Weekend!

This has been one very long week. I even had Monday off while my mother was here and the remaining four days seemed like 10. Nothing at work went right. Every project I worked on that should have been a slam dunk and completed in an hour took two days. Someone here at work said it very well: everything lately has required a Plan B. So far today two server-based apps have completely blown up and required creative ideas to get them going again. I don’t know if it’s the phase of the moon or the alignment of the planets and stars, but something is out of whack. Maybe as the month changes tomorrow it will all fall back into place.
The week at home was also hellishly busy. My mother was here until Monday afternoon and then Jayson had chorus rehearsal on Monday night. And then again on Tuesday night. And then again on Thursday night. I had a violin lesson on Wednesday and about the time I got out of that he had an appointment. He also had an appointment Thursday before his chorus, and then I went home and got us ready for the trip this weekend. That always takes longer than I think it will, between getting the dog to the sitter and getting the cat set up with enough food and water to getting everything packed and ready to go.
After work today we’re headed to Long Beach, WA. We’ll have our favorite room in our favorite little inn on the beach there and I’m looking forward to it. We were there in May but it’s such a different atmosphere in the winter. It’s quieter and calmer, and in some ways prettier. There’s supposed to be a storm coming in tomorrow and with nothing between the beach and the inn it could be exciting. The living room has glass on three sides and a nice fireplace so it will make a great storm-watching spot, when we’re not in the hot tub that is. I’ve got a bottle of wine packed, along with some warm clothes if we’re outside much, and I’m hoping that we get to relax this weekend and decompress a little bit; we both need it.

Bush is very gracious

I should be writing a post about my holiday and last weekend but it’s way too busy at work today. Maybe later tonight…maybe not.

In any event, I saw this in the NY Times (requires logon) and could not let it pass without comment. The story is about Gore visiting Bush at the White House to be honored for his Nobel Prize win. That last two sentences of the story are what get me:

Mr. Bush’s press secretary, Dana Perino, told reporters the president is willing to let bygones be bygones.

“This president does not harbor any resentments,” she said. “He never has.”

What would Bush have to resent? That Gore won the popular vote but lost because Bush’s daddy’s friends were on the Supreme Court? That Gore tried to uphold the U.S. Constitution and make sure the laws were followed? That Gore tried to make sure that democracy is more than just a hollow word to be used to invade other countries by making sure that every vote was fairly counted? That Bush has run this country into the ground by getting us involved in an unnecessary and illegal war that will take decades to fix? That he’s ruined the economy and put us in so much debt it will take at least one generation to repair it?

Gore should be the one who’s resentful. But, Bush and his ilk always have to portray themselves as the victims and this is just another example. Our dear leader…what a moron.

Happy Thanksgiving

This week has flown by, but at the same time has seemed long. I went to the gym with C yesterday and had a blast. We got a good workout in but we also had a lot of fun being silly and teasing each other. I’m definitely enjoying these gym days and I hope they can become the three-day-a-week routine that we’ve talked about. I feel good that I’m giving my body some exercise and the company and social time is just as good, if not better.

For the rest of the weekend, I’m not sure what we’re doing. It’s the end of my work day today and I’m about to head down to the airport to pick up my sister. I’m absofuckinglutely dreading the drive and airport traffic, but it’s got to be done. I’m curious how this weekend will play out with our different dynamics at play. It should be fun and if anyone acts up I’ll send him/her to his/her room for the evening. Jayson and I didn’t schedule anything other dinner tomorrow so we’ll have to find ways to amuse ourselves. I’m sure we’ll take a trip to Pike Place Market for a couple of hours and maybe get out and about some other times. Maybe we’ll sit and play games. I know for certain that I’m not going kayaking.

I’ve been meaning to post this vid for a couple of days now. I probably won’t post much this weekend and since I mentioned this to C yesterday, I’ll stick it up today. It’s from ABC’s (Australian Broadcasting Company) The Chaser’s War On Everything and it’s pretty funny.

I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving and can easily name a few things to be thankful for.

More Facebook BS

I really don’t have anything against Facebook; in fact, I’ve never used the site. But, I ran across this item today that made an interesting follow-up from this post of mine from earlier in the month. I thought it was just kind of creepy.

Ken Hutcherson strikes again

Or at least he tries to strike. This item from Dan Savage’s Slog went by me last week but then I came across a follow-up that got my attention. Ken Hutcherson is the anti-gay fundie preacher from a mega-church in Redmond who is most famous for getting Microsoft to derail the anti-discrimination law in the state legislature a couple of years ago. That backfired on Microsoft in a big way and the next year they backed the bill, which passed.

Anyway, after a couple of years of obscurity Hutcherson’s back, this time trying to get Microsoft to do his bidding again. Watching the video of his question at the shareholder’s meeting, he does sound like nothing but a big blow-hard. The question following his, which you can see on the official Microsoft video at about 51:40, obviously reflects more closely the feelings of the majority at the meeting and received much more applause:

QUESTION: I own over 1,000 shares, and I also represent an investment club with many more shares. My question is for any particular person, it doesn’t matter. What can shareholders do to support the corporation in opposition against hurtful, and hateful constituent actions, particularly and specifically Reverend Hutcherson? (Applause.)

