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Sounds like I'll be playing with a new band in the near future. More details as things become more official. And it's a big departure from the usual music I have been playing, but it's challenging as heck and includes some of the best musicians in Fort Wayne.
CNN's Kyra Phillips is going to be giving her sister in law one hell of a Christmas present this year.
Step #1. Take one of their favorite songs.
Step #2. Let a tubby white guy play it acoustically.
I like this version better than the original. That screaming you will hear in the morning will be Emily in the fetal position.
For those of you who don't live in "Flyover Country"....put down your triple soy mocha latte and cover your eyes.
The "Rural Exodus' as we know it, is done. Yes, seriously, it's done. Sure, kids will still move to the big city for "opportunity", but they are going to find in most cases opportunity is moving to them. Three factors in this observation.
#1. Telecommuting: Yes, I'm one of those people. And I get ∞ miles per gallon on my commute to work since the Honda sits in the driveway and I wander downstairs to my office to work. And for a good chunk of businesses, this is going to be the future. Of course there are companies that need daily face-to-face interaction to actually run a business. But for the majority of white-collar businesses, this isn't necessary.
#2. Cost of Living: When I bought my four bedroom, two plus bath house in 2001, it cost me around $130k. Today, that same house is still around $130k. What would a house like that cost around Los Angeles or Chicago? Probably in the neighborhood of $400k+. Yes, I have to deal with the occasional blizzard, but LA has the occasional earthquake. We're even. :-) And now with businesses looking to the bottom line, hiring an employee who costs a third less than one in a "major metro area" to do the same job looks very appealing.
#3. Pandemic/War/etc: We keep hearing horror stories about how we're overdue for another "Spanish Flu" or a covert nuke thrown into the hold of a cargo ship. And it's true, one of these days, that will happen. And when it does, just as people became hesitant to lease floorspace in new high-rises after 9/11; we will see people start to rethink the whole "living in the big city" lifestyle.
No, I'm not saying that the bustling subrubia surround major metro cities is going to disappear. It's just not going to grow as it has for the past ten years. And we might see, because of that, downward pressure on home prices. We're already starting to see home construction slowing down which could obviously be a blip, time will only tell us if it is a blip.
In the end, this is a siimplified view of where I see things going in the next twenty years. I don't think we will see too much downward pressure on home prices because, well, everyone likes the prices where they are. What I do see ending is the vast overinflation of existing home prices over the next few years.
OK, someone discuss this. :-)
Locked my office last night and keys are no where to be found (seeing as how they are in the office). So what are my choices.
Cal a locksmith and spend $100 having him open said door. Or there's option #2.
$10 later at WalMart, I have a nice new doorknob on my office.
Wonder if this works with kids... :-)
Insane? Yes, known for quite a while.
And now I can put this back on my sig file for work for another three years.
Last day of training class....ready to head home. Hopefully we can get out in time for an earlier flight. More later.
Class to be done by noon in theory (Denver time that is)....hopefully I can catch an earlier flight, but it doesn't look good.
Due to two troubling incidents, Andi and Andrea have been moved out of our home. No, we didn't do anything, but I can't go into details since they are both minors and can't discuss possible criminal proceedings for one. The other decided that she would be happy elsewhere.
DeAnn and I are done with Foster Care "for the forseeable future". We were already burnt out from the Andrew saga, and with various things that were going on in the background with other kids; it's time for us to focus on the four that live with us full time (and Krystal when she comes out to visit).
And the good/bad news for today?
Nathan went to the dentist today. One small cavity but he loves the place. He was all excited about going to the dentist. Guess it doesn't take much to make his day. :-) Yes, he was wide awake for the entire process.
Yup, this was me today...
Tons of data, two full chapters of lecture on Cisco design info. I'm wiped, but have a chunk of homework to get done.
Less blogging, more reading up on VLAN trunk protocols...
The media is in uproar over the long delays at American airports. Thankfully this must not include Indianapolis.
Check-In: ~ 3 minutes. Company has an agreement with Frontier that gets me their "Ascent" status which is their higher end Frequent Flier program. The normal line would have been well over 45 minutes.
Security: ~ 5 minutes. Seriously, it took me longer to take shoes off and to go through the "blowing in my ear" machine than anything else. No major lines.
