Intellectual Poison

With 2007 breathing its last gasps and 2008 about to roll in to town I thought it was about time to lay some goals down. They are, in no particular order:

1. Financial stability - being out of work for 8 months takes a wicked toll on savings. I'd just as soon avoid anything even remotely resembling such a layoff.
2. Push inventions - I've got several good ideas that I'd like to get off my drawing board and into production.
3. Regular exercise - exercise makes the body work better and the brain is part of the body so keeping my body in shape will allow me to better deal with the stresses of raising two kids.
4. Better quality time with family - not having financial issues hanging over us should help with that.
5. Trips - I'd like to return to Spring Training in Arizona and take some camping trips this year. It has been too long since I've been back to Big Sur.
6. Create and develop additional revenue streams - I take a decent photo and would like to monetize those skills more to make my family less dependent on a single source of income. And there's a couple of websites that are in development as well.
7. Clean out the junk - my garage is all but unusable because of the accumulated junk in it. I want to clear it out, clean my office out and not have so much clutter all around.

Not bad goals if I do say so myself. I have a couple of other goals but they're a bit personal so I'll keep them to myself for now. But I will note them if and when I am able to complete them.

Labels: 2008, goals

Here it is, the last Cheddar X of 2007.

1. What single personal event in 2007 stands out?
The most defining moment of 2007 for me was getting laid off way back in February and went a long way towards making 2007 a forgettable year for me.

2. What single news event in 2007 stands out to you?
So many stories to choose from, so many political scandals (wide stance anyone?), so many tawdry celeb-gossip stories. Its very difficult to choose. I think I'm going to go with Michael Vick, former NFL star quarterback, getting indicted for running a disgusting dog fighting ring on his Virginia property and participating in the execution of sub-par animals.

3. Who do you think the Person of the Year for 2007 should be?
Britney Spears because she provided more laughs and drama than any other ten people combined. But I also think she should be institutionalized and her mother euthanized.

4. What was the worst thing that happened to you in 2007?
See #1 above.

5. What was the worst thing that happened in 2007?
Blatant criminals like Alberto Gonzales, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and other bastards from the Bush camp continue to walk free when they are traitors to this nation and the ideals upon which it was founded.

6. What are you looking forward to in 2008?
Putting 2007 behind me, having, holding and keeping regular employment with benefits. Seeing my two boys grow up a little bit more. Riding my bikes alot more, maybe seeing my westwardly mobile brother and his family more, spring training in Arizona, starting the process of taking some of my inventions from drawing board to retail shelf. Continuing my growth and learning as a photographer including more professional (read that: paying) gigs. And oh yeah, getting me an iPhone!

Labels: 2007, best thing, cheddar x, retrospective, worst thing

The New England Patriots completed the regular football season tonight with a perfect 16-0 record. A feat unmatched since the 1972 Dolphins.

It was a pretty good game that kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through to the end. Despite the bumbling commentary from Bryant Gumble and Chris Collinsworth.

Collinsworth in particular said some pretty stupid stuff, including that the Pats need to win the Super Bowl to have a truly successful season. Um yeah. They won all 16 regular season games and he requires a Super Bowl win to count them among the best teams of all time. Why not count the three Super Bowls they've won in the last six years.

And someone should let Gumball know what the difference is between the third and fourth quarters. At 4 minutes left in the third, he said the game had 4 minutes left. Nice work, dumbass.

The game was enough to overlook the crappy ass commentary though. Eli Manning played well, the Giants played well but not quite well enough to defeat the balanced and superb Patriots.

Bill Belichick might be an ass with a hole but he's also one hell of a good coach and I tip my hat to him, his coaches and his players. Now the real season begins!

Labels: football, Patriots

I came across an article on Real Tech News about the Tony-b Machine, its an online virtual synthesizer controlled via keyboard and mouse that's pretty fun to play around with. I'm not a mixmaster by any stretch but it is pretty easy to lay down some funky beats, add some cool sounds over it and then record the whole thing to share with others.

