Grey Cup 2017 - The Canadian Football League "Superbowl"

I don't watch Canadian Football.  Until yesterday, I didn't even realize this was Grey Cup day.  Needless to say, I had no idea who was playing, nor did I really care.
So, when I got home from dinner and saw that the game was in progress, I decided to tune in for a few minutes before watching my pre-recorded programs on DVR.  It was nearly half-time, and Toronto was trailing.  Honestly, I can't even remember what the score was.

I didn't watch the half-time festivities, electing instead to watch some of my recorded programs.  A while later, as I deleted the last-watched program, I caught a glimpse of the game (which had been playing on live TV while I watched recordings).  In quick succession, Toronto, and then Saskatchewan scored touchdowns and the game started to look interesting.

It really got exciting when Saskatchewan, with little time to go in the game and with an 8-point lead, decided to forego the opportunity to kick a "gimme" field goal (which would have given them a 2-possession lead with only four minutes left in the game) and instead tried to advance the ball for a first down near the goal line.  The Saskatchewan receiver caught the ball cleanly, but was stripped of the ball near the six yard line.  Toronto recovered the fumble on the 1-yard line and ran the ball 109 yards back for a touchdown.  Toronto went for a 2-point conversion, and just before the quarterback was about to be tackled, he managed to find a receiver in the end zone.  After that play, the score was tied!

Saskatchewan was unable to score after receiving the kickoff, and on the next possession, Toronto managed to get good enough field possession to kick the go-ahead field goal with only 49 seconds left in the game.  It was the first time Toronto had been in the lead during the entire game.

On the ensuing kickoff, Toronto tried to keep the ball away from Saskatchewan's excellent kick return specialists, opting instead to aim a squib kick at the nearby Saskatchewan players.  This gave Saskatchewan excellent field position with 43 seconds to play.

Saskatchewan's quarterback heaved a 50-yard pass down the field, and hit the receiver right on the numbers, but somehow, the pass was dropped.  On second down, the quarterback tried the same play to the same receiver.  This time, the pass was caught, and Saskatchewan found themselves very close to field goal range.  One play later, they got a first down (I think they were around the 20 yard line) with under 20 seconds to play in the game.

If you were the Saskatchewan coach, what would you do?  Would you kick the field goal, tying the score and leaving 20 seconds to Toronto to score again - and hope that your defense could stop them and that you would get lucky during the overtime frame?  Or would you try to take a bit more time off the clock before kicking a field goal, so there would be almost no chance for Toronto to score again?  The way Saskatchewan had been playing all day, there was no hesitation.  They decided to try one more play before kicking the field goal.  Worst case, they'd have an incomplete pass, and then kick the field goal.

Surprisingly, Saskatchewan caught everyone off guard and threw a beautiful pass into the end zone, knowing that the pass would be caught for the winning touchdown, or dropped - forcing the field goal.  Guess what?  There was a third possible outcome... the ball was intercepted by Toronto (their first interception of the game), and all of a sudden, the improbable last minute comeback was complete.  The underdog Toronto Argonauts beat Saskatchewan.

This was Saskatchewan's second straight improbable loss in the championship game - where they had been the odds-on favourite to win both times.

I have to admit, that game's second half was the most exciting football I've witnessed in a very long time.  Who knows?  Next year, I may actually watch the whole game!

Dazed and Depressed

I just looked through a few of my favourite blog posts. Like the one from July 2004 that showed a happy picture of my dad before he got sick and passed away.

The picture was gone. It was one of the casualties of my ISP's purge of web space accounts. The photo is also on my phone, so I know I have at least one good backup. That's the problem. I do full computer backups every day - and have been doing so for over 20 years.

Because I have so many backups, I sometimes purge files from my computer to make more room - knowing the files have been backed up, somewhere.

I'm not panicking about this particular sentimental file. But there may be others that are harder to find.

It just hit me as I was about to publish this post. My oldest backups were made with old backup programs that are no longer published and/or not compatible with Windows 10. Now I'm starting to panic.

P.S.  It's my wedding anniversary today.

Entertainment Tonight Returns

Within two hours of waking up, I had purchased and installed a new UPS for the Living Room.  'Nuff said.

