It's Okay When *I* Poke Fun At My Candidate

In order to appeal to the disabled, the RNC has lined up three speakers with speech impediments to give keynote addresses:

o Last night Rudi Giuliani, who has a noticeable lisp, gave a fantastic speech.

o Tonight we have Ahnuld, who will turn in an outstanding performance, although his Teutonic accent sometimes makes him hard to understand.

o On the last and final evening Bush will outline his strategery for the next four years

Update: Teutonic accent or not, Aunuld's speech rocked.

Another Update: Even Bush made fun of himself in this regard during his speech.

TSG Proves You Can Put Almost Anyone on a Stamp

As some readers may recall "Blogstamps" made the rounds after the U.S. postal service introduced, through stamps.com, a program to allow people to create personalized postage stamps, with some restrictions for "offensive or objectionable material".

Thanks to head's-up from Jim Carson, here's a link to the The Smoking Gun, who decided to see what images they could slip past the censors. They came up with some interesting, if not particularly funny, results. As a censor I would have caught most of them, although I have to admit that I would have missed Hoffa and Ceaucescu (Hoffa was before my time and I only saw a picture of Ceaucescu after we was rightfully lined up and shot). I think the younger pictures of Kaczynski are a cheap shot since the censors did bounce the mug-shot picture of him.

The Olympics are Over...

...so it's time for a jaundiced view from someone who saw it first-hand: My Big Fat Greek Olympics.

Hat Tip: Mrs. Director

Your Chance to Give Biz Advice

Got the following email question from long-time reader David, who is heading up marketing at a tech start-up:

I had a question about online marketing, perhaps you or your friends could chime in.

As you know, the only way to scale marketing and hit very ambitious revenue numbers is online marketing since there are only so many events you can attend, direct mailers to send, etc. To really bring in new prospects and build a big pipeline any company must leverage the web. Most big F500 have just begun to put more than 25-30% of their marketing budget into online strategy and this will probably grow in the future if they have sufficient ROI metrics to support.

What would you recommend to really take advantage of the internet and really bring in 500-1000 qualified "hot" leads a month? I am aware of SEO, online newsletters, weblinars, e-mail marketing but what other efforts can be made to really launch a successful web marketing campaign?

My first response would be: it depends on the product and the customer. If I remember correctly, your product is hardware sold to businesses rather than consumers (?), which is different if you were selling, say, software, in which case my answer would be different.

In my experience, for non-software sales to businesses, the web isn't really the main lead generator, it's the pull-through for your "real" lead generation activity. In other words, your leads go to the web to follow-up on something they heard about from your sales force, read in a magazine, or saw at a trade show. If they like what they see on your web site, the site then pulls them in as an active lead. I think this is especially true for business products as few engineers/purchasing agents today do their primary research and decision making based on web browsing (again, if you were in the software business, I think a web sales approach is much more doable and there are successful models for this).

In my three years at a hardware start-up during the peak of the tech boom, the "pure internet leads" were college students and garage tinkerers, not useful leads. That being said, you still have to have a web strategy to support your other sales activities, and that means putting useful information not only on your product, but also on your segment and industry, as well as making it easy to navigate and having it reflect your company.

My personal opinion is that you still need "people on the ground" to generate quality leads, so would recommend a rep/disty strategy, giving big percentages to these guys to generate leads, with the web acting as a support function, rather than a primary lead generator.

However, my scope in this area is limited, so I would welcome other comments or insights in the comment section.

You Are Not Going To Find a Politician Who You Agree With 100%

I am used to seeing left-wing blogs denounce Bush, usually without any coherent discussion, just a argument that boils down into some ridiculous phrase that has no bearing on reality ("Bush is Hitler", "Bush is responsible for 9-11", "Iraq was about Oil").

What I am not used to seeing is attacks on Bush from right-wing sites (or maybe I don't get out much). Most of these are from "purists", usually "Big L" Libertarians. Their view is that any politician who disagrees on them on even a single issue isn't fit to hold office. So I have stumbled across a number of blog arguments that go: "I agree with Bush on every single issue, except he signed bill 457 which in subsection C, paragraph 12, had an exemption for offshore taxation of lama wool for multinationals with subsidiaries in Peru, so therefore he is unfit to hold office."

What I would like to tell these people is this: you will not find a candidate that holds all your positions. If you did, you have to realize that in this Republic of nearly 300 million people, compromises have to be made, and any purist who got to Washington would either have to compromise or get nothing done.

I also want to tell them that politics requires pulling in people who might not otherwise fall under your umbrella in order to maintain a majority, and this might mean leaning on the party faithful's beliefs in order to bring others into the fold. The good politician can find the point where he can lean on his faithful without losing them.

The people who are "I agree with Bush, but" usually have one of the following issues. I should point out that most of these issues pissed me off as well, but I realize why they had to be done:

o Free Trade - Remember steel tariffs? Probably not, but there are lot of free-traders still seething about them. I was pissed off about this one as well, but I do understand that Ohio, Pennsylvania and some other manufacturing states are in play. QandO was pretty bitter about these and some other trade related issues.

o McCain-Feingold - I thought this law was ridiculous on its face, but I understood that Bush had to sign it due to the overwhelming "support" whipped up by the press and congress. Like others, I thought he signed it assuming the Supremes would overturn it, and bet wrong. Daily Pundit is one of those who is foaming at the mouth at this one item. I think this law is imploding under its own weight, and everyone has found loopholes around it, so I don't know what he is all hot and bothered about.

o Farm Subsidies - This got me foaming at the mouth when it passed, so you could hear me chanting through my clenched teeth "Must. Win. Farm. Belt" until the anger passed. All I can say is that Archer-Daniels-Midland better be writing big checks to Bush from all the taxpayer money they'll be swimming in after this.

So these were all done for political, not ideological reasons, so even though I disagreed with them, I understand why they had to be done.

