Harry's Ruminations

Stolen from Susan * * * 1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Traveled to both coasts--New England and Kalifournia. 2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Didn't make any, so yep. 3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No. 4. Did anyone close to you die? One of the founders of our church died, but no one too close, no. 5. What countries did you visit? United States of America. New England ("That's, like, in America, right?") 6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? A hobby. 7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory? 10 February -- my daughter's first birthday. 17 September -- 3rd Anniversary! 01 October -- sold my White Elephant. Gave up being a car guy. 8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Learning to love my family and live a genuine life free of contempt. 9. What was your biggest failure? Gaining 15 pounds. Mmm...food. 10. Did you suffer illne...

I don't know if this is common or not, but when I have prolonged time off work, I find it nearly impossible to relax. I always feel like I should be doing something or working towards something, even if it's at home. Take right now, for instance. Whitney and I are granting one another some alone time today. Joey's in Louisville until tomorrow night, and Maria's enjoying her post-Christmas toys. She's taking the morning shift watching Maria, and I'm taking the afternoon. So, I've got hours to myself. HOURS. Not stolen moments sitting at the library playing hooky from my family duties: Honest-to-God downtime. It's like my brain won't accept it. It doesn't compute. On the way over here, all I could think about was how much I wanted to be changing the oil in the Camry, sweeping-up the back yard, and generally...working. The first 15 minutes over here, I got all excited about some mortgage refinancing stuff I heard on the radio, so I spent t...

Don’t get me wrong, lawyers serve an important function, but like e. coli in the body politic, too many will kill you.

How do you know you're a wuss? When 5" of snow shuts down the state for a week. Linky I particularly like: Area Roads : In light of the continuing snowfall and icy road conditions, most local roads are snow-covered and slippery and will remain that way until March. For information on current road conditions, please look out the window.

What follows is a little tinfoil-hat, I admit... Okay, so the other night, I had a dream about working at the NSA or some other government agency where "We're smarter than you can imagine..." No doubt, this came from two things: I just read Dan Brown's turdly book Digital Fortress I had a really great discussion about my industry with my #1 consultant--my wife. Whitney observed that programmers are paid an obscene amount of money, and that I should expect a downward trend. Pointedly, I said at the time--well yeah, I didn't exactly graduate from M I T So, the other night, I dreamed I was in a large lab staffed with uber-smart computer scientists: Cryptographers, cryptanalysts, etc. These guys DID graduate from MIT. And Oxford. Sometimes both. It was my first day on the job, and it was your typical "I'm late for class and forgot my homework" scenario--I felt stupid and I thought everyone else there didn't like me. People in the lab kept as...

Linky Never forget to say goodbye. Beautiful stuff.

Ah December, the time to give, receive, and splurge on a really neat wireless plan. For the last 3 years, in true Dave Ramsey fashion, Whitney and I have been prepaid Virgin Mobile users. I'd say subscribers, but there's no subscription--you pay-as-you-go, and pay only for the calls and text messages ("TXTs") you use. On the whole, it wasn't a bad system. The phones were chintzy and low-tech, but they worked reliably for voice and text. Between the two of us, we were averaging $42 / month. Thing was, Whitney wouldn't carry her phone--she didn't like it, and wouldn't have it around for emergencies. What she wanted was one of these puppies: Yep. An iPhone 3G--the neatest thing since sliced bread. Thing was, we didn't want a contract--felt too much like debt to us. Let me summarize what happened this weekend: Me, Saturday morning: "Hey, why don't we get some new phones?" Whitney: WOOHOO!!! And then... ...running around to 25 diff...

I'm trying to keep things moving here; I get bored easily... Bruce, you're my hero.

(Yes, they whipped Belfrey. Again. On the Road. Muhahaha) Story about my uncle and his three sons Once again, the Breathitt County Bobcats find themselves in the championship game, this time with All-State running back Channing Fugate. I don't think they have any shot of winning, since they're essentially one-dimensional (GIVE CHANNING THE BALL!)

Linky

I'm happy today--I'm really into the Christmas season. Some random thoughts: On the blog Has my blog fizzled? I see none of the fire and angst I saw in posts 2, 3, 4 years ago. I'm not controversial (provided I say nothing about Southeast Christian Church!), nor am I writing about substantial things--news, computers, cameras, cars, politics. My posts about industrial decline and the rise of personal debt from 2004-ish seem appropriate now, in the land of the $8 trillion bailout. Still, what's there to write about? Once upon a time, I'd air all my personal struggles on the blog, because it was the only place I felt at home. No judgement, no context, just my own thoughts and feelings (rather emo, no?). I'm not that guy anymore. I have a wonderful wife who'll listen to me, friends to talk to, and kids to play with. Hard to sing the blues or write angsty screeds when you're feeling content! On car lust The E39 5-series is the perfect car, and I keep ...

WOW! Whitney and I attended the Georgetown College's production of Cimarosa's The Secret Marriage last night, and I was blown away. Understand, this is a college of ~1500 persons. The curriculum's "Opera" class hasn't been taught in recent memory. The college has no orchestra, only a concert band. So here, amid the rolling bluegrass, they staged a full, 2-Act Italian opera. Was it perfect? Of course not...all performers could sing, but only two stood out operatically: The rich-voiced Count, and the delicate soprano playing Carolina. I could've listened to Carolina sing all night long--her arias delighted, and her acting was properly melodramatic. And it was FUNNY, with comedy in each scene. The only downside is they're only holding two performances, the final being tonight at 7pm in the Georgetown College Hill Chapel. Seating is General Admission, with tickets at $15. Even if you don't like Opera, GO! English subtitles provided, above the...

linky Given the budget numbers, the United States has already chosen a path of far bigger government. The trap has been set. It's unlikely America can escape without a VAT. - Replace income tax with a national sales tax? I'm all for it. - AUGMENT the multi-tiered "simple" income tax with a VAT? HUH?!!! If this passes, turn out the lights--we're a socialist nation. * * *