With a tip of the cap (and a wag of the finger) to Glenn Frey...

The heat is on!

So I'm home alone today working. Rachel took Jake and the boys to San Francisco for a little end of Summer fling. And I'm a miser when it comes to the A/C. So I don't turn it on until my legs start sweating downstairs in the office.



That happened today and I went upstairs and it was 89 degrees in the hallway at the thermostat.



Here's what it's like outside right now...





And here's the spa...





I am considering jumping in the spa to cool off.

At least it's not smoky out.

My New Favorite Thing #74

I have a new favorite thing. Street View on Google Maps. Once upon a time, Google Earth was my new favorite thing. But now it is Street View. Apparently they have these magical vans that just drive around everywhere taking 360 degree pictures. I can't see my house, I'm guessing because of the gates. But you can see the guard shack from Spruce Grove and all.

And you can see my parents' house...


I wasn't sure what that thing in the picture was - until Laurie said, "I think it's Dad picking up dog poop or something." And now that I look at it again, I think she's right. What are the odds of that? That you'd be out front picking up poop when the Google van happens to be driving by.

Also, they've captured another Bigfoot...


And finally, remember this stuff?

It makes my teeth hurt just looking at the package. But I bet it would go great with Ciroc Vodka.

Jake and I took the dogs for a nice long walk today. That was great. And they are getting better and better. Moe actually sits without being told most of the time when we stop now. And we had a nice long talk on our nice long walk.

Where were you six years ago?

(Click the little green triangle... )
Link

A lot of you were at 1825 Western Avenue. With us. When we got married.

Happy Anniversary Rachel!!!

The Dude Obides...

I wish I could say I made that up, but I read it on DailyKOS last night...well, early this morning before bed. (See tidbit about sleep disorders below)

How long before the knuckle dragging Republican "creative" types come up with Obama Bin Baden or something?

Anyway - I got my message from the Obama campaign. That was fun. But I don't give out my cell phone number for things like this so I didn't get the 3:00AM text message. I wonder if Hillary did? "It's 3:00AM, and a blackberry is buzzing at the Clinton house..."

But this is what most people got...

You might recall that after Edwards' was disgraced, I was having trouble figuring out who I wanted Obama to pick. Last week, I almost posted about selecting Bigfoot as a running mate. You know, he would be the ULTIMATE Washington outsider. He's also strong on environmentalism, personal privacy, open space, anti-logging, anti-surveilance. And he has a proven track record of avoiding confrontation. And although he was not in office at the time, I am confident he would have voted against the Iraq War.

When I first heard of his pick, I uttered a Dude like, "Huh...That's f*&%ing interesting, man." And today, I'm kind of excited. I've read criticism that Obama picked him to "plug a gap." That Biden brings foreign policy and political experience that Obama lacks. But I also read where Obama pledged to pick a vice president who would challenge him. He said:

"I want somebody who is independent. Somebody who is able to say to me, 'you know what, Mr. President, I think you're wrong on this and here's why' and will give me (applause) who will help me think through major issues and consult with me, would be a key advisor."

With that in mind, I am well pleased with his choice.

And, you know, there's always "Bigfoot/Yeti in 2016"

I guess the only question now is who will portray Biden on Saturday Night Live.

Also, I recently discovered that I have "suffered" from a known condition for most of my life. A lot of you know me to be a "night owl." But it seems I actually suffer from Delayed sleep phase syndrome.

Delayed sleep-phase syndrome (DSPS), also known as delayed sleep-phase disorder (DSPD) or delayed sleep-phase type (DSPT), is a circadian rhythm sleep disorder, a chronic disorder of the timing of sleep, peak period of alertness, core body temperature, hormonal and other daily rhythms relative to the usual norms. People with DSPS tend to fall asleep some hours after midnight and have difficulty waking up in the morning.

Often, people with the disorder report that they cannot sleep until early morning, but they fall asleep at about the same time every "night", no matter what time they go to bed. Unless they have another sleep disorder such as sleep apnea in addition to DSPS, patients can sleep well and have a normal need for sleep. Therefore, they find it very difficult to wake up in time for a typical school or work day. If, however, they are allowed to follow their own schedule, e.g. sleeping from 4 a.m. to noon, they sleep soundly, awaken spontaneously, and do not feel sleepy again until their next "night"...

...Working the evening or night shift, or working at home, makes DSPS less of an obstacle for some. Many of these people do not describe their pattern as a "disorder." Some DSPS individuals nap, even taking 4-5 hours of sleep in the morning and 4-5 in the evening. DSPS-friendly careers can include security work, work in theater, the entertainment industry, the media, freelance writing, call center work, nursing, taxi or truck driving and hospitality work in restaurants, hotels or bars.

So maybe I should change my career up a bit and become a home office bartender who does freelance writing on the side.

Occam's Bigfoot...

All other things being equal, if it looks like a big hairy rubber gorilla costume, the simplest solution is that it is a big hairy rubber gorilla costume.

