So... it's been a while since I updated, but judging by the total lack of responses I usually get, there's only 3 people reading this and they're my parents and brother. Is anyone esle reading this nonsense? Even if you're not, that doesn't mean I'll stop writing it.
So I've been reading a lot of the stuff at Orson Scott Card's website. If you get a chance, read his essays on the current war situation. They make a lot of sense, in a way that I don't think most people see things.
As far as that goes, what do I think of the war? ("Wait" you say, "shouldn't that be 'what do you think about the war?'") Um... no, it's not your web page now is it. I think that the US has an obligation to defend itself and its allies. I think we should use diplomatic means whenever possible and only use force as a last resort. However, I also think that if we say we are going to use force, we should use it. And not only should we use force when it's called for, we should use massive, overwhelming force. We should not use force against a government that protects it's people and leaves its neighbors to their own lives. But when a government is killing it's own people or attacking it's neighbors we should say "Stop now, or else we will eliminate your government and occupy your country until every citizen is given the opportunity to decide who they want in charge." If they want a king, or dictator, that's up to them, but when they start killing people, we stop them. I realize things are more complicated than that on the whole, but something needs to be done, and sitting on our thumbs isn't getting anything accomplished. How can we do this? I don't know, I'm a theatre technician, but someone out there must have some ideas that will work. Maybe every memeber nation of the UN should transfer a percentage of it's military to the UN's control, give the UN the ability to enforce their mandate. These troops would wear only the insignia of the UN, and any country that interfered with them would be embargoed... or something. Any ideas?

Today's Link: Hatrack River
Today's Music: Tricky
Current Book: The Uplift War by David Brin
Today's Quote: Oops, I thought. Oops is an all-purpose word standing for every bit of profanity, blasphemy, and pornographic and scatological execration I could think of.Flux -- I Put My Blue Genes On

So... for my first rant of 2003 (what can I say, I've been sick or busy) I'm going to piss and moan about the utility companies that seem to conspire to make my life miserable.
First of all, ComEd has mostly just been confusing. Sending out a late payment notification on the day a payment is due, while the payment is sitting in their building. That's merely annoying. However... People's Energy apparently doesn't care one bit about their customers. They don't bother sending bills... unless you ask for them. So you can imagine my surprise when I got a bill in October for over $200. Keep in mind... I've got a stove and that's all. Heat is from a boiler in the basement that the land-lord pays for. Along with this bill was a disconnect notice. So I called them up to say "what's going on?" and was told, that not only should I have been paying this gas bill (which may have been my fault) but because I didn't have an account, I could not make a payment to prevent the disconnect until my account had been set up, which, they told me, would take several days.
Knowing my own history, I was willing to accept that I owed them for a year of gas, and I set up a payment plan with them. I've since made my payments every month.
Yesterday... I got another disconnect notice. Apparently, they haven't recieved my check (although my bank show that the payment has cleared) and therefore, I'm booted out of the payment plan and owe the full back amount. Needless to say... I was a little bit annoyed by this. So I called their customer service line and was told I owed... not the $50 that the last bill I got said... or the $80 that the disconnect notice said... but over $90. I asked the woman to explain how I owed that amount. She said something about me not having made my November payment. After about 10 minutes of her not telling me anything that agreed with what they had sent me in the mail, I got angry and told her I was filing a complaint with the Illinois Commerce Commision and hung up.
After venting to the Best Wife In The Whole Worldİ. For a while I had calmed down a bit and called the customer service number again and the conversation went about like this.
Me: I'd like to speak to a supervisor, please.
CS: Is there anything I can help you with?
Me: No. I'd like to speak to a supervisor.
CS: There are only two supervisors on duty right now, and they are both busy.
Me: I'll hold.
CS: I can't just leave you on hold sir. Is there something I can help with?
Me: No. I want to speak with a supervisor.
CS: I can have someone call you back.
Me: About how long would it be before my call was returned?
CS: I have no way of knowing.
Me: Would it be a matter of a few minutes, a few hours or a few days?
CS: Well, it depends on how many people they have to call, our policy states that they cannot call people after 10:30pm (it was just after 10 at this point) At which point they'll begin calling people again at 8am tomorrow.
Me: Fine. Please have someone call me.
Although there was a call from People's Energy this morning, I was unable to answer the phone and the message simply gave me the regular Customer Service number, so I guess I have to go through the whole ordeal again. Anyway. I'm annoyed with them. And as an added annoyance... every time you call them the first thing you hear is a recording telling you to visit their web site. You also get a similar message every time you get put on hold. The funny thing is their site is apparently down... none of the images load and every link gives you a 404 error. (Except in Netscape where you can't even load the first page.) So... I think I'm done ranting, but I'll keep you posted on any developments. What do you think of the situation? Am I over-reacting?

