"Unthinkable"

I heard this term the other day in a teaser for a news story on the radio. "And in a few minutes, a story that involves the unthinkable."

Ok, I have a very vivid imagination. I can conceptualize nearly anything. Don't taunt me with an absolute like "unthinkable." Of course, it got the creative gears turning. What could the story be about? Cannibalism? Nah. Something to do with a kid being hurt by a loved one? Probably. It's unconscionable, but not unthinkable. I don't choose to think about it because it makes me so angry and sad. Of course, I never heard the story, but the term stuck in my mind.

Fast forward about 2 days. Some muscle head "professional" wrestler kills his wife, son, and then himself somewhere around Atlanta. I simply can't fathom what could make a father kill his own son. I'm saddened by this. If he would have killed himself, and left the others alone, it would be sad, but by a factor of 10 less than the situation as it stands.

This is the sort of thing - that just thinking about it makes me want to leave the office, go to my son's daycare and pick him up, hug him, and come back to work.

Maybe it is unthinkable. Simply because I won't let myself.

Oooohhh... HDTV

I recently bought a device called the Pinnacle PCTV-HD Pro. It's a USB stick that you attach to your computer, and an antenna or cable to the other side of the stick and you can watch TV on your laptop. Not just any TV, HIGH DEFINITION TV.

I've been avoiding HDTV for a few years. It was too expensive. WAY too expensive. Well, last night I watched the last game of the NBA finals on a laptop - in high def. First, I'm not a basketball fan. You could go so far as saying that I dislike basketball. The ONLY reason I watched was not that San Antonio was playing and they are a semi-home-team for Austin, but because it was the only feed on that was HD at the time. (Doctor Who was on PBS, but in standard def. Yech.) I mean, why watch something that is cerebral, that I love, nicely acted by Christopher Eccleston, when I could watch a bunch of sweaty mans run back and forth a wooden floor chasing an orange ball.

I am now totally engrossed in HDTV. As Mike Myers as Wayne Campbell in the movie Wayne's World said, "It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine." I'm only afraid that now HD will become my Moby Dick, my holy grail, my obsession.

First off, I have to build a mental justification model for the upgrade. My experience over the last 20 years in the IT industry gives me great comparison models to use. "It's like EGA versus VGA" and "It's going to reduce eye strain" (That one is used to justify the purchase of LCD monitors to replace CRTs.)

I suppose that since my truck will be paid off next month that I cannot allow myself to spend the $481 per month that I'm not paying for it on things like, oh I don't know, paying off credit card debt, and instead will go into debt for a new TV and an upgrade to DISH network.

Well, I gotta save this post now and go check the Circuit City and Best Buy webpages.

Neighborhood Ninnies

I was going to use the name of a former Neo-Fascist group popularized in the 30's and 40's in Germany, but I don't think I want to go that far.

Friday, I got a letter from the Municipal Utility District that provides water and trash service for my neighborhood. In the envelop was a photograph of my house. In that image, you can see my trashcan, and slightly tall grass - maybe 1" longer than normal, and a WET driveway. The date on the photo was 5/31/07. It had rained 6 out of 10 previous days, including a very hard rain on the 28th. Yeah, I'm going to mow wet grass. NOT. Now to call and yell @ them, if they are still in the office.

Soapy Woes

Man if there's one thing that I can't stand, it's when you're in the shower and you pick up the bar of soap, and it snaps in half, giving you 2 half soap bars. They remind me of those ridiculous little soaps that my mother used to have at home - that you were never to use, because they were "fancy" and they smelled of lavender or some such bull-tacos.

This post is inspired by Scott Adams Dilbert Blog: http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/06/for_the_love_of.html

Of course, his entry is far more entertaining, as he is a far funnier guy than me.

New way to distract me

You SHOULD be able to IM me with this little widget. Maybe it works, maybe not. I hope I'm not sending you a virus.