Ma and Pa's Blog

I have a new favorite Facebook comment thread:  some troll on a site commented “Your litteraly to stupid to insult.”  One lone comment:  “Oh, the irony.”  “Like” indeed.

A letter from the newly appointed chairperson of the Democrat Party asked what would we like to see in a new chairman.  I wrote back and asked them to grow a pair.  Was that wrong?

This is what I imagine every time I see companies going overboard with marketing schemes and promotions that say nothing about the quality, utility or aesthetic of the product being offered.   It’s likely close to the conversations that went on (go on?) at the investment firms and banks that created the real estate crisis . . . just substitute “sub-prime mortgage instruments” for “billing errors”.   I really wish honesty could trump greed more often . . .  I guess that’s what heaven and hell are for.

I like it!  Unity desktop is a little different, but everything is running quickly and looking great.

Ma’s out to lunch with her friend, so I made a salad for lunch. The salad was a success — both attractive and tasty. Contents: chicken, celery, scallion, jalapeno, red sweet pepper, tomato, lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and cumin. I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.

I’m officially down 22 pounds,  and it’s starting to show.  I can again wear a particularly ugly shirt I bought on sale 4 years ago.  It’s not flattering, especially now that my hair is gray and my color palette has changed, I don’t ‘specially like it, I don’t know WHY I bought it, but it fits again with room to spare.  So dammit, I’m wearing it.

Watching all the hype and coverage of Osama bin Laden’s death, I have to wonder just how much of a triumph is it?  He eluded capture for ten long years,  in spite of  being hunted by the most powerful armies on earth and having a $25M bounty on his head.  While his leadership seemed to diminish,  his role changed to almost mythic folk hero revered by al Quaeda.  Now his death has given him the status of martyr to the cause of terrorists and hard-line Islamists.

He was the architect of the terrorist attacks that killed more than 3000 people and changed our way of life forever.  I am not mourning his death.  But the party atmosphere, macho shouting and political posturing are unseemly.  He led us a merry dance for ten years  while  we were lured into a war that has killed far more Americans than he did on 9/11.

And now he’s a martyr with his 70 virgins in the afterlife and is an inspiration to generations of terrorists.  He was only one head of the Hydra.  A hundred more have already taken his place.

Gained 4 pounds in two days! Thanks, Paska. Thanks, Kielbasa. Thanks, Ham. Thanks, Bunny Cake. Argh! Who started these traditions, and can he/she be sued? Great weekend, though. Enjoyed every minute.

Since re-installing Windows Vista on my laptop a few weeks ago, I’ve begun to think that Microsoft might have turned the corner.   I see that among the numerous updates since the installation, “Microsoft Security Essentials” is now included.   It is handling “Realtime Protection” (whatever that is) and virus detection.   It’s about time that Microsoft took this vital function back in house.   I suspect that 3rd party solutions were a big part of the stability and performance problems I’ve encountered when using Windows.  As of this writing, I’m satisfied with Vista’s performance — sometimes surprised to find that I’m using it.   I plan to investigate whether MSE can be installed on my WinXP desktop.   That’s about it for now.