Ain't nobody going to read that monstrosity I wrote yesterday.

Hell, I would not read it.

*sigh* Need to learn how to be a leetle more concise...

You know where to find me on 08 May 2009.

Mr. Completely recently visited the hospital (in a non-voluntary manner), but is home and on the mend. Go send him some happy thoughts to help him get better soon.

To all of the current and past soldiers, airmen, Marines, and fellow sailors, alive and dead, I thank you for your service to our great country. It would not be what it is without you.

It may not be spot-on, but I was reminded of this yesterday by my parents:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of "Spiritus Mundi"
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

- William Butler Yeats

"Second Coming" indeed...

You know, this almost bums me out as much as the election does:

Michael Crichton, the million-selling author who made scientific research terrifying and irresistible in such thrillers as "Jurassic Park," "Timeline" and "The Andromeda Strain," has died of cancer, his family said.

Crichton died Tuesday in Los Angeles at age 66 after privately battling cancer.

"Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an inspiration to students of all ages, challenged scientists in many fields, and illuminated the mysteries of the world in a way we could all understand," his family said in a statement.

"While the world knew him as a great storyteller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us—and entertained us all while doing so—his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes."

He was an experimenter and popularizer known for his stories of disaster and systematic breakdown, such as the rampant microbe of "The Andromeda Strain" or the dinosaurs running madly in "Jurassic Park." Many of his books became major Hollywood movies, including "Jurassic Park," "Rising Sun" and "Disclosure." Crichton himself directed and wrote "The Great Train Robbery" and he co-wrote the script for the blockbuster "Twister."

In 1994, he created the award-winning TV hospital series "ER." He's even had a dinosaur named for him, Crichton's ankylosaur.

Today saw the passing of a great man, and we are the lesser for it.

The below post is purely hypothetical, and is not a threat, promise of action, or anything of the nature.

So it looks like Senator Barack Hussein Obama pulled the rabbit out of the hat, and is now the next President-Elect. Congratulations to him, and congratulations to the people who voted him into that office - but remember, we got what you asked for, and I am still completely unconvinced you know what that is.

However, time for the hypothetical question (and it is absolutely hypothetical): It has been decided that President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama will take the oath of the office of the President on January 20th. However, until that time, on that date, President Bush remains the President of America, with all of the legal and societal constraints, regulations, and responsibilities inherent to that office.

So the hypothetical question is this: What would happen if President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama were to die between now and the 20th of January?

Though I may dislike the guy, and disagree with almost everything he says and stands for, I certainly do not want this to happen, but it is something of an interesting legal question. So far as I can tell, neither the Constitution nor anything else covers the possibility (given that he is not President until the 20th of January, no order of succession technically exists), so does anyone know what would really happen?

As stated, this question is purely hypothetical, and I am not trying to instigate, encourage, or assist any actions against the President-Elect. In reality, I would have put this question up about McCain as well, just due to his age and questionable health. Either way, I find the question somewhat interesting, and if anyone has a good answer, I would not mind a little clarification.

In light of the impending disaster awaiting us later tonight, I guess it would not be too much overkill for me to point out that the upcoming James Bond movie sucks. How do I figure that? Well, when a review starts like this:

Here’s the truth about the latest James Bond movie, "Quantum of Solace." It’s not very good.

... you know it has problems.

...I had high hopes for a roller coaster ride full of explosions, inexplicable derrying do, some decent quips and memorable lines, even a smidgen of smarmy sex for James with a couple of babes.

What else do we look forward to in James Bond? Readings from Rilke? No. We want gadgets. And a great theme song. And a spectacular opening sequence.

The truth then: we got none of the above, except maybe the Rilke and deep frown lines. Marc Forster, one of our favorite directors from “Finding Neverland” and “Monster’s Ball” has turned James Bond 007 into a meditation on death and trust. He’s made the straight play version of what’s supposed to be a musical comedy.

Let’s start with the music. There couldn’t be a worse, more tuneless song than Alicia Keys’ and Jack White’s “Another Day to Die.”...

...

The song is a bad omen, because it follows the shortest, least interesting opening sequence in Bond history. Suffice to say, when it blends into the first notes of the Keys-White song, your first thought will be, That’s it? Yes, that’s it.

...

