December 18, 2002
Do you feel safe?
You should. George Bush has announced that the missile defense shield is going to be deployed.
Whew, Ifeel better.
Well, maybe not completely better, for it seems that there is a hitch. Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, explained that the shield is only designed to "catch" a limited amount of in coming missiles, or as he put it, "Its better than nothing".
HUH?
Better than nothing? That safe feeling is fading. It seems the system, though deployed is still being tested. As Rumsfeld said, It will be tested and fixed and tested and fixed. Its nice to see that after over 20 years and billions and billions of dollars we now have something we can finally feel safe about. Well maybe not.

December 1, 2002
Random bits of historical stuff I have picked up lately.
17th and 18th Century British Naval personnel did not know how to swim. On purpose. They knew if anything happened to their ship, there was no chance of rescue, so there was no reason to prolong the inevitable by swimming around and drowning eventually. So they didn't bother to swim, when the ship went down, they went down too.

17th and 18th century American Colonists, and likely Europeans as well, believed that lightning strikes were God's will. The local townsfolk would come out to a house that had been hit by lightning and try and save neighboring buildings, but not the one struck by lightning, no messing with God's will. When Ben Franklin invented the lightning rod. Clergymen, tried to talk their flock out of using it since it would go against God's will. Most people did not listen to the clergy on this one.

Interesting stuff, huh?

November 6, 2002
We're in trouble now!!!
Total Republican control of our National Government.
Uh, Oh!!!
Now watch the deficit rise. Now watch the flood of narrow minded, ultra conservative, dispassionate, reactionary judges that we will be stuck with in the Federal Court system til the day they die. (not that I am predicting doom or anything).
The good news here is that for the next two years, everything is the responsibility of the Republican party. No matter what happens to this country, good or bad, its all up to them. Kinda reminds me of the saying about being careful what you wish for. Is that a backlash vote I see coming in 2004?

October 31, 2002
Boo!! Did I scare you? No? I was trying to think of someone scary that I could dress up like for Halloween. Someone that just puts a shiver down your spine to even look at. Someone that would give you the HeeBee GeeBees. I really had to think. Michael Myers? No, he has been doing well in those Austin Powers movies, he's not that scary anymore. Leatherface? He was in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre but it seems he killed less people than the state prosecutors in Texas, he seems kind of lame now. So I thought about this some more, I needed someone that would make even Jaime Lee Curtis scream, Then I had it, a guy that keeps me up at night worrying about what he is going to do. George W Bush!!! I mean this guy is scary. He is command in chief of one of the largest armies in the world and hasn't a clue about much of anything. How scary is that. The leader of the free world is a dope, listen to him talk. He is so scary. He makes me wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, how about you?

October 13, 2002
This is a sad day. Today I learned that Stephen E Ambrose died. Stephen Ambrose wrote history books, many of them. Mostly about World War 2 and more importantly about the men and women who fought World War 2. He wrote about the privates and the lieutenants. About the as he called them, "Citizen Soldiers", the men who answered the call from their country and went a continent away to fight and sometimes die for the cause of freedom. He did this in a plain, but colorful style, not overly expressive but to the point. And what a point it was. If you saw Band of Brothers on HBO, you know the story of Easy Company. That story was told by Stephen Ambrose, the movie adds little and leaves out a lot and even so the story is riveting. Ambrose did countless interviews for his books on veterans and his books brought a new wave of appreciation to those "Citizen Soldiers".

Ambrose knew he was dying, he had lung cancer, and he wrote an autobiography which will be released sometime next month. Sadly this will be his last. A great voice has been silenced.

October 5, 2002
I have a new toy, a really cool new toy. Technically its called a Sony CDP CX455. It is a 400 CD mega changer. That is not a typo, it holds 400 CDs and it plays MP3s. Yes, MP3s and it plays them in random shuffle mode, the only player that I know of that will do shuffle mode with MP3s. So I have been burning MP3s, yes I have LOTS of them, onto CDs and putting them in the machine. I haven't even got it a quarter of the way full in its SO COOL. I put it in shuffle mode and I have instant radio station playing all the coolest stuff that I like. Ain't technology grand!!!

