So many words, so little time....

Monday, February 23, 2004

How much wood could a Trogdor burninate, if a Trogdor burninated wood?

I'm having a hard time coming up with anything that doesn't come off as snivelling or geeky, so I'm erring on the geeky side today.

The build process at work has gone fins up, so I'm without a testing environment I can trust. Things look pretty good, though. I'll be glad when I can believe that sentance, though.

Saturday, February 21, 2004

She's Doing Well

I want to thank those who've wished Gramma well. She had open heart surgery a week ago, and they let her wake up yesterday. She's doing really well. We'll just keep praying it keeps up.

Wednesday, February 11, 2004

Connection Strings of the Heart.....

My boss and I have been chasing Heisenbugs and other sorts of geeky code foolishness all day. We were getting a bit punchy this afternoon, and we had this great idea that we needed to get Dr. Phil or someone in there who really understood "connections" to figure out this connection string bug. Of course, then it went down hill from there with suggestions about similar topics for Oprah, and an appearance on Jerry Springer for our error-trapping object and the IIS server.

We're tired, and we're geeks. This is as good as it gets, I'm afraid.

She did finally figure it out, and Dr. Phil wasn't necessary after all.

Saturday, February 07, 2004

Serenity Prayer for Gramma....

"God, grant me the senility
To forget the people
I never liked anyway,
The good fortune
To run into the ones I do,
And the eyesight to tell the difference. "

Good luck with the surgery, and may you be well soon. There are people out there who still need your sure hand with a shotgun full of rock-salt and your chocolate chip cookies afterward. ;)

Monday, February 02, 2004

A REAL First Lady....

I just don't know what to do with this election.

Maybe what we need for a President is a 65 year old woman who spent a large part of her formative years raising a large brood of kids and running a bar or truck stop.

I want an old battleaxe who can wear heels and fit in like a lady but still peels paint with her language at 50 feet when she feels the need. No drunkards, idiots, or assholes of any gender need apply to her cabinet, and sychophants and hangers-on had better learn a useful skill. She can frog-march an unruly Senator out the door when necessary, and march right back in and put the meeting back on track. She respects expert opinion but has no qualms about calling bullshit on either educated or bureaucratic bloviating.

On the world front, the UN and the rest of those guys had better watch their P's and Q's as her oldest son is in the Army and if they think she's going to put up with their hijinks to put him in harm's way, well, they've got another think coming. "Diplomacy" just got a whole new set of nuances when she names her best friend Francis from down at the DMV as Secretary of State - she's been telling people exactly how to do things they don't want to do in the most blunt way possible for twenty years and only one has ever tried to take a swing at her. And let's just say there's going to be a new skill required of the translators because her level of "rhetoric" is not part of their standard vocabulary.

Domestically, it is a whole new ballgame for all concerned. Her ability to manage the bottom line of her business gives her a unique perspective on the economic front. Her real life experiences dealing with the vagrancies of the social programs her office now oversees will be a wake-up call for the stuffed shirts who've never gone without that had been setting policy.

The "First Gentleman" will be a large guy with a penchant for fishing and worn buffalo-check flannel for when he's not performing his official duties of looking mild yet menacingly supportive behind his wife at social functions. Those traditional "big projects" expected of the President's spouse will be easing load limits to improve interstate commerce, coming up with clear and consistent guidelines for re-introducing corporal punishment in schools, and environmental causes that improve fishing conditions. He will be into saving the whales because any guy who can hook one of those things has his respect and he wants to make sure the next generation gets their chance. His contribution to The China Room will be crocheted covers for all the teapots (done by his Mamma) and a set of diner-grade white stonewear for less formal settings.

The Vice President will be a former jr. high. Vice Principal from the Deep South. Time as a Marine non-com would also be helpful. His abilities in dealing discipline to a never-ending stream of pimpled and attitude-clad youth will hold him in good stead as he leads Congress to a productive session. Or maybe it's just that boat oar with the holes drilled through it he ceremoniously hangs on the wall behind his chair as he is seated at the opening of every working day. He will spend most of his term supporting that amendment to the Department of Education code that the First Gentleman is stumping for him, and stopping all that running in the hallways by the Senate chamber.

I'm only partially joking.