Wet paint....

I've been working on a home improvement project for a while now in the finished portion of our basement. The basement had been in bad shape: it was done in wainscoting, poorly, using cheap paneling on the bottom, drywall on the top, and a chair rail covering the seam. However, rather than do it correctly, which would be to drywall the entire room, and then put the paneling on top of the drywall for the wainscoting, the upper half of the walls were done in drywall, and the lower in paneling.

The paneling was very dark, and even if the paint on the drywall started as white, it had yellowed cosiderably, and was a flat finish. I decided the room needed some brightening, and decided the best place to go was white, with a gloss finish. I decided further to go with a Mondrian theme for the room. Much of this weekend was spent priming and painting the corner where the computer sits. I probably didn't give it all enough time to dry, though, and will have some considerable touch-up work to do tonight before putting the computer back where it belongs.

It's been quite a learning experience so far. The best solution, of course, would have been to rip out everything and put up completely new sheet rock, but we have neither the time nor the money for that kind of project. Also, this weekend's work was a bit rushed. I think I will take my time working on the remainder of the room, and try to allow for the full drying time recommended for the paints.

Good company....

For those of you not in the know, the Discovery Channel ran a "Greatest American" series of programs back in June. I think I may have been part of the survey that generated the original nominees. Through viewer polling they finally reached a final five: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ronald Reagan. Not bad company to be in, eh? --Especially if you're Ronald Reagan.

I was surprised to see him make the top five, honestly. Let's compare the field.... George Washington: charismatic, "Father of Our Country," leader of the Continental Army, and landslide-winner as our first President; as much responsible for shaping the trappings of the Presidency as the Constitution is. Benjamin Franklin: charismatic, "The First American," instrumental in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, statesman, author, scientist. Abraham Lincoln: a quiet, strong leader who led the country through the Civil War, preserving the Union and thereby the idea that "all men are created equal." Martin Luther King, Jr.: charismatic, eloquent speaker, the embodiment of the Civil Rights movement. Ronald Reagan: charismatic, actor, statesman, politician.

Now, we can all debate until we're blue in the face how responsible Reagan was for the downfall of communism, or his place in the top five. But the masses have spoken, and they ranked him the greatest American.

Honestly, I'm as baffled as you are.

Happy Birthday!

It's July 4th, Independence Day, the 229th birthday of a great experiment known as the United States of America.

That's enough....

Some recent posts by Leanne, Luke and Amy got me to thinking: why is there so much negativity toward people with conservative political views?

The negativity ranges from apathy to pity to disdain to outright hatred. Those of a more liberal political position seem to have little, if anything, positive to say about those at the other end of the political spectrum. The individual opinion of a liberal seems to have some corollation to their own opinion of themselves. Those with more of an elitist attitude tend toward disdain and hatred of conservatives, while those closer to the middle seem to pity conservatives.

I'd like to consider myself fairly moderate. I support civil liberties and the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights (all of them, including the Second Amendment, which a lot of liberals seem to ignore, if not loathe). I'm socially progressive, while some have claimed I'm politically conservative. Call me a neocon if you want to, or maybe a "South Park" conservative; I consider myself independent.

I try not to hate all liberals, at least not the way that it seems liberals hate all conservatives. It's hard, though, when we're talking about the same people that are responsible for the bane of political correctness, PETA, and picking and choosing which parts of the Bill of Rights are acceptable and which are not. I'm not saying conservatives are all sweetness and light. After all, it's the far right who's responsible for such things as pushing to teach creationism in schools, Rush Limbaugh, and attempting to legislate religious morality.

Personally, I think the sudden resurgence of conservatives, or neocons, if you will, is a backlash caused by the left. Sure, the left didn't do it on purpose, but enough political correctness, animal rights insanity, and attacks on civil rights will eventually cause anyone with any common sense to say "That's enough!"

Now, like anyone in the same situation, now that the Republicans are in control of Congress and the White House, they're trying to further their agenda. The Democrats would do the same thing if they were in the same position, and anyone who thinks otherwise is deluded. It's no surprise to me that they're once again challenging a woman's right to choose (a choice I support, by the way), or trying to ban the burning of the flag (which I disagree with, by the way), or any of the other ultra-conservative stuff they're trying to do. Anybody who didn't see this coming needs help. Now, if the Supreme Court does what it's supposed to, and interpret and support the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and not legislate from the bench, then we have little to worry about. But if the left really wants to protect these rights, they should support all civil rights, not just the ones they like. They should stop ignoring the "fly-over" area of middle America, the same group accused of "demonizing" those who call themselves "progressive" and work with them instead. If they don't, it'll be more of the same.

So, while people like Amy, Leanne, and Luke continue to harbor such feelings towards the far right, I'll hope that they won't hold it against me when I suggest it's their political comrades that have caused people like me to say "That's enough."

The letter of the law....

As if I needed any more, here's another good reason not to live in Illinois.

Fun....

Well, it's July now, still early in the summer, but before too much longer we'll be facing the oppressive, over-bearing heat and humidity of middle and late summer, and then it won't be so much fun any more.

Maryanne and I were on vacation for most of this last week. We had originally planned to go to Mexico, but it was going to be at least $1,000 for both of us to go, so we decided not to. We had looked in to going up to the Apostle Islands on the Lake Superior shore, but hit some snags there, as well. Finally, we ended up going to Door County because my aunt and uncle were going to be visiting there. Maryanne didn't think it was much of a vacation for me, since I helped with some projects that needed to be done. She sometimes doesn't understand that some of those projects are actually fun for me.

We were able to do a bit of the tourist thing while we were up there, though. Monday afternoon we did some shopping up north. Not too bad of a day for it, though it was one of the hottest days of the summer. We stopped at Not Licked Yet in Fish Creek for some frozen custard, and it was probably the smartest thing we did all weekend. You had to eat fast, though, as the custard was melting pretty fast. Things weren't nearly as busy as I thought they would be. I don't know if it was because it was a Monday, or because gas prices are so high, or any other reason or combination of reasons.

I signed up to work today, thinking it would be a slow day; so far it hasn't been any different from any other Saturday. I brought in the next book for my reading pleasure, though I've yet to open it: it's going to be A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. My particular copy is the Reader's Digest hardcover edition, with illustrations by Phiz.

David and Goliath....

I found this article a while ago and found it rather interesting.

Summertime....

Well, it's now officially summer, as the summer solstice happened yesterday morning. We've definitely had some summer-like weather, with temperatures well into the 80s, and perhaps hitting the 90s by Friday. Thankfully the humidity has not been as bad as it could be.

I've more or less finish Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain. It was an interesting read. Partially autobiographical, it was a non-fiction work detailing, well, Mark Twain's life on the Mississippi river. Twain's writing style and sense of humor shine through the work, making it an entertaining read instead of a long slog through dry, historical facts.

I don't know what's next on the list, and it will be a while before we find out. I start some much-needed vacation tomorrow, and won't return to work until July 2.

Low budget....

It was an expensive weekend; Maryanne and I ate out three times over the course of the weekend, in addition to seeing a movie at the drive-in out in Jefferson. Add in the expenses of groceries and a trip to Stoughton Garden Center, and it was a very pricey weekend indeed.

The movie we saw was Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I enjoyed it, but Maryanne thought it was too slow. We didn't stay for the second feature.