In other news, I got a haircut, which isn't news, but I went to a barber, which also isn't news, but for the first time in my life, the barber asked me if I wanted to trim my eye brows. HUH??? What am I Breshnev (he was a Soviet Premier with massive eyebrows)??? This kinda freaked me out, I guess this is what happens when you turn 40. Can I be 39 again? Please????

September 25, 2002
Read a book!!!
Not just any book now, a banned book. This week is Banned Book week according to the American Library Association. And what was the most banned book this year? The Harry Potter series. What was the 2nd most challenged book this year? Of Mice and Men. If you need more info, check out the American Library Association's website at ala.org There is a list there of the all time top 100, Alvin Schwartz's Scrary Stories series is number one all time, followed by Daddy's Roomate.
Check out the list and pick up a banned book and give it a read. You'll be supporting the cause of freedom of choice and will likely enjoy the book as well, there are some cool books on the list.

August 19, 2002
There is a saying: The only thing worse than defeat is victory.
At least I think its a saying and if it isn't it should be.
Over 10 years ago we rather easily defeated Saddam Hussein and his Iraqi army. Unfortunately, or should I say purposefully, we didn't completely annilate the Iraqi army or remove its leader. Our reasoning was that if we did, the Iranians would jump in and take over, so we stopped just short and in so doing left enough for Saddam to continue his reign.
Now, we are planning once again to do something to Iraq. Invade, attack, who knows what. This time we are pretty much alone in doing this and what we are trying to do is much more difficult, remove a dicatator means killing his army, not just making it move. But since we won so easily last time, we or I should say he (President George W Bush) is thinking we will win easily again. Yet problems still abound. The Iranians will fill any vacuum left by Saddam, should we get him to leave. And we have to do this rather complicated, dangerous and difficult prospect pretty much all by ourselves. Our allies of 10+ years ago are not there now. And why are we doing this in the first place? Is Saddam really a menace? Does he have weapons of mass destruction and even if he did would he use them. Surely, he realizes that someone would retaliate, Saddam doesn't seem like the matyr type.
It doesn't seem like our President knows what he is doing. Nor does he have the intelligence to see the potential folly in all this. Will our past success lead to a future defeat. Let's hope cooler heads prevail.

August 6, 2002
Ah, Sweet Relief!!! It would seem we are indebted to our friends from the North. No, not New Hampshirites, more North. Canadians!!! Or maybe not Canadian people, but Canadian air. See we have been having a horrible heat wave around these parts. Humidity, nearly 100%, highs in the 90s. Really awful. But then today, the winds switched to the Northwest and cool, yet still warm, dry Canadian air came rushing down and reinvigorated our worn out sensibilities. Or in other words..........
Ah, Sweet Relief!!

July 28, 2002
Jay walking anyone?
This past week I spent a few days in Boston where I did a fair amount of walking. This was on the heels, so to speak, of a visit to Toronto two weeks ago. While walking the streets of Boston, I approached the crosswalk area looking for the "walk" sign. In Toronto, everyone dutifully waits for the "walk" sign to come up before crossing the street. I approached the streets of Boston in the same manner, only, I was the only person stopping and waiting. I had forgotten the Boston motto, "I think, therefore I jaywalk". So I waited at least for someone else to go and went with them, figuring the car would hit them first and cushion the blow on me. As the saying goes, it takes all kinds.

July 21, 2002
YIKES!!! Looks like my record/CD collection is in trouble here. Jaguaro.org an online 'zine of some sort has put out a list of the 100 CDs you should remove from your collection. http://www.jaguaro.org/feature/03-09-02_wesk.shtml

Looks like I will be dumping stuff our of my collection right and left, here is my list.
1. The Clash - Combat Rock
2. U2 - The Joshua Tree
3. Nirvana - Nevermind
5. The Beatles - Let It Be
7. The Police - Synchronicity
10. David Bowie - Hunky Dory
12. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti 15. Echo and the Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here
17. Pearl Jam - Vs.
21. Derek and the Dominoes - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
22. The Who - Tommy
24. Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine

That's just from the first 25 and I think I will stop there, needless to say I have many many records on the list in my collection and I am not intending on turning them in. I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinion. My opinion is this guy has his head up his...........