BRAD SMITH: As a company we’ve had a clear policy with respect to the way we treat our people. And we believe in that policy. It’s a policy that’s founded on non-discrimination. It’s a policy that we believe has served our employees well, it’s served our shareholders well, and I think that reflected last year when all of our shareholders were asked to vote on that policy, and over 97 percent of you, and all of our other shareholders, stood up and agreed with us. I think that it is precisely in that form that shareholders had the opportunity to continue to make their views known, and we very much appreciate that support.

The follow-up that I mentioned earlier...? Since the groundswell of support at the meeting that Hutcherson was apparently hoping for didn’t pan out, he’s trying a different tack; he’s going to take over Microsoft. I’m not sure how he intends to come up with the more than $300 billion it would take to purchase all the outstanding stock, but he thinks he can do it. I’m not going to hold my breath for a new version called Windows Revelations, or something like that.

It’s really amazing what lengths people like him will go to in order to draw attention to themselves. Just live your lives, let others live theirs, and mind your own damn business. Don’t expect everyone to conform to your ideas of what’s right just because it’s more comfortable for you. Just as you don’t want to be something you’re not, the rest of us don’t want to be you.

In a world of bad ideas...

...this one ranks near the top op the list. My first thought about this op-ed piece by Thomas Friedman: "He can't be serious." My second thought: "Wow, he's actually serious." This is a just a truly bad idea...

I have no idea who is going to win the Democratic presidential nomination, but lately I’ve been wondering whether, if it is Barack Obama, he might want to consider keeping Dick Cheney on as his vice president.

...When it comes to how best to deal with Iran, each has half a policy — but if you actually put them together, they’d add up to an ideal U.S. strategy for Iran. Dare I say, they complete each other.

What is Friedman smoking?

Add a name

I guess I should consider myself lucky that I have only three names to add to the list.

Weekend wrap-up

It turned out to be a typical weekend with some quiet and some busy. It was definitely nice to sleep in Saturday; I was more than ready for some extra rest. After breakfast Saturday I putzed around the house until I met C at the gym. It was a nice workout, and nice to be working my muscles a little bit. I missed going to the gym in the months that I didn’t go, and I’ve been very much enjoying the few times I’ve been back in the last couple of weeks. I’m hoping it becomes more of a regular habit. Scheduling seems to be the only issue, but that can be worked around. I’m walking rather funny today since I really worked out my legs…it’s a nice soreness, but still sore.

Saturday evening we met B and C for dinner at a Mexican restaurant in West Seattle and it was a nice evening. We needed to discuss some things about our upcoming NYC trip and this was almost our last chance before we leave. It’s going to be very busy between now and then with Thanksgiving, family, Jayson’s chorus rehearsals, and then his first concerts. Oh yeah, we’re also going out to the coast the weekend after Thanksgiving. Sheesh, busy time lately. I’m really, REALLY looking forward to the NYC trip partly because I always have fun there, partly because there are some things Jayson and I will get to see that I’ve been wanting to show him, and partly to spend time with our friends.

Sunday we were supposed to go to a Thanksgiving “thing” that the chorus does every year. Instead of having one large gathering they get people who are willing to host small groups in their homes and then assign those who want to attend to the different hosts. It’s a nice thing and was originally designed so that chorus members without family or close friends in town still get to enjoy the holiday. Our hosts decided to throw something of a hissy fit and cancel it on Sunday since they decided that people hadn’t responded quickly enough to their original e-mail. In the end I didn’t mind since it was nice to have an afternoon to just do nothing.

I’m glad that this week is a short work week. Mom and sis arrive at separate times on Wednesday. We’ve got nothing planned for the weekend other than dinner on Thursday so it might be a lot of sitting around and staring at each other. I know my sister will want to be active as much as possible (she talked about kayaking while she’s here…yeah, right) so it should be an interesting dynamic to combine her energy with three very mellow people. Regardless, I’m looking forward to the time together.

The way to a man's heart...

I don’t know if this picture is a hack job or legit. If it’s real, it’s pathetic that Bush doesn’t even know where to put his hand during the pledge of allegiance, or apparently his heart from his stomach. Then again, that could explain an awful lot.

Are we scared yet?

I heard about this Tom Tancredo ad on the radio yesterday and it’s actually worse than the commentator made it out to be. He could have just shortened the message to say “Vote for me or you’re all gonna die.” I can’t believe that people still fall for these types of scare tactics. The concept of taking steps to protect against attacks of any type is good, but talking about aliens who have come to take our jobs and other alarmist rhetoric doesn't accomplish anything positive. However, the constant sound of a clock ticking the background is a nice touch to tell us that it's only a matter of time before the boogie man comes to get us. What the ad doesn't say is what Tancredo would do, other than closing down the US borders. Whatever his plan is, something tells me it includes us losing more of our civil liberties. Terrorism is the best thing that could have happened for the Republicans… what other political platform would they have to run on?