It's like every time he opens his mouth...

...another faslehood spews forth. Notice I didn't say "lie," I said falsehood. He lies often enough, too - and in the weirdest ways - like (available from a variety of sources, but this from The Guardian UK):

Mr Bush got the news outside a school classroom before going in to talk to the kids about a reading programme. He went in as planned but then Andrew Card, his chief of staff, came in and whispered the news of the second plane hitting the twin towers. He said yesterday: "I saw an airplane hit the tower - the TV was obviously on - and I used to fly myself, and I said, 'There's one terrible pilot.'

Takes one to know one, I guess.

Anyway, today he said...

Some have selectively quoted from this document to make the case that by fighting the terrorists, by fighting them in Iraq we are making our people less secure here at home. This argument buys into the enemy's propaganda that the terrorists attack us because we're provoking them. I want to remind the American citizens that we were not in Iraq on September the 11th, 2001. (Applause.)

...a falsehood, clearly. The document in question is not enemy propaganda. It's the best information available from our own intelligence sources. Furthermore, the statement, "we were not in Iraq on September the 11th, 2001," while not quite a lie, is far from the truth. And applause from an audience full of pre screened Bush lovers does not make a falsehood true. At the time in question, we were enforcing the "no-fly" zones over Iraq. And while we were not technically "in" Iraq, our pressence was felt. We were responsible for the U.N. embargo that resulted in the deaths of, perhaps, 500,000 Iraqi children.

Finally, through word play, he is trying to say that we were attacked on 9/11 without provocation. I am willing to agree that this is a matter of opinion. But that still does not have anything to do with the fact that our military occupation of Iraq has made the terrorism problem worse for the U.S. today.

The other day I wrote about how he declassified and released selective portions of the entire report. Even that selection was pretty bleak - and that was the best they could come up with?

I also found this interesting:

• Bush admits to setbacks in Afghanistan AP - Fri Sep 29, 4:15 PM ET
• Bush insists progress being made in Afghanistan Reuters - Fri Sep 29, 12:30 PM ET

I wonder what happened between 12:30 when we were making progress and 4:15 when he admitted to setbacks.

That's it - I'm going to have a fun weekend, and unless something major happens, I will return to recipes, pictures and non-poplitical ramblings for a while.

MacGyver Coffee...

Guess what kind of coffee they server at work here in Washington.

What's a Peet's lover to do?

Well, first, I bought a pound of Peet's. I wanted Garuda Blend, but had to settle for Ground French Roast. I didn't pack my grinder.

I got back to my hotel to find that The Residence Inn no longer provides little packs of coffee and filters - they have these pre-measured coffee bags. What to do?

What

To

Do...

Eureka! I carefully ripped open one of the decaf bags and dumped out the contents. I then filled the bag with Peet's. But how would I keep the grounds from spilling in to the drip bin and then in to my coffee? Perhaps there's a strainer? No strainer. Can't use a paper towel. Hmmmm...aha! I used the little travel stapler Rachel so thoughtfully placed in my little mini-office supply travel kit. And yesterday, I drank good coffee...MacGyver Coffee!



Incidentally, after all of this, a new Peet's store opened up right around the corner from the office. It had been under construction when I arrived. Today was free coffee day - order what you want. Most people seemed to be going for the expensive blender drinks or lattes. Not me. I just wanted a good cup of Joe. It always tastes better from the store. I don't know why. So since you have to pay for coffee at work anyway, from now on, I'll be stopping by the corner Peet's on my way in.

If I close my eyes, it smells like Berkeley to me.

I have this great story I'll tell you some day about my first cup of Peet's in the pre-dawn hours on my way to go do construction work for a guy who turned out to be homeless, lived in his station wagon, read great books, and paid me in cash from a large bankroll he kept hidden in his belt, and how I made maybe $150 in the week I worked for him, but ruined a $60 pair of hiking boots in the process.

Oh, I just told you the story. Nevermind.

Did you hear or see what they did today?

So, yeah, our House and Senate both made me want to cry a little today. If you believe the Republicans, they just made us safer from terrorists. To me, they both gave a thumbs up to torture, illegal wiretapping, detaining someone indefinitely without trial, and retroactively making illegal acts legal and unprosecutable.

We are definitely sliding down the slippery slope to fascism.

It's a long slide down the slippery slope, in my opinion, because our nation has spent years building a reputation and a legacy of promoting freedom and human rights. But what have we done lately? It used to be the bad things we did were sort of under the covers or behind the scenes, and the world, by and large, was willing to look the other way on things like our policies in Latin America, supporting brutal dictatorships in the name of our coporate interests, and so on. We have been sliding for a while. Remember when the Tsunami hit? And Bush said we would contribute $15 million? When I heard this, it reminded me of Dr. Evil returning from space and demanding "one millllllllllion dollars" ransom. Then I thought, maybe that's how much he personally was going to give.

