Thursday, July 10, 2003

So my Dad came by the courthouse today since he was in the area for a meeting. He may be working down here in the very near future. Anyway, he got the $.50 tour with The Marshal then took me to lunch.

When I walked back into the office, there was a rather malodorous gentleman sitting in the anteroom.

ME: Have you been helped?

HIM: Are you Miss [my last name, which sort of scares me that he knows my full name, but there’s nothing I can do about it now]?

ME: Yes…

HIM: I’m [his full name, which sets alarm bells ringing because I know exactly who he is.

This time he was armed with his tidy yellow copy of his served civil process, demanding to know if I can decipher the signature of the deputy who served the papers and giving me a full-blown recap of his case and the dismissal of his case by one of our judges. Yay!

I explained that I couldn’t read the signature and that it was not one of our deputies because the papers were served in DC, which means one of the DC deputies served the process. I gave him their number - so hopefully he’s off to pester them next.

Funny follow-up: MD came in the door and said, “Who was in that room?” She pointed at the ante-room. I explained and she said, “He stank! It smells of B.O. in there.” Heh. And that reminds me that I meant to spritz that little area with air freshener. Let me go do that…

Remember this? And this?

I’m having to book flights and hotels again. This time things are pretty much set, so I won’t be cancelling anything. However, I got a great phone call yesterday from the Administrative Officer of the PD’s office.

We’re wondering if you could put them up at the [names a specific hotel] rather than the [names another hotel, where the other people happen to be staying already] because hotel #1 has a pool.

Uh huh. Here’s the deal:

1. I’m not your travel agent.

2. These people are not coming here for their vacation. They are witnesses to testify in a trial.

3. The government is not upgrading your hotel so your witnesses can have access to a pool. I don’t care how hot it is.

4. Your witnesses will be booked at the first and cheapest hotel I can find. I seriously doubt hotel #1 will be the place.

So this morning I had a voice mail from her.

I called [hotel #1] and they don’t have any rooms available, so it looks like it’ll be [hotel #2].

Uh huh, if they have any rooms available. It’s summertime and we’re in the town that butts right up to DC. Please see #4 above.

Sheesh.

Wednesday, July 09, 2003

I’ve been remiss in heading over to see the WWII history and photos from BigWig’s file cabinet. The link takes you to the category page where all posts reside. I encourage you to head on over yourself to see the never-before-seen photos and read the history. He’s taking a lot of time to research the background of the photos and what they depict. It’s a good history lesson and reminder for us all.

UPDATE: I have to add a quote from one of the essays BigWig wrote to go along with the photos he posted on July 4:

The new flavor of Holocaust denial is not to deny that it happened, but to deny it significance, to reduce 6 million dead Jews to
a mere blip on the bloody radar of human history. “Bad things have happened to people all through history” goes the logic. “Besides, everyone does it.” It’s an argument that demands the perfection of human character before allowing action against evil while simultaneously denying that such perfection can possibly exist.

It’s a neat rhetorical trick, an excuse for inaction in the face of evil. Given the numerous discoveries of mass graves and documented atrocities visited upon the people of Iraq by the recently deposed Ba’athist regime, the timing of its emergence is suspicious, and saddening.

The argument’s aim is clear, though not all who ascribe to its logic recognize what that goal is. It seeks to make all of the human tragedy and suffering equally important, which sounds noble enough. But, if all deaths are equally important, then they are also equally unimportant, which leads to

“Bad things have happened to people all through history,”

So there’s no rush to when it comes to freeing Iraqis from their dictator, to defend Liberians from theirs, and suicide bombers and those who hunt them are morally equivalent.

and “Besides, everyone does it.”

Not the Germans. Not anymore. I wonder why that is?

...is in the form of stale Oreos™.

I just went upstairs on a mail run and stopped in to the Big Toe™ to get some ice for my Diet Vanilla Coke. The siren call of the Oreos was too much to resist.

The first bite was so disappointing...but it’s not stopping me from consuming the entire package. I’m that determined to have a little sugar this afternoon.

Yes, Dave, you said you like your steak rare?

Over at Right Wing News I found this post about Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s rescue of a family at Lake Winnipesaukee, NH. (News story here).

As John Hawkins points out, it doesn’t take long for “the opposition,” in this case the Democrats, to complain about the act of a Republican Good Samaritan.

...“There are lots of people drowning in the commonwealth right now who would certainly welcome a rescue,’’ said Rep. Jay R. Kaufman (D-Lexington).

...But Rep. Paul Kujawski (D-Webster) said other governors would have been “condemned for leaving the state,’’ while Romney “seems to have privileges other governors haven’t.’’

“Mitt Romney only chooses to run for office from Massachusetts - he doesn’t vacation here,’’ said Democratic Party spokeswoman Jane Lane.”

All of those snide comments were prompted by, “Romney and two of his sons (leaping) onto Jet Skis and pluck(ing) members of a New Jersey family and their dog out of dangerous waters Saturday night.”

Honestly, who do those Democrats think they’re impressing by taking shots like that at Romney given the circumstances? It makes them look small, petty, partisan, & undignified and I can’t imagine that those types of attacks would appeal to anyone except the most rabid partisans.

“When somebody’s drowning, we’re not Democrats or Republicans,’’ Rep. Eric T. Turkington (D-Falmouth) said. “I’m impressed that we have a governor who can do that kind of thing.’’

What is wrong with people?