It comes down to what is most important to me and what am I willing to compromise to get it? For me it is international security and taxes (there are others, like biz issues, but those are the top two), so I am willing to pretty much forgive Bush for everything else since he is 100% with me on these two items. For others, it may be different, but in the specific cases above, Kerry is not a better alternative. For the cases above, Kerry will actually be worse, so I can't understand why they would withhold their vote for Bush if their problem with him is only on one of the above issues.

Last Week of Construction (Cross Fingers)

As some of you may have guessed after reading my Paleolithic regression over my new fire-toy, the Fabulous New Back Yard^TM is nearing completion. From a "macro" standpoint, the casual observer might think the only thing left is sod (and new patio furniture & bar stools, which are on order), although there are a lot of little things left to do in the background (or underground): plumbing the sink, putting in "light scaping", putting in new valves for the sprinkler system, etc.

This week all the plants (minus the sod) showed up, including 5 trees

When picking out my new trees, I used very scientific terms like "the one that blooms purple in the spring" (Jacaranda), "the pretty one that has white bark" (birch - two of these) and a red-purple flower tree that I had no input on, but which showed up anyway (and I still don't know what it is, but I got two of them). This is in addition to a plum, peach and citrus tree I already had, so I have good tree coverage, although the news one are sorta small so will take a while to really grow in.



In this pic you can also see the fountain, which is a really nice addition. For a sense of scale, the fence is just over six feet tall.

The components for the bar are all in, although the sink still needs to be hooked up:



The side of the house has been a nice surprise. If you look at the original diagram, this was not that well defined, but it has come together as a separate little patio area. I have been calling it the "secret garden", but the contractor calls it the BAC 0.2% area:



That's temporary patio furniture (some old stuff) in there, and we will replace this with a quaint little table and chair set for taking in morning coffee, or getting separated from the main party area to get that BAC up.

Man Cooks With FIRE

Director Mitch get grill. Grill good. Grill big. Cooks food with fire.

Director Mitch cook steak. Drink beer. Director Mitch happy.

The Real Reason Some Canadians Dislike Bush

U.S. Unemployment
07/31
5.5%

Canadian Unemployment
07/31
7.2%

Source: Bloomberg

Hat Tip: Neophyte Pundit

Time for: Who' My VP?

Welcome to Who's my VP?, the exciting game where contestants try to figure out their place in their organization!

MC: Thanks, Don Pardo. Our contestant today is a marketing director at a high-tech company whose CEO was just forced out, creating all sorts of organizational havoc just six months after he joined the company. Let's welcome Director Mitch!

(applause)

MC: Thanks for being here today.

Mitch: Can't say I'm glad to be here.

MC: Great! Okay let's start off with our first question: How many positions are you away from the CEO?

(clock ticks)

Mitch: Oh, that's easy. There's my boss, then the CEO, so that would be two.

(buzzer)

MC: Oh. Sorry, Mitch. With the new organizational changes in the last 24 hours you are now at least three spots away from the CEO, as your boss has been slotted under another VP's organization.

Mitch: (unintelligible)

MC: Great! Let's go to our next question: Is your new VP the Crochety Old Tech Guy or the Born Again Christian Dude?

(clock ticks)

Mitch: Well, from a product stand-point, it would make sense to be under Crochety Old Tech Guy

(buzzer)

MC: Oh, sorry, Mitch. Turns out that your Muslim boss and Born Again Christian Dude worked together for a long time and have a good working relationship, so your boss managed to get your group slotted under him. For now.

Mitch: Well, I'm glad that people of different religions can get along in business.

MC: Except Crochety Old Tech Guy is pissed that a group that should be under him wasn't placed there. I'm sure this will create no problems for you. Okay, time for your next question. Will your new VP have any problem with you working remotely out of SoCal?

(clock ticks)

Mitch: Uh...

MC: I am going to have to hold it there, Mitch, since that's all the time we have today. Everyone please come back for our next episode of Who's My VP?

Glad I Let That Subscription Expire

Wired magazine used to be a somewhat interesting read on technology trends. It has morphed into a self-important political screed offering apologetics for left-wing causes and constant attacks on the political right.

In this month's (and thankfully my last) issue, it calls the far-left-wing, foaming-at-the-mouth wackos at move.on a "moderate, centrist" organization. It its interviews of the move.on founders there are no hard-hitting questions, all responses are presented at face value, and no investigations made into their far, far left-wing funding, presenting it as just a group of middle Americans (it mentions Soros, but paints him as a moderate contributor).

In the same issue, Dean's former campaign manager gets a page to gloat. In a separate article, they profile politicians - one is republican, five are democrats. With an evenly divided electorate, seems like they were just too lazy to (or partisan) to even try to make things balanced.

Even its puff-piece on Ahnold misses the point that his election was about removing a corrupt, left-wing governor with failed policies. Instead, they presented his election as some rush to the middle. I like Ahnold and am glad he was elected, but the article misses the bigger picture of Davis's corruption and the problems the very left-wing legislature has created for the Golden State. Ahnold's election is about the California electorate figuring out the left has failed them here, it isn't a "rush to the middle".

Peppered throughout these articles, as well as in previous months, there have been pretty constant little jibes at Bush's foreign policy in articles where neither Bush nor foreign policy were relevant (evidently their staff wishes for a return for Saddam and believes those poor, benighted Middle Easteners are just incapable of democracy).

Good riddance to that crap. Besides, with the Blogosphere, why in the hell do I need any magazine subscriptions?

I Survive Another CEO - for Now

Here is the real email that was waiting for me when I got back from lunch today. I did a double - or triple - take since I have seen this exact email several times before in my career:

(My Old CEO) has made the decision to leave (My Company) to pursue new career opportunities. (My Old CEO) was instrumental in building the product group organization within (My Company). Through his tenure with the company, he has worked diligently to increase our product and business base, rising to become our President and COO. We thank (My Old CEO) for his nearly (long time) years of dedicated service to (My Company) and wish him success in the future.