Then there is the Iraq War. And a Canadian we shipped off to Syria where he was tortured. And Katrina. And Abramoff. And Enron. And the Bankruptcy Bill. And outing Valerie Plame. And when illegal activity is leaked to the media, the administration condemns the leak and not the crime. And these are just the first six or eight things that come to mind when I spend 10 seconds thinking about it.



Here's what Molly has to say about the "Torture Bill"...(click)


We are picking up speed.

Why Blogs are important...

Blogs are important. Blogs and other alternative news sources are critical to a functioning democracy in our country.

Not this blog, of course. Although you never know who Google is going to throw your way. I've already had some random person link to my Beer Can Chicken with a it of the Captain in him post. And maybe something I've written will be read by someone who wouldn't have come across some information anywhere else.

I couldn't believe this when I saw it. And I saw it on a blog. It's the same edition of Newsweek, but localized to a variety of regions.

And I know I saw lots of copies of Newsweek in the airport and a lot of people buy it. It's no wonder it's hard for me to have a discussion about current events and politics with people who rely on the traditional media for their information.

Just in case it's too small for you to see - that's the headline "Losing Afghanistan" in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. In the U.S., we get "My Life In Pictures" about someone whose most recent contribution to media and the arts is home baby pictures of Tom Cruise's latest spawn.

It's sick.

"I'll take Manhattan in a garbage sack with Latin writ on it that says, 'It's hard to give a shit these days.'" - Lou Reed

That line keeps popping in to my head on the fantastic Nautilus Elliptical I've been riding for the last couple of days.

But I do give a shit. For Jake's sake, if not our own.

Proud Member of the "Naive and Mistaken Majority"

How about you?

Today, President Bush said...

"Some people have guessed what's in the report and have concluded that going into Iraq was a mistake. I strongly disagree. I think it's naive. I think it's a mistake for people to believe that going on the offense against people that want to do harm to the American people makes us less safe. "

He said this today, of all days - the day that he released the "declassified portion" of a partially leaked National Intelligence Estimate (completed in April!) that pretty much said, well, the war in Iraq has made us less safe and made the overall terrorism problem WORSE!

Funny thing - Jon Stewart is talking about this very topic right now.

That was great, as was his bit on torture - Is putting a leech on someone's eye or making someone drink horse semen torture?

Wrong! It's just a couple of bits from Jackass 2!

But now he's just lobbing softball questions at Pervez Musharraf. How did that guest appearance come about?

What do I have in common with Mt. St. Helens?

We've both lost it up top. [rim shot]

So travelling for work can be a depressing bummerfest, but so far this one is going pretty well. Of course, I'd rather be at home, but I'm getting out, and seeing people, and that helps a lot. And if all goes well and we get some help from family, Rachel will get to come visit next weekend. On the advice of the IT Director I'm reporting to, I took the drive up to Mt. St. Helens yesterday. I can still remember what a big deal that was back in the day. And it's pretty amazing. The landscape is unlike anything I've ever seen before. And there's a little tie in to Rachel's work at the geo-thermal fields and all. I dug it. If I had it to do over, I would have eaten and left earlier. There were some nice trails to walk, but I was hungry and had to get back to meet Rachel's friend Betsy for dinner.






Dinner was grubbin'! The Tin Shed in Portlan is awesome. And then I went to my new 2nd favorite book store. Powell's Books. Moe's is, of course, my favorite bookstore. Cody's on Telegraph was second, but then it closed. And I have a good story I'll blog some time about playing golf with Andrew, Cody's owner. Anyway, this Powell's Books goes on for days. And they have a three door elevator that I got really excited about. We went in the rare book room and I held a 1st edition Kerouac. Visions of Gerard, and somebody wrote on the title page. But it was still pretty cool. And while I was there, a woman came in looking for a book that I actually own - Vincent Price's Cookbook. And I found a bunch of Mc Sweeney's going for $50 a pop.

See, Rachel, I told you we should buy two and not open one.

Anyway - I'm working at Nautilus...


Here's my cube...


And they have a fantastic gym...


I'm told it's 10,000 square feet.

And otuside, they have a football field, basketball courts, and a baseball diamond all open to the community. They have this funky astroturf, too, and some crazy engineering that will let the field stay 'dry' and playable under ridiculous amonuts of continuous rainfall... I had to not do anything for a few days after my subacromial cortisone shot, but I'm looking forward to getting down to the gym tomorrow with my iPod and geting a sweat on after work.

