brainstorming

Stopping By To Say Hi

I've got meetings today so I won't be around to post.

I did have fun calling the Northern Alliance Radio show on Saturday and arguing with JB's take on the Passion. From what I caught of the show after that, he didn't find many who agreed with his view of the film.

Spain's choice of appeasement is disappointing. I imagine they really have no conception of the boost they've given to Al Qaeda by demonstrating they have the power to motivate citizens to change their votes, electing goverments that will not pursue the war on terror. Or is it possible they DO understand, and it's acceptable to them to send the signal to the terrorists, "We will be silent if you take the fight elsewhere. Kill the children of others."

Frightening. I can't imagine Americans making that decision, which may be why we're such a target I hope I never live to see the day that we would.

DISH Network and Viacom

We're one of the millions of DISH network customers that have lost all the Viacom channels, MTV, VH1, BET, Comedy Channel, Nickelodeon, and CBS, due to their contract dispute with Viacom. We signed up with DISH in time to watch coverage of the transition in Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule, which would have been prior to June in 1997. So, as customers we have some history with the company.

They haven't been perfect. Customer service has suffered at times when they've experienced fast growth. There has also been one system component that has a design issue when it comes to reliability in northern climates in my opinion. Yet overall we've been satisfied. DISH delivers the most product for your buck. In fact, we've both owned DISH stock at various times, though I don't think either of us does now.

In this dispute, my money is on DISH network CEO Charlie Ergen.

Sure, Viacom has the media advantage and is getting their spin out there.

Charlie has something more important. He's playing the guy standing up to the bully and he has our trust. Just like George Bush, you could imagine having coffee with Charlie in your kitchen.

Last night we tuned into what used to be CBS. It's been replaced by "Charlie Chat", which is a regular feature on the network where customers can call in and ask the CEO a question. OK. That might be good public relations, and you might think they have a reall good call screener, making sure the CEO doesn't end up embarrassed on the air.

Except Charlie doesn't just take the easy questions. He takes the calls that tell him they will be canceling their DISH account. He takes the calls that complain the $1-$2 deduction subscribers will see on their bills isn't fair compensation. He doesn't promise this is going to be resolved quickly to try to appease ticked off customers. He's advising his customers to get involved. Although he obviously disagrees with Viacom and makes that clear, he is fair in his criticism of their position.

So, I'm not surprised to have found while googling for this story, CBS Exec Sees Resolution of Echostar Spat:

A CBS television executive on Wednesday said he sees a timely resolution to a contract spat that has left 1.6 million EchoStar Communications Corp. (DISH.O: Quote, Profile, Research) satellite viewers without the network's broadcasts.
...
"We're making progress and I think we'll have a resolution in a very timely fashion," Franks told the U.S. House Commerce subcommittee on telecommunications.
...
"If Viacom is willing to agree that our increase is 6 cents ... we'll sign up right now for as many years as Viacom is willing to offer," said David Moskowitz, general counsel for EchoStar.

Viacom told reporters yesterday it has offered EchoStar a deal that amounted to an increase of 6 cents a month per subscriber.

Go Charlie, Go!

If they don't get it turned on by tomorrow night, can somebody let me know what happens on Survivor? (Naturally they picked the one time in the last 5 years or more that there's a CBS series I've followed.)

Update Mar. 12: DISH and Viacom settled and I had CBS back by late night Wed., (which means Survivor should be recorded on my PVR) Terms have not been disclosed.

Brainstorming - Cool in Latin

OK. So this is a particularly pointless quiz, and the questions are meaningless, but I'm posting it anyway because I like the results.

Magister Mundi sum!
"I am the Master of the Universe!"
You are full of yourself, but you're so cool you
probably deserve to be. Rock on.


Which Weird Latin Phrase Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Via Mary at Fresh Bed Goodness

I'm Alive

I am alive, just unable to post right now, (just in case someone...well actually anyone, was wondering.) Maybe tomorrow.

Ramble On - Good Enough for Zeppelin - Good Enough for Me

Leaves are falling all around, It's time I was on my way.
Thanks to you, I'm much obliged for such a pleasant stay.

Did I share the story about the toilet plunger, creamed corn, and enough bleach to disinfect a small nation until 4 AM? No? I'll have to beg off for now. It's Just. Too. Painful. Trust Me On This.

Besides I should probably run to the store for some more bleach.

But now it's time for me to go. The autumn moon lights my way.
For now I smell the rain, and with it pain, and it's headed my way.

