.
-- Charge double insurance rates. Reasoning: These vehicles completely obliterate the cars they hit when they cause traffic accidents.
-- Quadruple motor vehicle fines for tailgating and aggressive driving. Reasoning: While these Land Yachts accelerate fast, they don't exactly stop on a dime. A SUV tailgating a hybrid is a terrible mistake because a hybrid's regenerative breaking can stop the car from 70 MPH to 0 MPH in only 150'. A SUV takes twice that distance.
-- Special tag registration. SUV owners who get less than 20 MPG should be required to buy bright red license tags that have a caption that reads, "This driver supports terrorism". Reasoning: Any purchase of a true gas guzzler is prime evidence that the user values "status" over National Security.
-- 7-day "cooling off" period. There should be a manditory 7-day "cooling off" period between when a potential SUV buyer requests the vehicle and when he can actually sign the paperwork. This gives the potential buyer time to reconsider the decision. Reasoning: it works for guns, and I think SUVs probably kill more people each year than handguns.
-- Maximum of one SUV per household. Residents should only be permitted to have one SUV per physical address. There is no excuse for "his and hers" SUVs. Reasoning: This would mandate that at least one car in a two-vehicle household would get double-digit fuel efficiency.
If these policies were enacted, the wastrels who own Land Yachts could finally be punished for polluting the environment and driving up fuel prices.
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( 3 / 998 )Monday, June 12, 2006, 09:51 PM - Random Thoughts
I have been tagged... FOUR meme!
I got this from Dewey’s Dartboard (Doug’s Site). .
FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE:
1. Pizza driver
2. Roofer
3. Cellular Phone Salesman
4. Pretrial Release Investigator
FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:
1. Any of the David Suchet Hercule Poirot films. I am watching the Mystery of the Blue Train now.
2. Syngenor.
3. High Planes Drifter.
4. For a Few Dollars More.
FOUR PLACES YOU'VE LIVED:
1. Atlanta, GA
2. Columbia, MD
3. York, PA
4. Baltimore MD
FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH:
1. The Sentinel
2. Stargate SG1
3. Space 1999
4. Babylon 5
FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON HOLIDAY:
1. Nagshead NC
2. Williamsburg, VA
3. Grand Cayman
4. St Thomas USVI
FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY:
1. Greenhybrid.com
2. hybridcars.com
3. Deweydjb.blogspot.com
4. CNN.com
FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS:
1. Scones.
2. Wonderful, freshly ground coffee.
3. Some deliciously decadent dessert, like Key line pie
4. Anything Mexican
FOUR PLACES YOU'D RATHER BE:
1. On a cruise ship in the Caribbean
2. On a cruise ship in the Mediterranean.
3. Rock climbing or hiking.
4. Ireland
FOUR LUCKY PEOPLE TO TAG:
1. Coco
2. Debbi
3. Jeff (Jay’s Ramblings)
4. Joan (from church)
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( 3 / 1973 )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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( 3.1 / 1770 )Thursday, June 8, 2006, 08:48 PM
I had another odd dream last night. In this dream, the Baltimore/Washington area was going to come under missile fire from some terrorist agency. In a military instalation, a lead general's advisor said, "Use that satelite that has only 6' of visibility".
He was referring to an anti-missile satelite that was nearly perfectly cloaked except for a 6' solar array that kept it charged while dormant. The general gave the command to fully activate the anti-missile drone.
High in orbit, a dark machine received its signal and became fully visible. The scene was sharp, clear, and vibrant. It was like actually being there. It unfurled a much larger solar array and began powering to full. What no one had anticipated was that in the years of solitude, the satelite had somehow become sentient and self aware. It was also desperately lonely. It's self-awareness also caused it to need more energy to function, and it was desperately in need of more power.
The people on the ground station were surprised when the satelite directly asked for more energy. The general ordered a smaller drone containing nuclear fissionables to dock with the satelite. I knew that time was running short. The dream ended with the the smaller drone docking in order to give the bigger satelite the energy it needed.
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( 3 / 1014 )Thursday, June 8, 2006, 08:12 AM
Yesterday was a very good day for a lot of reasons. Some of them are good for everyone and some were merely good for just me. But hey, I'll take all the good news I can get!
--- Great for Everyone
> Bush's anti-gay Constitutional Ammendment went down in flames for the THIRD time. He couldn't even get a simple majority, much less 66 Senate votes. In fact, 7 Republicans jumped ship and voted against it. Thank you, John McCain (R-AZ) for being one of the FEW voices of reason and common decency on the Republican side.
> Zarcowi got blown up last night. Okay, I can't spell his name. But he was the #2 terrorist in the entire world. He personally beheaded several Red Cross workers and used Islamic suicide bombers to murder thousands of civilians. Good riddance!
--- Great For Me
> I passed the six month interval on my 12-month job probation. I'd have to REALLY screw up to not make it to the end of the year, since the six-month review is when most people who aren't making the grade get let go.
> I got my 5km run down to 30m05s. I was also able to jog 5.05 miles in 50m, which means that I could sustain a 10-minute mile for almost an hour!
God stuff!
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( 3 / 1027 )Tuesday, June 6, 2006, 09:11 AM - Dumb Happenings
If there's ever a tired old nag that needs to be sent to the glue factory, it's the racehorse called "Gay Panic". And yet, Bush seems to trot out this nag every time his poll numbers hit rock bottom. Since his latest approval rating was in the mid-30s, it's no surprise to me that he's choosing NOW to once again "get tough on gays".
I'm really hoping that the Religious Reich isn't as stupid as Bush seems to think they are. Let's look at the Bush resume again:
-- Huge tax cuts for the rich that actually ended up with higher taxes (on the state/local level)
-- Huge deficit spending (because he has not issued a single veto in six years).
-- Terrible foreign policy that has not only alienated our allies, but severely weakened our influence in world affairs.
-- A losing, incredibly costly two-front war that has not only made America LESS SAFE, but has given nations like Iran and Syria carte blanche to develop super-weapons.
-- An immigration policy that is nothing but amnesty by another name. It's just another way for Bush's Big Business Buddies to get cheap labor and avoid paying payroll taxes and Workers' Comp.
-- Energy prices: a 245% increase over six years.
-- And he gave $40 billion to ExxonMobile as a pork-barrel gift (our money, of course).
-- He makes people DISAPPEAR, thanks to the Patriot Act.
-- He taps our phone conversations and reads our emails, thanks to the Patriot Act.
-- He gave Dick Cheney's Haliburton many no-bid exclusive contracts worth billions of dollars.
-- He has built 600 secret prisons in the United States that can house 1,500 people each. They're empty for now...
-- He has abused his vacation privilege to a ludicrous degree.
BUT THE Religious Reich is supposed to forgive all that because Bush just reminded them all that he still hates gays. I really hope they don't ride this tired old nag a third time.
I can see it now: "My son's dead in Iraq, I lost my farm because I can't afford the diesel fuel to run my machinery, my power bill's tripled, and some corporation is stealing my house by using 'eminant domain', but since Bush is going to protect me from the gay agenda, I guess I'll vote Republican... again."
I desperately hope that the Red State folk aren't really that stupid.
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