Zune oh Zune

Familiar with the techno gadget pictured to the left? It is a "Zune" media player, Microsoft's answer to Apple's IPOD, you can watch movies, listen to music, play games, listen to the radio, look at your photo albums, listen to pod casts and audio books, shop for songs, and share music with friends. I've owned mine (Zune 30) since February 2006 and have used for many hours as I've drove, flown, spent time in a hotel room, worked, showered, etc... it has become an everyday type of item for me, much like a fork or eye patch (for those who need eye patches).

Having provided you with this brief explanation of what a Zune is, and how much it means to me, you'll understand my hearty chagrin this a.m. when I woke up to find my poor little Zune locked up on the logo screen. I pushed buttons, shook, cried, and tried to plug into my computer to magically "unlock" the poor little beastie. Alas to no avail. Jami was sympathetic and asked if I'd dropped it or something, and I said "no". She went to get hers so that I could look at it in fond memory of what mine used to look like when it worked, when she discovered that hers too was locked, so was Ciara's... (musical interlude) "Gloom, Despair, and agony on me, whoooaaa, deep dark depression, excessive misery, whhhhooooaaa, if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all, whhhhoooaaa, gloom despair and agony on me." Sorry for the drama :(

I don't think this would have been such a calamity if i hadn't just lost my Zune a few days ago for almost 24 hours. We searched high and low, we dug through boxes of stuff that I didn't even know we owned. I almost pulled the engine from Jami's blazer because i thought maybe I'd dropped it in the engine compartment when i was changing oil. I did sift through the ashes in a fire barrel thinking perchance it'd come unclipped from my belt and fell in. OOohhhh the joy when i found it laying behind my tool box where a kindly kitty must have knocked it when jumping and running from my BB gun tirade. Annie Oakley I ain't! That or the kitty is durned quick.

So we've spent the day "Zune-less" wandering about like an ObamaZombie (one who realizes that words without actions are like a fire alarm in Hell) wondering what to do with ourselves. My brilliant wife finally went on-line this afternoon and found the following statement by those sadistic son's of a motherless goat from Microsoft:

"Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used). The technical team jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue: a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year. That being the case, the issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009. We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT). By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on."

This event has been dubbed "Z2K"... tell me, how can 100 engineers at the world's most prestigious computer company all fail to account for leap year in the software that operates Zune? Yikes, darn glad they didn't program the autopilot software for the Space Shuttle, or something more meaningful to the world than a little bitty Zune. Come On Bill Gates, get em straightened out!

Thanks for letting me vent.

Superluke :)

Daddy's Little Girl

As I peruse my daughter's senior pictures this morning, I'm reminded that she is no longer a "little" girl. (This say I with a tear in my eye).

My little girl is growing up... when did this happen? Not long ago we were discussing the merits of veggie tales, and her little fingers were stretching to reach middle 'C'. Now we're discussing World Economics and her little fingers are stretching across the steering wheel. Every now and then she asks those questions that causes a parent to know that soon their first born will be (quasi) on her own... questions about: "rent, phone bills, tuition, insurance, etc."

We visited Fort Hays State University last Friday where she will begin full time classes next fall. The entire tour I had a lump in my throat and a feeling of bittersweet melancholy. Her institution of higher learning is very excited to get her bright little mind in their grip... Thank God she is well grounded! Ciara's mind is extremely sharp, and her judgement is a direct reflection of her faith. What a blessing she is to her mother and I. We cannot wait to hear of her first debate with a college professor about the origin of mankind:)

Thanks for letting me brag on my baby a bit... I cannot wait to see her salt and light impact this tasteless and dark world for the glory of God and the benefit of mankind. Tear em up sis your Daddy loves you!

Thanksgiving: "Turkey Hangover"

I love Turkey! Smoked, Baked, Broiled, Boiled, Fried, Barbequed, Soup, Scalded, or Blackened... I love Turkey. I've never quite figured out why we wait for a whole year at a time to eat this wonderful bird's succulent flesh. The day b/4 Thanksgiving, I smoked a Turkey breast with red wine and beer soaked Hickory Chips, it turned out quite wonderful. So all in all I've carved and consumed Turkey for 4 meals in a row (1 was breakfast this morning).

Slight headache, melancholy mood, protruding stomach, oohhhh I've got a Turkey hangover! I may need to go to bed and sleep this one off...

