Nighttime Observations

We paid for my mother's funeral out of her funds. Now we're submitting a claim for her life insurance policy (which is a fairly low number; you couldn't buy a cheap car with it). It occurs to me that this is income (and if I forget, the IRS will be sure to remind me; the insurance company form notes that they'll tell them), and that it is about 60% of the amount I'm going to pay for my dental work. My mother's taking care of me, again. I know that's sappy. Usually, I'm not.

Reading an article about families and food stamps, I had a distinctly non-Republican thought: these are real people. I tend to assume that food stamp recipients are the bottom of the barrel; shiftless, only able to work at the grungiest, cheapest -paying jobs. This despite knowing that there are people in the military who use food stamps. But reading this article, it became clear: for the most part, these are decent people who are in a rough time, laid off from jobs for no reason that they could control, with children or mates who have medical problems, trying to survive. I was going to say 'trying to make it', but they're no where near there. They're just trying to survive. Real people. I wonder if professional Republicans understand that?

I'm getting a little tired of hearing about Obama 'not doing anything'. The complaints tend to come from the people who are making a policy of blocking him, keeping him from doing what he wants to do -- and yet he is getting things done, despite them. Yes, every so often, the Democrats manage to all face the same direction. And every so often, an intelligent Republican joins them. I do believe those people won't be happy till Obama says "You know what? Tax cuts for the rich, that's the ticket." And then they'll bitch that it took him too long to get there.

Nice article about Joe Biden in the Sunday Times magazine.

The A Trek

Actions on a Sunny Day

We went to Mass early this morning. The priest seemed half asleep.

We put out four more, for a total of five, strings of Christmas lights (I resist calling them 'holiday lights') -- two old-style (screw-in bulbs) strings across the tall and currently barren bushes just in front of the front door; two 'mesh light' strings on the tall bush where the front walkway meets the driveway, and the existing one string on the large bush down at the base of the driveway. If we have the time/energy, I might put out one or two more, but these look nice as is.

We went to the military cemetary where my mother and father are buried. It seemed odd, seeing their names together on that slab, but it also seemed right. At my mother's funeral, the registrar had said we could have a phrase put at the bottom of the slab, and we chose 'Loved Honored Remembered'. I liked it then, and I like it now.

Startups

I just read through a fascinating article about startups. It's all worth reading (it's a quick, succinct read), but I think the best part, overall, is the end:


Unconsciously, everyone expects a startup to be like a job, and that explains most of the surprises. It explains why people are surprised how carefully you have to choose cofounders and how hard you have to work to maintain your relationship. You don't have to do that with coworkers. It explains why the ups and downs are surprisingly extreme. In a job there is much more damping. But it also explains why the good times are surprisingly good: most people can't imagine such freedom. As you go down the list, almost all the surprises are surprising in how much a startup differs from a job.

You probably can't overcome anything so pervasive as the model of work you grew up with. So the best solution is to be consciously aware of that. As you go into a startup, you'll be thinking "everyone says it's really extreme." Your next thought will probably be "but I can't believe it will be that bad." If you want to avoid being surprised, the next thought after that should be: "and the reason I can't believe it will be that bad is that my model of work is a job."

For most of us, our model of life is a job. What if it weren't?

Homework

My daughter's in a grumpy mood. All of the fun stuff -- road trip, staying in the hotel, meeting relatives -- is done. Now she has three more days off, and they're filled with homework. For some reason, she doesn't regard this as wonderful.

I have a little homework, too. Partially, it's studying so that I can talk with the mento about science, and also math -- his math teacher loaned me a book the other day. Partially, its putting together a menu, and a shopping list, so that I can make a run to the store today. Partially, it's putting out a string of lights. And partially, it's getting started on Christmas cards (last year, we discovered computer-printable clear address labels. Gorgeous!)

Guess I should start, hmm?

Whitey

I sprayed my beard with a bit of the theatrical white spray this morning, and I'm pleased. The beard is not a pure white, but it is definitely white, with undertones of gray. It looks real. Good stuff.

Kind of wish I'd bought two cans, now....or not loaned it to my daughter's friend for her Hallowe'en costume. Not much left. I'll make a note of the name, though.

