Cancel That Vacation

The State Department has issued its latest travel updates for persons traveling out of the country. Among them are these:

"Driving in Qatar is (like) participating in an extreme sport."
"Police involvement in criminal activity is both legendary and true in Mexico."
"Be aware of drink prices" in Croatia's gentlemen's clubs, where tourists can unknowingly run up exorbitant bar bills, sometimes in the thousands of dollars."

I wonder who writes this stuff? You can read the story here.

I Am Not Green

Although this quiz is not scientifically accurate it is sort of an eye opener and offers a general idea. According to the Ecological Footprint Quiz, if everyone lived like me, we would need 4.4 planets.

Peel and Stick

It's just too bad that I hardly use the mail service these days. Maybe I'll become a philatelist.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. Postal Service turned to the characters of "Star Wars" for inspiration on Wednesday as it unveiled 15 new first-class stamps featuring the whole gang from Chewbacca to Darth Vader.

The stamps were unveiled at Grauman's Chinese theater in Hollywood where the original "Star Wars" movie opened 30 years ago. The stamps will go on sale on May 25, after a contest to choose the most popular of the stamps.

Among the "Star Wars" characters depicted on the stamps are Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Darth Vader, R2-D2, C-3PO, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Boba Fett.

The images are from all six "Star Wars" films and David Failor, executive director of stamp services for the U.S. Postal Service, said, "Because of the movies' popularity, we believe these stamps have the popularity of reaching the blockbuster status of the Elvis stamp."

Earlier in the month to publicize the new stamps, about 400 mailboxes around the country were designed to look like R2-D2.

Standing In Dilbert's Shoes

Please Remain Seated Until...

Since the family and I are flying out of town for Easter, I thought it would be best to check and see what the latest rules are for airline passengers. It has been a long time since I've flown anywhere so I was concerned about what I could and could not carry onto an airplane. The TSA website was helpful but I was shocked to learn that I could not bring a meat cleaver on board. Really, you can see for yourself here. Sabers and swords and ice picks being prohibited I can understand. It's just COMMON SENSE. But meat cleavers?? Come on, folks. Next thing to be prohibited will probably be spear guns. Oops, those are already prohibited.

Name That Commercial

1. Too much bounce.
2. I can't believe I ate the whole thing.
3. Where's the beef?
4. Zoom Zoom
5. We'll leave the light on for you.
6. You can't sell yourself for a buck.
7. Apply directly to the forehead.
8. Paper clip, ballpoint pen, rubber band, tweezers, nasal spray, turkey baster: $14
9. 4 out of 5 dentists recommend sugarless gum for their patients who chew gum.
10. So, what level Dungeon Master are you guys?

Leave No Stone Unturned

It was very busy today at work. Plus we had internal auditors auditing one of my departments. Will it ever end??? Oh, it's time to go. Yay!

WTF?

I think a lot of people who voted after American Idol last night were smoking crack. I cannot believe that Sinjay, Vanjaya, whatever, is still on the show. And in the top 10. Ugh, at least he's a little better than William Hung. What the hell am I saying???

No Picture

For some reason 10 channels wouldn't come in on my cable system last night. One of those channels happened to be the channel that broadcasts my show 24. Of course I didn't discover the problem until a couple of minutes before the show started. I called the cable company's customer service line and they couldn't resolve the problem. Only made some excuse about the lower end of channels being converted to digital signals and that some boxes weren't handling the change very well. Dammit, I thought all the channels were digital when I subscribed to digital service. Long story short, I missed 24 and the cable company won't be out until Saturday to fix the problem. Bastards.

Hmmm

Is it a sin to just think about work on Sunday? I'm no expert in Theology or Doctrine but I might know enough to be dangerous. Or maybe just think I know. Whatever. Catholics would probably consider it a sin but just a venial one. No big deal. Baptists and those non-denominational churches would probably say that you were going straight to Hell. What a pleasant thought. This was just a little experiment in thought and in no way should be considered accurate or scientifically acceptable. Work, work, work, oops...lustful thought, work, work.

Chill, It's Just Marketing...Not an Invasion

I think the city of Farmers Branch should just kick out (deport) all Hispanics from its city limits. While they're at it they can do the same to the Blacks, Asians, American Samoans, and anyone else who is not an "American." Then they can build a fence around the city and set up check points to prevent these persons of different descent from entering or traveling through their wonderful city without permission. Then the City Council wouldn't have to worry about a diverse population bringing the city to ruin or branded stores catering to minorities entering their tiny Land of Oz. I seem to remember a long time ago that there was a XXX theater located in the city's coveted Four Corners area. Read the latest row here.

Use the Force, Luke

Almost thirty years ago a little sci-fi movie opened up at theaters named Star Wars. I remember there were full-page ads in the papers advertising the opening. I also remember discussing with my friends whether the movie was being hyped so much because it was some cheesy low budget flick or perhaps it was going to rock everyone's world. I ended up seeing the movie a few times, having a crush on Carrie Fisher, and envying Luke Skywalker. I don't think the movie changed my life in any way except for maybe feeding my imagination and curiosity for science and space and the search for EBEs.