Researcher says bigfoot just a rubber gorilla suit

ATLANTA - Turns out Bigfoot was just a rubber suit. Two researchers on a quest to prove the existence of Bigfoot say that the carcass encased in a block of ice — handed over to them for an undisclosed sum by two men who claimed to have found it — was slowly thawed out, and discovered to be a rubber gorilla outfit.

The revelation comes just days after a much ballyhooed news conference was held in California to proclaim that the remains of the creature were found in the North Georgia mountains was the legendary man-ape.

Steve Kulls, executive director of

squatchdetective.com and host of Squatchdetective Radio, says in a posting on a Web site run by Bigfoot researcher Tom Biscardi that as the "evidence" was thawed, the claim began to unravel as a giant hoax.

First, the hair sample was burned and "melted into a ball uncharacteristic of hair," Kulls said in the posting.

The thawing process was sped up and the exposed head was found to be "unusually hollow in one small section." An hour of thawing later and the feet were exposed — and they were found to be made of rubber.

So sleep easier, Sis.

But then again, just because this one was a big hairy rubber gorilla suit...

The amazing thing to me is how the Biscardi guy is claiming HE was defrauded - what a crock.

You know you're hangin' with good people when...

...everyone's too polite to take the last sausage.

Frank and Marla are good people.

Rough day for them. Frank's 89 year old grandma took a spill and broke her hip. She's in surgery in Lakeport as I type this. So once again, I ask that those of you that pray, say one for her.

Anyone remember this?

Glenn, you've got to check this out.



And then there's this. One of my favorite Monkees songs.




And while we're at it, there's this...



We saw Dark Knight tonight. And there were maybe 25 people in the theater and 10 or 12 were inconsiderate loud obnoxious jerks with cell phones. And I asked some of the people politely to be quiet. And that made for a tense walk out to the car. Nothing happened, but you never know, you know? And I gave Rachel the keys and had her get in the car first. And I got myself all ready to rumble in case it came to that. And you really shouldn't have to put up with stuff like that after shelling out like 40 bucks for tickets and snacks. And it all just reminds me how I would much rather watch a movie at home on DVD.

At least nobody was kicking Rachel's chair.

Breaking News!!!

This just in...

Some folks in Georgia have found the corpse of a Bigfoot.

And they look reliable to me.

Some of you already know this, but I'm sure a lot of you don't. One of the cruelest things I did to my little sister when we were little was to torture her with scary stories and such about Bigfoot. I was a total Bigfoot junkie in third grade. I think that one Six Million Dollar Man/Bionic Woman Bigfoot episode (in two parts, if I remember correctly) started it all. I had a bunch of books and studied whatever I could find from the library. And I would stomp down the hall when we were home alone saying, "Bigfoot! BigFOOT! Coming to get you!!!" And Laurie would scream and hide in her room. I seem to remember cousin Robbie joining in the fun as well.

Sis, if I never apologized for that, I'm sorry. And I'm sure Rob is not.

Anyway - since then, it has become a bit of a running gag. Rachel and I found a video of the episode and an 8x10 glossy of the Bionic Woman and Bigfoot. Which we gave to Laurie for Christmas. Of course, Bigfoot autographed the photo for her. And another year, I got her a poseable Bigfoot action figure which she promptly threw away. And Mom salvaged it from the trash and, I'm told, it still lives under the Christmas tree every year at our parents' house. Oh, and also, Laurie is the one who sent me the link to this story.

As for this news story, well, I remain skeptical. Why now? And why in Georgia? How did the Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) get there from Northern California/Southern Oregon? Big steps? Greyhound? Then again, it's not April 1st either.

I guess we'll know more on Friday. If I wasn't so busy, I would try to find a way to get down there for the press conference.

Keep in mind that I haven't played in a long time...

With that in mind, I'm really happy with the 9 holes I played today. I even got a par and had a look at birdie. Sadly, I took a bogie on the birdie look, but whatever. I hit some good balls and not too many bad ones. And I only lost one.

And best of all, Rachel came for the ride.

We had a great day - packed a lunch and some drinks, got the iPod going in the golf cart and took a ride down. Almost nobody on the course, and they let us play the back nine, which is far prettier than the front.

Kind of like last night, this was one of those, "Why haven't we done this before?" things.

Best shot of the day was probably this - a tree in the way, so I ran a 4 iron from 65 yards...

to about 8 feet.

And I missed the par putt. It was like that.

Also, here's some recent things...

This is how our front door looks with the curatins Dolores made with Rachel. That's also Jake's cool coffin shaped bass case that he got to replace the one we had to return that didn't fit his bass (even though it was made SPECIFICALLY for his Thunderbird bass, but whatever).

This is what I've spent entirely too much time looking at lately, design doc, call flow, and Interactive Designer.

And this is probably the best grilled cheese sandwich I've ever made - smoked gouda, havarti, and avocado. I made it on the Foreman grill, so it's a little squished, but it was yummy.

Finally, I want to give a shout out to Dolores and request that those of you that do say a prayer for her and her ailing back. She is in no good way right now and might be heading for a hospital stay. We're thinking about you and trying to figure out how we can best help, Dolores. Hang in there lady!

