BunkBlog

Our first morning aboard the ship was great.  It didn’t get above 75 today, but it was still a very pleasant day. We had breakfast with some Texans and a Canuck chef, then sat near the bow and read. We had a little wine-tasting, which was marred only slightly by a table near us which seemed to be surprised we were interrupting their rather boisterous conversation with some sort of wine-related event.

Dinner included lobster, where they sang a happy honeymoon song to us, and we finished the evening with a drink while listening to a jazz trio. They were very good, and Kat seemed to really appreciate the drummer, having been one herself.

We are, as I write this, on the first sea day of our honeymoon cruise. We’ll be arriving in Jamaica on Wednesday, then Grand Cayman Thursday and Cozumel on Friday. We left from the still-devastated Galveston on Sunday afternoon; the ship left two hours late because it had to drop passengers from the previous week in Houston (where the cruise had been operating from while Galveston got back in order enough for the cruises even if not for their own residents).

So far, it’s been gorgeous and fun. There are a suprisingly large number of Texans on the ship, but we did have breakfast with a Canuck as well, and a wine tasting with a couple from Iowa. And several couples from Texas. 🙂

Not sure how often this will get updated before the 10th of November, but I’ll try to post at least once more this week. No photos before we return, though.

536 days after we met, Kat and I are getting married on October 31st. We’re happy to share this time of our lives with each of you, and anyone who is in San Angelo (or wants to trek here) is invited to share in some sort of shindig that our good friend Dora is throwing for us on the afternoon of November 15th. Dora rocks.

We’re leaving town as soon as we can, heading for a great cruise of the Caribbean.  We’ll be zip-lining through the trees in Jamaica, swimming with turtles and sting rays in the Cayman Islands, and touring the ruins of Tulum near Cozumel.

If you don’t feel you can attend the shindig, just know that all of you are in our hearts.  Many of you had to tolerate our dating from afar stage, some people graciously helped Kat escape Lubbock and move to what is now our cozy home.  We have wonderful friends all over the States and you are welcome to share in our joy.  No gifts necessary, just come to raise a toast.

Love to all, Gary and Kat

I still haven’t quite gotten through the last of the Baroque Cycle (I’m around page 2000), but I breezed through Anathem‘s 900+ pages in just a few days. Stephenson’s latest novel shows that he is capable of writing an ending, and he even dialed back the rampant exposition a bit. He added a few appendices to address that, but at least it didn’t interrupt the flow. The story of a non-religious “concent” (convent) that is filled with men and women who take themselves out of mainstream society for years to study science and philosophy…well, it’s a bit convoluted, isn’t it? Anyway, it ends up a good adventure involving all sorts of complicated cosmology and cosmogony and philosophy and even a little math and tiling problems. Very cool book. If you enjoyed Cryptonomicon or Snow Crash or any of Stephenson’s earlier novels, get it and read it. If you haven’t read Stephenson, understand that he’s long-winded and this book even includes a couple of extra languages. See below:

Once again, we are shown how easily the McCain/Palin campaign can relate to the average American voter. Yep. Obama is such an elitist, with his one house and paying for his own clothing.

The Republican National Committee spent about $150,000 on clothing, hair styling, makeup and other “campaign accessories” in September for the McCain campaign after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin joined the ticket as his running mate.

More detail
You’d think this sort of thing would be illegal. Thanks to the campaign finance reform laws backed by Senator McCain over the years, it is illegal for the campaign to spend this sort of money on personal services for a candidate. Fortunately for the campaign, McCain’s bills never included a mention of the National Committee being prohibited from spending that money. Good for them.

He’s nine?  How the heck did that happen?

First of all, I love this squirrel:

That little critter is the only mammal at the Nature Center that tries to escape through the roof of its cage. We start humming the Mission Impossible theme music whenever we see him.

Alex’s love of all things military continues, so even though he asked for a birthday party with lots of animals, he still got this cake:

He loved wearing the snake and was great with the tarantula:

More photos in the gallery, as usual.

Kat coerced three other Nature Center folks to help with the party (a task which is usually relegated to just Kat), so the kids got to see over a dozen animals, and everyone was able to touch and hold them. A few animals were brought out that have never been brought to a party or event before – Kat rocks.