(My New CEO) has agreed to move into the position of CEO and is excited about the future of our company. His initial focus is articulating a clear direction...(yada, yada, yada)

Soon after this email went out, a new org chart went out shuffling some senior managers around. Right now I think things are okay with my group, but you never know when the new guy decides that Chainsaw Al was a paragon of corporate management.

The Olympics: On the Other Hand...

I posted before about my ho-hum attitude about the Olympics. As predicted, due to the wife, I ended up watching a lot of the gymnastics, which was fairly interesting, but I think not as good as Olympics past.

The new thing I ended up watching due to the wife was women's beach volleyball, and I have to admit I enjoyed watching the U.S. women play for the gold last night. Yeah, there's the fact I am watching four nearly-naked, incredibly in-shape woman engage in a sport I know nothing about. But it was also heart warming to watch these two women's reactions during the awards ceremony. (Although women, I really thought of them as "girls")

It's funny. During, say, the '76 Olympics, I would think: maybe I'll win a medal one day. Watching these Olympics, I think: maybe my daughter will a medal one day.

Did Russian Passengers Prevent a 9-11?

By now you have read about the two Russian passenger jets that crashed. At the time of this post the news is that at least one of them sent a "hijack" signal.

The thought running through my head: were these airliners destined for landmarks like the Kremlin? Did the passengers and crew, knowing about 9-11, prevent it by sacrificing themselves?

Fortune 50 Companies Acting Like Impatient Children

My blogging pace has been off recently since my work load has increased dramatically. As a result of my trip to NY last week, I have a new customer. The bad news is that this multi-multi-multi billion dollar corporation acts like a whiny kid and wants almost hourly updates on their program.

This is in addition to another multi-national conglomerate who calls me almost hourly wondering if the schedule for their product has changed in the last 60 minutes. Add these two whiny children together ("Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Now, are we there?") and you can see why my blogging has suffered lately.

And the weekend, vacation days, and evenings are not an escape. I have gotten phone calls on all of these occasions, having to listen to guys (they're always guys) at the other end of the line wondering if they were there yet.

I am not complaining - these guys have the potential to drive lots and lots of business and it certainly beats the alternative of having no customers. I just forgot how needy giant corporations can be. And it requires a great amount of patience since you can't yell back at them - you have to patiently explain that the schedule hasn't changed in the last 60 minutes and invite them to call you again if they have any concerns.

Hardscape Finished

Yeah, there's ass kicking going on in Iraq, ass kicking going on with Kerry, and there's various kick-ass economic and tech news going on, but dammit, I'm involved in an ass kicking home construction project so those other things just sort of fade into the background (sometimes my native tounge of Texan just comes out).

Three weeks into the Fabulous New Back Yard^TM project the hardscape (grill area, patio and anything else requiring rock or concrete) is pretty much done. The grill area is really the piece de resistance, as the whole neighborhood has been giving themselves tours of my yard - while I am away - to marvel at it. And I have to admit the contractor did a great job.

The grill, fridge, sink, etc. aren't in yet since the stainless steel items are the last things to go in so debris, dirt, etc. that are still being stirred up by construction doesn't mar them before they're even used. The access and storage doors - which are stainless - have a plastic covering on them since they had to go in before the inside walls were stuccoed.

The outside walls were done with the sandstone that is in the sidewalk and the tile from the bar top to bring everything together. The illegal aliens immigrant workers who did the work were really a talented bunch.




The landscaping is starting tomorrow, so next week instead of a bare fence in the background there will be trees, bushes and plants. Over the weekend the landscaper took us to a giant nursery where we pointed out plants and trees we liked and didn't like. Trust me when I say there are more decorative plants and trees out there than you ever imagined.

Golfing to the Sound of the Ocean

Pebble Beach gets the most press on sea-side golfing in California, but I golfed Pelican Hill this weekend and it is a fantastic, beautiful course, and unlike Pebble Beach, not crowded.

The best man from my (second) wedding came into town, so I used a gift certificate for two rounds that I got from my wonderful wife on my birthday to take the two of us out.

It is a fantastic course, and there was absolutely no one in front of us or behind us, so it was like we had the course to ourselves (we weren't even paired with anyone else). The drink girl who came around every so often said that F-Sun are pretty slow, maybe since the fees are hiked those days, but it was pretty busy M-Th when a lot of "business" is done.

I only had my crummy cellcam to take pictures, so instead of pictures which look like this (which it really looks like):

I got pictures that look like this (that's my friend John with the incomplete backswing):



The budget won't allow me to make this outing very often, so if I have someone else paying for a round of golf in SoCal, like a client or something, I'll make sure they take me here.

Looking for Terrorists from Detroit to LAX

I am writing this while flying on Northwest Airlines from Detroit to LAX - the same flight that one woman experienced a large group of Middle Easterners acting suspicious on the flight – like they were doing a “dry run” for assembling a bomb:

Islamic militants have conducted dry runs of a devastating new style of bombing on aircraft flying to Europe, intelligence sources believe.

The tactics, which aim to evade aviation security systems by placing only components of explosive devices on passenger jets, allowing militants to assemble them in the air

I decided that I wasn’t going to be a victim. As I boarded early with my frequent flier card and got into my seat, I thought I would be vigilant and look for any suspicious looking Muslims that came on board. And sure enough, one came down and sat right next to me, but my boss, who is originally from Bangladesh, always looks suspicious. We had previously discussed his Muslim heritage, and as he quaffed a Sam Adams, he told me he tries to cut down on alcohol consumption, absolutely doesn’t eat pork, and prays for the quick death of the enemies of United States (Yes, he gets extra screening from time to time and doesn’t care – he actually finds it sort of amusing when it happens).

I told him about the article about the suspicious Detroit-LAX flight so he decided to use his Muslim radar to help me scope out the passengers as they came on the plane and point out anyone of interest. But his radar was on the wrong frequency or something since the only “persons of interest” he kept pointing out were the good looking women who were coming on board.

I got him refocused and after scoping out all the passengers, we decided there were only two guys, besides my boss, who fit the “profile”. I asked my boss if he wanted to go over and give these guys the secret Muslim handshake and find out what they were up to, but his radar detected they weren’t giving off any bad terrorist vibes, so would leave them be.

