New phone

Finally got a new smart phone (Galaxy SIII). The deal was too good to pass up (both the phone price and the monthly). When smart phones made their debut on the market I was lukewarm about them. I don't really consume content to the degree that warrants a smart phone. I navigate quite well without needing a GPS device or anything else to tell me where I am or where to go.

 The Galaxy SIII is the first smart phone I actually wanted. It has a sleek design, light and fairly easy to use. Now that I have one, I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I've started making ringtones for my different contacts and configuring the various settings needed for the different apps.

 Some people might prefer the iPhone to the SIII; more power to them. It's a good phone and I'm not going to waste my time bashing it with my opinions nor will I make any comparisons since that too is a waste of time. People will like what they like. Research the options and pick the one that best fits your needs or pick one based on your own criteria.

Disingenuous Meme

I keep hearing "social justice" bantered about in various places and decided to think about exactly what it entails. From what I can tell, it encompasses six of the seven deadly sins:

Envy: Coveting the possessions of others
Sloth: Getting a multitude of freebies
Greed: Wanting more and more
Gluttony: Consuming and spending without limits
Wrath: Advocating or commiting violence against others
Pride: Believing you know best for everyone

Lust is not one the can be attributed to social justice unless you count the decay of shame and simple decency stemming from increased "tolerance", but that can be a discussion all by itself.

Decent people don't want to do these things to others and for the most part consider them bad (I wouldn't go so far to say evil, but you could make the case). Many, if not most people, haven't sat down to think about what "social justice" really means and it's not really a good concept for people to buy into at all.

10/1/2013 Update:  After reading this entry again and pondering the "last" deadly sin I came up with an appropriate description of the attribute.

Lust: Obsessing about things to the detriment of others.

Lust takes on a broader definition to include the obsession over anything and not merely sex.

Experiments in baking

I tried a Double-stuff Oreo Chocolate Chip cookie recipe a month or so ago and the results were pretty good. The cookies were malformed, but tasted just fine. I should post some pictures of the final cookies ... might do that when I get them off this digital camera.

I thought about what else I could try to bake into a chocolate chip cookie during idle moments walking from here to there. The obvious first thought was a Twinkie, but when thinking about how to do the cookie itself I came to the conclusion that it would be problematic to get the chocolate chip cookie formed well around the Twinkie. (One of these days I might try it for the heck of it)

A Ding Dong was the next candidate and didn't seem like too big a challenge ... it's round and not excessively wide, diameter wise. A co-worker suggested Reese's Peanut Butter Cups which seemed an even more perfect candidate upon reflection.

So, with idea in hand, I set about putting a Ding Dong in a chocolate chip cookie and a Reese's peanut butter cup in a chocolate chip cookie. The short of it is that the Ding Dong attempt was a structural failure (though they taste great). The Reese's peanut butter cups were a success.

Aftermath

As the reports and news continue to filter in, it's important to remain calm and refrain from perpetuating feelings of dread and panic. The casualty figures continue to rise and the time to respond is when those details are confirmed, not before. We can all pull together to do our part in helping out however we can during this difficult time.

Earthquake

While it is scary to think of a magnitude 8.9 earthquake and the terror the people going through it must have felt, a little perspective is needed (granted it is easy to say that being thousands of miles away) but I feel the need to express frustration for all the commentary on the opposite side of the spectrum ... people expressing shock and horror at the images; seriously overreacting to the situation in my never humble, but always honest opinion.

The earthquake itself was 15 miles down and 80 miles from the coast so people had sufficient time to get to higher ground. Also, buildings are build with earthquakes in mind so that helps to minimize injuries. Initial reports say that there have been single digit fatalities from this massive earthquake compared to the hundreds and thousands in past quakes. There has been significant and serious structural damage, yes, but the human cost is comparatively small. For that people need to be thankful. Enough with the dismay already ... buildings, like other material things, are replaceable.

Unexpected Developments

The announcement that Senator Daniel Akaka will not run for re-election in 2012 came as a surprise to just about everyone ... I'm sure there were some insiders that were privy to the information before it was released, but for the most part it was a stunning revelation.

The usual praises and well wishes are flowing now ... great statesman, served the interests of Hawaii well, etc., etc., etc. I wonder if anyone is going to do an honest, close examination of the good senator's record and how effective he was in reality. If the definition of effective and good is the fact he voted along with Senator Daniel Inouye then yes, he probably was.

There has to be a higher standard set for our elected representatives and given that senator Akaka is a member of the party that got us into the current fiscal mess and helps perpetuate the status quo, it can be said with certainty that he really was't as good for the state or effective as people say.

Gubernatorial Idiocy

Here we go again ... tax and spend and tax and spend ... ad nauseum. I should have posted a prediction so that I was on the record for saying this is exactly what our current governor was going to do regardless of all the rhetoric he spewed during the campaign.

Abercrombie the Zombie makes a lot of noise about raising money for the budget, but what he ought to be focused on is reducing the amount of spending being done and the level of waste. He's a typical Washington D.C. bureaucrat with the financial savvy of a kumquat. And the lame-brained legislators go along with it and are of the same deficient mentality.

Tweeting birds

The parakeets are tweeting ... yes, they invented tweeting regardless of what anyone else says. The seem to have discovered the newspaper that lines the bottom of their cage, too. I heard noises coming from the cage like they were crawling around the bars, but they were near the edge of the cage chewing at the edge of the paper under the grate.

At first I was concerned, but apparently it's perfectly normal for them to do this so I'm not going to worry about it since, from what I've read, newspapers now use soy based inks in their pages. I'm not sure why they started chewing on the paper now, but it could be the way I positioned the newspaper when I cleaned their cage this time. We'll see what happens later.

Post-Christmas

Had a pretty good Christmas ... lots of food, family, presents ...

First Christmas in the new place ... closed on 10/30/2009 (Yay)

Added two new tweets to the family, no not on twitter, actual tweets. A pair of budgies (or parakeets if you prefer) named Kirk and Spock. One is yellow and one is blue so it should be obvious which is named which. (pics to follow for those imagination challenged)

They're pretty quiet for the most part, but I'm not sure if that's because they are just getting used to their new surroundings or if that is how they will be. They did "talk" a little last night, oddly enough every time I ran the kitchen faucet.

Spock was eating a lot of millet the past couple days. He's turning into a real oinker. I went to bed and he was pecking away at the millet and when we got up this morning he was pecking away at the sprig.

They both sleep differently ... Kirk sits on his perch, fluffs up and goes to sleep. Spock sits on his perch, tucks his head back and goes to sleep. They both preen and stretch a lot, though ... then again, what else to do when you're a bird.

Sunny day ...

The weather is fairly nice today ... good day for the beach. Unfortunately I'm stuck inside and left to staring out the window at the sunshine. I did take a walk outside, albeit for only 5 minutes, but it was a nice breather to warm up.