I'm not enthusiastic about daytime running lamps. Maryanne's car has them, and it meant that we couldn't open the windows in her car during the movie. I got a funnel cake out of it, though.

Almost....

Today was a very pleasant day, the kind of day that makes you glad to be alive, but makes you wish you were any where other than work. Today, yard work might actually have been a joy instead of a chore, but I'll never know for sure, because I'm stuck at work.

It's almost summer now, officially. Oh, sure, there are plenty of people out there who call the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day summer, but I don't. Summer is from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox. Today is a great example of all that's good about late spring; last week was an example of why spring in southern Wisconsin is less pleasant than in northern Wisconsin.

Paranoia

So some paranoid people over at the Conspiracy Planet website have the uber-liberal lefties at Fark all in a tizzy over the report of a bill to repeal the 22nd Amendment.

So did they all skip civics class or something? Because they're all forgetting

1. An amendment would have to be passed by a 2/3 vote in both houses of Congress and
   
   
2. An amendment would have to be ratified by 3/4 of the states. Even if we round down, that's 37.
   
   
3. Even if the amendment passes, elections would still be held every four years.
   

Apparently one of these bills pops up every once in a while. None of them have gone anywhere, and I doubt this one will do anything either.

Oh, and apparently four of the five sponsors are Democrats, leaving only one Republican.

Learn to read, people.

In Memoriam....

The world of gaming lost one of its own recently, as David Sutherland died on June 6.

I remember seeing some of his work in the D&D and AD&D materials I own from the '80s and early '90s. He started doing artwork, then moved on to become TSR's chief cartographer, in charge of all the maps and charts that were included in a variety of materials.

The saddest part of the article, for me, is the part about Wizards of the Coast not rehiring Sutherland.

I used to despise WotC. I felt that if Magic wasn't the sole cause, it at least contributed to the decline of D&D and demise of TSR. I learned later that WotC bought TSR primarily because they truly wanted to save D&D. It's too bad they didn't try to save Sutherland.

Reflections....

Maryanne and I spent most of our weekend in Minnesota. I won't go into details here, as even I'm not interested in a play-by-play, and I doubt anyone reading this is, either. However, some highlights are in order:

1. Driving through Minnesota is more pleasant than driving through Illinois. While both have vast amounts of prairie, there are at least some pleasant hills in Minnesota around the Mississippi River. Minnesota also has better roads. They are in better shape, are better labeled, and there's not a toll plaza in sight.
   
   
2. The remake of The Longest Yard was pretty good. I have not seen the original, though, so I can't make any comparison in that regard.
   
   
3. The old TechTV now sucks that it's G4 and talks about nothing but video gaming.
   
   
4. I still don't like hip hop music, no matter what they sample.
   
   
5. Good people are just good people; it doesn't matter where they're from, what religion they are, or anything else. Likewise, bad people are the same everywhere.
   

Judged by its cover....

I can add this to my list of reasons for not shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch.

Here?

Here are some shenanigans from PETA that qualify as truly bizarre.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the high price of beef.

Where's the beef?

Somehow this news about rising beef prices doesn't surprise me. The price of beef in this part of the state is typically at least ten cents per pound higher than in northeast Wisconsin, and that's just for cheap cuts like ground beef. Pricier cuts run higher of course; the price of ground chuck is approaching three dollars a pound. It won't be too much longer and you'll be able to get veal cutlets or lamb chops cheaper than beef.

It's a good thing Maryanne and I like chicken and pork.

Play ball!

Maryanne and I were among the masses at Fox Cities Stadium on Sunday for the Brett Favre Celebrity Softball Game. It was a fun experience. The stadium was full, but it thankfully did not feel too crowded. The weather was very warm and somewhat muggy, but an occasional breeze helped.

I know it's a fun event for the whole family, especially for the little kids, but I really wish some parents were better about keeping their children under control. There were a couple of families right in front of us, with four little ones between the two of them. One of the little boys was horsing around a kicked over his dad's beer, and much of it landed on my shoe. The guy at least apologized. I said it was OK, but really, there wasn't much else I could say without making for an uncomfortable afternoon.

Bad Apple....

This is another excellent reason I can use for not having bought an iPod.

I think we can define bad P.R. as a manufacturer forcing their customers to foot half the bill for faulty merchandise.

"Body of the Nation"

Next on the reading list is Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain. I've become quite familiar with Twain's work, which is first rate. I really have no preconceived notions about this particular book, so it will be completely unknown to me.

This particular edition was published by Readers Digest and features the illustrations from the 1883 edition.

Hit or Myth....

Today I finished Mythology by Edith Hamilton. Since it's not exactly a work of fiction, I can't exactly write about it in that way.

I enjoyed reading it. It provides a good overview of Greek/Roman mythology, boiling down stories taken from plays, poems, and prose, into easily digestible segments. My only disappointment was that it spent little time on Norse mythology; it seemed almost an afterthought; amost 90% of the book is dedicated to Greek and Roman myths.

I don't know what's next; we'll find that out tomorrow.

Seasons change....

May is gone; June has arrived. May is my favorite month; from start to finish it embodies the progression of spring. Or at least it used to, when my Mays were spent in Door County. Here in southern Wisconsin it feels too summer-like, the way June used to feel.

And that's why June is kind of an enigma for me. Astronomically it's still mostly spring, with summer arriving on the solstice. Why, then, does it seem too much like summer? Everyone calls it summer, though it's only a quarter summer. Yet it is glorious in its own way, I suppose. It seems to ease from spring to summer in preparation for the summer onslaught of July and August with their opressive heat and humidity, and violent storms.

Home Sweet Home....

Maryanne and I spent most of Memorial Day weekend in Door County. At times I was reminded of how out of place I sometimes feel around here, living in an urban setting on the southern Wisconsin prairie. I miss the orchards and fields mixed with swamps, bluffs, and rolling hills, all within reach of the lake, instead of the constant prairie, marsh, and occasional hill dotted here and there with lakes sometimes small enough to call a pond. The seasons even seem to have a greater distinction in Door County than here. The apple trees and lilacs were blooming in Door County, and the cherry trees had just finished, while around here that seemed to happen all at once a few weeks ago. I miss the open spaces, the wildlife, and the way of life.

It saddens me, and sometimes pains me, when Maryanne shows such an aversion to living there, even once we're retired. It disappoints me that she doesn't show much appreciation for the way things are there: for the nature, the landscapes, and the culture and lifestyle that I grew up with.

I'll admit that there are times I'm not much better; clearly the prairie doesn't do much for me, and I have little enthusiasm for the landscapes of southern Wisconsin. However, southern Wisconsin does hold its own treasures. Edgerton reminds me of everything a Wisconsin small town should be. For all I say about tree-hugging hippies, Madison really is a nice city with a rich history. Stoughton embraces its past in the celebration of Syttende Mai. Yet something still seems to be lacking in it all, something that Door County has. In the end, I think it's that I still think of Door County as home.

Full Circle....

Maryanne and I saw Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith on Thursday. I enjoyed it; even Maryanne liked it somewhat. As Adam and Narf both stated, it was definitely the best of the "new" trilogy.

