Oh no, a quote

The following applies to my pseudospiritual side as well as the tasks that need to get done. Sort of a "If you want something done, do it yourself." approach.

I use the term pseudo in front of spiritual because I believe spiritual by itself implies observance of an unnamed, but single religion. I do not pretend to be special enough to claim any one religion as MINE.

No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.

-Buddha

Ask Not!

50 years ago today, President Kennedy created a program that changed my life in ways that still amaze me. 24 years ago, I entered into that program and served in Thailand as a member of the United States Peace Corps. I would also like to thank all those who have served, are serving, and will serve in the armed forces. They are the ones whose sacrifices allowed me to serve in the manner I did. I left the Peace Corps smarter, more resourceful, more confident, and goal oriented than when I entered. Along the way, I helped a village do the same. It was a phenomenal experience with emotional highs and lows. Serious highs and lows. Although I left wondering if I had made a difference, when I visited 5 years later I realized that I did. I also realize the difference they made in me. It really is "The toughest job I'll ever love."

In other news, there have been requests for the "cod with chorizo" recipe, so here is the link: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/baked_cod_with_chorizo_white_beans.html

Happy Noshing!

But Seriously Folks,

Despite the fact I have not lived in Thailand for over 20 years, I am annoyed and saddened by the events there over the past 72 hours. Well, the past 2 months for that matter. This level of violent disobedience is most non-Thai as the Thai have a well deserved reputation for settling differences peacefully. Sometimes I think the word Thailand is synonymous with "bloodless coup." Thus, I am bewildered, perplexed and frankly pissed off at the actions of the arsonists. Although I feel for the rural poor, (I worked in international development when I lived in Maha Sarakham) I do not condone setting buildings afire. That is just inexcusable. To the people of Bangkok, Mukdahan, Khon Kaen, Maha Sarakham, Chiang Mai and other towns who are just trying to go about their business; I am truly pained to read and see the reports on the news. I wish you all peace and love.

Ranting and Celebrating

I have finished another journey around the Sun today and celebrated by taking a furlough day. So far I spent it by bringing our daughter to the bus stop, then driving all the way to her school to deliver her eyeglasses which she forgot, taking a mini nap, spending about 3 hours at Snowbowl. I also bought ice cream for tonight's desert and some crickets for the bearded dragon. President Obama celebrated my birthday by signing into law a piece of legislation that will increase the financial and medical security for all. Yes, for all! I reflected on how lucky I am to have employer provided health insurance, and how cool 50.34% of the house of representatives have the nerve to think nearly EVERYONE should be allowed to purchase health insurance from A PRIVATE HEATH INSURANCE COMPANY WITH THEIR OWN MONEY. I repeat: WITH THEIR OWN MONEY. Imagine the audacity to think people should not be denied insurance for no reason other than imperfect genes. It seems the remaining 49.66% of the House has a problem with people buying health insurance and want to take it away. Maybe they should start with eliminating their health insurance benefit first.

Corrupt Chimichangas and Girl Scouts in Congress

I could not decide weather to blog about inane daily activities, or take a political stance tonight, so I will do both.

For dinner tonight I decided to corrupt the general chimichanga by using multi grain tortillas, ground turkey, and mashed garbanzo beans instead of the standard ingredients. This was followed by a simply pan fry. The result was a light, clean taste, but still filling and satisfying. Of course there was cheese. I'm not THAT odd. After dinner, I contemplated the delightful congress we have. I have concluded that our congress is so ineffective that it could not pass a bill involving no public funds that would provide any U.S. citizen that wanted any, either a FREE box of Girl Scouts Thin Mint cookies or a bag of jelly beans. The Republicans would balk at the bill because it is the individual's responsibility to buy their own damn sweets; the federal government should not take care of our snacking needs. The Democrats would throw a fit because the cookies and jelly beans are not all natural and/or organic. That and Ronald Reagan liked Jelly Beans.

Riskytruk Gets Religopolitical

Yesterday, the supreme court decided not to review the En Banc decision of the ninth circuit court of appeals regarding Arizona Snowbowl using treated waste water for snow making. Although I am sympathetic to the views of the environmentalists and Native Peoples, I am not disappointed in the decision. Nor do I applaud it. I believe that the treatment process removes all the poopies and pissies from the effluent and the argument that using treated waste water is akin to using sewage for baptisms is pure manure. I also believe that the treatment process in question does not remove all the chemical residue from medications, drugs and cleaning products, thus I am reluctant to imbibe the fluid. The opposition should focus on this argument, not the poop/piss issue. Furthermore, although I do ski, it is not simply recreation. I feel commanded by Ullr to ski - whenever and wherever. It is a spiritual experience for me, and given the fact that my ancestors worshipped Ullr, it is a religious issue. In short if allowed to move forward, Ullr will teach the Kastinas skiing while the Kastinas will teach Ullr some spiritual dance steps. So in short - Glory to Ullr! Now I just need to wait for the decision on the Coyotes/Hamilton issue. Since this is a winter sport issue, perhaps Ullr needs to get involved again.

