Pardon our Progress

How about a little behind-the-scenes peek at the Ol’ Machine over here?  Squeezed in between my voluminous amount of work, the cleaning up that desperately needs to get done at the house, and my fantasy draft, I’ve actually been working on ways to improve the website.

First of all, I’m trying to incorporate an e-mail subscription list.  Some of you may have received e-mails from my first attempt, but I didn’t like the result.  Eventually, I’ll have a field on the site that you can send me your e-mail, thereby always receiving a note when the latest brilliance has been put out there by Yours Truly.  Unfortunately, my website provider is having trouble with their applications right now, so it’s still in the early stages.

And don’t worry about having your e-mail sold to some unscrupulous spammer.  First of all, my entire readership is personal friends and family, so that wouldn’t go over to well at Thanksgiving.  Secondly, I wouldn’t know who to sell them to in order to get me some sweet, sweet cash.  So you’re safe … for now!

I’m also working on a new method of posting to the site.  I won’t bore you with the technical details, but I’m hoping this method will allow me to provide a slightly more visually stimulating presentation than my previous work.  We’ll see how that goes.

As far as the content, who knows?  If you want to get a sneak peek into where I’ll be going with the website, take a look at my brainstorming notes below:

 

(Click on the image to get the Big Picture.)

Until next time,

The Jim

Olympic Review #4: Musings

In my ongoing review of the Olympics, I've decided to scrap the "Sport vs. Not a Sport" format. First of all, it takes too long to write. Secondly, it's incredibly boring to read. So, here are some of my musings after watching the action in Beijing so far:


1. Have you heard of this Michael Phelps guy? It's been an underreported story, but apparently he won quite a few swimming competitions. I'm not sure how many ... I probably need to look that up.

I mean, I understand the guy is impressive, and he's a great athlete, etc., etc. But Greatest Olympian ever? I think we're going overboard here. The guy competes in a sport that gives out Olympic medals like their Cracker Jack prizes. There are 17 swimming medal events for men. In ALL of track and field (which includes the marathon and all of the throwing events) there are 23 medals! The guy essentially did two things: swim the butterfly exceedingly well, and swim the other strokes well enough to win the medley.

Is this better than Alexander Karelin, who was so dominant as a wrestler that people forfeited rather than take the risk of getting injured? (Probably so.) Is it better than Nadia Comaneci and the first Olympic Perfect 10? (Absolutely - that's not a sport!) Is it really better than Jesse Owens, who won 4 gold medals while going against Hitler and the racist head of his own American team? (Maybe? I kinda doubt it.)

Is it better than Carl Lewis? No Way!

Carl Lewis won medals in 4 Olympics! Not only that, he would have won another in 1980, if our genius president at the time hadn't boycotted the Moscow games. He won in the 100m and the 200m, as well as the long jump. He managed to be the best in the world at two COMPLETELY different track disciplines. Track doesn't hand out 5 different 100m medals like swimming ... you get one! Sure, Michael Phelps is a bad ass ... just don't tell me he's unquestionably the best Olympian ever.

2. I watch trampolining last night. That's right - trampolining!! I've watched some absurd crap during the Olympics, but this was amazing. Personally, I thought every competitor should have been required to make this sound during every jump.


3. Whenever I started my look at the modern mockery of the Olympics, it was basically because this cheese-sniffing, beret-wearing jerk decided that baseball and softball weren't worthy of being in the Olympics. Part of the reason is that the Olympic Committee is dominated by Europeans, and none of them are seemingly able to swing a bat. There was some perception that these were strictly American sports, despite the fact that Japan, Korea, Australia, and every Latin American country plays them.

My question would be: why the hell is Ping Pong still in the Olympics? First of all, it's no more a sport than foosball, pool, or darts! If you can play it in your Dad's rec room, I don't think it meets the IT'S A SPORT standard. Secondly, NO ONE but China is any good at it. Every freaking gold medal match I've seen has been China Vs. China.