The secondary cast works well, especially Judi Dench as M, although there’s lots less of her. There’s no Q, and no one to introduce James to new gadgets (this in the time of new gadgets in the real world every hour and blogs galore devoted to them!). Mathieu Amalric is just great and looks right at Mr. Green, the new villain, but as in the whole of the film there’s not a lot of sly dialogue. The Daniel Craig version of Bond isn’t very articulate or quick verbally, hence neither are his opponents. All the parrying is gone.

...

Something tells me once the excitement wears down, the new James Bond is not going to be one of those that anyone wants to see over and over again. In the meantime, I found myself more shaken than stirred by this latest installment.

Now, I am not one to put a whole lot of stock in movie reviews... however, given the disaster that was "Casino Royale", I am holding out no hope whatsoever. After all, that glimpse at the "new" Bond indicated, quite well, why this new movie will suck just as bad, if not worse: Daniel Craig.

Dare I say it, given the (amusing) outrage over my last use of the word, but I will probably be boycotting this new Bond film... The boy inside me who loves senseless explosions and plotless action is somewhat disappointed, but appreciates the fact that I probably will not end up watching a movie that might cause me to send something heavy and pointy towards my television. I know my credit card appreciates that, at least...

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

You cannot help the small men by tearing down the big men.

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling down the wage payer.

You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.

You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatreds.

You cannot establish security on borrowed money.

You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.

You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

These words, as written by Reverend William J. H. Boetcker, were inspired by President Abraham Lincoln himself.

We need more Presidents like him, and despite claims to the contrary, Senator Barack Hussein Obama is no President Abraham Lincoln. Do not misunderstand, neither is Senator John McCain, but at least he does not have the unmitigated gall to claim he is...

Back on the 8th of this month, I ordered an LED-array replacement for my Mazda 3's third brake light, to go with the LED map, dome, glove box, boot, license plate, and reverse lights I already installed. Call me a "ricer" if you want, but my car looks pretty damned schnazzy at the moment.

Anywise, the part shipped on the 9th, by way of the Canada Post, from a little town called Mississauga, Ontario. Here we are, almost 20 days later, and the Canada Post system still disavows any knowledge of the package, apart from "An order has been electronically submitted."

Of course, I received and installed the LEDs today, and they look fantastic.

... I wonder if the Canada Post is run by the same incompetent nimwits who control the USPS...

You know, this whole job thing is really getting in the way of my writing weblog posts. Kind of annoying, really.

First up, we have some local Knoxville blogger completely missing the point on why people are buying guns in increasing numbers. I was going to make some quip about having gained a new job, and a new firearm, and a new batch of ammunition, all within the past few months, and all well within the realm of the recent economic turmoil, but it seemed kind of excessive. Then, given her small-minded, stereotypical comment at the end of the post, I was going to volunteer myself as one of those "nutty, paranoid people", while simultaneously pointing out that Senator Barack Hussein Obama really has worked to disarm people, ban firearms, and restrict/tax ammunition out of existence, and is trying to keep doing so. Yeah, I was going to do all of that, until SayUncle beat me to it.

Then I was going to write some snark-laden, outraged, indignant post over how Senator Barack Hussein Obama has absolutely no respect for the Constitution, the people who wrote it, or what it stands for... And then The Liberty Sphere got there before I did.

And, finally, I was going to do up a piece about Senator Joe Biden's recent interview, wherein he was confronted by questions not screened by his campain, was slapped upside with the reality of his running mate's words, and managed to completely and utterly fall apart. Also, I was going to add in the bit about how the Obama-Biden campaign behaved like a petulant little schoolgirl, and refused to talk to that reporter or news station ever again, since they came up with real questions, as opposed to the Obama-regulation softballs all of the other news channels and sources use. Yeah, I was going to do all of that, except Spank the Donkey beat me to the punch.

Stupid job, taking up all my time...

I just paid the cheapest price for gas I have paid since 28AUG07 - over a year. And, as you can see by the image to the right, gas prices in my particular area are, amazingly enough, lower than than they were a year ago.

So, I guess, all of those people who were castigating President Bush for the absurdly high gas prices we have had in the past year will now be congratulating him, right?

And all of those people who were mistaking supply-and-demand for price gouging will be thanking gas stations for apparently now selling under their profit margins, right?

...

Right?

...

Yeah, I did not think so either.

Best weblog name ever:

Hiro's Storage Unit.

And, no, it is not because the owner let me play with his automatic FNC... Althought my opinion could have something to do with reading this book far too many times.

