I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt: I’m sure he is quite capable of performing his duties. My co-worker, Chris, is not the sharpest fork in the drawer. I feel badly. Nice guy and seemingly happy in life he aspires to progress his career. He’s got this awful backwoods Carolina dialect. It may block him from ever getting a mainline (real) job. He can speak before the public, his briefings are alright, but when he’s one on one with you — it’s pure meaningless incoherent chatter and babble (along with that sappy drawl). I can’t stand it. I have to excuse myself and get far away.

An entire generation, past 30 now, has never lived in a world without Camaros. (!) (Cory Farley-autoweek columnist)

Us boys who like swashbucklin’ action flicks give a thumbs up to StarWars. This is not a spoiler but I will say that this latest episode gives closure and understanding to the master story line. Sound, graphics and the scenescapes blew us away. After awhile you realize that your mind has gone numb from the artistry and special effects. You can’t take in everything from just one viewing. The previous films are obsolete by comparison. I can’t imagine how they will ‘top’ this effort but the way video computing technology continues to evolve, episode V will dazzle. The StarWars franchise is guaranteed.

Survivor’s Marquesas finale on Sunday night was such a disappointment. Pappy, (retired judge and credible) got bounced with a rigged ‘lady luck test’. Claiming all along there was no race card Vecepia struck a nerve. She lectured us on the distinction between bond and alliance and that there was never a bond, further offering that she’d stabbed her soul mate at least a couple of times as evidence. She held to her story until *AFTER* she claimed her prize. Finally the duo fesses that ‘hell yeah the brothauhs and sistahs gotta stick togethah’. Next comes the spiritual card and she’s ducking behind her religion and GOD declaring that he was on her side With our victor alternately falling to the ground and holly roller dancing declaring her faith and thanking Jesusss I had to reach for the remote. The jokes on us. To be fair to them, all cast members were weasels. Lies and treachery makes for good TV (sigh). We was robbed.

Notice how the dread pop-up ad windows now park themselves just off the right side of your screen with the close button beyound mouse’s reach? How annoying is this! Have the web programers convinced their marketing exec customers that their pesky intrusive message will be marooned there to be read over and over until the user shuts down his pc? (Would any one actually buy something from such a devious advertiser) Well, I think that they will succeed in helping all of us in learning OS shortcuts.

• dbbl click the very top left corner of the title bar of the errant window
• click it once and select from the short list in the dialog box e.g. XClose
• with the window active (click once on the title bar) hit Alt F4
• right click the open app on the task bar and select close

Did I leave out any? Soon even our mommas will be forced to become power users!

On the van ride out ORD airport this afternoon the driver spontaneously begins a monolog gesturing at the golden arches through his window and an item of historical interest: ‘this McDonalds eatery (Des Plaines) was the first in the chain, opening circa 1960’. We rode a little further pondering the legitimacy of his claim. I began to wonder whether I could at all trust of believe any of his spiel. ‘The O’Hare airport was named after WW2s first flying fighter ace…’ was another trivia bit. Maybe he’s working on a routine to increase tips. Was any of his info legit? Were we had?

There is a belief perpetuated by Hollywood that the US government knew or was warned in advance of Pearl Harbor. I’m sure that intelligence, some real – mostly false, filters through the system constantly. If this generic info were to be passed on to the public as some would insist, people would either (a)refuse to leave the relative safety of their homes OR (b)get tired of hearing WOLF and tune it all out. I do know that the airlines receive vague security bulletins all the time. So just assuming that such a warning was passed on last September or at any other time — would that have made one-iota of difference in the way events played out? Would an air travel industry employee, be allowed to heed such a warning as grounds to stay at home for the duration? For that matter, as a ticked passenger, can you change your itinerary? Not show up at your scheduled conference? Would folks who work in tall buildings decide on their own to stay out of the city? Do you think your supervisor would buy off on that — being thoughtful and understanding? So therefore we don’t want hear this ‘nice to know’ bureaucratic CYA drill. It’s bad for business Sound the alarm only when there is action to be taken.

I thought I would write the hiaku poem a wrote during 6th period. This is for you A.R.:

The water spraying
The wind blowing through my hair
Wakeboarding, big air.

If you arrive at school before th 8:00 bell than the 7th graders must wait in the auditorium. So I went to the auditoruim and started talking to my friends in front of the fire exit. No sooner than I do this the drama teacher comes over to me and says ‘Sir, you cannot stand there. Your an obstruction to the fire exit. What would happen if there was a fire and you were blocking the way?’ What would happen! I would no longer be an ‘obstruction’…I would be the first out the door!

At the middle school it was supposed to be racial profile er..uh.. international day. Young Guy is costumed as samurai sushi chef but his buds teased kamikaze. dude! sayonara