Being somewhat disappointed in not having a band of suspicious Muslims to cow, I decided to look for mystery bags from the other passengers to tear apart since I remember reading about them in the article:

But once we were in the air and the seatbelt sign was turned off, the unusual activity began. The man in the yellow T-shirt got out of his seat and went to the lavatory at the front of coach -- taking his full McDonald's bag with him.

Wow, that's pretty suspicious - fast food bags on planes - and at least two people came on board with fast-food bags. Did they have components for a bomb? But before I could go over there and rip these bags out of their hands they pulled out a burger and a sandwich, allowing me to train my vigilance on something else.

I decided to keep an eye on the restroom for anyone taking an inordinate amount of time, since this is where these bombs would be assembled, which is what worried the author of the original article.

Suddenly, seven of the men stood up -- in unison -- and walked to the front and back lavatories. One by one, they went into the two lavatories, each spending about four minutes inside

The steward was a little surprised there was someone by the restroom with a stop watch timing people’s bathroom breaks, so he came over and asked me to return to my seat before people became suspicious of my activities.

So I am back in my seat writing about my experiences. Hopefully I will make it to the end of the flight so I can post this.

Flying Over Flyover Country

The jetsetter that I am, I'll be doing the LA-NY run and back, so blogging will be light (well, ligher than usual) to non existant until early next week.

I'll wave at all of you down in those beautiful, strongly-held, red Bush states as I go from one blue state to another.

More Democratic Suppression of Free Speech

The thing that is somewhat humorous about democrats is their hypocrisy: free speech is okay as long as you agree with me, I am against discrimination unless it is for a cause I approve of, I am for increased taxes as long as it only hits people who make more than I do.

So this isn't exactly surprising: Hackers Take Aim at GOP

The goal is to take down the web sites, phones and faxes of the GOP convention. As long as you agree with them, they won't go after you.

McGreevey is Tony Soproano's Governor

Hey, this story writes itself. I can imagine the writer's pitch:

Okay, you got the corrupt governor of New Jersey in Tony's pocket, see. He's about to be investigated for fraud, which is going to nail him. He decides to resign, but Tony doesn't want him to until after their "business" is concluded in November, which Tony scheduled that way in case his boy lost the election. So Tony puts pressure on the Gov to stay in office, figuring he can stay on until Tony can unwind the deal.

The Gov tells Tony he isn't sure he can dodge the charges until then, but does have a plan: announce to the world he is gay, which will create an uproar, allowing him to hold on until Tony and the Gov complete their business.

Now, when told of this plan, Tony laughs. "Yeah, tell the world you're gay, my friend, but who's going to believe it? You got a wife and kid for Christ's sake!"

"But Tony, I am gay"

The show will focus on Tony's conflicting "moral dilemma" of working with a homosexual who at the same time is bringing him payola, which obviously flies in the face of Mafia machismo. For the weekly dose of gratuitous nudity that we provide, we'll put in flashbacks at Bada Bing where Tony suddenly remembers that the Gov really didn't enjoy himself.

We'll have a session with Melfi where she explains that the Gov's condition isn't really his fault, encouraging Tony to support his friend, but in the end Tony will off the Gov due to his perverted sense of morals, plus the fact that we need to up our body count for our closing season.

Now this new gay story line will have to replace the developing gay story line from last season where Vito Spatafore was caught, uh, in a compromising position with a male security guard by Amber's fiance. But they probably couldn't pull off the new story line since a corrupt politician would be booted out of office no matter his sexual preferences, right?

Why I Don't Have Earthquake Insurance

Look, if the earthquake is really small and only a little damage is done, then your policy is worthless. If the earthquake is really big, then the feds will come in handing out money to everyone in the area.

- Rorschach (the blogger, not the shrink)

The recent hurricane in Florida got me thinking about disasters that could hit me in my adopted state. As a native Texan I have first-hand experience of severe hurricane damage, but they aren't anything I have to worry about any more. Earthquakes are.

When I bought my house in 1999, one of the 50 pieces of paper that appeared in front of me for my signature was one asking if I wanted "Earthquake Insurance". Now, when I lived in Texas, there was no such thing as "Hurricane Insurance", but there was "Flood Insurance", which was in addition to homeowner's insurance and mandatory in many areas along the Gulf Coast when getting a mortgage. I knew this Earthquake Insurance wasn't mandatory, but I was throwing around so much cash at the time of closing that I thought "what the hell" and got the year-long policy thrown into the closing costs.

A year later my renewal notice came, which would take real money out of my pocket, so I sat down and a) really looked at the policy and b) thought about the consequences of having it versus not having it.

The first thing I noticed when reading the policy is that it was pretty worthless. It had huge deductibles and didn't cover much. Basically, it covered actual damage covered by "shaking". It did not cover the case of a gas main breaking, causing a fire that then burned down your home (in fact, fire was specifically precluded from the policy). From what I read, once you are outside the epicenter, most housing damage is from secondary effects of the earthquake (busted mains, gas lines, etc. that then cause property damage). The further I read the policy the less I liked it. So I thought, "what if I didn't get coverage?".

The quote at the top from Rorschach is what I came up with. Any major earthquake of consequence will have the feds giving money to all comers (I even know someone in LA that had minor chimney damage from the Northridge earthquake that got a government check and then didn't bother to get it repaired since it was so minor). But this is true of nearly all natural disasters: earthquakes, river flooding, hurricanes. If it causes any significant damage, the feds will come in with money, and this has set a precedent which has taught people, including myself, not to get extra insurance against natural disasters. Of course, additional coverage outside the homeowner's policy isn't available to many people in hurricane areas, so in these cases the government has to step in.

My Fabulous New Back Yard Takes Shape

On Sunday, this is what the Fabulous New Backyard^TM looked like:

This was shot down the side of the house, which is on the left. You see the edges of the new sidewalk and patio, which is laid in sandstone. They came in with a big cement truck today and are currently pouring concrete, which goes in the middle of the walk and patio.