Alex has had a pretty good year, with his trips to several Eastern states, a trip to ride nearly every roller coaster at Fiesta Texas, Schlitterbahn, lots of toys, games, and just a lucky time for the boy. Fortunately, he’s also a great kid. Every time I have other children his age over for dinner, I’m reminded again how well Alex’s mother and I have done in instilling a modicum of manners and not instilling a distrust of vegetables and “weird” food.  He loves to try new things, and although I may want to strangle him some days, I’m very happy that he’s in my life.  Happy Birthday, boy.

What is with the constant repitition of the term “repudiate” this week? It sounds remarkably like the old Nazi/Communist concept of “denouncing” your friends or family in order to prove your ideological purity. What happened to this country?

According to this ABC report, a Reserve linguist is blabbing about some NSA program that targeted Americans.  I sure hope that she is being covered by some sort of Congressional exemption, cuz otherwise she’s kind of violating one of those NDAs like the one I signed this morning (probably the twentieth or more identical form I’ve signed over the years).  Strange that there’s no specific statement that the “whistleblower” is protected that way, but I guess journalists don’t have the same focus as intel geeks.

It’s too bad there’s only one VP debate this year.  I figure a drinking game would be a great addition to any rematch.  Every time Biden quotes a McCain vote that contradicts McCain’s rhetoric, drink.  Every time Palin drops the trailing “g” on any “ing” word, drink.  Every time Palin says “maverick” – shot!  Any time either candidate fully answers the question posed without wandering into completely unrelated territory – everyone drinks!  Fortunately, there’s not much chance of that last one…

Has there been an actual debate, as we would know the event from high school or college debating teams, in the history of televised Presidential debates?  You know, where there are rules that the debaters can violate, such as “not answering the question posed?”  Without procedural rules and the voting from a group of disinterested people, the term “debate” becomes a bit silly.  Both sides can claim to win, and depending on how low we set the bar, we can all agree that both sides “won” a contest that has no score.  *sigh*

In April, the contract I have been working on for five years was due to be renewed.  Instead, the government extended it until the end of June.  June came around, and the contract got extended until the end of August, while the contract bid process was finally begun.  At the end of August, no contract was awarded, and thus began a joyful process of “guess what is happening in contractland.” Shoe number one hit the floor with a hollow thud.

Every week, a tale regarding exactly what rumor was ascendant was passed around. The next week, a completely new and different tale would be exchanged. You can imagine how much fun was had by all. During this time, we all nominally continued to be employed, but without any job site to go to had to make do with our saved vacation time in order to qualify for paychecks. Fortunately, I had over a month of vacation time saved up, so I weathered September without a problem. Many of my coworkers were on “Leave Without Pay” status for much of the month. Fat lot of good it does to be hypothetically employed, if you can’t use that hypothesis to pay bills.

We all knew our company was a shoo-in for the new contract. We’re the incumbents, have been doing the job for over a decade, have a good rapport with the customer, and have such a great understanding of the local realities that our bid must have been among the lowest. We also knew the contract had to be awarded by the end of Fiscal Year 2008 (that would be the 30th of September). Imagine my surprise to get a call on the 29th of September that said we didn’t get the contract. Shoe number two squashed something. Fortunately, the new overlords will be hiring all of us worker bees to work the new contract, since they have exactly zero local employees to do the work themselves. Now, to prepare for an interview with the new employer. Yes, I have to interview for a job I’ve held for five years. Yay.

I do not think it means what you think it means.

(H/T to danielmedic)

July 11th, 2008 – US Government seizes control of IndyMac, largest S&L in Los Angeles and 7th largest mortgage company in the USA.

September 7th, 2008 – US Government acquires control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two largest mortgage backers in the USA.

September 16th, 2008 – US Government acquires 80% control of AIG, largest insurance company in the USA.

The great and mighty Siberian husky, Banshee, defended the family from a giant polar bear this morning.  Well, not so much “defended” as “cowered in front of” and not so much “polar bear” as “painted sheep statue.”  But, it was a great adventure regardless.

After the Sheeptacular in October 2007, many of these decorated sheep appeared around town:

One of them was on our walking path this morning.  The dogs were pretty sure it was a giant monster that was going to eat them.