I thought all the acting was too subdued, especially from the Jedi. I don't know if this is what Lucas wanted or not. Ewan McGregor was by far the best of the live actors. Everyone else was too wooden, even Samuel L. Jackson. Hayden Christensen did brooding well, but not much else; I think he would have benefited from showing more emotion, and being more tortured as he’s torn between the Jedi and Palpatine. Ironically, Yoda, entirely a CGI creation, showed the most emotion of the Jedi.

There was a bit of a cheese factor involved. Most noteworthy was the Tarzan yell from one of the Wookies on Kashyyyk. The coughing from General Grievous was a bit much at the beginning, until it became apparent that he was technically a cyborg and not a droid.

The movie was redeemed by all the parts, large and small, that tied it together with the original trilogy: Obi-Wan’s relationship with Anakin, their duel, and Obi-Wan’s retrieval of Anakin’s light saber (later given to Luke); the birth of Luke and Leia, Leia being placed with Senator Organa, and Luke going to his uncle Owen and aunt Beru on Tatooine; Obi-Wan’s presence on Tatooine to watch over Luke, and his ability to commune with his mentor as he later communes with Luke. There’s more, as well, causing this movie to be by far the most satisfying of the "new" trilogy.

Tama = Crap

As I was telling Maryanne once, in a Yahoo Group called "Rock and Roll McDonald's" I got in a discussion with another member, Vickie, regarding drums and drumming equipment. It all started when Vickie talked about her daughter's boyfriend, whose name is Chris. Chris plays drums, quite well according to Vickie, and his hero is Mike Portnoy (of Dream Theater). I started joking that the only unfortunate thing was that he played a Tama drum set. Things escalated from there.

It turns out Chris is quite proud of his Tama drum set, and debated me a bit through Vickie, before posting to my Guest Book:

Hey,
You obviously know my girlfriends mom Vickie. You talk to her on the yahoo groups or whatever that is so we found your website. So what I have heard is that you HATE tame drums. lol. And i also heard that you wouldnt have respect for me if i play for vic firth. Yes everybody has there own opionions thats just crazy. There just drumstick. There wood and they break. lol. As simple so eggs. And i play on the greatest tama set. you play a pearl. ha!!! pearl. You weakest name in drums. Now tama says in clearly. (The strongest name in drums). There are the greatest drummers that play for tama and thats that. Me and you are gonna have a good coverstation sometime. Yea I play on promark and zildjian cymbals, and i play pretty good from what i hear. So dude dont be hatting man. I know your just expressing but i wouldnt go off and say that i would not have respect for you if u played on something. you play on what you play on. That is how it goes.
Thanks
Chris Honey

Ignoring the terrible punctuation, grammar, spelling, and so forth, it seems that Chris thinks Tama is the strongest name in drums (their slogan), while Pearl is the worst.

I don't know what he based his opinion on, but I based mine on my experience with not only Tama and Pearl, but percussion equipment from other manufacturers such as Ludwig, Musser, Yamaha, LP, Gretsch, Slingerland, Sonor, Remo, Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste, and Deagan. I stated my preferences for Pro-Mark drumsticks. This was based on breaking a stick in each of two pair of Vic Firth (let's call that 100% failure), while only breaking one Pro-Mark stick from a total of eight pairs (let's call that 12% failure). I also prefer Remo heads, again, from experience.

I've actually played on Tama equipment, and was very unimpressed by the quality. I'm still unimpressed after looking at Tama's website. Now, I can respect that Chris wants to use Tama drums; they are quite affordable (read: cheap), after all. But unless he's actually played on Pearl equipment, he has no basis for his claims.

Renaissance....

The other day at the doctor's office, while I was waiting, I picked up a copy of a magazine called Town & Country. It didn't do much for me; perhaps I have too much country and not enough town in me. It seemed a bit highfalutin, but not in the good way of magazines like GQ and Connoisseur. (Sadly, it seems the latter is no longer published.) Nonetheless, there was one slightly interesting article in it on the topic of the renaissance man, and whether it was possible for a true renaissance man, such as Leonardo da Vinci or Thomas Jefferson, to exist today.

What prompted me to think of this now? I was thinking today that I'd like to redesign my website. Perhaps even just start completely from scratch: new colors, new style sheet, new fonts, new graphics, the whole shebang. Really, it would be a tremendous amount of work. I would probably need to use a tool like Microsoft Visual InterDev and build a working version of a development site, then bring it online all at once. (If anyone has any suggestions about a good tool to use to try to start a new website from scratch, besides Visual InterDev, let me know.) Then I got to thinking that I really don't have the time for that kind of project. I really don't have the time to be a real renaissance man, despite my potential.

I spy....

Here's some good news in the fight against spyware.

Vitae....

The Wisconsin State Journal shows its support for stem cell research in this op/ed piece.

Vitriol....

From time to time I read a web comic called Twisted Kaiju Theater. It's filled with Godzilla toys and other such Japanese sundries. Most of the time I can handle it, even when it gets very political.

This strip though, is a little much. There are probably a lot of reasons gas prices have risen so high (while still remaining among the lowest in the world, by the way). However, I think it's very irresponsible, and downright stupid, to state that prices have been raised to pay for the war in Iraq.

Finally....

At long last I have finished Gargantua & Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais. It was a fun read. It's quite bawdy, really, full of the stuff of dirty jokes. Yet it's tremendously fun, thought-provoking, and intelligent at the same time. It's a long slog, but worth it.

Next I'm going to hit some non-fiction in the form of Edith Hamilton's Mythology. This edition is also illustrated by Steele Savage, who also illustrated an edition of The Arabian Nights I once read.

Update....

Amy brought up some valid points in her blog and in her comments to my previous post about the home loans for illegal immigrants. This may be a case where the good outweighs the bad, the ends justify the means, and all the "what ifs" are so remote that they're only a minor portion of the issue.

Still, I stand by my opinion that Madison politics are fucked up. These are, after all the same people that wanted to ban mobile billboards before considering that it would also ban the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.

What?

Oh, and here's another example. I was just waiting for this one to hit the news.

This op/ed piece mentions all the same problems I have with allowing illegal immigrants access to taxpayer-funded home loans. Really, there's no point in rehashing everything here. Suffice it to say that this decision by the Madison City Council is wrong on so many levels.

I'm glad I don't live in Madison any more.

Oh, I wish....

Here's an article that nicely illustrates why I have a problem with Madison politics.

Misguided....

An animal rights whack-job finally gets caught. I'm sure PETA will have something to say about this.

Legislating morality....

There's a bill in the state senate right now to protect the right of pharmacists to refuse to fill birth control prescriptions, and to prevent them from being punished or fired for doing so. Governor Doyle vetoed a similar bill last year; a spokesperson said, "The governor does not think medical treatment should depend on the personal or political views of a doctor or pharmacist."

Yet there is a growing movement in this country for laws like this. The patient, of course, is the one caught in the middle. There have been reports of pharmacists berating patients whishing to get their prescriptions filled, and likewise imposing their beliefs on patients by refusing to find another pharmacist who will fill the prescription, or refusing to transfer the prescription to another pharmacy.

Most dismaying, though, is the remarks of Matt Sande, of Pro-Life Wisconsin. Critics of the law argued that it could restrict access to contraceptives, especially in rural areas, and in turn lead to more abortions. Sande acknowledged this, but replied "...Inconvenience should not trump conscience in this country."

