daverea.com

OHIO (Oct 28, 2004) – Speaking to a crowd of supporters at the University of Toledo during a campaign stop, presidential hopeful John Kerry unleashed what many analysts are claiming is a truly appropriate “October surprise”.

“It’s clear that the Bush administration has no concept of responsibility to the American People,” Kerry exclaimed before a cheering crowd. “First, President Bush lost tons of RDX explosives in Iraq. Now, we need to hold him personally responsible for losing the moon for over three hours last night.”

The mysterious disappearance of the moon began at about 9:15 last night, as a crescent of darkness slowly enveloped Earth’s only natural satellite. The moon didn’t completely reappear until after midnight, and less than a half-day later, Senator Kerry is calling for an explanation from the White House.

“I don’t see how the president could let this go unanswered,” exclaimed an anonymous reveler at the Toledo rally. “As Americans, we deserve better from our government, and I just can’t see how covering up the reasons for the moon’s disappearance could possibly help all the people in this country without health care.”

Heinrich VanDuselkmutz, astronomy professor at the university where Kerry spoke, refutes the senator’s claims. “The moon disappeared last night due to a natural occurance – a lunar eclipse – and no responsibility can be placed with the White House. In fact, astronomers predicted it hundreds of years ago!”

Representatives for President Bush could not be reached for comment. While the phone was answered at Bush campaign headquarters, laughter and a muffled audio feed of Kerry’s speech were the only things audible.

A few days ago, I posted about how I felt my grip on Linux as a desktop operating system was slipping. I was losing my patience for it, or perhaps losing my willingness to put in the time to make it work. But what I was really losing was my passion.

I’m not sure what it is that rekindles our passion for the things that – deep down – we really care about. Maybe it’s divine intervention, or maybe it’s some sort of trigger that reminds us of the passion we’ve lost. Maybe it’s the realization that “the things” are slipping away from us. Or maybe it’s just coincidence – like getting a new software package working on a particularly sunny and beautiful day.

Whatever the reasons, today I feel like one of those chemical light-sticks that’s been snapped, and all of a sudden the glow is back. Today, not only do I want to be a Linux geek again, but I want to go 100% Windows-free! Today, not only do I not want to give up my EMT card – I want to renew and I want to be the best damn medic I can be. Today, there are other parts of me that have found their old glow, too – and the glow that’s filling those spaces in my heart is for me to revel in.

Look around at your life, and find something for which your passion has faded. Or has disappeared. Or is just beginning to dwindle. And somehow today, find an excuse to “snap your inner glow-stick” and bring the passion back.

I think there’s a good reason most of us instinctively wipe our hands on our pant legs after we eat potato chips. It’s because we need to replenish the essential oils in the fabric! Just like dogs need the right oils in their food to keep their fur coats shiny, our pants need oil too.

This message has been brought to you by The Little Dictionary of Made-Up Facts. No, it was not solely intended to break up the overly political tone set by the previous post…

Given that my Dad is a conservative college professor – more or less the duck-billed platypus of the university world – he does his share of griping about diversity. Just to start, he and his colleagues are constantly barraged with memos and policy statements about “diversity training” and “cultural initiatives” and “multicultural sensitivity”. Then they’re forced to hire their staff based on affirmative action rules and minority quotas. Oh, and if they happen to have any well-qualified but unfortunately white, male candidates? Tough.

It occured to me that all this forced diversity might be well-served to take some hints from a group that’s truly diverse! It’s a group to which both my Dad (a successful, well-regarded college professor) and I (a lowly recently-graduated electrical engineer) proudly belong.

More to the liberals’ liking, it’s a group that includes Americans of all origins, colors, races and creeds. It welcomes all to the fold, both women and men. This group opens its arms to minorities and middle-aged-white-guys alike. Members run the gamut from straight to gay and everything in-between. They canvas the spectra of political credos, religious faiths and personal ideologies. Everyone may join, from housewives to militant feminists. From computer nerds who crouch behind their terminals, to military commandos who lead special forces units. From rock stars to clergy.

Amazingly enough, by and large, the spectrum of members of this group get along just fine. They treat each other with respect, they recognize their differences, they look out for each other, and they help each other out… whether they’re new inductees or time-worn veterans. They have no quotas to fill, no policies of diversity to adhere to, and no trouble mingling happily and peacefully amongst their varied ranks. No one has ever said, “We don’t have enough Hispanic members, so no new caucasian inductees until we balance the rolls.” It’s just not necessary, since every Hispanic person who peers in the proverbial door is welcomed with open arms.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, this group just happens to be the arch-nemesis of liberalism: Gun Owners. Yes, that 60-million-member model of diversity that spans 45% of American households. And it’s no wonder just what makes it tick…

All of us – gay or straight, black or white, men and women – share an inalienable right to bear arms. What happens when we all partake in that right, and share in that responsibility, excluding no one by virtue of the fact that it is God-given? True diversity. True multiculturalism. Meanwhile, nowhere in the Constitution does it say we all have a right to a job. Or to a college scholarship. Or to a welfare check. Hence, that kind of diversity must be legislated and forced.

Those who advocate forced diversity on college campuses, in corporate hiring offices, and in legislatures across the nation should take note of America’s gun owners, and the model of true diversity, openness and compassion they embody. Then, consider how it was accomplished: by fighting for the rights of all. Not by working to strip away the rights of some so that they might be reallocated to others.