It's Karma

There's no other explanation.  Within the past 36 hours, two of the material objects I use most have gone kaput.  First, it was my car - which lit the "engine service" indicator while I was driving to an appointment.

It was already Monday evening, so I couldn't bring it to the dealer.  But, I did call for a Tuesday appointment.  After charging me $150.00 to run a diagnostic, they told me the oxygen sensor in my engine was shot.  I could opt for a repair, or I could wait, since that sensor is used to optimize the air/fuel ratio but the car will still run without the repair.  I declined the repair, since I don't really have spare funds at the moment.

Fast forward to a few moments ago.  As I turned on my TV, my entertainment system's UPS decided to die.  The upshot is it caused the currently recording program to be interrupted, rebooted my DVR and there is *no* control on the box that allowed me to shut off the alarm.  So, I had to unplug it - putting all my equipment out of service.

So now, I'm wondering what I did to deserve this punishment.  Nothing really comes to mind.  Am I being paranoid?  The fact that I'm asking should be a clue.

I may be able to live without a fuel-optimized vehicle, but there's no way I can go a day without my entertainment system.  Today will be an expensive day!

UPDATE:

After posting this message, I noticed that my blog page looked like crap.  I thought it was because Google has recently forced the content to be https (secure), and that might be the reason why all the graphics disappeared.  But NO, it's not Google's fault.  Instead, it's my Internet Service Provider, who in their infinite wisdom decided to delete the web hosting space associated with my email accounts.  Tech support says I was sent a notice by (snail) mail.  I didn't get it.  Nor, apparently, did the other people who have been posting on internet forums about the sudden (and IRRETRIEVABLE) disappearance of their files.

Yup.  It's Karma.

My blog has never been popular (unless you can call an average of one visitor a month popular) and was never meant to be.  But, without the humorous pieces of goodness collected over the past 16 years and stored on my web storage, there may not be much point in continuing this project.

UPDATE #2:

There are too many memories here to abandon the project, but my graphics and templates were all erased by my Internet Provider.  So, as of today, August 23, 2017, I'll be trying to find a new theme I like, and over time, maybe I can recover some of the humorous snippets that made this blog unique to me.

I feel taller

I feel taller

I'm experiencing a sensation akin to vertigo, but less severe.  When standing and looking down at the floor, I feel like that distance is greater than it was yesterday.  Sitting behind the wheel of my car, the steering wheel is further away, as is the instrument cluster and the windshield.

For the first time in 35 years, I'm viewing the world without glasses.  Even three weeks ago, when I got my first cataract removed from my non-dominant eye, I still wore my glasses because I needed perfect vision through my dominant eye.  Yesterday, the dominant eye had its cataract removed, and now, I can no longer wear my glasses.

Without the magnification of those lenses, objects seem a bit smaller - a bit further away.  The ground seems further away when I'm standing, giving me the illusion of increased height.

In anticipation of that second surgery, I bought a dollar store pair of reading glasses with a slight magnification, just so I could read small print.  But, once my eyes heal from the surgeries, I will be happy to get a fresh pair of bi-focal glasses - to clear up my astigmatism and give me the ability to see properly at a distance and close up without putting on and taking off glasses.

Virtual Reality SNAFU

Virtual Reality SNAFU

This was so funny, I couldn't resist putting it in the blog.  Some day in the distant future, I'll come across this post, and it will make me laugh all over again.

Have you ever stood in front of your bathroom mirror and then placed another mirror behind you?  What you get is a seemingly endless stream of identical images.

Apparently, a 6-year old girl in Dallas Texas asked her "Alexa" to play dollhouse with her.  Sweet, isn't it?  Well, Alexa ended up ordering an expensive dollhouse and one other weird item from Amazon!

This, of course, was not the intended response, so the child's parents reported this to their local news outlet.  When the news outlet reported the story, several Alexa owners who were tuned into the news broadcast reported that their Alexa units overheard the TV and responded by ordering the same dollhouse!

FUD - the enemy of reason

FUD - the enemy of reason

This entire election cycle, and its aftermath, has been tainted by FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt).  The US intelligence apparatus has gone out of its way in attempting to "prove" that Russia was behind the hacks of the the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and have concluded that may have indirectly resulted in a Trump win.

