Lovebirds

I saw this couple ahead of me and tried to get a shot with my camera phone.

Note to self: walking and camera phones don't mix.



The white haired blur next to the blue blur is an elderly couple walking hand in hand to the Metro. It's raining, but he doesn't even have an umbrella; she's got a jacket with a hood on.

They could care less; they're 80 and in love. You and me, babe; that's how we'll be.

It's Dot Com

From the waaaayback machine: http://www.homestarrunner.com/firsttime.html

It's Homestar Runner. Stuff so dumb, it makes you laugh. Click the link, you know you want to.

God's Blueprint For Fathers

Been studying over at Scott Hahn's site, SalvationHistory.com, and came across this snippet, where Hahn lays out God's blueprint for being a father (even to a wayward child).

God in Exodus truly reveals himself to be the divine Father of Israel (see too Deuteronomy 32:6). He saves His children (see Exodus 12:29-31), clothes them (see Exodus 12:35-36), guides them (see Exodus 13:21-22), feeds them (see Exodus 16:1-17:7) protects them (see Exodus 14:10-29; 17:8-16), teaches them (see Exodus 20:1-17; 21:1-23:33), and lives with them (see Exodus 25:8; 40:34-38).

Food for thought.

The Drunk Train

Earlier in the month I had the opportunity to ride the Drunk Train.

I hadn't intended to do that, but that's how it worked out. We had gone into DC to celebrate my brother's birthday at RFD (Regional Food and Drink). RFD bills themselves as:

RFD is code for B-E-E-R and no place in town has a beer list quite like it. In fact, WASHINGTON CITY PAPER proclaimed RFD’s tap lineup the "Best Draft Beer Selection" in all of DC.

RFD is the sister bar to DC’s legendary 53 year old Brickskeller and offers over 30 beers on tap, including a cask-conditioned ale and constantly rotating selection of rare beers and specialty handcrafts. That extensive list is further expanded by RFD's 300-plus inventory of bottled beers from around the world. At the full-service bar, premium liquors and wines are also available, including an impressive list of single-malts and small-batch bourbons.

It was the cask-conditioned ale and rare beers we were after. My brothers and I have developed a wide (read eclectic) taste in beer, so going to a place where there was hard to get varieties was an enticement indeed. The show we went to didn't end until after 9:00pm so we didn't get to RFD until closer to 10:00pm. A couple of taste tests and a lot of yakkity-yak later, and next thing we know we're closing the joint. So we trundled off to catch the Metro homeward.

Apparently the show was just beginning.

There were several knots of people sprinkled about the train, huddling themselves against obviously too much drink. Some looked green, some were giggly, and others were nearly oblivious; we were amused.

Suddenly the Metro operator starts blathering over the intercom keeping up a steady patter of chatter and sound effects.

If you feel you are about to throw up, please wait until you exit the train to do so. I don't feel so good ... Bleeaaachh!

Did he just pretend to ralph over the microphone?!

I'm a train engineer, not a janitor!

Yup. We were regaled with impressions of Yoda, rappers, Englishmen, Aussies, and similar inanities. I think the guy was enjoying his job a little too much. It was certainly ... different.

Once was funny, but I don't think I'd want Mr. Toad's Wild Ride as a regular thing.

Health Care Bill - Geek Style 2

"U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills."

So how can there be a Senate version of the proposed Health Care (insurance) Reform Bill? Because they are playing games with parliamentary rules, that's why. They just take an existing House bill, gut it, and insert whatever they want into it. This trick is as old as the country probably. Just one of many beefs that I have with the process; and yes, I do have a degree in this.

Here is the text in the current Senate bill where this shell game gets played:

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES—111th Cong., 1st Sess.

H. R. 3590

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify
the first-time homebuyers credit in the case of members
of the Armed Forces and certain other Federal employees,
and for other purposes.

Referred to the Committee on ____ and ordered to be printed

Ordered to lie on the table and to be printed

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE intended
to be proposed by Mr. REID (for himself, Mr. BAUCUS,
Mr. DODD, and Mr. HARKIN) _____

Viz:
1 Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following:
[text of bill]

Now I don't know what is so hard about reading these things, assuming that this is the actual bill and not the "plain text version" touted by Sen. Thomas Carper (D.-Del.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, who claimed that he wouldn't (or couldn't) read the bill before voting on it.

Sure there are a bunch of cross-references to other laws (but that's what libraries are for -- you look them up) and a bunch of self references (paragraph ii, part b), but it's no harder than a programming language where you first:

1) define the variables and functions, and then
2) reference the variables from the main program or sub.

I mean, honestly, if you're not smart enough to read and understand the laws you're voting on, then maybe we need to vote in somebody who can. I'm reading it, and other than needing a few clarifications on what the impact of

‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The following provisions of
this title shall apply to a grant made under this section to the same extent and in the same manner as such provisions apply to allotments made under section 502(c):"

means, I don't think it's too hard to follow. You just have to follow each thought to its logical extension (that's the real work). I know what the words mean, the question is what would that really DO to people, markets, actual services in the real world?

Bottom line: if you can program (or read) in any G3 or G4 language, scripting language, or macro language, then you are probably smarter than your average Congressman.