Today's Link: All Recipes
Today's Music: MC 900Ft Jesus
Current Book: To You Scattered Bodies Go by Phillip Jose Farmer
Today's Quote: "Never be in the copany of anyone with whom you would not want to die." Freman Saying (From "House Harkonnen" by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson)

Well, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas (whether you actually celebrate Christmas or not, the hope that you had a merry day should always be appropriate.) I did, I can highly recomend "Cranium" as a party game, it's fun and lets everyone have a moment to shine, or not shine as the case may be, but if you can get through it without laughing a bit, you're probably already dead.
Anyway, the year 2002 is almost over. A lot has happened this year. We'll get the question out of the way early, since my answer is a bit on the obvious side. Today's question is: What's the most important thing you've done this year? Clearly getting married is the most important thing I've done this year. Now I have The Best Wife In The Whole World, which, of course, makes me terribly happy. I've been working on getting the pictures scanned and turned into a web page so that everyone can see that TBWITWW makes the most beautiful bride, and that I (apparently) clean up okay myself.
For the end of the year I want to say thank you to everyone who make my life better this year than it would have been without them. First and foremost, of course, is The Best Wife In The Whole World and my Family (which is substantially larger now.) I want to thank my friends who keep me entertained, and happy and so much else. I want to thank the people I work with who make it easier to get through those very long days, and make the ridiculousness of what we do just a little easier to deal with. Thank You all and Have a Happy New Year.

*Note: Link to photos adjusted, 10-16-05

Today's Link: Monster Garage
Today's Music: Karl Denson's Tiny Universe
Current Book: The Life and Writings of Thomas Paine
Today's Quote: "No Santa Claus! Thank God, he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood." Francis P. Church

So... life continues. I had a bunch to say today, but I seem to have forgotten it all. I'm looking forward to Christmas. Looks like my parents and brother are going to come up on Christmas Day, which will be great. Of course we'll have to do some cleaning between now and then, but nothing gets you to do that quite like the pressure of having people over. I've been doing a lot of organizing of papers and stuff the last few days and I've realized that there is just a lot of crap that piles up in our lives, even if you're not a total pack-rat like I am. Bills, pay-stubs, insurance forms, cards, maps recipies, owner's manuals... It's all stuf you want to have around "just in case" but it gathers and piles up untill you're about ready to go crazy and take a torch to the whole lot. If you're like me in addition to that you've got boxes full of assorted cables, pages torn out of magazines, tourist brochures for places you might like to visit some day, things you might use in some kind of project someday, half finsihed projects, stuff you've taken apart and intend to put back together, etc. etc. It makes me think about the fact that one of the things that acheologists love to find in an ancient village is the dump. It tells them about what people ate, what they kept stuff in, what they did for fun, and many other things. So what are our landfills going to tell future archeologists about us? Probably all kinds of conflicting things. What would someone think if they came across the remains of your delling if it were suddenly buried, as it is right now, in a Pompeii-esque lava flow?
I think in my apartment they'd find many kinds of storage media (books, CD's, tapes, videos, DVD's) and many decorative items as well as electronics in every room. Perhaps they'd think this was some kind of library. I like that thought. Responses

Today's Link: Analog X
Today's Music: The Chemical Brothers
Current Book: The Life and Writings of Thomas Paine
Today's Quote: "Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas." Calvin Coolidge

