June 2006 Archives

The work of drying out my office building has begun. On my floor alone there are two dozen of those floor drying machines, the kind that blow a fast moving stream of air four inches above the ground. They also brought in two huge air driers. Those are set up right outside my office window. Each of them requires a 460 volt feed line. Clear air ducts two feet in diameter are connected to the driers. The ducts are suspended from the ceiling and run up and down the length of the hallways. The workers drilled numerous holes in all the baseboards so the air can get in behind the walls to dry things out. The equipment will be running continually until the end of the week.

Right outside my office, it sounds and feels like a big wind tunnel.
K-

After being out all night your teenage daughter comes home clutching a Gideon Bible.

Heard at church.
K-

The mid-Atlantic region got pounded by thunderstorms this weekend particularly over on the Eastern Shore. I didn't see any problems at the house but the story was different when I got to work.

I've mentioned before that I work in the basement of my office building. (My employer insists on calling it the first floor but I know a basement when I'm in one.) Yesterday during the rains, portions of the basement of my office builiding flooded destroying a computer lab as well as trashing our cafeteria and a number of offices. Evidently the rain came in through the main door on the "second floor" - what I would call the first floor - and poured down the main stairwell into my group's spaces. Power is off in some sections of the building. My office seems OK. I have electricity and Internet although the air conditioning is off. It's stuffy and close in here. The air is permeated with that damp, musty smell of soggy carpet. Firemen and recovery people are buzzing up and down my hallways.

Happy Monday.
K-

I watched Syriana last night. I was told before I watched it that it was a thinking man's movie, that you would have to pay attention closely or you wouldn't know what was going on, that deep intelligence was required to fully appreciate just how great this movie is, to grasp just how deep its message is. I knew the critics really loved Syriana.

So I came prepared. I fancy myself an intelligent guy. I concentrated hard as I watched, I followed all the characters, made sure I knew who everyone was, understood all the relationships, noticed the smallest details. I knew not to expect instant gratification, there would be no pat answers. I was prepared to wait to the end of the movie for closure. So I feel confident that I'm in a good position to sum up this movie:

Um, there were some good guys and some bad guys. George Clooney and Matt Damon were good guys, I think, but at times they did some bad things. And then there were these Arab brothers, and a kid died in a pool at their palace, and they had a lot of oil and natural gas. And the CIA was there, with Christopher Plummer as a lawyer for some oil companies. And Chris Cooper was in the movie and he seemed like a good guy but he had all these dark secrets. Then there was this guy named Mussawi in the movie who seemed like a good guy until he started pulling out George Clooney's fingernails. And William Hurt was in it and he might have been a good guy because he talked to George Clooney but he might have been bad because he was mysterious. And then there were some spies, and the George Clooney character had a son, and there were a few explosions. Oh, and there were some terrorists, too. And one of the terrorists had a father who seemed nice. And I think the bad guys won in the end, but the bad guys weren't all bad because I'm pretty sure the US government was involved, and we're not bad guys, right? Then there was this black guy who seemed nice except to this other black guy who lived with him. And then the movie ended.

I hope you all get as much out of Syriana as I did.
K-

Anytime, Anywhere, No Questions - Sean Penn, William H. Macy, Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep
Anytime, Anywhere, Always Solid - Ed Harris, Chris Cooper, Joan Allen, Kevin Bacon
Anytime, Anywhere, Shamefully Underappreciated - Jeff Bridges, Laura Linney, David Strathairn, Jennifer Connelly
Keeping My Eye On - Catherine Keener, Jamie Foxx, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson
Never, Ever - Adam Sandler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis

Your mileage may vary.
K-

Well I made it back from Tucson. Meetings ended early so I bugged out yesterday afternoon about 2:45 PM, which got me to my house about 1:30 AM this morning. Late night and me have never gone together well.

My flight from Tucson to Denver was on one of those little regional aircraft. Only 2 seats on each side of the center-aisle, so you're guaranteed to sit next to someone. The guy that sat next to me smelled bad. His odor was this yucky admixture of stale cigarettes, funky man-smell, and cat. Yes, that's right, cat. The guy brought a cat on board and kept it in a box beneath his feet. Why that young guy was travelling with a cat I'll never know.

Based on a recommendation from my son, I read The Great Gatsby during my flights home. It was a short and easy read. I enjoyed it enough to make me wish I was in an 11th-grade English class so I could discuss it.