Restrictions: People were guzzling water just before they got on the plane (including yours truly). TSA set up a WalMart folding table and started randomly frisking/searching people. Guess I wasn't the lucky number...but the grandma behind me was. Nothing like feeling up grandma with blue gloves on.
Oh and since this was GenCon weekend in Indy, flight was full of geeks which is much nicer than a flight full of grumpy business types. Don't know if it's a good/bad thing feeling more comfortable with 5 guys wearing their favorite superhero shirts or the stuffy business suit types.
Back in Denver again for training, this time for Cisco's CCDA certification. No major problems, other than the TSA breaking my "TSA Approved" lock... Complaint filed, expect nothing to happen as usual. Thanks guys.
Weird process at the gate, randomly searching people for bottles and crap. They skipped yours truly for some guy who was whiter than me and (literally) a grandmother. How much time before they say "no carry on items". My guess, next year.
The car rental place gave me a boat, a Jeep Commander which I think requires an aircraft carrier license to operate. Otherwise, I'm back in the corporate training place which isn't bad for the price (free).
More pictures later...nice view of the Rockies out my window.
There obviously has been talk of the "staged" photos coming out of Lebanon, but this video has to be one of the most damning pieces of evidence overall.
This video is NOT for the squeamish. It also shows what lengths Hizboallah is willing to go to get public opinion on their side.
Hey, how's it going? Pretty hot this summer, damn, maybe that Gore guy has something. Oh well.
Anyhow, just wanted to see how things are going with the whole global jihad thing. Yeah, kind of a bummer for you that 21 of your brothers got picked up by "the man" over in Dhimmiland otherwise known as Great Britain. Hey, that happens. You guys know about OpSec. One guy talks to his brother about "big plans" after Friday service and next thing you know WHAM, you're licking concrete with a subbie pointed right at your noggin.
So anyhow, about that plan to blow up airliners. Interesting twist using liquid explosives, but you know it's been tried before when you sent old Dickie from North "Don't know how plastic explosives work-istan". What did we say about being original? You keep playing out these scenarios thinking "OK, how about bombs....ON AIRPLANES!" and these Western guys yawn and start doing those damn Sudoku puzzles. You guys are about as original as this post...
Didn't you guys pay attention to what happened to Osama or even that Zarqawi dude when they stopped being original? Damn idiot got a surgically implanted JDAM up his keister for going on and on about beheading infidels, raping the horses, riding off on the women. You KNOW Allah is just giving him grief over that one.
Anyhow, back to this plan. Yeah, you know, it's getting a bit old. Expecially when us dumb Americans start thinking of who could have been one of your targets. That tends to make us grumpy. Oh I know your buddies will try to get them off, but you know that it's going to take time and that's going to be another 21 pieces of fodder you are going to have to replace.
But I've got a bigger question. What did you expect of this? Yeah, there would have been memorials everywhere, flags of Satan all over the United States and probably a very special episode of Joey. But what else happened last time something of that magnitude happened? Oh yeah, that's right. Uncle Osama got his ass handed to him in Afghanistan and how "Mr. Furry Hat" is now in charge.
So anyhow, just wanted to see how things are going. I know you are probably busy trying to pull the hard drive out of that damn laptop right now to toss into the bottom of the Thames, but if you have a few minutes we'd love to hear from you. Preferably before the police break down your door in a few minutes.
This is all hypothetical.
Wouldn't it really stink if a kid had a "bad experience" where they had to be removed from a home. And wouldn't it stink even more after six months of "investigation", the prosecutor couldn't decide if anything happened so they back out of the case. And wouldn't it stink to think you have spent all of your time caring and dealing with a kid for what turns out to be nothing at all.
Again, just hypothetical. Comments closed on this one...
Don't know why this song has been going through my head today....
#1. Tickets for the Bears games arrived today.
#2. So did my 2GB for my MacBook which took ~5 minutes to install. I thought the MacBook was fast before.
#3. One kid is starting to get it....you know, respect your parents, go the extra mile and they will go beyond that for you.
And yes, I know what the song is about seeing as how it's been in heavy rotation on iTunes since yesterday.
Anyone in need of one speak now or forever hold your peace as I'll be throwing it on Ebay this week. Price is negotiable for family & friends.
Went and visited Tyler today and met with his therapist. We were able to get him to have a minor episode while there, and the therapist caught onto his games pretty quickly. Looks like he'll be discharged by August 9th if all goes well. More meds in the meantime, but I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.