Ach! I'm Kilted!

Well, it's happened... My wonderful wife got me one of the best gifts ever for our second anniversary/my 36th birthday:

A Utilikilt! That's right, the newest member of the Utiliclan is yours truly!


Pardon the poor quality of the picture - it's my Clie camera but I wanted to get something up.

It's great... never have I been so comfortable. And, some of the looks I've gotten have been absolutely priceless.

Only two comments so far: one asking if it was, indeed, a kilt; and the other a definite thumbs up from a guy working in one of Clintonville's fine antique store.

There are times when it feels like some of those dreams where you're in public without any clothes on, but those are fleeting and it's SO comfortable. I love wearing the thing... gonna have to get some more of them before I wear this one out! :)

Homestar Runner!

Okay, I ran into a website that figures out which Homestar Runner character you are today, and here's what I got:

Take the Homestar Runner Character Quiz by Coach Vee!

Guess it could be worse, I could be Strong Mad. Or Homsar...

Prepare for A Petroleum-less Society

Was reading one of my favorite blogs today, IdleWorm. Dermot, the blogger, is a bit angrier than I am, but he frequently shows up with some links to news I hadn't seen (wow, news that a normal viewer of American media wouldn't see... go figure).

He was talking about a lecture he went to at CalTech regarding the collapse of the oil-based economy that we live in today. Unlike many researchers, Dr. David Goodstein apparently is predicting that we'll be in a society where we're forced to deal without oil within a decade... this scares the crap out of me since I'm going to be meeting my first child in less than a month!

The way I see it, I'm doing pretty well with the oil-less society to a certain extent. I already don't use a car - I take public transportation and live near two supermarkets, so I don't have to worry about getting to the store or to work. And, before my bike was stolen, I was using that to get around when I had to be somewhere the bus didn't go, or I wasn't familiar with the route.

But I'm terrible as far as my job goes. I'm a computer programmer - I'm useless if anything happens to computer use in the coming decade, particularly if we don't wean ourselves off the petroleum teat and move to more renewable forms of energy such as wind, solar, etc.

So... the options are... what?

I think it's time to start looking at other things than computers. I mean, I'm not going to quit my job or anything, but I do need to come up with something I can do, just in case our society doesn't get its act together in time to avoid the petroleum dearth. And even if it doesn't come as quickly as Dr. Goodstein is saying, it's probably not a bad idea to get the idea of real self-sufficiency going, particularly since my kid is going to have to deal with it (given the old 40-year timeline).

Lessons Learned: Trust The Animals

Last night, as I was going to bed, our dog Brandy was barking at something outside. Normally, when she's doing this, she saw a squirrel or something like that, and wants to chase it down. So we tell her to be quiet and then shut the window or whatever.

Well, Jenn went out to her car this morning and it had been broken into. She lost about 100 CDs, including one that had been made at our wedding. She also lost all her change and her cell phone.

As the title said: Lesson learned. I will now go out and check whenever that dog gets a burr in her ass. And I'm going to bring at least my waster with me. Anyone who breaks into my house or car is going to get a freaking beating at the very least.

I am so furious right now... we have a kid coming into this world and to think that the house and neighborhood we chose isn't safe makes me absolutely crazy. And if we had just paid attention to what our dog, who is a watchdog by nature, was trying to tell us, then we wouldn't be out all that stuff and my piece of mind would be secure.

Brandy, we owe you an apology. Next time we let you go to kick the ass of whoever is out there. And then I go out there with something to continue the job and make sure they freaking pay.

Kudos to... Um... RUSSIA?

In what I consider a very surprising move, Russia has ratified the Kyoto Protocol, that international treaty dedicated to reducing the amounts global climate change-causing pollutants in the atmosphere. By doing this, they've pretty much ensured that the treaty will be ratified worldwide, despite what the misguided Bush Administration does. I would LOVE to see sanctions against the US forcing us to adapt the Protocol's guidelines, which the Clinton Administration was ready to sign into effect.

It'd be nice to see the 800-pound gorilla have to learn to play nice with the rest of the animal kingdom. Hopefully we won't have to worry about Bush and his administration too much longer.