I was driving home yesterday and I had a sudden urgent craving that could not be denied. I'm blaming this man. Only the Fraters guys could devise such a twisted plot.

Sometimes I grow so tired, but I know I've got one thing I got to do...
Ramble On, And now's the time, the time is now, to sing my song.

One good thing about those six hours in the car days is I usually get to listen to Hugh Hewitt's entire show on am1280. Hugh's dead right that Americans deserve to hear more than a sound bite of a speech like the one George Tenet gave yesterday. Follow his links for great analysis and a link to the speech text.

I'm goin' 'round the world, I got to find my girl, on my way.
I've been this way ten years to the day, Ramble On,
Gotta find the queen of all my dreams.

A Lyrics Gender "malfunction". No! No! No! It was written to say "guy" and "king" all along. You believe me, don't you? Too bad I don't have an album to release while the publicity is hot!

Or maybe this is a good time to say I'm not in favor of some Massachusets judge redefining marriage for the nation. If this were really popular, don't you think Kerry and the others would be for gay marriage?

Got no time to for spreadin' roots, The time has come to be gone.
And to' our health we drank a thousand times, it's time to Ramble On.

Glad to see Steve is back blogging. Of course I still expect him to show up here to talk to me! (He also is the only one of the Northern who got to meet Lileks when Hugh was in town.)

Mine's a tale that can't be told, my freedom I hold dear.
How years ago in days of old, when magic filled the air.

Did I tell you what the Boy said when I tried to insist he comb his hair after a shower? "But Mom, if I comb my hair my personality will disappear." I think he means it's part of his aimed for "look."

T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair.
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her, her, her....yeah.

Meanwhile the Girl adds, "Mom, you bought whipped cream cheese. Is there a way to Un-whip it?" Ummm. I don't think so.

Ramble On, And now's the time, the time is now, to sing my song.
I'm goin' 'round the world, I got to find my girl, on my way.
I've been this way ten years to the day, Ramble On,
Gotta find the queen of all my dreams.

Gonna ramble on, sing my song. Gotta keep-a-searchin' for my baby...
Gonna work my way, round the world. I can't stop this feelin' in my heart
Gotta keep searchin' for my baby. I can't find my bluebird!

Mapping Out My Life

Let's see if this works.

States I've been to:

create your own visited states map
or write about it on the open travel guide

Kind of interesting. Maybe the next vacation should be Southeast, Northeast, or just south. (We've talked about visiting some of the caves in the south.) I also found I had to stretch my memory. Oh yeah! I was in El Paso to visit that customer!

And countries I've visited:

create your own visited country map

As you might expect, very heavy on Asia; China, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore. (I didn't count Japan bacause I've never been outside the airport there.) Then there's one little spec in the Netherlands. (I stopped there for a day when I bought an around the world ticket.)

Link via Teresa at Technicalities

20 Below with a Bonus - No Power!

Oh what a beautiful morning!
Oh what a beautiful day!

It's a little chilly. Twenty below this morning, (actual temp. - not windchill). OK. I might have to actually button up my coat between home and the office.

To make things really pleasant, we woke up to discover it was 20 below and we had no electricity! Yowsa!

We do have a fireplace both at home and in the office, so as you can imagine, we fired both of them up. After making a few phone calls to those with juice, we discovered the Boy's school was delayed two hours. The Girl gets the whole day off because of the power outage, but she's bummed I won't let her go visit friends. (I am such a meanie. Just ask my kids!)

Living away from city services as we do, having no power means you also have no water, except what's already in your hot water heater and reserve tank. (No electricity to pump more.) Thankfully they got power back up after a couple hours. Lucky for the other attendees, I don't have to go to tonight's function stinky.

Tonight the Patriot Forum featuring Hugh Hewitt! I see a number of local bloggers will be attending. (Speaking of local bloggers, I'm sorry to note that Steve at Hellooo chapter two! decided to take a blogging hiatus. I totally understand his reasons though. I may consider doing the same. Do you try to keep it up when you don't have the time you'd like to put into it? Or is it better to take a break and come back to it fresh when you feel you can do a better job?)

Now the mystery! Will I remain incognito tonight or introduce myself as DC of Brainstorming? Will anyone care? (Highly Doubtful.) I'm still considering if I want to go with my original plan of wearing a dress. Twenty below and nylons? Can you say Glutton for Punishment?

If you won't be making the Patriot Forum, Lileks will be guest hosting for Hugh. AM 1280 at 5 PM.