Though it is a relatively recent, sporadic development, Tennessee is a decidedly "red" state (which might actually speak volumes as to how the Democratic Party has lost itself and its course over the years, but that is another post for another time). However, in driving around the area, I have come across a rather surprising number of bumper stickers, yard signs, and other election-related materials all supporting Senator Barack Hussein Obama and Senator Joe Biden. Given that Tennessee's overall tendencies are obviously in one particular direction this electoral year, this phenomena only convinced me more of something that has been bouncing around my empty head for a little while now:

People voting for Obama are doing so because they want to. People voting for McCain are doing so because they have to.

Granted, I hate playing semantics, and the difference is a small one, but I am starting to think that it holds a lot of weight. In reality, I am not convinced that the majority of Senator Barack Hussein Obama supporters actually know what they are getting in to... Too many of them seem far too caught up in the fervor, the neigh-on-religious frenzy surrounding the man, and are paying little to no attention to his actual stances, what he is really saying in those stirring, uplifting speeches, or where he would eventually take the country. One can hardly blame them in reality... the subtle pervasiveness of the "hope and change" mantra is all encompassing, and who can say "no" to the hope of changing the country for the better (or, at least, "better" in the eyes of Senator Barack Hussein Obama).

On the flip side, people who support Senator John McCain seem to understand far too well that he is definitively not ideal. He is not a conservative, by any stretch of the definition, and some of his stances on some issues are outright concerning. But given the choice between an imperfect, possibly incompetent candidate who is otherwise relatively benign, and a candidate who is already working to subvert the Constitution and, by extension, the country as a whole... Well, people are doing what they feel they must.

As such, they share no particular enthusiasm voting for McCain. No excitement. None of the hive mentality joy that comes from being "part of something greater". Only the sullen satisfaction of doing one's duty to try and keep America together, afloat, and intact, despite understanding that the candidate they are voting for is not perfect... only less imperfect than the other one.

Sure, we could vote for a third candidate, and make a point to the political establishment that we are not going to take this kind of bullshit any more. But the problem is, the more people that actually vote for third parties when they otherwise would have been voting for McCain... those are just more votes that Obama will not have to overcome to win. Should a miracle happen and one candidate or the other achieve a decisive lead, I suppose conservatives voting third-party to prove a point would have nothing to lose, but as it stands now, things are too close to consider tossing your vote just to prove a point.

So, yeah, there are a fair number of Obama signs in Tennessee, but I cannot really say as though I am concerned for this particular state. But it does say something about the nature of politics in America these days. When people are faced with voting for an anti-Constitution megalomaniac, complete with a fervently religious following, or for a dottering old man who will probably be no better or worse than what we have had for the past eight years... Well, you cannot blame people for going with the devil they know, but still not being happy about it.

Do car salesmen buy their own business cards, or are they provided to them by their respective dealerships? And why do they give them out with such reckless abandon? Unless I ask for your card, I am not going to use it, so save yourself the money and save the world a tree and keep it in your pocket.

Why do car salesmen lie about "invoice price"? I mean, the sticker price is obvious, and there for the whole world to see. However, people who go to the car lot uninformed are... well... stupid. All it takes is a quick stop at Edmunds.com, a little customization with their "Price with Options" feature, and off you go. Twice now I have had dealership representatives (from different dealerships) quote me an "invoice price" that bears no resemblance to the car's actual invoice cost... I full-well understand that car dealerships are in the business of making money, and more power to them for it, but if they are going to add a markup to a number they are quoting me, they should be honest about it.

Why is it that no modern cars come with dead pedals? You know, the not-really-pedal for where your left foot rests when you are driving? The thing that keeps you from wearing through the carpet in that particular spot? Yeah, that thing. All the cars I have seen recently do not even have a rubber pad there, much less an honest-to-God metal plate.

Furthermore, why are manual transmission cars getting so hard to find, outside of dedicated performance machines? Have Americans really gotten that lazy? Have people forgotten the fun of really driving your own car, rather than letting a computer make all of the decisions for you? Feh, I say.

In other news, when did car dealerships start letting you test-drive $30,000 cars without a salesperson in the seat next to you, or even a photocopy of your license or insurance? Done it twice now, no questions asked. Crazy.

Something every bachelor needs: A crock pot.

