You can't make this stuff up.

During the day on Sunday, several drives on our ERP server failed.  (translation from geek: system is down, no orders, no jobs no shipping no invoicing.. no MONEY).  Thankfully we have a 4 hr response support agreement from Hp so we call Hp support to begin the process.  After doing the triage, it was discovered that there were 3 drives that failed, so Hp needs to locate compatible drives so we can replace them and get up and running again.

Of the 3 drives, only 1 was found in the Philly area, 1 was found in the NYC area and another somewhere else in the country.  We determined we can replace the one drive and limp along until the other drives are replaced.

I drive down to Philly with my dog because I have no idea how long this will take and it would be best if she was with me.  We arrive to work about midnight to meet the Hp Tech and UPS who is delivering the drive from Philly.  To get into the building, there are 2 doors.  The outer door is locked with a key (which I have) and the inner door is locked with a swipe card.  After struggling with the alarm system, I finally gained access to the building and brought the dog (and her blanket) to my office and settled in to wait for the UPS guy to show up.

As it turns out, my timing was near perfect.  I didnt have to wait long for the UPS guy.  So my dog and I met him in the vestibule.  I needed both hands to sign for the package, so I placed the box between the door with the swipe entry and it's door jam.  (now comes the fun part)  Right at that moment as I was signing the paper, Bella decided she needed to be inside, and being a clutzy dog, knocked over the box holding the door open.  Click.  The door is now shut with me in the vestibule and the dog inside the building.  I reach into my pocket to get the swipe card... its not there!   ya see, as I was struggling with the alarm, i just shoved the card into my jacket pocket.

I was stuck!!!!  I couldn't get in the building, I had no phone to call anyone, and the Hp tech was due to arrive very soon to fix the system that neither of us can get to!  This was like a scene is a silly movie where the dog is sitting on the other side of the glass door with a mischievous smirk on her face trying to figure out in what order should she cause the most destruction.  thankfully, Bella is a very good dog.  All she did was go back to my office and curl up for a nap (as far as I know).

I am sure glad there are no hidden cameras to see what happened next.  Needless to say there was a whole lot of yelling and screaming going on knowing full well how silly it was to carry on that way, but it felt real good to let it all out.  I then made some attempts at going all black-belt on the glass panel.  I executed some real nice reverse side kicks (my speciality from my tae kwon do days).  Not a scratch.  I then remembered that all the windows were replaced with bullet-stopping glass several years back because... well ... it IS Philly after all.

So I sat and waited for the Hp guy, who showed up at 1:15.  After explaining my stupidity, he used his cell phone to call my consultant who found an employee's name in the phone book who then called someone local to let us in.  We finally got into the building at 2am.

you just can't make this stuff up.

If you can't behave, we'll take your flying priveledges away!

There are some forms of punishment that are meant to get the peers of the guilty to inflict punishment, or at least to get the peers to pressure themselves to not behave badly again. The armed forces do it... 'if one of you fail, you all do push ups till your arms fall off!' (or something like that). Or, 'If you kids can't share the tv, no one gets to watch it'.

It is now time to do the same for these asshole terrorists: 'If you swarthy middle-eastern looking men attempt to bomb another plane, there will be NO swarthy, middle-eastern men able to fly again'. Oh the outrage we'll here! The righteous indignation, the blasphemy of it all! If these people who will be outraged would spend just 10% of this energy where it belongs -- in loudly denouncing terrorism in deed as well as words -- the world would be a much better place.

But you know what?  Some swarthy, middle-eastern men could start their own airline to shuttle other swarthy middle-eastern looking men around... and let them bomb themselves.

Northwest Bomb Plot Planned by al Qaeda in Yemen - ABC News

A Great Day!!!

I Payed my mortgage today, and I feel great!  Why you may ask?

After months of being unable to pay due to a jobless lifestyle... after months of working with the banks to stave off foreclosure (and it came real close)... after months of re-negotiating rates and terms and loan modifications.... notaries and certified checks....I payed the mortgage for the 1st time since April.

Right up until last week, I was still getting notices from the banks lawyers regarding foreclosure procedures, I was getting letters from local lawyers as recently as yesterday saying 'so.. your in foreclosure... use me!'.

My anxiety level was rising to a point of physical pain.  The knot in my chest had been growing so slowly that I didn't realize how bad it was until a very close friend noticed and helped to ease it.  She didn't say anything that I didn't already know, but the way she said it was a major kick in my ass, and sometimes a person needs a slap in the face to wake them up from the funk that the person has put himself in. 

I still didn't realize why it was happening, I thought it was job related.  I had some time yesterday driving for 3 hours to think more about it.  Although the job is stressful, the thought of losing my house represented a more powerful emotional reaction.  Emotions range from being a lousy parent who can't keep a roof over his children's heads, feelings of inadequacy from being unable to meet my obligations, feelings of guilt for making poor decisions in purchasing the house in the 1st place, feelings of shame for procrastinating for not taking care of things in the proper time frame, feelings of dread of what will happen when they take my home away.

