So, Dick Cheney this week expressed a personal disagreement with the President over the ammending the constitution to prohibit gay marriages.

You go, Dick.

Now granted, he had previously said he stood behiond the President and supported the ammendment – that of course being in contrast with what he said in 2000 where he expressed the same notion as he did earlier this week.

Now, I know that last statement sounded as though I am accusing Cheney of flip-flopping, but I am not.

I am applauding him for listening to his own beliefs, as well as those of his wife and daughter, and standing up expressing personal disagreement with a party line. That is a courageous act seldom seen on either side of the aisle and my proverbial hat is off to him.

In fact, his position reminds me of a comment in the West Wing. A representative of the NRA commenst to Josh that he is always urprised that the gun control lobbyists dont all join the NRA, show up at the national convention, and as members force the organization change its stance.

Yes, truly the best way to advocate for change is from within.

My day started with a two and a half hour video conference.

Well, the video conference started with 20 minutes of technical difficulty.

I am constantly amazed by the belief that video conferences eliminate the need for travel.

I am more amazed by teh fact that even though I know these people and have spent time in and out of work, on a video conference they look like – well – Im not sure, but featureless would be the best way to describe it. I shot of four people in a room, I know them all quite well, and I cannot place a single one of them. Yeah, this medium is ready for prime time.

And how much did it cost? No, not just the conference but the equipment also. Hmmm… I think some economy class plane tickets would have been cheaper and the meeting would have been more efficient.

There I go thinking again…

For everyone who is back from opennsic – welcome home! I’ll let you in on a secret – its boring when your all gone.

Has anyone read Eats, Shoots & Leaves? I have not yet read it, but I do love the story the title comes from:

A panda walked into a cafe. He ordered a sandwich, ate it, then pulled out a gun and shot the waiter. ‘Why?’ groaned the injured man. The panda shrugged, tossed him a badly punctuated wildlife manual and walked out. And sure enough, when the waiter consulted the book, he found an explanation. ‘Panda,’ ran the entry for his assailant. ‘Large black and white mammal native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.’

With the new building, I am no longer in an office, buit rather a cube farm. Also, my desk is along the main corridor – I wanted it there since Im also right outside the lab door and I do manage the lab… but when I need to be head down… so, i invested in a pair of noise cancelling headphones. I read a bunch of reviews and the Plane Quiet has come out second highest. Top of the line is the Bose Quiet Comfort 2 headset. However, as one reviewer put it, to own the Bose you need not only the initial $300 but also a second $300 for when you leace them on the airplane.

Its amazing how much quieter the office is – and Im listening to some good music. My iPaq serves as a pretty good MP3 player – especially with some SD cards (Tiger Direct has some SD cards for free after rebate).

Spent the last week dog sitting for Alejandro and Benefse. Things were pretty good until Staurday night when Maya decided to play Houdini. Thank G-d for Brigida – she calmed me and located the miscreant.

They brought me some very kewl T-Shirts and an awesome book on Jews in the middle ages as a thank you.

Went to see Garden State over the weekend. Ran into Jair at the theater – was cool getting to hang with him for a bit. For some reason I dont do that too often. Probably because of the low vowel to consanant ratio in my name.

The movie was enjoyable – light fare. Great soundtrack though.

Nancy came over last night and she, Dug, and I watched To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Numar. Its been a long time since I saw that movie. I jokingly asked Nancy when she was going to come over and watch a non drag queen themed movie as last time she was over we watched The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Nancy deserves congrats as she graduated her Massage Therapy program. Now she has to pass the national boards and get her license and then she can start her business. Woo Hoo Go Nancy!!!!!

The latest in the lab move saga s getting the analog line working. We need it for both modem testing and for a conference phone. Well, it took almost six weeks to get it approved. And its took a full day to finally get it all sorted and working. Thanks Tony for going that extra mile.

Geting the Linux box owrkign has been interesting – Ive gone through three different builds and am considering a forth – mainly to clean it up and get it configured the way I want. Fun toy.

Its sad – I have not updated in a while and dont feel like there is anything substantive to write about.

