Say it ain't so, Rachel!

I was watching "Inside Dish" last night on the Food Network, and Rachel said she was engaged! NOOOOOO!!!!!

As J. Geils Band sang, "My blood runs cold." I can no longer fantasize about sweeping Rachel off her feet. I can no longer think, "If she met me, I'd change her life." And I can no longer imagine that she's waiting for me to find her.

And I can no longer delude myself that any of that could actually happen.

At least I can still watch "$40 a Day" and "30 Minute Meals" and dream about what might have been.

New Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in London the other day and said a U.S. attack on Iran "is simply not on the agenda at this point." She did say, "I don't think anybody thinks that the unelected mullahs who run that regime are a good thing for the Iranian people and for the region."

Boy! That sounds familiar.

I remember that during the whole run up to the Iraq War, President Bush kept saying, "We're not planning on invading Iraq," and then reminding us that Saddam Hussein was not elected by the Iraqi people, and that he has WMDs.

Of course, meanwhile, the unelected dictator of North Korea was saying that he had WMDs. They were aimed at us. An they'd kill us if we invaded. The President said, "We're not planning to invade North Korea." And so far we haven't.

I guess the President has almost decided the war in Iraq is over, and it's time to head on into Iran and pay them back for that hostage crisis back in the 70s.

I guess that since we've won in Afghanistan (even without capturing Osama), and won in Iraq, we're gonna lick Iran, then go after North Korea.

I have to admit I'm a bit depressed today. UPN cancelled Star Trek Enterprise.

Sure, the writing had been on the wall for a while, but it's still a disappointment. Next fall will be the first TV season without a Star Trek series in 18 years. They produced something like 680 hours of Star Trek in that time.

*SIGH!*

If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone now.

From outsourcing to "outsaucing!"

A McDonald's restaurant in Hermiston, Oregon on Highway 395 has outsourced one of the most important jobs at the drive-through window -- order taking, according to this story.

When a customer drives through, they'll be patched through to Grand Forks, North Dakota to place the order. Why? Because the minimum wage in North Dakota is $5.15, compared to Oregon's $7.25.

If you are geographically challenged, like me, you might think that Hermiston might sit on the North Dakota border. Nope. To get to Grand Forks from Hermiston requires a drive across Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota (Grand Forks is in East North Dakota, near the Minnesota border. That's 1050 miles as the crow flies, or 1395 miles by interstate highway system.

According to the AFL/CIO, Idaho and Montana have the same minimum wage as North Dakota, so why in the world would anyone send the order through North Dakota?

Sorry. I don't have an answer for that. But understandable, the Oregon AFL/CIO is objecting since this undercuts the Oregon's minimum wage by $2.

My theory is that if it's ok for a major company to send phone calls to India, then it's ok for a drive thru to send drive through orders to North Dakota.

I broke down and bought an MP3 player.

I'd lusted after a 40 gig iPod, but $399 was more than I wanted to spend. Plus, Apple has a music service called iTunes.

After getting my IRS refund, I started shopping. I found a nice 20 Gig unit at Dell, called DJ20 for $249. With a leather cover with belt clip, and a car charger, the total was right at $300. My tax refund covered most of it.

When the box arrived it was like Christmas! There were lots of carboard templates to hold the player in place, and all the accessories came in their own plastic bags. I scattered cardboard and plastic all over the place.

After charging the battery (the longest 2 1/2 hours in my life!), I installed the software, and began loading MP3 audiobooks and songs.

I thought I would fill the hard drive up in no time. All of those files fillup my computer's hard drive in nothing flat, after all. Maybe I'm being more judicious in putting stuff on there, but after a week, I've only got 4 Gigabytes filled, with 16 available Gigabytes. I've got about 200 songs, and 20 audiobooks. More stuff than I can possible listen to on my 7 minute commute to work. But, Boy! is it fun to play with.

JeffreyHolt.com
TexasBreweries.com
Chasing the Sun

Why can't Gays Marry?

I recently got into an argument with someone who almost violently opposed same sex unions. Their argument was based on the Bible first, then on a Family Values position.

This person said that homosexuality is condemned in the Bible. I agreed and said that so is witchcraft, and that now Wiccans have the right to worship freely. "Suffer not a witch to live," I admonished shaking my finger.

This person said that same sex marriages weaken the concept of marriage. "So it's because of same sex marriages that half of all marriages fail in the country? That's an accepted statistic, you know."

Here's where I stand: If we allow same sex marriages, will my taxes go up? Would same sex couples "get their own check out lane at the supermarket," as Ernie at Ernie's House of Whoop Ass asked? Of course not. If members of same sex unions get insurance and parental rights, how am I affected? My employer doesn't offer insurance now.

If atheists can get married in a church, if good Christians can marry after a drunken party in Vegas (like Britany Spears did) and get an annulment less than a day later then anyone can marry. If it's no big deal that priests molest children and don't get punished, if it's no big deal that people can divorce incredibly easy, if it's no big deal that someone's been married four or five times, then it's no big deal if two guys or two girls get married.

Whatever floats your boat, as long as my feet don't get wet, is fine with me.