I was reading the latest rant from Rachel Lucas and her warning to her dog Sunny about her upcoming bath reminded me of the dog we used to have when I was growing up.

Her name was Missy, which came about as a weird variant of “Messy” (which we called her because of the deworming she’d had before we got her from the shelter as a puppy). 

This dog had the habit of going into the nearby pasture and rolling around in cow manure.  Then she’d come home and rub up against you.  You wouldn’t realize you’d been “tagged” until you noticed the smell.  She also had a pathological hatred of baths, to the point that the mere mention of the word would send her into hiding.  I’d have to drag her out from under the table and carry her to get a bath.

I miss having a dog.

Can I say that I hate phones?  I find them very frustrating because so much context is lost.  Even normal vocal inflections can be missed, because the 4KHz bandwidth loses high and low tones.  I have to work really hard while listening on the phone; much harder, in fact, than I would talking to someone in person (even if I’m not looking at that person).  I also happen to think that this is one reason that cell phones are so distracting to people who use them while driving.

The other thing I hate is when people don’t call you back after saying that they will…

I started to post the real Friday Five to make up for my timewarp from yesterday, but after the first one I gave up.  That numeric progression trick is just too hard (i.e. I can’t think of that many damn songs).  That, and I couldn’t make up my mind on the first one (name one song you hate to admit you like).  It was a tossup between that Piña Colada song and The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald.

It seemed like I spent the whole day tilting at the windmills of bureaucracy.  Fortunately we finally prevailed and it looks like my project is going to deploy on time (it’s been a long, tough trip).  The amount of red-tape and the sheer number of obstructionist asswits that we have to deal with to get a project deployed in my company is mindboggling.  I once saw a checklist that the project manager has to follow through all phases of a project.  It was 6 or 8 pages long with well over a hundred steps that had to be followed (checklists have to be filled out, approvals obtained, review boards satiated, etc).  And almost none of this had to do with the actual technical work (like designing the system, developing it, testing it, etc).  I find it amusing in a droll sort of way that the same company that imposes all this nonsense on us also complains that it takes too long and costs too much to develop web projects.  Anyhow, if you’d seen me after the last conference call ended at 4:00 pm, I probably looked like a wreck.  I just sat there in my chair for a few minutes, slumped way down, and stared at the wall. 

But I guess I shouldn’t be too upset.  I have lots of work to do and the company seems to like having me do it.  Now that this project is wrapping up, I’ve been assigned to three new ones (but I’m hoping that we can at least consolidate two of them into one), and I also have responsibilities for another project that is ongoing.  At least it keeps me in guns and ammo.

All of this got me to thinking about the phrase, “It’s been a long day” because that’s the way I felt when I left work.  Of course, the little Spock in my head immediately wondered about the illogic of it.  I locked the little bastard in his closet and left him to stew, because it was such a nice day when I got outside.  It was nice and warm, maybe just a little too humid, but I won’t complain about that.  According to my truck’s thermometer it was 91° F this afternoon.  Even so, I loved it.  I drove home with the windows down and the radio blasting.

To top it off, I decided to mow the lawn when I got home (mainly to prevent my neighbors from lynching me ).  But there’s something to be said for lawn work.  It doesn’t take a lot of thought and it gives you a chance to just do for a while, which is a nice diversion when you’ve spent all day thinking and reacting.

Ok, that’s probably enough bore blogging for me…

A new Home Depot store is being built in Roanoke at the intersection of 114 and 377.  It is almost done and they have a sign up that says that they are taking applications for employment now.  What caught my attention was that the same message was repeated in Spanish at the bottom of the sign.

One of the things that disturbs me is the growing number of people who are living and working in this country who do not speak English.  Worse, to my way of thinking, is that there is a rather vocal group of people who don’t see anything wrong with it.  These people like to frame this as a racist thing, that if I don’t support their right to live in this country without speaking the language that I’m some insensitive racist.  They’d be wrong, but that doesn’t seem to stop them from screaming it from the rooftops.

Let’s be perfectly clear, though, that I am not against people coming to this country.  I just want three things of people who want to come here: 1) Do it legally, 2) learn to speak English, and 3) be willing to work.  People can speak whatever language they want amongst their friends and family, but the vast majority of this country speaks English and if people want to truly succeed, they must speak the language. 

I’ve long wondered what happened to the old paradigm of the melting pot in American culture.  I think it was a good one and we should get back to it, as nothing will destroy this country more quickly than if we become a collection of factions and ethnic enclaves that are all in competition with each other, which I am afraid is the direction that we’re heading now.

If we want this country to succeed, we must ditch the hyphens and all become Americans.

The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well.
   —Joe Ancis

Let’s not bicker and argue about who killed who!

Now that I’ve had a chance to think about it, I think that Identity was an OK movie.  I think my reaction to it was based on my misconceptions as to the true subject of the movie.  Being something of a true crime afficionado I’m usually left cold by the slasher/serial killer/spree killer genre.  In real life, most killers are pretty simple types who do not set up elaborate traps or play games with their victims (and especially with the cops).  However, given the plot of this movie, all the unrealistic stuff actually makes sense in a way.  I can’t say much more than that without giving it away.

One other observation that I made about the movie is that the director seems conflicted about wanting to provide clues to the past action as well as wanting to keep you a bit confused about events until the end.  He does this through a series of flashback sequences.  I was reminded a little of Memento and Mulholland Dr.  It’s unfortunate that I was reminded of this, as it is pretty difficult for a movie to live up to Mulholland Dr. on the flashback meter.

I went to see Identity this evening.  I’m still cogitating on my opinion of the movie.  Perhaps a few more Jack-and-colas will unlock my true thoughts on the topic.  Or something.

Watching tonight’s episode of CSI I was struck by just how gaunt Bobcat Goldthwait looks these days.  I remember him from Police Academy back in the 80’s.  It doesn’t look like he’s been doing so good lately.