That somewhat large structure in the background in the first picture is the new BBQ area, which looked a little large since the bottom six inches of foundation was exposed and had some wood struts. Now it is looking a little more decent, with tile to start going on tomorrow.



And that's the hardest part about doing construction of any kind: envisioning the end-result when you are looking at the work-in-progress. Right now there is this cement-looking structure sitting in my back-yard that makes me want to go "eeewwww", but I need to envision the end result with tile, stucco, stainless steel BBQ, fridge and drawers. Not being able to picture the end result is what gives some contractors fits in dealing with customers since it results in a lot of hand-holding.

The Olympics? Yeah, Whatever...

Outside the Beltway has a good roundup of blogger reactions to the Olympics, most of them underwhelming. He points out some really good things that have turned them into just another marketing event, including

o Having Olympics every two years instead of every four - Having an grand Olympiad that stretched across two seasons every four years made them pretty unique. Now that the winter and summer games are staggered every two years it seems to make them less of a big deal.

o Historical changes - Just saying "East German Women's Track and Field Team" used to bring up laughs and hinted at those evil commies that we somehow beat, even though they cheated. The changing of "amateur status" also goes into this category, as watching pros like Roddick compete in some of the events changes the whole nature of the games.

o Soap Opera Versus Sports - The last time I sat down and watched an Olympic event there was more "human interest" footage than the competition itself. The original intent was to get "women" more involved, but I know plenty of women who also find these segments annoying.

o You Call That a Sport? - The Olympics used to be a showcase of athletes who spent a lifetime of intense training to reach the pinnacle of their field. Now, I am sure there is a lot of effort to become an expert in the winter sport of curling, and I sure as hell can't tread water long enough to compete in synchronized swimming, but are these really Olympic sports? Come on. Adding these just cheapened the value of a "gold medal".

There are a few other really good points listed, so just go read the post.

There are certainly those that disagree with this assessment, but for me, if it weren't for the fact that my wife, like 95.8% of all other women, will intensely watch gymnastics, I probably wouldn't watch a minute of the Games this year.

Contractor Tips for Al-Sadr

Looks like Al-Sadr will be doing some remodeling on the ol' homestead after U.S. troops get done with it.

So I thought I would share some friendly tips on finding and dealing with contractors based on my ongoing experience with my New Back Yard^TM:

1. Start your list of potential contractors by getting recommendations - Chances are that one of the mullahs in the neighborhood has had some work done on his place recently, and personal recommendations are crucial for getting information on a contractor. Ask questions: Was the project on time? On budget? Were there sudden extra charges? How did he deal with changes? Is he an infidel? Does he charge interest, which is against the will of Allah? These sorts of questions give you a list of contractors a lot better than just picking some guy out of the Najaf Yellow Page.

2. Get multiple quotes for the project - This is just necessary to keep the bidders honest, preventing you from having to behead one of them later. Let them know when they are quoting that you are getting multiple bids, and this threat alone should prevent you from having to send your militia out after the guy later.

3. Go with the guy you are the most comfortable with - If you got multiple quotes, your bids should be fairly close, but don't go with the lowest bidder, pick the guy you are the most comfortable with. You are going to spend a lot of time with your contractor communicating on problems that inevitably come up: schedule changes, deliveries for supplies, mass graves of enemies that get unearthed. Having good communication will be important to keep the project focused and on schedule.

4. Do Daily Walk-Throughs - Once you have started work, make sure you walk through the project each day with the contractor so you can each do a visual inspection of the work. It also allows you to come up with and ask his opinion on additions and changes, such as gun turrets and moats, that always seem to come to mind as construction takes shape.

5. Keep the contractor and his crew happy and they'll keep you happy - Make your payments to the contractor on time and make sure the guys out in the sun actually doing the work are happy - offer them water, maybe a beer juice at the end of the day. That way, when the day is ended and they head over to militia HQ to take up arms against the provincial government, they'll be in a good mood.

I Got My Own Blogstamp!

Long time friend Jim Carson made me my own blogstamp. Have to say I am pretty impressed since I was afraid to use multiple images in my own creations, but he pulled it off.

(sniff..) I'm touched.

The Rule of Law in California?!?

California Gay Marriages Voided
No matter which side of the homosexual marriage debate you are on, the "ceremonies" that were performed were not condoned by the (very liberal) legislature, and, in fact, were against the express vote of the people, who passed a constitutional amendment against this sort of thing (Proposition 22, which passed by a wide margin).

If you are for this sort of thing, go back to the people and overturn the previous amendment, but don't do it by judicial or mayoral fiat. That's not how things are done in this country.

Hat Tip: Poliblogger

Can Friendships Overcome Severe Political Differences?

In my 16 years of business, I have witnessed several instances where people have broken down to nearly crying after a meeting where a business "argument" ensued (it happens to men, but I mostly have witnessed it with women). Essentially there was a matter of opinion on what to do, how to budget, or why a schedule was missed, and the discussion became heated.

In my effort to make them feel better I tell them that the discussion was "business, not personal" al la Michael Corlione. I tell them that it wasn't worth getting upset over a difference of business opinion and to move along to other things that are more important, even if they are convinced they are right.

The same can't be said of politics. You never hear "it's politics, not personal". And because politics touches so many aspects of our lives, it is pretty much impossible to "move on to other things".

I have read on blogs about friendships becoming frayed over political discourse and I think I have lost one friend over an argument over F911. Political differences are seen as character flaws and unlike business discussions, it is nearly impossible to move along to other things once an argument has ensued. If there is no political common ground between two people, can a friendship really exist?

That's not to say that I don't have friends that I have political disagreements with, or even political arguments with other bloggers I like. For example I recently posted some differences of opinion on Jim Carson's Media Diversity Quiz. Jim and I have known each other 18 years and Jim drives straight down the center of the road and I am over on the right shoulder. We know we're are going to disagree on a lot of issues, but it doesn't change our long-standing friendship. But as I noted in the comment thread, we do agree on about two-thirds of the issues. Would the friendship be different if we agreed on 0%?