While that might be true, the fact of the matter is that if your conscience is getting in the way of doing your job and inconveniencing your customer, maybe you need another line of work.

Good news, everyone....

According to this article, the forthcoming Xbox 360 will be backwards compatible. It will unfortunately be selective, but that's better than none at all.

Support....

Here's a fantastic way to support our troops serving in the armed forces: give books.

Tens of thousands....

Well, I've finally hit 10,000 hits to my site. It took almost ten years to do it, so if you figure a little over 1,000 hits a year, then it's not so impressive.

Idiocy

Javon Walker finally spoke out regarding his hold out for a new contract. He has stated that he hopes his reputation with fans has not been damaged by the hold out, that "they can forgive and forget."

We'll forgive and forget when he dumps Drew Rosenhaus, because Drew Rosenhaus is a fucking idiot.

"You know, I have to show great respect for the Hall of Famer, Brett Favre," Rosenhaus said. "But Brett Favre himself has had his own contract disputes. And I'm surprised he's not sympathetic and supportive, but we respect him."

Is Rosenhaus smoking crack? I don't remember any contract disputes with Brett Favre.

Drew Rosenhaus may end up being the worst thing to happen to football in the 21st century.

Shenanigans....

Here are some long over-due shenanigans from the whack-jobs at PETA.

Why aren't they more concerned about the pit bulls in Denver?

Prejudice....

Here's a damn good reason not to live in Denver. Fuckin' idiots.

Drifting...

On Saturday, while discussing politics with Maryanne, Amy, and Luke, I made the comment that it seemed like politics had become vastly more polarized than it used to be. I conceded that it might only be my perception, since I'm older and more mature now, and tend to pay more attention to politics than I once did.

Part of my opinion was that it seemed like both parties had drifted away from the center, Republicans drifting toward the right now that they have control, and Democrats drifting more towards the left.

Luke disagreed with my assessment of the Democrats.

Upon further reflection, I think I'm going to stand by my opinion.

All through the campaign leading up to the election, there was an attitude among liberals of "dump Bush at all costs." There was the debacle with Dan Rather and the forged memos, there was all the celebrity stumping on behalf of John Kerry, the resorts to ad hominem attacks, and there was the typecasting of Bush as not so much being the wrong person for the job, but of being evil.

I won't argue that a lot of campaigning for Bush (or, more appropriately, against Kerry) was just as alarmist. Didn't I just say that the Republicans moved further to the right? However, in the media I was reading at the time, the attacks were on Kerry's positions, platforms, opinions, and actions. Kerry wasn't cast as evil, and his person was never drawn in to question, nor his intelligence. His ability to lead was brought in to question, but I felt that the campaign against Kerry never stooped so low as that against Bush.

That being said, I do concede that the Republican party has gotten incredibly ballsy since the election, and I don't feel that's a good thing. The federal government consists of a series of checks and balances, established for a reason. Doing away with filibusters would be detrimental to the system. However, the Democrats universal rejection of all of Bush's court nominees isn't good, either.

Sooner or later this is all going to come to a head. When it does, I hope the cooler, moderate heads and common sense prevail. I've had enough of the elitist, ignoring of middle America attitude from the left, as well as the "Holier than thou" attitude from the far right.

License to Drive

This is an issue I've been following off and on for a while. Michael Balboni, a politician from New York, summed it up best, stating "What's so ironic about this bill is everybody agrees with the concept, one person, one driver's license. How you get there is really the tough issue."

I can see the desire that the federal government has to some form of standardization, because really, things are all over the map right now.

However, I think it still remains a states' rights issue. From what I've read on the issue so far, it's unlikely many states are going to like this idea, even if the federal government coughs up some money to help foot the bill, which doesn't appear to be likely. Hell, Wisconsin has enough problems of its own with a new computer system without throwing this in to the works.

There's been some concern about illegal aliens on the issue of driver's licenses. Most states don't require proof of citizenship or legal status to get a driver's license. It's feared that illegal aliens would not apply for licenses, and lead to unsafe driving.

What a bunch of horseshit.

If they're a safe driver already, how is this going to change if they can't get a license? Is an unsafe driver going to become a safe driver just because a legal resident suddenly gets a license? If proof of legal status isn't required, then it's not like you're going to catch anyone when they apply for a license. Likewise, if proof is required, then illegals aren't likely to show up in the first place, are they?

In any case, depending on the guidelines the federal government sets forth, it may be opening a door better left closed.

Weekend....

Friday Maryanne and I went to Waukesha and dropped by the Carroll campus. I had been wanting to go for a while, to go to the bookstore if nothing else and pick up a t-shirt or some such thing. With Maryanne along I was able to give her a brief tour. We then were left with trying to kill three hours before meeting with Dan and his girlfriend Bobbie Jo. Come to find out we could have met them earlier, if only we could have gotten a hold of them. Oh well. It was a nice visit, though. Thanks again to Maryanne for paying for my selections at the bookstore as my birthday present.

Saturday we went with Amy and Luke to Chicago for Leanne's graduation from seminary. It was a long day, especially since it involved a bit of walking, and Maryanne got some blisters on her feet. It also involved some dining out, so check out the Restaurant Reviews for some new content there.

Sunday was thankfully less eventful. While it was Mother's Day, it was also my birthday. Since we hadn't driven up north, we felt it was fair (or equally unfair) to not do anything with Maryanne's mom, either. Instead we saw The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Maryanne didn't like it. I found it entertaining, but not up to par with the book(s). It was based on a script developed by Douglas Adams himself. I wonder if it would have turned out better had he still been alive to participate in the project. It did pay homage to its roots, though, showing a picture of Adams as part of the Improbability Drive, and also sporting the old Marvin the Android costume from the BBC production as one of the persons queuing in the Vogon office.

Monday I took a day of vacation, mostly because I could. It was productive; I was able to get the last coat of paint on the shelving unit, work on patching and sanding the shelves themselves, and get a few loads of laundry done. I could have done more if it hadn't rained.

Party Line

This probably isn't much of a surprise to some people:

I am: 54% Republican.

"Congratulations, you're a swing voter. When they say 'Nascar Dad', they mean you. Every Republican ad on the TV set was made just for your viewing pleasure. Don't you feel special?"

Are You A Republican?

"Eve of Destruction"

Have you ever wanted to destroy the Earth? It turns out it would be much harder than you think.

Some people have too much time on their hands.

Commute Conundrum

After the recent crack down on the Beltline, a couple of columnists from the Wisconsin State Journal weigh-in on the issue.

Andy Baggot claims speeding is not the problem, while Susan Lampert Smith has the sense to recognize that speed is a major part of the equation.

That this is being debated at all just about sums up my problem with Madison drivers.

History....

Check out this amusing History Of The Internet. It wouldn't be as funny if it weren't so true.

Dirty....

Since it's been kind of slow in the blogging department, I thought I'd offer up a bit of an update.

First off, I'm nearing 10,000 hits to my site since first installing a counter. Not bad, I guess. It could be worse. The site could be wallowing in the mire of web obscurity. Clearly, it is not, but it's not in the limelight, either.

