Archive - May 2008

Flew to DC on Tuesday just in time for a dinner as part of a pre-conference discussion at Restaurant Nora - an astoundingly good organic place near Dupont Circle. Good conversations, then a long walk on a rather muggy night.

Rane and Oliverio hosted me in their apartment because I didn't feel up to dropping more than $200 a night for a DC hotel. Plus I got to spend more time with them since the conference ate a lot of my time.

So I sweated up my best clothes that night and was stuck in jeans for the rest of the week. Not a huge deal, but I would have preferred to be a little more formal in my presentation.

Rane was in Honduras saving the world, so Oli and I talked cameras for a bit before turning in. Rane came home the next night around midnight and we caught up until I bored her into falling asleep.

My presentation was on Thurs and was alright - small audience. I was not on my best form, but I think we all got something out of it. That night I met up with Max, having not seen or talked to him for several years, Steff, Tanya, and Rane. Catching up was great but Steff and Max had to leave so Rane, Tanya and I talked for awhile longer.

DC was really great - I think it was my 6th or 7th time there, but it seemed much more welcoming and clean than I remember it. Of course, I was only in NW, so I did not get a full view. I wish I had time to see other friends, but I had to get back to MN!

Took the train, plane, another train, and a bus to get back home. And here I am.

Back from Michelle's parents - another great weekend up in Cass County. Michelle and I biked, I drove the John Deere bulldozer and moved stuff without breaking nuthin, and we did a lot of relaxin' and chattin' with the 'rents.

No complaints. Except that I'm off to DC for the rest of the week.

I'm on twitter now - if you don't know understand, ya don't understand. I'll explain for those who are curious.

Took a bunch of photos of birds - mostly with a remote setup that was fun to play with. Good some usable stuff, but I need to take a closer look before I get excited. Birds are hard, and guessing where they will be is hard when deciding where to focus. Good thing Michelle's dad was always happy to help me rig something up to position the camera.

A great weekend - looking forward to more like it this summer. Need to get Michelle to bike down to Ma & Pa's with me - maybe next weekend.

A co-worker of mine and I were talking about how Americans just do not get supply and demand when he came up with the best description of capitalism's main problem I have heard:

Capitalism is great until it makes you pay too much for something you want.

Michelle and I are heading up to see her parents this weekend. We'll be taking our bikes to get some trail time in. I'll be back on Monday but I fly out on Tues to head to a conference in DC. Back on Friday. So I'll be posting inconsistently for at least a few more days.

For every rant, maybe I should post a cute animal video.

Cute Puppy Yelps For Elmo - Watch more free videos

(or how I stopped caring about the profits of oil companies)

Every time I hear someone (usually liberals, bless their hearts) blame oil company profits for the high cost of oil, I want to rip the wings off a butterfly. Politicians love grandstanding on it - grilling these execs as though it will reduce the price at the pump.

Meanwhile, conservatives are trying to blame environmentalists for the lack of spare refining capacity - but I don't see any of those Republicans moving downwind of one (even with the enviro regs we have pushed over their objections).

High oil prices hurt. It is like burning yourself on the stove. Short term pain for long term gain. You learn a lesson. In the larger sense, Americans need to learn to be more efficient with fossil fuels. We could have learned it decades ago, but we chose to be irresponsible instead, hoping that prices would always stay low - which may be as naive as hoping Republicans won't hit on you in the bathroom.

Back to the point - oil prices are high because there is a fixed amount and LOTS of people want it. It takes a decade to really increase the supply on the market, which means when demand suddenly accelerates, the cost must go up (to make sure what is available goes only to those who really want to pay for it).

Executive pay has nothing to do with it. Oil companies are making insane profits. If they were forced to lower prices, we would see shortages. How pissed off would you be when rolling up to empty gas stations? Want to drive another 10 miles to find a gas station with gas?

There is another factor - one I am pissed I do not see enough taking seriously. The cost of oil has doubled in Euros but quadrupled in dollars. This is because the dollar has dropped significantly in value. The Bush Administration has thoroughly trashed this country - and the Republican nominee (McCain) admits he knows nothing about the economy.

Great. And he'll probably be elected because he wants to put women back in their place, encouraging the government to make decisions about their body if they become pregnant. And the people that elect him will continue bitching about tax-and-spend liberals while chickenhawk Republicans borrow to fight stupid wars around the planet and liberals bitch about oil companies.

Ansver dat!

Too funny. I love that modern communications allow nearly anyone to make videos and publish comics and all that. Democratizing media may be the best part of being alive right now.

Seriously, why is Obama not just running some of these spots from the Daily Show as commercials? He should license this response to Bush's speech in Israel.

It is hard to imagine having a worse President than Bush.

So long as the weather is beautiful for biking and folks are paying me to take photos of sports, I won't be doing any longer posts. If we get some rainy days, maybe I'll find the energy and motivation to create some written content.

Until then, expect less from me - and more photos.

For now, Russell sent me this link a few weeks ago and it is a great flash presentation showing the history of empires conquering the Middle East. Check it out - it takes just a few minutes and may teach you something.