Twilight

From the Geeks Are Sexy site --

TDay + 1

We're home. We're glad we went. And we're glad we're home. Heavy, heavy rain this morning on Long Island, but by the time we hit Pennsylvania, the skies were just cloudy -- which is actually good, as otherwise we'd have had at least an hour of driving while staring at the setting sun.

The tiramisu went over well. I made a point of telling people that it's really easy to make, so that if they ever have a hankering for it, they can whip it up. And it really is -- I'm not being coy. Chocolate, eggs, sugar, coffee, marscapone, crisp ladyfingers, cocoa, optional rum -- really easy. Twenty four hours in the refrigerator, and its ready to rock.

Still amazed by those people who crashed the state dinner. Holy hell. I know, they passed the screenings, but how the hell did they get past the list of names? You can't even get into some nightclubs without that. Secret Service needs to seriously kick ass and take names.

Road trips usally do a number on my blood sugar control. Road trips coupled with TDay desserts, one of which is tiramisu -- oy vey.

Looking to bake some Christmas cookies. I want to make stuff that is harder than I normally make, without being, you know, insanely hard. Difficult to quantify.

Thinking about wierd stuff while driving. Radical Islam. Its not right to profile Muslims just because they're Muslims, but I think it is right to profile likely candidates for crimes and terrorism, and have the Muslim tag be a oh, really? additional weight. I know they won't think thats fair, but ignoring it seems stupid to me. And, Tivo - works by timeshifting, like VCRs, and coupling in intelligence to suggest what you might like to watch based on what you thumbed-up or selected for recurring taping. Where else could that kind of logic be used, commercially?

We need to keep a tight eye on costs and expenses for a while. The general dentist told me what his part is going to cost, and, as I may have mentioned, it stunned me. Add that to our anniversary gift to ourselves (TV, Tivo) and needing to accumulate funds for my daughter's trip to France in the summer, and man: it seriously gets your attention. So, throttle back for a while. The economic recovery will have to stagger alone without us. Check in again in, oh, May.

Man, I'm tired. Need sleep.

Snap

Looking through photographs -- some very, very small ones -- playing the game of who the heck is THAT? Some, I know; some, I can guess. But who's that immigrant-looking guy and woman? Who's that burly fireman? and whose picture is that from 1893?

Dental Denial

I went through a great deal of effort, and money, over the past many months to get eight implants inserted into my upper jaw.

Imagine how delighted I was to hear the general dentist say, today, that I probably won't need to use all eight to support the final denture. When I pointed out to him that the health of the bone relies on stimulation transmitted through the implants through chewing, etc, and that I didn't want to hear, in three years, that I was going to lose one of those expensive implants because the bone supporting it wasn't being stimulated, he seemed surprised. Said "That's a good question -- I'll ask the oral surgeon."

Oh my god.

bakin'

Today I get to make tiramisu. I am very pleased. Been looking forward to this for a long time. And this afternoon, I'll finish off about a dozen of the chocolate truffles. Thinking I might grind up some nuts and lightly coat the outside of a couple, just to see what it looks like. Should be fun.

Chawklit

Made the cores for 32 truffles tonight. Tomorrow I wrap them in milk chocolate, and for some, dab them with sprinkles or sea salt. Taking 12 as a gift for a relative. T, let me know when you'll be stopping by for yours.

Stray Thoughts

I'm not upset about the fix the mento's gotten himself into, so much as disappointed. I don't know if he'll ever succeed, but I'd rather he didn't fail. I also know that joyriding is a classic American tradition - which doesn't make it right.

Reading A Wind in the Door, which is a Young Adult novel. (Sue me.) One of the characters just announced that he was going directly from a meeting to Brookhaven. I smiled at that, because, in the most minor way, I know Brookhaven.

When I was in high school, we took a field trip out there. I remember almost nothing about it, but I was impressed enough that I talked my parents into letting me go back by myself. A high school kid, no especial yearning for or achievements in, science, going out to Brookhaven National Laboratories. Yup. I don't know why they agreed to let me go. I do know that it would probably have been a good idea to call them before coming out, just to see if one-person tours were even possible. For that matter, it would have been a good idea for someone to figure out that the Long Island Railroad didn't so much go to Brookhaven as go near it. But there I was, all alone on the train station. I called them from the train station, and, somewhat bemused, they sent a car down to get me. I can only imagine what they thought they were getting. Who the hell is this kid? But they gave me a personal tour, I met some smart people, and at the end of the day, they drove me back to the the train station.