1. It is almost easier to use than a TV dinner, and makes food that is several orders of magnitude better.

2. It is a great way to show off to girlfriends that you do, indeed, cook... while doing so at a minimum of effort.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of of a Spore. Not just any spore that would cause you hayfever, or start growing into some nasty green-and-blue glop, but rather what appears to be a thoroughly engaging and entertaining new game from Maxim (no, not that Maxim).

Anywise, Better Half and I downloaded the free version of the Creature Creator - amusing, fun to tinker with, and the care and attention that went into the reactions and behaviors of the creatures was apparently sizable... but it was obviously a bare-bones little brother of the pay-to-play fully-operational version. However, with the game launching last Friday, we saw no reason to purchase the full Creature Creator, and instead started idly looking at the entire game itself.

And that is when it all went to hell.

First stop, Amazon. Do be do be... whatthehell? One star, with over two thousand votes? *scrollscrollscroll*

First of all, the game incorporates a draconian DRM system that requires you to activate over the internet, and limits you to a grand total of 3 activations. If you reach that limit, then you'll have to call EA in order to add one extra activation. That's not as simple as it sounds, since when you reach that point EA will assume that you, the paying customer, are a filthy pirating thief. You will need to provide proof of purchase, reasons why the limit was reached, etc, etc (it has all happened before with another recent EA product, Mass Effect). EA, of course, is not obligated to grant you that extra activation or even provide that service. In a couple of years they might very well even shut down the general activation servers, because "it's not financially feasible" to keep them running. What you will be left with is a nice, colorful $50 coaster. And you will be required to pay for another copy/license if you want to continue playing.

This basically means that you are actually RENTING the game, instead of owning it. The game WILL stop to function in the future. That's inevitable, because even if EA keeps the activation servers going, there IS going to be a time when EA will simply cease to exist because of financial issues or federal laws (like most businesses eventually do).

You are joking, right?

Well, really, not so much.

Spore's DRM limits customers to only three activations after the game is installed. That number isn't restored even if the game is uninstalled. Three is what you get unless you call up Electronic Arts customer support and give them your sob story.

While the restriction may not seem terrible at first blush — consider wanting to install the game at a later date. Consider a computer malfunction that forces the user to wipe their box clean. Consider making room on a hard-drive. There's plenty of legitimate reasons why a paying customer may need (or simply choose to) install the game multiple times as time goes by.

The theory behind EA's SecuROM DRM (also used in Mass Effect) is that it combats piracy by keeping file sharers from reusing activation codes.

That lasted almost a full day after Spore debuted in Australia, September 4.

Spore's DRM being almost instantly cracked was a matter of routine for modern PC games. Now pirates can install Spore to their heart's content while paying customers unwilling to get a cracked version are stuck with the restrictions. Clearly people are mad as hell. But will we take it anymore?

I admit it, I grew up on Maxim games - SimCity, SimAnt, SimEarth, SimLife, SimCity2000, etc. etc. I hated The Sims like the plague, but could not really blame the company for wanting to make a buck. And Spore looked interesting... its commercials were cute (not that those really matter, but at least the effort was there), the creature creator seemed to promise a remarkably amusing game, and the features included appeared to be a challenge for just about every level of gamer.

However, I cannot say as though I am thrilled to my core at the prospect of supporting such an idiotic and cumbersome DRM system as the one apparently part of Spore. Until such time as this issue is addressed by Maxim, and a better (or at least effective - I would not be as against this idea if it actually worked) solution to their DRM desires is implemented, I am not so sure I will be wasting my money on a game I have to ask permission to play.

It is strange to think that seven years have gone by already... I still remember the day like it was yesterday - everything I wrote a year ago still holds true today. However ,now that I am more comfortable discussing such things, other things also stick in my mind.

I remember that September 11, 2001 was a Tuesday. Not many of us remember that, but I do, because I was wearing a uniform that day. You see, I was still in Georgia Tech at the time, and was a member of NROTC, and my first class of the day was a military one.
I remember getting to the Unit (the building where NROTC met), and seeing it all happen on the televisions there.
I remember the instructors (all active duty Naval officers, from Lieutenants on up) disappearing for a time, and then coming back and telling us to go back to our dorms, and get out of our uniforms.
I remember realizing that they were worried, worried that what happened in New York City might spread, worried that we might become targets in our painfully conspicuous khakis, worried that things might start getting out of control.
I remember going back to my dorm, changing into civvies, and then wondering if this was for real. If the open-ended contract I signed with the military, allowing them to charge anything up to and including my life, would finally be fully executed with my activation from NROTC to active duty.
I remember coming to terms with the full weight of that decision in that specific moment.

