XENOPHOBIA is a first-contact novel by Peter Cawdron, who seems to have a cottage industry of first-contact novels.  I bought this book on the strength of a recommendation.  I will let you know what I think of it either from the first page, or the first act.  :-)

When an alien spacecraft appears in orbit, America is thrown into turmoil. US troops are withdrawn from hotspots around the globe to provide support at home.

In Malawi, Africa, a band of US Rangers remains behind to serve as peacekeepers, but when hundreds of alien spacecraft begin soaring overhead, the dynamics of war take on an entirely new dimension.

I have shied away from science fiction recently, because most of it is bad.  Here’s to hope!

Continue reading →

Update:

The plot thickens.  I have removed the battery and sought a replacement.  Supposedly not hard to find online, but no authorized Apple joint will touch them, so getting one in person is not so easy.

Nothing Lasts Forever

Car

I am dealing with a remarkable day of trivial loss. I was going to buy a car yesterday, but I was quite tired, and re-scheduled the test drive for today. Somebody else bought the car. Too bad, as it was a honey, and a steal for a thousand bucks.  A 2002 Toyota Estima van with one ding on the side, otherwise clean inside and out. Supposed to run great, recently passed inspection, and has two new tires. All four tire match, and I’m hard-pressed to identify the two new ones — all in great shape. Therefore, I suspect that they were the fronts, as aggressive driving with front-wheel drive simply eats tires.

Frankly, I don’t mind driving a car that may have been driven … Continue reading →

We just won a huge victory on the health care bill, and most people don’t even realize it yet.   The failure of the current bill was a godsend for those who are serious about repealing Obamacare.   Going forward, Trump can now say that he did everything he could to support the GOP establishment version of this process.   It will cost him nothing to now turn around and try and alternative approach. On the other hand it will cost to Paul Ryan everything to resist that.

Paul Ryan and his guys tried to cram this thing down our throats with threats and blackmail. Trump supporter at it, no matter what, to the hilt. Nobody on the hill can say that they were not supported by the … Continue reading →

I find myself in an odd position.  I want a thing going here where some of the less-rowdy (or at least less frequently rowdy) folks are completely in their element.  I am likely the wrong person to set this up, but will eagerly participate when I can.

Nanda, please take charge and move out.  Let me know if you need anything.  I understand that there are some proposals for times and phone numbers etc — just tell me what the answer is.  I am not going to set a time, as my own schedule is volatile.  I would no sooner set it up then I would suddenly be unable to show up.  So let’s don’t build it around my schedule — I don’t really have one.

We’ve discussed … Continue reading →

I am not optimistic about this health care bill.  I am happy that Hillary and Pelosi did not get a license to expand the breach, which would have been truly horrific.  But when comparing horrors of different magnitude, it is easy to lump it all together as just so much gore.  So my internal risk manager tells me to be grateful.  Fine, I’m grateful.

But that does not mean optimistic.  I don’t wish to make perfect the enemy of good, but I’m hardly insisting upon perfection here.  All I want is for government to get out of the health care rationing business, and that’s not what we’re going to get.  The Republicans are likely to get stuck with the failure of this all, and then the next round of … Continue reading →

The combination of these two fields is an exciting place to be. I am not there right now. But being away gives me a chance to learn away from the field for a while, and helps provide perspective. Time and distance are my favorite remedies for nearly all problems.
IT is a new-ish field, and has nothing like the maturity which benefits other defined business fields. This is great because it affords many opportunities for innovation. This is a disaster because it affords many opportunities for innovation. Most new ideas are no damned good, and in IT, we try them all.
I am fond of a quote from somebody about the Last Big Thing. We spend our energy seeking a new solution while nobody masters the … Continue reading →

Our friend Dime brought up an interesting point in his post on Iconography which has a parallel in terminology. Obama was very much a leader to his people (Alinskyites, Kenyans, Islamists, crackpots), whereas Trump is not regarded as a leader by those of us who nonetheless support him. The two sides have very different ideas of how government should run, what it should do, and how it should relate to society and the individual. Leftists want a leader — rightists want a representative.
We like us some Trump because he is like us, because he literally represents us.  He is not better than we are, not smarter, not chosen except by we schlubs, and does not claim any right to lead an ignorant mass where it … Continue reading →

I have no idea how a book club works. But we should definitely do that. Here’s a pleasant book on ordinary life. Nevermind the title about statistics, this book is about things. I read it as an audiobook, but I suspect some of it is more clear in print.

https://www.amazon.com/Naked-Statistics-Stripping-Dread-Data/dp/B00CH7FWWU

My job (jobs) is (are) kind of cyclical. Back into the fascinating part, and I’m working 12 on and 12 off most of the time. So I’ve been hard to find. With that kind of time, I rarely even break out my confuser anymore. Mostly just the old iPhone, which is slowly dying, but man it has been through the wars and doesn’t owe me anything.

Love what you all are doing with the site. Great to see so many people whose company I enjoy.

Let’s try to convene a call about this time tomorrow. I’ll dig up the conference call number, or maybe Dime can just fire up one of the old numbers :-)

Huzah!

Continue reading →