July 5, 2002
Why do I live here?
The folks who keep statistics for the county I live in, Barnstable County, the only county on Cape Cod, released statistics on home sales for the last 6 months. The average price per home sale, new or previously owned was $282,000. Can you believe it!! Actually if you lived here you would believe it. The average home sale here is over a quarter of a million dollars. This is actually up 20 grand from last years figures. Can you imagine what it would be like if there weren't a recession? How can I afford to live here? How can anybody afford to live here? I was hoping to someday buy a condo, it ain't going to here, I'll tell you that.
In other news, its hot!! We are having a heatwave around here and as its downright miserable. And as they say, its not the heat its the humidity. Well we got plenty of humidity. It is a sad state of affairs when your boss tells you to drink plenty of fluids so you don't get dehydrated and you job is sitting in front of a computer. Yowza!!!

June 28, 2002
The Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional? How could it be.

A man in California, an atheist, something he has a right to be, decided he didn't like his daughter reciting the phrase "under god" in the pledge. Ths phrase was added to the pledge in 1954, during the illustrious years of Joseph McCarthy's rein of terror. The man sued, it made it to the Circuit Court of Appeals out in California, where a judge said the phrase was unconstitutional. A clear lack of separation of church and state. Well, we all freaked out over this, well at least many of us freaked. The members of Congress got all in a not, both parties, and decided to actually recite the pledge before their session, some needed cue cards, I think. Anyway, this man has received death threats, he has put his daughter in hiding for her safety and why? Because he exercised his rights as a citizen. He saw something he believed to be wrong and did what is his legal right to do. Is he right? Of course he's right, will it stand? Of course it won't. We claim to have separation of church and state. Its in the constittution. However we waffle on this law all the time. Take a look at you money some time. God doesn't belong in our government, He belongs in our churches, but that lined is blurred by whenever we get uncomfortable. LIke in 1954, Commies running around everywhere, hiding amongst us. But we had the solution then, we put "under God" in our pledge and then made everyone say it. That will smoke them out. Right now, wherever he is, I bet its pretty warm there, though, Joseph McCarthy is smiling.

June 8, 2002
Tonight HBO played the final episode of Band of Brothers, this was a repeat of the mini series about Company E, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division, Paratroopers and their exploits during World War 2. Earlier this week, was the 58th anniversary of D-Day, a battle that started the war career of the Band of Brothers. This reminded me of a story I had heard about a man. His name was Waverly Wray. Lt Wray was XO, 2nd in command, of Company D, 505th PIR, 82nd Airborne. The 82nd Airborne was given the task of securing the crossroads town of Ste Mere Eglise on D Day. On the 2nd day the Germans were organizing a counterattack. 6000 Germans were massing against 600 American paratroopers.

Lt Wray was tasked to take the initiative and attack the Germans before they could get organized. Wray was soft spoken man from Mississippi. A woodsman, who never smoked, drank or swore, yet he was an imposing figure at 250lbs. While organizing the attack, Lt Wray went out on a night time reconaissance to see the German positions. While crawling through the hedgerows, he heard the voices of German officers organizing. He jumped over the hedgerow and and spotted 8 officers. He demanded their surrender when one of them fired a shot. Lt Wray took his rifle and shot 6 off the officers while at the same time 2 other Germans open fired with a machine gun from a ditch. Wray was wounded in the ear, and he fell back into a ditch, reloaded his weapon and shot the remaining Germans.

Wray and left an entire Batallion of Germans without leadership, thus delaying their attack. The next day, D Company came upon the scene of the previous evening. Each German had been shot only once and in the head. Lt Wray, a religous man, buried all 10 of his victims.

Two men from the Paratroopers were recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor as a result of their acts on D-Day. One was Lt Dick Winters, the main character from Band of Brothers and Lt Wray. Lt Wray won the medal, the highest award a soldier can receive. Lt Wray was later killed in September, near Arnheim.

