Still Smokeless on day 7!!

I'm smoke free. But this feels like it may be the hardest day yet! I feel like I haven't eaten. You know that empty, shakey feeling you get when you need to eat? That's how I feel and I've eaten... I'm basically feeling like refried crap! Shit! I think I've finished (mostly) with my DB crap for work. I'll probably need to tweak it. But that's for later today. Got to see the doctor about my elbow(?) And pickup filters for the AC units for the house. Need to mow and edge the front yard too. But I'll wait till the sun is over the house for that. And pay some bills. And the Queen says I don't do anything on my days off! Quote of the Day: "The power of the executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious, and the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist." ~~Winston Churchill Courtesy of one of my favorite authors - William Gibson - Found on his blog - And never more appropriate that now. How about a few links I've found to be interesting: The last of Mr. Gibson's books was "Pattern Recognition" in which the protagonist was a Cool Hunter. She was able to recognize what the nect latest thing was going to be, or when it was going to be so over. Hence: Josh Rubin's CoolHunting - Cool Hunting: finding things in the intersection of design, culture and technology that excite the imagination and inspire creativity. Upon which I found this. The kitchen of the future. Actually for my european friends it is already here. The Clever kitchen. From our ever so efficient friends in Germany. How about this cool app. Quikmaps - Interacts with google earth to let you draw your own map. This is way cool. They will even host it for you. The blog is here: http://wanderingken.com/ The app: Quikmaps.com Dell has a blog? Too little, too late or right on time? You decide...Dell's one2one. ArsTechnica for the PC enthusiast in you. And me... Engadget reports on tech for you. Lifehacker. com For the geek in all of us. "Computers make us more productive. Yeah, right. Lifehacker recommends the software downloads and web sites that actually save time. Don't live to geek; geek to live." TechCrunch is "a weblog dedicated to obsessively profiling and reviewing new web 2.0 products and companies." TechDirt. The name kinda says it all don't it? Because what everybody needs is a Garfield dissection service: Garfield: Permanent Monday. The official google blog at blogspot. Got a Moto RAZR? So does this fellow. And he's got a few hacks for it here: Razr V3, V3C, V3x . How to get free dialup here. With video: Free internet on laptop using your cell phone . Also has Phone tools software here: OBEX File Manager. Zac liked this SW better than the Moto stuff. Drivers here: My Awsome Razr (which you will need for your PC. Also a message board if you just don't get it. Zac says a regular digital camera USB cable will connect your phone to your PC. It looks like it should. But bear in mind I haven't tried any of this stuff yet. And this is not an endorsement. If you fry your phone doing this stuff do not come here bitching. As I said I haven't tried any of this. But I'm gonna. But I have phone insurance, too. I'm merely pointing in the direction you may want to go... See you around... Next!

A Speculative Future (fiction by me)

A rangy, gray haired, darkly tanned man rises and starts to speak at a gathering of 40 - 50 people in a semi-ruined auditorium located somewhere in the Central South of the North American Continent in what used to be the United States of America. The group that has gathered here in this ruined spot, in this ruined city, are mostly younger than the man who has risen to speak. They are, in various shapes and sizes, mostly skinny, (hungry) disheveled, and dirty looking bunch. Every one in the room, if you could actually apply the term to the place, including the gray haired man looks to be carrying at least one weapon of some kind. Looking around himself, into the crowd, he hesitates a moment, and then starts to speak... "So, forty years ago, I was a support programmer for a major oil multinational, in Houston, Texas. What were you doing forty years ago? Trouble is, most of y'all weren't even born then. Those of y'all that were, know that things were a lot different back then. Trouble is, there ain't that many of us left. That remember. Most of us that do and that still have our wits about us, are gettin' old. And wore out." He pauses for effect and then continues, "I was born in Nine-teen fifty-eight. I guess that makes me one of the oldest people here. Do any of y'all even know what year it is?" Some one in the back of the ruinous amphitheater yells out something. "That's right, you in the back. It is now the summer of 2045. You must be damn near as old as I am." "In the year 2005, I was forty-seven and I had all the stuff that was thought to have mattered. A wife. A house. A Mortgage. A good job. Three kids (one that was mine, two that were hers). One of our kids was graduating High School. The other two were in College. One Sport Ute and two cars. A long commute. A retirement fund and a pension to look forward to. And Two (count 'em) ex-wives. And everything that went along with all that shit. Hell, most of y'all don't even know what most of that shit is, do ya?" Another pause. Then, "That was the year everything started. And started to end. American Society at that time was the top of the heap, Numero Uno. The big cheese. We had the best of everything and we were the best, and brightest. Or so we thought." "That's the trouble with bein' on top. There's always some sumbitch to come along an' try and knock you off the top. We were the only Superpower left. An' we shoulda been on the lookout for the fall." "That's what the Soviets found out twenty years earlier. When their own people rose up and said, 'ENOUGH!!' Theirs was a crummy system anyway. The government couldn't sustain their economics and finally fell over from their own heavy handed, top heavy systems." The old man paused, as if trying to catch his breath. Some younger man in his immediate vicinity mutters something and the gray hued man picks up on it, "Wha'd you say there, youngster? This ain't no history lesson? Well, yeah, it kinda is...So get on with it you say! Watcher hurry? You got an appointment?" The kid backs off and sits down on the ground. "2005, the year that everything started. Actually it was the year before, in '04. It probably really started before the millenium turned, but '04 was when I started payin' attention..." "There were all kinds of signs. The entire planet was in trouble. Natural disasters, high unemployment. There were wars over religious beliefs goin' on. Prices for staples rising higher and higher. Pollution indicators off the scales. Mass deforestations. Crazy fuckin' weather." "And one of the most ignorant, arrogant bastards in the Whitehouse in history." "We, the planet, were in deep shit. An' we were too self absorbed to even realize it

