Category: General

So yesterday my landlord emails me and asks if it’s OK for him to install new carpet this coming Monday.

He’d mentioned it a couple of months ago, and then I guess we both got busy and we each kinda, sorta half-heartedly followed up every now and then. But now he’s ready to pull the trigger.

I need the carpeting. There’s mold in here from last winter, when my water heater broke and leaked for a week and a half before the previous landlord finally swapped it out. Ugh. Mold.

But I’m far from ready to have all my shit moved out.

Guess what I’m doing this weekend? Yay.

But, y’know, hey, new carpeting.

For several reasons, including the tightening economy and a desire to have more wiggle room in my monthly cash flow, I have decided to dump Comcast as my entertainment provider. I say “entertainment” because I get both my broadband internet (which is vastly entertaining all by itself and is something I consider as necessary a utility as electricity and clean running water), and cable TV, which provides the standard advertiser-supported video entertainment that has been a part of the American Dream since the fabled 1950s.

My total cable internet bill runs nearly $140.00 per month. That’s a fair bit of change, and spending that amount has given me almost one hundred and forty reasons to sit down in front of my TV and watch what’s on there. I have recently come to realize that I watch a lot of TV, much more than I’m really comfortable admitting. First it was “The Simpsons”, then it included all the Fox Sunday night animation shows, two hours of ‘toons… then, on the urging of my friend, I added “Lost” and “The Office” – and “The Office” timeslot expanded to include all the NBC Thursday night comedies, from “My Name is Earl” to “30 Rock”. “Mythbusters” is always entertaining, and filled with three important things of value: science, explosions, and a brainy sexy redhead. So it got added to my rapidly-expanding viewing queue. And so on, and so on; there was always room for one more science-fiction show, or one more cute sitcom, or one more entertaining reality show.

It’s no wonder I no longer have time to read all the books I’d like. Or, for that matter, that I no longer seem to have the attention span necessary to actually write the Great American Novel.

It was time, probably long past time, to cut back.

But there was another impetus to my decision, and it involves two aspects: one practical and technological, and the other political.

Long-time readers of this space may remember my epic battles with faceless, soulless telecom Qwest over porting my landline phone number to a mobile number. In the end, after months of phone calls and complaints to various consumer-protection agencies, I counted as a victory the fact that I got out of a stupid contract without having to pay any early-termination fees, even though the number I was fighting to protect had, in fact, been lost to me in the war. And from that moment on, I swore that Qwest, out of all evil corporations, was in fact my sworn enemy.

I even briefly found myself forced to work in a building my employer shared with Qwest, face to face with the minions who embodied and enacted Qwest’s soul-sucking policies. Chilling, I know.

But… a funny thing happened. Qwest, apparently alone among American telecoms, was shown to have stood up to President Bush’s lawless acts of intrusive, illegal surveillance of American citizens. Their then-CEO, Joe Nacchio, paid a price for turning down the lucrative blood-money contract “offered” by the White House, and found himself on the wrong end of an intimidating SEC probe.

When all this came to light, I was firmly disgusted by both President Bush’s criminal activity and the compliance of the other telecom companies – including, to my shame, AT&T, the company which exclusively provides service for my beloved sexy iPhone. Yes, money is flowing from my bank account into the coffers of a company who sold out the Constitution. I know. What can I say? I can be bought by shiny baubles – as long as they’re Apple’s shiny baubles.

And then, this past summer, Qwest started installing new equipment in my neighborhood. Not simply in my neighborhood, actually, but right next to my apartment building, on the very lot on which my building stands. Right next to my front door and living room window, in point of fact. My landlord admitted that when he bought the place, he had not known that Qwest had a lien on the property which allowed them to do this work.

You can imagine my suspicion towards this turn of events. Now double that.

But this was after the revelations that CEO Nacchio had been fighting against governmental intrusion into our personal lives. So my fears were at least partially reduced.

The equipment that the installers installed was, in fact, a switch that enabled DSL in my ‘hood. Qwest had in the past said that “work was needed” before I could get DSL broadband at my address; this was that work. They didn’t do it for me, though, they apparently did it because of a new mini-strip-mall built near my apartment, just around the block. Five or six new businesses and they all probably wanted broadband, and Qwest was (finally) glad to help, in return for fat checks for “business-class broadband”.

I could benefit, too. I had earlier vowed to never do business with Qwest again, but circumstances had changed. I could exchange Comcast’s clumsy cable internet for speedy Qwest DSL. And if I dumped the TV part, I could save considerable cash monies on a monthly basis. Plus, since the switch was literally located right outside my window, and maxmimum broadband speed is dependent on how far away the switch was located – I could get amazing speed.