Dennis Miller at the Paris, Las Vegas

We might have gone to see the Blueman Group, (in fact I almost bought tickets online before we left), but after we got to Vegas, we saw billboards advertising Dennis Miller was appearing at the Paris Las Vegas. It's been pretty interesting watching the change in his politics after 09/11. Nice to see at least someone in Hollywood, understands the reasons for the war on terror.

We bought tickets for the Friday might show. He was in his usual fine sarcastic form:

On his feelings regarding France,

"Calling the French scumbags is an insult to bags filled with scum"

After dropping that one, he explained that he'd checked beforehand and the Paris is really owned by Americans. I can see where you might want to know that in advance. (He had fun making fun of the hotel staff and their French accents. Like our waiter at dinner, Fernando. Sounds very French, No?)

He mentioned his previous engagments.....

"Branson is the Vegas for people without teeth."

Most of the political humor was in the last half of the show and got the strongest audience response. Even though we'd heard a lot of the material before, since we generally make it a point to catch him when we know he's going to be on, it was worth the price of admission.

If you're familiar with his style, you probably understand why I won't be posting some of his best stuff from the show. This blog is rated PG, and the ones that brought the audience to tears were somewhere around NR/AO. (Naturally you want to skip Dennis if you're at all offended by obscenity. He knows them all and wields them like a sharp edged sword.)

The only annoying thing was our nearby seatmates. Ladies and Gentlemen, on your right, we have the Hysterical Laugher! Yes! She will laugh continuously throughout the show......rising then decreasing....rising then decreasing..........throughout the entire program, pausing only long enough to gasp for breath!!! You will soon fear for her sanity! Appearing over your left shoulder!! We have the "Jesus" man. He will groan "Jesus" under his breath for every punch line uttered for the entire show! Pretty soon you will begin to imagine that every joke told is incomplete until he completes the punchline.......Jesus. Laughter....uncontrolled laughter.....Jesus.....uncontrolled laughter....Jesus......you get the idea.

It was like living a very very bad soundtrack.

I was surprised that Dennis didn't mention to the audience that his CNBC show started airing today. (OK, yesterday for you. I haven't been to bed yet.) Haven't seen it yet, We "taped" it on the PVR. The Fraters boys have the scoop and apparently there'll be a monkey wandering the set?

Vegas Baby Or What I Did On My Summer Vacation Winter Getaway

What a label to wear home from your winter getaway - Loser! Actually that's only a small part of the story.

Hubby and I had a very nice relaxing time on our long weekend getaway in Vegas. We stayed at the Luxor, the Egyptian themed hotel on the strip, in one of their jacuzzi suites.

Here's a shot of the inside of the pyramid when you enter the lobby:

Since the rooms in the pyramid are around the perimeter, they have Inclinators instead of elevators. They go both up and sideways. Our room happened to be on the first floor, but of course we had to ride the Inclinators at least once. (They must get a lot of people who want to joy ride them. They have a security guard at the Inclinator banks and they ask to see your room key before they'll let you go up to make sure you're actually a guest at the hotel.)

They claim the spotlight on the top of the hotel is the most powerful in the world.

Overall it was a nice place to stay. Food from the 24 hour cafe was pretty good. We ate at the steakhouse one night. Great and very spendy. Lots of other options. They did neglect to clean our room one day when we got out of it particularly late, (sometime after one.) At that point, it's just easier to say forget it rather than mess around with calling them to come back and kick you out of your room when you find out it didn't get cleaned later in the afternoon.

The Blueman Group plays at the Luxor, but we didn't fit in seeing the show. We did pick up a DVD. The reviews of the show are great. I guess it gives us a reason to go back sometime, eh?

Driving Fast and Safely

I'm a driver.

What do I mean by that? If you and I are going somewhere together, and it's logical in any way, I will be the one doing the driving. Call me a control freak. Just let me have the steering wheel, please.

It's been that way since high school. You had your passengers, those who didn't have cars, or didn't want to spend the gas money. Then you have your drivers. I was always a driver.

Being a driver, and a person who's running perpetually 15 minutes late for everything in life, I also tend to be a lead foot. I consider those who dare venture to make unflattering comments about my driving or my lead foot The Unenlightened. They simply have not yet dug deep enough to discover my genius and talent when it comes to driving. Heh.

Though my daily commute to work is crossing my driveway, I still spend a lot of time in the car, living as we do an hour and a half from the nearest metropolis. It's given me plenty of time to compose a list of driving tips for your persual. I drive both 2 lane rural and 4 lane freeway. Rules below cover both. I submit for you in all seriousness........

