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Showing posts from March, 2005

Word

Is it too much to ask that when I cut and paste text from one Word document to another Word document that all the formatting doesn’t change? Is there something in the code that says whenever you paste something Ariel bold than it has to turn into Times underlined italics ? I had to put five resumes into one file and the re-formatting too forever. It makes me wonder if there are better programs out. I’ve defending Microsoft in the past because they have good programs, but I ask that they fix this problem ditto moa!

Violet’s

Lindy and I finally decided on an apartment. This has been a grueling experience and I’m glad it’s finally over. I feel that we got a decent apartment, but for all the effort we put into the search, I had higher expectations. In the end, we had a choice between a reliable three bedroom or a 2-bedroom with a lot of potential (it has an excellent, carpeted attic that could be used for large extra bedroom/living room if only we had better access to it. Currently they have a pull down stairs, which we couldn’t leave down because it would block the hall. We are looking into other solutions such as another set of stairs or even some kind of hydraulic lift (maybe this or that . In the end, we might not even be in this place for a year, but it will be Molly’s first home, so we want it to be nice. And so, I will be moving everything over the course of the next week (we have to be out of our current apartment by next Monday). If you are in the NYC area expect a call about providing some

Teri Schiavo

With all the recent press concerning Teri Schiavo, I would like share something that really bothers me about this case. I’m not going to talk about the morality of keeping her alive, via a feeding tube, or the rights of individuals or family members to make such choices. I want to talk about starving someone to death, when there are other, much more humane, choices. If Ms. Schiavo is going to die, than why starvation (actually it would be dehydration, click here for some medical details)? If she is “in there” somehow, than why make her suffer through such a grueling death. I know there are laws, but the laws are meant to help people, not hurt them. Why not just inject a double dose of morphine and let her quietly slip away. Another idea, one I would prefer if I were in her situation, would be experimental surgery. Test out radical theories; even if they don’t work, maybe the doctors can learn something that can save someone else in the future. The only reason I would consider what they

Calling all gods, prophets, heroes, and cartoon ninja rodents

Dear Agdistis, Ah Puch, Ahura Mazda (the god, not the car), Akbar, Alberich, Amaterasu, Anshar, Anu, Aphrodite, Apollo (the god and the spaceship), Apsu, Ares, Artemis, Asclepius, Athena, Athirat, Athtart, Atlas, Baal, Bacchus, Balder, Bast, Bergelmir, Bes, Biff (the apostle), Bragi, Brahma, Brigit, Bruce (Lee and Leroy) Buddha, Camaxtli, Ceres, Ceridwen, Cernunnos, Chac, Chalchiuhtlicue, Charun, Clip-clop, Cybele, Dagon, Damkina, Davlin, Demeter, Diana, Dionysus, Don Corleone (Vito and Michael), Gonzo (the muppet and the doctor), Guan-yin, Ea, El, Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding, Enki, Enlil, Epona, Ereskigal, Farbauti, Fenrir, Fluffy III, Forseti, Freya, Freyr, Frigg, Gaia, Ganesha, Ganga, Garuda, Gauri, Geb, George Burns, Hades, Hanuman, Helios, Hengo, Hephaestus, Hera, Hermes, Hestia, Hod, Hoderi, Hoori, Horus, Hotei, Huitzilopochtli, Hygeia, Inanna, Inti, Ishtar (the god not the movie), Isis, Ixtab, Izanaki, Izanami, Jebus, Jesus, Juno (the god not the internet provider), Jupiter

Bear

In my stock market adventures over the past year, I’ve had my ups and down. Although I continue to learn, it is still a difficult process. The main thing I haven’t yet grasped is that I shouldn’t be playing the market at all. Besides that, I think I am going to tend toward the bearish side over the next few quarters. I’ve sold stocks short four times (two winners, two losers), but I think that there are many industrials that are in some trouble. Additionally, I don’t believe that the stock market has reflected how poorly the economy has performed (low employment, inflation, declining dollar, etc.). Anyway, wish me luck. Quick update: The stock I've had for the longest, over a year, was this little crappy company that I threw $150 at when it was 15 cents. I don't know why I invested so little, but it was good becuase the stock has been way down ever since. However, today, the value of that stock went from $10 to $80. My biggest single day gain ever (as a percentage of value).

