I read in the paper this morning that there hasn’t been a new oil refinery built in the U.S. since 1976. One reason given for the high price of gas is the lack of refining facilities. Oil companies are restricted by government red-tape and profit margins from making building more oil refineries, because it costs billions to build an oil refinery.

So suck up that gas, and happy driving!

Today I got paid to set up a Nintendo Wii. :)

I got some great new spam, you can see it at danmanning.com

Thanks for giving "President" Bush everything he wants in the War Spending Bill. It proves you're a bunch of chickenshit cowards who are afraid to stand up to the President. Nice going! Keep up the good work! The Iraq war is going great! Please don't do your job by providing oversight on this mad-man. Just give him what he wants. We can stay in Iraq for years and years! I'm so happy. King George is the Best! Long live the King!

You frickin' chickenshits.

Today I got a call and spent over two hours extracting Norton Internet Security Evil from a PC. The entire time, the woman to whom the PC belonged asked me personal questions to which I gave one-word answers. (When I say personal questions, I mean questions like, “How old are your kids,” and “What are you and your family doing for Memorial Day weekend,” and “How long were you in the Military,” and “Did you grow up in Michigan.”) She was nosy, but she also handles the checks for the company, so I answered her questions, while we listened to her PC grind furiously, trying to void itself of Norton Internet Security, which had rendered the machine useless.

Finally, after forty minutes, NIS failed to uninstall and I had to download the “Norton Removal Tool.” From Norton’s site. It really says something when software is so bloated that the software’s website has to offer a special tool to perform an exorcism in order to rid a machine of the very software they spewed in the first place.

After that, another half-hour removing Norton System Works, another work of pure genius.

When everything was done, the machine running again and I had endured 2 hours of mind-numbing interrogation.

I dropped off a PC to a nice couple with a pit-bull. They said it wasn’t a pit bull, but I think it was.

Otherwise, I worked on my short story, which is finally coming together, what with a satanic pregnancy, a talking wall mural, and a reclusive artist with an effeminate man-servant.

A People's History of The United States

Howard Zinn

2003

* * * * *

Probably the most eye-opening book I've every read. Forget the bullshit history they taught you in school. This is the real deal. You wouldn't believe some of the shit we've pulled. Read this book only if you want the wool away from your eyes. ~ May 23, 2007

read all my book reviews at my book review page.

fixed PC in Grand Haven. Walked to the end of pier. Went golfing with Deb in the afternoon. Actually, she watched and drove the cart, I golfed. Savannah had a band concert. Deb and I played cribbage. Sent out some post-cards.

Savannah's class went first at the band concert, and I enjoyed that because she was up there, and she sounded great. Then the other class performed, and usually, when my child isn't up on stage, it is really boring, but they played THE THEME FROM STAR WARS and that made it somewhat bearable.

I’m finishing up A People’s History of The United States by Howard Zinn. If you haven’t read it yet, I suggest you do so right away. It doesn’t paint a rosy picture of American foreign policy and its treatment of the least among us. This country is a good country, but it isn’t a perfect country, and we’ve had our own self-interest in mind from start to finish. I don’t mind that. I just wish they wouldn’t sugar-coat it in the history books they have the kids read in school. I grew up thinking we were the end-all to beat-all people on earth; the greatest country civilization has ever produced. But we’re not. We’re a great country, but we have been cruel, and murderous, and treacherous, just like every other country. Our politicians are just as ruthless and hypocritical as the politicians in any other country.

And I suppose it has to be this way, because we are simply primates. I saw a show on television once where one band of chimpanzees raided another band that was encroaching on their turf. They just bum-rushed the other group and the other group scrambled, but one baby chimp was too slow and the aggressors ate that baby chimp. And we all know how cute baby chimps are. . . It was a show of force to grab territory.

We're like, one chromosome away from being chimps.

And that’s how we are. So everything we do makes sense. And every stupid conflict you see on television makes sense. We’re a bunch of chimps that will stop at nothing to advance our group and crush the other group, no matter what.

And on that pleasant note, I wish you all a good night.

The last few days have been a hodge-podge of lackluster events and/or happenings that have barely been able to meet or slightly exceed expectations. While I have consistently met goals and benchmarks despite routine challenges, these last few days have left me somehow unfulfilled, with an exceedingly unsatisfactory level of “accomplishment feeling."

Tuesday's league of golf was disappointingly dampened by rain. My golf was marred by my own lack of performance, which was written almost entirely in the passive tense. Mistakes were made. The resultant chill from damp clothes gave me that "not so fresh" feeling and I was deeply saddened.

My recent failure to correct a Gateway PC turned into what can only be described as an ongoing investigation, about which I would rather not comment.

Overall this week has been routine.

My daughter's birthday, with her annual allotment of non-political gifts was a bright spot. The birthday festivities, coming on the heels of Mother's Day, reminded me of my commitment to family values, and the sanctity of life, as long as that sanctity does and/or does not infringe on a woman's constitutional right to choose or un-choose, despite my own personal feelings on the matter.

