Trying...trying...argh...never mind!

I have been trying really, really hard to keep politics off of this blog.

I know that politics is a fact of life - whether someone gets a congressional paycheck or just needs to play nice with the local barista to get that cup of coffee you like "just right" - there are always politics involved.

I have been loathe to bring politics into this sunny little blog (ok, it's not always sunny, lol), because I am respectful of others' beliefs and their right to believe things that I do not understand or support myself. I am pretty adamant about the right to think on our own. To go to the church we want to, to support the candidate of our choice, and to paint a house the most unsettling colors (to me anyway).

But, for the first time in my life, I am actually afraid of what the future might hold. And, even though it may be somewhat unpopular, I think that our government of the last eight years has had a lot to do with where we all are. So, for those of you that don't agree, or don't want to hear it, or just can't take one more rant on the political state of our world, then please click here, to go to a happy place and come back another day to catch up on me and goofy.

OK...so now that you've been warned...



This one comment has been made much of in the last few days. Some want to make it more than it is. Some want to make it less. What I want to make of it is this: who cares if an old man loses his train of thought and can't remember the name of the guy he's talking about? Our grandparents do it all the time. But what I do care about is that everyone is trying to make it more than that. "it's demeaning", "it's racist"...for crying out loud. It's a guy that is of a generation where "that one" is what they said when they couldn't remember the name of who they were talking about. McCain's people don't want to point that out either, though, as it makes him look old. Better to be racist than old...wow.

I am SO SICK of all the childish name calling and muck raking going on at this point in political campaigns. It's not any one campaign in particular - it's become the norm, sadly. I am just so tired of being presumed to be an ignorant, uneducated, easily distracted moron.

It's insulting.

Please DO NOT tell me what "she" did in high school with the quarterback under the bleachers, or what "he" did when he was a freshman in college. Don't dig up old co-workers or "exes" or fellow committee members or someone "bad" that was at the same party.

TELL ME WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO TO GET US OUT OF THIS MESS!!!

I generally think that when candidates start telling me what is wrong with their opponent, rather then telling me what they are going to do better for us, it's because they don't have any ideas or plans of their own. They are incompetent to the point where they have nothing to say about what they plan to do to help us out of this mess we are now mired so deeply in.

I have to say that I am not entirely sold on my choice for president. I have my reservations and concerns. I won't go into that here, 'cause we all have our own opinions. For me, this year, it's more a matter of who I think will do the least damage than who I think will help the most. I just know that I can't have more of the same thing that has gotten us where we are now.

And I don't ENTIRELY blame them or congress, or really, even, the current administration. These folks are just doing what comes naturally in a power situation where no one is watching or imposing any restraints or safe guards.

I blame US. All of us that have so willingly been lead down the happy little path of apathy and incompetence.

For the first time - ever - I am convinced that we will not have lives as good as those our parents experienced. We didn't work any less hard - we just stopped paying attention and making decisions for ourselves.

We chose to believe the garbage we've been fed - swallowing it whole regardless of all of the evidence to the contrary. We've even gone so far as to call those that have tried - screaming and kicking - to wake us up to our ignorance "traitors" and "un-american".

What the hell is that? UN-AMERICAN? Isn't the most dearly held tenet of our country that we all have the right to speak freely and question our own government? Isn't that the one basic "freedom" that we've all proudly pointed to? But in this new world order, we don't listen, we just gaze with glazed eyes and ipod headphones securely in our ears spouting ever more soothing platitudes to dull our brains and quiet our questions. If we speak out now, we are labeled and watched by the government - who now has but to wave the flag of homeland security to erase all of our rights as citizens of the United States of America - rights we thought were "inalienable". I grieve for the people that so easily throw away this most basic cornerstones of who we are.

"I'm not a criminal, I don't have anything to hide, so I don't care if the government taps my phone, or looks at my bank accounts or checks up on me" without cause or a warrant. OMG! OMG! I actually heard this from a twenty-something I know and think of as intelligent.

I weep...really....tears of fear and frustration and loss at what will become of all of us as our children take this attitude into the future. We have failed them and ourselves.

Is this the country that we want? I pray to God that it isn't.

But is it what we deserve? Yeah, I think it is.

