There are certain sounds that hit when we're helpless to do anything except pray. Among them are the sounds of screeching tires directly behind you. It happened to me twice today. Both times--once going to work, the other coming home--I was stopped in traffic, not able to go anywhere. Both times I had a split second to look up at the rear-view mirror and gasp.
Both times the drivers swerved just in time to avoid me and go into the next lane. Accidents averted.
I thought about this f
Since my semesters started last Tuesday, I've been waking up during the week at 5:30. Thankfully I'm able to hit the snooze a couple of times, but it's still too damned early to wake up. I really don't like it. But, hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Because of the shock I was now putting my body into every morning, I decided that I'd ease back into my exercise routine, skipping my thrice weekly dates with my gym for a week or two until I knew how much energy I would have after teaching in t
I got the good news last night. The International Monetary Fund have suggested that Britain might be in recession for as much as twenty years, struggling to pay off debts while the rest of the west recover nicely thank you. Twenty years? You mean I'm going to bleat on about the economy and my lack of good fortune for two more decades? Should I cancel the Ferrari then?
Now That I Come To Think Of It
Until a few years ago, life was simple. I had money in my pocket and a slightly fast car on t
EOP&S (Extended Opportunity Programs & Services) is a California-run program which helps community college students with the various elements of student life that one glosses over. EOP&S can arrange for students of meager means to get a free bus pass, a laptop, and numerous other resources that honestly we take for granted. Typically there are around 200 spots per campus--this seems like quite a few, but when one realizes that each community college campus can have anywhere from 6,
"Trust Sicknote to get in the way... Should have stayed in bed..." Muttered AM as he shuffled past on his crutches. Was that comment directed at me? AM doesn't like me very much. Back in the days when the library was at its temporary hut, he had his favourite PC and used to bully people off it when he came in. He tried that with me once... "Come on, Mate, didn't you see my name on the screen?" No, I didn't, because it wasn't there and I couldn't have logged on if it was. And then I had to repeat
Its the Chinese New Year, and since they haven't been inflicted deeply by the economic downturn, today they've been celebrating. It also happens to be Year of the Ox which is good news for me, because in Chinese astrology that's me - I'm an Ox. There you go, I've admitted it.
Get Away From It All
Australia are advertising for a guy to run Hamilton Island, a tropical paradise, in a deal involving free flights, feeding turtles, collecting mail, scuba swimming, running a Hamilton Island blog,
We're back to winter weather here in NorCal...either clear and cool or damp, windy and somewhat rainy. This is actually comforting; that stretch of 10 days with record warmth in San Jos
As you might have guessed, I spent last night watching Monty Python's third film, The Meaning Of Life, definitely the least funny of the three, and perhaps proof that Life isn't fun? Certainly the town I live in has tried to tell us its a great place to live ever since the railworks, our very own dark satanic mill, closed for business. Yet Swindon always seems so meaningless.
It does seem a little coincidental that I've chosen to discuss the Meaning of Life, especially since I seem to have s
I love Steve Pinker. Here he explains how a "thick-witted analogy to Latin" caused our Chief Strict Constructionist to become a judicial activist on behalf of an unconstitutional construction.
Right. Time to sit down in my cubicle at the Library and while away an hour on the internet. It's quiet, nobodies showing off their bestial personal habits, and no mobuile phones... Uh-oh. I spoke too soon. The young black lady on the PC to me right whipped her phone out with practised ease. She spoke clearly, confidently, quietly, and for some strange reason, there was a very appealing tone to her voice. I found myself listening in. Oh no. I've turned into a sad eavesdropper. Oh well..
Now
Rates: When Zero Is Way Too High
I believe the article is mistaken on a lot of things but, they are correct about increasing credit expansion in order to prevent the onset of recession. In fact, the rate has to increase exponentially. However, that can't happen indefinitely. A deep recession cannot be avoided, only postponed and exacerbated.The Theoretical Explanation of the Process of Stagflation (according to Austrian school economics - Mises, Hayek, Rothbard, etc):I believe we have experien
The president of the college made a big but welcomed decision for today. It's the first day of classes for the spring semester, and of course everyone wants to watch the inauguration instead of going to class. So Tom decided that the main theater would broadcast streaming video of the festivities all day long, starting at 8am. I personally thanked him a couple of times; this was truly a community-building event, and he did the right thing. Many 8am classes came in and watched instead of doin
There's a tree in Savernake Forest that I know of. An unremarkable tree at first glance until you discover how old it is. That old fella was sprouting out of ground, fresh from the seed, roughly the same time William the Conqueror was striding ashore at Hastings.