Let me start by saying that I am not privy to the complete information in the hands of the intelligence community.  However, I am involved in computer security as a profession, and some of the claims I've been hearing about the "proof" are laughable.  Some of the "evidence" in their possession has been made public.  No doubt, more will be made public in due course to help shore up their conclusions.

Based on what has been released to the public, here's what can be said:

1. The software used to "hack" the DNC was written by a hacker in the Ukraine (the Ukraine is *not* Russia).
2. The software was written several years ago and is an old variant that has been circulating for years in the open market - i.e. you can go online and get this software yourself - it is *not* the product of a spy agency
3. The IP addresses identified by the intelligence community as being the "attack points" are not Russian
4. Claims that a Vermont power station was infected by this virus turned out to be untrue, and were reported as being untrue in a recent news release

As further "proof" that the Russians were involved, news reports today reported that the Russians were overheard "celebrating" Trump's victory.  Well, I imagine that people in Israel are also celebrating the victory.  Does that make them responsible for Clinton losing the election?

Let me be clear... since I don't have all the information available to the intelligence community, I cannot say with absolute certainty that Russia did *not* have anything to do with the hacking.  All I can say is that the evidence released thus far does not prove Russia's involvement.

Information for this post came from a series of articles on the WordFence blog.

Winning the battle and losing the war

Winning the battle and losing the war

I rarely watch football games.  And when I do, it's usually the disappointing Detroit Lions that have me perpetually hoping.

Yesterday, I caught the fourth quarter of the Ravens / Steelers game.  The Ravens needed a win to help their playoff chances.  The Steelers, with a win, would guarantee a playoff spot.

With just over a minute to play, the Ravens were trailing the Steelers by three points, had a third down with one yard to go on the Steeler's 10 yard line, and had the momentum required to tie or win the game.

I'm sure the Ravens' strategy was to burn as much of the clock as possible by getting that first down, and running down the clock to the point where they would either score the winning touchdown or at worst, score the tying field goal with no time left to play.

Instead, the Ravens got a "heroic" second and even third effort from Kyle Juszcyzk on that third down play, and somehow, he found his way to the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.

With that touchdown, the Ravens handed Ben Roethlisberger the ball with 1:38 on the clock, and the rest, as they say, is history.

To be fair, Juszcyzk did what players are supposed to do.  Play hard, strive for the goal line, and put forth that extra effort.  But sometimes, players need to have a better situational awareness of the game, and sacrifice their own personal glory for the overall benefit of the team.  Had Juszcyzk gotten the first down and not scored on that play, odds are the Ravens would have eventually scored and won the game.  But, we'll never know for sure.

That's fast

That's fast

Computers can work with very big numbers, and large computers (a.k.a. supercomputers) can do things the mind cannot comprehend.

I just took a look at the latest list of the world's fastest supercomputers.  The fastest is from China.  The second is also from China.  Third place goes to the United States.

What makes this list so fascinating is that the fastest is three times quicker than number two.  And number two is twice as fast as number three.  From that point, capabilities of individual computers relative to their nearest competitor is measured in a few percentage points.

So, just how fast is the fastest supercomputer?

Let's see if I can put it into perspective.  The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second!  There are 5,280 feet in a mile, so the speed of light is 982,080,000 feet per second.  Express that in inches, and the speed of light is 11,784,960,000 inches per second!  That's nearly 12 billion inches per second.

How fast is the fastest supercomputer?  Speeds of supercomputers are measured in the number of mathematical computations they can perform in a single second.

The fastest supercomputer is capable of performing  93,014,600,000,000,000 calculations per second.  I'm not sure how to pronounce that number, but it's over 93,000 trillion calculations per second.

That's fast.  Of course, there is no single computer that can run that fast.  Supercomputers are built by combining many individual computers into a cluster that shares computational duties among themselves.  The fastest supercomputer has a cluster of 10,649,600 individual computers working in unison.

Using computers of this speed, is it any wonder that some scientists believe computers can be programmed to mimic human behaviour, or break any password you might be able to come up with?

