The Way We Was...

...is the way we shouldn't be.

So gas here in Tulsa has finally dropped back below $2.00/gallon. Rumor has it that gas may get down to $1.70 or so before bottoming out.

Is that really a good thing? Most people would say 'Yes, what kind of dumbass question is that'. But I, and I am not alone, contend that cheaper gas is not really a positive for our economy and national security.

Don't get me wrong, I hate paying $40 to fill up my Malibu's small 11 gallon tank. It must really suck for others who have 20+ gallon tanks. Though those people can usually afford it, otherwise why would they own an 11MPG SUV? *snicker*

High gas prices have gotten Americans to do something that I, in my entire life, have never seen us do. Conserve. We as a group have actually made changes in our lives - most of them I will contend are positive - to keep our gas bills down. Now though we may end up going back to the way we were before; which of course will drive gas back up to $3.50-$4.00.

Of course by then it will be President Obama's fault. But I digress.

It would be really nice to see people continue to conserve, keeping down the price of oil and gas, and by proxy reducing our dependence on foreign oil. That combined with more domestic exploration would help us keep our economy less dependent on countries that could very easily be our enemy in the future (see Venezuela).

But with that we need the government to enact policies in support of our new lifestyle. Mass transit in the country is pitiful. Tulsa leaves many areas without any options that do not involve driving at all. This is very disturbing to someone like me who is not to interested in walking three miles each day; especially considering the lack of sidewalks in south Tulsa (if you want me to rant on sidewalks and the narrowness of the streets here, I'd be happy to).

We need better alternatives to driving for interstate (and intrastate, but to be honest I believe that's a state by state issue) travel. Amtrak is hemorrhaging money, but I really think that's because it really doesn't go anywhere, nor offer any real ability to go from one place to the other efficiently. I'd love to have the ability to go via Amtrak from here to Springfield.

Alternative fuels like Hydrogen won't be around for a while. CNG is an option, but until every corner station sells it, we won't see CNG cars mass produced like gas cars. As well, natural gas is a finite resource (as far as we know), so it could eventually run low and drive up prices. Gas from food? Maybe. But some people, myself included, have concerns that taking staples from the food supply and placing it into the fuel supply will hurt the cost of food. How true is this? I don't know. But it's certainly something to take into consideration. I'd also question how cheap electric cars are when you take into account the landfill space (or recycling costs) for all those toxic batteries, and the extra money you will be paying on your electric bill to charge your car. Plus fully electric cars (the ones that are not just modified golf carts that I have a hard time believing passed any sort of crash test without a massive bribe) are expensive.

An exception appears to be the Chevy Volt. Allegedly, the Volt will be reasonably priced, in the mid 20's, but it's not fully electric unless you travel less than 40 miles. However that should be far enough for most people. It will be interesting to see what the actual MSRP is when it comes out in 2010. As well, unlike 99% of the fully electric cars out there, the Volt actually looks like a car.

Yeah, aesthetics are important, just like functionality.

In summary, I hope people will stop and think about how we got to $4 a gallon for gas and not listen to those who would claim Exxon's profits and George Bush's oil connections have everything to do with it. I hope that people will continue to conserve, will continue to drive reasonably, and will push their elected governments to implement programs to encourage less vehicle use, like light rail, bus service and intra/interstate train service.

If not, then when gas goes back to $4/gallon, I will happily tell you to STFU.

A Delayed Stroll...

So I was planning on taking you folks on a stroll down memory lane today, but somehow, despite being the worlds most obsessive pack-rat, I cannot find my cassette Walkman.

Yes, I do need it, since the audio contained on several cassette tapes is relevant to the story.

I seriously spent probably an hour going through all my still unpacked boxes (despite the fact I moved in 18 months ago) looking for it. I found just about everything except the Walkman! For the love of God, I found at least six pagers. Why the fuck do I have so many pagers?

I kind of wish people still used pagers. I could make some serious bank on the used pager market.

Anyway, once I am able to either borrow or buy one, I will make sure to get the audio in and up as soon as possible! I know you will all be waiting on the edges of your seats for it.

As a side note, I also found my old high school records and I must question how I actually managed to graduate. My only A's were in vocational. Everything else was D's and D-'s. Top that off with the fact that I seemed to have failed health twice.

Oddly enough though, one semester I got a B in physical education. I honestly don't remember 'being a fatass' as a sport we participated in, but whatever.

It's Over...

My vacation, that is. I am sure no one here even knew I was on vacation. You're probably wondering to yourself, 'why didn't he blog about it?'

Well, okay, no one is actually wondering that. However, I will tell you why I didn't blog about it regardless. I have not blogged anything about it because I didn't go anywhere.

To borrow a made up word from the world of news, I had a 'staycation.'

