steven n fettig's Jitterin' Thoughts

Ya' know, between Saturday and yesterday, I've had a zillion things to do (as usual) - seems to be the complaint du jour - and I almost, just almost considered not going to vote yesterday. I can't believe the thought actually raced through my head on my way out of work yesterday. I am honestly mad at myself for even thinking that way - I wonder how many people actually acted on that "feeling" of being too tired, too overworked, etc... Well, I went and did my duty. I'm happy I did and I'm mad that others didn't.
We elected a questionable figure to the governor's mansion in Wisconsin. I am irritated I didn't actually vote for Thomson - it wouldn't have mattered, so to speak - but maybe if more people would have voted for him, Doyle wouldn't have gotten elected and we would have had a decent (McCallum) or really good (Thomson) governor as master of this state. Well, that's not the case, and I and my fellow Wisconsinites have to live with it... I get this feeling of, "well, if you are going to vote for someone who is clueless about economics and freedom, then I can't wait to see what the consequences are on YOUR life and not those of your enemies." I always get this feeling that people vote for the person who they feel is going to squash those around them, "keeping them down." As if a politician can right the wrongs in your life and make you live better -- no, only YOU can do that (given freedom to do so) and it is your responsibility to get off your duff and do something about it. The only thing a politician can do is create more red tape and infringe upon the freedoms that we already have - unless they truly believe that limiting the government's beaurocratic mechanisms are in the best interest of the people. No, I am not a right, right-wing Libertarian - I cannot go so far as to say that I agree with most of what they tend to believe (I think "us" libertarians tend to go to far in limiting what the government does - mainly because it is unlikely that people will suddenly remove their laziness and become productive people... but that's another argument to get into another day) - but I will continue to vote for most of their representatives because they seem to be the only party that is willing to say no to people's whining.
Whew... Take a deep breath. This was only meant to be a few sentences about voting and look what happend. RANT ALERT!!!

I'm glad that I voted, period. It is amazing to see how low voter turnout is in this country. I imagine there are tons of excuses as to why people don't vote, but they all point to one thing - we are lazy and we take our freedom for granted. As long as that is the case, we will continue to hamper our own progress into the future.