I wonder if any of the security analysts in the "western world" are concerned that China's fastest computer is six times faster than the "western world's" fastest computer?  Are you?

Is this what it feels like to have alzheimer's

Is this what it feels like to have alzheimer's

Right this minute, as I write this post, I am suffering from memory loss.  Hopefully, it's fleeting.

One sentence into this post, I've already changed what I wanted to say, because the words to express what I'm really feeling elude me.  I was in the middle of reading an online news story on the Canadian Jewish News website about a Water-themed art exhibit in my home town.  The photo accompanying the story showed many members of the community - virtually all who are familiar to me.

And I couldn't remember a single person's name.  I have this memory trick for remembering names.  I close my eyes, and go through the entire alphabet, visualizing people's names as if they appeared in a Rolodex.  It never fails to work - if I don't remember someone's name (assuming I was familiar with them - not just a casual acquaintance) this method always works.

Indeed, it worked today as well.  But working your way through the alphabet is only useful if you're trying to remember one or two names.  This photo featured nearly 20 people, most of whom I should know, and the names just weren't popping into my head.

In the time it has taken me to get this far in the post, my memory has returned.  Even though I'm not looking at the photo, the images are now coming to me, including everyone's name.

That was scary.

Trumped up charges

Trumped up charges

Before I begin, let me confess I am a right-leaning Liberal.  What does that mean, exactly?  It means I agree with elements of both Liberal and Conservative political agendas.  I want a government that will not let me go wanting for the necessities of life (and I include government paid healthcare in that definition).  While I personally don't agree with a woman choosing to have an abortion, I do believe it's her right to decide that for herself.

I believe in the American's constitutional right to bear arms, but don't think that should include all classes of arms.

So, you get the idea.

When Donald Trump announced he was running as a Republican candidate, I chuckled.  Like so many others, I felt he didn't have the experience, grace and wisdom to be successful.  And like so many others, I was proven wrong.

After eight years of milktoast Democratic leadership, I wanted the Republicans to win the election.  And as I saw Trump defeating all other comers one-by-one, I hoped he would regain his sanity and unite the Republican party going foward toward the election.

You may remember, earlier in the primary season, when Trump declared he might run as an independent if he didn't win the Republican nomination.  And then he signed a pledge stating he would not run as an independent after all.  Despite winning the Republican nomination, it could be said that Trump has decided to run as an independent regardless.  How else do you explain his audacious behaviour and total lack of concern at the embarrassment he is causing within his own party?

We are at a point in history where the US needs a "crazy man" at the helm - much like the tough-talking Ronald Reagan who saved the US from the humiliation of the Carter presidency.  I just don't know if Donald Trump is too crazy for the role as commander in chief of the deadliest army on the planet.

Believe it or not, I still want Trump to win - that's just how disillusioned I am with the prospect of Hillary Clinton in the Whitehouse.  Still, although history is mostly against the probability of a democratic presidential hopeful succeeding a two-term democratic incumbent, having Donald Trump as the alternative tends to cancel that improbability.

This will certainly be the strangest and most entertaining election of my lifetime.  God help us all - no matter who wins!

Chevy Malibu Commercial Should be Pulled

Chevy Malibu Bait-and-Switch Commercials Should Be Banned

Chevrolet has been running "real people - not actors" commercials for the past few months.  The one featuring kids who are pleased to learn that Chevy cross-overs have individual wi-fi capabilities for seven passengers is SO FAKE.  How many times will you find a group of kids who will say in unison "Oh my GOSH"?  Yea, right...

But by far the most annoying and frankly dishonest commercial being aired lately is the one about the Chevy Malibu.  There are two variants.  In one, a car without any badging is being shown to "real people" who, based on the features, try to guess the manufacturer and price.  In the other variant, the announcer shows a Chevy Malibu to a group of people, who are very impressed with the feature set.

In both variants, one of the real people after discovering all these features says "... and it sells for?" to which the narrator replies "It starts at $23,495" at which point one incredulous member of the group exclaims "What!!??" and another says "Wow!!!".

Well, those people should be incredulous, because the car shown to the group actually costs $35,345 (plus lots of additional expenses - like taxes, licensing and other fees).  This actual cost is revealed in the small print on the screen and is more than 50% higher than the price quoted by the narrator.