Now originally the purpose wasn't to stay at home and watch my ass grow. I had planned on going back to Springfield and spending some time with my folks, Jerry, Troy, and all the people who are allied with me in my struggle known as life.

However, even making a seven hour vehicle trip - which I am wary of to begin with - costs money, and I, unfortunately, had none.

So I stayed at home. I made up a list of things I needed to do. I needed to finish my Operation Clean Sweep, which is a fancy name I came up with for cleaning my apartment. I had plans on starting my anime blog, do some writing, check out part time jobs, clean my car and spend some times with my online friends in Eve.

How much of that did I get done?

Well, I finished my anime blog (link goes to first post!). And honestly, that's probably just due to the fact that I was dying to do something partially creative. That and the fact that I was chatting with Keith and had someone to make go look at it and shower me with praise.

But for the most part I completely and totally wasted the past nine days. To make matters worse, I destroyed my sleep schedule and am completely on the wrong fucking side of the clock. I got up at 8PM Friday! I have to be at work today at 1:15, so I am planning on napping, but that doesn't usually work out for me.

So not only will I probably end up being awake for over 24 hours, I am going to end up having to stay late for work tonight due to the World Series. On the bright side (or maybe not, since not having work to do makes me cry) the show is (or so I've heard) only a half an hour.

Anyway, so back to work I go after spending nine days thinking about how much I don't want to go back to work. Well, I guess eight days since I was at the dentist on Thursday. Drilling and a cleaning. No thinking about work. That cleaning hurt like hell. If you are interested in a job where you cause pain to someone else, consider dental hygienist. Little metal hook and a patient's gums. Not fun.

So Like... I Did Something...

What did I do? Nothing illegal.

I created a new blog! FUNKDAFACATION! It's an anime blog. Sorry.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking 'WTF DUDE?!?! You can't even blog on your regular blog! How the hell are you going to be able to blog on two of them?!?!'

Calm down and let me explain. First off, I haven't been blogging on here because I was still trying to keep the blog somewhat related to work. Of course that didn't work because my work is very boring and even if I did blog about it, it would be stuff that would probably get me a spankin'. And since they don't allow the reporters to do the spanking, well, I am not interested in that.

But now that I am not blogging about work over here anymore, I will be blogging more often!

Also, I like anime, so blogging about something I like will be better and I will be more likely to actually blog. Also it gave me a chance to be creative. I designed the entire blog myself, with a little help from http://www.code-sucks.com to get the layout started (yeah I can design with CSS ((Cascading Style Sheets)), but I still have trouble with the positioning) and more help from my good friend Keith Troutman in Houston who survived Ike only to have me whine about the color scheme.

Keith, being the friend he is, bitch slapped me via Yahoo! Instant Messenger and got me working on a good color scheme. Yay!

Anyway, go check it out. The video included in the first post should make you laugh, even if you've never seen an anime before in your life. Also, feel free to praise me on how sexy the whole page looks!

No More Work Blogging!

I think the title pretty much says it all.

I have come to the realization that short of some sort of miracle, I will never be a television news photographer again.

That said, I expect blogging to increase!

How is that possible, you might ask? Well for the last few months I have been not blogging because I felt that anything I blogged should be related to my profession, with a few exceptions. Now that I am no longer going to hold out for the conversation that will never come, I will just blog about life, liberty and the pursuit of nookie.

And don't worry. I am going to try to not get onto the subject of me, because having read some of the things I posted (and the massive post that I wrote but have declined to post), I have determined that I am a big freakin' crybaby!

Nuts to that!

Watch for more posts, coming soon!

Here We Go Again, Redux

So, here comes Ike, coming to wtfpwn Tina, err Texas.

I was watching on one of the Houston TV stations website the storm surge, from the hurricane that is still 150 or so miles away, hop Galveston's sea walls like they weren't even there.

Check out what the NWS has to say about Ike.

LIFE THREATENING FLOOD INUNDATION IS LIKELY! ALL NEIGHBORHOODS...AND POSSIBLY ENTIRE COASTAL COMMUNITIES...WILL BE INUNDATED DURING THE PERIOD OF PEAK STORM TIDE. PERSONS NOT HEEDING EVACUATION ORDERS IN SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY HOMES MAY FACE CERTAIN DEATH. MANY RESIDENCES OF AVERAGE CONSTRUCTION DIRECTLY ON THE COAST WILL BE DESTROYED. WIDESPREAD AND DEVASTATING PERSONAL PROPERTY DAMAGE IS LIKELY ELSEWHERE. VEHICLES LEFT BEHIND WILL LIKELY BE SWEPT AWAY. NUMEROUS ROADS WILL BE SWAMPED...SOME MAY BE WASHED AWAY BY THE WATER. ENTIRE FLOOD PRONE COASTAL COMMUNITIES WILL BE CUTOFF. WATER LEVELS MAY EXCEED 9 FEET FOR MORE THAN A MILE INLAND.