Today I went over to Cindy and Rick Steiber's house. Cindy was Cindy Grady in high school. And her Dad coached my little league team (the Chiefs) with my Dad. At the reunion last week, we were chatting and I asked where she was living. And she told me. And I said, "You won't believe where I'm going to be next week for work." So they had me over for dinner. It was a good time, and they fed me some great lasagna. Rick and I talked about all kinds of things. And it was great to get a peek in to the lives of people I grew up with 20 years later. It's a lot more real than a few hours at a reunion all dressed up.

And I forgot to take any pictures. But they have some really great style - topped off with what I think was the coolest thing - an antique wasshing machine converted in to a cooler. Oh, and they have a whole wall of family pictures and this great window treatment of hunting and fishing equipment from their family members. I know that sounds weird, but it works, and was really touching.

I'm going to bed early and am trying to work a semi-normal schedule this week. Wish me luck on that. And the gym.

Sorry for the delay...

...it's been a whirlwind week. Lots of emotional stuff to process from the reunion and all and work has been nuts. I'll get reunion pictures up when I get some time, hopefully this weekend. But Scott e-mailed me asking if I was OK because the blog has been dead for so long. So I am posting my journal scribblings from the flight. Enjoy.

--Eric

On a plane before you know it...

9/19/06

It’s been more than five years since I’ve been this way and it’s been like this for me. They ask me on Thursday afternoon if I can be there Monday morning bright and early and ready to contribute. Only this time I say, “No, sorry, but will Wednesday do?” And of course it will. And I didn’t even have to tell them I had a doctor’s appointment. But I’m glad I did so they don’t think me “difficult.”

I don’t really know what my standing is these days with my current employer, but whatever it is, it is what it is, and it is bound to improve with this trip. Unless something terrible happens and I fail to manage the situation. And there is a very good chance something terrible will happen. The customer is six months or more behind on routine maintenance and there are visible cracks in the levee. I’m supposed to repair the damage and shore up their system in a little over two weeks.

It’s been so long I had forgotten the rush I get from this kind work under this kind of pressure. And I know I’m a little rusty. But I’m good at managing people and situations and I’m confident this will go well. And sometimes managing a crisis can make you look better than if nothing had gone wrong at all. Step 1 will be to communicate the probability of an outage or two in the course of the next couple of weeks.

I started the day this morning with a subacromial cortisone injection and the rest of the day I felt vaguely weird – no pain when I expected it, odd pains when I didn’t – it’s weird how you get used to pain and make it your own. And when it changes, you feel different and you almost miss it. Come to think of it, emotional pain is like that too. There’s something I always knew but just now realized.

The rest of the day has been a blur of assembling documents – boarding passes, hotel and car reservations, project documentation and a shiny new composition book then taking far too long to pack far too many things and hoping TSA will close my suitcase properly for a change so my belongings don’t spread out like a yard sale around the baggage carousel. Then setting up a camera to video conference with the wife and kid (and maybe Scott) and maybe watch the dogs during the day. Then being all set and packed and ready and finding still more things to stuff in the few remaining nooks and crannies of my luggage. Then leaving fifteen minutes later than we planned and driving faster than I should but not at unsafe speeds – traffic never seems fast enough on your way to the airport or a tee time – and snaking through the canyons – it always makes me wonder who and how they decided to lay out the road through the mountains and feeling certain I could have done a better job of it – tunnels and more straight lines are in order.

Then the 5, one of the greatest highways in this great land and a posted limit of 70 and not much traffic and only a couple of trucks wanting to go 58 passing a couple of trucks going 54 making me brake hard a bit as they cut me off to pass throwing gravel and grit in to my grill and windshield. I mentally take down the 1-800-How’s-My-Driving number knowing I’ll never call.

Then more open road and hundreds of bugs on the windshield in a moment and for a few miles it sounds just like rain. And then I start getting little pleasure spasms and twitches and a little numbness in my butt as if the lidocain zylocain xylophone buckwheat zydeco or whatever they shot in my arm has dripped down there on the drive.

All the while having the best sort of half casual half serious all good conversation and sneaking loving looks and holding hands with my wife and best friend and soul mate and all that, and our boy popping out from under his headphones every once in a while to let us know he’s there and how he feels about Jack Johnson’s music but that he understands that we like it or to tell us something else he remembered that happened at school today or last week or when we lived in Petaluma or when Lauren and Paul came over that one time.

And the sunset it beautiful.

All of which makes it harder on me to go.

But I’m going.