AZ flexes some muscle.

It would seem that the University has decided to pay attention to the issues surrounding how the the chemical fume hoods and the HVAC system behave in the lab building when the fire alarm goes off. (Either when tested or when a detector reads steam from a autoclave as smoke) - Thanks to to some prodding from the State Fire Marshall. It was something like this: Fix it or the building is closed in 10 days! (this would mean June 10th) Funny how something that has been an issue, but ignored by the upper tier of deciders for 30+ months becomes urgent. I mean URGENT!! A priority. Something that needs attention NOW! The good good folks at facilities have made great progress in the past 3 days. I just hope the wall of Fire Detector Company, Fume Hood Company, and HVAC Company can overcome their paranoia of proprietary information and start talking to each other so our folks can make the systems "talk" to each other and operate as they should. I expect this is like a 1980's Michael Stipe conversing with Ozzy Osbourne and Bob Dylan.

A Golden (Or Maybe Amber) Opportunity

For whatever reason, I have become more aware of television ads for law firms lately. I am sure you have seen them too. They tell of the devastation that has occurred after/during/as a result of certain medications that one may have received during surgery. Many of these involve "life saving" procedures. I even saw one the other day that was for denture adhesive. Yes, it is a tragedy that people have been harmed or died as a result of something that was done during surgery. It is a tragedy that people have been harmed or died as a result of a medication. I do take issue when the immediate reaction is to sue for the highest amount ever awarded. Again, I believe the individual would have died without the procedure, ( IN SOME CASES!) therefore question the belief that they died because something went wrong with a blood thinner/procedure/dental adhesive. I am sensing an opportunity here. Shoelaces that become untied, causing one to trip, fall and suffer an injury or even death. I am sure some brands of shoelaces are more prone to this than others. How about beer. Imagine the voice over: Have you or a loved one been injured after failing to correctly ambulate due to compromised coordination as a result of consumption of this dangerous beverage? Numerous women have even said yes to intercourse and wound up pregnant after a night of drinking. Even more men have succumbed to a condition known as "beer goggles" and spent the rest of their suffering ridicule from their friends. Please call the law firm of Dewey Cheetham and Howe. You may be entitled to a large settlement.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I know I like cold weather, and despise hot days, but since it is the middle of April I should add a caveat. My love of cold is confined to November through March, after that I do permit days over 45 degrees. I know this is your down time and you are on vacation, but I would like a warming trend. It is okay if the trend ends at 75 degrees, after all if I wanted hot weather I would have moved to Phoenix.

Is My Life Exciting, Or What?

I have been suddenly spending a lot of time looking at EBAY for useless items I do not need. Among these items are a "new" ipod shuffle, (my old one worked fine - I just wanted a 2nd gen one) a new puck case to replace the one I gave to my daughter for her puck signed by Todd Fedoruk, a hubcap for a '98 grand voyager, and a case for my daughter's Nintendo DS. I have bought more crap(?) on EBAY in the past month than I have in the past 18 months combined. It is, nonetheless, a good place to find things that are hard to find, have been discontinued or are overpriced elsewhere. The puck case is a good example; the store I used to get them at has discontinued nearly all of their hockey stuff. Damn them! Not just the Flag store either - it appears that all their Phoenix metro stores have done the same. I realize that hockey stuff is not the best seller in AZ, but they need to be aware that hockey fans MUST HAVE HOCKEY STUFF. Merchants must deliver before we start chanting BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD while carrying broken sticks. Hockey fans without hockey stuff is like Sturgis running out of beer during the rally. Bad idea. Hmmm this is turning into a rant over a piece of plastic. This must mean the answer to the title question is an "Or what."

