Random Thoughts for the Week of February 20, 2012

• I started working on a second draft of a story for the first time in my life.  Going to try to get that short story published this year.  My biggest concern is what to do about the fucking profanity.  It’s a vital part of the characters but will probably keep me from getting published in most magazines I’d like to submit it to.  I totally feel like a writer as I’m carving up this darling and making it better.  Wow, some of the stupid mistakes I made.  I now know what the word “chided” really means and how to properly use it (which I didn’t about 6 times in my first draft).  It’s still fun and I still love doing it.
• Lots of friends having very rough weeks this past week.  Lots of health issues (mental and physical).  It’s hard being far away and unable to help them by being there, but I thank God for things like phone calls, text messaging and e-mails so that I can talk to these friends and help even in small ways from a distance.  I wonder how friendships survived over long distances in the past without all these cool toys.  My prayers and thoughts are with you all, friends.  Don’t ever give up!
• After looking over his website and his position on key issues in the 2012 election, I’m 100% sure I will NEVER vote for Rick Santorum.  What a closed-minded ultra-conservative.  Just the kind of “my way is the only way to live” politician that democratic government just isn’t supposed to be about.  No thank you. 
• I think it’s wrong that Congress controls the wireless spectrum that wireless providers use to give us the phone and data services we need.  Seems like that should be controlled by some non-governmental agency, like the IEEE.  Instead, the government can find yet another way to take control of things it shouldn’t.  My biggest problem?  I’d bet a month’s wages that only 2% of Congress knew what the wireless spectrum was before they had to vote on the FCC’s rights this week.  And yet, they’re in charge of it?  Morons.  10% approval rating, so they make it illegal for them to use inside information for stock purchases … something they shouldn’t have been doing in the first place!  Idiots, all of them.
• Speaking of voting, I got my voter registration change from Nebraska this week.  I’m worried if I change it, I’ll officially need to become a resident of Ohio.  That means new driver’s license, license plates, etc.  I could be doing it all over again by the end of the year.  I just don’t feel like giving the state or federal government any more of my money this year.
• 50 years ago the Mercury astronauts orbited the globe for the first time.  Today, our astronauts are grounded indefinitely.  Once again, I weep for our society’s choice to limit our discovery to only those things within our atmosphere.
• Yeah, it’s safe to say that drivers in Columbus, Ohio are collectively some of the worst drivers in the world.  It’s like they were taught to just ignore everyone else around them and do whatever the hell you want … the other people will avoid you.  I swear, if I see someone actually signal a merge, look and then pull into the lane I’ll probably have a heart attack on the spot.  Nope, the assholes just pull in and it’s my job to get out of their way.  I really hate driving here.
• I’m still trying to find the perfect coffee to drink at home.  Each experiment keeps coming up short.
• Watching “The West Wing” on DVD thanks to Mindi.  Saw an old episode that got me thinking (see the video post this week).  Isn’t the Equal Rights Amendment simply redundant?  The 14th Amendment guarantees anyone born in the USA (regardless of gender or race) citizenship.  So, since women and minorities are already citizens, why do they need another bill guaranteeing them rights when the 14th Amendment already says they have the same rights as everyone else?  I think it’s sad that we as a country need the ERA.  I know it’ll make it easier to sue or criminally charge companies for giving women and minorities lower wages than we white men, but it shouldn’t be necessary.  Our culture, one built off of diversity, should embrace equality across the board.  Sadly, we’re a long, long ways away from that as long as we need something like the ERA to enforce equality.
• Watched the pilot episode of “Smash” with Mindi.  While I’m not hooked on the show just yet, I have to say that was probably one of the most original, thought-out and well-written shows on NBC in years.  They managed to show multiple perspectives and follow numerous characters and slowly converge them into the main plot for the whole show.  It was really very impressive.  But most of all, it was something new and original, not copying something someone else has done on another network or in the past.
• While I’m not a huge Apple Computer fan, I do love my iPhone and I’m impressed by the technology that they use on the iPhone and iPad.  Well, that same technology is now replacing the OS on their laptops and desktops too.  Now all Apple devices will basically work and look the same way.  As cool as that is, it’s still creepy to me.  I’ve been in IT now for 15 years and I’ve gotten used to so many varieties and differences.  For a company to have the audacity to make everything uniform?  It’s insane!  And yet, it’s really quite brilliant.  I’m sure someday my son will be buying me an Apple iTricorder for my retirement party.  Of course, I found out this week that if I ask Mindi’s Siri on her iPhone to “Beam me up,” she told me my tricorder was malfunctioning and she couldn’t lock onto me.  AWESOME!
• I thought Kevin Costner’s eulogy at Whitney Huston’s funeral was very well-written and presented.  He talked about that time in her life when she really was at her best, when she still had the fears and doubts that made her life so difficult and yet overcame them and nailed the role that best defined her life and career.  I was impressed by him, and I think his words are what I’ll use to remember her instead of all the conjecture about what happened to her before she died (and all the bad things that led up to it).

BABY WENDEL UPDATE

• We’re under 100 days until delivery!  Week 26 started this past weekend.  Reality is getting closer and closer.
• Coordinating a baby shower … one thing I am glad I will never have to do in my lifetime.
• There are so many cool baby names out there, it’s really hard to choose just one.  And each time I start to think about his name, I keep coming back to one name that I seem to like the most.  Why is it so hard to just choose a name?  It’s a big decision, no doubt there, and there will NOT be a Bradford, Junior in my house.  I just want it to be the right one for the boy.  Most likely I’m overthinking it, but it has been fun to see all the names out there and hear Mindi shoot them all down.  LOL!
• I don’t think it’s weird that I like to sit in the recliner in the nursery and look around at the bare walls and furniture and dream of how great it will be when the boy arrives.  So many things in his life that he’ll get to explore and decide if he likes or dislikes.  So many options.  I’m blessed with all that I have and all that I can give to the boy.  I just like to sit in that chair and think how much my life will change and how great it will be when it does.