The last NWS warning I have seen with the term 'certain death' in it was for Katrina. So I guess the point is that we have about 12 hours left for Galveston, before it becomes an island of corpses.

Of course I hope I and the NWS is wrong, but when you have police asking people to write their SSNs on their arms so it would be easy to identify the body... Well, let's just say that isn't a confidence builder.

I would like to wish my buddy, Keith, the best. He assures me that he is far enough inland in Houston that he will be fine. Good luck!

I failed... Sorta...

I have still not had a cigarette. Will be a week when I wake up later today. However I totally broke my carbohydrate rule today and ate some crackers with my ham and swiss snackable (which I was forced to buy from the Wheel of Death since I forgot to make my own lunch).

I also had some soup Saturday night, which pushed me over my 20 carbs a day.

I have determined that it's very hard to not eat a lot when I am not smoking. But, short of violating my carb limit, I still have kept my caloric intake below 1,000. So that should be something!

But another negative is that I seem to be substituting Sprite Zero for cigarettes. Instead of having a smoke every 20 or so minutes when I am on the computer, I am having a can of Sprite. Or chugging from a two liter.

The Sprite habit might end up costing me more than smoking. Lord, why did you give me such an addictive personality?!

John McCain

I know you all have been waiting on pins and needles for my take on John McCain's acceptance speech. So I will keep you waiting no longer.

Senator John McCain is certainly no Barack Obama when it comes to speaking. In fact if you were to try to compare the two speeches, I would throw a yellow flag at you and declare a fifteen yard penalty. It seriously would be like trying to compare a blog written by Shakespeare and a blog written by me.

None the less, I believe that Sen. McCain delivered a great speech. He didn't receive as long of a round of applause at the beginning that Sen. Obama did, but that's just because Republicans are more orderly then Democrats. Plus most of them wanted to get out of there before Minnesota winter started.

McCain received several rounds of applause during the speech, especially when a code pink protester, who some how made it through GOP security, tried to protest. McCain made an off the cuff remark about static and once the protester was taken out, he continued on.

One of the most interesting parts of the speech was when he talked about his POW experience. I was a little weary as I don't have much love for the 'Vote for me, I'm a war hero!' shtick, but it was good. McCain explained how the experience caused him to go from him being McCain for McCain to McCain for America. How when he returned he wanted to serve his country and his people.

I've seen people criticize it, but I don't see the difference in that story and Obama's story about growing up with his grandmother and seeing her plight and feeling the need to serve the community. Different circumstances, same story.

McCain didn't spend much time talking about the issues, as I wouldn't expect him to in his acceptance speech. One thing he said confused me...

Government assistance for the unemployed workers was designed for the economy of the 1950s. That's going to change on my watch.

I am unsure if that means he's going to eliminate unemployment or increase it. I do support safety nets to keep people afloat during circumstances that are out of their control, assuming these nets are not abused. So I would not support an elimination or reduction in unemployment.

When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parent -- when it fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them.

Oh that part made all gooey. I am a HUGE supporter of vouchers or tax credits that allow parents to send their children to private or charter schools. One of the things that has always bugged me about the democrats is their desire to throw more money at a failed system, rather than allow parents a choice in which school to send their kids to. Of course with a democratic controlled congress, legislation for vouchers and tax credits will never pass, but we'll see.

McCain's statement on energy is more in line with my beliefs and I would love to see a system of power plants and cars that relied less and less on foreign oil. (Of course we get MOST of our oil from Canada and Mexico, a pair of countries that would never backstab us, but still, with it produced domestically, maybe it wouldn't be on the open market and the price wouldn't be controlled by speculation.)

McCain, in his typical maverick style, said he would take ideas from both sides and implement them, if they were good. I do like the idea of a president that will not tow the party lines.

One thing that does concern me about a McCain presidency is the stacking of the Supreme Court with judges that will decide based on their own political beliefs (i.e. Roe v. Wade), rather than the constitution and the rule of law. That bothers me with both sides, but with the republicans, it's far more worrisome.

As well, McCain mentioned 'global economy' more than once, which leads me to believe that he will not necessarily choose policies that will discourage American companies from moving operations overseas. While he did mention lowering the business tax rates (calling ours the second highest in the world), that is also legislation that will never pass a democratic controlled congress.

All in all, I thought the speech was good. Not as good as Obama's, but then again, you cannot compare the public speaking ability of the two. Am I going to vote for McCain? I don't know yet. I am PROBABLY going to vote for Bob Barr, since my vote will help get the Libertarian party to 5% so they can get matching funds in the next election (even though I do not think they will get 5% nationally). But I am still up in the air.

While I have decided that I will not vote for Sen. Obama, I have not yet decided that that I will or will not vote for Barr or McCain. We still have a couple of months to decide, which may end up being moot if I continue to put off registering.