    I finally was able to get around to posting some info, both senseless and sensible, to Thees (a friend from Hamburg, Germany) online forum, thees.licentia.net. One had to do with Pancakes and the other with stupid commentry. Oh well. Sometimes you have to release your stupidity into a public forum.
    Another thing I was doing was my Sunday perusal of the news. One thing that really struck me was in FAZ.net (the German newspaper called the Frankfurter Allgemeine) regarding demonstrations in Europe against a possible war in Iraq. I stand on the fence myself regarding what we should do in Iraq (which I will get to in a moment), but what amazes me is how loud the left is when it comes to things that they don't agree with. Why is it that us conservatives/classical liberals have such a quiet voice? I was sickened by something I saw on Fox News out of Chicago -- they regularly broke up the shows playing for "Breaking News" showing what they claimed to be 500 demonstrators demonstrating against globalization. Aside from the fact that I feel like these people have no clue how globalization effects their life in a positive manner, I don't think that the group shown (from the helicopter pictures) was 500 - it looked more like a mass of about 300 people. Yes, I know that is not a huge difference, but it goes to the ridiculous way in which the news media over-inflates numbers regularly - as if the truth is not "real" enough. The reason, however, why this made me upset, was not because it was showing a group of people who I felt are wrong, but it was the realization that any demonstration with so few people regarding pro-life, supporting a war in Iraq, supporting lowering taxes, etc. would have never made it into the news, let alone become breaking news. I was at a demonstration in Washington, D.C. in 1997 or 1998 with well over a million attendees, and because it was a conservative demonstration, the numbers in the media were always half of what were really there. Plus, that demonstration didn't get half of the news coverage that the recent one in Chicago received. That is sad - not because I am for or against any of these causes, but because the news in this case is so obviously biased one way or the other. Regardless of your political ideology, biased news is not good. Would one claim that the news in China is "well reported" because they are socialist? I suspect that the only people who would answer yes to this question are those that feel that freedom of thought and speech is trumped by a higher ideology they belong to. Even if I feel that the people at the anti-globalization rally in Chicago are wrong (or idiots), it still does not stop me from wanting them to have the same freedoms I enjoy - i.e. those of free speech.
    I think this is the big difference between those of us who support consistent freedom from government intervention and coercion and those who don't - I believe in freedom because it allows me to lead my life in the way I see fit and allows my fellow neighbor to do the same, regardless of whether or not we agree. Yes, government is absolutely instrumental in keeping the peace between foes, but it should not be instrumental in tipping the balance of power to one faction or another. To me, that is the slippery slope that leads to Tyranny, Dictatorships and the Communism we witnessed in Eastern Europe, Russia/USSR, North Korea, Cuba and China. You may think that government has the right and the task providing for people, but I believe that this is exactly the kind of thing with which government often does more harm than good. By taking from me (without my direct consent) and giving to others, you do not allow me to choose in helping other people and you do not make those on the receiving end responsible for their activities. The government by definition ought to be blind to peoples' ideologies and lifestyles as long as they are not infringing on the rights of others - BUT, by giving people money, they automatically are required to look at their lifestyle to make sure that money is not being thrown away or used for purposes other than for which they were intended. It is much more efficient to allow me as a volunteer or philanthropist to do this - i.e. make sure that the money I worked for is going to those who are going to use it in a meaningful manner - than for a blind beaurocracy to do so.
    The original intention of this latest rant was to point out that while those who believe that the government is responsible for providing all for all and believe that it should come from those who have something to give, are the same people who think that no responsibility should be taken on the part of the individual to conform to a normalized and agreed upon code of conduct. And these are the people with the loudest voice. It is time for that to change. The opposition to this ideology should be more conscious of voicing their opinions and not hide behind the shroud of "do as thy pleaseth". Where are the 500,000 people marching in Europe or the US demanding that Saddam take responsibility for the agreements he signed 10 years ago and allow unlimited access to his country by weapons inspectors? (See FAZ, Über 500.000 demonstrieren gegen drohenden Irak-Krieg) Why do we need another consensus on whether or not Saddam has done something wrong, when it is obvious that he has broken prior agreements and is doing things with weapons that was forbidden through prior agreements? When is Saddam going to be held responsible for the terror he has put his people through? When are dictators like Castro going to be openly discredited for their lies and propagandistic news? Where are the demonstrators against these types of atrocities? To me, the freedom-fighters of the 60's and 70's have simply become the right hand of the so-called socialist regimes who are so blind to the disgusting horrors committed by those governments because they "like" the ideology behind what those leaders support. Fight for what you originally were against with thought and contemplation. Blind passivity towards a Saddam-like regime is simply another way of supporting what a dictator like Saddam does to his people.

I know this comment comes a bit late in the day (well, I can claim it is still Veteran's Day in other areas in the U.S.), but I nevertheless wanted to say thanks to those who fought and gave their lives for the freedoms I hold very dear.
I was just doing my before-bed reading and I came across an article about people fighting the latest atomic material transport through Germany. My feelings aside regarding the issue of atomic transport as a whole, I almost began to lament the fact that these people had the freedom to do what they are doing... I thought a bit about that, then I realized where my real irritation lies - it is in the fact that we have an activist mentality concerning things of idealism - i.e. what we as a society should be for or against - but rarely do people picket and fight for those things which concern the spiritual and mental well-being of the individual. Where are the protesters fighting for our right to allow societal decisions not to be made by a group of pannicked and uninformed people, but individuals who are capable of best making decisions for our society by pursuing their own interests?
I guess what irritates me most is that the constant energy shown by activists is not put towards a more noble cause of limiting the power of dictators and tyrannical regimes in the world - similar to the way many of the forefathers of the free world did for us.