Food and T.V. sets

Last night's dinner was amazing. We went to a friends house a few blocks away and partook in a semi pot luck event. One of the highlights was the sausage and apple stuffing made with three different kinds of sausage, bread and apples. It was unique and fantastic. The bird was great, and the squash, potatoes and pies were also extra special yummy. The rolls also went quickly. After overeating and imbibing, we headed on home so my wife could get some sleep before helping open one of the local big box stores at 5:00. She pulled an extra long shift (05:00 - 16:00) and her register pulled in over $32,800 during that time. Folks, that is ONE register at ONE Walmart. She has often commented how chaotic the crowd can be on "black Friday" and how they RUN through the aisles to get the item they want before it is sold out. This level of chaos became all too apparent this morning at another Walmart some 2,000+ miles to the Northeast when one of the openers was trampled to death when he tried to open the doors. According to reports, the doors were destroyed by the crowd in the process. It is nice to know that we value television sets, vacuum cleaners and mass produced DVDs of last years movies over life. This reminds me of crowds at rock concerts as well as parents in third world countries who sell their children into prostitution so they can buy some idiotic brain numbing appliance. We can no longer judge them, now that we are willing to kill in order to save a few bucks on a T.V. We need to get a grip and realize this is all materialistic crap, and refocus on the important things - friends, family, and health, including whatever spiritual health one chooses. F'ing IDIOTS!

Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant

It is finally election day, and I am avoiding watching any returns for at least another hour. Despite my respect for the so called maverick, I find myself preferring the Senator from Illinois. This is largely due to the demaverickization Senator McCain has gone through over the past two to three years. Instead of taking a centrist approach to positions, he has moved far to the right in order to appease the far right portion of the republican base. In short he has become more of a gelding. His selection of Governor Palin pushed me offer the edge to the left. I would love to watch a hockey game with the woman, but when she spews statements about what God gave the United States (oil, natural gas, wind, etc.) and what we are entitled (mandated) to do with it, I realize that if she is allowed influence in the Oval Office, that science will be set back another 30 years. Given the past eight years that would place technology in this country somewhere in the middle of the twelfth century. We can not advance as a society when our leaders ridicule or ignore chemistry, physics and biology. That is part of the reason I have looked to the left. There are others, but I am more moderate on those views. I seriously believe that if the right retains control of the executive branch, we will live in fear, lose freedoms, and return to the days of destroyed federal and state constitutions ala Arizona proposition 102. I'm as mad as hell over this crap and did something about it. I voted.

A Non Repentent Apology

A few days ago a friend posted a blog with a music video embedded in it. The song enumerated the stereotypical advantages of being male. Although I do not agree with all of the listings, I have examined some of my traits and behaviors and I wonder if I am self centered because I am male, or if it is because I am the center of the universe. I have had friends be apprehensive about medical procedures, and not relate to their apprehension. Is it because the science behind the procedure is just another application of that found in some chemistry labs, or some innate "it's just a MRI" maleness, or because I have had a smaller MRI myself (and an angiogram, and a nuclear bone scan.)? I feel like a jerk about it, but these things happen when one is the center of the known and unknown universe. It is also true that despite some of the drawbacks to being male, I have NEVER felt like singing "If I were a girl." So I apologize for my self centeredness, but doubt I will do anything about it.

And They Shall Be Termed Equini - even if it is wrong.

It seems that the cable company is blaming solar radiation interference for the reduced reception on some of the channels we subscribe to. The nerve! Did they suddenly become astrophysicists or something? They also say this occurs around the equini - what is the plural of equinox? This drop in service was most annoying last evening when I was watching the Coyotes/Anaslime game. Tracing the puck on our small T.V. set is hard enough without a 2 second outage every 5 minutes, so I propose drastic action. I suggest we either ban the sun, or simply skip over the equini. Or better yet, we should get McCain-Palin to blame the Democrats. This is exactly what they will do unless the Obama folks defuse the Ayers/Wright/Rebel of the day pseudo connections. (I promised some type of jab against the Dems.) As more of these pseudo connections are brought to life, Senator Obama will need to be more detailed in the relationships. I think the Republicans are grab-bagging, but it seems to be working for them. The republicans are also milking the MYTH of the evil liberal media to their full benefit. The Democrats are caving, and the media is adjusting their coverage in a way that only Rupert Murdoch would be proud of. Just in case you are wondering: I find both the McCain-Palin and Obama-Biden camps to have strong points and weak points. I am a registered Independant and politically am between the two camps, but am weary of the influence of the FAR FAR right "Do as we say, think what we tell you, pray ONLY what we pray" philosophy. I am also tired of the Democrats "give us your money and we will redistribute it for you." mentality.

Oh, according to the Astronomical Dictionary it is equinoxes. I can't believe I was wrong.