We dropped the ball, we let others tell us what we think, even when our eyes contradicted. We've become intolerant in our "tolerance", unequal in our "equality", terrified by our own government to the point where we gave up without a fight or a whimper basic "rights" that our founding fathers fought and died for, mindless and apathetic

Now, we need to fix it. Not the government, not the politicians. WE NEED TO DO IT. It's probably too late for it to be ok for us anymore...but for our kids, maybe.

Get out and vote. Take the time to figure out what you think for yourself. Listen to what is being said and make your own determinations of what that means for you. THINK. Be responsible.

VOTE

Don't be a lemming being lead off to slaughter...

Show the world that we are not the idiots we appear to be. WE have a lot to fix and a lot to make up for. We aren't who we think we are...we are not the best, the most powerful, the brightest, the "rightest". But we can be...we need to be.

I just can't stand it...

M&G

QUICK!!! Where's the aspirin?

The Fever...It's Returning...

OK...OK! I know! I thought that there would never be a reason for me to even look twice at a rumbly bike again.


Really...

Believed it in my heart.

Some things are out of my control though.

I tend to have a bit of an adventurer's soul. I like to push my limits sometimes. I try to mitigate the risk.

Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't.

I have a list (well, it's in my head, and also in Goofy's head) of things that I am encouraged to let be....leave alone...not even think about! LOL

For awhile it included sharp knives, but I've since been allowed to use those again - with supervision :)

What IS on the list is (among other things):

Learning to fly (airplanes - even I know I can't fly without one, so stop it!) LOL

Doing electrical work without someone home (I am not know as "sparky" without reason)

Bungee Jumping (obvious)

Jumping off bridges into water (OK, not one of my brighter ideas, but it seemed like a good idea at the time)

and

Motorcycles

The reasons for the last are pretty solid, and reasonable. I won't go into details here. Everyone that knows Goofy and me knows pretty much why. And it's true - I could kill myself (I tend to be a klutz regardless of my enthusiasm). But it still draws me. The fun and excitement of riding a rumbly bike...addictive I think. Which is probably another reason to walk on by.

Still...this rumbly bike is shiny and red, and short enough that I could probably touch the ground...and...and...it's automatic!

Bwahahahahaha!

Much like my roadster, it can be shifted or left alone and it'll do it for you...brilliant! How fun is that? Gooooooofy? How fun?!

Right now, though, I am going to concentrate on getting my scuba gear ready to go...it might distract me from that shiny red toy that has begun (ever so quietly so far) to call out to me...

Do I have a chance?

Maybe I should up my life insurance and just say the hell with it!

Aloha!

M&G

Warren Buffett

"I'd Rather Be Approximately Right, than Precisely Wrong."

- commenting on the planned taxpayer bailout of Wall Street.

Good point, Warren.

The worst housing slump since the Great Depression has resulted in record mortgage defaults in the U.S. and a yearlong contraction in global credit markets, driving down stock prices and sending firms like GE and Goldman in search of funds. For Buffett, who had $44.3 billion in cash at the start of the year, it's also been a call to action.

``The prices make a lot more sense now,'' Buffett said in an interview from San Diego with PBS's Charlie Rose yesterday in which he described the economy as being ``flat on the floor'' with cardiac arrest. ``You want to be greedy when others are fearful and you want to be fearful when others are greedy.''

As home foreclosures climbed across the U.S., Buffett spent at least $28 billion this year to acquire companies, finance buyouts and purchase securities for Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire. Buffett is Berkshire's chairman.

``In my adult lifetime, I don't think I've ever seen people as fearful, economically, as they are right now,'' Buffett, 78, told Rose. ``They are not wrong to be worried.''

And so it goes...

- M&G

Ah...the Virtues of a Sunny Seattle Autumn Afternoon

You know, in the last year or so, we've spent an inordinate amount of time in Maui.

Seriously, way more than we should have, but HEY! It's only money, and it's worth less today than it was last week (or yesterday for that matter). But, I'm digressing again...

What a fantastic day we had here today!

Sunshine, mild temps...CONVERTIBLE WEATHER BABY!

And you KNOW we were out in the roadster soaking up the sun! Amazing, amazing day. One of those that reminds me how beautiful Seattle really is. It's almost enough to keep me from bitching about the grey, drizzly weather we have ahead of us - just in the off chance, we might have another sunny day in there somewhere...