That was so cool...

I think the last time I went to a Drive In, it was to see The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams when we still lived in Daly City and the Kenney's had their first child that night. So what's that, like 35 years ago?

Anyway - it was fantastic!!! We got snacks at Safeway...

And just sat in our car watching the movie. And our car is pretty comfy. And the sound system rocks. This is my new favorite thing to do. And I learned that you can go see two movies for $15 for two people, and $20 for three or more. So, we could take Jake and two friends for the same price as just taking Jake. And the kids can sit in chairs in front of the car. And if we wanted, I think we could even have a barbecue. Well, maybe cook hot dogs on a gas grill anyway.

And I did get Rachel the popcorn she wanted. The concession stand is such a throwback to the mid-80s. They have Donkey Kong and Arch Rivals basketball.

Oh, and we enjoyed Hancock.

Wow. John Edwards. Wow.

Years ago I wrote in my journal that I have no living heroes - because as long as they are alive, they might let you down someday.

We dodged a bullet. Good lord, if I had gotten my way and he had won the nomination, and this stuff came out now? It would be 4 more years of Bush-like rule. Even though McCain did the same sort of thing, and probably worse, he surely would win.

There's a part of me that feels really duped - like I was really behind this guy because he was the first to talk about and the most outspoken about curbing corporate power as a means to restoring our ravaged democratic system.

And a small part of me that I don't like want to know all of the details. Like is it his kid? Is she the only one? But the better part of me doesn't care. He got caught cheating and lied about it and I'm sorry, I just can't vote for you. And with your fine hair, I'm sure you can do just fine selling cars or or doing the weather for your local NBC affiliate.

Then there's a part of me that goes, "Ah, so that's why he dropped out so early." I couldn't understand it at the time. He came in second in Iowa, and I was really hoping for an Edwards/Obama ticket.

And then I was really hoping for an Obama/Edwards ticket.

And now...

I just don't know any more. Gore? Kucinic?

And then there's the part of me that worries that something like this might be out there for Obama as well. If I was wrong about Edwards, you know, I might be wrong about Obama, too.

At least I know I'm right about McCain.

To quote Kenny Loggins...

"I'm all right. Don't nobody worry 'bout me."

And to quote John Fogerty (I know, but the Creedence version is my favorite - Cosmos Factory was the only good record my Dad had when I was little)...

"I heard it through the grapevine..."

...that my Aunt and Uncle were worried about me and Cuz because they hadn't seen us around Stormwind for a while. We're fine.

I have had a rough couple of months, a rougher couple of weeks, and a brutal couple of days. I went to bed last night and tossed and turned a lot and took some Advil PM and probably fell asleep around 3:00 AM. Work pressure and home pressure and money pressure and family issues and everything swimming in my head - I think I was as close to a nervous breakdown as I've been since college, and that includes when CommTech went sideways.

But today, well, everything is OK. And I find myself wondering why I let myself get so wound up in the first place. How and why do I let myself forget that everything is going to be fine?

If I could figure that out, I would write a book about it.

Anyway, things are groovy. Jake is visiting a friend of his in Petaluma. Rachel and I are going to see a Drive-In movie tonight.

And hey, at least I'm not John Edwards, right?

I have a new least favorite commercial...

I'm not talking about annoying commercials either. Head On, apply directly to the forehead - that's annoying. And the Girls Gone Wild ads - those are bad. And it offends me to have to sit through Viagra ads while watching a ball game with my son. Those things are all annoying. And then there are all of the ads for all of the drugs that are supposed to make us feel better and make us aware of symptoms to diseases we never knew existed. I mean, occasionally, Rachel or I would suffer from "The Jimmy Legs." Now it's a syndrome. And there's even a Half Man Half Biscuit song about it.


(and if you like that, check out "Joy Division Oven Gloves")

And a drug (Requip) you can take that may alleviate the symptoms. And that may also cause a host of side affects, including a strong urge to gamble.

I'm talking about commercials that really make me angry inside - that touch me deeply and trigger a reaction of shock and repulsion.

The worst of these, in my opinion was a ReMax ad that showed images of Tibetan looking monks looking for a homeland and how a ReMax realtor could surely help. That one got to me and stayed with me for the last 4 or 5 years.

But it has been replaced by this...



Wow. Just Wow.

I did some work for them for about six months some years ago - wow, it must be about ten years ago now, Travis.

Anyway while I was there, I told the IT Director that I got a Discover card in college and that since I never paid it all the way down to zero (at the time, it's since been there) I was still technically paying for a pizza I ate in the dorms. And he told me that I was just the type of cardholder they loved. And also while I was there, my credit line went up by $5,000. Odd coincidence, that.

So this commercial now hold the top spot for me as the most vile thing on television. If the commercial was just ten seconds long, it would have probably still been number one - it is absolutely NOT OK that we are a nation of consumers. That fact, while true, is both a symptom and a cause of just how bad things are - we are a great nation in decline.

But hey, what's new. We've been a great nation in decline for well over 200 years now. But we've been nosediving for almost 8.

I just hope we can level off for a while.