Moving yet again

We are so excited for the move this weekend.

No, not to another state! We are moving about 45 miles north of Normal, to one of the three towns in my school district, Lacon.

Just very excited to be in a house, finally. And I will not have that long commute anymore.

I will even be coaching volleyball again in the fall because I will be close and in-district.

Excited about the move, yet hate moving. Friday will be the tough day and then it is all settling in from there.

Outrage over Arlen Specter

I've been thinking about this for weeks.



The GOP, specifically Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in an email (4/28/09) newsletter, "Arlen Specter has put his loyalty to his own political career above his duty to his state and nation."

The newsletter also says, "As recently as April 9th, Senator Specter said he would run in the Pennsylvania primary next year as a Republican."

I don't care what Arlen Specter does. He's not my Senator. However, I do think that he is wrong for changing parties in the middle of a term.



I honestly think that is dirty. That is wrong. If he wanted to change--fine. But he needed to wait until the next election cycle. He needs to go through the primary with full disclosure.



I believe the people of that state have a class action lawsuit on their hands--either fraud or bait-and-switch.



Many times when I have voted, I have been able to vote strictly by party--in fact, in many places, you cannot vote in the primary of another party. Also, how many times have people voted without really knowing who was who and voting strictly along party lines? I admit to this, especially on some of those "lesser" elections, like judges or comptrollers, where there is a dearth of information even in local papers. I am willing to bet that some people in that state voted for Specter solely based on party.


So voting for one party clearly does not mean anything anymore if the person can switch in the middle.



Which brings up my own little conspiracy theory--what if one party decided to run "moles" in each primary? Especially in smaller venues? If they put personable people in both primaries or elections, win, and then change later?



Scary, ain't it?



I just think the whole thing lessens and cheapens the vote. If I vote for someone based on their stances, and they switch their agenda in the middle of a term, I believe that to be wrong. If the President got up today and said he was becoming Republican, I would welcome outrage. It just isn't right.



Even if the politician voted for issues differently than constituents expected based on party affiliations, that's fine. That's understandable to vote singly on separate issues. But you don't change your whole party affiliation in the middle of a term. It's not right and I believe that those constituents have a class action bait-and-switch lawsuit.

http://www.gop.com/

Which one? Kindle or Reader?

I just don't know which one to get. Which do I save for? I really really want one of these babies.

It's because I know there are all sorts of free books out there. Legitimately free. Places like Gutenberg and Munseys (formerly Blackmask) have all the copyright-expired books and texts out there. I'd never have to buy a book again!

So I need to figure out a way to save about $350 and not dip into our budget...How?

They don't have a clue

You know what pisses me off?

Tonight, the SciFi Channel is playing two James Bond movies, Tomorrow Never Dies and Live and Let Die.

These are good movies. I love James Bond. Not only do I watch the movies but I read the novels (the new non-Fleming ones too). But putting these on SciFi?

There is so much good science fiction out there that they never play. Old Doctor Who, Space:1999, old Lost in Space...flipping any old science fiction, any new science fiction. And, hey, REAL science fiction, not those strange monster-attack movies they make that I just never want to see.

SciFi, Dammit!

Save Arecibo

Arecibo Observatory, the world's largest radio telescope and the source for the SETI@home data that your computer analyzes, faces massive budget cuts that will END its ability to continue the search for life beyond Earth. The decision to ensure full funding currently rests upon votes in Congress on Senate Bill S.2862 and House Resolution H.R. 3737. These bills desperately need more support.

Please take a moment to help us SAVE ARECIBO. Clicking the link below will direct you to a web page that allows you to print out letters prepared for your Senators and Congressional Representative urging them to support Arecibo. Printing and mailing the letters is really easy, too! You will also have the chance to add a few personal thoughts, if you wish, to let your Senators and Representative know why this funding is important to you! And if you're really feeling passionate about saving Arecibo, please use these letters as the basis for letters you write yourself, urging your congressmen and women to vote to save Arecibo. Because our representatives in Congress rarely give much attention to all the email they receive, printing out and MAILING these letters via standard U.S.Postal mail remains our best option for contacting them and our best hope forsaving Arecibo (The second best option is to call your representatives). Your stamps on these letters could help us get the millions of dollars needed to save Arecibo. Our search cannot continue without the necessary support. Your work, as SETI@home participants, represents an indispensable resource for conducting the search. Now, we need your help to ensure that our other most valuable resource- our eyes and ears to the cosmos - can continue to probe the universe as we seek to answer the question: Is there anybody out there?

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/arecibo_letter.php

Thank you for your help,
The SETI@home Team

Bases Loaded

BASES LOADED on the original Nintendo! I spent hours upon hours playing this game.
Look at it, though. It is so bad compared to modern day standards. Yet it was phenomenal when compared with what we were used to with Atari and Intellivision baseball games. I remember on the Intellivision game there were no fly-outs and my dad and I could routinely make a 9-3 play (right-fielder to first base) for the out.

I played my seasons with the team called Jersey. This game was not licensed by the MLB. The best hitter was "the godly" Paste, who at .467 and 60 home runs was "good for at least one homer a game (provided you can get the lumber on the ball)" (GameFAQs.com). Also there was one pitcher who I figured out some kind of in-game cheat without any codes. The pitcher was Hall and somehow I figured out there was one pitch--up-and-in switch quick to low-and-out--that I could throw every single time and get the batter to swing and miss. I routinely got 27 straight strikeouts. As a kid, I thought that if the game allowed it, considering it wasn't really a cheat code, that I could do it. Hall didn't even need to rest. This was on the original Nintendo remember, where you had to use these long drawn out codes to save the game. Hall played every game. Eventually, it got boring on the defense side of the ball. I only liked hitting. There was no post-season, either, just making it to the post-season, and then that was it.

I think I only played one season of 80 games and then was bored with it. It was one of those games that I mastered and didn't mean to. You used to be able to do that. Master a game at the highest level and it became boring. I believe I had the first 18-or-so boards of Intellivision's Burgertime memorized. I also remember some original Nintendo basketball game, also not licensed by the NBA, that I used to have to beat by 100 points, something like 110-10, in order to make it a challenge for me. Eventually, I felt stupid playing a game I was whooping on by 100 points.

So I probably should have changed my team on Bases Loaded so as not to be tempted by using Hall to pitch. But I did it a couple of times and whenever I would get into trouble I would put Hall in as the ultimate Save pitcher. I mean, I simply could not miss with that guy.

Amazingly, I still think of Bases Loaded. Doing a season was cool, just like doing my Franchise with my Gamecube Madden 2007. It is the year 2017 in my Madden right now.

One of the earliest pictures

Family friends since the beginning. The Baltas and the Butchers. The rumor is that my mom was playing her radio too loud (would've been disco, by the way) and Linda came to tell her to turn it down. They have been the closest of friends ever since. Casey and I are only a month apart. This photo was taken at Brookfield Zoo.

Hembeck

Summer vacation

Nothing doing. Doing nothing. Haven't even been online for six months. It has been refreshing.