Even in marriages where there is one democrat and one republican, my experience is that both parties have to be fairly moderate if the marriage is going to work. Like the democrat VC (Ed: that's Venture Capitalist, not Viet Cong) I know who is married to a republican, the fact that she is a VC means she is pro-business, anti-regulation, and pro free-trade - not exactly left-wing positions. Essentially she is democrat due to a single issue, which is true of most democrats I know (the single issue might vary, but is seems the democratic party is largely a collection of single-issue voters).

This, of course, assumes that politics matters to both people. There are guys who only care about sports, romantic couples who are only interested in the physical, and people who are oblivious about politics in general, but assuming that both people hold deep political views, can they be friends if they are polar opposites? My experience says no. There has to be some common ground or there is no basis for the friendship.

Commemorative Stamps for My Commenters

With the U.S. post office okaying personalized stamps, Blog stamps are making the rounds, so I thought I would create some for those of you thoughtful enough to comment this week:

If I left anyone off or you would like one, shoot me a line.

Update: I had to create one for the first person to ever leave a poem on one of my comment threads.

The EU's Repatriation Problem

According to the WSJ (no direct link), it looks like EU's has its own "repatriation" problem:

Immediately after World War II, nearly 40,000 square miles of eastern Germany were handed over to Poland. Polish authorities quickly ousted 10 million ethnic Germans, pushing them across the newly redrawn German-Polish border. New Polish settlers took their place.

When Polish communism collapsed in 1989, restitution or repurchase of lost lands became theoretically possible...Many people in Eastern Europe are shocked by the result: a wave of German lawsuits... Over the past few months, lawyers have filed 79 suits at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, with hundreds more being readied by plaintiff groups.

Check out where: "Strasbourg", France. Sounds like that city itself should be repatriated to Germany. Theoretically since it is now one big EU, this all shouldn't matter, but it does. And this is going to go on for some time

At the 1945 Potsdam conference, the U.S. and other victors in World War II agreed to shift Poland's borders more than 100 miles westward. In turn, land that had been eastern Poland was awarded to the Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. Some areas historically part of Germany -- notably East Prussia, Silesia and Pomerania -- were given to Poland or the Soviet Union. People in the affected areas were shunted across the new borders with no compensation for lost property.

Seems to me that Europe needs to concentrate on its own repatriation problem before whining about others.

Amber Not Fit to Mother?

Okay, there is the political race, an upcoming U.S. assault on Najat, the Fed increase in interest rates, high oil prices, and other important stuff to blog on, but I just have to say something again about the Scott Peterson case after reading about Amber Fry's testimony yesterday (at this point dozens of readers click over to another blog).

Now some people may raise their eyebrows over the fact that Amber went into the sack on the first date. This really doesn't bother me since there are lots of fluzies out there. What really set me on edge is that "she gave Peterson a car seat and the key to her house, and asked him to pick up her daughter at day care."

Folks, this is after two dates. She sent a man she has spent no more than, say, six hours with to pick up her daughter. Alone.

Then again, maybe her judgement of character wasn't too bad. He was only a wife murderer (uxoricide) and not a pedophile, so maybe I am being a little harsh.

Movie Bars I Wish I Could Go To

While Tivo surfing recently I have watched portions of movies that took place inside interesting restaurants or bars where I thought "I wish I could really go to that place." So I thought I would compile a quick list from the top of my head, ranked in order:

1. Jackrabbit Slims - This place from Pulp Fiction is what got me thinking about this topic in the first place. Any place where Buddy Holly takes your order and Ed Sullivan introduces the evening dance contest is just way cool. Having Uma Thurman as your date would just add to the evening. (Note: there is apparently a bar named this in NYC, but as far as I can tell it isn't like the one in the movie).

2. Rick's - If I were stuck in Casablanca, this is where I would want to hang, as long as it was before Rick sold it to Ferrari. Even though Rick never shares drinks with customers (or will he), he seems to run a classy joint. (Another Note: I remember reading somewhere that some enterprising Morroccans actually opened a bar of this name in that city to attract tourists.)

3. House of Games - The bar gave the movie its name, but you don't go there for the drinks, you go there for the poker game in the back (or is it a poker game?). If you don't want to play, one of the regulars will be happy to teach you the art of the con.

4. Mos Eisley Cantina - The only one on my list that couldn't really exist, this "wretched hive of scum and villainy" of the Star Wars universe seems like a fun place to go slumming. Just remember to leave your droids at home since their kind aren't allowed in.

5. Club 49 (I think that is the name) - I've mentioned the good, bad movie Blast from the Past before, and this swing club just seems like a fun place to check out. Maybe because it has Humphry Bogart acting as MC.

I'm sure I missed a few. What others should be on the list?

We All Rather Be Dead Than Wrong

The evolutionary history of this species has served to put a premium on the ability to make appropriate decisions...The decision is always reduced to its simplest level: Is this a threat to my survival? This has placed an incredible burden on the mind to be right. Because in the mind's view, the alternative to being right is being dead. The mind (thus) equates rightness with survival and wrongness with dying...We, as individuals, have to be right whatever we do.

- A Rage for Revenge

This book isn't the original source for this idea, I just happened to run into there since I read a lot more pulp SciFi novels than I do texts on sociological evolution. When I read it over a decade ago, this paragraph stuck in my mind for a long time and has recently come back into my thoughts since the blogosphere has proven the best medium to date to track predictions and opinions and point out where people were wrong.

While there are certainly people on both sides of the isle that have this problem (well, according to the theory, all humans have it), it does seem a lot more severe on the left (Ed: because they are wrong more often?). I don't mean matters of opinion where overwhelming facts still don't prove a point (i.e. you can still believe that the Bush tax cuts didn't help the economy) or on issues where the jury is going to be out for a long, long time (whether going into Iraq was the "right thing to do" will probably take over a decade to settle out). I mean things that have already come to pass where you can point out and say "you were wrong here"

The Iraq war didn't produce a refugee catastrophe. It also didn't produce tens of thousands of deaths for American troops. Invading Afghanistan didn't result in a quagmire. Iraq did try to by yellocake in Africa. Arnold won in a landslide. Has anyone who made a prediction or statement opposite one of these facts come out and said "I was really wrong about that."?