    At first I was going to entitle this "Why so biased?" but then I realized that I might turn off even more people to what I have to say than normal because bias is a loaded word - so is blind, but it is not nearly so harsh and I don't mean it in the traditional manner. I want to know why people are so blind to the fact that life is a lot more complicated than they would like to make it. I personally feel that we ought to try simplifying life's difficult matters in order to solve problems, but when viewing why people act and react the way they do, often the simple answer is not it. Simplicity is all to often used in order to convince someone you are right instead of trying to tell it "like it is." Here is an example:
In one of the latest Tagebuch/diary entries I received from a friend stands a quote out of The Guardian:
"...Interessant ist, dass es sich bei den 39% der Entscheidungstraeger nun mehrheitlich um konservative Waehler gehandelt zu haben scheint, die, die Republikaner waehlen naemlich. Wer die Republikaner waehlt, waehlt Bush, das war jedem klar, Bushs Wahlkampagne war wirklich nicht zu uebersehen, und Bush waehlen heisst in diesen Tagen, den Krieg waehlen. Auch diese Aussage wurde niemals so subtil geaeussert, dass irgendjemand Zweifel an den Inhalten von Bushs
Auslandspolitik entwickeln koennte. "Die Amerikaner haben diese Woche eine
schicksalhafte Entscheidung getroffen. Sowohl sie als auch der Rest der
Welt werden mit den Konsequenzen leben - oder in einigen Fällen sterben
- müssen." ("The Guardian", Großbritannien, 11/7/02)
Roughly translated: "Interestingly, it seems that 39% of the voters (decision makers) are mostly conservative and mostly Republicans. Those who vote for the Republicans, vote for Bush and it is clear that Bush's campaign was not to be ignored - and voting for Bush these days means voting for war..." It goes on and quotes someone who doesn't appear to be named. Either the translation missed the person who was quoted or it was simply not given. My point is that what the Germans so often call "plump und moralisch" is exactly this type of simplification of the voting that Americans did on the 4th of November. I already wrote about my irritation with low voter turnout - only so typical in a country that seems to be die-hard to defend the freedom of a democratically controlled government. (Note, sarcasm) What I am irritated by is that there are many of us who voted for the Republicans for reasons way beyond the war - and this is so conveniently left out of the examination of our voting habits. The most important of these reasons is the way the Democrats handle our tax dollars. Part of the frustration with the Democrats is that they are constantly pitting one segment of society against the other in order to gain votes. Often enough it is pit the so-called rich against the poor - as if someone is at fault for succeeding (or growing up in a family filled with success stories). This only works over the short run until they start pitting their own voters against one another. Another frustration is that even when the Democrats have come out against any war with Iraq, they use a half-baked approach - and in the end, never seem to be able to stand by their ideals. I obviously have little problem with this because I find that those who show little backbone deserve to be picked out and flogged by public opinion. I cannot personally say what I would do, were I a politician under the constant barrage of commentary and requests from the constituents and the lobbyists. On the other hand, I could never imagine entering the political field with the hopes of making it my career. I would view it as a yet another stepping stone aimed at achieving a specific type of success. In a way, I almost feel that the treatment of politics as a profession is its downfall in general - how can we expect leaders to understand our plight - i.e. the way their decisions effect our lives - if they are never held to the same standards we are? Look at President Clinton. Why is it that we would be quick to judge against a CEO who acted as recklessly with an intern or secretary, but with the President of the United States, such behavior is excusable? To say such a thing is to truly show no backbone... And to say that excusing him is showing our sophistication is only showing our lack of conviction. Read: conviction is good, lack thereof is bad!
    I digress... I started this soapbox opera with the hopes of venting my irritation with the snob-nosed approach many Europeans take towards our politics. What is sometimes even more frustrating is that they can't see their own forrest for the trees. We are constantly criticized for having no regard for the welfare of the world around us. Their answer? Make everyone the same - beholden to the same beaurocratic regulation that squashes my desire to overcome whatever natural and talent based obstacles stand in my way. Our answer - if you don't like the way we do things, you have every right to go elsewhere for your products and services. I do not say that with an air of sarcasm or cynicism - I mean that comment seriously. If you don't like the way we do things, then quit supporting us financially - i.e. quit buying our products. You want to affect Americanism - hit it in the pocket book! As to the issue of statism or "beaurocrat-ism": I admit readily that I am not equal to my fellow man. I have talents and vices that are different - I am different. The only level playing field we could ever pretend to have would be that of how we are seen in the eyes of the law - i.e. no man shall be judged according to a different set of rules than the other. That, however, is exactly what we are doing to our society when we try to claim that man is made equal in talent and vice - oh, and by the way, each person should be paid the same regardless of "Leistung."
    To claim that we voted for war is missing the point. What we voted for was a change in the status quo which we feel has put us in our current situation: poor economy, political turmoil locally and internationally. Some of us who voted for the Republicans, voted so because we felt that they would provide us the leadership we were lacking with the Democrats. Whether this equals voting for war or not really depends on the candidate and the voter. To simplify any of this further would really be Simpel.