Get your groove on and have some fun!

Labels: music, online, synthesizer, virtual

I am battling yet another cold, my fourth or fifth in the last few months now. The result of working in the school and being exposed to a six hundred times the germs I am usually exposed to.

Only this latest sniffling bugger of a cold didn't come from the school, it came from a shopping cart or some other public spot. And I kicked the door open wide for it to come and make itself comfortable in my nose by not getting enough good sleep and being really stressed over the last week or so.

To help combat these repeated and tiring battles between my beleaguered immune system and the galaxy of pathogens, I'm educating myself on what I can do to strengthen my defenses and stay healthier.

To that end, I read Using Your Immune System to Stay Well at WebMD. The distilled advice is pretty simple with a couple of surprises tossed in.

1. Get enough sleep.
2. Wash your hands thoroughly and often.
3. Chicken soup, mushrooms and green tea can help boost immune response.
4. Listening to music can help elevate IGA (a protein from the immune system that helps fight infections) levels in the short term and can last beyond the last note. Music can also help de-stress which is good for both mental and physical health.
5. Sex can also boost IGA levels as well as just a loving touch.
6. Echinacea alone will not help but has long been thought to boost immune response when used in conjunction with other herbs.

To that end, I'm going to go and have myself some soup while listening to some Cake. But I'll be taking my tissues with me.

Labels: cold, immune system, sick

You have, no doubt, heard or read or seen the news about the fatal tiger attack at the SF Zoo on Christmas Day. It was and is a tragedy that ended the lives of two creatures, a 17 year old kid and a rare Siberian tiger named Tatiana.

As more and more information about the escape and attack comes out, it appears more and more likely that the three friends who were attacked were being jerks and taunting the animal. They must have about shat themselves when the 400 pound wild animal got pissed off enough to escape and exact some retribution.

Not that being a jerk means you should be mauled to death by a tiger but common sense dictates you don't piss off killing machines. Not only is a good sign that you're an asshole but, occasionally, those killing machines get loose and they remember jerks.

The investigation is on going, of course, and, if it turns out, that the three men were innocent victims of a tiger with a bad attitude then I will apologize for my words above. However, all signs are pointing to these three throwing stuff and then dangling a leg into the enclosure.

The zoo is apparently somewhat at fault for not having a more secure enclosure but if you piss off an animal enough it will figure out a way to get back at you. It is appearing that Christmas was payback day.

The whole thing is sad and was totally avoidable.

Labels: attack, avoidable death, tiger

Digital photo frames are a very cool innovation as they allow all kinds of different photos to be displayed in one place. But they have disadvantages, like having to load images onto a media card and putting it in the frame and then having to repeat that process whenever you wanted new pictures.

So, my idea is to web-enable a digital frame, be able to point it at a Flickr photostream and display new images as they are uploaded to the website. This way, I could give a frame to my mom that's preconfigured to download the latest pictures of her beautiful grandchildren.

The frame could also include a card slot to save favorite images for transfer to computers, printing or for a slideshow in the frame.

I'm sure someone is already working on this and it'll be pretty sweet when they're widely available.

[Update: Easy was kind enough to provide the confirmation that this product does, in fact, already exist. Made by The Original Digital Picture Frame Company Ceiva. It isn't quite exactly what I had in mind but it is a web-enabled digital picture frame, the only drawback I can see is that the updated pictures need to be subscribed to and cost $100 a year or so. I guess I'm looking for a non-subscription set up that I can point to any photo stream I'd like. But it is definitely a great start!]

Labels: convergence, Flickr, invention

Today's new word is inspired by the massive police presence on the highways and byways during this holiday break (236 DUI arrests over the last couple of days in the Bay Area).

Copupied - (pronounced cop-u-pied) when you're out driving on the road and see a cop and, even though you've done nothing wrong, you are acutely aware of his presence and become preoccupied with him.