"Fisking" has been one method used to point out where others were wrong, using links to point out factual errors or even contradictions in people's opinions, but this has rarely resulted in people admitting they were wrong or issuing a mea culpa.

Maybe as the blogosphere matures we can look forward to the day that Kevin Drum admits to double standards or to The Daily Kos acknowledging distorting facts to support a point of view, but evolution says don't bet on it.

The Media Diversity Quiz

Michelle Malkin's Media Diversity Test is making the rounds, and utilizing the advise of Michael Williams to "lower the bar as low as possible when coming up with blogging ideas", I thought I would do the test like 100s of others are doing:

1. I have never voted for a Democrat in my life.
False. I was gerimandered into a democratic district while in Houston and voted in the "open" democratic primary to get a REAL left-wing nut case, Craig Washington, out of office. Turned out it worked. He is one of only a handfull of sitting congressmen to ever lose in a primary.

As for a general election, I think I might have voted democrat in the lower offices in Texas, but never for a top office and never in the People's Republic of California.

2. I think my taxes are too high.
Of course.

3. I supported Bill Clinton's impeachment.
I actually struggled with this one, but came out for it in the end. The sitting president lied under oath, something Martha has been sentenced to do time for.

4. I voted for President Bush in 2000.
Obviously.

5. I am a gun owner.
Yes, but the gun is over 1,000 miles away. Does that count? I own a hunting shotgun, but it's sitting in my parents house halfway accross the country. So I own it, but don't have access to it. Yes on a technicality.

6. I support school voucher programs.
Yes.

7. I oppose condom distribution in public schools.
You telling me some 16 year-old wanting to have sex can't go down and deal with the embarrasment of buying it at SavOn like everyone else? There is no age restriction on buying condoms, like there is on evil cigarettes.

Count me opposed to this one.

8. I oppose bilingual education.
Ukrainian is spoken in my home. So if every single program included Ukrainian as a part of their program, I would be for it.

Let's call this what it is. It isn't "bilingual", it's Spanish. And it puts them at a permanent disadvantage if they are going to work in the U.S.

Against.

9. I oppose gay marriage.
You bet your ass I do.

10. I want Social Security privatized.
Sort of. I would ideally like some phased program that has old fogies under the old program and those who will never see a dime under the current system (like me) would have the option for a privatized program. Yes on a technicality.

11. I believe racial profiling at airports is common sense.
It is common sense.

12. I shop at Wal-Mart.
No. Target on the other hand...

13. I enjoy talk radio.
I hate the endless commercials. I like it once in a while and find it amusing but don't like a daily dose. Does this count as "enjoy"? A conditional yes.

14. I am annoyed when news editors substitute the phrase "undocumented person" for "illegal alien."
Like I say: "I have illegal aliens working on my new fabulous back yard!"

15. I do not believe the phrase "a chink in the armor" is offensive.
Does anyone think this is offensive?

16. I eat meat.
Lots and lots.

17. I believe O.J. Simpson was guilty.
Of course.

18. I cheered when I learned that Saddam Hussein had been captured.
Yep.

19. I cry when I hear "Proud to be an American" by Lee Greenwood.
I find this song as annoying as "Close to You" from the Capenters.

I was once invited to a political luncheon in Houston. It started of with the pledge (fine) and then singing this song. What I thought at the time was "What a bunch of dorks."

20. I don't believe the New York Times.
They lie and hide the truth to support a political agenda, but this makes them no different from any other media outlet. So, no, I don't believe them any more than I do any other news source.

More Rumblings in the Semiconductor Sector

I posted a month ago about a tech sector slow down. This observation was based on early caution from analysts, quarerly statements from tech companies, and what I was seeing at my own company and customer base.

The analysts are now starting to be more pessimistic, (link requires registration) recognizing that the high growth in the first part of the year was based on over-forcasting:

Who is achieving the phenomenal sales growth in 2004 that is driving the 40.3 percent growth year-on-year for the second quarter of 2004? Intel's second quarter...was only up 18 percent.
...
We cannot expect to see even higher growth for the chip market in the third quarter. At some point the Asia-Pacific region, which is driving the overall market, has to cool. And the ordering of the numbers, with the general market ahead of the foundry market, suggests that the foundries are leading the market.

Exactly. The foundries had huge growth rates the first part of the year while the actual sellers of chips are seing moderate growth to even sharp declines. My own industry - semiconductor packaging - is caught in the middle with die being thrown at us by the fabs and the end customers cutting back on demand.

I don't think it is catostrophic at this point, and I think the inventory and supply chain problem will work itself out, but I think the back half of '04 is going to be tough for most of the tech sector.

More Boomers Hitting Bankruptcy

There's an article in the WSJ today (no direct link) about the increasing number of bankruptcies and the fact that it is hitting the "middle aged" (read: Boomers).

I am not sure what the point of the article is. If it is to make me feel sorry for the 3-4 people they profiled in the article, it didn't work. If someone snorts their savings up their nose, and then gives away any subsequent money they earn to deadbeat family members, they get what they deserve. I expect to hear more stories like this as the most self-centered generation ages, and like everything else, they will blame the government instead of themselves for the problems they get themselves into.

The one thing in the article that I do agree with is the fact that Americans of all generations don't save enough and rack up ridiculous amounts of debt in order to live lavish lifestyles. I know people in Newport Beach that live in million dollar homes and drive luxury cars, giving the impression that they are doing quite well. The fact of the matter is that they are one paycheck away from financial ruin: their cars are leased, they have interest-only loans on their homes, and they are racking up more and more debt to support lavish lifestyles. These people will be able to continue this process as long as California property values keep going up, but one little dip or one missed paycheck and these people are going to be screwed.