Almost, but NOT!

Hope you all had a lovely day too...and were able to spend some of it soaking up Seattle sunshine!

M&G

Affiliate Links...Try Them, You'll Like Them

Aloha.

After a long and arduous battle, I've finally decided to give up and add some affiliate links to the blog.

What does that mean?

Well, if you click on the banners/buttons from here to go to the sites I've decided to link to, then I get a little something if you decide to buy. It's not earth shattering, and not going to make me independently wealthy, but it's fun to see how folks that come here "wander" to the same places I might go.

I'm being picky on which sites and advertisers I choose to be affiliated with (and they are often picky about me too - I have to apply for affiliate status to some of the coolest places, they don't just give it to me blindly). I am trying to focus on sites that I spend time on myself.

I will be adding things as I find them (and am accepted), so check back if you are interested.

It's not a big deal, but if you are going there anyway....

That's my big pitch.

Mahalo!

M&G

Take a few minutes to laugh...

This is really funny...still makes me laugh out loud, even after I've seen it a bunch of times.

Be warned there are a couple of naughty words, but nothing really terrible, and still worth the potential that you'll laugh too!

More Miscellaneously Miscellaneous Ramblings

It's been brought to my attention that it's been some time since I last blogged. Several times.

I have a fan, who knew? LOL.

So, for lack of any specific thing to rant or rave about, I'm just going to wing it and give in to stream of consciousness.

It's a risk, as I am not necessarily equipped to ramble aimlessly in the blog-o-sphere. I may not be conscious either, which is an interesting philosophical thought.

I mean, there's always "I think, therefore I am". But honestly, computers are thinking these days. That's what AI is all about, right? Computers developed to think and learn based on experience? So, does this single ability give sentience to the ghost in the machine? Is it an "am"?

Let's take into consideration the HAL 9000. It certainly seemed to "feel" afraid of being turned off. Is that a soul in there?

(My mind often diverts to these tendrils of philosophical detritus...it's how it rolls, LOL).

I don't know when a machine might cross over to something closer to soul-having. I believe that much of what we refer to as "soul" is electrical in nature - which is why I also believe in life after death and reincarnation and such. It's a basic principle of physics that energy is neither created or destroyed, it merely changes form - so it follows that energy called "soul" would take a different form when it departs this mortal shell. Following that thread, it doesn't seem entirely out of the question that some modern computers capable of self-directed thought and learning might indeed be sentient. A whole new world of litigation opens and the world cringes a bit.

Does thought and the ability to learn bring about enough self-awareness to constitute consciousness and thereby sentience? It's thoughts like these - rambling and off the path as they are - that can take up a good half hour of my day as I ponder and work through it all...(heh - scared yet?).

We shouldn't be surprised. it's been debated on Star Trek for generations. :)

(Ah, rambling...it feels good, doesn't it?)

So, when do we define something or someone as conscious? Are any of us really conscious at all? How do we know? Is it just a mass hallucination a la The Matrix? Or something less sinister, but equally believable? Or more so, depending on your position on science fiction (or science fact, again depending on your position)?

Is consciousness the definition of existence? Or is that a value judgement? Or is lack of consciousness lack of existence? I don't think so, but philosophically, it's possible. Is sentience attached in any way to consciousness, or must we simply be self-aware?

So few are truly self-aware that it's not a bad bet that many so called humans are in fact not conscious, self-aware or sentient for that matter.

Curiouser and curiouser...

Which brings me back to my original thought...am I conscious?

It certainly feels as if I am...in my experience, it jibes with other times I've thought myself to be conscious, but on the other hand, I could be dreaming this reality. And if that's so, then I need a better programmer.

I mean, there are some things that are going really well...like scuba diving and life at home.

But there are others that just don't live up to expectations. Camano and the troll detachment up there for one. It would be a relief if I could just chalk that all up to bad programming. Wouldn't that rock?

DO OVER! DOES NOT COMPUTE! HEHE :)

If it were only that easy, huh?

Everything that was wrong, or bad or unjust or just plain didn't go the way that is should have...just a bad loop of programming waiting to be corrected and run again?