Labels: nwotd

The day is done, my boys are asleep in their beds (well, Grady's sleeping in my bed right now) and my wife and I got a chance to talk some stuff over that needed talking over (ooh, doesn't that sound ominous?).

In between all that, we visited with friends we haven't seen in far too long, had a good time at my in-laws with a full house of family and kids and presents and ham and turkey and stuffing and gravy and more.

I got some pretty thoughtful and thought provoking gifts (thanks Mom!) and enjoyed seeing my two beautiful boys open and have a ball with their new things. Sully's big win for the day is a toy ride on Kawasaki ATV that makes noises and is pretty kickass for an 18 month old (or a three and a half year old as the case may be) to tool around on. Grady's big wins include a Leapster portable learning/gaming system and a Geo Trax Grand Central Station which has been added to our collection so that now we can quite literally take over the entire living room with snap together trains.

Also, my gloom and doom mood has, largely, lifted as the day passes into yesterday. I've still got a bunch of stuff to do and stuff to mail but that's alright, I've still got a couple of weeks off work to do them. And to start putting some plans together for 2008, including camping, weekend biking trips, family vacations to spring training (perhaps) and much, much more.

Labels: christmas, xmas

Folks, you may have the most compelling stories ever on your blog, you might even be trying to tell me how to not be such a grumpy asshole during the holidays. But you know what? I stopped reading your latest blog entry because it became rather glaringly obvious that you didn't bother to proof your writing. Skipped words, misspelled words and sentences that end in a dangle without a real finish.

Content may be king but formatting has gotta rank in there somewhere too.

Note, today's screed was brought on by reading a "professional" photography blog that had at least four things screwed up in the first paragraph and the mistakes didn't slow up. I stopped reading after three paragraphs and a migraine.

Please, for the love of grammar, proof your posts or, better yet, have someone else proof them before they go live. The language you are beating into a bloody pulp is my language and it doesn't need anymore abuse, it gets plenty of that from rap lyrics and drunkards.

There now, back to your revelry and last minute shopping.

[Update: As nearly always happens when I rant about bad proofing of posts, I didn't proof this one as carefully as I should have. As Pedant gently pointed out. But the flubbage (nice eh?) has been corrected almost as if it never happened.]

Labels: grammar counts, spellcheck, spelling counts

I read this article on SFGate, Tough Odds for Gambling Addicts knowing that I wasn't really going to learn too much that was new.

Casinos exist because they make money, lots of it, off of chumps and addicts. They are not in existence to lose money and make everyone a winner. Casinos are designed, lighted and created for the sole purpose of extracting as much of your money as possible before you break free and get away.

One bit of info in the article was new and kind of a shocker.

At the root of that growth is Indian gaming, which has exploded in California from a limited-game $1.4 billion business in 2000 to a $7.7 billion behemoth today that draws more than 10 million gamblers a year - and has eclipsed Las Vegas' $6.5 billion annual take to become the premier gambling region of America.

California now does more gambling business than Las Vegas (at least above the board legal gambling) and that's both eye-opening and really depressing.

I understand why gambling is addictive, its the lure of easy money, its the natural human tendency to pave over bad experiences and remember the good ones (i.e. you forget losing money and only remember winning even if you lost ten times what you won), its flashing lights and bells and whistles and mayhem. The instant you set foot in a casino, you are on their turf and they control literally everything in order to coerce you to lose your money faster.

I gamble when I go to casinos, not too much but some. And I almost invariably lose whatever money I take. The trick is to not take very much money or just avoid the casinos altogether.

Labels: addiction, gambling

Until the end of the awful Christmas ads.

I'm trying not to get all bah-humbuggy but it is all but impossible sometimes. The bombardment to spend, spend, spend to prove, prove, prove your love for your family and friends is incessant and wears you down. Not unlike a trip to Las Vegas where you don't gamble at all the first day but slowly, slowly they get their hooks into you and, before you know it, you're blowing twenty bucks a hand on blackjack and down a thousand bucks.