I can now understand how all of these emotions can overwhelm and devastate a person to a point of unable to live with it.  A great quote from the movie Shawshank Redemption comes to mind.... 'Get busy living, or get busy dying'.  I have made a choice:  I will get busy living.

So, this morning, i FINALLY went online to gmac to attempt to pay the mortgage thinking that I wouldn't be able to due to the foreclosure notices.  I logged in, and it allowed me to pay!!! The knot in my chest eased considerably, and now.. .I just feel stupid for not doing this sooner, and incredibly grateful for having such great friends.  The sun is shining, and I think I'll take the kids shopping for some new living room furniture to improve my home.

UPDATE:  It figures... A disk drive on my company's production ERP system failed, so I have to go to work today to meet the Hp tech so he/she can fix it.  So.. bundle up the kids and drive to Philly.  However, the knot didn't get tighter... its still a beautiful day and I'm enjoying being with my kids...no matter where we are and what we are doing.

Lets deal in facts

ICECAP

Greenhouse gases and their effects are well-known. Here are some of things we know:

• The most effective greenhouse gas is water vapor, comprising approximately 95 percent of the total greenhouse effect.

• Carbon dioxide concentration has been continually rising for nearly 100 years. It continues to rise, but carbon dioxide concentrations at present are near the lowest in geologic history.

• Temperature change correlation with carbon dioxide levels is not statistically significant.

• There are no data that definitively relate carbon dioxide levels to temperature changes.

• The greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide logarithmically declines with increasing concentration. At present levels, any additional carbon dioxide can have very little effect.

We also know a lot about Earth temperature changes:

• Global temperature changes naturally all of the time, in both directions and at many scales of intensity.

• The warmest year in the U.S. in the last century was 1934, not 1998. The U.S. has the best and most extensive temperature records in the world.

• Global temperature peaked in 1998 on the current 60-80 year cycle, and has been episodically declining ever since. This cooling absolutely falsifies claims that human carbon dioxide emissions are a controlling factor in Earth temperature.

• Voluminous historic records demonstrate the Medieval Climate Optimum (MCO) was real and that the “hockey stick” graphic that attempted to deny that fact was at best bad science. The MCO was considerably warmer than the end of the 20th century.

• During the last 100 years, temperature has both risen and fallen, including the present cooling. All the changes in temperature of the last 100 years are in normal historic ranges, both in absolute value and, most importantly, rate of change.

Contrary to many public statements:

• Effects of temperature change are absolutely independent of the cause of the temperature change.

• Global hurricane, cyclonic and major storm activity is near 30-year lows. Any increase in cost of damages by storms is a product of increasing population density in vulnerable areas such as along the shores and property value inflation, not due to any increase in frequency or severity of storms.

• Polar bears have survived and thrived over periods of extreme cold and extreme warmth over hundreds of thousands of years - extremes far in excess of modern temperature changes.

• The 2009 minimum Arctic ice extent was significantly larger than the previous two years. The 2009 Antarctic maximum ice extent was significantly above the 30-year average. There are only 30 years of records.

• Rate and magnitude of sea level changes observed during the last 100 years are within normal historical ranges. Current sea level rise is tiny and, at most, justifies a prediction of perhaps ten centimeters rise in this century.

The present climate debate is a classic conflict between data and computer programs. The computer programs are the source of concern over climate change and global warming, not the data. Data are measurements. Computer programs are artificial constructs.

The Benefits of Global Warming

I'll bet for every doom and gloom prediction that the Global Warming alarmists think up, there is a beneficial prediction that will cancel it out. Case in point, The Chunnel was shut down with passengers inside the tunnel for 15 hours:

My Way News - Eurostar train services canceled indefinitely

Services have been suspended since late Friday, when a series of glitches stranded five trains inside the Channel Tunnel and trapped more than 2,000 passengers for hours in stuffy and claustrophobic conditions. More than 55,000 passengers overall have been affected.

Some panicked passengers stayed underground for more than 15 hours without food or water, or any clear idea of what was going on - prompting outrage from travelers and a promise from Eurostar that no passenger train would enter the tunnel until the issue had been identified and fixed.

So, if there was global warming, things like this wouldn't happen anymore.... right?

Dont rob my house

What's the best way to prevent getting your house robbed?  Put out a sign on your front yard saying "I will be on vacation starting July 2011".  How will this prevent your house being robbed (at least up until July 2011)?  Why rob a house when it is occupied when you can wait until it is empty.

Our President just put that sign out in Afghanistan's front yard.  Who cares if there is 30k more troops... it may as well be 80k or 1k, it wont make a difference.  The enemy, now knowing what we'll be doing, will make the proper adjustments in their strategy.  They will hunker down and melt into the countryside, while they recruit and train and prepare for their offensive starting August 2011. 

Meanwhile, Obama claims victory because no troops are being killed fighting the enemy because we cant find the enemy.  Our troops all come home with much fanfare.  In Afghanistan, the Taliban re-asserts itself because we have really accomplished anything. Of course, our press as well as Obama ignores this.

Its no wonder our allies don't like this strategy

Why I'll never visit San Fransisco again

SF Supervisor Considers Public Gay Sex Tents | Right Wing News