By the way - I actually started writing this post two days ago and never had the chance to finish - a la business called...

    I was surfing aimlessly the other day and came across wilwheaton.net and at first was like... Oh no, not another self indulgent actor/actress website. I was very (happily) surprised by what I found. It is the weblog of the former Mr. Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Yes, I admit having been an avid watcher when I was growing up... and I always thought how cool it would be to be on a show like that with so many cool people. I laugh at that now, but it doesn't take away from the fact that this was a kid I totally respected when I was younger - on top of that, he was in "Stand by Me!" Okay, anyway, I didn't really want to get into yet another Fettig dissertation... I simply wanted to blow by the issue and mention that it is a nice site and it is really nice to see that he actually does the work for it himself. Very cool, indeed.

    Well, I cannot believe it and... well... you probably would - I'm currently testing Pocket Blog on my Toshiba e740 Pocket PC. All I can say is damn... this is going to make weblogging from bed that much easier! Oh poor you! Combine this with the ever present wifi networks here at home and my writing will either get better with practice or simply more unbearable.

A few items to note:

-> Aaron, I like the changes you have made to your site! Keep up the great work!
-> How lucky are those of us who live in the developed world? I was going down to our home office to finish up some "play" work I have been occupying my ''free" time with and sat back to contemplate life while 2 gigs worth of data was flowing from my laptop to our ''media server" and I started to think, "holy cow, I have more computers sitting in my home than most small businesses have period. How did I ever get here? How is it that my daily worries are comprised of making sure I recorded my favorite tv show on our pvr and made backups of my email lest I lose the spam I just received from some idiot who decided to waste my time with the latest obnoxious porn message. Yeah, these are my daily worries. The last time I worried about eating or having enough food in my stomach was when I lost my ATM card and was too lazy to drive home 15 min. to eat leftovers from the dinner my wife had cooked for us the night before. And this was a dinner that put most $100 restaurant meals to shame... Yup, I have a hard life." I don't feel guilty about all of the blessings that have been bestowed upon me, but I do feel thankful and only hope that some of my hard work will effect someone elses life in a positive manner! Just think, if you effected 3 people positively through monetary help or a simple good deed, and every one else in the world did that, we wouldn't need luck or the latest government handout - we would already have what we needed from our fellow man. Lofty goal/thought? Perhaps but how hard would this really be?
-> American Pie is funny, Road Trip is funnier. I dont think Steffi cares for the humor in either...
-> Two things I learned while in Copenhagen recently: Kaluha Coffee is the nectar of the gods & I would never in a million years pay 200% tax on a damn car and hence, would never live in Denmark. I still have not figured out whose loss it is, though.