Only a few more weeks until Terry Pratchet’s Monstrous Regiment is released in paperback. Of course, they do this just as his newest Disk World novel, Going Postal, is released. Aaaaarrrrgggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You are the Fourth Doctor: A walking Bohemian
conundrum with a brooding personal magnetism
and a first-rate intellect concealed somewhere
beneath your charmingly goofy exterior. You are
perhaps the most terribly clever of all the
Doctors, though your occasional bouts of
childishness get you in trouble. You never go
looking for a fight, but when someone messes
with you… good heavens, are they ever sorry
they did.

Which Incarnation of the Doctor Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

So I finally have my new system up and running and things seem to be functioning about the way I like them. Yay! But lets take a step back, because this has been a time period of new systems.

Lets see, in the middle of the move of office buildings someone shows up with a new laptop for me. OK, after the move settles I actually take the time to invest in getting it set up right. Ran for about a week before re-imaging my old system. Figure if I dont need it for a week, how important could it be.

Then I go and buy a new game. Now, Im not an Ever-Crack-Head or a serious gamer by any means. I play Civ-3 on occassion. Well, I bought Rise of Nations. Its kewl, but I discovered that my video card was unsupported. So, I figured Id get a new video card. But I was also running a PIII-500 and well I could use a new processor, which means a system board. And ram. And a case. And… well, you get the idea. So Jair, being the good guy he is, helps me spec out a system – something I suspect he wont be doing again any time soon.

The parts arrive and I put them together and it takes 5 minutes to post. hmmm… some analysis, swapping of parts and I determines its the harddrive. RMA it. And I do have another harddrive availaible, so I out it in and same thing. Huh. Disconnect it and no post at all. Back goes the system board and processor.

Finally the replacement parts arrive and together goes my system. Same thing. Much frustration ensues and out of desperation I change the jumper on the harddrive from ‘master’ to ‘cable select’ and everything works perfectly.

So, here I am with a perfectly good old system sitting there. Hmmmm… I could use a web server with lots of space for my brother to share pictures of my nephews. And I really could do with learning some Linux. Being the Windows geek that I am, I get Minassi’s Linux for Windows Administrators. Yeah, I know, all you Linux geeks and biggots just shivered, but I respect the guy, Ive met him and like him, and he talks a language I understand, so deal.

Well, after doing some reading in my book and on the web sites, I feel like its time to take the plunge and actually install something. After all, I have read more instructions for Linux then I probably have for anything else electronics related in my life. And here I see the major issue with linux gaining commercial acceptance. WHICH ONE &(^*^#%^^&*!!!!!

I have finally decided to download the ISOs for Red Hat 10. Why? Well, to be blunt, its the one getting the most media attention. And its the one being used by my company in the places we use Linux.

And, near as I can tell, the only real difference is personal preference. Beyond that, it doesnt seem to make much real difference. Or have I missed something?

Ya know, one of the things I enjoy about blogging and reading blogs (when I have time…) is the political discourse. I like being made to think by friends (even if they are only blog-buddies if I can invent a phrase) from the other side of the aisle.

I have, more often then one might think, had a change of opinion due to such discourse. I hope that others have had simillar experiences.

I tend to think of myself as somewhat middle of the road. (Then again, doesnt everyone? I’m sure both Nader and Buchanan think they are moderates on the spectrum of US voters. OK, maybe not.) In fact, I am registered as unaffiliated.

My own political views are actually socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I am sure there are some raised eyebrows at that, so let me explain…

Socially liberal – keep the government out of my bedroom and doctors office. The government should promote a treat your fellow man with respect and dignity. Not in that Free To Be Your & Me 1970s kind of way, but in the dont hurt him or rip him off, say hi when you pass him on the street and lend him a hand when he needs it – be that education or medication.

Fiscally conservative – we should only spend what we can afford. Given a choice between taxing this generation and taxing future generations, I would rather see us tax this generation. If we want something we should either be able to pay for it through cutting spending elsewhere, or have the intestinal fortitude to be honest about what its going to cost and find th funds for it without forcing our grandchildren to pay for it.

I have had moments of disgust and disapointment with each of the parties. Republicans with David Duke & Pat Buchananon. The Democrats with Al Sharpton. (I lived in upstate NY during Tawana Brawley and saw lives get destroyed by Sharpton for which he has yet to appologize.)

Anyway, really I wanted to say thanks for remidnign me of the opposite view and making me think. And I hope I have on at least one occassion returned the favor.

It was a pretty quiet weekend. Huing out at sewing days, went to a small party, watched some movies, did some laundry.

Its good to have a few stress free moments.