The Germans and for that matter the Japanese thought that our soldiers were inferior, that a Democratic country could not produce soldiers hard enough, smart enough, tough enough to counter their soldiers. Men like Lt's Winters and Wray proved them wrong. I am always amazed when I read these stories, how men could do these things. Kinda makes the hero worship of rock stars, or sports stars a little feeble.

June 2, 2002
Geez, what to say, there is so much that has gone on since my last real drivel. India and Pakistan on the brink of nuclear war. The discovery that Bush knew at least some of what might happen on 9/11 and didn't do anything. And the FBI knowing a great deal about potential 9/11 and not doing anything. Then there is the "Crisis in the Church". What to say about all this. I guess the answer would be say a lot, but I don't have the room or the inclination. I do find its curious that with the exception of the church, most of the major crises concern some level of foreign policy. And why is it a surprise that George W Bush is having such difficulty with foreign policy. This man is an idiot, we knew it back when the election was on, and now we are dealing with it. Hopefully someone with some intelligence will come to the fore and properly advice him, for all of our sake.

May 27, 2002
The drivel is back!! Or at least soon will be. This is a test to see how well it works. Why the absence? In a word, computers. I spent nearly two months trying to get a decent computer from first Gateway and then successfully through Dell. Since I got my Dell up and running, I have been slowly moving files over to it from the old computer. Today was the day to move the drivel program, hopefully it will work properly. If it does, stay tuned for more drivel.

February 24, 2002
On February 22, Chuck Jones died of heart failure in Hollywood.
For those of you who don't know who Chuck was, he was one of the men who created, wrote, directed and drew the Looney Tunes. Chuck himself personally created characters, Pepe Le Pew, the Road Runner and Coyote, Marvin the Martian and the Tasmanian Devil. He also directed some of the most well known Looney Tunes episodes including What's Opera Doc, where Bugs and Elmer sing portions of Wagner's Ring cycle in there own initimable style.
Chuck was the last surviving member of what was called the Termite Terrace. This was the Warner Bros building where the Looney Tunes were created and where other notables such as Mel Blanc, Robert McKimson, Friz Freleng and Tex Avery weaved their animated magic.
After leaving Warner Brothers in the 60s, Chuck went on to create many other animated shorts and long form animations. The most notable of these was The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.
As a major fan of Looney Tunes, I am greatly saddened by his passing, not only for his genius but also because he was the last of greats. Rest In Peace, Chuck, you will be missed by many.

December 30, 2001
"God Bless You"
That's what people say when you sneeze. I recently got over a cold, where I heard that phrase several times. The phrase, I believe comes from ancient times when it was thought when you sneezed, you were at risk for a brief period of time, for demonic possession. So to ward away the devil or his minions, people would say "May God bless you". It doesn't seem to hold that much water these days, or does it. A Mayor of Inglis Florida issued a proclamation banning Satan from the town. Kind of odd, especially since, as far as I know, the mayor doesn't have the power to control Satan, provided he really exists. It seems some of the residents of Inglis are exercising some power of their own, the power to oust the Mayor. It seems her proclamation upset a few people. Mayor Risher may end up having something in common with Satan, being banned from Inglis.

December 25, 2001
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

December 23, 2001
Wow 2 drivels in a row!!
I just got back from a walk. Exercise is good!! However, I don't get to do much of it with the weather and the short days. Its now 2:45 about and we have less than an hour of light left. I was thinking about my lack of drivel during my walk and wondered why I hadn't been writing. The reason I can up with was, I didn't feel like it. Pretty plain reason, but of course there is more to this and I believe the daylight situation has to do with this. Here on Cape Cod, we are located out in the Atlantic Ocean, putting us on the Eastern edge of the Eastern Time Zone. There is over an hours worth of daylight between the Eastern and Western sides of the Eastern Time Zone. That puts us on the losing end of the daylight. I think that's what's been making me so lethargic with my drivels and things in general. With the coming and going of the Winter Solstice, discussed in yesterdays drivel, we are now moving to longer days and more daylight. Yippee!!! I feel so invigorated already.

