General, Preparing for the worst

December 6th, 2005

An interesting, almost historical, day. The day no mail came.

I think that 12/6 was the first day in over 20 years, that Elaine or I have not recieved at least one piece of mail (counting days that we should expect mail delivery. This does preclude Sundays, Holidays and days when there is so much snow on the ground we couldn’t even walk to the mailbox, much less expect a USPS driver to reach it by road. )

What makes it interesting is that yesterday we got a lot of mail and it was in two bundles. And in one of the bundles were several pieces of mail that I was expecting on Tuesday. The other bundle had mail I was expecting yesterday.

So, if I can hypothesize, the USPS driver had bundled up our Tuesday mail, tossed it in the car and then missed it during their round; or, they got sick and didn’t finish their round, went home with the mail in the back of the car, stayed sick on Wednesday, and didn’t show up for work until yesterday.

Who knows what lurks in the minds of USPS drivers?

Tuesday was chilly, but clear most of the day. The snow didn’t start until evening, after the expected mail round. Not that it really snowed. A few flakes, no more than a couple of inches, with drifting. Wednesday was the day that didn’t get above 10 degrees Farenheit. It stayed bright and clear though, and we got mail that day.

General, Politics

American Values

I am contemplating the current set of American Values. From what I have seen of current history, they would appear to be:

    Strike First and Strike Hard.
    Lie, Lie, Lie.
    Cruel and Unusual Punishment is OK.
    Kick a man when he is down.
    Win at any cost.
    The Ends justify the Means .*
    Compromise is for sissies.
    No need to support your neighbors in need.
    Spurn your friends who disagree with you.
    Don’t prepare for the future. Be a Grasshopper, not an ant.
    We will Protect you, at any cost, whether you like it or not.
    If you’re not with me, not only are you against me, you are for my enemies!
    Everyone is my enemy.
    The Individual is supreme (except when that individual interferes with corporate or governmental priorities.)

These are not the American Values I grew up with, not the Values I learned in my youth. Did I grow up in some warped, white-bread America where fair-play, level playing-fields, and the Bill of Rights were the guiding lights of American Values? Where self-reliance and self-determination were bulwarks of personal responsibility, but not the sole supports? Where compromise to reach common goals made society work and easy to get along with?

*I always have a problem with “The Ends justify the Means” value statement. Just what or when is the Ends? Is it when Mankind is extinct? Is it when Earth gets swallowed up by the Sun? Is it the Heat Death of the Universe? Is it “The Rapture”? Just when is the End?

There are other recurring American Values that still seem to survive, like:

    Feed at the Public Trough
    Share the wealth with your supporters.
    We’re #1! We’re #1! We’re#1!

Actually, those values seem to be universal and not just American. Americans just do it better!

General, Politics

Bring It On

I’m sure it was mentioned at the time, but, in my own oblivious way, I completely missed it. I didn’t realize that George Bush was a Nick Cave fan!

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS LYRICS – Bring It On

So bring it on, bring it on
Bring it on
Every little thing
Bring it on
Every tiny fear
Bring it on
Every shattered dream
And I’ll scatter them into the sea

I heard this come around on my iRiver last night and I smiled.

Uh-oh. I checked around a bit and found out Bush said “Bring them on”, not “Bring it on”. Nevermind.

Geek Stuff

Column from PC Magazine: Whitacre: Threat or Menace? You Tell Me

Column from PC Magazine: Whitacre: Threat or Menace? You Tell Me

The Triple Play option I have heard about in the Telecom world refers to Voice, Video and Data, not Voice, internet, and mobile referred to in the original article.

Cable companies are trying to add Voice and Data to their existing video cable systems. Telcos are trying to add Data and Video to their existing wirelines. All to get into the customers home.

Some arguments can be made that Mobile phone systems may carry all three to wireless terminations, but we will need to see how well that will work given the general bandwidth restrictions on cell systems.

The SBC CEO is saying that SBC owns the telco pipes that carry all this information and that they can tariff the content providers so they can get a cut of the pie. This can be in reference to Voice bypass service providers such as Vonage or Skype or Video providers such as whoever is streaming video over the internet. Both of these potential competitors are using the internet to provide their services to the end customer, who is requesting these services. And there is the rub.
Continue reading Column from PC Magazine: Whitacre: Threat or Menace? You Tell Me →

The Thoughts and Luminations of Jack Heneghan