One more day and then the world starts to return to whatever passes for normal. Actually more like 36 hours since today has just begun.

I wish I could find even a speck of holiday spirit but I'm so thoroughly beat down and tired of the whole stupid ass charade that I am just in a holding pattern until the storm passes.

Let's face it, Christmas for adults sucks. Not that it shouldn't but there's so much run up, so much hyping and then the actual day is, without fail, a depressing letdown.

On a mildly positive note, I did, eventually, get some cards printed up to send out. I guess they're called holiday cards since there's no chance they go out before Christmas. Not that it matters really, does it?

Anyway, without getting into too much of it, I'm having a crappy holiday break. I think I need to get away for a day or two and see if I can regain a little perspective.

Labels: advertising, christmas, holiday

Just what the title says, how do you do your Christmas or Hanukah or Kwanzaa or Festivus or Jolly Days?

Do you pile presents under a tree and await the morning of the 25th to explode into an orgy of pretty paper shredding frenzy? Or do you open a present here and there on the way to the 25th? Is the holiday season all about traditions and decorations? Or is a non-stop party? Are you focused on children or parents or favorite cousins?

I come from pretty traditional Christmas celebrations with stockings hung on the mantle with care, a pile of presents under the tree and weeks of anticipation. Which was fun and fine.

But now we do things a little differently for a number of reasons. One, we don't wait until Christmas morning to open a pile of presents. The main reason for this is that it just overloads people with too much all at once and its hard to give each present the attention it deserves. Most especially with toys for the kids. Grady and Sully have been getting a present here and there over the last week or so and it gives them a chance to play with and appreciate the gift.

In Grady's case this is working out quite well because he gets a full day to play and appreciate each toy. And it also gives Sully a chance to play with the toy too. Though I will admit to a little nostalgia for the orgy of gift opening on Christmas morning and the piles of wrapping paper and bags full of loot.

One thing I do love is that both boys really like to make sure the Christmas tree is lit up whenever we're downstairs.

Labels: christmas

If all goes according to plans, I'll be a unionized employee of the school district in a few weeks. Which definitely has some quality perks to it and I'm looking forward to having them. But gaining an understanding of the impact of the union on positions within the district makes me question the uncommon goals of the educational system and the union that represents the workers.

Uncommon meaning that the educational system has a goal of graduating every child with a certain level of skills. The union has a goal of getting as much as possible for the workers it represents. And affording those workers a strange sense of job security even if they happen to do a really bad job.

That's one of the things I don't get about unions. They protect really crappy workers. People, who would normally bounce out after a few months and go on to find something they were actually good at, can sit and fester in their position. They can do a bad job for a long, long time and still draw a paycheck just for occupying their seat at their desk.

There are also some bizarre job claiming rights things going on. If my current temp position's job requirements are rewritten and hours are added to make it full time then the position is opened up to anyone qualified person with seniority (pretty much everyone) in the district to decide they want it can come and take it and force me to work somewhere else. Oh, and the school has no say in it either. Does that make any sense? The school that will be dealing with the tech can't say no to the person coming in to occupy the lab and work around the campus.

Just because they can pass a fingerprint background check doesn't mean that there aren't some pretty freaking creepy geeks walking the earth. Some say over who works at your school would be, I don't know, polite at the least and smart bureaucracy at the best.

I don't pretend to understand even half of the nuance of union relations and definitely not very much of the educational system. But I have a little knowledge of bureaucracy and its special forms of tortured process. It involves lots and lots of meetings and meetings drain life force.

If there are any union folks reading this, enlighten me as to the value of retaining obviously sub-standard workers.

As an aside, someone should make a funny movie called Bureaucrazy modeled after Office Space, it would be instantly accessible by far too many enslaved 'crats.

Labels: bureaucracy, employment, unions

Jamie Lynn Spears pregnant at 16 which is to say, she's setting a great example for all those young fans of her show.

Not that she had much chance at a normal life given the frenzied retardations of her big sister.