I am looking forward to answering all of your questions via email, and I am cautiously optimistic about the next looming crisis that we will undoubtedly face in the coming weeks, months, and/or years. Working together in a bipartisan fashion, I believe we will meet these challenges, probably in the only way we know how, with overwhelming air superiority.

And to those of you out there who question my resolve; I leave you with this final thought: I will continue to make blog posts, despite the grinding existential banality I am faced with. I will continue to mock my fellow man, while glossing over my own shortcomings. I will ignore my own faults and simultaneously point out those same imperfections in others. And while my uninteresting lameness may initially seem like a weakness, while my generic ordinary condition may scream out for my resignation as an aging loser with a blog, I will not be deterred.

And while the stale unresponsiveness of my blog may compel others to declare it dead, and to argue that it is time to pull its feeding tube, I am not ready to declare it dead; for I still have hope. I still believe interesting things can and will happen, and when they do, I believe I will write those things down in the form of proud, freedom-loving words. And with vigilance, I will be proud to cut and paste those words here, and hopefully, you will waste at least one minute of your day reading those same words, shake your head in solemn disappointment, and then close your browser wistfully, and wonder why you bothered in the first place. And I would like to echo that question now: Why bother?

In conclusion, I'd like to wish all of you a happy (and wholesome) Upcoming Weekend, and remind you to drink responsibly, drive carefully, but don't do those two activities at the same time because that would be not only illegal, but dangerous.

Thank you, good night, and may God bless these United States.

We went to Meijer and got stuff to make breakfast in bed for Deb ; the girls picked out a necklace for Deb. Mother’s day is traditionally breakfast in bed, but since Deb worked last night, and she’s working tonight, she slept most of the day. She got up around four and we made her breakfast in bed. Her weekend to work usually doesn’t land on Mother’s Day, but there you have it.

I mowed the lawn yesterday. The moles are dead; the poison I bought at Lowes seems to work. I did a reformat; I picked it up yesterday and delivered it this morning.

I’ve been reading Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States and it is a real eye-opener. I suggest every single one of you read this book. There is a lot of history I didn’t know about.

Nothing new to report today . . . however, I was watching rocketboom, and they featured the film "Naked Swim" from itsjerrytime.com It's a funny story and wicked-weird animation. Check it out. (server might be slow today cause it was on rocketboom)

This morning I used my TIVO to fast-forward through a commercial for TIVO.

This is what I wrote to my Congressman:

May 9, 2007

Congressman Vernon J. Ehlers
1714 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-2203

Subject: Habeas Corpus

The Military Commissions Act cancelled habeas corpus. (I know that’s an oversimplification, but I’m a simple taxpayer.)

Could you please talk to Congressman Jerrold Nadler and find out what he’s doing to restore habeas corpus and help him do it? It will make you look like one of the good guys.

Can’t the USA go through one crisis without shredding the Constitution? Please don’t sit back and let our rights be chipped away every time we’re faced with a difficult patch.

How about sending a real letter back instead of a form letter? This is kind of important.


Sincerely,

. . . .

Hey kids: Don't know who your congressman is? Simply Google this: "congressman for 12345" where 12345 is your zip code. Then find out what the f*ck is going on and write a letter. You'll get a form letter back, because YOU aren't a big-time lobbyist for an big corporate interest.

Yesterday I got a parking $10.00 parking ticket. It’s a long, boring story. I went into the bank barefooted and made a deposit. I golfed. Poorly. Today it took me FOUR trips to the Secretary of State office to get some paperwork done. I wasn’t happy. I had to re-do a client’s PC cause the hard-drive I put in there crashed a week later. Dammit. Otherwise, I am in a surly mood. I don’t have time to type at you right now.

Doctor finds spiders in ear of boy with earache - CNN.com <---- oooooooh, gross!

So I started playing World of Warcraft again. But only for about a week and a half this time. I told myself I’d play in moderation, but that shit never works. Today I sold all my level 60 warrior’s crap, donated the money to my guild, and signed off forever. And I deleted Danofgrandr off the face of the virtual planet. And I uninstalled the software. I swear, I never learn . . .

So. Tonight, Deb was at work, the girls were staying over at a friend's house, so I went to the Hideout Brewing Company. It was Ken's 2nd anniversary being open, and the band was Black Rose and the Disciples of Funk. They kick ass. They did classics, from Cream, Grateful Dead, and some original jams that sounded like Pink Floyd, except it was some original shit.

Anywhoo, if you get a chance to see them, see them.

What a difference a couple of weeks make. I was worried about it being SLOW, and now I’m changing motherboards, hard-drives, operating systems, networks, cutting off Internet access, cleaning out computer junk, and being busy. I finally have an evening with no PCs on the bench, and I’m too tired to do anything.

Not complaining; work is work, and that’s a good thing. It looks like a giant robot threw up in my office, there are computer parts strewn everywhere. I have to do some cleaning soon.

I spent the weekend cutting firewood, and that's about all I did. It is stacked so nicely. Sometimes I just go out back and gaze at my ultimate firewood stacks.