Give thanks with a grateful heart for all that God has given you this past year. I thank God that I'm walking upright with a very slight limp. Only a year ago I was seeing my leg at a 90 degree and endured 2 surgeries. Very happy to say I'm almost back to my kick boxing shape :).

Be Blessed my friends!

Faith

"To disbelieve is easy; to scoff is simple; to have faith is harder."- Louis L'Amour

Fashionable Opinions

"The majority have no other reason for their opinions than that they are the fashion." Samuel Johnson

Fashionable Opinions... Great speaker, Charismatic personality, Loyal following, Questionable religious practices, sound familiar? Yep, I'm talking about Mr. Adolph Hitler. A man of great notoriety, and demented activities. A man many have equated to THE anti-Christ. However, millions followed his every screamed, charismatic word, most to their detrimentand many to their death. Hitler was a fashionable opinion of the day gone seriously wrong (and I don't mean the mustache).

Name the name of today's most controversial topics, and you will very probably understand how society has changed over the course of the past 200+ years. Things that yesteryear seem abhorrent to all, today are on a ballot in several states seeking to change mankind's understanding of an age old sacrament.

Makes you wonder if mankind's collectively changed mind can alter the course of right and wrong... perchance the age of moral relativity will ultimately meet it's suicidal demise in a bombed out bunker of societal psychosis.

Mark Twain made the following remark in his novel; Joan of Arc "opinions not based upon experience are like skin without the support of the skeleton" (paraphrased). Oh how true you speak Mr. Twain... How many of us blindly follow a "fashionable opinion" without a true understanding of the experience behind the opinion?

Great vs. Mediocre

"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices, but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence and fulfills the duty to express the results of his thought in clear form."

Albert Einstein, quoted in New York Times, March 19, 1940

Mediocre mindless lemmings all migrating toward the same cliff of miserable destruction, all the while violently railing against those that would chose to slip off their little lemming coats and don a lab jacket.

I encourage you to think and not blindly follow the masses toward ultimate demise. You may never be the deep thinker like ole' Albert was (or even uncle Morgan is), but exercise your gray matter with things weightier than mindless marshmallow fluff.

Peace out Posse

Obama on "Wealth Re-distribution".

When our sweet tiger cat heard that the pending president desires to re-distribute income from the wealthy to the not so wealthy... well lets just say that kitty's views on socialism are a lot like mine. Picture on the left is our normal lil kitty, Picture on the right is our sweet lil kitty after discussing socialism and wealth redistribution... can't say I look much different post discussion.

Some interesting facts taken from an article on Worldnet Daily: "Socialism, according to Karl Marx, is the transition between capitalism and Communism. To achieve communism, Marx says, there must be continuing revolution in which the fundamental principal is: The end justifies the means.

For more than half a century, capitalism in the United States has taken a beating from the socialist revolution. Despite the best efforts of conservatives since the Roosevelt era, socialists have made great strides toward converting the nation to socialism. Apparently, the majority of Americans either fail to recognize the transition, or welcome it. The enthusiastic support for Barack Obama, especially among young people, is abundant evidence.

Obama has declared that he believes every person has a "right" to health care. The Socialist Party USA believes every person has a "right" to health care.

The Socialist Party USA believes that "capitalism is fundamentally incompatible" with socialism. For years, Obama worked in Chicago through the Annenberg Challenge, along with Bill Ayers, to funnel more than $50 million to anti-capitalist education projects. In November 2006, Ayers traveled to Venezuela to speak at Hugo Chavez's Education Forum where he railed against "the failings of capitalist education," and praised the "Bolivarian Revolution and the profound reforms in education made by Hugo Chavez."" (*Henry Lamb author)

So... Wealth redistribution is a Marxist tenet to Socialism, and Socialism is the illogical transition from Capitalism to Communism. Hhhmmmm. That's pretty scary Mr. President, will we be asked to wear uniforms of gray, and be forced to live in concrete barracks so that all are the same? Where will it stop? Forced health care??? Ask any Canadian with a toothache how they like their Government ran Health Care system... ask em every 3 months since it'll probably be 9 months before they can get in to have their teeth worked on.