Sorry about not updating yesterday, but geeze... I gotta have a life. Okay... I don't have a life. If I had a life, I'd have interesting things to write about. As it is, the reason there was no update was that I really didn't have anything to write about. Cleaned the apartment a little, went to work, ate some ice cream, came home. Whee. But on the other hand, I do have The Best Wife In The Whole Worldİ.
Anyway, Christmas is a week away, and in the tradition of most people, it's time to talk about The Meaning of Life. (which happened to be on TV last night) Christmas is the time when charitable donations are up, people are friendlier, and the world is a happier and more peaceful place. Right? Yeah, didn't think so.
In reality, depression soars, people get into fights over stuff they're trying to buy to prove how much they love someone. Stress levels go way up. People get themselves into tremendous debt, and while charitable donations are up, most people feel like giving something once a year fulfills their obligation for the whole year. "I sent $50 to the humane society and put a can of beans that I wasn't going to eat into the food drive and dropped a couple of quarters in the salvation army bucket. I'm a good person. Now I'm going to drive my Lexus three blocks to The Gap and buy myself a trendy new striped scarf." Basically, what this is saying is that a trendy scarf is worth more to you than helping other people. Between the car, the gas, and the cost of the scarf, you've spent more money for that than you did to help other people. And how many scarves do you already have. Okay, I realize that most of the people who read my page don't need this lecture. Most of us are much closer to needing that can of beans than to buying a trendy new scarf, but it's something to think about. How much does each of us spend on fasion and entertainment and stuff that we reall don't need compared to the amount we give to people who need things worse than we do. Not just time. Money too. I'm guilty. I don't really know anyone who isn't. I'm not saying that until everyone can afford to go to a movie, no one should. I'm just saying it's something to think about when you go to the movie. Maybe every 5th time you would go to a movie, go to a food bank instead. Maybe buy the sweater that's 30% off and drop $5 into the Salvation Army Kettle. Think about it a little. How can you help?

Today's Link: Diesel Sweeties
Today's Music: Dan Bern
Current Book: The Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson
Today's Quote: "The man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life" Muhammad Ali

So I found an interesting article today:
Charity Puts Price on Drunk Drivers' Heads

LONDON (Reuters) - A British anti-crime charity said Sunday it
would pay rewards to people who informed police about persistent
drunken drivers over the Christmas holidays.

Crimestoppers Trust said the public can call it toll-free to give
anonymous tips about persistent drunken drivers, which would then
be passed on to traffic police.

The reward of 500 pounds ($800) would be paid only if police then
arrested the persistent offender and won a conviction, the charity said.

Spokesman Roy Clark told ITN television the reward was designed to
target "persistent drunks out there that are a menace to themselves
and...in danger of killing others.

"We hope that people do everything they can to prevent drunks
driving...take their keys from them, put them in a cab."

I, personally, think this is brilliant. I'd turn in a drunk driver for free, but not everyone knows someone who's been involved in a fatal accident due to alcohol. So some people need a little more motivation, and money happens to be a great motivator for a lot of people. The only think I can think of that would make this better would be if the drunk driver had to pay the person (not directly of course.) Make a $1000 donation to the fund that pays these rewards a mandatory part of the sentance for any DUI conviction, and your car is collateral. Hell... impounding the car of any DUI should be mandatory too. Additionally, I think people convicted of crimes that do not get them sentanced to jail time should pay all of the costs associated with thier conviction... the arresting officer's salary for the time between making the stop till they are back on duty, plus all the time they have to spend in court, the Judge's time, the DA's time, food, heat, electric and water for time they spent in custody, rent for the cell, rent for the parking space in the impound lot. In order to make sure that they make the payments, they should have their pay garnished so that they take home minimum wage until the debt is paid. Anyone who feels this would be "cruel and unusal punishment" should have a chat with the thousands of people who obey the law, don't endanger others and still live on minimum wage. Can you think of a more appropriate punishment?

Today's Link: Sinfest
Today's Music: Kings of Convenience
Current Book: The Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson
Today's Quote: "He turns his money into light -- To look for her" U2

So... finished the extra-long work week, without going completely insane. That's always a plus. Anyway... I've decided to do a real, honest-to-goodness, up on a soap box, rant today. Aren't you thrilled.
Why does the government make me pay for other people to drive? I pay taxes, a lot of them, so does everyone else. but since I don't drive (my wife's car hasn't moved since thanksgiving) I don't pay as much tax as some people. But I'm sure that more of my taxes go to pay for the upkeep of roads and cleanup of the soot and corrosion from the exhaust of cars and their manufacture than those who drive big, heavy, fuel-inefficent vehicles do to pay for the lake-front bike path and the El. I'm not a person who thinks that cars should be banned or anything. There are professions where a vehicle is a necessity, even a large one. However, insurance salesman is not one of them, neither is soccer mom. Yet most of the really big, really badly designed vehicles are bought by these people. Anyway. You can draw your own conclusions, but I think if the manufacturer of a vehicle classifies it as a truck, it should be classified in all ways as a truck. Special licenses, added taxes and road restrictions should be as enforced on an SUV as they are on a commercial truck. That's all. What would you to aleviate the congestion and pollution?