Recently in daily grind Category

Midway through the week. Two days to go.

As I write this we are awaiting a test of the fire drill. It's supposed to be today, around 10 AM. Being on the 12th floor, we'll have to take the stairs . . . yay.

I'm going to be starting a new project within the next week based on things I've observed about this weblog. Better stated, I've recognized which posts get the most attention. So, as soon as everything gets set up and the work on my end is completed, I'll give it a go. More info to follow . . .

On other fronts, this abhorrent behavior of the wealthy, self-absorbed population is the very reason I did not favor voting for the bailout. To me, those excesses are fraud and should be treated as such. Personally, I find that the action taken by one man doesn't go far enough. But will it ever change?

In as much as I'd like to say that it's a good thing to see McCain's bid faltering, I am still skeptical that Obama is clearly the guy. Are you convinced that "That One" can do it? McCain's behavior in last night's debate clearly demonstrated to me that he is the candidate of dogmatic approach, bitter dispute and the drawback of getting older - better stated as "I-know-better-because-I'm-old-and-this-is-the-way-it's-always-been-done."

Perhaps I'm growing older, but at least I still can subscribe to the notion that in order for us as a people to grow and evolve we still need to find new approaches to problems. The world is becoming increasingly complex and the rules are changing. Old solutions don't work anymore.

Did Obama rule the debate? I thought he did better, but your thoughts may be different - go ahead, let it all out.

With a slight spring in my step I walked to the curb to cross the street and go back to work. Every so often, I run across ( well not literally run, but you get the idea ) the street to the gas station to buy a pop or something at lunch.

As I stood in line my eyes wandered the registers and I spotted the lottery signs. The current Powerball jackpot is up to $176 million dollars. If by chance you should happen to live for another 20 years, of course, you could get that on a payment plan and take the whole thing. The other option is to take a lump sum which is $89 million ( before taxes ).

I found it funny as I crossed the street that I was already beginning to figure out how to spend it. Let's see - finish paying off the student loans, pay off the rest of my car, set up trust funds for the kids . . . but then I caught myself.

Oh my god!! Was I too late? Did I already jinx it? You're just supposed to put the ticket in your pocket and forget it about until the numbers get called. Then as you find out a day later, through the newspaper or television or radio, that, "Hey those numbers sound familiar? Those are the numbers that I had on my . . ."

Then, as you frantically comb through a pile of dirty laundry searching for it . . . your GOLDEN TICKET . . . you praise whomever might possibly be responsible for this moment of fortune to shine upon your life.

I don't usually buy lottery tickets. Go ahead, call me an idiot for falling for the "poor tax" that suckers in people like me. The lure of the sweet side of life beckoned and I answered the call. What can I say? Momentary weakness? Boredom? The faint glimmer of hope in a life filled with drudgery?

By virtue of the fact I have gone on to post this, my chances are null. The odds are insurmountably stacked against me. I'll be lucky if even one number comes up. But really I should have known this before I bought the ticket.

If luck were a disease, I have a natural immunity.

What seemed like a perfectly normal evening turned sour pretty fast. I've been battling with them for the past few months since they can't seem to get the details of our family plan quite right. I'm not going to get into the details here, but it's sufficient to state that they keep forgetting that we have a bulk text message plan but they consistently forget. It's time to go into the Verizon store and have a talk with them again.

Anyway I get home and open the bill. As you might expect, it's not right. It's raining outside - kinda hard, but the Jeep's in the garage. I decide that I may as well take the family out to supper and just make a short evening of it. We're headed down the road ( about a mile or so from home ) and the sound of the rain on the top ( it's a soft-top ) of the Jeep is just drowning everything out. My son, however, hears something on the radio . . .

"Dad, turn up the radio!"

So I turn up the radio. It's an interruption by your friendly neighborhood National Weather Service.

"This is an announcement from the National Weather Service. A TORNADO WARNING has been issued for residents of the following counties . . . "

My wife rolls down her window a bit and sure enough, the tornado sirens are blaring. The sound of the rain on the roof of the Jeep had blocked it out.

Needless to say, I wouldn't bee telling you this story if we weren't involved. And yes, the county in which we live ( Shawnee ) was included. As a matter of fact, the location of the tornado was ( on radar anyway ) about 20 minutes from us.

So my wife starts going ballistic. She wants me to turn around and go home - right there in the middle of the street in the pounding rain. Just turn around and go home. Well, I'm not having any of that. Uh-uh. Right down the block is Ace Hardware. So I pull in there and decide to sit it out. They tell us that we can all fit in the women's bathroom. I hang around out front and listen to the weather radio while the kids and the wife go into the restroom.

Fast forward about 20 or 30 minutes. Most of the bad weather has headed south and east of us and there's a break in the rain. I decide that the time's right to make a break for home. I can go to Verizon another day.

We're about 4 blocks from the house and the tornado sirens start going off again. I'm coming up to a stoplight and, as expected, I stop. My wife starts going all ballistic on me again.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? There's a tornado coming and you stop for a red light?" she screams at me.
"What? It's not like there's impending danger here. For all we know if ( in fact ) there is one it could be 10 miles away from us. The other night there was one clear up in northern Shawnee county at about 1 in the morning. Does that make it ok for everyone to start running red lights at the souther edge of Shawnee county?"

There's no winning that argument - so I don't bother to even pursue it. Regardless, as evidence I submit the fact that I am safe and sound writing this post. The fact that I stopped for a red light at an intersection during a tornado warning did not in any way affect the health of my family.

I even managed to take a couple shots of some nice mamata clouds after most of the heavy stuff had moved through.