December 22, 2001
Welcome Winter!!
Most people, except those who do winter sports, don't welcome the coming of Winter. The funny thing about this is that most of us celebrate the coming of Winter, or the Winter Solstice. Almost every religion, major or minor has some kind of celebration that occurs right around the Winter Solstice. Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, even the pagans celebrate right around the start of Winter and why you ask should they? Well the official reasons are because of some religous event that occurred or was thought to occur at this time. But the real reason is because the days are getting longer. Remember all these holidays came about back in the days when electric lights weren't around. When it got dark early, it was much more of an event than it is nowadays. December 21st is the turning of a corner, and its all downhill from here, well until June anyway.

December 16, 2001
Hey there, it has been a while.
I have been lacking drivel as of late. I don't know why, I think of things from time to time, but when it comes to actually putting it out there, I just don't feel motivated to say anything. So I guess not saying something and explaining that I don't feel like saying anything is probably the most drively thing I have ever written in these drivel filled pages.

December 2, 2001
Well weather outside is frightful..... isn't that how the song goes? Isn't it winter now? December, right? Cold, snow, winter, that kind of thing?? Well explain to me why on December 1st it was 70 degrees out. This is New England, it does get cold here. In fact we have had snow on Halloween, in the past. It seems to me that global warming has had its way with us. It is truly bizarre when you talk about it getting cold in December and your talking about temperature in the 50s. It looks like a white Christmas is unlikely this year. Though with New England weather...... you never know.

November 20, 2001
Math Skills
My boss has a theory that state lotteries are the penalty for having bad math skills. I kind of agree with that one. I just thought I would throw that out there.

My main point about math skills has to do with AOL. At work we received a disk from our friends at AOL. The offer was 1000 free hours in 45 days. That is, you have 45 days to use up 1000 hours. Huh??? Math skills please. Were you to use up the 1000 hours in the 45 days it would require you to use AOL for a little over 22 hours a day for 45 days. Does this seem like a good deal to you? If you have poor math skills it probably does.

Today was a glorious day. The beloved Ham Salad made an appearance and it was consumed with glee.

November 17, 2001
I didn't write this, but it is so funny.

THE TOUGHEST DECISION: SHOULD MY LOVED ONE BE PLACED IN AN ASSISTED COMPUTING FACILITY?

For family members, it is often the most difficult and painful decision they will face: to accept that a loved one -- a parent, a spouse, perhaps a sibling -- is technologically impaired and should no longer be allowed to live independently, or come near a computer or electronic device without direct supervision. The time has come to place that loved one into the care of an Assisted Computing Facility. But you have questions. So many questions.

We at Silicon Pines want to help.

WHAT EXACTLY IS AN "ASSISTED COMPUTING FACILITY"?

Sometimes referred to as "Homes for the Technologically Infirm," "Technical Invalid Care Centers," or "Homes for the Technically Challenged," Assisted Computing Facilities (ACFs) are modeled on assisted living facilities, and provide a safe, structured residential environment for those unable to handle even the most common, everyday multitasks. Most fully accredited ACFs, like Silicon Pines, are an oasis of hope and encouragement that allow residents to lead productive, technologically relevant lives without the fear and anxiety associated with actually having to understand or execute the technologies themselves.

WHO SHOULD BE IN AN ACF?

Sadly, technology is advancing at such a dramatic rate that many millions, of all ages, will never truly be able to understand it, putting an undue burden on those friends and family members who must explain it to them. But unless the loved one is suffering from a truly debilitating affliction, such as Reinstallzheimers, the decision to commit is entirely personal. You must ask yourself:

"How frustrated am I that my parent/sibling/spouse is unable to open an email attachment?"
"How much of my time should be taken up explaining how RAM is different from hard drive memory?"
"How many times can I bear to hear my dad say, `Hey, can I replace the motherboard with a fatherboard? Ha ha ha!'"

To make things easier, we have prepared a list of Warning Signs which we encourage you to return to often, or, if you can't figure out how to bookmark it, print out. Also, please take a moment to read "I'm Glad I'm in Here! -- A Resident's Story."

MUST IT BE FAMILY, OR CAN I PLACE ANYONE IN AN ACF?