Uh-Oh!

Went to see a Play at the Alley Theater Saturday, "Wait Until Dark". But that ain't what this is about. Daughter #1 invited us. She has an internship there. So off to Dinner and the Alley we go...The Queen, Daughter #1, and the BF. And I. Our seats (At the Alley) were almost in Pairs. The Queen and I's were. Daughter #1 and BF were separated by a row. But they were able to sit together as there were some no shows in thier immediate vicinity. Play was good! But that ain't what this is about. After the show, while we were standing in line waiting for the Parking Garage elevator, everyone is kind of antsy. I suggest to the Queen, "Why don't we go to Birra Poretti's and wait for traffic to die down? We can have a cup of coffee or something." A withering glance..."Or not," I say. Dunno if the kids are aware of the tension level between the Queen and I or not. You'd have to be unconsious to not feel it. Or DEAD... Plus I have discussed it with Daughter #1 in the near past. I assume she has talked to the BF and perhaps other family members about it. But that ain't what this is about. So the others decide that rather waiting in the line for the elevator(s), we should take the stairs. To the 5th Floor. I didn't think this was really a wonderful idea, but decided to keep it to myself. By the time we had gone up 4 flights, I (of course) could no longer catch my breath. It was like being at high altitude. There was NO air for me here...I hadn't the presence of mind to bring an inhaler with me. (SHIT!) Luckily the truck was actually on about floor 4.5. I made it to the vehicle. Daughter #1 is looking at me, "Are you all right?" "No-oooo-ooooo-ooooo-ooo...I'm not. I can't seem to catch my breath." "You want some water?" she asks. I didn't bother to point out that THIRST was the LEAST of my worries. But I took the bottle any way. We cruise on out of the Garage. The Queen lights up a smoke. I was about to ask her for one - I had run out while we were at the theater. But something stopped me )DUH!( By the time I had sufficiently recovered my wits we were on Richmond Avenue. Going toward the kids' apartment. The Queen asks me, "You want me to stop at this store so you can get some cigarettes?" I was about to say ok, but at the same time I was thinking, 'Are you FUCKING CRAZY?!?!?' I heard myself saying as if from the inside of a long tunnel, "No - Don't bother..." Sidelong glance from the drivers' seat, "Ok-aaaaaay..." "I'm quitting." Who said that? Did I just hear myself say that? From the backseat, "Right now?" "Yes," I say...Enough is enough. Walking up four flights of stairs should NOT feel like a suicide attempt. This is what this post is REALLY about! Now four days later. I still haven't killed anyone. (Not that I haven't thought about it!) I havent really slept well since Friday night. But I was expecting that. I feel okay I guess. Aside from an overall jitteryness. A bit itchy....and (B)itchy. ...Definitely a person NOT to be fucked with, right now!

Still Percolating on My Trip to North Florida

Been back for less than two weeks and I'm still unsure how I feel about that trip... REALLY!!!