Monday, August 31, 2009

Gen Kevin Chilton on Charlie Rose

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9687
A nice interview with a general from USStratCom. Perspective on what the significance of being a person in an organization.

USStratCom is a joint force of Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. Cyberspace, Global Reconnaisance Assets, Nukes.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

It's just business

I think the phrase about 'it's just business' can say a lot. Perhaps the Japanese response to an unemployment level of perhaps half that of the US, the voting in of a new ruling party, and changing relations with the US and Europe will be interesting.

Of course, maybe there will be other interesting changes to the international relations infrastructure, it is too early to really tell for certain.

No one likes to be unemployed. I am happy that I have a nice job contributing to the smooth operation of the VA Hospital's computer systems. I guess I do try to move up in the system, which has so far not moved forward, but who knows what the future will hold?


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Though Japan's economy has shown signs of coming out of its worst recession since the second World War, in a country used to lifetime employment, the unemployment rate has hit a record high. Just two days before the election, the jobless rate was announced at 5.7 percent.

In the world's second largest economy, for many people, it is all about business.

On the sidewalks of Tokyo, street vendors tell ABC News "business has been getting worse and worse" and that "people used to buy two items but now they only buy one."

igoogle is pretty cool

there's a post applet for blogger (blogspot, or whatever)from inside of igoogle. http://www.google.com/ig Hmm, this could be an interesting addition.

I like the Ipod Touch music playing through my Bose Accoustic Wave Radio. Maybe the new Apple Tablet will be more mac than strictly a larger Ipod Touch. I like the portability of the music collections made possible by the Ipod Touch. As far as the web browsing from the Ipod Touch goes, in my opinion it is way too lacking. At least as long as there are actual laptop computers around which can provide a better experience.

Maybe if the Tablet will be supporting the leading edge networking infrastructure, it could be really cool.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

shoe thrower to be released early

The Iraqi Shoe Thrower, who proved GWB 43 had reasonable reflexes, and could get out of the way of an object hurled at him appears to have been behaving well.


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An Iraqi journalist imprisoned for hurling his shoes at former President George W. Bush will be released next month after his sentence was reduced for good behavior, his lawyer said Saturday.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi's act of protest during Bush's last visit to Iraq as president turned the 30-year-old reporter into a folk hero across the Arab world, as his case became a rallying point for critics who resented the 2003 U.S. invasion and occupation.

sunshine state shrinking

Wow, this looks pretty interesting. To think that the population for Florida declined. It might be reasonably expected that this trend will reverse itself.
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Choked by a record level of foreclosures and unemployment, along with a helping of disillusionment, the state?s population declined by 58,000 people from April 2008 to April 2009, according to the University of Florida?s Bureau of Economic and Business Research. Except for the years around World Wars I and II, it was the state?s first population loss since at least 1900.

Edward Kennedy died

I'm not sure why the media is going so ga-ga over the life of Edward Kennedy.

I guess the Senate Democrats now have 59 votes. I doubt that the democrats can be too united on big, divisive issues. But whatever. Who knows, maybe the senate democrats could pass the House Bill.

Weight loss so far

I'm not too impressed by the current weight 188.6, but considering we've been eating good stuff, and small portions, we are doing pretty well.
I've been having some mouth soreness pain. I attribute it to a recent filling that I had replaced and expanded, due to the cavity that was forming on the side of the tooth. The dentist wanted me to bring in my night guard for some "adjustment" on Monday. I put the night guard in my mouth last night, and it was uncomfortable, so I slept without it. Today, there was still some pain. I took some Tylenol ez tabs a couple of times today.
Yesterday I think I took more Tylenol than I took today.

Tonight for dinner, I had a scoop of meatballs on top of a slice and a half of Texas Toast. It was quite good. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten the chocolate milk, but the chocolate milk was pretty good. I might have had about 12 ounces.

I'm happy that my wife was pleased that she got 20W shorts, and had to return them to Bell's clothing store, and she got 18W shorts, and they fit. She says she can't remember the last time she wore 18W shorts.

I'm not really wanting to continue the rapid weight loss. I'm happy at this weight. I think if I wanted to get the lap band adjusted again, I would most likely eat smaller portions again, and I'd lose more weight. Then I'd probably need to get smaller pants again.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Grilled Cheese


Most of a grilled cheese sandwich from last night. It was very good, I had 3 slices of white american cheese, some sausage pieces, and a handful of mozzarella cheese. It was a very cheesy sandwich. We will have family over for lunch. Fran, my wife is going out of her way to fix alot of food. Part of the family who we are inviting over, we're not that fond of, but it's a matter of strategic diplomacy, I suppose. So, there should be alot of food fixed for this event, and I'm not sure how much of it we'll be able to eat. Fortunately, we can eat about anything. I wasn't sure how I'd do with the sandwich, but it was very good.
We will be having some neices and a nephew with wife and daughter who are down from Massachusettes over today. Other family will also come visit. It should be interesting.
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A nice detail at another of the buildings on USF's campus. The fencing indicates where there will be more construction soon.
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river art zoomed in


This is an up close zoomed in shot of the bottom of the river art piece.
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River Art


This is a cool piece of art work on the side of a building over at the Department of Environmental sciences on the campus of the University of South Florida. I like several things about several of the buildings and architectural designs. Anyway, this art is supposd to represent the Hillsborough River.
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

A Squirell


A squirell, hanging upside down having some of our sunflower seeds.
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Some Rocks





Some rocks we got recently, they look very cool. at $0.19 a pound, this clump was about $43, which could seem like alot to pay for just rocks, but they look pretty cool in my opinion.
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