Several corporations have sought permission to have certain employees, or at times entire sales departments, committed to ACFs. At present, however, individuals can be committed only by direct family or self-internment. The reason is simple: there are not nearly enough ACFs in the world to accommodate all the technologically challenged. For example, there are currently only 860,000 beds available in ACFs, but there are 29 million AOL users.

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?

ACF rents range from free up to $12,500 per month. The disparity is currently a point of contention in the ACF industry. Many residents are covered through government programs such as Compucaid or Compucare, but reimbursement rates are low and only cover a portion of the fees.

Exacerbating the situation are the HMOs (HelpDesk Maintenance Organizations), which often deny coverage, forcing residents to pay out of pocket or turn to expensive private techcare insurers such as BlueCache/BlueScreen.

Offsetting the costs are technology companies themselves, many of which subsidize ACFs. Firms such as Microsoft, Dell, Qualcomm, and America Online will pay up to 100 percent of a resident's monthly bill, but there is a catch. ISPs, for instance, require residents to sign service contracts lasting a year or more. Microsoft, meanwhile, prohibits the installation of any competitive software, while Priceline requires that residents buy shares of its stock, which seems onerous but saves residents on lavatory tissue.

HOW OLD MUST I BE TO HAVE SOMEONE COMMITTED?

Until very recently, you had to be 18 or older to legally commit a family member. However, the now famous British court case Frazier vs. Frazier and Frazier has cleared the way for minors to commit their parents. In that case, 15-year-old Bradley Frazier of Leicester had his 37-year-old parents committed to an ACF in Bournemouth after a judge ruled Ian and Janet Frazier were a "danger to themselves and the community." According to court records, Bradley told his parents about the I LoveYou virus and warned them not to click attachments, then the next day his parents received an I LoveYou email and clicked on the attachment because, they explained, "it came from someone we know."

WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR IN AN ACF?

First, make sure it's a genuine Assisted Computing Facility, and not an Assisted Living Facility. To tell the difference, observe the residents. If they look rather old and tend to openly discuss bowel movements, this is probably `assisted living.' On the other hand, if they vary in age and say things like, "I'm supposed to figure that out? I'm not Bill goddamned Gates you know!," this is probably `assisted computing.'

Also, at a well-run ACF, residents should lead full, independent lives, and should be allowed the use of many technology devices, including telephones, electric toothbrushes, and alarm clocks. However, only a facility's Licensed Techcare Professionals (LTPs) should perform computational or technological tasks such as installing programs or saving email attachments. And LTPs should NEVER answer residents' questions because studies have shown that answering user questions inevitably makes things worse. Instead, residents should simply have things done for them, relieving them of the pressure to "learn" or "improve."

CAN A RESIDENT EVER GET OUT?

No.

OK, THIS SOUNDS PROMISING. HOW CAN I LEARN MORE?

For your enlightenment, we offer extensive information on Silicon Pines and the ACF lifestyle, which can be found by clicking one of the links in the navigation bars found at both the top and bottom of this page. But whatever you decide, keep in mind that due to demand, ACFs now have long waiting lists. WebTV & AOL users alone will take years to absorb.

November 3, 2001
Silly Goose

At a local elementary school for as long as I can remember this time of year they have had a problem with Geese taking over their athletic fields. Every year a flock of nearly 100, sometimes more have taken residence on a good portion of the soccer field causing at the very least a mess, goose droppings aren't all that nice and at times a serious problem. Anyone who is ever encounter a gaggle of geese can attest that they are not always in good humor, and certainly this can be a problem with elementary school age kids. So, what to do? Well, today I rode past the field once again seeing a substantial number of geese, but there was a rather large sign on the fence. It read "Goose decoys in use". Huh? Then a closer look at the Geese and I noticed they weren't moving. The town went out and got a good portion of goose decoys and plopped them on the field. It seems real geese are afraid of other geese, or at least afraid of 2 dimensional wooden geese and they stay away. Not a bad idea. But what about the sign? Well it seems from time to time these decoys fall over and upset residents have been calling town officials to tell them there are dead geese on the soccer field. It seems the geese are not the only ones falling for the decoys.