Apparently, according to wine-swilling Frenchmen, if a totalitarian Communist regime that runs over its own citizens in tanks completely controls a sport, that's fine. If the fat Americans run the show, though, that has to go. I'm still shocked basketball is in the Olympics at this point. True, Europeans love it, but it still has the stink of American all over it.

4. Speaking of China, apparently the greatest country in the world was more than willing to allow protests, as long as people filed an application. According to this story, there have been 77 applications. Want to guess how many applications were approved? China's so great!

Well, I've got the gold medal basketball game paused downstairs, so I'm going to go watch us hopefully crush the Spaniards. Of course, I'll also be working at the same time, as I've brought work home this weekend.

Hey! That's why they pay me the small bucks!

Until next time,
The Jim

Back to the Grind

Well, I've finally gotten through my work deadline, and I've also gotten back from my brief trip to see the family, so I'm out of excuses. I'm back to 3 blogs a week or bust! Hopefully I still have one or two readers left.

Over the weekend, I had a filling fall out. My tooth was all jagged and kept rubbing my tongue. It hurt a little, although it was never real bad. So, when I got back into town, I went to our dentist. I had never been to this guy before, but he was exceptional. He not only had the digital x-rays, but he also was able to take pictures of my tooth so I could actually see what he was talking about.

Well, turns out I was wrong. The old silver filling from my childhood was still in the tooth. Over the years, however, the filling separated some from the tooth, and decay was able to form underneath the filling. What I had felt happen was in fact the outer edge of my tooth fracturing off!!

Well, now I've go a temporary crown, and I'll be putting on the real crown in a couple of weeks. The temporary crown is cool, as it's stainless steel. It looks like I'm Jaws from James Bond.

My point to this story, however, was a realization I had while I was enjoying the lovely smell of ground tooth coming from my mouth. Every now and then, I try to determine what other career I should have tried. I don't have the temperament for the law, and it requires far too much research for my lazy mindset. Medical school could't happen because I'm too squeamish. Besides, the pressure of having someone's life in my hands was too much for me. Business school never seemed substantive to me.

Dental school, though ... why didn't I ever think of that? You make great money, and it's a respected profession. It requires some thought and intelligence, but you don't get bogged down in one project or case for extended periods of time. You own your own business, people have to call you "doctor," you get access to x-ray machines if you want to see what's inside your Christmas present - what's not to love?

Now, I've come to realize that I share a lot in common in thought and behavior with most engineers, and so I was probably destined to end up here. After my appointment today, though, I'm confident that I COMPLETELY dropped the ball. I should have been Dr. Jim, D.D.S.!

Ah well, who knew?

Until next time,
The Jim

P.S. He wrote me a prescription for Hydrocodone, so I'm going to be high as a kite tonight!!

The Slacking Continues

Honestly, I promise I haven't forgotten about this thing! I managed to recover from the illness just in time to hit a hefty deadline at the office. Yeah, yeah, I know ... excuses, excuses, excuses! Unfortunately, for the last few weeks, I barely ever find time to do the things I need to do (like fix up the house or exercise), much less the things I want to do (like write or learn the Ninja Death Touch).

I suppose if I had my dream job of Millionaire Comic Book Writer this wouldn't be an issue. Alas, my current job as Low-Level Engineer with a Closet for an Office is not as accommodating.

My wife is currently on a trip with her mother, grandmother, and her 2 chatty great-aunts. They went to the east coast of Florida - roughly a 1,100 mile trip. Did I mention that they all went together in a Honda Civic!! Needless to say, I don't feel bad I missed out on this little jaunt!

I'll make an effort to get back on a regular schedule. I've got about 5 separate posts half-completed, but just haven't had the time to finish them out. (Why is it that all of my recent posts sound like I'm making excuses for forgetting my homework?)

Until next time,
The Jim

Yuck!

Well, I had a few things I wanted to post this weekend. Unfortunately, I've managed to get sick. I think my recent trip to our neighborhood pool has managed to give me an ear infection. I can't hear, my head constantly hurts, and I feel sick to my stomach. It's a joy!

I'll be back to posting on my regular, infrequent basis just as soon as I feel better.

Until next time,

The Jim