fuzzy L0G1c

I literally stumbled upon this will using stumblupon.com .  It totally cracked me up.  However it does capture my feelings about the election fairly well.

So while many of you devoted readers (reader?) were not around in December 2007, when I originally posted this.  I thought I’d take a look back at a PSS questions about who I would vote for, and my predictions for the presidential election.  While you are welcome to read the full post here I figured I’d pull out the highlights and comment on them now.  The day before the election.

12/2007 Snippet:

Republican or Democrat? Not really thrilled with either party, but 3rd parties don’t really have a chance in the presidential election.  Republicans have essentially tromped all over the constitution and made it a point to fear-monger at every opportunity.  Oh, and lets not forget about being repeatedly lied-to over Iraq.  Everyone was so pissed with the Republicans that they got their asses handed to them in the last midterm election.  Enter the democrats!  Saviors of the constitution! Champions of the people!  Finally going to stand up to the evil Republicans!  And what did they do?  Jack shit.. In fact, if you look at some of the senate and house tapes from early-on after midterms, they are an embarrassment.  So, I’m left with the choice of Effective but Evil vs. Total Incompetence. Hrmm.  Evil it is.

Verdict:  WRONG! I’m voting for a democrat.

12/2007 Snippet:

Obama: I like him.  I think if we as Americans end up electing him it will show we’ve come a very long ways.  I think he’s still a little green though.  I think he needs a few more years experience before getting the top seat.

McCain: You gotta respect a guy who has gone through what he has and is still mostly sane.  I also respect his views on torture and really took Romney to task on waterboarding.  I also like his campaign finance reform.  He’s probably the most-honest, straight-forward and ethical candidate on the ticket.  All great reasons why he’ll never win.

Verdict:  WRONG-ish! I think my assessment of Obama is 90% accurate.  I think my opinion of McCain has dropped considerably this election.  It’s really too bad he’s losing his soul at the same time he’s losing his election.

Snippet: 12/2007

2008 Presidential Election: Clinton & Obama (VP) on the Democratic Ticket vs. Romney & Some Super-Christian guy to placate those voters who “just don’t trust a mormon”.

Verdict: WRONG! Silly me.

Final Prediction on the Eve of the Election:

If Democracy still works.  Landslide Obama.

The time has come to stop being afraid.  The time has come to stop basing your beliefs on lies, half-truths and unfounded fears.  Vote for Hope.  Vote for Change.  Please.

Somehow along the way Amy and I got into the “tradition” of sending random IM’s to each other from time-to-time.  Figured I’d share a few of the highlights to get me back into the mood of writing.  Enjoy…

Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Amy: hey, have we received a topic this week?
Shane: Stop reading my mind!
Shane: Witch! Witch!
Amy: ROFL
Shane: Isn’t it “Other Kim’s” turn?
Amy: You crack me up….seriously.  I should just random IM you every morning

Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Shane: Did you see the size of that Ape!  Holy cow!
Amy: it’s not an Ape, its a monkey
Amy: it has a tail!
Shane: shoot!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Amy: Tartar Sauce Batman!  The joker’s got a fancy umbrella and a herd of wild lemurs!
Shane: that’s so hat.
Shane: err hot
Shane: LOL

Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Shane: I never put a finger on that donkey!
Amy: but it was more a matter of where that bothered me
Shane: indeed

Monday, September 22, 2008
Amy: Have you got your tickets to the gun show?
Shane: they came free with my Republican Party membership
Amy: damn!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Amy: who the hell is Maxwell?
Amy: and maybe he is not free because he used his silver hammer
Amy: whacked the shit out of people
Shane: bingo
Amy: ROFL…and you were thinking I was some kind of idiot for a second huh?
Shane: no - but I was surprised.
Amy: all part of my randomness
Shane: I was listening to that on my way in this morning - got stuck in my brain
Amy: it would do
Amy: so was my question lame?
Shane: I’ve not seen it yet. <ducks>
Amy: what?!  damn you!
Shane: too late - already damned myself!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Shane: I see a ship in the Harbor.  I can and shall Obey.  But if it wasn’t for your misfortune, I’d be a heavnly person today.
Amy: but it is not Monday
Shane: <shrugs>
Amy: LOL….now I will have that damn song in my head all day!
Shane: glad I could help.

Friday, September 26, 2008
Shane: SHHHHHHHH!
Amy went idle at 10: 26: 07 AM

Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Shane: What up Dawg!?! Yo!  Check it out…
Amy: woof woof

Thursday, October 02, 2008
Shane: The Turkeys are stalking me.
Amy: well it is about time….I told them to months ago!
Amy: stupid bird brains

Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Shane: I’m wearing a Sombrero!
Amy: Ole’

Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Shane: Anteaters deserve the bulk of the peanut butter.
Amy: but sparrows leave the coins in flowers

Monday, October 13, 2008
Shane: Happiness is a warm gun
Amy: I’m so tired

Monday, October 20, 2008
Shane: In the belly of the Giant Whale - all the girls just wanna have fun.  In the look of a frightened neighbor - In a big warm bed at night - In a broken elevator - In the teeth of a dog that bites.
Amy: that is where you will find my lost dreams and hopes of my childhood

Monday, October 27, 2008
Shane: Turkey farts smell like the moon
Amy: cheesey!
Shane: green cheesy?
Amy: yeah, old, dusty green cheesy

I feel a strange connection w/ this guy… you pick which.