Another great example of how people who are not, by any reasonable definition, wealthy are somehow able to be convinced to support something which is not in their own self-interest.  If you make less than $111,000 per year, why would you support the plan on the left over the plan on the right?  You prefer to give your tax money to rich people, rather than keep it yourself?  Amazing.

Edit: This all assumes, for good historical reason, that the gummint isn’t planning to reduce spending, and therefore the total revenue needs to remain somewhat static.

This seems a bit over-the-top, even for crazy people.  So, I’m curious if any Alaskans (Lorri?) have any insight as to whether the story in LA Progressive has the ring of truth or just hatchet job.

Sarah Palin’s past continues to amuse and enlighten. From the 2006 Alaskan Gubernatorial Candidate Questionnaire:

Will you support funding for abstinence-until-marriage education instead of for explicit sex-education programs, school-based clinics, and the distribution of contraceptives in schools?

Yes, the explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support.

Guess we know how well that turned out for her own family, eh?

And:

Are you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.

When the Pledge was written in 1892 (I’m betting the Founders were all dead by then), it said this:

“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.”

And it didn’t get the “Under God” until 1954. Not a lot of Founding Fathers hanging around by then, I’m guessing. They must have a fantastic history program in Alaskan schools.

In other news, there exists some relatively solid evidence that Palin was a member of the semi-seccessionist Alaskan Independence Party (motto: Alaska First — Alaska Always) prior to being elected mayor of Wasilla.

Oh, and just for fun, the pinheads at Faux News apparently believe that living within a few hundred miles of a foreign country counts as foreign policy experience.

By that reasoning, I’ve got vast amounts of foreign policy experience, having lived in Minnesota, Washington, California, and Texas! Not to mention my years living actually in a foreign land. I’m super-qualified to be VP!

You may remember Guin, the gender-confused cat, from previous posts such as the one about the really large cat bed:

He was also convinced he was a dog, evicting Banshee from the dog bed at times:

He loved to hang out with his best friend, Leo:

And he even got a little rough with the dogs at times, since he was the king of his demesne, he thought:

Sadly, Guin is gone.  We’re not sure what happened to him, but he seemed to have not suffered any trauma. He was happily shredding the couch just two days ago, but this morning he was on the back porch.  As far as we can tell, he came home around sunrise this morning. Leo was so confused, he was wagging his tail and waiting for Guin to swat him with his claws, as they would so frequently play.  Kat’s heartbroken, of course.

He’s been lain to rest under a flagstone, by a shrub he enjoyed staring at in the back yard. You were a good kitty, Guin.

In counterpoint to my skepticism surrounding Sarah Palin, check out the Obama campaign’s reaction:

“Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency,” Adrianne Marsh, a spokeswoman for Obama, said in a written statement.

That’s just petty and inaccurate.  She’s the former mayor of a town of 9,000 much as Obama is a former community organizer. Ignoring the present position is a slimy trick one usualy associates with devotees of Karl Rove.  Shame.

[T]he head of the marine mammals program for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and two other staff biologists agreed with the conclusions of nine polar bear studies that the federal government was citing to justify a threatened-species listing for the bears. The state’s in-house dispute seems to refute later statements by Gov. Sarah Palin that a “comprehensive review” of the federal science by state wildlife officials found no reason to support an endangered-species listing for the northern bears.

and…

What is your take on global warming and how is it affecting our country?

A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I’m not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.

Newsmax.com – Palin Speaks to Newsmax About McCain, Abortion, Climate Change.

In my opinion, that says volumes.  Someone who doesn’t believe the people who actually study something, preferring to believe people with vested interests in the status quo…yeah, great choice there, Senator McCain.

She would be the hottest VP ever, just barely edging out Dan Quayle.

Oh, and she’s also a proponent of teaching “the controversy” (which exists only in the minds of deluded people) surrounding evolution:

Republican Sarah Palin said she thinks creationism should be taught alongside evolution in the state’s public classrooms.

Palin was answering a question from the moderator near the conclusion of Wednesday night’s televised debate on KAKM Channel 7 when she said, ‘Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both.’