Quality Time

I spent some high quality time with my kids today while their mother was having her yard sale. We made pancakes for breakfast, watched some Saturday morning cartoons together (not the same cartoons we had when I was a kid) while I did dishes and cleaned up the kitchen, then got ready for a little road trip.

We went first to the bank with a rebate check, then to get some political campaign signs (a Republican candidate or two) to put in the yard. We stopped at a display by the Indiana Historical Society called the Indiana History Train, where we saw some civil war history and a Union soldier reenactor.

After a quick stop by the yard sale to say "Hi" to their mommy, the three of us (father, son, and daughter) went to McDonald's for lunch. Later, after running a few errands when my wife got home, I took my son to the playground at the elementary school to play on the slides and swings.

It's been a nice day -- the kind of day that makes a man feel great to be a daddy!

Joe

President Bush's Weekly Radio Address

20061007.a.mp3 (audio/mpeg Object)

In his weekly radio address President Bush said, "As we work to keep our classrooms safe, we must also ensure that the children studying there get a good education. I believe every child can learn. So when I came to Washington, I worked with Republicans and Democrats to pass the No Child Left Behind Act, and I was proud to sign it into law. The theory behind this law is straightforward: We expect every school in America to teach every student to read, write, add, and subtract. ... When we set expectations high, America's children will rise to meet them. And by helping our children succeed, we're creating a brighter future for them and for our Nation."

Weekend Off

Being a Retail Store Manager often means babysitting people who are much too old to need babysitters. It's a fact of life in Retail Management, and you learn to live with it. It also means working almost every Saturday of the year. I literally have had only two Saturdays off this year, not counting vacation time.

Today is one of those two Saturdays. And, even though I'm not at work, I'm still babysitting. My wife would say it isn't babysitting when it's your own children. My wife is at a friend's house today having a late season yard sale, and I'm home with the kids. And it's gone rather well so far.

My son has been quite well behaved, and my daughter has cried surprisingly little. In fact, she sat on my lap on the couch for probably forty-five minutes without complaint. That's an amazingly long time for a five-month old baby who likes to stay on the go.

We're getting ready now to head out to the bank and do a drive-by waving at their mommy. And to top things off with a cherry, I'm off tomorrow, too. WOW! Two days off in a row, on the weekend, no less.

Oh, and it's countdown to vacation time, which starts next Friday.

Joe

Podcast of the Week

The podcast netcast of the week this week is not just one podcast netcast. It's a whole Army of podcasts netcasts! The TWiT Army, that is.

Leo Laporte, formerly of Tech TV and The Screen Savers, has an Army of podcasts (or, as he has recently taken to calling them, "netcasts"), and an Army of followers. Recently voted the Podcasting Person of the Year at the Portable Media Expo (otherwise known as the Podcast Expo) in Ontario, California, Leo Laporte currently has a network of twelve podcasts netcasts, with more to come soon. On the flagship netcast, This Week in Tech, Leo is joined by a panel of top names in the technology industry to discuss everything tech.

Dick DeBartolo, Mad Magazine's Maddest Writer, joins Leo daily to discuss the latest in gadgets on The Daily Giz Wiz. Dick turns the tables on Leo on Tuesdays and plays host while Leo presents a gadget of his own choosing, and we're taken to Dick's Gadget Warehouse on Fridays for a classic gadget from the past.

Leo is joined by Steve Gibson (the man who coined the term "spyware" and created the first anti-spyware program) each week on Security Now to discuss computer security, from online threats to the latest vulnerabilities in the Windows operating system.

And once you've listened to just one of Leo's netcasts, you'll know how he's more than just a podcaster (netcaster, sorry Leo): he's a radio personality. Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 2 pm Pacific Time, Leo discusses all things tech on KFI 640AM, and brings that informative and entertaining show to us via netcast on the KFI Tech Guy.

Vin DiBona from Google (yes, THE Google) joins Leo each week on FLOSS Weekly to discuss Open Source and speak with leaders in the Open Source movement. If you're looking for a software or service (such as Firefox, Linux, et. al.) that is improved and maintained by developers who have a passion for doing it right, tune in to FLOSS each week for the latest and greatest in Open Source.

And in Leo's latest addition to the TWiT network (as of this writing, that is), Leo is joined by Paul Thurott to discuss the next big thing in the computer industry, Windows Vista, in the Windows Weekly netcast. It's been over half a decade since Microsoft rolled out Windows XP, and this eagerly awaited successor promises to hit our systems in the coming months.

This is merely a sampling of the many netcasts from Leo Laporte and the TWiT network. These are some of my favorites, and you're sure to find a few that you'll enjoy, as well.

You can find TWiT online at http://www.twit.tv, get the latest episode of TWiT here, or subscribe to one RSS Feed that includes all of the TWiT netcasts by pasting this link into your favorite aggregator.

Enjoy!

Joe

The Daily Gripe #35 - Can't Find Good Help Anymore

The Daily Gripe Is Back! It's been a few weeks, but I'm back with more gripes.

I'm a Retail Manager, and I have two key-carrying Assistant Managers working for me. One of us has to be in the building at all times during business hours. That can make for some really hard times when someone is unable (or unwilling) to work.