I don't often say it out loud it, but I do like rap... I think my father is disgusted by the thought (my mom wouldn't say much anyway besides warning me against listening to stuff that "brings you down") and I think Steffi simply gets annoyed by it. BUT, here I am alone this afternoon - Sunday, my day of vegetation - and I happened across some old Busta Rhymes... and I love it. I think I would go crazy if I listened to this for more than 4 hours straight - expecially "Fire it Up which cycles the old Knight Rider song in the background - but for now I'm just peachy... Thanks Busta!

    I felt like I haven't, so I decided to take a few moments to add to my blog... But, because I couldn't come up with anything good and after eating, my heart just isn't in rant mode, I am stuck with "Got procrastination?" I do! I do!
    I've been trying to get my accounting homework done for about 3 hours now and am getting nowhere... I don't know how much further I'll get at this pace. What this made me think of, though, is a question I would love people to answer honestly:

"What are your favorite techniques of procrastination?"

    I think before I answer that one personally, I'm going to think about it... ehem... procrastinate.

    I won't say that moviegoing is a good use of time, but it is often enough of a cathartic experience that everyone should go through once in a while... my opinion. I can't decide whether spending 400 movie tickets worth of money (i.e. US$8,000 for the ultimate home theater w/ 42" plasma screen television and other a/v stuff / $20 a pop for Steffi and I to go to the cinemas/movies) is worth making the nook behind our home office into a mini screening room. (If you don't know me, I'm being sarcastic.) Because I can't justify (although I do try) the expense, I don't think it's going to happen any time soon, BUT that does not take away from the fact that we ought to get out more... I think the last time I was at a movie was in Windsor, ON of all places to see "Kapax" w/ Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey. And that was over a year ago. Then again, sitting next to some idiot who decides to talk through the entire movie is not my idea of enjoyment.
    I'm still procrastinating (re entry below)...
...
   ...
      ...
Humph... I don't see enough movies :(

   Procrastination accomplished and yet 1 1/2 hrs. worth of homework actually done. I'm so proud of myself...

QotD (question of the day): Have you ever tried to find a penny in a haystack? (Yes, I am aware that the phrase is actually "needle in a haystack.") In my case it has been 50 and 48 to be exact, in two money haystacks that goes beyond a few thousand dollars... I've spent the past two days looking for the penny and found the first 50... I was so ecstatic! Then I realized it was only 11 am and I couldn't take the rest of the day off. I'm off now, though, to find the other 48 pennies... I feel motivated by knowing it can be done.
...I'm just sick of looking at hay...

Well, I'm addicted... for now... to weblogs of friends and unknowns alike... So, I have two things to say to 601am's author (a friend who shall remain anonymous -- joke):
-> I, like you have been counting down the days to TNN's Bond movies... Ohhh, how could one miss such fine dramatic cinematography??? (Note: no sarcasm - I really don't know about combining "fine cinematography" with James Bond, but I do, indeed like the films.)
-> No, I wasn't watching 7th Heaven yesterday... I swear it! (I may see the rerun though. Gulp...)

One other fine note Mr. 601am mentioned has to do with this friggin' freak. I saw something on the news out of Chicago tonight - a quick clip - and noticed that some others have mentioned it also. I couldn't help it. What a ... I don't even know what to put in place of my dot, dot, dot. How far does one have to go to get so self involved that one is completely removed from reality?

Please... please, please, PLEASE take a look at this. If you have any sense of humor, you will laugh your butt off.