My First Adventure

28 years ago, on this very day, my life officially began. I remember it pretty well considering the overall drama. There I was, in what I would learn to call the womb. It was really cramped, but I was doing ok. My womb was soft and comfortable, I slept most of the time, and I didn’t have to worry about anything. Now, I thought this was normal life. I heard voices from outside the womb, but thought that it was just people in neighboring wombs. I knew that I was still just some kind of baby because I didn’t know what the voices where saying, but I just assumed that I would pick it up eventually. I wasn’t worried; in fact I thought that I might have some more parts to grow. I was sure that my eyes would turn into something useful and I thought that each finger might have some special purpose too. I thought everything was really nice and I couldn’t image any other kind of world; one where you have breathe air (I didn’t even know what air was) and where to have to put food in your

Rule of Thump

I was editing a report to the Department of State and I come across a sentence that began, "As a rule of thump...”. Of course this was a just s typo, but I really like the way it sounds. I'm not sure what it should be in reference, but I would like to become part of our collective vocabulary. Any ideas of what it should mean?

It’s criminal not to do this.

When I walk through the subway station there are certain walls dripping with filth. When I drive by certain area, the ground is covered with litter. After it snows, the sidewalks are buried under slush for weeks. Currently, no one is willing to spend money to fix these things and I don’t see that changing. Why don’t we have incarcerated criminals help out. This won’t be like Shawshank Redemption where the prison workforce will take the jobs of others, all job must be certified by some board as having social value and don’t diminishing the demand for any other job. There would also be ground rules, such as no violent criminals and only criminals who have served 75% of their sentence (if you are almost done, you are less of a risk to try to escape). Of course I would rather a prison system that rehabilitated the inmates, but until that happens, the prisoners owe a debt to society. Wouldn’t society be better of if Martha Stewart shoveled snow from out in front of abandoned buildin

Contest #5 - Molly, the artist formally known as the Molecule.

This contest is to prophesize four aspects of Molly's future. Those who guess the closest will receive medals or trophies. Good Luck. 1) When will Molly be born (her due date is June 2). Please include date, hour, and minute. (Bonus points for other descriptions, such as the weather or other event that day) 2) How much will Molly weigh (in pounds, ouches, kilograms, or stone)? 3) How old will Molly be when she learns to walk? 4) What will Molly want to be when she grows up (at ages 5,10,20, and 50)? Good Luck.

Dreams and a United Germany

Lindy had a dream last night in which she was riding on a train, sitting next to Nietzsche. And Lindee asked, “What is your first name?” Nietzsche responded, “Brad.” Lindee, unable to recal his first name, insisted that it certainly wasn’t Brad. To which Nietzsche responded... “Do you think my outlook on life would have been different if my name was Brad” And than the train crashed. Perhaps this finally answers the nature vs. nurture questions. ---------------- On my quest to finish this Khrushchev book, I came across a very interesting little thing. After Stalin died in 1953, Malenkov and Beria (two top Stalin lieutenants) joined forces to place themselves at the top of the power chain (with Malenkov technically at the head, but Beria with the operational power). Beria was ex-chief of the Stalinist police force that had spend the last 20 years killing, torturing, and exiling millions. However, once in charge he quickly moved to let hundreds of thousands of people out of prison (w

10-1 says they acquit him.

On cnn.com, there was a report vaguely describing all of the jurors on the Michael Jackson’s case. Although the information was limited, I am certain that I could identify at least one of them with some due diligence. However, the real issue is that many jurors don’t quite seem like regular, indifferent people. There are also several elderly people and non-native English speakers that might have problems seeing through some of the technicalities and lawyer mumbo-jumbo. Here are some things I thought were notable about the jurors (there are 12 jurors, but their numbers are random). Juror #66 believes that "Parents can be very influential" on a child’s testimony.” Juror #151's first language is Indonesian. Juror #101 is a 21-year-old paraplegic who visited Neverland ranch in 6th grade. He believes Jackson has been mistreated by too much media coverage. He loves children, but they do tend to lie. Juror #77 called Michael Jackson a "great entertainer." Juror #1

I'm not on the juice, seriously.

As many of you might have seen on TV, Major League Baseball is trying to curtail the use of steroids by players. The real issue is that players, like Barry Bonds, are (or were) apparently on steroids and reporters think that these players are cheating. Bonds said that “steroids can’t help hand-eye coordination”, but if getting stronger doesn’t help, than why does he work out all the time? Here is the solution. Below is a draft of a deposition that reporters should continually give to all athletes. The final version would be a legal deposition, in which if a person makes false implications it would be considered perjury (or fraud) and they would be subject to a prison sentence. Barry Bonds can say all he wants that he never used steroids, but why not put his money where his mouth is. If he signed something like this (risking a prison term is he is found to be lying) than I think people would stop bothering him. If he doesn’t sign it, then I say he is guilt. I would love it if MLB made t