I am extremely debt adverse, live within my salary and save like mad, but it's not because I am somehow superior than these people, it's because I was once one of these people. I just learned the lesson at an early age before I dug the hole too deep.

I woke up one morning in my early 20s and realized that I owed more than I made in a single year - and I didn't have a mortgage. I had a convertible Mustang that the girls liked, but the car note was more than my rent. I had no savings. I was paying hundreds of dollars of interest a month to credit card companies. I woke up and decided to fix the situation by trading in the Mustang for an old, reliable, paid-off car. I then worked down my credit cards and got into the habit of paying cash for my purchases. In only a couple of years I was out of debt and putting money into an index fund right before the 90s stock market boom really took off. That index fund eventually paid for a down payment on a home in SoCal, which has since doubled in value. Instead of a downward spiral of debt, I got into a virtuous circle of wealth creation. Even during a six-month period of unemployment for both my wife and me, we didn't go a single penny into debt due to the savings we had accumulated.

Like ex-smokers who are the most anti-smoking, I am probably a little over board in my anti-debt feelings, but I think it would benefit everyone if they didn't use debt for anything other than sound "investments" (mortgage for a home, education) or emergencies, and then saved something every single month. Then I wouldn't have to read sob stories about bankruptcies, 90% of which are simply people living beyond their means.

I'm Employing Workers, But Are They Legal?

As an update to my re-landscaping project, my yard is now nearly completely cleared - looking like a moonscape - and they are starting to lay the lines for utilities. Specifically, I need electrical for the fountain, the nice lighting that will be illuminating my new trees and bushes, and the outdoor fridge, and then a gas line for the grill. While they have a trencher, a lot of the digging is being done the old fashioned way:

I was sort of curious about the origins of the guys working in my yard, so I had a discussion with the contractor:

Mitch: So are your guys legal?

Contractor: My payroll has all the appropriate taxes taken out for all my guys.

M: You didn't answer my question. I don't really care, I'm just curious.

C: Look, all I want to do is hire people who want to work and I don't particularly care where they came from. I've placed ads in the local papers and the Americans I've hired are either drunk or stoned, and that's when they bother to show up for work. I'll hire anyone who wants to work, but the vast majority of Americans who I have tried just want to sit around and get paid. The guys I hire work.

And I have to agree with him. I've watched these guys raise and lower shovels and picks non-stop for hours on end. It makes me wonder how the hell Sam Houston won at San Jacinto...

Where to Buy Shoulder Fired Rockets

The feds arrested two people in New York for trying to buy a shoulder-fired missile. Apparently they were tracking their purchases on Ebay

Why Build When You Can Landscape?

As noted before, I have been thinking about adding on to my house. I have a large back yard and plenty of room to expand (especially after getting rid of a large tree) . I worked on this project for a few weeks, but it turns out getting an architect and contractor was just impossible. With the boom in housing prices, everyone is expanding, booking everyone out for months and months. After a few weeks, the Mrs. and I sat down and thought about this project again.

The largest asset our home has is the back yard. It's huge by SoCal standards. But it really isn't anything more than a large swath of grass with a small patio. Here is a picture from the far corner of the yard looking at the back of the house:

We thought: what if we re-landscaped the back yard to make it nice for entertaining? Essentially making it an "outside room". We did some research and the comparison was pretty compelling:



And by cool, I mean a built-in island with a stainless gas grill, outdoor fridge, bar area for people to hang out, fountain trickling in the background, lots of landscaping, the works.

So over the past few weeks we have selected our contractor (a topic for another post) and have started on a preliminary plan, with "deconstruction" starting today:



(we are also doing a new back fence, so it's gone right now as well).

Here is the preliminary plan. It is only a rough draft and will change as we put the actual layout in the dirt with spray paint. We do want to make sure the new patio area isn't in the way if we (or another owner) decides to do the room addition later. For a sense of scale, the back fence (which doesn't quite fit into this scan) is just over 100 feet:



Our yard's shape is a little strange since we have the house at the very end of a culdesac, so it's a little "wedge" shaped, but it gives us a very large yard. Will keep posting as this progresses, then everyone will be invited over for a party.

As Predicted, Another Scott and Laci

This is no surprise

Mark Hacking has been arrested on suspicion of murdering his pregnant wife Lori Hacking, Salt Lake City Police said Monday.

I will point out that I did predict it. Now if only my political predictions would be as accurate:

o Bush wins in 49-1 state landslide

o Michael Moore will admit inaccuracies and distortions, begging America for forgiveness

o Hillary will divorce Bill and leave politics, saying "I have no innate talent and was just riding the coat tails of my successful husband."

o French surrender to Al Queda

Think any of these will be accurate?

Existential HOV Questions

Outside the Beltway has a discussion on HOV (High-Occupancy Vehicle) lanes. For those of you outside the major U.S. metropolitan areas, these are lanes that only allow vehicles with certain numbers of passengers to enter (HOV 2 means two or more passengers, HOV 3 means 3 or more, etc.). Cars without the required number of occupants are fined large amounts if caught ($271 in California, which I know because it's posted everywhere along the California highway. Everyone here wonders where they got the oddball dumber "$271"? Why not $300 or even $275?)

I largely think HOV lanes are a waste of money, which is the point of the OTB posting, but what I think is fun about them are the philosophical debates they bring up . Keep in mind that the laws are written to say number of "persons" in the car, not "drivers":

- Is a lone pregnant woman in a car able to use an HOV 2 lane? (this one actually made it into the courts)

- If you say "no" to the above, keep in mind that one adult and infant ARE eligible for HOV 2 (two "persons"). How is this reducing traffic or smog since the infant obviously doesn't drive?

- Is a hearse with two drivers (and, er, a deceased) eligible for a HOV 3 lane?

- People have been caught using mannequins in the passenger seat in order to fool the cops, but usually get caught. If these people had incorporated the dummy, making them a "person" under corporate law, would they still be in violation?