On an unrelated note... Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan yesterday dropped out of Maryland's Democratic gubernatorial race because of clinical depression. Duncan was the front-runner over the other Democratic candidate - and Baltimore Mayor - Martin O'Malley. *Sigh* O'Malley won't win - he's too much of a regional phenomenon - which means Maryland will be stuck with 4 more years of I-love-big-business, I-hate-the-environment, We'll-Get-Slots-In-Maryland-If-It's-The-Last-Thing-I-Do Republican Robert Ehrlich.

Welcome home.
K-

1. I blog today from Tucson. It's just hotter than hell here. It was 102F when I got off the plane at 7PM local time last night. And don't give me that "dry heat" crap. It's too damn hot.

2. Actually I'd put up Baltimore heat against Tucson heat anytime. Though not everyday during the summer, we get 92F with 72F dewpoints a few times each year. That brings you to your knees.

3. I flew through Denver to get here. The turbulence was as bad as any I've experienced. The older I get, the more a white-knuckle flier I become. When I stood up to get off the plane, there in the seat in front of me sat someone I work with. Captain Oblivious didn't even notice him when he got on the plane.

4. What I listened to on the planes to Tucson: Abbey Road, Elgar's Violin Concerto in B minor, Dvorak's Piano Quartet in E-flat minor, Tchaikovsky's Concerto for Violin, Rossini overtures (go William Tell!), Taking the Long Way by The Dixie Chicks, some of a Van Halen, Aerosmith, and AC/DC playlist. Aren't Ipods wonderful?

5. How about those wacky Episcopalians electing a woman as Presiding Bishop? We have what's called a General Convention every three years where we conduct all sorts of business. Last time the Convention elected an openly gay bishop to the Diocese of New Hampshire. Now this. The Episcopal Church is already on thin ice with the rest of the Anglican Communion because of the gay thing. We'll see what happens. I don't think it'll be as dire as the press will make it sound.

6. I just saw Glory Road. Meh. Before that I saw a couple of classics: Breaking Away (recommended by my son) and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I liked both of them much more.

7. Fred and Ethel are now on their second brood. Eth is sitting on four eggs. My bluebirds are having a banner year. They already fledged four birds.

8. The local cable access channels in Tucson have all these Baptist preachers who get on TV and say some really outlandish things. I listened to one last night who told me I'm going to Hell. He also told me Tom Cruise, Bill Gates, and Tiger Woods are going to Hell with me. Really. The preacher said there's no chance any of us can get into heaven. He said anyone who's at all happy or successful or good-looking or rich or has had any kind of positve outcome in their lives (even if it's the result of hard work and determination) are all going to Hell because those people haven't suffered. Really. I swear. The preacher told me this. Only downtrodden sufferers are God's elect and will make it to heaven. The souls of successful people are doomed to eternal suffering. To find out more, go here.

9. Some of my favorite singers (Thanks, Cassie-B): Mary Chapin Carpenter, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Nanci Griffith, Eastern Bluebird, and Wood Thrush. I suppose I have to include Brian Johnson on this list, but with him, it's more awe and amazement than anything else. How can someone sing like that every day? I like him a lot more than Bon Scott. What a second-Darren Brian Johnson is.

10. I'd like to hear The Hallelujah Chorus sung by a church choir where all the members had voices like Brian Johnson's. Same timbre and overall quality. That would sound incredible. Could it even be done? What would a female Brian Johnson even sound like? I'm laughing just thinking about it. We need to hear this.
K-

The Baltimore Sun is my breakfast companion nearly everyday. The paper's big story recently has been Maryland's looming electricity rate hike and the ongoing efforts by the state to do something. On average, power is going to cost 72 percent more in Maryland on July 1st.

But this time of year, the first thing I check are the sports pages just to seen how dem O's, hon, have been doing. They didn't play last night, which can be construed as a good thing... at least they didn't lose. Since there was no hometown baseball news to fill the pages, the Sun crammed the sports section will other miscellanea.

Now, I love baseball. It's basically the only professional sports entertainment I watch. It's exquisitely difficult to play though you can be average-sized and still excel, whenever you score there's never a penalty that invalidates it, and I can still watch a major league game at Camden Yards for $10. (If I go on $8 night that's cheaper than a movie.)

But a lot of people complain how boring baseball is. So for them, the Sun writes about other sports. Interesting sports, thrilling sports, sports like...

Hockey.