Unfortunately, there is nothing illegal about this ad, since the actual "price as shown" is displayed in the ad.  What is offensive is the narrator's extremely misleading answer to the very direct question "... and it sells for?".

Ford Motor Company, to its credit, has decided that their advertisements will feature vehicles that include commonly requested features and option packages, and the prices they display in the ads will be for the vehicle as shown.  That is a commendable step.  I hope it gains the respect and admiration of the viewing public.  Who knows... this may start a trend where prices for goods and services will actually be accurately depicted in ads.  Wouldn't that be refreshing!

Nationalism and the Race for American President

Nationalism and the Race for American President

The news this past week has been about Senator Cruz and the fact he was born in Canada.  While most believe that the idea of a "natural citizen" includes not only those people born in the US, but also those who were born outside the US but to a U.S. citizen; there is still some question about whether those born outside the country should be allowed to run for office.

As a non-American, I have no say in their politics, but I do have an opinion about this.  First, let's examine why this is an issue at all.  At the time of the U.S. becoming a nation, they were under the thumb of the British.  The framers of the constitution reasoned that a person born in the U.S. (or at least, born of U.S. parents) is assumed to be free of the influences of a foreign government.  There were other provisions to cover the initial period of American Constitutional Law (in other words, at the time the U.S. became a nation, nobody had been born in the "U.S.").  So, anyone who had been born in the "colonies" was considered a natural-born U.S. citizen.

Let's get back to something more recent.  Senator Cruz was born in Canada, and I think his family moved to the U.S. when he was four years old.  His mother was born in the U.S., making Ted Cruz a U.S. citizen by birth.  However, since he was born in Canada, and Canada allows dual citizenship, he actually maintained his Canadian citizenship until renouncing it in 2014.  From what I've read, most constitutional experts agree that Cruz is eligible to run for president.

Now, consider three "what-if" scenarios.

What if Cruz (or any candidate) was born in a country unfriendly to the U.S.  What if he had been born in Russia, or Iran, or Cuba - still to a U.S. born mother?  And what if he had moved to the U.S. at the age of 20 (instead of age 4)?  According to the U.S. laws, he would still have been considered a natural born American; and providing he had a minimum of 14 years of residency in the U.S. and was at or above the age of 35 (those last two items both being requirements to serve as president) he would be just as eligible to run for President as he is now (a Canadian born, who has been a resident of the U.S. since age 4).

Here's another scenario.  What if Ted Cruz had been born in the U.S. to non-U.S. citizens?  And what if those non-U.S. citizens were spies for an unfriendly foreign government and had been grooming their child for just such an intrusion into the government?  According to current rules, Cruz would be totally eligible to run (having been born in the U.S. and lived here for more than 14 years)?  Although not spies, this second scenario does fit the parentage of a second contender for President:  Senator Marco Rubio.

My final scenario pertains to future lands that become part of the United States.  Prior to Alaska and Hawaii becoming states of the union (both of these happening during my lifetime), would persons born in those places *before* amalgamation with the U.S. have been considered eligible to run for President?  How is this applied for future lands that may become part of the U.S.?

What I'm trying to point out is that the rules for eligibility for President have very little to do with the "qualifications" and "personality" necessary to be an effective leader.  Maybe some day, these rules will be replaced with more reasonable requirements - such as basic citizenship and a declared allegiance to the country.  Time will tell.

Garmin vs. TomTom

Garmin vs. TomTom - an epic battle

For the longest time, I used TomTom GPS units.  What I loved about them is that you could make corrections to the maps.  Some of those changes (like correcting turn restrictions, changing speed limits, etc.) could be made immediately effective, while other changes (like adding new road segments) wouldn't show up on the map, but the modifications would be communicated to TomTom's office each time you connected the unit to your computer.  Another thing I liked about TomTom is the relative accuracy of the street name pronunciations.

Unfortunately, with the introduction of "hands-free" driving laws, I was forced to switch to Garmin, which had the ability to listen to my spoken commands and start navigation without me ever needing to touch the unit.  Garmin's pronunciation of street names is passable, but can be annoying.  I happen to live on a street whose name it does not pronounce properly, so I am annoyed daily.