    Now that I've become completely piqued by the weblog epidemic, I realized this morning (after further procrastination on my Accounting project) that the weblog just may have saved the web. While the quality of news has gone down over the past few years (and probably more, but I have noticed an exceptional decline in the last two years), there has been an increase in the number of people creating their own type of news and commentary, namely through this blogging mechanism. When I first encountered blogs/weblogs, I thought... oh great, yet another passing web fad. In fact, I think because I was introduced to it through a friend in NYC, I discounted it even further as yet another yuppie invention for self indulgence. Let me say clearly, I was way off base and had I taken a closer look earlier, I might have noticed a trend that delights my soul - it's as if the Athenian markets were again open for debate... The difference, of course, is that much of what you read and see is not objective; it is thoroughly subjective - but most of those publishing their ideas and commentaries aren't selling it as if it were objective. So the difference is that we are seeing "news" for what it really is (and yes, Mr. Clinton, there is a definition to is) - commentary...
    All hail the weblog!!! And for that, the net lives on.

Side Note:
As an example, I was surfing around and came across the following interesting sites within minutes:
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire
potkettleblog
the New York Minute
cyborgirl.com : I want more life
Blogcritics
the RANT: A Journal of Independent Political Thought

Oh the sheer pain of proving that someone is wrong... I don't know whether I am simply obsessed or whether it is my calling to respond to some of the ridiculous claims made day in and day out by the neo-socialists of this world. I want to preface the following dissertation with this disclaimer: I disagree and am bothered by the socialist ideology because of its methodology and its perverse tendency to be illogical by use of assumption and lack of understanding and/or recognition of how the world operates. I am lacking the time necessary to really discuss an example of what I am talking about, but I hope to spend some time showing you, the reader, what I really mean. For right now, I hope the following quip will do:
Let as get one thing straight: the divide between the rich and poor cannot be constantly increasing. Think about it... it really does not make sense - if it were the case, the poor would not be better off today than they were 10, 20, 50 years ago (just take a look at the material possessions a poor person has now versus 20 years ago). There are arguments and statistics that actually show this, but I was intending to be brief. The socialist agenda intends to prove that social and economic equality are not only the same but are actually the means by which we can assist our fellow man. Economic equality would no more help man than it would to suddenly decide that everyone should live and work according to his or her own schedule - i.e. I do what I want, when I want to do it. Such ways of creating so-called equality forget that man is a) an individual and inherently acts in his or her own interest, and b) that giving everyone the monetary means to do as he or she pleases does not do anything but stagnate drive and ambition. Socialism is statism and statism is nothing but a way of wasting human capacity and encouraging laziness.

Live each day for that day and let tomorrow become what it will be. This way, each day will become what it was capable of being and tomorrow will follow.

Here is a quote in an email I recently received - I'm trying desperately to find the original, English version:

"Befreit von allen Gleichheitsidealen, reissen die
Reichen in den USA immer mehr Wohlstand an sich.
Die Mittelschicht loest sich auf."

(Paul Krugman, New York Times Magazine, 10/20/02)

This seems to be such a favorite catch phrase... and yes, it is catching. Ohhh, the dangers of the rich in a free society! The rich will one day rule and I will have and be no more! (Can you catch the sarcasm?) I want to come up with a different phrase: What has a richie done to you today? (I'd love to take the time to actually think about this and make the phrase shorter and more catchy, but while I am spending time chasing after the dollar signs - in order to put everyone under my domination - I don't have the time and quite frankly, don't want to take the time.)

And wow!, the guy quoted above might even have been quoted out of context. Anyway, the point here is that the quote above is nothing more than a quick way to catch people's attention without thinking further about the issue. Duh! everything is there... it's all so clear now!
Now here is something that is thoughtful... and even makes sense.

Really... This totally irks me and makes me realize where most people's frustration comes from. For the second time within 12 hrs. I have tried to use either Kung-Log or PocketBlog to post to Jitterin' Thoughts and the programs have crashed... Arrrggghhh! I really dislike having to spend time retyping what I have already composed TWICE!