That day in 1066 changed everything. From that point forwards, England and France would be uncomfortable neighbours, no doubt made worse by the Germanic roots of the Anglo-Saxons. Of course now we're on good terms, despite my succes
At the very last meeting of my Monday night class last semester, we got talking about food. One student was having issues with lasagna...loved to eat it, hated to make it because she didn't really know what to do. Evidently, she was raised on Stoffer's, not on fresh. I said I often make it when I have people coming over, and she asked for the recipe. I chuckled...my 'recipe' for lasagna is done on the fly, much like my 'recipes' for minestrone, spaghetti sauce, chili, and a few other soups.
The big deal in Britain at the moment (apart from our economies disappearing act that is) happens to be the plans for the expansion of Heathrow airport. Now that the airport is operating at 99% capacity they want an extra runway which requires the demolition of two nearby villages and the loss of seven hundred homes and businesses. If they want more landing space, why not use the River Thames? The Americans have shown it can be done.
You have to hand it to the pilot of the Airbus 320 that ma
Apparently farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa will benefit from detailed digital maps of soil nutrient quality. At last they'll know why their farms are not doing well. Isn't technology useful? Perhaps not, considering the Skycar, a para-sailing dune buggy, currently setting out on a three thousand mile journey across Africa. These skycars are ridiculous. They proved it was a daft idea back in the fifties. Can you imagine the telephone calls from frustrated motorists?
"You have reached Traffic Co
Imagine this: you're a kitty, one who loves to play and spazz out while chasing anything, including your own tail. The first year or so of your life you have a big house in which you can run around, not to mention free reign of the gardens and the wild field behind the house. It's fun! (Well, when you're not being chased by the big bad bruiser Peanut, the older female feline who runs the place.) Life's pretty good. Then your owners decide to move, and they can't take you with them. But the
Mondays are the curse of modern civilisation. In times of yore, men of Englands Green and Pleasant Land woke from their slumber and stirred when they felt like it. Then along comes the hated miller and with the Industrial Revolution behind him, invented working hours and the tyranny of the clock began.
Now you might say that as an unemployed person I don't suffer from Monday-itis, but you'd be wrong. Required by the state to earn my paltry handouts by looking for work, I must also observe th
I just remembered a concert I went to some years ago. It was Opeth at the Fox Theater in Boulder and I don't remember exactly what year it was. Opeth is what you might call progressive death metal from Sweden. In Opeth's case, its death metal blended with 70's prog and jazz. Anyways, right before the show starts, I turn around and right behind me is a 70-something year old man and his wife, both looking very excited to be there.
You might think that they'd be old hippies or perhaps adhere t
Mr Palmer, the leader of East Lindsey District Council, is unhappy. Strange lights have been seen in the Midlands sky for a while now, and now a turbine blade from a wind generator tower has been ripped off near his turkey farm. He wants the authorities to look into the recent UFO activity and in particular the damage they caused to one of our turbines.
The Ministry of Defence however has shown absolutely no interest in the goings-on, telling us that they won't investigate unless they percei
There are people who think I do nothing but sit at home playing on my computer. Don't let them upset you Computer, they don't understand.. Ahem... Well, anyway from to time I drag myself away The great outdoors has an appeal for many of us and I'm no different, so occaisionally the urge to see over the next hill takes hold. I decided to get up early and hopefully catch some evocative sunrises or whatever. To my disappointment the weather was dull and cloudy as I left home at six in the morning.
It all seems doom and gloom right now doesn't it? Gaza is being demolished, Russia is sulking over gas supply, high street stores are closing, businesses laying off workers, predictions of three million unemployed by next year. Even my blog is draped in despair these days. Well, I won't have it. So, in order to lighten the mood, for the first time in blog history I will now... *click* ... Huh?.... Who turned out the lights? Oh no, my PC is dying. All I've got left is a small blue dot on my monit