DC's Tips for Driving Fast and Safely

1. Many speed traps are set up for 10 miles over the speed limit. 79 in a 70 can be a good plan if you're not really in rush.

2. It doesn't hurt to check the on ramp over your shoulder after clearing an underpass.

3. In case you see a parked vehicle head off the on ramp above, DO NOT HIT YOUR BRAKES to take off the cruise. Train yourself to cancel the cruise using the button in your car. Hitting your brake lights is tantamount to signing a confession in my book. "Yes, I was speeding officer, but a soon as I saw you I felt guilty and tried to get out of it."

4. If you are in front of me in the left hand lane of a 4 lane and have room to get over but insist you own the left lane, refusing to yield, I WILL be riding your bumper. Someone needs to teach you the manners your mother never did.

5. Respect small towns. No more than 10 miles over the limit when passing through. Do the speed limit if you're actually in town where kids could be around.

6. Respect your elders. Seniors will get more of a break from me on the road. (At least I try not to run them over and give them a little more room than an annoying younger driver.)

7. Slow down when cresting a hill in case someone is stopped just over it with their turn signal on.

8. Also keep in mind bus schedules around your place when school is in session. It's bad form to fly by with kids waiting on the side of the road.

9. Where I live the two lane roads are really two lanes wide, not three lanes wide like they are in the cities. There's also no traffic, so people tend to be lazy and drive the middle of the road which is perfectly safe most of the time, (since your biggest hazzard, deer, are usually coming at you from either ditch.) BUT, the next biggest cause of accidents on these country roads is two cars riding the center or too close to the center both cresting the same hill. Even if they miss one another someone will overcorrect and roll it. In other words, get on your own side of the road before you crest a hill.

10. Your life and your passengers lives are more important than wildlife. TRAIN YOURSELF NOT TO SWERVE. No one wants to kill the neighbors pet, but it's foolish to turn your steering wheel to avoid it. I hate reading about the parent who swerved to miss a turtle in the road, (mama turtles move around in the spring to bury their eggs.........like my driveway is a good place to put them?), and then the parent loses control, hitting a tree and killing their child. I actually read that one in the local paper.

I also had a friend recently who swerved to miss a deer and rolled her car over a few driveways in the process. We're very lucky she didn't get killed, just smashed and cut up a lot of her face. Hit your brakes, especially if the animal is big, but DO NOT SWERVE.

Speaking of deer, dusk and dawn are your most high risk times for country driving. It wouldn't be unprecedented for me to see 20 of them in an 8 mile drive at dusk.

11. I figure if I have to dim my brights in the country at night I have to take 5-10 miles off my speed to compensate for reduced visibility.

12. Brake before a curve, accelerate out of a curve.

13. If you do get stuck behind someone with no way to get around them take a deep breath and consider maybe God has a reason for it for right this minute. Smile when the cruiser goes by in the other direction.

14. If you're going to pass for heaven's sake, kick it down. No sense staying in oncoming traffic's lane any longer than you have to. (I would consider a momentary 80-90 in a 55 justifed on a clear road.) In fact, hang back from whoever you want to pass so you can accelerate before moving into the oncoming lane.

15. If a pass changes don't be too proud to ditch the attempt. Brake and get back into the line of traffic. (Sometimes it looks like you have the room then the situation changes, another car crests a hill whatever. Don't complete the pass if oncoming will have to slow down. It's not worth it.)

Finally, the last and best tip for driving at night........

16. Dim your dashboard lights when you drive at night. It might not mean much in the city where you have all the lighting, but it makes a HUGE difference in what you can see in the country or on darker roads.

These are my tips for graduating from Fast and Crazy driving to Fast and Safely.

If you think of more, leave them in the comments......and sing along with Sheryl Crow and me

Like Steve McQueen
All I need's a fast machine
I'm gonna make it all right
Like Steve McQueen
Underneath your radar screen
You'll never catch me tonite

Update: The hubby suggests I missed my rule that states, "In order to save time don't hit the brakes until your bumper is past the Stop sign." Of course I was just testing the anti-lock brakes to make sure they're fully functional or maybe I was simulating the thrill of driving a Harley, (you know you should always lean into a turn, right?)

One more thing, if you're driving a speck, (see small vehicle best suited for young people without kids and stuff to haul - unfit for gripping road in inclement weather), don't freak out when I pass you with my good tires and all wheel drive. It's all about your equipment.