That's exactly what happened yesterday. One of my Assistant Managers was at the hospital attending the birth of his grandson. No problem, I would have done the same. The other Assistant was scheduled off. When called and asked to come in to cover the evening shift, she stalled and created excuses. She said she had to pick up her son and four other boys. I don't know when or where. She called twice during the day and claimed that she was unable to reach any of the other parents to pick them up, but that she would keep trying. She never called with a final yes or no about whether she would come in.

I expected this. She is a highly unmotivated, severely overweight (which in itself doesn't mean anything -- it's everything else about her that perpetuates the obesity stereotype), low performing person who can't spell the word TEAM without substituting a couple of I's for the E and the A.

What really gripes me about this is that she always finds an excuse not to cover someone else's shift, but she's been out several days for back problems caused by her obesity, and she expects others to happily cover for her.

Another thing that really gripes me is that her husband -- who doesn't work and is on disability because he's also obese -- was home and perfectly capable of picking up the kids.

I didn't hire her, but I'm trying like heck to get the blessing from above to fire her.

Joe

The Answer We've Long Awaited

I wouldn't call him my favorite author, but he is definitely one I enjoy. In a feature called Ten Questions on his webiste, Dean Koontz provides the following in-depth response to that popular question: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? — Dan, Shreveport

You have posed an unanswerable question, Dan. It’s unanswerable not because the chucking capacity of a woodchuck is one of the great cosmic mysteries, and not because there is a powerful interest group that would be offended by the very discussion of the subject. I’m sure that in contemporary America there are in fact several groups who will be ferociously offended by the subject and that even by allowing you to raise it, my reputation will be savaged and my life will not be worth spit. But we are not going to be cowed by the threats of the politically correct. I would be happy to answer your question if you would qualify it in ways that make an answer possible. First, what is the time frame? Are you interested in how much wood a woodchuck could chuck in ten minutes? An hour? A day? A standard woodchuck lifetime? Second, please define what you mean by the word chuck. Do you mean “to toss, to throw with a quick motion” or do you mean “to tap or pat lightly?” I hope you do not mean “to vomit,” because this raises in the mind the disgusting image of a spewing woodchuck, which would offend the sensibilities of my gentle readers. Finally, by the use of the word if in your question, you suggest that in reality woodchucks cannot chuck wood, that your question is entirely and hopelessly hypothetical. But to pose your question from such a philosophical position suggests that woodchucks are frauds, that they choose to be called by a name to which they cannot live up. Personally, I have never met a woodchuck who was anything but straightforward and honorable, so I am quite sure that they can indeed chuck wood, and I think you should apologize for implying otherwise.

Book Review: Babylon Rising - The Edge of Darkness

The latest book in the Babylon Rising series by Tim Lahaye is out. The Edge of Darkness is the fourth book in the line.

I'm no author, obviously, and certainly no exprert on writing. I do, however, love to write, love to read, and love the English language. One thing that really gripes me when I'm reading a book is when I come across an obvious error in the text. I can understand a spelling or typographical error. I can even forgive the occassional punctuation or grammatical error. Editors should catch this type of thing, but the major publishing houses today are nothing more than page mills cranking out the latest drivel (in many cases) as fast as they can, hoping to stumble upon the next great literary masterpiece.

But one thing I simply cannot tolerate is when there is a material error in the text that causes a structural flaw to the work. For example; a setting that doesn't fit with the plot, a major inconsistency in events of the story (which I'll discuss further soon), or a character error.

While reviewing book three in the series, The Europa Conspiracy, I discussed a major inconsistency in the story line. Mere pages apart, a character survives what could have been a tragic accident, only to later be referenced as having died in the very accident he survived.

I have encountered a major character misuse in The Edge of Darkness. First, a brief character inventory. The series involves a group of seven international power magnates manipulating events to hasten the beginning of the last days. This group is led by a man named John Bartholomew. One tool this group uses is the owner of an American communications giant, named Shane Barrington, whom they use as a pawn to do their bidding to further their evil plan.

On page 147 in the book, the group is meeting to discuss the next steps in their plan. Among other things, they discuss what action they will have Shane Barrington take to aid in the establishment of a unified religion. Barrington clearly is not present at the meeting, as his status as a lowly pawn has left him out of the decision making process throughout the series of books. As the meeting is coming to a close, while clearly referring to the leader of this evil consortium -- John Bartholomew -- the author uses the name Barrington. One paragraph later, he's back on track with the correct character name.

It seems to me that this could cause quite a confusion for the reader. I immediately noticed something odd and reread the passage to clarify. It appears that the editors of the Babylon Rising series either don't read the work too closely before publishing or, more likely, rely on a low-level staffer to proof-read for them. Either way, I find this sort of error disturbing and unacceptable.

* * *

Babylon Rising: The Edge of Darkness, seemed to move a little slowly early in the reading. The rest of the series seems to progress quite rapidly. But don't let the seeming slowness fool you. A great deal of plot is laid out for events to come in future installment(s). There are also some surprises in the closing chapters -- things one might never expect when there is obviously at least one more volume to be released in the series.

I found the book to be a rather good story, and essentially true to the rest of the series. Other than the inconsistency mentioned above, The Edge of Darkness, like the rest of the Babylon Rising series, is first rate. I would recommend it to anyone.

Joe