But still, anyone that gets excited about a 16 year old getting knocked up needs to get knocked upside the head.

Though I do have to admit that she's pretty darned cute. There's no word on whether the father of the child, Casey Aldridge, whose age is not disclosed in the article, will face statutory rape charges.

Labels: teen pregnancy

On December 18th, 1865, Slavery was abolished. At least the original kind of slavery was abolished. I'm still waiting for wage-slavery to be abolished but it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. And until then, I'll have to be subservient to the hand that signs my paychecks (if I ever get one).

Labels: slavery

I don't know about where you are but it isn't looking at all like Christmas here, unless you celebrate Christmas at the bottom of a lake. We're getting absolutely drenched with rain today and, apparently, all this week.

But they are talking about two FEET of fresh powder up in the Sierra so it'll be looking like Christmas there. And who knows, maybe we'll take a trip up north to go see the snow. Not like I don't have the time to do it since today is my last day of regular work until the 11th of January.

Yeah, yeah, don't get all hateful on me, 99% of that time is unpaid. But it is time off so there is that. And we've got two projects to keep us busy during the break so that will help some. But I will probably be working on some of my other projects to keep me from going too crazy.

I know I get zero sympathy from folks living where it is real winter now. But that's alright, I'm just kvetching during the current deluge. You won't hear any complaints when the sun is back out and I'm going riding in late December!

Labels: christmas, rain, snow, weather, winter

As with most Survivor finales, I wasn't overly excited about this one. The three finalists were an interesting mix but none of them, in my estimation, really deserved to win the game this time around.

Courtney, the ultra-skinny waitress moppet from New York had coasted through the game despite being physically overmatched at every turn.

Amanda had just gotten irritating with her sad puppy dog look. I figured she had the best chance at the win because her alliance partner, Todd, was a back stabbing liar.

Todd was a back stabbing liar who orchestrated votes and played a strategy game from Day One. Of the three, he was the most deserving but he's also the most weasely of the bunch and I found myself just not liking him at all. That and the hair was just annoying.

Overall, this season turned out alright but they never turn out the way I expect them to. I would have rather seen James or Frosti win the game because they were both great competitors and, seemingly, pretty decent people.

But its another season in the books, more all-stars to cull for future special shows, another crop of reality stars to seed through the rest of the reality landscape, more so during this, apparently, never ending writer's strike.

As an aside, I always hate how sharp the change is from when the votes are cast to when the votes are read. Two weeks passes and the castaways get their weight back, get cleaned up, shaved, their hair done and more and, sometimes, don't even resemble the characters they'd been just a moment (in tv time) before. Courtney in particular went from grungy jungle babe (albeit way to skinny) to a club kid.

Labels: finale, survivor

Four friends killed in head-on collision in San Diego County

I've been wondering about drunk driving and how it could be addressed in a more proactive and preventive way. My latest idea comes as a result of reading the linked article above. The short story is a likely intoxicated guy veered into oncoming traffic in his Yukon (big ass truck) and killed four people in a Camry.

Why not offer lowered insurance rates for cars that get equipped with a breathalyzer that's connected to the ignition. Blow safe or the car doesn't start.

It'd be mandated for previous offenders but people who just wanted a break on rates and maybe prevent their drunker and dumber selves from killing four people.

How much would it have to save you per year before you'd let them install one?

Labels: car crash, death, drunk driving

Have I ever mentioned that Sullivan's most enduring nickname is Faceplant Johnson? It is with good reason. The kid loves to climb up on stuff, fall and land so he hit his head. And then he'll do it again and again.

He delights in stepping off his big brother's bed into space, usually to be caught by his mom or dad but occasionally crashing down to the carpet below. His grin upon the successful planting of his face is pretty comical and I think he might be developing into a class clown sort of kid.

He loves showing off, loves trying to do what his big brother can do, delights in being an annoyance and really enjoys wrecking his big brother's very, very carefully arranged car scenes.

I just hope he eventually grows out of his need/desire to faceplant all the time so we can move on to a less ignominious nickname.