On my way to work today I saw a turtle squished on the side of the road. Now, coming from Utah; this is one HELL of a weird sight to see. I’m used to all sorts of dead things on the side of the road, but this was just bizarre. There are just certain things you expect to see dead on the side of the road, this… This really threw me for a loop. This poor turtle (Which I’ve since named “Squishy”) wasn’t a tiny little turtle either. It was BIG. I’m not really sure how to give you a exacting idea of it’s size. Turtles are oddly shaped and hard to compare to other objects. So I’ll make something up. On the pizza-to-turtle scale I’d say it was a Large.

Poor Squishy… Slow and steady is ideal for winning races against uppity rabbits, but not for crossing 6 lanes of rush hour traffic.

I landed in Columbus this afternoon in preparation for a presentation I’m giving tomorrow. The perfect Spring weather in Dulles didn’t follow me unfortunately which lead to a rather bumpy descent and landing. I know what you are thinking “oh no! He’ll be killed!” but it turns out I made it after all. But It was the kind of landing which had me break out in a cold sweat. Ironically not for the fear of crashing, but the queasiness (wow that actually is a word!) which was erupting in my stomach and threatening to expand it’s borders to my lap and the poor lady sitting next to me. The little “air sickness” bag peaked at me from the seat pocket in front of me. Assuring me that it was there if I needed it. “Finally!” the bag thought eagerly to itself “a chance to fulfill my cosmic purpose and enter “Air Sickness Heaven” in full glory!” However I knew if I reached for the bag, I was fully committed; I would be tossing my cookies. Very much in the same way as when you feel like you are going to puke at home, spotting the toilet pretty-well guarantees you are going to be seeing you dinner for a second time. No! I’ve never lost my lunch on a flight I’m not going to now! I’ll just sit here an sweat profusely, turn the knobby on the air dealie and pray we reach the ground. Well… I made it w/ lunch intact. Whew!

Exiting the aircraft I did my nerdly duty and flipped on my blackberry in the off-chance that something really important came up on my 1-hour flight between Dulles and Columbus. Uhh.. nope. Nothing. Hrmm. That’s odd. I think to myself, my BB didn’t update it’s clock for central time. So I pop into the options and remind the phone exactly where it’s at.. Ohio.. Central time.. silly phone! I call Amber. She answers in a tone which is both confused and surprised. “What’s wrong?” she asks. Nothing’s wrong, we landed on time. I told her my flight would be landing around 3PM EST (2PM central time). Silly Amber, she forgets so quickly that there’s a timezone difference. She expresses surprise that I’ve arrived so soon. Oh Amber.. your concept of time and space is so messed up! No wonder you are always running late! I tell her I’ll call her later from the Hotel. I hop in my rental car and start heading towards the hotel. Along the way I notice that the clock in the car is off. Grr, how annoying, it’s an hour fast. I guess no one resets these things for daylight savings. I get to my hotel and check in. I boot up my laptop and sign in to check my mail. (again, just in case something terribly important came up in the 30 minutes it took for me to drive from the airport). Oh. My PC clock is still on Eastern Time. I’ll just update that now.. Done. I rattle off a few emails, send a couple files and sign off. I’m still feeling pretty rough so I think I’ll take a nap. I look at the clock in my room. WTF? an hour fast. Why do people always fuck w/ clocks in hotel rooms?! They can never be trusted. Oh well.. it’s only an hour fast, I’ll just compensate in my head. ZZzzzzz. I wake up several hours later and look at the clock. 8:30PM. Oh.. okay that means it’s only 7:30 really. I call Amber and ask what she’s up to. She tells me she’s right in the middle of trying to get the kids to bed. That makes sense. It’s 8:30 her time, only 7:30 here. The kids are screaming and crying so I tell her I’ll call her back later after I get some dinner. As I leave my room I do some quick math in my head. Okay.. If I take an hour for Dinner, I’ll get back in time to maybe (finally) update my blog. On the way to the restaurant I pass a bank who’s sign dutifully tells me the temperature is 68 degress and the time is…8:45! WTF?! How can the bank be wrong too?

Of course what happened next was one of those special moment’s in a man’s life when everything he knows, all he trusts and all his pride seem to vanish in an instant. I stared at that sign. Temp: 68 degrees. Time: 8:46 PM. The next rotation on the sign could have (and should) have read: “and.. Ohio is in the Eastern Timezone, Asshole!” It all came rushing back. How I corrected my Agenda to adjust for the timezone, How I updated my meetings in calendar to be on central time, How I corrected my phone’s time, why Amber thought my flight was early, why the clock in my rental car was off, why the clock on my laptop was off, why the clock in my room was off… Turns out that my self-centered, pig-headed view of the world might just be off… or at least in the wrong timezone.

So I upgraded my wordpress from 2.3 to 2.5… and all hell broke loose.  Which is why my site has been down for a little while and why some comments have got missing in action.  Additionally, it looks like previously safe-listed commentors will have to be re-safe-listed.  Sorry for the trouble, but please do not stop commenting.  Everything should be stable again, but I wanted everyone to know (especially those with missing comments) what happened. :)    Now to get caught up on PSS.

If Dan blogged…

from http://xkcd.com/

So - we were supposed to watch Miss M. while Dan and Kim went to a concert Saturday evening.  At the last minute we ended up having to take the lil guy (Geo) to the Hospital.  (Don’t worry - He’s okay now.)  But we ended up completely hosing their plans for the evening but still Kim and Dan:

• Watched Ash while we were at the Hospital.
• Took Ash out to dinner.
• Bought and brought dinner for me and Amber.
• Refused reimbursement for their hosed concert tickets.
• Refused payment for the dinners.

Honestly, it’s a great and rare thing to have friends like that.  We are very thankful to have you guys around.

Since they wouldn’t let me repay them for their kindness I thought I’d share their kindness and thoughtfulness w/ the world.