It seems every year I remember more and more about that day. About how the first time I found out about the attack was by talking to someone I knew on the way to class. About how things never quite seemed right afterwards. About seeing the skyline of New York City a few months later, and realizing it would never be the same.

But most of all, I remember. I will always remember. Always.

Image copyright David Paranteau, and used with permission.

One line review:

I do not know exactly what I was expecting, but this was not it.

So I was sitting here, wrapping up our taxes (a bit late, I know, but the IRS is a little forgiving when you happen to be on the other side of the globe when April 15th rolls around), and a brilliant idea happened to occur to me. Well, maybe semi-brilliant.

Keep the tax code as it is. It is a bloody nightmare (as my father says, "I am a rocket scientist, and even I cannot understand how the tax code works!"), but changing that much is not the goal of this post. Instead, chnage the due date of taxes to October first, and do away completely with withholding. All taxes come due on October first, all at once, from everyone in the country.

However, Americans only have to pay the taxes if Congress has passed a balanced budget by September 31st - after all, October first marks the beginning of a new fiscal year. If the politicians have not managed this simple task by the due date, no taxes are paid until such time as it actually happens, and then people will be granted a week or so after that date to actually do the paperwork and wrap things up. Oh, and the balanced budget would have to take into account the fact that the government gets all of its tax income once a year - not spread out as with current withholding arrangements. Careful planning would indeed have to be used, and that is the point of the exercise.

For too long, too many people have been of the mindset that the government is forcing us to pay taxes. This is not the case. The government exists at our pleasure - it exists because the people allow it to (a basic tenet of all Founding Father governmental theorization and writings, and of even more since). And taxes are nothing more than the American populace allowing the government to take stewardship of some portion of our income in exchange for providing us things we like and deem necessary (a court system, national defense, international diplomatic relations, etc.). Sure, sometimes it might seem as though the government is demanding and we have no choice but to obey, but the reality is, taxes are our money, and the government should simply be helping us out with it. A lot of American citizens could stand for a reminder of this, and just about every politician could. Because, the simple truth is, if those politicians cannot be trusted with our money (by using it in a balanced and effective manner), they do not deserve it.

Granted, this idea would never happen, but I can dream, eh?

Better Half and I were having an interesting chat concerning the upcoming election on the way back from our road trip yesterday, and happened upon a purely perfect idea.

A topic of some substantial discussion of late is who John Sidney McCain III and Barack Hussein Obama will choose as their running mates - after all, they are more or less the candidates of their respective parties at the moment, and they need to start deciding who would be their Vice President should they happen to be elected. Well, Better Half and I have found an answer for the both of them... it integrates the experience of age and the vivacity of youth, it puts a rather durable backbone inside of an amazingly smooth velvet glove, and it allows one man skilled at doing so to make smooth the hard decisions of another man who can make those...

Behold the ticket that answers all the questions:

McCain - Obama.

Hey, at least McCain would probably not have to worry about an untimely, but perfectly natural, demise like he would with Hillary standing behind him...

On a more serious note, I am just hoping that Hillary somehow comes out of the DNC with the nomination... the resulting melt-down of the Democratic Party would be positively amazing.

Has anyone else noticed how the occasional theme of these most-recent Olympics bears a striking resemblance to the main theme of The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.?

And, yes, I just now noticed this... Honestly, I have not watched the Olympics much at all except for the past few days. *shrug* I prefer the winter ones, since NBC never bothers to really televise fencing.

... and it is only 1000.

Anywise, every gun store needs a full-length mirror. How else are we, the customers, to determine how a firearm, holster, or other accessory is going to look (or not, in the case of concealed items) on us?

Maria Bello is no Rachel Weisz (Rachel is actually hot.), but nothing beats a Yeti kicking a field goal... and another calling it.

Well, I can completely and utterly guarantee that I will not be the only person adding this new weblog to my blogroll and RSS aggregator...