Even more annoying is the lack of correction capabilities.  You cannot make changes to anything on the device other than points of interest.  If a speed limit or even a traffic routing is incorrect, there's nothing I can do about it.

By far the most annoying part of the Garmin, however, is that map updates, despite being posted quarterly, don't seem to update roads in my city with any regularity.  For example, there's an exit on one of the local highways that has been in existence for about 10 years.  I think it only appeared on Garmin's last update following a half-dozen emails from me over the years to the company.  And there's another system of highways that has been under construction for the past four years.  Portions of the highway have been open to motorists for quite some time, while the remaining portion was just recently opened.  None of these roadways are on my Garmin device.

TomTom, on the other hand, delivered an update today which includes the complete new highway.

I cannot afford to buy even the least expensive voice-activated TomTom.  Meanwhile, my voice-activated Garmin cost me less than $150.00.  If TomTom were to come up with an affordable voice-activated unit, I would switch back in a heartbeat.

So, come on, TomTom.  Win me back.  I'm ready when you are.

Things to do while sick

Things to do while sick

I'm still sick.  I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I have a ways to go.  The antibiotic I was on didn't seem to be fighting my infection, so I went back to the doctor yesterday with the goal of getting a different type.

A little background is needed here.  I had an infection more than a year ago that required an antibiotic, and the first medicine didn't do the trick.  The replacement medication was amazing and kicked the crap out of whatever had taken hold of me.

So, on my way to the doctor, I stopped by my pharmacist (whose dispensary is in the same building as the doctor's office) to ask which medication I had originally been prescribed last year; and which medication had been used as a replacement.

I was able to confirm that the medication I was on now, was the same one that had failed last year.  With this knowledge, and the name of the medication that worked last time, I got the new medication.  I'm only two doses in, and already can feel my body getting better.  I'm glad I didn't wait until the end of my original prescription to go back.

Sensitivity to commercials

I use a PVR to record programs for future viewing.  I can avoid most commercials that way.  Today, sitting home sick with a lung infection, I was watching the Hillary Clinton Benghazi hearings, live on CNN.  A commercial aired about a product called Opdivo.  Opdivo is a drug that is prescribed to patients who have been fighting various cancers, where chemotherapy is not doing the job.  This very upbeat commercial proudly proclaims that Opdivo was able to "reduce the risk of dying by 41% during a clinical trial".  That sounds amazing until you read the fine print (half the patients were still alive at 9.2 months, vs. only 6 months for chemotherapy).  Potential side effects are monstrous (including death itself).  As a recently approved drug, I'm certain it's expensive and equally certain that few, if any, insurance plans would already be providing coverage.  I can't even imagine the mindset of someone SO DESPERATE for a few more weeks of life that they would consider using this drug.

If you haven't seen the commercial, you can catch it online here:  http://tinyurl.com/opdivo-ispot

When it rains, it pours

When it rains, it pours

Yes, I'm still alive.  Haven't had much to talk about in quite a while.  It's not that nothing is happening, it's just nothing I choose to share.

Right now, I'm trying to make it through a nasty bout of a cold with other complications.  The coughing has been continuous... to the point where it has triggered a long dormant asthma condition.  I managed to drag myself to a doctor today, where I was given antibiotics for the lung infection, an inhaler for asthma, and a prescription strength cough syrup.

So, after all these months, why did I choose this moment to post?

Things have been very slow with my business.  I'm not earning enough to pay the bills.  Thankfully, I do have a government pension plan payment each month that helps, but I'm still falling behind.

During the last two days when I've been totally unable to function and don't want to risk infecting anyone by going out, I have received SIX requests for service.  To put that into perspective, I have not had a total of six service calls over the past two months!

I only hope that these clients can wait until next week, when hopefully, I'll be well enough to provide service.

The power of negative thought

The power of negative thought

Since just before Christmas, I've had nothing but negative thoughts.  You see, the most important person in my life was going through a very rough time, and all I could do to support her was think *negative*.

On Tuesday, a full four weeks after the scare of her life, she got the news - and the results were NEGATIVE.

Thank you, G-d, for taking good care of her for me.