Obama made some very concerning remarks in defending his tax policies to Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, an Ohio man now better known as Joe the Plumber. Obama, who was canvassing Wurzelbacher’s neighborhood last weekend, told him, among other things: “When you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

Spread the wealth... good for everybody??? Take from those with the ability and desire to earn a good living and give it away to those who'd rather sit on their keesters and let others take care of them. . Can you say Welfare State? Can you say Entitlement State? Can you say Hell in a Handbasket? How is that good for EVERYBODY, it appears only to be good for those who'd rather not work and provide for their own families.

1Timothy 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. ESV

Socialism - Bad
Communism - Bad
Wealth Redistribution - Bad
Obama - (you decide)

Obama On: The Coal Industry

Hmmm... Obama and the Coal Industry. This is a direct quote from our "President Elect" taken from his interview with the San Francisco Chronicle:

"Let me sort of describe my overall policy.

What I've said is that we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody Else's out there.

I was the first to call for a 100% auction on the cap and trade system, which means that every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases emitted would be charged to the polluter. That will create a market in which whatever technologies are out there that are being presented, whatever power plants that are being built, that they would have to meet the rigors of that market and the ratcheted down caps that are being placed, imposed every year.

So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted."

Wow... that's some pretty harsh words there pilgrim. How many folks reading this post know of someone living in a coal rich state? I personally know a brilliant young "soon to be" engineer, living in a one such state, and he very vigorously disagrees with our ignorant young "soon to be" president for reasons too numerous to post, but to name a few; jobs, local economy, educational opportunities, equipment manufacturing, tax base...

How many other industries does Mr. Obama intend to bankrupt? How bout the battery industry because of the lead, how bout the tobacco industry as it emits some noxious fumes as well, how bout the welding industry (look at all that smoke), how bout the auto industry (more smoke), how bout the pig farmers and all their methane emmissions, how bout angus beef ranchers and all those noxious "cow emmissions"? Where exactly will it end I wonder? Maybe we should just put a tax on "stupid", whoof that'd fund the country for another 40 years or so yes?

On the other hand... if Mr. Obama does intend to redistribute the wealth of those who busted their tails to earn said wealth, I guess he'll be giving away Hollywood's elite actor's cash, and baubles of the NFL players to such folks as have been bankrupted by his misguided energy policies. No need to finish your degree young engineer, just sit back and suckle from the teat of those with the cash. YAY "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need(s)" Karl Marx 1875.

More to come in my next "Obama on the Issues" that deals with Wealth Redistribution.

The Mythical "BLOG"

In recent days, many folks have asked me "what is a BLOG". This is an excellent question, as I too have oft pondered the "what" pertaining to this mythical creature. So, after much research, study, extreme physical exertion, and meditation I've compiled the following informative dissertation on the "BLOG"(merely a preamble to a dissertation at this time).

A Blog (pictured at right) was first found by forest dwelling Elven people in the year 1722 -1/2 A.D. Head Elf 'Enrique', on a food foraging mission, tripped over a dead blog. At first thinking it to be a rotting log, or large pile of animal excrement, but on closer examination found it to be a critter of sorts. As it turns out, the Blog closely resembles both a rotting log and large pile of animal excrement, hence the name; BLOG. This is the wordsmithed amalgamation of "Blech+Log=Blog", which later became known as a very vile curse word in Elven tongue.

Short of readily available tasty edibles, Enrique thought perhaps the Blog could be a keen substitute for the tasteless keebler crackers that were their dietary mainstay. However, they couldn't stomach the Blog taste raw so they tried pan frying, grilling, broiling, and boiling this critter to make more palatable, alas to no avail... Upon tasting the rancid mushy meaty flesh all the Elves could be heard evacuating their stomachs, and the sound was much akin to "BBBLLLOOOOGGGG".

Wisely, Enrique placed a mandatory moratorium on all Blog eating, and declared the part of the forest where the Blog was found to be a quarantined area (now known as Washington D.C.). Not much more is known about the Blog at this time, but as I find additional information I will dutifully post for your enlightenment! What I have found and can tell you is this: most Blogs are vile tasting critters, smell like rotting wood and animal excretment, hold virtually no nutritional value, and would be better off if never found. There are a few exceptions to this rule, and I will inform you of those exceptions in future posts.

Peace be with you...

Superluke

p.s. Props to Ciara for her artistic rendition of the Blog.