It has tempted me for weeks and months.

Today I pulled the trigger. Soon I will be paying less, to a company that took an ethical stand I admire (but which is likely still rotten in other ways, let’s not be naive) for faster broadband internet.

From which I will still be able to watch many of the shows I like. Have you ever heard of Hulu? And those shows that aren’t in there, I’ll still have BitTorrent…

Q: What did I do on Veteran’s Day this year?

A: Laundry, mostly.

If you see a vet today – offer them a hug. But don’t just hug them without asking first. It’s impolite.

I just learned that today is the traditional birthdate of the United States Marine Corps.

Which finally explains why that guy was wearing his uniform on the bus this morning.

Thanks for your service, Marines!

Did I dream it?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY&hl=en&fs=1]

Yes – I American Dreamed it.

Yes we can.

Dear world:

We are sorry for the last eight years.

We* hope that this goes some small way towards making up for it – though that will be cold comfort to those who have already given their final all.

As our President-elect said last night, the road ahead will be long, our climb will be steep.

But, y’know, I think we can do it.

Yes we can.

“The arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice.” – Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I’m going to wax a little poetic, here. I think, after the results of last night, that I’m entitled.

All day yesterday, hell, for most of my waking hours these past several weeks, I hoped and worried about the outcome. Even when the polls said that it was basically a done deal, I could not allow myself to take it for granted. Too many times have I seen something that seemed so promising and so fucking simple, taken away.

I have lived almost 44 years, and when I look back, there are very few moments I can remember being part of a joyous moment of nationwide – or worldwide – celebration. I barely remember the moon landings, I was so young at the time. And since then, for the most part, when Americans came together, it was either in grief and sorrow, or for reasons that seem trivial to me; oh, yay, a sports team has beaten another sports team, this year.

That’s nice and all, but, y’know, not all that important. They’ll play more games next year, starting all over.

But the grief? All too real.

Watergate hearings. The resignation of President Nixon. The troops coming home from Vietnam. The Iran hostage crisis. Wars, small and medium (no large ones, not yet). Attacks on our soil, and us attacking others. The Challenger shuttle exploding – that image burned into my mind’s eye, tragic loss. The impeachment of a popular president. The jetliners full of innocents taking down buildings full of innocents.

Yes, there have been more happy moments; the end of divided Berlin, for example. But that was in spite of the involvement of my fellow citizens. Not because of.

But last night, as I stood in the bar and drank and talked to my brothers and sisters of Portland and watched the results come in (those results seem so inevitable in hindsight) I realized that I own a piece of tonight.

I got involved. I didn’t simply vote. I gave time and money and, most of all, I gave attention and persuasion. When Obama said it was my victory, I felt the truth of it. My part was small, perhaps, compared to others. But I gave what I could. And now I need to give more. And I will do it, gladly, because the promise of renewing the Great Experiment of America is more than worth the sacrifice.

President Obama, I think, is a practical man. He has campaigned in a practical way, in a positive way, yes, a hopeful way, but still at his core is a man who has a firm grasp of the reality of things. He will make decisions I disagree with; he will make mistakes; he will see things differently than I do.

But I believe him when he says that he will listen. I believe this because he has, in fact, done this already. And he will explain his position clearly and he will treat us as adults, not children. Just as he has done already.

I do not see the Presidency as a king, ruling from his palace on the hill. I have far more faith in my citizens than that. I see the President as the one who enacts the will of America. We have let a small minority of citizens express that will; but I’m hopeful that that is coming to an end now. Enough of us are awake that we can communicate right back at our President, and our Congress, and make sure that all American’s needs, the young, the ill, the elderly, the minority, get their needs taken care of, so that they, too, can participate in the promise of freedom.

Elections come and go, and the reaction I’ve seen most often is a quick “hooray for our side!” and “drats for our side!” and then quickly our attention turns to whatever is on the other channels.

Not last night.

Last night I saw my fellow citizens happy, really happy, for the first time in my memory. The same folk who have marched in protest, now danced in joy. We had been given a chance to redeem ourselves.

Let us not wait too long before we get back to work, okay?

* “We” being, at current count, at least 63,909,365 of us.