Secondly, the reading of Gargantua & Pantagruel has been very slow going so far, owed more to interruptions than to anything else. Thus far though, it's been, shall we say, interesting. It's rather entertaining. But if I had to sum it up in a single word, I would call it dirty. It's like a tremendous dirty joke, the kind you're afraid to tell in mixed company. Interwoven with all kinds of delightfully vulgar stories are some moral lessons and attacks on the institutions of Renaissance Europe. It's made for some entertaining reading so far, but I'm sure it will be a while before I complete it.

It's becoming no surprise that the hardline moralistic views of the church came about, and I don't just mean the Catholic church, because the Protestant denominations are just as responsible (Puritans, anyone?). If you read such works as The Canterbury Tales, The Decameron, or Gargantua & Pantagruel, it appears that people were having a lot of fun, including the clergy. (The latter, particularly, have been skewered unmercifully in these books.) The backlash was inevitable, I suppose, lest the name of Christianity itself become sullied.

Thus, it seems, European attitudes are finally returning to where they were over 500 years ago. America, on the other hand, is mostly still sticking to more Puritanical views.

Flex!

Maryanne and I both had the day off yesterday thanks to flex schedules. This allowed us to both go to the gym, though we didn't get as early a start as I would have liked. We were also able to take care of some other errands as well. Despite the late start, I was still able to get a small amount of work done around the house, including running the dishwasher and doing some painting.

The day off also allowed Maryanne to work on her website. With quite a bit of help from me, she got a blog going through Blogger, and we took care of some aesthetic changes, as well.

All in all, it was a fairly productive day, all things considered.

Takedown!

Oh yeah! The Beltline's brashest are busted in a massive crackdown Wednesday. Fifteen state troopers pulled over almost 300 drivers in an effort to bring order to the chaos that is the Beltline, and it won't stop there.

Genius....

Today I finished Nathaniel Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales. I enjoyed it, for the most part. It is indicative of Hawthorne's style, and reminiscent of the other works I've read by him, namely The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, and A Wonder Book. Some of the stories had the dark, almost dour feelings that could be found in The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables, while other stories had the lightness and imagination of A Wonder Book.

The edition I read includes two afterwords, written by no less than Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Edgar Allen Poe. Describing Hawthorne himself as a true genius, and a poet working in prose, they praise his work for its orginality and for its nationality.

Next on the list is Gargantua & Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais. The particular edition I will be reading was published by the Heritage Press in 1942. It came as a hardcover, slipcased, with illustrations by Lynd Ward, and at $9.98 was a better deal than even the Everyman's Library edition.

Two seasons....

Maryanne and I went to Owatonna, Minnesota for the weekend, to see our friends Jenny and Gene. It was a pleasant weekend. The weather was great Friday and Sunday, though it rained most of the day Saturday before clearing by early evening. The visit was also marked by a trip to a very busy Mall of America.

There's a massive road construction project around Rochester, but it was easy to navigate. It's scheduled for completion in fall of this year. We had to deal with it the last couple of times we've been to Minnesota, but it's never been anywhere as bad as driving through construction in Illinois.

Politics and culture....

I found an interesting pair of pieces on politics today, one from Pat Sajak, and the other about "South Park Conservatives".

Shenanigans....

Some more PETA-related shenanigans make the news, but this time they're on the receiving end. This article had the added personal bonus of my being able to block all cookies from the bastards at ClearChannel.

Proof positive....

Just like I thought, the problem with Madison traffic is Madison drivers.

Nine Lives....

The results are in on the feral cat issue.

Check your sources....

Apparently, waffles and onions don't mix.

Hippies

I now have proof that California is indeed full of a bunch of tree-hugging hippies.

Feline Fix

I thought I'd post this update on the feral cat issue. Last night, in each of Wisconsin's 72 counties, an advisory vote was held in the Conservation Congress on the issue of hunting feral cats. The results were mixed. It brought out extremists on both sides of the issue, as well as those with more moderate, rational views.

For Maryanne's benefit, here are some highlights:

"The cat hunting thing brought me out because it was very extreme," said Katy Francis of Madison, who wore cat ears, whiskers, a cat nose and a sign that said, "Too Cute to Kill."

Julie Stensrud of Madison said it boggles her mind that a human being could shoot a cat. She cried as she talked about how much she loves her own cat, causing some audience members to groan.

I love my cat, too. And yes, cat's are cute. But there's a distinction between your friendly house cat, the farmer's barn cat, and the feral cat that's carrying rabies and swiping songbirds off your bird feeder. I agree that something needs to be done about feral cats; population and disease aren't the only problems they cause, though. Trapping them for neutering and vaccination isn't doing enough. Hunting may not be the right answer, but ignoring the problem just because there's a bunch of cat lovers isn't the answer, either.

McDocumentary

Friday night Maryanne and I saw Super Size Me with Amy and Luke. I highly recommend it. It will change the way you think about fast food, and especially McDonald's, forever.

Next!

Well, it turns out we get to find out today what's next on my reading list. It's going to be Twice-Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Anyone actually keeping up with my literary adventures will know that this will be my fourth foray into Hawthorne's writing.

This particular edition is published by Reader's Digest, and features illustrations by Lars Hokanson. It also features two afterwords: one by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and another by Edgar Allan Poe. They were both contemporaries of Hawthorne's, and Longfellow has the further distinction of being a college classmate of Hawthorne's. Both offer high praise of the book.

Done....

I finished Oxymoronica today: obviously it's a quick read. It was interesting. Since it's nonfiction, it's hard to critique in the same way you do a fiction book. It'll make a nice reference book.

We'll find out Monday what will be next on the reading list.

True....

Today I found this brilliant quotation from Henry David Thoreau:

City Life. Millions of people being lonesome together.

That just about perfectly sums up my opinion on that subject.

Conniptions

It seems I'm not the only one frustrated by Blogger's recent performance issues.

Pair of ducks?

Today I finished King Solomon's Mines. It was a good adventure story; I can see how it translated to the movie screen quite nicely. It doesn't get bogged down in too many details, and keeps moving along at a pretty good clip; in that regards it reminded me of the writing of Jules Verne. Some of it seemed contrived, and portions of it were quite predictable, but the fast pace whisks you past those moments quite quickly, leaving little time to dwell on them.

Next on the list is a bit of nonfiction: Oxymoronica by Dr. Mardy Grothe. I've actually started on it a bit already. It's a collection of oxymorons and paradoxisms collected by the author, with some commentary, arranged by topic. It's been quite intriguing thus far.

Pop Quiz!

Take this quiz and find out if you should be hanging out at the Kingdom Hall with the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Hobo kitties....

Here's some more on that free-roaming cat issue being discussed by the Wisconsin Conservation Congress.

Holes....

The other night Maryanne and I were watching a rerun of That '70s Show, wherein Eric and Donna were visiting college campuses. Eric checked out the University of Wisconsin, in Madison, which, of course, didn't look anything like the actual campus. Worse, though, was Donna's visit to Marquette University in Milwaukee: a poster on the wall proclaimed them to be the Marquette Golden Eagles, a name they didn't take on until the 1990s. Now, I realize the show may not have the biggest budget for actually filming on location, but I expect a certain degree of historical accuracy whenever possible!

Eternal rest....

This article is billed as news, but is probably better described as an op/ed piece. It turns out it's a rather good one.

Sprung....

Spring has indeed sprung; a week after the vernal equinox the weather is finally more spring like. I awoke to a beatiful, sunny day with the sounds of singing birds. Our expected high today is 69º; I don't expect much snow to be left on the ground when I get home tonight.