I guess. (This entry should have been made sometime late, late last night, but was interrupted due to program crashes...) I was perusing my reading material for bedtime reading and realized how nerdish my life has become. This is what Currently Reading looks like:
Hackproofing your Network
Learning Perl, 2nd Ed.
Complete CSS
MySQL and Perl for the Web
How to Practice (Dalai Lama)
The Question of God (Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, Jr.)
...when computer books outweigh the number of metaphysical works you are reading, you have really crossed the line into nerddom.

-> Two observations from the wedding Steph and I attended last night:
1) It is fantastic to see two people who love each other, solidify their commitment to one another through the ceremony of marriage. Good luck Galina and Matt!
2) Miller Beer sucks... badly. But, free Miller Beer doesn't taste too bad...

-> Microsoft, please!!! (or someone else) come up with a damn browser for your mini devices (i.e. PDA's/Pocket PC's) that can actually render normal websites into a readable format - oh, and speed up the rendering engine too! (A 400 Mhz X-Scale processor should be plenty fast.) That and webdesigners (me included), realize that your websites are being viewed by a great number of different devices and it would be great if you would consider designs that lent themselves to being viewed with relative ease...

-> I was tired at this point in time and tried to post this message... but, PocketBlog failed me and crashed because I moved the location of mythoughts and it didn't like it. How in the world can you explain having to reinstall the software just to change your site settings??? That makes absolutely no sense!!! Then, as I tried to do the same with Kung-Log (the two programs, incedentally I had rave reviews about earlier this month) and it crashed, too!!! This is ridiculous!!!

call me perverted... but the Simpsons this evening was hilarious. Never have I seen the gratuitous use of sex in a mainstream cartoon before, and I wouldn't normally condone it, but this was simply too funny - a total parody on the superficiality of our culture. If you are too shocked to see the humor, I feel sorry for you.

I just think this is cool - take a look:
Picture Yourself dot org

I'm intelligent... right? Well, maybe not so much. I shocked the hell out of myself installing new lights in our living room. Funny... leaves an aftertaste.

I'm so happy, I just had to let someone know (or many someones for that matter). After about a year in hiatus, my trusty old Delonghi espresso machine came out of the cupboard and made some awesome drinks yesterday. Now I know again why that had been a passion of mine for so long. No, the Delonghi we have doesn't make the best brew, but it surely beats the junk often served at Starbucks. It still amazes me that a company that prides itself on coffee can stoop sooo very low in what it serves and sells. I just bought a pound of Mocha Java and the stuff was dry as a desert heat! (For those who may not understand why this is bad, it is simple - roasted coffee beans should have an oily appearance. If they don't, the beans are likely old and you are getting some stale coffee.) Not that most people would notice this, but for $10+ a pound, this is ridiculous! I don't know how many times I have to remind myself that roasting at home or Alterra's is still the best - and it is cheaper! Alas, Starbucks is all I have today, and I am still happy.

Ahhh... the joys of kaffee. I tried to start a mini-faq on the www/php portion of the website, but it never came to fruition. I was spending too much time drinking cafe au lait or espresso or coffee "straight up" (or even the Kaluha coffee that I thought would be my certain death due to its addictive qualities), so I never got around to gathering all of my "experience" in the coffee trade (which amounts to... pardon the pun... a hill of beans, but still has brought me quite a ways from where I began - 1994 in Germany). Well, I found the drive and ambition to explore a bit again this year and with Christmas coming up, perhaps I can pry myself away from computer gear to get back into the black liquid trade.
What was the purpose of this rambling?!? Oh yeah, it was to make a suggestion if you like or even love coffee - take a look at Coffee Kid dot com and CoffeeGeek dot com respectively. One can learn a lot. Trust me.