Labels: nickname, raising children

Lieberman Endorses McCain

And with that, the race narrows just a little bit more because an endorsement from Chinless Joe is a pretty clear sign your candidacy is circling the drain.

I was just reading Mark Morford's latest column about his Christmas wish list and he mentioned what is the funniest t-shirt slogan I've heard of in a long, long time.

Via T-Shirthell (which I cannot view from my school connection) the slogan is:
"Every time you see a rainbow, God is having gay sex"

Guaranteed to cause your narrow-minded associates and family paroxysms. And also pretty damned funny.

My personal favorite for a t-shirt or bumper sticker is "Are you evil or just stupid?"

Labels: blasphemy, funny, slogans, t-shirt

So, it may be news to some readers that I am now employed as a computer tech support and instructor at a local elementary school. I am presently a temp but am working towards a full-time (read that, with paid time off, great insurance and some job security) position.

This is my first ever foray into the hallowed world of academia and so far I've found quite alot more pros than cons.

Some of the cons are easy to list off: my computer lab is a balmy 51 degrees right now and, if I'm lucky, it'll hit 65 by quitting time.

But really the pros are outweighing bad stuff by a good margin.

The teachers are grateful to have a positive and helpful tech again after the last guy, who was a grumpy jerk for the most part. The last guy also burned his bridges badly when he left by emailing the entire school district with his resignation and then descending into personal attacks with curses and other stupidity. I understand not liking your job and quitting because of it but I cannot, for the life of me, understand why he felt the need to burn every single contact in the district. That's just short sighted, stupid and demonstrative of a piss poor worker.

I've also gotten a little bit of insight into the workings of the public education system which has been interesting and welcome. More on those later.

Right now I'm closing in on my first paycheck since I started working here almost seven weeks ago. And yes, this is my first real and substantive gripe about the position. One, I dislike being paid once a month. Two, I made sure all of my payroll paperwork was completed and turned into HR well before the deadline because I wanted to make for damned sure I got my paycheck as soon as I could.

The only problem is that my paperwork wasn't processed for ten full days after I turned it in. Five days too late to be processed for the current pay period. The solution they offered? Just wait until January. My response was polite but quite firm that No, I needed some damned money now, not next month but thanks for trying to weasel out of your laziness in not doing your job very well by screwing me over. Thanks ever so much.

With just a little prodding the issue got kicked up the chain and, with some luck, will be resolved later today by the special drafting of a revolving check. The HR director was very helpful in blasting through the red tape and getting this done and I'm appreciative of his help.

Because working for nearly three months without so much as a penny to show for it is absolutely crazy and it would have given me an awfully strong reason to keep my currently idling job search process going at full speed.

As it is, I'm looking forward to the holiday break but not looking forward to no income during that time so I'll be doing what I can to keep the duckets rolling in.

Overall, I really like my job, the kids are great, the teachers are grateful and very nice, the administration is open to suggestions and the hours are really pretty sweet. Oh yeah, my commute is whopping 3 miles which totally kicks the buttocks and I'm looking forward to riding my bike to work soon (once the winter weather has gone away).

Labels: education, employment, work

Brace yourself, its a pretty big list. Broken down into three groups: No Doubters, Probablys and Purt Damn Likelys.

Sadly, a good number of players I like(d) are among the named names. I don't know what the impact of the report will be but hopefully the game of baseball will emerge as a better, cleaner sport.