Both scary as hell and comforting in a way...is that what reincarnation is all about?

Reboot and rerun program. Test for completeness and positive outcome. Once attained, shift parameters and rerun.

An endless loop.

Interesting thought, that. And a nice way to ramble through cyber-space on a rainy evening...I may take this walk again later on. Good exercise, though not cardio dammit.

Think about it and let me know...

M&G

And Now, A Morning Break...

Heh.

M&G

Waiting for the FIOS Guy

I had and appointment.

It was a lovely window between 7am and 9am (Pacific Time).

I was ready. Up, coffeed, dressed. You know, ready.

As of right now, no one has arrived.

I've called verizon twice, and been told

1. The tech picked up the ticket at 8:20 PT
2. We called him, and he'll be there within the next half hour (this was about 37 minutes ago now).

I am thinking that this FIOS TV stuff needs some work.

M&G

How Do Wii Fit?

For those of you that may have been stuck in a cave somewhere, there is a "game"(?) out for the Wii Game Console called Wii Fit.

As with most other things Wii, it's pretty darn amazing.

Truth be told, I've had this particular addition to my Wii library for a couple of months, and it's just this very morning that I unpacked it.

I know, it's not gonna do anything for me in the box (in the cabinet, in the living room...hidden away....).

Point is, I finally got it out and set it up. My main motivation for this is that I've spent real money (cash americana, were) in hiring a personal trainer. I see her twice a week for a marvelously satisfying hour of nearly pure torture. It's a strange phenomenon. I don't like it one bit - although I do like the social part of it, as it's me and Goofy with the trainer together - but other than that, I'm a whiny baby head. Seriously a big, big, baby. I wanna work out, but part of what I am getting with a trainer is the ability to bitch about to someone that doesn't care one damn bit. I confessed my bitching/whining prior to starting and was assured she'd heard worse - even after the first two sessions. I'm not feeling good about being a big baby, but I am feeling good about actually finishing a workout planned by someone that spends nights thinking of ways to specifically torture me. I think that she is trying to make me the biggest whiner...hahaha. But seriously, she does.

Part of her evil plan is to send me email saying things like: "Hey, don't forget our appointment tomorrow, and be SURE todo at least 30 minutes of cardio today". Sweet girl, Jill...really. So, because I really am trying to do things for myself that improve my health (and ability to dive more/longer), today, among other things, I did the required 30 minutes of cardio. Sweating like a waterfall (that's a good sign, right?), and no one to complain to, I did it and so there! I ended up trying the yogo and strength training and balance too...did an hour total.

I learned a few things.

I can hula hoop pretty well - very surprising, since I never could as a kid. I can also catch hoops thrown at me and continue twirling them all at once. I am a hula hooping prodigy. It's fun, because the friends that have put their WiiMe on my Wii are the ones throwing them at me...I wonder what that means, but I digress...

I was able to improve my ability in step and I actually jogged (OMG! I can't believe it either). I found my little leader friend a bit annoying, as I couldn't pass and had to jog at the correct pace, when generally, I wanna get that stuff over with as fast as possible. I endured, though, and felt better after I was finished. :)





I also learned that I have a decent center of balance in yoga and strength training, although in the balance "games", I have absolutely no balance. This is not surprising to me or anyone that knows me. I was surprised by the fact that I do have any balance at all, but I digress...I did not do this pose yet (see below regarding my "balance" status...LOL).



In the soccer exercise I get kicked in the head by shoes, panda heads, other stuff, but I can't hit the damn soccer ball with any predictability. This too, is pretty true to life. I'm not exactly sure why Panda heads are thrown my way, but I'm supposed to dodge them better than I do. My little WiiMe hangs its head in shame and frustration. I also cannot ski particularly well through slalom gates - I did see improvement, but still have a long way to go.


I did best in the ski jump - at least on the times that I didn't crash off the end of the ramp and turn into a very impressive rolling ball of snow and skis! Truly a sight to behold...LOL. Almost worth the crash, actually...heh.

In the end, though, the Wii Fit did it's assessment of my prowess in the balance exercises. It declared me

UNBALANCED!

ROTFLOL. I don't disagree, but it made me laugh out loud - something I generally never do while exercising.

Leave it to Nintendo...

M&G