Patrick’s Rants

It’s been snowing all day and the snow warning level has been raised to “code pink”. This is not some “official” warning level, it’s the color that glows behind the blinds. Orange means that we are going to get somewhere around 4″ of snow by morning. I’m not sure what pink means; I’ve never seen it. The color coded warning levels are based upon the glow of the sodium vapor street lamps against the clouds and the falling snow. Orange is the most prevalent usually indicating that school will be canceled in the morning. I think pink means, “put some brandy in the hot chocolate, you aint goin nowhere”.

Since there has been around 4″ so far, I think the 12″ is not too far fetched… cue Jimmy Buffet’s cabin fever

We Vote Pro Life

Oh really? You mean you vote for medical advances (stem cell research) that extends the lifespan of sick people and for gun control (which reduces the number of murders due to errant guns)? Or do you mean that you value life only in the unborn while supporting the death penalty despite the large numbers of people on death row who are exonerated each year?
Yeah, I trust your judgment.

I’ve posted before about how I don’t like wireless devices due to their inherent insecurity. Cars and cell phones trying to infect other (and don’t get me started on the new Sync technology that’s being touted on Ford cars), wireless networks being “broken into” to hide other criminal activity, etc. Now you have to watch out for your wireless mouse and keyboard. It takes next to nothing to snoop on your keystrokes. Next time you log into your bank and credit card accounts, remember to do it with a wired keyboard. (and check from time to time that no one has placed a keylogger on your computer. No I’m not paranoid, why do you ask? )

- Raw emotion.
Alan Johnson, played by Don Cheadle, thinks he sees his college roommate, Charlie Fineman, played by Adam Sandler, riding a scooter through the streets of New York. Once he catches up with him he finds a man troubled with post-traumatic stress disorder following the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11; his wife and children were aboard one of the planes that was flown into the towers. Alan is struggling to reclaim his own sense of self while attempting to help out Charlie whose mental state causes him to be paranoid about everyones’ intentions.

This film makes no attempt to theorize about the motives of 9/11 or to make any kind of political statement. Instead it is a dark look into the life of two men, if you count Cheadle’s character, who are only trying to get by. There is some humor but, like the pause on a roller coaster at the top of a rise in the tracks, it only serves to heighten the twist of the emotional knife that is thrust into the viewer. The moments of laughter are brutally followed by additional pain from the characters.

There must be something in the makeup of comedy players - of which Sandler certainly belongs - that allows them to play emotionally disturbed individuals so convincingly.

I just finished making an appointment for my daughter. Normally this would not be something to write about. However, the date and time of the appointment is heavily influenced by my cow worker’s “work” schedule. Yes, lovely #3. There was an appointment available this Thursday at 4:30. That would require me to leave work sometime around 4:00 to get home and pick up the girl. Since we have someone on shift (normally me) until 7:00pm, I would have to make sure that someone could cover it. Unfortunately, with this cow worker, no such guarantee is available. She has physical therapy two days a week - so she leaves around 3:30. She also has a second job so most of the time she has to leave early for that - by 10 or 15 minutes. Since she only works until 5:00pm on a good day, there is no way can I count on her to cover until 6:00pm. So I have to take my kid out of school early (which counts against her) so that I don’t mess up #3’s precious schedule. This isn’t an office type job where you can just pop out for a little while and come back and finish later - this is a time table oriented position - but that’s how it seems to be treated from my perspective.

There is no excuse for the idiotic behavior over the naming of a teddy bear in Sudan. Mohammed bear. This teacher was sentenced to 15 days in jail and (some) protesters were demanded that she be put to death over the name Mohammed. This is not rational thought, it is extreme xenophobia. Perhaps all the children named Mohammed or their parents should be put to death as well? What about all those hispanic kids named Jesús? Or maybe a good old fashioned book burning: King James, the Torah, the Koran. Reasonable and rational people do not get their panties in a wad over the name of a bear, but when it comes to religion, there is no such thing as reasonable or rational.