Any how, the postal service is announcing a new stamp on March 28 and as a teaser to the announcement, they are covering 400 mailboxes to look like the droid R2-D2. Anita T. Bizzotto, the post office's chief marketing officer said "When you look at a mailbox, the resemblance to R2-D2 is too good to pass up." I wonder how many of these special mailboxes might end up in someone's collection at home?

Can You See the Seas?

The Cassini probe has discovered significantly large bodies of liquid on Titan that scientists consider are seas of liquid methane or ethane. This is just too cool. I wish I could teleport to the surface of Titan and take in the view. And to hear Titan. Of course I would have a force field around myself to protect against the cold and inhospitable environment there. Wishful thinking. Read the story here.

Time Keeps Ticking

The kids and I (my wife had to go to a funeral) had dinner tonight with an old friend and her husband who were driving through town. I had not seen either of them since they deployed to Japan in 2000. That was also the last time I saw their two children and man have they grown. They weren't on this trip but Reesy gave me some photos. It's scary the way time just seems to move so quickly in one instance and can also seem to move so slowly in other instances. I've got to get working on that darned time machine.

My Friend Flickr?

I spent a lot of time today working on my Flickr account. There are some nifty features included and it was easy to work with. I just don't understand why I can't move my photos from Yahoo! to Flickr with one click though. Maybe I'll use Flickr more than I've used my Yahoo Photos account but who knows. I'll have to check out Google's Picasa Web Album before I get too involved with Flickr just in case I decide to switch. Gotta go it's time for my show.

Ring Around the Planet

This photo of Saturn released by NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute on March 1 2007 shows the planet in the light of day and the dark of night. And in other Cassini-Huygens mission news, the next flyby of Titan, one of dozens of Saturn's moons, will occur tonight around 6:45 PM PST. The last flyby revealed a large island in one of Titan's largest lakes. Titan is the size of a terrestrial planet and is one of the mission's highest priorities because of the similarities it has with early Earth. Any bets on organic life on Titan?

What Time Is It?

This weekend we turn our clocks ahead one hour. This year we start daylight savings three weeks earlier and end it one week later. I've read that a lot of electronic devices that can't be flashed will cause some confusion by displaying the wrong time. I really dislike this time of year because moving the time an hour ahead always screws with my internal clock, too. Also there are some countries that will not adjust the time this weekend but will wait until the "normal" first weekend of April before doing so. I know Mexico is one of them. Imagine leaving for work an hour later to get there on time and getting home an hour later than when you left work...if you work in one of those countries that isn't adjusting their clocks this weekend.

You're Fired

NASA has fired poor Lisa Nowak. This is a first for the space agency. I said before that this is the stuff of movies or soap operas and it continues to be so. Although Nowak has been fired as an astronaut, she returns to her job as a Naval officer in a couple of weeks but I think her career is short lived. The male love interest William Oefelein is also a Naval officer and I think he should be under review for conduct unbecoming. Heavens, committing adultery as an officer and a gentleman. Do I hear a toilet flushing? Read the whole story here.

Ummm, That Was Dreadful

I think the singing of all the men (or boy-men) tonight on Idol sucked. Big time. Based on their performances they should all be voted off the show. Simon rules.

Not Asking For Much

I would like to see child-proof DVD cases. This evening I watched The Little One open around six DVD cases to find the one she wanted. Oh yes, she perused the front and back of the case but I guess she had to see the actual disc before deciding whether it was the one she wanted or not. She opened every case in less than a second or two. She did have trouble with the cases that had two clips you had to open before being able to open the case itself but she figured that one out pretty fast. If only the case were as hard to open as some of the discs are to remove from the case. You know, the ones where you have to push the center button and use your index finger to lift the disc and it starts to bow at alarming angles and you think the darn thing is going to snap in two before it pops out. Now that's how hard it should be to open the case.

What the Hell is That?

It seems that "sand circles" have been discovered in the dry riverbed of the Rio Grande in far West Texas. Prior to the discovery, strange lights were allegedly seen in the area. I personally have seen strange lights in the sky way out there in the desert southwest and even black helicopters flying out of the riverbed. I'm not surprised that the visitors finally left something interesting behind. Of course, this will probably be debunked in the following days under the guidance of the government or MIB. Don't let them brainwash you. Remember Roswell! Read the story here.

Hey, That's My Seat

I don't know all the ins and outs of American Idol but I'm curious as to whether the producers tell the contestants where to sit before the results of voting are announced. So, according to my calculations, over the past 5 seasons 71% of the contestants seated in between the two on the ends went on to the next round. Of those, 87% were booted off the show if they were seated third from the right and a staggering 96% were gone if they were seated third from the right of a contestant with brunette hair. Coincidence? I think not.