I wonder how many other people think of their youth when they think of a government research facility?

Busted

Not me, the mento.

Over the weekend, he thought it'd be fun to ride in a car with an unlicensed driver. Who then crashed into a parked car.

For some reason, he wasn't interested in discussing science, today.

Oh, man.

Money

Still finding surprises in my mother's stuff -- like, drawings (very, very bad) that I did for an art class when I was in fifth grade.

And money. Not a lot -- about twenty five dollars in cash, and four cylinders with coins, separated by type. My wife knew, somehow, that when my father was a cab driver, he would come home and dump all of his earnings on the table. My mother would take it, organizing the change and the cash, keeping a running total of how much he'd made. Which also let her know, though I didn't realize it at the time, when he'd not worked a full shift -- likely spending some of it in a friendly tavern. She thinks the cylinders date from those separation actions.

Funny, the memories things like that triggger.

Creation

Semi-sweet/bittersweet core, coated in milk chocolate, covered with candy sprinkles.

Observations

Once again, we've gone to Sunday mass. Once again, I've observed how much more effective and efficient it would be to hold the Mass both as a traditional service and as a WebMass, with streaming video of the service, downloadable MP3s of the homily, on-screen scrolling text for the hymns, and a click here to make a donation. And lets not forget the reduced carbon footprint created by not having to drive there, find parking, clog the streets to and fro. Or how helpful this would be for the ill, the infirm, the elderly. It just makes sense. Once again, the wisdom of this approach was denied by my wife. Oh, these Luddites.

An article in today's Washington Post is about a person who who, ten years ago, would have been on top of the world, but today isn't even on the training slopes - a girl who excelled in high school, got an MBA from a respected college, has met the Dalai Lama and Joe Biden (though not at the same time), and was clearly on the fast track to success -- and who now is living at home again, and can't even get a low-paying job. Can't even get a job interview. What in the world is up with that? Sometimes I look at things like that and think you're so smart, YOU figure out what to do. At least I know what to do about the cover article in Parade magazine, which is about 'charming but shy' Hugh Grant, who's just looking for a lifetime love. Turn the page, that's what.

I think Obama needs Leo McGarry. Or Rahm Emmanuel needs to toughen up and slap some Democrats around. I also think Mary Landrieu is a Republican at heart -- except that if they were in power, and she pulled that stunt, she'd find that all federal funds to Louisiana have mysteriously dried up. Democrats reward her for it.

Why don't laptops have interchangeable hard drives?

An article in the Post is titled "Americans conflicted over Afghanistan war", and in a sub-head "I'm confused. What is our objective?" Good question. If we stay there, it's going to be long and painful, and we're not going to get anything useful out of it until we can stomp out the Al-Quaeda vermin and their clones, there and elsewhere. It's like fumigating your house at great expense, but doing nothing to keep the critters from swarming back in as soon as the exterminator's truck leaves. Next morning, the rats are on the kitchen table, looking up as you enter. "Hey, where'd you guys move the cheese?" So, what's our objective? As clearly and concisely as you can, Barack. No flags, no bugles.

We finally changed the smoke detector batteries today. One of those things that we were thinking about for weeks, finally bought the batteries last week, and actually put them in today. My wife usually does it, but she was busy, so I did it. I am amazed at how inelegant the design of those things is -- or that you actually can put the damn battery in backward, and the holder will close, letting you fight to screw the device back in place, before it starts to beep accusingly. Hey, dummy!

Take Note

When I was a kid in grammar school, I would occasionally hear the sound of other students taking notes. They sounded as if they were writing very quickly -- much more quickly than I could write. I thought that perhaps if I could emulate that sound, I would take notes more quickly, too. And so I would occasionally take notes that were nothing more than dots, dashes, and squiggles, all done quickly. I did get the sound done. The content, not so much.

There are times, watching our political process, that I think our politicians work the same way. They know what they're supposed to do; they just can't figure out out to do it. So they make the sounds, and hope that's enough.

Mossy

Tivo is growing on me.

Not only can I routinely count on one or two episodes of West Wing to be available to distract me when I'm doing the exercise bike, but now I have Dick Tracy, two episodes of NCIS, and The Green Mile available.

The remote's not as good as it should be, the service's interface not as capable as it could be -- but the service itself isn't bad at all.