And dusk is all around us- it didn’t creep up at all, and I tell Rachel to take it slow and drive safe going home and she says, “OK, bossy.”

And as darkness fell I realize we are going to make it in plenty of time, so I stop worrying about missing my flight and start worrying about does she have enough gas to get home? Honey I left a little money in the safe if you need it. Are they going to let me take my stainless steel water bottle on the plane? What if I dump out the water? Will they remember to feed the fish and water the plants and the lawn? Did I turn off the sprinkler? Did I pay PG&E (cable, taxes, water, garbage, etc.) And a whole gaggle of thoughts like that fly through my mind and all of a sudden the airport is improbably close – Airport Exit ½ Mile.

I ease back and over and we are there at the curbside, bags out and on the curb and trying to make our hurried hug last a couple of weeks and then they are gone and I’m all alone in a crowded airport again.

And I check my bags in an hour early for my 8:25 flight only to find it was a 7:00 flight- rookie move, that. And so the one thing I didn’t worry about is the one thing that went wrong. But she can get me on the 12:29 – oh it’s going to be a long day tomorrow after this – but no, she meant flight 1229 at 9:25, so it ain’t but so bad really.

So I had some dinner. And called my sister. And read a bit. And watched the end of a show and the beginning of the next on the terminal TV while trying to read and imagining where al of these people at the gate are going and why. And then I boarded and got a whole row to myself. And the flight attendant tended to my needs and filled my stainless steel water bottle with ice and canned water- weird that, canned water. It’s water. In a can.

And I’ve got my Bose Quiet Comfort II noise cancelling headphones and over 1,300 songs on my iPod and these three seats all to myself to spread out and rock out and let it all hang out in ink on pages- more than I’ve written in one sitting in years.

Then “DING” Ladies and Gentlemen, at this time we ask that you turn off and stow all portable electronic devices…

I am in Portland.

I will collect my belongings, pick up my car, and head to my hotel, and later this week I will blog this whole entry.

It’s later this week now. So far, so good. And although it was not explicitly prohibited, something tells me that hauling luggage through an airport is not the sort of thing I should have been doing after that shot. But what are you gonna do? I bought some ice packs. It was pretty bad for a while, but felt better today after I got some good rest by mistake (got home from work and to bed at 2:00 A.M. and set the alarm for 7:30 P.M. instead of 7:30 A.M. which let me sleep till 11:00).

Tomorrow I am going to go see Mt. St. Helens. I think.

PCT #2

OK, time for another paranoid conspiracy theory.

So they sent this 9/11 "docu-drama" to conservatives only for review and to create a media buzz. The left is all up in arms about it. And it's sucking up a lot of time in the various news media. More than a missing white woman, or even that lunatic pervert who didn't kill JBR. Makes me wonder what we're missing while this goes on. Maybe that whole Pakistan - Taliban peace accord. But that's not my new PCT.

I want to boycott the movie, but I also want to see it to see what all of the buzz is about. ABC stands to gain nothing from my watching it since there are no commercials. And I think a lot of my left leaning compatriots in the blogosphere will watch it as well.

So here's my theory: the show is laden with a new modern tehnological equivalent of subliminal messages that I don't fully understand but they will make left leaning folks move towards the middle, if not all the way to the right. (Here's how you get noticed by SNOPES.com...) I have a friend who's brother is a CIA asset (not an official agent, but he's a ham radio nut who gets called on to do special black ops related to transmission jamming or something). It will probably take a while to actually have an effect, but it will definitely take hold before the November elections. Certain audio frequencies in the surround channel and light pulses embedded in the film flash whenever something happens in the movie that is untrue. It is even more painful on an HDTV. The combination of the audio frequency and the light flash cause discomfort. The effect is to condition viewers to feel actual physical discomfort whenever what they know differs from what they are told on TV. Over time, the pain causes viewers to stop questioning what they see. If you do watch the movie, make sure you turn down the brightness on your TV and make sure the room you are watching in is as bright as possible. Or watch with sunglasses with a high UV rating. And if you switched to HDTV, lug out your old set if you still have it. Also, turning off surround mode is effective, but the audio frequencies are still broadcast in the main soundtrack. The best thing to do is turn surround on (so all of the frequencies are piped to the surround channel and don't come through the regular speakers) and unplug your surround speakers. If you still have a mono TV, then the audio frequencies probably won't affect you.

I know this sounds crazy- but pay attention to what they show right after they tell a lie. In almost every scene after a lie or distortion (you'll wince a little when you see one if you know your facts) they will show something positive about the Bush administration and how they (and only they) can protect us.

