Aug 282008
- I adore autumn. When I get the first little hint of it, it’s amazing what it does for my mood.
- I haven’t been back to the Anniston area since March 2005, and I’m going next month. I’m going to have lunch with a classmate I haven’t seen in more than 28 years, and then attend Oxford High School’s homecoming football game (with the people who would have been my class had I remained there and graduated). Some of my favorite childhood memories are of marching in Oxford’s band, and I’m looking forward to returning.
- I took Brenna, our 13-year-old Lab/chow/German shepherd mix, to have her teeth cleaned today. She’s in reasonably good health, but she’s slowed down a lot. She has arthritis, and she’s been blind for three years now. Suffice to say she’s tentative about unfamiliar places, and she looked positively pitiful on the way in and out of the vet’s office today. It’s hard to watch her now against the backdrop of remembering how she used to be.
- I read an editorial today—can’t find where just now or I’d link it—about college football officials being told to crack down on unsportsmanlike conduct this year, particularly excessive celebration. Folks, come on. What’s wrong with a kid being excited about a touchdown, or an interception, or a big sack? Now there should be limits—I can see a case for penalizing the throat slash, the jump on the logo, and the sustained taunt—but there should be no crime in a little exuberance after a big play.
- My latest weight loss strategy is to bet our sysadmin $100 that I can lose a larger percentage of my body weight than he can between the Tuesday after Labor Day and the middle of December. I’m going to try my damnedest to stay this course and make a extra C-note for the holidays. It won’t be easy. He’s a monster in these competitions. (I scored a Wii Fit yesterday, by the way.)
- Speaking of video games, my Xbox 360 decided to stop outputting video earlier this month, a mere 12 days from warranty end. (Whew, that was close.) Called Microsoft, sent it in, and they replaced—not repaired—the unit in a week and a half, shipped free both ways. Given the Xbox 360′s dismal reliability record, it’s clear to me that it was released several months earlier than it should have been, and that’s a black spot for Microsoft. However, their amelioration effort has been stellar. They’ve lost no points with me.
- For the second month in a row, I’m having trouble getting into the Dark and Stormy selection. I’m going to try to muster some power and get through the enthusiasm threshold this weekend.
- I guess Obama’s speaking about now. Part of me wishes I were more excited; the shank of me is settling into what feels like a lifelong conviction that anyone who succeeds in Washington is doing so at my expense.
- I’m pretty sure I saw a Google car today. About 8 this morning, I saw it turn from I-565 west to Sullivan St. north to Madison Blvd. east, and into the Chevron at that intersection. It was a tealish 4-door Chevrolet Cobalt with a California plate and some sort of vertically-oriented apparatus on the roof. When it pulled into the Chevron, I could see that it had a white (probably magnetic) something on the right-side front door, but I was too far away to read it. We’re already on Street View, so I don’t know. Maybe it was batting cleanup.
Possibly related posts (automatically generated):
- Thursday miscellanea #50 Remember, anthropogenic global warming is settled science. If you question it, you’re as loony as a flat-earther. I’ve never tasted Red Bull. I smelled it...
- Thursday miscellanea #63 Some days, I just want to be the guy who sits in a lawn chair in a kids’ swimming pool in the front yard and...
- Thursday miscellanea #100 Stop saying ginormous. It’s a completely unnecessary non-word. The rain is welcome, but I wish it would bring significantly cooler air behind it. We do...
- Thursday miscellanea #147 You ever think of all the stuff that just works now, and for which our kids will have no understanding of it being any other...
- Thursday miscellanea #160 I am going to be a fall festivalin’ fool this weekend—both the boys’ school and church. I’m glad they had the good sense to do...
I wonder if we should start choosing books by committee?
Hello son,
I thought I’d try to use this response mechanism on your blog. (expanding my internet experience) I watched the Obama speech last night and found it much less distressing than I had expected. Over optimistic but logical and the delivery was stunning! This man will
pull votes from the GOP. He still scares me, but he made one very good point. Taxing the profits on the energy companies and then giving it back to them through federal incentive programs for alternate “green” fuel sources is a good idea. The Exxon-Mobils of the world can do more,faster, than all others. If the bill is crafted well enough, it could represent 1/2 of the solution. Now I’m going to the lake. Dad
‘seester: No, no. I’ll get there with it. I don’t want to water down the selection process. I like getting you guys full strength. “A good compromise leaves everyone miserable.” – Calvin, to Hobbes
Dad: Welcome! I’ve not yet read the transcript, but I have little doubt it was a good speech. Obama is a talented orator.
I think you hit on it with “if the bill is crafted well enough.” Everyone has a stake in the energy problem, and it’s a big one. As we discussed on the telephone this morning, the “energy companies” and the “Exxon-Mobils of the world” are not some massive alien behemoths, interested only in destruction. They are us.
The key is to incentivize, not penalize.
That unsportsmanlike-conduct flag in the USC-NCSU game was weak.
One of the best aspects of college football is the players’ passion. No, I don’t want to see strutting and taunting and foolishness, but NCAA officials are way too strict.
[...] burgers, turkey dinner sandwiches on the beach…. mmmmmm! I’m thinking of joining Bo in his quest to lose a significant portion of body weight between the end of Labor Day and the beginning of the [...]