I discovered the hockey season ended last night. How's that for irony: a game that, if not by definition, is at least enhanced by winter - you do need ice - just finished its season in the third week of June. And a team from North Carolina won the trophy. Who'd have thought? Next there'll be an NHL NASCAR.

Hockey must be the most boring sport ever created by man. The object of interest, the size of a coaster, zips up and down the ice in a blur. Ten white guys chase after it lamely attempting to pass it from one to another. I think the intended recipient actually gets the puck 10 percent of the time. The rest of the time, the puck sails by him for someone else to catch. Four or five scores in a game caps the excitement. Maybe fun to play but to watch? *YAWN*

And the hockey season is so long. It seems like the 4th of July weekend is the hockey off seaon. I'll never understand how the NHL can sustain itself.

Well, gotta go... the phone is ringing. I'm sure it's Michigan calling to revoke my citizenship and banish me forever.
K-

Thanks, guys. You made the job so easy and such a joy.
K-

I like to think I'm a moderate when it comes to Nanny-Statism. I've no problem with the government looking out for my health and well-being, but only up to a point. For instance, Howard County just recently banned smoking in all county bars and restaurants making it the fourth jurisdiction in the Baltimore-Washington metro area to do so. That's good.

But now a Maryland doctor and a consumer group have sued KFC in an effort to stop the chicken chain from cooking with high-fat, partially hydrogenated oil. That's bad.

Not that I'm advocating the use of trans-fats over healthier alternatives. And I'm not an especially big fan of KFC (although I do start salivating whenever I think about those fried potato wedge things they serve). It's just that everyone knows what they're getting into when they dine in a KFC. The chicken is fried, the potatoes are fried, the biscuits are fried, it's all fried. That's why people go there... to get fried food. We're not going there to eat healthy food. We are choosing to eat not-healthy food. We step carefully in the store so as not to slip on the greasy floors. Grease is what we want.

Seems like an intrusion into individual choice for some judge to order KFC to adjust its menu. The doctor says he is suing to force KFC to change its cooking practices "for my son and others' kids, so they may have a healthier, happier, trans-fat-free future." A healthier, happier future at a KFC? You've got to be kidding me. Here the Nanny State is going too far and I hope the suit gets tossed. There's a conscious choice here and everyone knows the consequences. Common sense will work.

Next they'll be going after cheesesteaks and meatball subs.
K-

Because of his broken toe, I took D- to school today, a luxury I only grudgingly grant. (Hey, I always had to take the bus when I was in school, in Michigan, in the cold, in the dark, in the wind, hungry and shivering, and there was no one to love me.)

Today is the last day of the school year. D- has a couple of finals and then it's hasta la vista, baby, for the summer. As we were driving down the road, it occurred to us that today is his final, regular last day of school. With any luck next year, he'll be ending the school year two weeks early with all the other high school seniors. I'm told there's a special ceremony to mark the occasion.

Let's hope he gets there with no more broken bones.
K-

Passing thunderstorms blew through the neighborhood last night. Whenever that happens I get these garden slugs traipsing across the sidewalk. They are really disgusting. Not that any mollusk is especially redeeming or charismatic. I've never had escargot. It would be difficult to get this image out of my head if I did.
K-

D- broke his big toe last Friday playing football with a friend. (Number 8 and still counting!) So he ends the school year much like he began it. He's now wearing one of those open-toed things you get at the hospital when you injure your foot. Here's the collection of his shoes I found this morning in the garage.

Any guesses which toe he broke?
K-

Red-spotted Purple.
K-

Last night one of those wacky computer things happened. All my digital photos went missing. All of them... every single one of them. I have no idea where they went or how they could have been deleted from the hard disk but they were nowhere to be found.

I don't think I did it nor do I see how others using the computer could have done it. Deleting files is a multi-step process. You can't not notice deleting files. I think Photoshop Elements is somehow responsible; I use it to keep my photos organized with tags and collections. Maybe it got cranky and through a hissy fit. Fortunately I did a backup in mid-May and was able to retrieve all but 21 of my collection. I lost the 4 on this page and a few others. Not a big loss but a shame nonetheless.

The one file I will miss is the Photoshop Elements catalog that had everything organized. It'll take time to rebuild that. At least I'll get to review all my snapshots.

Have you hugged your backup software today?
K-

Wineberry by the wayside.
K-

It has come to my attention that there is some minor confusion over the level of my involvement in a recent news story. For the record, I am not the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby.
K-