The following players were connected to steroids, either use or possession, in the report:
Chad Allen
Mike Bell
Gary Bennett
Larry Bigbie
Ricky Bones
Kevin Brown
Ken Caminiti
Mark Carreon
Jason Christiansen
Howie Clark
Roger Clemens
Paxton Crawford
Jack Cust
Brendan Donnelly
Chris Donnels
Lenny Dykstra
Matt Franco
Ryan Franklin
Eric Gagne
Jason Grimsley
Jerry Hairston
Phil Hiatt
Matt Herges
Glenallen Hill
Todd Hundley
Ryan Jorgensen
Wally Joyner
Mike Judd
David Justice
Chuck Knoblauch
Tim Laker
Mike Lansing
Paul Lo Duca
Exavier "Nook" Logan
Josias Manzanillo
Cody McKay
Kent Mercker
Bart Miadich
Hal Morris
Daniel Naulty
Denny Neagle
Rafael Palmeiro
Jim Parque
Andy Pettitte
Adam Piatt
Todd Pratt
Stephen Randolph
Adam Riggs
Brian Roberts
F.P. Santangelo
David Segui
Mike Stanton
Ricky Stone
Miguel Tejada
Derrick Turnbow
Mo Vaughn
Ron Villone
Fernando Vina
Rondell White
Jeff Williams
Todd Williams
Kevin Young
Gregg Zaun

The following players were cited under "Alleged Internet Purchases of Performance Enhancing Substances By Players in Major League Baseball" in the report:
Rick Ankiel
David Bell
Paul Byrd
Jose Canseco
Jay Gibbons
Troy Glaus
Jose Guillen
Darren Holmes
Gary Matthews Jr.
John Rocker
Scott Schoeneweis
Ismael Valdez
Matt Williams
Steve Woodard

The following players were linked through BALCO in the report:
Marvin Benard
Barry Bonds
Bobby Estalella
Jason Giambi
Jeremy Giambi
Benito Santiago
Gary Sheffield
Randy Velarde

Labels: baseball, mitchell report list, PEDs, steroids

I heard on the radio the other day that Oprah has a daily viewership of over 9 million. And then they said, 75% of which are women. Which means that 25% or 2.25 million men across the country watch Oprah.

Two point two five million.

I don't suppose there's any chance all of them are being tied up and forced to watch Oprah each day, is there? Because the alternative is that they are doing it voluntarily and that makes my head start shaking uncontrollably.



PS. Oprah, please don't send out your ninja assassins to make me pipe down.

Labels: math, television

Sources: Mitchell Report to name MVPs, All-Stars, won't address amphetamines and here's a link to PDF copy of the report.

Names like Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Jason Grimsley, David Segui, Jose Guillen and Jay Gibbons. Of course, it has just been released so the flood of alleged cheaters will be coming out for the rest of the day and, probably, into next season.

On KNBR they were talking about names that might be on the list but may not be. Guys like Jason Schmidt, Paul O'Neill, Marquis Grissom and a whole bunch of others.

Let's face it, the great American pastime is rife with athletes taking performance enhancing drugs. There's no ifs, ands or buts about it. Major League Baseball has a serious drug problem but it isn't just the athletes that are guilty, the owners, managers, trainers, pals and other assorted support personnel are as guilty but will, largely, go unpunished.

Does it diminish my love of the sport? Yeah, maybe just a little bit. Do I hope this is the first major step to cleaning up the game and re-levelling the playing field? Heck yeah.

Not only because PEDs undermine the integrity of the game, which is a big deal, but more so because younger players and kids look up to big leaguers and are getting the wrong message about drugs from them. They are getting the message that using PEDs is okay, that cheating to win and get that big contract is not only acceptable but encouraged. And that goes a long way to undermining the future of sport in America.

If some legacies have to be torched to clean up the sport then so be it. But let's not let the managers and owners get off scot-free. Let's punish every level of guilty party from the minors to the front office.

[Update: The player list originally sent over by my cousin is not the actual player list. I have a copy of the report and will add the named players when I get a chance.]

Labels: baseball, cheating, drugs, mitchell report list, PEDs, steroids

Movin' On Up: 5 Signs it’s Time to Call in Sick via the Express Personnel blog. All of the reasons below are expanded upon over there.

1. A high fever
2. A very sore throat
3. A cough
4. Stomach problems
5. Pinkeye

The best reason to call in sick is to help get yourself better, of course, but it should also be noted that keeping other people from getting the same flu or cold is just as important. A small office can be pretty well stopped dead in its tracks by a nasty flu.