After the disinterest I felt before the presidential election in 2000 (followed by annoyance and anger as the results dragged on – then the whammy of 9/11), and the growing and burning fear and need for change in 2004 (which, of course, did not come, and became anger and desire to work even harder)…

…now, the day before the election, I am electrified. I can see the polls, I know what they say, but I have also felt the gut-punch of reversal of expectation, and the numbness in the face of the worst possible outcome (by the worst possible president). And the feeling from the last election tempers my excitement.

And yet, still, I dare to hope that maybe, America is awake enough, aware enough of our endangered status in the community of nations, to make the right decision. We only need 50%+1, and yet, as long as the polls aren’t wronger than they’ve ever been wrong before, it looks as though there’s more than enough awake aware Americans to make this change happen.

As John Hodgman says, today feels like the last day before the last day of school. Or just a day before something big.

C’mon. Barack me, Obama. We need it.

If I spend all day holding my breath or seeming distracted, please understand.

The men in the following pictures will all be in Seattle, in the same venue, next week.

Can you tell them apart?

They’re just a mish-mash of hair, glasses, white skin, and the occasional beard.

I would love to be there but I probably can’t. Details here.

So I wait until the next-to-last day to sign up for this year’s NaNoWriMo… and they’re down for server maintenance?!

It may be working when you read this, but as of right now, when I’m typing these words, clicking that link shows me an apology and no word on when they’ll be back up. OK, I lied, one word: “jiffy”.

As in, they’ll be back up in a.

Their Twitter feed has a little bit more information:

Sam and Russ are working on one of our database servers right now. Thanks for your patience!

…from about 3 hours ago.

And their latest (as I type this) tweet:

And no, this is not our attempt to make you think about your novel instead of surfing the forums. 🙂

Harrumph.

What? You’re still on the fence on the presidential election? What are you; nuts?

Here, cribbed from the Willy Week’s blog, which in turn cribbed them from Barack Obama’s campaign book “Change We Can Believe In”, are a list of positive reasons to vote for the man who will very likely be our next President:

• Automatic workplace retirement plans: Require employers who do not currently offer a retirement plan to enroll their employees in a government direct-deposit IRA. Employees keep the plan even when they change jobs. If they want, they can opt out.
• Mid-East: Begin planning a responsible withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Instead, focus on fighting terrorists in Afghanistan. Launch a “diplomatic surge” in the Mid-East: train & deploy civilian diplomats to Syria, Iran, etc..
• Minimum wage: Raise it to $9.50 by 2011. Afterward, index it to inflation.
• Universal health insurance coverage: Offer an opt-in low-cost government insurance plan to every American—even those with pre-existing conditions.
• Education: Further fund zero-to-five education programs & after-school enrichment. Pay teachers more; hold them more accountable. Offer a $4000 college tax credit to students willing to contribute 100 hours of public service, annually. Expand Pell Grants.
• Tax policy: Lower or maintain tax rates for families making less than $250k/year. Raise tax rates for those making over $250k/year. Remove tax penalties on married families. Reward parents who pay child support with an EITC tax credit.
• Cars: Double fuel economy standards within 18 years. Get one million plug-in electric vehicles on the road by 2015. Cut taxes for Americans who buy fuel-efficient vehicles.
• “Green” jobs: Create five million enviro-forward government jobs in clean energy, biofuels, hybrid automobiles, fuel infrastructure, low-emissions coal plants and a digital electricity grid.
• Clean air: Reduce carbon emissions 80% by 2050. Institute a market-based cap-and-trade system to reduce emissions. Invest in low-carbon nonpetroleum fuels.
• Veterans: Fullly fund veterans’ medical care. Increase the number of centers treating Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and other specialized injuries. Work to end homelessness among veterans.
• Nuclear nonproliferation: At all costs, prevent Iran from developing and testing nuclear weapons. Eliminate North Korea’s nuclear weapons program (seems unrealistic). Phase out Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) from the civil sector. Provide additional funding ($16m) to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Reduce US and Russian nuclear stockpiles. Ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
• Global warming: Reduce carbon emissions 80% by 2050. Spend $150bn over 10 years to develop and deploy climate-friendly energy sources.
• Foreign aid: Double foreign financial assistance to $50bn by 2012. Double the size of the peace corps to 16,000.
• Lobbying: Employ no registered lobbyists in an Obama administration. Ban gifts to executive branch employees. End no-bid contracts over $25,000. Create a “Google for Government” so that regular citizens can track federal grants, contracts, earmarks & loans.
• Civil rights: Overturn the Supreme Court ruling that makes it harder for women to file pay-discrimination claims. Preserve women’s rights as elaborated by Roe v. Wade. Support civil unions with equal rights for same-sex couples. End the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the US military.