I hope this gets out there to enough people, but there's not much time. Laugh all you want now - but you watch what happens in the weeks after the show. It's hard to measure, but see if you don't see the normally feisty blogosphere start to go soft. People will start saying things like, "Newt Gingrich has really changed, and I find myself agreeing with him a lot lately," and, "You know, I don't always agree with the President, but I've come to realize that he does what he thinks is best for our country - and he knows more than I do," and, "Al Franken used to be funny, but now he just annoys me. I prefer Dennis Miller," and, "It's sad that people don't take Ann Coulter seriously because she's so hot - but she really does have some good points.

Please, pass this on - warn your friends.

Maybe I'll edit this and post it anonymously to a few websites.

235.0...

...and the reunion is next weekend. So I'm revising my goals a little as there's no way I'm going to hit 220 (unless I just broke through one of those weird plateaus). I just want to dip under 230.

Labor Day Weekend at Hotel Yorba

So we had the Bainters and Elliotts up for the long weekend. It was a great time, and a wonderful end to a nice long Summer. Although the weather will be nice here for another month or so, Jake is back in school, and you can smell Autumn in the air.

I spent most of Saturday cooking. I skipped the ham - couldn't get it together on Friday to get it all prepped. But I made the lasagna and it lasted all weekend.







And a layered salad and garlic cheesy bread.





Lauren made brownies from scratch - they were incredibly rich - almost like fudge. And Mike and Dolores brought Tiramisu.











And I also made Rice Crispie treats with a layer of chocolate and butterscotch.







Freakish thing on that. The "recipe" for Rice Crispie treats says to use 40 marshmallows. So I shook out what I though would be 40. And I had stirred the lasagna sauce and got some on two of the marshmallows. Check this out...


That's 38 in the pan plus the two I messed up. Amazed? I know I was.

Anyway, the weather was great - high 80s and low 90s. And we did lots.

Rachel, Jake, Dolores, and Lauren played the Mad Magazine game (that Rachel bought on eBay).


Mike and Paul played darts and pool...



Dinner was awesome. Everything was yummy. We drank V. Sattui wine. It was about 85 degrees with a slight breeze. Try to look past my enormous head and check out the sunset we were blessed with.


Here's me (with the lasagna sweats) and wife...

The next morning, we woke up to banoons. (That's an intentional typo because when they are there, I am usually awakened by Rachel screaming, "BANNNNOOOOOOOONNNNNSSS!")

There were peacocks in the yard that morning, too, but of course I didn't get a good picture of them. Incidentally, a couple of days ago I was working in my outdoor office and caught one my neighbors cats stalking one of the baby peacocks again. Papa stepped in and flapped his wings and threw out the tail feathers. It was beautiful. I filmed it, but it was across the yard and didn't come out very good.

Back to our weekend - so I got these great little clip on misters at the store that shall not be named. And I got a little hose y splitter at Hardester's. We spent most of the day outside under the shade with these little babies going. They worked awesome - 95 out, but we were nice and cool in the shade. Unfortunately, it's not so great for your book if you leave it in one place for very long.

And, of course, we tubbed quite a bit.


And I cooked up some ribs.

I'm thinking about moving the grill down to the deck. I bought a special pad on clearance at Mendo Mill. I then plan on taking $50 on up to Ray's, buying an assortment of meats and letting Paul cook them all day while I bring him as many beers as he needs.

Then there were naps...


I got it in my head that I wanted to walk along all of the rocks in the yard then turn around and walk back. I slipped on the turn and woke up Lauren.

Oh, and I also finally planted some stuff in the pond area...


We had so much fun that Mike and Dolores decided to stay an extra night.

I'm not one for arbitrary dates as milestones and such - like making a big deal about anniversaries - you should express your love for each other each day, each hour, and if possible, each minute. But I also like some traditions, and I like the idea of Labor Day being the end of Summer - and it was a great Summer. A lot of stuff happened: The 4th party, new job, the hot tub, exercise, Jake grew up in a blink, Dre's party, Rocky's visit, going to Ted's.

And it was all capped off with three days just having fun with family. You can't beat that.

236.6...

...and the reunion is in 15 days.

I had a blip - gained a half pound last weekend by eating out three nights in a row. And I'm a little worried about this weekend since we've got family coming up and the plan is to eat, drink, paddle around the lake and be merry. And the lake is only so big. I'm making a ham and lasagna. Portion control will be the key.

And even if I fail to continue to lose, or even if I gain a little, I'm not going to freak out. I look better already, and more important, I feel better. And I'm in this for the long haul. The reunion will come and go, and I'm going to keep on exercising and eating right.

And hey, I'm married - and besides that, I never did very well with the chicks that will be there anyway.