LOS ANGELES — Actor Jeffrey Jones (search), who played the high school principal in the 1980s comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, pleaded no contest Tuesday to a felony charge of employing a 14-year-old boy to pose for sexually explicit photos.

Jones was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to register as a sex offender and undergo counseling.

Jones had been free on $20,000 bond. He was arrested Nov. 14 after a 12-month investigation that also resulted in the arrest of actor Paul Reubens, who is best known for the character Pee-wee Herman (search).

Reubens, 50, who is free on $20,000 bail, has pleaded innocent to one misdemeanor count of possessing material depicting children under 18 engaging in sexual conduct.

Kevin over at Wizbang has a great post listing four points of blog etiquette.

Tip #1: Know the Blogosphere
Tip #2: Use the “Hat Tip”
Tip #3: Use Block Quotes
Tip #4: Straighten Up and Fly Right

I don’t really have anything to say. Just wanted to ping weblogs - see how many come a-runnin’.

Heh.

Mom commented on another post:

Car update - we bought the Highlander today. After taking the time to think (and pray) it over, Dad was fine with the choice. It is just like the one we looked at on Sat. with all the stuff we had on our wish list. Now that it is ours, he has driven it, and has devoured the maintenance book ... Dad is smitten.

So I guess no Outback at all?

Tuesday, July 08, 2003

So I’ve been watching American Juniors the past couple of weeks. I was reluctant because of the whole irate stage-parents thing. But there are some really talented kids that have made it this far.

This one girl, Danielle, is only 10 years old and she has the most amazing voice. If you just listen to her without looking or knowing that she’s just a kid you would think she was 30. She has a really clear, lovely voice - and as Deborah Gibson said, she doesn’t over sing or try to push it. Brian McKnight was blown away by her. She will have some kind of career singing when she’s an adult, even if she doesn’t get into this kiddie group. I’m just blown away that she’s only 10. Wow.

I started the dial-up process at 6:23pm. Got disconnected.

Redialed up. Got disconnected.

Repeat two more times. So I called Earthlink to see what’s up. Because my dial up problems have been getting worse in the past few weeks. At the end of the conversation I had given the tech support guy all the info he needs to start the DSL process, but I need to wait for my next paycheck in a couple of weeks. I will have DSL by the end of the month.

I dialed up three more times with no success, with a crawl under the desk to investigate the dust situation at the back of the computer. Pretty clean.

Are you with me? That’s 8 unsuccessful attempts. I tried a ninth followed by a reboot of the machine.

Tenth attempt was successful (so far), I was finally logged in at 7:56pm.

I couldn’t talk about this, but we had a big trial in the courthouse, and the verdict was a long time coming.

A federal jury convicted a former naval intelligence officer from Fort Washington of kidnapping resulting in death yesterday for the disappearance of his ex-wife in 1996.

The jury of eight women and four men found that Jay Lentz, 43, lured his ex-wife, Doris Lentz, 31, to his home on the pretense of picking up their daughter, Julia, then 4. Mrs. Lentz’s body was never found.

Prosecutors argued that Lentz’s motive was to end a contentious relationship and relieve himself of more than $40,000 he owed Mrs. Lentz in child support.

Lentz could be sentenced to death. Jurors are scheduled to return to U.S. District Court in Alexandria on Monday to begin the penalty phase of the trial.

Seriously, gentlemen, just pass on by this one, it’s not for you.

This Public Service Announcement is for the ladies.

LATER: I’m not kidding or joking around here. Craig can attest to that. Heh...although if any of you men do happen to read further, please feel free to share the info with your wives (if you’re married).

Just Because...

1.  Strawberries or blueberries? Neither, but only because I don’t like the mouth feel of either. I prefer blueberry flavor over strawberry flavor though.

2.  Legally Blonde 2 or Terminator 3? Both.

3.  Hamburgers or hot dogs? Hot dogs

4.  Boating or hiking? I’ve been sailing and hiking and I much prefer the sailing over the hiking.

5.  Suntan lotion or sunblock? Sunblock, which for me is in the form of not going outside in the summer. It’s too hot anyway.

6.  Big Brother or The Amazing Race? Please...The Amazing Race, of course. I disagree with Dave, who says, “Although I’d give it all up for just one more season of The Mole, with civilians.” I love The Mole too, but TAR is better.

7.  Beach Boys or Jimmy Buffett? I know I’ll disappointment many people with my answer here - neither. I never liked the Beach Boys much and I cannot stand Buffet. I don’t get his appeal.

8.  Grow your own produce or buy from supermarket/greengrocer/farm stand? There’s nothing like fresh corn on the cob. That said, I get my fresh corn on the cob at the sto’.

9.  Drive with car windows/top down, or with air-conditioning on? A/C, always.

10.  Go away for vacation, or stay at home? Depends, I prefer staying home, but I love a good trip too.

The Cooties brought two or three grocery bags of these things called Quakes for my Dad when they came down last month. I don’t know how they found out that he ate them and loved them.

Anyway, they’re these mini-rice cakes and my Dad’s favorite flavor is chocolate, but he can’t find them in this area. That’s why they brought them down. He was very excited and promptly opened a bag for us to sample. Now, I was really skeptical because I’ve tried all manner of rice cake and they’re just awful. But these are good. Really yummy, and I never thought I’d say that about a rice cake ever.

So yesterday while at Wal-Mart, I noticed a display and I remembered that Dad said the ranch flavored ones were excellent as well. I looked for the chocolate, but they didn’t have them, but they had plenty of the ranch. I bought a bag and opened it last night to test.

Oooh, they’re as good as Dad said.