A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and does what he wants to do.

- Dylan

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Carbonboy's Web Log July 2004

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Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.

- Einstein

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  My sisters do a great job in taking care of our mom.  I wish I could do more. 

  Here she is on a recent river bike ride with my sister and her family.  They actually rented a ride for her!

  One simply must live one's life to its fullest everyday, or at least try.

July 25, 2004

Bush Book Week

   I can’t imagine who is buying the slew of Bush books that seem to come out at the rate of about two per week.  The anti-Bush crop seems to out-number the pro-Bush (yawn) at about 30-1.

   I tried to be fair-and-balanced with the graphics and obviously came up short on the pro side.  I don’t recall ever seeing anything like this.

   If he wins, I bet the Bush bashing books will stop as there is little point -- the bashers blew it and are stuck with him for four more years. They won't start bashing for another three years and they won't be bashing Bush -- just his wannabe replacement.

   Even now, really, what’s the point?  In this “us vs. them” world we live in, the “us” are never swayed and all of “them” are liars.  One has to wonder where this is all going. 

  I just may start collecting all the Bush books when Borders starts selling them for $2.99 a pop -– not that I’d ever bother reading them.  It might be fun to put up a Bush Book Shrine someday -- honoring the books and not the man.

   I wonder how many undecided voters are actually deciphering this stuff.  That’s probably what it’s all about (aside from making some $$$ in the process): getting the votes from the undecided and maybe just getting them pissed off enough to vote.  I don't think the writers are going after the 1 percentile of rich folks.
   As for me, I’m going to “duck and cover” for the next month or two until the conventions are over.  I’ll be prone to leave the TV off and temporarily replace my.yahoo.com as my start page with http://www.jibjab.com/ in the hopes that the Spiridellis Brothers have at least one or two sequels in the battle between the “liberal wieners” and “right wing nut jobs.”  I’m not expecting anything, just faintly hoping.

 I thought this was going to be an interesting political year, but now, like this miserable Florida summer, I just want it to be over.  I’m fully expecting new lows in political nastiness (to put it nicely).

   Maybe it’s just me but I’m having a tough time surviving this repressive Florida summer.  Last weekend seemed to be solid thunderstorms and everyday, come late afternoon, there they are again!  I can’t seem to do anything outside except travel between my truck and the destination of wherever my truck takes me.  I do venture out after sunset to use the pool, and that seems to make it all bearable.

  So maybe that's why I seem so negative in terms of the coming months. 

  Recently reading Franz Kafka ($2.99 a pop at Borders) did not help matters, but only helped the mood.  One would have hoped the world to be a better place today than Prague in the early 1900's.

   I would turn the TV back on if someone made a series of Kafka short videos to run as commercials during the DNC & RNC week-long infomercials, but no one will, nor would even care to -- the themes are too distant, too weird and too European.
 Speaking of books, want to bet that each and every 9/11 commissioner writes a book, or maybe each will team up in bipartisan pairs? The “pairs” route is unlikely, as they no longer need to be unanimous once their appeal on the pundit circuit fizzles.

   For the full report: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/ So what will be done?

   Without question it’s tragic that 3000 had to die on 9/11, but 300,000 die each year from obesity, 320,000 from tobacco and 40,000 or so die in the vehicles but “Detroit” can’t even make a mirror that sees the blind spots on the road.

   Is it me, or does this country have its priorities a bit screwed up?  No, it's not me -- this country has it's priorities all screwed up.  Blame it on politics and the media.

     "We the people" are content to further evolve into sheep.  It's no wonder there's 1,000 times more analysis of Kafka than there is of his writings.

July 5, 2004

I opted not to go home for the Fourth and missed out on the Celebration at the Capital Mall.  Just as well, as DC was rained (no flooded) out, but they managed to pull off the evening event anyway.  The last time I attended a rain-soaked event was at a rock concert in the '70's.  As I didn't care for it then, I'm sure I'd care less for it now.

Normally I don't excited for that type of generic all-American entertainment, but I make exception once a year (if I can) as politicians are not allowed to participate.  And I am a sucker for the 1812 Overture with cannons, bells and spectacular fireworks -- at least once a year.

So the high point of my weekend, I'm embarrassed to say, was washing & waxing my truck for the first time in three years.  That poor thing endured two winters (in Connecticut and West Virginia) with only so much as an occasional hose down.

Washing and waxing a vehicle in Florida in the summertime is both a task and a challenge as the heat & humidity hover in the 90's and thunderstorms roll in every afternoon.

The ordeal went just fine and ended with a cool shower and change of my sweat-soaked clothes.  The daily rain showers will now dance off my truck's fresh polymeric enhanced coat of wax.  If trucks have feelings, I am now forgiven.

Oh, although I gave up being an early adaptor, I dropped my trusty Handspring last week and cracked the glass display.  I, of course, had to buy a replacement.  After much research, I opted to move from the Palm OS to Microsoft's (yes curse me) and bought a cool HP iPAQ 4155. 

I couldn't see any advantage in paying $50 more for the 4355 which only added a keyboard for munchkin-sized hands. The smaller 4155 is so much cooler.  It was a good time to buy as there was a $50 price break and this model has Bluetooth and Wireless LAN.

So, I get home and the iPAQ finds my wireless network all by itself!  All I had to do was program in the encryption keys and set up my email and I had this cool lightweight wireless window to the world.

The calculator really sucks and there are other limitations over the Palm OS that still annoy me, but boy it is great to download all my email from multiple accounts and delete any spam with a touch of the stylus.  Then beam the important stuff to my laptop via Bluetooth. 

Now if I happen to drop my old cell phone, I can get a new Bluetooth enabled replacement and I will never have to travel with my bulky (but loved) HP laptop again.  I'm feeling a bit clumsy.  Oops.

Reading: 1,000 PLACES TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE (let's get started)

Listening to: iron & wine

Mastering: Flash MX Pro

© 2000-2004 Michael Milauskas - Composites-By-Design Corporation

  About the only thing exciting in advanced composites these days is carbon nanotubes.  And about the most exciting application for nanotubes is a space elevator.

  So the next Bill Gates, I predict, will come from the field of carbon nanotubes, and make his fortune when his product is used to fabricate the  space elevator.