Today I was able to finish The History of Tom Jones - A Foundling by Henry Fielding. Amusing by today's standards, it was most certainly shocking, and perhaps scandalous, when it was first published in 1749. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it, despite taking a bit to get into. In fact, things didn't start picking up until about 100 pages into it. Once things got going, though, it was a very entertaining read. In my opinion, it has stood the test of time much better than, say, Jane Austen's Emma.

Next is King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard. This particular edition was published by Reader's Digest, and illustrated by Walter Paget. I'm not familiar with any of Haggard's work, and have heard little of the book itself, other than that both the book, and its hero, Allan Quatermain, have been the subjects of numerous movies.

Update

Here's an update on the feral cat issue, with multimedia goodness.

No yolks!

The PETA shenanigans continue, this time in India, where they're black-balling Easter eggs.

Bull!

Here are some long-overdue shenanigans from those whack-jobs at PETA.

Blogosphere....

Amy has made the migration to LiveJournal. I checked things out over there, and was not impressed. It seems like a nice little community, but you need their software in order to blog. They tout this as an advantage, since you don't need to open a web browser to post. I see this as a disadvantage: with Blogger, you can post from any computer with a web browser without installing any software. So until I get a server and my own domain name, Blogger it is.

Since Blogger's commenting engine leaves a lot to be desired, I've been sticking with HaloScan for that service. I hopped over to HaloScan the other day to see if there was anything new. Lo and behold, I discovered they were beta testing these things called gravatars, or "globally recognized avatars." For those not in the know, an avatar is a little picture or icon used to represent you in chat rooms, on message boards, and now, apparently, in blogs and blog comments.

Thinking this was rather clever, I decided to activate gravatars in HaloScan, so you might want to go out and get one. It seems like kind of a neat way to leave a more personalized stamp on your comments, though not that I get many.

Checking out the Gravatar website, I found the proprieter to be a fairly interesting fellow, especially since he's running a contest celebrating the 100,000,000th gravatar served. He's well over that now, of course, but it's interesting to see that kind of positive response in the blogosphere.

I wish I was able to somehow have that kind of impact myself. Unfortunately, so long as I'm relying on such services as GeoCities, Blogger, Blog*Spot, and HaloScan, I'm kind of limited in what I can offer.

Birthday....

Today would have been Dad's 58th birthday.

Boing!

We've now passed the vernal equinox, marking the astronomical (and astrological) start of spring. However, we've yet to see any truly spring-like weather, with the exception of a day here and there. In fact, our weather hasn't even really been "normal" for this time of year. We've been a bit on the chilly side.

The good news, though, is that I spotted a couple of red-winged blackbirds on my morning commute. True, they're one of the first birds to return in the spring, but it's a good sign nonetheless. I'll be looking forward to the other signs of spring, including warmer weather, green grass, and spotting that first robin.

Duh.

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

Mee-ow!

The crazy cat lovers come out of the woodwork as a local ecologist studies the impact of feral cats on birds. As any objective scientist should, he has carefully studied the issue, and refuses to take a stand either for or against the "hunting" of feral cats, or, more properly, a property-owner's ability to kill a feral cat on his property. He's received death threats from people too fanatical or too ignorant to carefully read the study, people who think he supports the hunting, and blast him for that, or people who blast him for not taking a stand against it.

I'm finally going to say it, in big, bold letters: What the hell is wrong with Dane County? This county is so chock full of bleeding-heart liberals and tree-hugging hippies that they can't see outside their narrow tunnel of vision. The man did a freakin' study, humanely, I might add, and people are treating him like he's the Antichrist. Get a life, people! Clearly, these people don't understand the damage that tame domestic cats can cause on birds and vermin species, much less feral cats. Pound-for-pound, domestic cats are the deadliest hunters in the cat family, capable of preying on anything smaller than them, and likely to do so, not because they need to, but simply because they can.

Have any of these people even seen a feral cat? They’re not the soft, cuddly cats that pad around the house. They’re lean, scruffy, bedraggled, skittish, and mean animals a short step away from wildness. I'm guessing that most of the people crying foul are city-dwelling pansies that have never seen the brutality of living in the country, and if that's the case, that explains a lot about life around Madison.

What's new?

Today I was able to finish When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? by George Carlin. It features typically snarky Carlin fare, much in the vein of Napalm and Silly Putty. Some of the material is recognizable from his routines, but his latest book seems to deviate from that a bit more, featuring material that could work in a stand-up setting, but probably works better on paper. The major theme, if there is one, seems to be the dumbing-down of language, thanks largely in part to political correctness. I found myself agreeing with a lot of what Carlin had to say about it.

Next on the list will be The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. This edition was published in 1964 by Random House, and features illustrations by Lawrence Beall Smith. I don't know much about the book, other than that it's highly recommended, and that it was probably pretty scandalous for its time. I'm also hoping that its 721 pages take a while to read.

Doctor, doctor!

It's a sad testimony to the state of affairs when we read articles like
this. When did it become so wrong to treat a patient instead of just their illness? To use common sense? To have compassion? To be a decent person?

Luckily, some physicians are taking matters in to their own hands, putting their money where their mouth is, and retaking control.

Lost....

Caly and Jim came in to town Friday for a wedding on Saturday, and they left earlier today. They stayed with Maryanne and me. I think they enjoyed their brief visit, but I'm sure they would have enjoyed it more if U.S. Airways hadn't lost their luggage. Twice. At the same airport.

Moral of the story: avoid U.S. Airways, and if possible, connecting flights in Philadelphia.

What's the buzz?

Today I was able to finish Dan Brown's Angels & Demons. I enjoyed it, even having read The Da Vinci Code recently. Just when I thought it was going to get formulaic, Brown manages to add a twist throwing me completely off guard. Well done.

Next on the list is When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? by George Carlin. The book has been somewhat controversial due not only to its title, but because of its cover: imagine Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" sans Jesus, and Carlin himself seated at what would be Jesus's left, clearly waiting for a pork chop. We'll see what irreverence is held inside the covers.

Verdict....

Today I publish the results of the poll. I'm not sure the final result was ever in doubt. There were nine votes total cast, which is less than I'd like but more than I expected. With a victory of five to four, it has been decided that "Garfield" will be dropped from my comics page.

It doesn't bother me that much. In the time that the poll has been going, I think I've only read one strip that I found funny or amusing. Most of the jokes have been stale and recycled. For really good cat-based humor, I suggest you check out "Two Lumps" or "Get Fuzzy."

"When in Rome...."

So next on tap for my literary enjoyment is Angels & Demons by Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code. I thoroughly enjoyed the latter, and the former seems to be promising as well.

And today's the last day of the poll, so if you haven't voted already, now's probably a good time. The results, and potential consequences, will be seen tomorrow.

Complete....

I finally finished The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe today. I'll admit I did not read the criticism portion, and only read some of the poetry. However, I read all the tales, and enjoyed the endeavor, as time-consuming as it was. Poe was clearly a writer of great talent. Much of his work falls in the category of what we now call speculative fiction, while much of his work is much in the vein of mystery and suspense. Most of the tales are fairly dark, but now and then a fairly amusing tale can be found. Very few of the stories were disappointing though, being brought to some kind of satisfying conclusion.