The C Word

In order to pretend to be open minded, I have been watching the debates. Unfortunately, I have found them to be one long dual campaign ad, he said - he said - she said - he said fest. Add food, drinks, drugs and a twister mat and we would have one big dysfunctional orgy. Anyway, I thought I had heard it all before during one of Governor Palin's answers that was an answer to something other than the question asked. Caution: flaming liberal rant ahead! She was spewing the normal republican mantra of DRILL DRILL DRILL EVERYWHERE EVERYWHERE EVERYWHERE NOW NOW NOW! when she inserted the obligatory mention of energy sources other than oil when this came out of her mouth:

So even in dealing with climate change, it's all the more reason that we have an "all of the above" approach, tapping into alternative sources of energy and conserving fuel, conserving our petroleum products and our hydrocarbons so that we can clean up this planet and deal with climate change.

She actually said: "conserving fuel, conserving our petroleum products and our hydrocarbons so that we can clean up this planet and deal with climate change.'

Republican Governor married to an employee of big oil say what?

"conserving our petroleum products..."

Again?

conserving

There has not been a politician seeking to get elected that has used that word in 28 years, and he paid dearly for it. I was shocked, surprised, flummoxed, and almost impressed.

But, I soon knew it was not a dream when the chant for "Drill, baby drill!" returned.

The evening progressed without a re-utterance of the word. Not even from Senator Biden.

I Thought It Was A Slot Machine

Gambling: It's not just for casinos (and airports, and grocery stores) anymore!

The first wheel stopped at "7" as did the second and third. This would have been fantastic if it had been a slot machine, and was missing the negative sign in front. Before panic sets in, we need to realize that this wasn't even a 7% drop in the DJIA. Folks, this doesn't even make the top 10 list for big percentage drops in "the market." So lets all have a drink, get a geed night's sleep and tackle tomorrow with a level head.
Frankly, I think congress is acting appropriately by not rushing into some quick fix loan, and instead creating a bill that addresses the needs of most of the players. This does not cover the wants of us all, nor should it. I think the Paulson-Bush Bailout bill reeks of socialized banking. If we had been paying attention we would have realized that we have had socialized banking anytime the feds loan banks money. This bill, however takes it to a whole new level. If we loan financial institutions the funds they say they need at what I expect to be no or low interest, they will gladly use it to loan funds to regular folks at a MUCH HIGHER interest rate. At some time in the future when these institutions are profitable, we will be paid back, probably without interest nor adjustments for inflation. Please correct me if I am wrong.

700 billion points of light

Things to/not to do with 700 billion dollars.

1) Give $100 plus some change to every person on earth. Not
2) Reward global corporations for poor bets - no questions asked. Not
3) Reward global corporations for poor bets - some questions asked. Probably
4) Reward individual families for poor housing decisions. Not
5) Push for a new regulatory bureaucracy while campaigning as an anti-bureaucracy,
anti regulation maverick. Yep
6) Give it to me. Not
7) Use it for leverage to get votes away from the party of a former beauty queen.
Yep.
8) Use it to explain why the opposite political party is to blame for everything
instead of working to solve the problem. Yep
9) Empower international banking and investing executives - give them whatever they
ask for whenever they ask for it. Absolutely!
10) Piss off the American taxpayers. DUH!!!

I am part owner of several global corporations!

Well, the last half of the week has been much less hostile to the stock market than the first half, and my portfolio seems to have grown, at least in number of things owned. It seems I am now part owner of AIG and a whole bunch of mortgages of a whole bunch of banks. I will keep telling myself this, and ignore that what I own is a sack of manure wrapped in pretty foil paper. Some economists believe that is things go well, this may be good for the taxpayer/investors. I will continue to tell myself that I own things I didn't before. It also seems that the maverick that is for small government and deregulation is also for another bureaucracy to regulate the private sector. Ain't election years great.

This isn't funny

Let me see if I understand this: Oodles of people and businesses have paid AIG insurance premiums, and now we must have some of our tax dollars go to rescue the MAJOR CORPORATION. Just think of the folks who have/had AIG who are actually winding up paying twice. If AIG manages to nurse itself back to health, will we get our tax money back with interest?

Any bets on how bad this week will end up being for the DJIA? How many shoes are there, and who keeps dropping them.

Political Question and comments.

If it is appropriate for a politician to boast about the activities of one of their children in the armed services, is it also appropriate to discuss the less savory activities of another one of their children?

Also, at the very least, it was STUPID to use any cliche involving farm animals and lipstick. I know this is old news, but...

My mom was a "hockey mom", drove herself to work, and cooked meals for the family, so where is her nomination?

Why are the Republicans getting major kudos for doing what the Democrats did TWENTY FOUR years ago, and why are the Democrats too chicken to point this out?