Behold: George Orwell's Diaries... only seventy years, to the day, after they were written. I will let the minds behind this interesting exercise do the explanation:

From 9th August 2008, you will be able to gather your own impression of Orwell's face from reading his most strongly individual piece of writing: his diaries. The Orwell Prize is delighted to announce that, to mark the 70th anniversary of the diaries, each diary entry will be published on this blog exactly seventy years after it was written, allowing you to follow Orwell's recuperation in Morocco, his return to the UK, and his opinions on the descent of Europe into war in real time. The diaries end in 1942, three years into the conflict.

What impression of Orwell will emerge? From his domestic diaries (which start on 9th August), it may be a largely unknown Orwell, whose great curiosity is focused on plants, animals, woodwork, and - above all - how many eggs his chickens have laid. From his political diaries (from 7th September), it may be the Orwell whose political observations and critical thinking have enthralled and inspired generations since his death in 1950. Whether writing about the Spanish Civil War or sloe gin, geraniums or Germany, Orwell's perceptive eye and rebellion against the 'gramophone mind' he so despised are obvious.

So, basically, this digital time capsule will provide something for all audiences. For the historians and cultural anthropologists, this will be a unique view of the world as it was seventy years ago, and how one person lived through it all. For the social activists and politically-minded folks... well, this is George Orwell, for God's sake.

Better Half and I are in something of an interesting predicament at the moment... Thanks to her job, we have a fully-furnished temporary apartment at a rather nice complex. Additionally, her new employer moved all of our effects across the country - no small cost. However, to move ourselves, we elected to fly as opposed to drive... lower fuel costs, and it took considerably less time, though we were unable to embark upon another thoroughly interesting road trip (all road trips are, by definition, interesting). The real hitch with this plan, however, is that we were limited to one checked piece of luggage, one carry-on piece of luggage, and one backpack apiece. Sure, we could have checked another bag for $25 (Thanks Delta, you twits!), but we are cheap.

So here we are, in our quaint little temporary apartment, and we do not have a whole lot of stuff.

Unfortunately, this apartment has a very small water heater - about 38 gallons. To add insult to that injury, the shower head the apartment came with was, in no way, shape or form, a low-flow model. I am willing to wager about a full gallon went through the thing a second. So, the first thought that came to mind for extending our water heater's usefulness was to procure and install a low-flow shower head. Great. Except I could not get the current shower head off to save my life. At all. Period. Whoever put that thing on there did a damned good job of it. And, flying cross-country as we did, and limited by idiotic weight restrictions as we were, neither of us thought to pack a tool chest in our luggage.

One trip to Wal-Mart, a low-flow water head, and a nine-inch clamp-jaw wrench later, I was able to remove the old shower head and install the new one... Of course, as you can guess, I used the wrench for all of half a turn getting the old one off and half a turn getting the new one on - figures, does it not? But, without that wrench, and spending the $10 for it (bleh - especially when the new shower head only cost that much itself), I could not have made those half-turns, and we would still be dealing with a quick-to-empty-the-tank shower head.

I guess a similar situation happens with carry firearms... they are not cheap, getting licensed to carry them is not cheap, and the whole process can be rather time consuming and stressful... but when you need one (and you will probably only need it for a very short time), you really, really need one.

Now that the shower is fixed, I think Better Half and I are headed to the DMV tomorrow - after all we need to get new licenses, and register my car in its new home, and I need to move my Florida CFWL permit to a more-local one. Hopefully Tennessee's turnaround time will be as fast as Florida's was.

Two hundred, thirty two years and still kicking... Not too bad.

Better Half and I are off celebrating in a little town that does not do fireworks (this is Kalifornistan, after all), but I thought I would leave you all with the greatest invention known to mankind (at least in relation to the 4th)... Shows-in-a-box:

I cannot wait until I can live in a state where I can just chain these little puppies together, sit back on my porch, and be entertained for the whole night.

By way of Oleg Volk, I happened to come across further evidence that we, as a society, are more or less screwed. This article is a disturbing read from beginning to end, but I will try and highlight some of the points that jumped out and caught my eye:

Body-scanning machines that show images of people underneath their clothing are being installed in 10 of the nation's busiest airports in one of the biggest public uses of security devices that reveal intimate body parts. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently started using body scans on randomly chosen passengers in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Denver, Albuquerque and at New York's Kennedy airport. Airports in Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas and Miami will be added this month. Reagan National Airport in Washington starts using a body scanner today. A total of 38 machines will be in use within weeks.

Right. So remind me to go out of my way to not fly out of any of those airports. Through them would be ok, since I would not have to go through security again, but departing... nyet.