I don't know what shall be next. We'll find that out on Monday.

And don't forget to vote in the poll! You've only got until the end of the month.

Framed!

Some time ago GeoCities changed their ad square, causing either a floating square to appear on the right margin of the page, or a framed version of it that could be minimized. Normally this wouldn't bother me; since GeoCities is the host of my web page, and I don't pay them, they can pretty much do what they want.

Now, since I can't publish via FTP to GeoCities unless I pay them, I ended up having to host my Blog elsewhere. When I decided to redo the front page of the site, this left me with adding Java Script to automatically redirect traffic to this front page as it would not be hosted at GeoCities.

Things were fine for a while. The GeoCities ad square would only appear on pages hosted by Geocities, and not anything hosted elsewhere. Alas, things quickly changed, and even my front page, hosted at Blog*Spot, was getting an ad square; GeoCities was loading my site, then framing the content loaded by the Java Script.

Well, I had enough of that: I did some Googling today and found some fantastic code from ASP Web Pro that breaks out of frames automatically. They're my new heroes.

The walls....

Here's an update on the Door County Justice Center hoopla:

Construction of the administrative offices has been halted temporarily at the new Door County Justice Center, while county officials address a problem with the steel studding that supports the walls.

The issue, as well as problems with the way Door County discovered the mistake, were discussed publicly Monday during a meeting of the county Ad Hoc Building Committee.

At the outset of the meeting, Ken Fisher, chairman of the committee, summarized the problem in a nutshell.

“We spec’d out for 20 (gauge steel) and ended up with 25,” a lighter gauge steel, Fisher said. “The thickness is pretty close to double the difference between the different gauges of steel.”

The problem with the lesser gauge is it creates a less stiff wall designed to support drywall, not plaster. The issue then becomes the wall deflection, or how much the wall moves horizontally when pushed by a certain amount of force (such as by hanging cabinets on one side of the wall but not the other). The concern is that the less stiff wall created with the lower-gauge steel will create too much deflection, resulting in hairline plaster cracks.

“We either say stop the project and tear all the walls out and put the 20-gauge in as we ordered, or we move forward from this point on with some way that will be acceptable to us and that we can all live with,” Fisher said about the decision the committee faced Monday.

Thom Miron of Quantic Architectural LLC, who designed the building and was retained to oversee the project through to completion, explained that the base bid for the Justice Center walls was for drywall with 25-gauge steel studs. Instead, the county chose an alternate plan using veneer plaster on the walls.

When that decision was made, Stubenrauch Architects – the now-defunct company Miron was with when the Justice Center was designed – increased the stiffness of the wall to, basically, the 20-gauge steel stud.

“When we discovered the 25, the flag went up,” Miron said.

After looking at ways to stiffen up the wall to prevent the deflection, the remediation agreed upon between Miron and general contractor Miron Construction (no relation) was to brace the studs between 10 and 12 feet.

“All the remediation work was based on that,” Miron said. “Because of that, we felt like we were on the right track. We asked the stud installer to confirm some of these things through their engineers, and that’s still going on.”

But Miron said the plaster installers assured them that the studs, with the bracing, were sufficiently stiffened.

“I would like to think that this proves that this wall, from a plastering standpoint, is sufficiently stable,” Miron said.

County Board Chairman Charlie Most directed the work be stopped last week when he discovered the problem, and Miron confirmed the contractor has pulled everyone out until the committee decides the county’s next move.

At issue for several of the committee members, as well as for Most, was that the county couldn’t be sure the bracing was in its best interest, because the county wasn’t given an opportunity to take part in remediation discussions once the problem was discovered.

For example, committee members said, once the problem was discovered, the most desirable remediation would have been replacing the incorrect studs with the correct studs, as per the specifications.

“The decision that was made was one to keep the project rolling,” Most said. “It was the cheapest, quickest solution, not the best long-term solution.”

The difference in cost between the 20- and 25-gauge steel was about $12,000, according to a briefing timeline prepared by Jude Genereaux, county administrator. A concern raised Monday was whether the contractor purposely used the lower-grade steel.

“Why would anybody try to snooker on $12,000,” Fisher said. “When you’re talking about that small amount of money, I’ve got to believe it’s an honest mistake.”

The problem was discovered by Miron Jan. 3, but the county didn’t learn about it until Feb. 14 by a person Most described in a past interview as a “whistle-blower.”

During that interim, Supervisor Biz Virlee pointed out, the Ad Hoc Building Committee met four times, giving Miron ample time to come to the county to appraise them of the problem.

Miron explained that he wasn’t going to bring it to the committee until he’d found a solution. Once he learned “the solution was a lot simpler than I thought,” he said, he wanted to wait until they could verify county credit for the solution.

“That’s when Charlie (Most) found out,” Miron said.

Miron said he had made a “bad decision” and allowed the issue to mushroom by not telling the committee as soon as the problem was discovered.

“I sincerely apologize for that,” Miron said. “I just thought this wasn’t that major of an issue.”

The county hired independent engineer Mike Till last week to review the work and prepare a report on the bracing remediation. The committee decided to meet again at 8:30 a.m. Friday in the County Board conference room to discuss Till’s report before it makes a decision about how to proceed.

To the lists....

Here's another list that goes hand-in-hand quite nicely with the video game list: Mobile PC's Top 100 Gadgets of All Time.

Wakka wakka

Check out 1UP.com's list of the fifty essential videogames. Think of it as a lesson in video gaming history.

Blowing the whistle....

Since the Door County Advocate website kind of sucks, and I can't link permanently to individual articles, I'm going to qoute this one for your reading pleasure.

If trumpets, followed by shouting, brought the walls of Jericho down, could whistle-blowing, followed by shouting, bring the walls of the Justice Center down?

That could have been the question of the week, as county officials, having learned from a “whistle-blower” that the Justice Center walls aren’t what they should be, met with contractors, subcontractors, engineers and the architect, trying to figure out what the heck happened, and what to do about what the heck happened, with the Justice Center walls.

At issue are the steel studs that support the walls. These studs were supposed to be constructed of 20-gauge steel in order to support plaster. Instead, 95 percent of the studs were built of 25-gauge steel, which doesn’t support plaster. (The lower number is the stronger gauge).

“The difference in the cost of the material is not really significant,” said Charlie Most, chairman of the County Board. “What’s significant is the deflection, which is the amount you can move the wall, and whether it will live up to a standard over time.”

Though the walls won’t fall down and could be braced to give the studs plaster-bearing support – the contractor’s solution for the problem, the cost of which which would be borne by the contractor – Most said the architect and contractor didn’t handle the situation correctly.

“Monetarily, it’s not a serious issue, but I think how the problem surfaced to the County Board and myself is of great concern,” Most said.

The contractor learned of the problem in January. Instead of notifying the county, it began remediating the problem, Most said.

“The county was not ever informed of the problem; the architect didn’t inform the Ad Hoc (Building Committee),” Most said. “We found out through a rumor, a whistle-blower.”

By not telling the county, the problem was compounded, Most said, because workers continued to plaster the walls even after the problem was discovered.

“On the second floor, about 75 percent is wallboarded, and of that, probably about 50-60 percent has been veneer plastered,” Most said.