So how do you keep yourself healthy during the runny nose season?

1. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.
2. Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth after coming in contact with anything else (i.e. touch these gateway places only after washing your hands or having just used a hand sanitizer).
3. Keep hand sanitizer handy and use it often.
4. Disinfect common areas and surfaces regularly.
5. Get enough sleep to give your body a chance to fight any attacking microbes.
6. At the first sign of a cold or flu, start really loading up on Airborne or one of those zinc based remedies. If you can shorten a cold or flu by even a day or two, it'll be worth it.
7. Get a flu shot.
8. Be aware of potential hot spots for germs (i.e. door knobs, toilet handles and any other public common use area) and make sure to disinfect or wash your hands after touching. I sometimes go so far as to use a paper towel to open doors that I know get a lot of traffic.

The best way to stay healthy is to become a compulsive hand washer. I wash my hands at least six times a day now and use an instant hand sanitizer after any contact with the regular computers in the lab. I know they're crawling with nasties so I murderize them every time. I am also starting to kill them en masse by hitting up each machine in the morning with a liberal dose of Lysol.

Labels: employment, sick, work

If you've got a dog then you know how quickly they wolf down their chow. Eating too fast can lead to gas, poor digestion and other, more serious, health problems.

So a couple came up with the doggie bowl for greedy eaters which is basically a bowl with plastic protrusions that make it harder for the dog to slurp up all of the food so quickly.

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ideas and I think I will want to pick one of these up for my speed-chowing hound.

And it reminds me that I've got a couple of inventions that I need to start driving again.

Anyone out there want to become an investor?

Labels: invention, life with a dog

IMO Meteor Shower Calendar 2007

"One of the finest, and probably the most reliable, of the major annual showers presently observable. This year, the waxing crescent Moon will set by mid-evening across the globe on December 14 (the actual moonset timing is progressively later the further south you are), giving mostly dark skies for all observers, especially those in the northern hemisphere."

A universally good year for the Geminids meteor shower so make sure you go outside and look up on Friday night. And if you live in an area where the light pollution won't dim most of the trails then more power to you.

Labels: meteor shower

You know what is supposed to separate us from the evil bad guys that want to exterminate us? We're supposed to have the higher moral ground. We're supposed to be above resorting to the use of torture and illegal means of coercion.

But, according to this article, Ex-CIA Agent: Waterboarding OK'ed at Top. We do not have the higher moral ground, we are down in the muck and mire along with the enemy that uses any and all means to try and kill us.

While I understand and can appreciate the Eye for an Eye mentality, it does nothing for our reputation around the world and diminishes our capacity to differentiate ourselves from the very people we are trying to fight.

Torture isn't acceptable, it isn't permissible in certain circumstances, the rule of law isn't an opt-in and opt-out arrangement based on the situation and need. That our leaders have seen fit to decide to fundamentally deny the nature of our country and the principles it was founded upon tells me that we're being led by traitors. Traitors to our way of life and traitors to the ideals our country is based upon.

The United States of America should not ever be resorting to the use of torture. To do so diminishes our standing and capacity to lead by example. We are becoming the world's cautionary tale and are no longer possessed of the moral authority to police the world.

As for the leaders who authorized the torture of the top Al-Queda prisoner, they should be prosecuted for traitorous behaviour. Or they should just be dropped off, buck naked, in downtown Baghdad, that'd be fine too.

Labels: foreign policy, justifications, tenets, terrorism, torture, traitor

PAM's Individual Lifting Vehicle: the dual-rotor flying carpet

Flying carpet? No, not really. This thing is a flying lawnmower without a frame above the blades. The cool thing here is that they positioned the dual rotors directly under the pilot's position so that natural balancing keeps the thing flying. To go right, you lean to the right, and so on.

Its the world's most dangerous Segway! Plus you always get a nicely trimmed lawn when you land in your yard!

Labels: flying, lawnmower, personal flight