Anyone who’s ever been in the same room with me and a computer knows that I’m a Linux guy. If the computer happens to be a Linux box, then I’m inevitably extoling the virtues of Open Source. If it happens to be a Windows box, then I’m invariably bitching about how it would be better if it were running some flavor of Linux.

But lately, I must admit, I’ve been faltering. As annoying as Windows is, and as much as I like using my Gentoo Linux machine, I’m starting to feel the squeeze as practicality and ideology clash.

For example… Syncing my Palm Pilot and my PC takes about a minute to set up on a Windows box. It took me two days to get it working on my Linux machine. Sending waypoints to my GPS from my Windows box takes me two clicks. Under Linux, it takes a series of cryptic commands that are not easily memorized. Windows knows how to click my monitor into power-save mode, right out of the box. I’m still trying to get that to work on my Linux box…

I’m starting to see just how applicable the Theory of Rational Ignorance can be. If you’ve never heard of this theory, go read it. Basically, it boils down to this: if it costs us more to obtain a piece of information than it does to be ignorant of it, then it’s rational to be ignorant. As much as I love knowing how the digital insides of my computer work, and as much as I love toying with its guts and the feeling of triumph when I get something new working, I’m growing weary of it.

I’m big on reliability. I want my car to be reliable, I want my gun to be reliable, and (naturally) I want my computers to be relaible. Linux is damn reliable. The workstation I’m typing this on has been up for 41 days. Unfortunately, reliability and longevity are different beasties. Because while my Linux workstation might be very stable, I can’t rely on it to just work if I go out today and buy a new DVD burner. Sure, it might work right out of the box. I might be burning DVDs to my heart’s content by supper time. But it might take me a week just to get the thing to recognize the drive. Sure, with plenty of research beforehand, that risk can be minimized. But the “Made for Windows XP” stamp on the box offers a much better (through certainly not absolute) compatibility guarantee.

I can just hear my dear friends – people whose switch to Linux was probably influenced by me – screaming in agony at the thought of losing me to “the dark side“. My apologies to you all… But I think the time may* be drawing near for me to learn – for the first time – to use computers as the tools they are, and let someone else get their hands dirty meddling with their insides.

* Note: This may all pass tomorrow, and I may regain my senses, and continue to love my Gentoo box…

Every year about this time, I join the ranks of archers who take to the woods in search of our four-legged, super-tasty, fender-wrecking friends. For those of you in New York City, I’m talking about whitetail deer.

The difference this year lies primarily in the fact that:

1. I have no woods to take to
2. I have no treestand to hunt from
3. I’ll actually be hunting on my dad’s 2-acre suburban lot!

Oh, there’s still a chance I might get something! Dad’s lot borders on a 10-acre clover field, and there’s a sizable stand of trees at the back corner. We checked it out yesterday, and it looks like at least 3 or 4 have been bedding down back there.

So, in typical Dave fashion, I’ve decided to try something new…well, at least new to me. Stillhunting is a technique where you stalk slowly along the ground, taking a step only once every several minutes. What you lack in speed, you make up for in stealth, the idea being that you must sneak up on your game, rather than sitting in one spot and waiting for your game to wander past you.

I guess we’ll find out tomorrow how well I can do it… My patience has been tempered by 7 years without a single kill, so don’t think I’m not willing to wait for it!

It seems Starbucks (or, in the manner of my profanity-spewing cartoon friend Foamy, Starschmucks), in addition to being in the burnt-tasting coffee and overpriced confections business, has also decided to dip a finger or two into the survivalism and emergency-preparedness pudding. While, um, not patronizing their Jefferson Road establishment a week or so ago, I noticed a brochure above the 12 different kinds of sugar and creamer that blared “Be Prepared!” in recognition of October’s status as National Emergency Preparedness Month.

So I snagged a copy, awaiting the laughable tidbits of preparedness wisdom that would surely be portrayed inside. I was surprised to find a very Tom-Ridge-esque recommendation to keep a stock of plastic sheeting and duct tape on hand. The rest of the stuff was pretty standard fare – food, batteries, water, first-aid kit. Bla bla bla.

There were some notable omissions, however! Topping the list was the conspicuous absence of feminine hygeine products – generally a good thing to recommend to your feminist customers who wouldn’t know emergency-preparedness if it bit them in the face. I was also amused that coffee wasn’t on the list – we all know how cranky a Starbucks addict can get without their daily vente mochachinolattethingy.

I guess I just find the whole charade amusing on a few different levels. For one thing, you’ve got a decidedly left-leaning business, patronized by a predominantly leftist clientelle, pushing emergency preparedness while their political talking heads take a “move along, no need to be concerned, nothing to see here!” attitude when it comes to our safety. On another level, you’ve got a coffee business dispensing survival information, which is just wrong on so many levels. But I think most importantly of all, the tagline on the cover – “Be Prepared – It’s an easy way to ease your mind” – is just downright deceptive…

You want to be truly “prepared”? Wanna “ease your mind” when it comes to the idea of surviving in a rough-and-tumble, disaster-stricken America? Better go a lot farther than your local Starbucks. Take your readiness to the same level that you take your coffee elitism!

Kelly and I were privileged to be able to cover the Stonehurst Capital Invitational Regatta this past weekend. Armed with media credentials, a Nikon D1x and a Canon 10D, we headed for the river… Six hours later, we headed home with cards full of some fantastic photos!

After we took in the regatta for the morning, I got to watch Kelly’s induction into the Sigma Theta Tau international nursing honor society. Congrats, K-bomb! You rock!