If the county had been told of the problem when it was discovered, there would have been more options when it came to remediation, such as replacing the lower-gauge steel with the higher.

But now that so many of the walls have already received the final plaster stage, Most said, changing out the studs isn’t likely an option.

“If you wanted to put your foot down and wanted to go to court, you could do that,” but the project would be delayed two to three years while the case was fought out in court, Most said.

“So I would say tearing the walls out completely really isn’t a viable option,” Most said.

County officials met with the architect, the contractor, subcontractors and a private engineer this week. Now, the Ad Hoc Building Committee will meet to discuss the issue at 2 p.m. Monday, Feb. 21, in the third-floor County Board conference room at the Courthouse.

“I think what you have now, at least on my part, is a serious breach of trust between the county and the general contractor and the architect,” Most said.

A spokesman for general contractor Miron Construction Co. Inc. could not be reached for comment. Thom Miron, the architect who designed the Justice Center, and who was retained by the county to oversee the project through to completion, said he’s fully aware of the situation but didn’t want to comment until after the Ad Hoc Building Committee meets Monday.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal, but it’s up to them,” Miron said.

When asked if the county should have been informed about the problem right away, he said, “It’s a matter of opinion.”

Why is this such a big deal? Because the county remodeled the courthouse a mere 10-15 years ago. Due to changing state requirements, the county decided to update the courthouse by building a new one, in a different location, instead of remodeling the existing one, or building a new one on a vacant lot right across the street from the current courthouse. Instead of waiting for the state to require the changes and being able to reply "Show us the money," they decided that the taxpayers would foot the bill. Fast forward a bit through recall elections, heated debates, letters to the editor, and the like, and the county board got what they wanted: a new courthouse on a new parcel of land.

Now we encounter this snafu, in which the fuckups at Miron used the wrong materials and decided not to tell any one. In fact, they now have the gall to call it "a matter of opinion."

Are we looking at another remodeling project in 10-15 years, or will it be sooner?

The polls are open....

So I've gotten a few more votes in the poll, but while there's a definite trend since I started it, I can't yet say there's a clear-cut winner. In the meantime, Garfield has only had one amusing strip since I started the poll. I'll run the poll until the end of the month.

Don't panic!

I know where I'm going to be in early May.

Updates....

I figured I'd better post again before it becomes a full week since the last time I posted. Not much of note has happened for me to post about, so this will be a rather boring post.

The last I checked, the poll was slightly in favor of "Garfield" being dropped, though there was only a one-vote lead. So please vote. You know who you are.

Blogger has made some changes to their own commenting engine, so I might take another look at that. I kind of like HaloScan, but they don't notify me when there's a comment unless I pay them. Greedy bastards.

Dust in the wind....

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the day marking the beginning of Lent (or Lenten) for Christians. I agreed to go to church with Maryanne, and got marked with a smudge of ash on my forehead. It bothered my allergies slightly, and I had to wash it off right away when we got home.

Because we would be gone, we ended up taping That 70s Show. It was a good episode, though why they waited so many seasons before setting an episode at a Packer game is beyond me. Nevertheless, while it was clear that it wasn't Lambeau Field, it was at least close: the seating was bleachers and not individual seats, and the general atmosphere of a game was there. One glaring inaccuracy was that nobody was eating brats.

However, Bobby Flay was in Milwaukee for Food Finds on last night's episode, and he did have a brat.

No comparison....

Andy Baggot of The Wisconsin State Journal draws the line on all the comparisons being made between Bill Belichick and Vince Lombardi. According to Baggot, there's no contest, at least not yet.

Security!

Anybody out there opposed to Bush's plan for reforming Social Security should read this before forming their opinion. Of particular note is the quotation from none other than FDR himself, which includes this:

Third, voluntary contributory annuities by which individual initiative can increase the annual amounts received in old age. It is proposed that the Federal Government assume one-half of the cost of the old-age pension plan, which ought ultimately to be supplanted by self-supporting annuity plans. [Emphasis added]

It is clear, and has been for some time, that FDR never intended Social Security to be a sole source of income for anyone, but an additional source of income. It is also now clear that FDR also intended it to be temporary.

Nevermore....

Today I finished The Swiss Family Robinson. It was OK. While I can see the inspiration of the far superior Robinson Crusoe, the fact remains that the book is obviously written for children. While Crusoe is at least somewhat believable, The Swiss Family Robinson is less so, to the point of being incredible. The family encounters such a variety of creatures, many of which I don't even think are found in the East Indies where the family is shipwrecked, the one would imagine that they were actually shipwrecked at a zoo. The incredible ease by which they adapt to their surroundings, and the lack of difficulty in creating not only necessities but luxury items as well, are both sufficient to leave the adult reader scratching his or her head. It might be something good for your second- or third-grader, but children much older than that might find the story a little too fantastic, perhaps even contrived.

Next is The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. This particular edition is one of those massive hardcovers that can be had inexpensively from Barnes & Noble and are frequently cloth- or leather-bound. I'm familiar with some of Poe's work, including such poems as "The Bells" and "The Raven" and such tales as "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Masque of the Red Death," and "The Tell-Tale Heart." I've enjoyed what I've read thus far; I'm expecting to enjoy the rest of Poe's work.

Cast-aways....

So I said that today we'd all find out what my next book is. It's The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss. This edition is published on Knopf's Everyman's Library imprint, and features illustrations by Louis Rhead, an Art Nouveau period artist. The book is supposed to be inspired by Robinson Crusoe, which I've read (twice) and enjoyed.

And since the vote whoring seems to be working... don't forget to vote in the poll. There's a total of six votes so far, and I'm only aware of four people that visit on a regular basis, and I'm one of them.

The blood of Christ....

This afternoon I finished The Da Vinci Code. Whew! It was a much faster read than I thought, mostly because it's so damn good! Fantastic pacing, excellent use of flashbacks, good dialog, and a complex, character-driven plot.

As I stated before, it contains some factual elements, but is a work of fiction. Is its analysis of the Grail legend correct? There's a lot of books out there that support the same theory, but nothing conclusive has been discovered yet. Putting that aside, Dan Brown cleary did his research, because everything that is based in fact is very accurrate.

I don't know what's next. I have an idea of what I'll start on tomorrow, but you'll have to tune in then to see what it is.

And vote in the poll.

Februum....

February takes its name from the Roman ceremony of Februum, a ceremony of purification. Places of worship are cleaned and repaired, and ritual paraphernalia are cleansed, repaired, and polished.

It's ironic, then, that this month, named for a festival of ritual cleansing, is such a dirty month. Due to some warm weather and a lack of fresh snow fall, the snow banks have begun to shrink, becoming dirty and dingy, exposing brown earth and dead grass, and forming mud.

Spring doesn't officially start until the vernal equinox, and with it hopefully bringing a promise of rebirth. Early spring, though, doesn't always hold this promise, and while the comparably warmer weather is a welcome respite from the cold grip of frigid January, the gray and overcast skies are depressing and overbearing.

Don't get me wrong: I'm thankful January is over, and February is a short month. I would just much rather it be March, with spring just around the corner.

On a different note, it seems my pleas have helped somewhat: I've picked up a few more responses in the current poll. If you haven't done so already, please vote.

There's also a new restaurant review. If you live in south-central Wisconsin, you might want to check that out, too.