• Thanksgiving is a time of fun and enjoyment in our family. No, really... it is. We have a huge family. I always forget that just on my mom's side, there are about 60 of us now. (That is including the children of the cousins.) I think on my dad's side it is quite a bit over that number, although I haven't seen many of them for so many years, I am no longer sure. I had a great time watching the little kids play. I think if anyone needs entertainment, turn off your tv, go over to either of my brothers' houses and watch the little ones. It should take about 5 minutes before you are in tears (either from a stray kick to the nether regions or from some ridiculous statement or story). It is sad, though, how little our family actually gets together. I don't say that in a loathing spirit - it would be difficult for us to get together all the time. Everyone is on the go and seems to always be conquering their next and latest project. I happen to see most of my family every day because we work together, but even then, we rarely get together because of all that is going on in our individual lives. That's really why I enjoy the holidays - getting together with family. In our case, it is [luckily] in a relaxed atmosphere - most of us have time off (which is unusual) and therefore the time together seems to be all the more interesting and important. The debate is good, the food is good, the spirit is good... did I mention that the food is good. The only thing left to really complete the circle would be a house big enough to hold us all. I will keep dreaming...

• Do you think Bush is hell-bent on bombing Iraq?
    My answer? No. Doug asked me this the other day. Being that he asks these questions with a true interest in the answer, I tried to be as thoughtful about it as possible and came up with no. If Bush were hell-bent on bombing Iraq, he would have already done it. Why entangle yourself further into the debate if you are going to do it anyway? (The point being entanglement in further debate and not desire to do so.) First of all, Bush has a lot more room now to wait and see. Inspections are in the process of starting again and now he has the 15 gazillianth UN ultimatum that Iraq is not to be harboring any weapons of mass destruction. I don't believe Saddam is going to hold up his end of the bargan, but neither am I concerned with that, because the world is actually watching and not simply talking about Iraq. Do I think that we should bomb Iraq? Yes/no. Yes, to bomb the heck out of any facility which might be storing weapons that have impact beyond Iraq's borders. No, I do not think we should go in with ground troups because we are risking too many American lives that would be used better planning the technologically driven defeat of Iraq and not a hand-to-hand defeat.
    If Bush decides to go into Iraq, it will be after Saddam has broken his promise... unlikely before. Inevitable? unfortunately... What a waste of life.

• Do you think we are going to end up with socialized medicine in the US?
    Yes. I think that we as a culture are too lazy to recognize and accept that free is not free and free is usually worse than something you pay for.
• Do I want socialized medicine?
    Hell no. Ask whether people are getting better health care in countries that have socialized medicine than in the US. The answer is no. We have more access to health care and better over-all service. Are we perfect? Hell no. You would be a nut to suggest that what we have is perfect. What we have is an in-between mess that I am scared, but pretty sure, is going to get worse. And people are going to simply blame the people providing the service and not the beaurocracy causing the problems.

• 601am - no worries. I think it's funny.
    601am writes that he is irritated and embarrassed by his boss suggesting we should bomb Canada to make them stronger. Assuming that this person is not serious, it is actually somewhat funny... because, who in their right mind would bomb someone to make them stronger? I know I am begging the question, but I'm going to let this one go anyway - oh yeah... because it is supporting my opinion. Oh, and do I think someone in the position mentioned should say something like that publicly? I don't know... but I would have personally thought twice about it.

• Do I weigh more?
    I'm working on it. There are two days left to this weekend which equates to at least 6 mealtimes.

    I feel full of questions today and want to ask one more: How do you feel about Windows XP and the issues regarding privacy - i.e. giving Microsoft so much personal information in order to simply use their OS? I'm considering another mobile device and I am caught between a rock and a hard place. I already decided that the Pocket PC was simply too expensive and too limited (i.e. too much money for too little performance). I also promised to never buy another machine with anything beyond Windows 2000 on it due to my concerns regarding what Microsoft does with my private information, but the reality is that there is a boat-load of software and the like that is only available on MS driven machines - and I would like access to some of it - plus... I want a tiny laptop and Apple has yet to come out with anything smaller than their iBook. What to do...
    In all honesty, if you have a suggestion, drop me a note and let me know what your thoughts are. If you give me permission, I will post your email here.