The TSA says it protects privacy by blurring passengers' faces and deleting images right after viewing. Yet the images are detailed, clearly showing a person's gender. "You can actually see the sweat on someone's back," Schear said.

So, you are basically looking at a black-and-white image of the person, in the buck-assed nude. Great. Oh, sure, they are going to "delete" them... like there is no way around an automatic deletion system, or, God save us, the person doing the deleting will not ever "forget" if a 34D-24-36 walks through...

The scanners do a good job seeing under clothing but cannot see through plastic or rubber materials that resemble skin, said Peter Siegel, a senior scientist at the California Institute of Technology. "You probably could find very common materials that you could wrap around you that would effectively obscure things," Siegel said.

... Wait a second - you are, more or less, saying this entire system is pretty much useless, right? Yeah, because the government/TSA/police departments have never subjugated the American populace to embarassing, imposing, and/or intrusive systems that, in the end, served no verifiable purpose. Of course not.

Stepping into the 9-foot-tall glass booth, Eileen Reardon of Baltimore looked startled when an electronic glass door slid around the outside of the machine to create the image of her body. "Some of this stuff seems a little crazy," Reardon said, "but in this day and age, you have to go along with it."

(Emphasis mine.) What, like we have to "go along with" the police randomly stopping people and demanding papers, simply because they happen to be in a certain neighborhood? "But that was Nazi Germany! That would never happen here in the good old US of A!" you say... Well, I beg to differ.

Passengers can decline to go through a scanner, but they will face a pat-down. Schear, the Baltimore security director, said only 4% of passengers decline. In Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, where scanners have been tested since last year as an alternative to pat-downs, 90% of passengers choose to be scanned, the TSA says.

Alright, so they give you an "option", like that is somehow supposed to make you feel better: You can either face having your birthday suit scrutinized by God-alone-knows-whom behind some screen somewhere, or you can be groped by... well... God-alone-knows-whom again, only this time, you get to see his/her face. Kind of reminds me of being mugged by two separate guys, but the second one mailing you a thank-you card. Uhm. Yeah. Can anyone say, "Hobson's Choice"?

You know, I can almost understand the government trying to exert more control over and surveillance of its people... it is, after all, what governments do. But I just cannot wrap my head around the people, the selfsame people who should be controlling the government and not the other way around, so willingly going along with it.

Of course, it was not too long ago that people willingly walked into gas chambers and ovens...

(Image borrowed from Call Me Ahab.)

So this is going to count as one of those linky-no-thinky posts I am having to resort to these days, however, this image definitely falls under the "too cool not to share" category. Definitely click on it to embiggen - trust me on this one.

Yes, it is real. And Snopes provides some information on it, by way of a reader whose great-grandfather is buried somewhere in that image:

The design for the living picture was laid out at the drill ground at Camp Dodge, situated in the beautiful valley of the Des Moines River. Thousands of yards of white tape were fastened to the ground and formed the outlines on which 18,000 officers and men marched to their respective positions.

In this body of soldiers are any hundreds of men of foreign birth — born of parents whose first impression of the Land of Freedom and Promise was of the world's greatest colossus standing with beacon light at the portal of a nation of free people, holding aloft a torch symbolic of the light of liberty which the statue represents. Side by side with native sons these men, with unstinted patriotism, now offer to sacrifice not only their liberty but even life itself for our beloved country.

The day on which the photograph was taken was extremely hot and the heat was intensified by the mass formation of men. The dimensions of the platting for the picture seem astonishing. The camera was placed on a high tower. From the position nearest the camera occupied by Colonel Newman and his staff, to the last man at the top of the torch as platted on the ground was 1,235 feet, or approximately a quarter of a mile. The appended figures will give an adequate idea of the distorted proportions of the actual ground measurements for this photograph:

Base to shoulder: 150 feet.
Right arm: 340 feet.
Widest part of arm holding torch: 12-1/2 feet.
Right thumb: 35 feet.
Thickest part of body: 29 feet.
Left hand (length): 30 feet.
Tablet in left hand: 27 feet.
Face: 60 feet.
Nose: 21 feet.
Longest spike of head piece: 70 feet.
Flame on torch.: 600 feet.
Torch and flame combined: 980 feet.
Number of men in flame of torch: 12,000
Number of men in torch: 2,800
Number of men in right arm: 1,200
Number of men in body, head and balance of figure only: 2,00