Proof of G-d

Proof of G-d

I believe in G-d.  My belief is absolute and unapologetic.  I'm not some whacko that thinks G-d is speaking to me.  But, I do know that he is looking out for me.  Today, he provided me with yet another example of his watchful eye.

I was driving on a highway, approaching an intersection.  I had a green light and was traveling about 10km faster than the posted limit.  Oncoming traffic also had a green light, and one of the oncoming drivers, who was stopped in the left-turn lane waiting for traffic to clear, decided to turn onto the side street while I was approaching him.  I probably would not have taken that chance, given the circumstances.  Fortunately, he completed his turn safely (but with little room to spare).

Unfortunately, the idiotic driver behind him decided he could follow - and also attempted the same turn without checking traffic.  An accident was unavoidable.  With only two car lengths between my car and the side of his SUV, I was preparing for the crash, staring at the face of his terrified passenger who, no doubt, was seeing his life flash before his eyes.

A combination of quick reflexes, the fact that my car was small and nimble, and particularly the brand new rubber on the road allowed a miraculous stop; literally inches from his SUV.  Physics would dictate that such a short stop was not possible.  The look of amazement in the face of the driver stopped for the red light on the side street who witnessed this event confirmed what I already knew... it was a miracle that an accident had not occurred.

I didn't honk my horn.  I didn't follow the idiotic driver for the purpose of confronting him about his life-threatening decision.  I simply continued on my way, grateful that nobody had been following behind me - lest I be the one critically injured by being hit from behind.

Thank G-d!

I'm almost tired

I'm almost tired

See that?  A play on words.  Tomorrow, I finally have an appointment to get my new tires - just in time for winter.

In reality though, I'm already tired.  I spend most days waiting for the phone to ring, hoping to have enough clients to get me through each month.  There are two types of "self employed" - those that have a thriving business, and those that do whatever they can to avoid starvation.  I'm in the latter camp.

I'm not depressed, per se; just really disillusioned.  When 9-11 happened, I was already approaching that "invisible line" where IT people are considered "over the hill".  Having decided several years earlier to leave a reasonably secure job in my hometown to pursue a better-paying position at a prestigious company within commuting distance just across the border, I didn't foresee any event that would result in me losing that job.  The thickening of the border after the terrorist attacks created a situation that still has an impact on cross-border commuting to this day.  Not only did commuting during the immediate days, weeks and months become increasingly difficult; but the economy itself was affected, resulting in a significant downsizing of my employer's operations.  And I was one of those deemed "expendable".

It took many months to find employment, and when I did finally find a company willing to hire an "older" worker in an IT capacity, it was for far less than I had been accustomed to earning.  Far less, in fact, than the salary I had been earning prior to leaving my stable employment to seek fame and fortune across the border.  And then, that job disappeared with the sale of the company to a competitor.

I have few regrets in life.  Leaving a company I really loved and helped succeed was one of them.  I hadn't realized that I had been slated to fulfill a VP-level position in that organization - a fact I discovered during my farewell party.  In hindsight, sticking with them would have been the best solution - and I would have never accepted a position elsewhere had I known about the catastrophic event that would happen less than five years later.

As I approach the nine-year anniversary of my own small business, I guess I should be happy it's still in existence.  I haven't lost hope that things will improve, but I would prefer to see that happen sooner than later.

And now, I'm off to help another client.

What a month

What a month

Just 30 days ago, I posted a picture of a rocket from Gaza that had landed in Israel.  I mentioned that this would be the start of something.  Well, it's been one heck of a month.  My opinions on the current goings-on are too charged to be put in print.  I'll just say that I'm one who believes that the current situation will not be stabilized until Hamas lacks the capability to continue attacking Israel.

And quickly on to another topic.  I was channel surfing when I happened upon an old talk show on Comedy Central, and tuned in just in time to hear the guest replying to a comment about her recent change in dating status.

Her response was:  yeah, it's difficult to break up these days... having to change your status on myspace...

Hearing that, I had to go look up the episode to see how old it was.  It dated back to May, 2007.  I believe Facebook started up in 2005, so, two years later, myspace was still the "it" location.  How quickly things have changed...