So Anyways

Ooops

Man, I bet whoever is responsible for this feels like crap today. I hadn't paid a lot of attention to the trapped miners story, but I had seen some headlines about it and saw a report on World News Tonight last night that seemed to indicate that it would take a miracle for those guys to be rescued.

When I checked in on CNN just before going to bed last night, there was a big "breaking news" headline saying 12 of the 13 were found alive. I even mentioned it to Ed since it seemed so opposite of what everyone was expecting to hear. We were both quite shocked (and a little confused) this morning when we saw the new headlines saying that instead of 12 survivors, there was only 1.

The guy who let that mistake happen should probably join the Michael Brown School of Disaster Management. President Bush would probably be first in line to pat him on the back.

But what's seemed really weird to me today is not so much that some asshole screwed the pooch big time on this, but that the news media (or at least the only two news outlets I keep up with during the day, cnn.com and msnbc.com, were making such a huge deal out of the screw-up. It would have been one thing if they had huge "breaking news" headlines screaming out about the tragedy itself, but it just seemed strange to me that they were totally focused on the screw-up. All day long, the headlines on both sites were focused on the mistake. It took Ariel Sharon's massive stroke to relegate the story to secondary status.

I don't know why that bothered me, but I think it's a pretty clear example of how the news media tends to focus attention on those stories that are shocking and/or sensational. No better way to "serve the public" than to scream out about some blunder of epic proportions, while ignoring the actual tragedy and its causes.

I can hardly wait to get home to see what Mary Hart has to say about it. Something tells me she'll be all over this one, probably asking Jennifer Aniston for her thoughts on the matter.

Mrs. Hughes Goes to Egypt

Just what exactly is it about Karen Hughes that "our current president" thinks is going to convince the Arab world to be our friends?

Could there possibly be a more unqualified person to be the Undersecretary of State for Convincing the Arab World to Love the USA (or whatever her official title is)?

Dallas soccer mom. Conservative. Power broker. Exactly at what level does she connect with anyone in the Arab world?

It's no wonder the whole freakin' world hates us.

What's in a Name?

Times, they are definitely a changin' here in our little hometown. Maybe times are not a'changin' so much as "building and institution names" are, but still. It's a lot of change and I'm not so sure I like it.

First, our beloved Bank One Ballpark was renamed last week. I guess that was just a matter of time since JP Morgan Chase bought Bank One awhile back. Since Bank One owned the naming rights (at a cost of $60 million+) through the year 2028, I suppose it was only natural for the new owners to want to use their name. I hate it, though. I hate corporate names for public buildings anyway, but in this case, I kind of grew to like the name, Bank One Ballpark. Not because I cared about the company behind the name, and not because I thought it rolled off the tongue. But everyone in town just called it, "the BOB." If anyone mentioned anything about "BOB," you knew immediately what they were talking about. It was kind of cool to be the only city probably in the world whose residents were so proud of a building with such a dorky name. New York might have Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden. Chicago has Wrigley. But only in Phoenix was there a BOB.

No more. Sadly, JP Morgan Chase officially renamed the building last weekend to Chase Field. I don't hate that name, but it's just so boring and corporate-sounding. Even if the Diamondbacks were to repeat their amazing 2001 World Series come-from-behind-in-the-9th-inning win in Chase Field, I can't imagine I'll ever feel the same about it. It'll always be just good ol' BOB to me.

As if that weren't enough, our "hometown airline," America West Airlines, loses its name tomorrow when its merger with US Airways closes. While AWA technically is buying US Airways, and the corporate headquarters of the merged company will remain here, the name is changing, and that feels like a loss. For anyone who's lived in the valley for any length of time, that's got to be kind of tough to accept. We've watched America West go from a start-up, to a major airline, to a bankrupt airline, to a re-emerged from bankruptcy airline. We've watched as the company struggled to stay afloat after 9/11, and probably everyone in the city knows someone who works for the company. It's just a part of the fabric of the city. It's sad to see the name go.

And, of course, there's a major public building whose name is going to change as a result. America West Arena will be renamed next month. While not as fun as BOB, I always liked the name since it kind of didn't even sound like a corporate name - I mean, it wouldn't be unreasonable for a city in the American west to name its premier sporting facility "America West Arena," even if there was no airline to pay for it. It just seemed like the name fit. No word  yet on what the new name of the arena will be, but I'm sure it'll be "US Airways Arena." That's just sad.

Doing My Part

I've been trying to think for a long time exactly what it is I can do to contribute to society. I mean, I'm a law-abiding citizen (at least the vast majority of the time and if you don't count driving a little too fast every now and then), I slog to a job that could be construed as meaningful I suppose, and I pay my taxes. But, I've felt guilty that I'm not doing anything to help fight what I see as one of this country's greatest challenges - dealing with a dwindling supply of fossil fuels (ie, gasoline).

I think I've figured it out, though. I'm going to start telecommuting to work. I've been thinking that I should start doing that for quite awhile - I have a fast internet connection to work, so I can sit at home and deal with 90%+ of what it is I need to deal with everyday. Sure, I need to go to the office several days a week for meetings or when I need to physically be there for whatever reason, but with a telephone and a fast internet connection, there are many many days when I just really don't need to be in the office.

Today was a good example. We bought some new kitchen appliances this weekend and had the delivery & installation scheduled for this afternoon. Instead of leaving Ed here to deal with that himself, I decided to come home after lunch so I could help deal with any issues that might come up. While waiting, I could work from home. Unfortunately, the delivery guys cancelled (like that ever doesn't happen!), so I was left with an entire afternoon of working from home uninterrupted. It was probably one of the most productive blocks of time I've had work-wise in a very long time. No interruptions with people stopping by to ask me some silly question or carry on a conversation I have no interest in carrying on, no listening to annoying conversations from loud and inconsiderate work neighbors. Just 4 or 5 hours of uninterrupted work.

Even though it didn't count today since I did drive a round trip to and from work, if I were to telecommute just one day a week for the entire day, I'd reduce my gasoline consumption by 20%. Maybe not a huge amount, but if everyone were to cut their consumption by that amount, I suspect our energy woes would be a lot less serious. Plus, I get the added benefit of not having to see (or hear) all those loudmouths that drive me to the edge of insanity everyday.

No Words

I've been struggling all week to figure out what it is I'm feeling about hurricane Katrina and her aftermath. I'm definitely feeling something, but I can't for the life of me put it into words.

I don't think there really are any words to describe the scenes that have been playing out on the news this week or my reaction to them. It's really just beyond my poor brain's ability to comprehend.

I know disasters of the same general magnitude (ie, total complete destruction) have happened all over the world with a lot of regularity, but with the possible exception of the Asian tsunami, it's always been hard to really "connect" with the victims and the tragedy they're facing. Usually in a foreign country, and more often than not in a Third World country at that, the disasters just seem like something tragic but far away. The concern I feel is only fleeting and it's easier to chalk the loss of life and property to the fact that those countries don't have the infrastructure of a more modern country. Not that I'm proud of that fact, but it's true. Even the tsunami probably would have seemed much less "real" to me had a high-profile American like Nate Berkus not been affected in such a big way.

But, this time, it's right here in America, and things like that just aren't supposed to happen here. Americans aren't supposed to wake up one morning and realize that literally everything about life as they had known it was completely obliterated. Not just changed or made more difficult. Obliterated.

They're not supposed to wake up one morning and have to fend for themselves with no home, no shelter, no food, no water, no electricity, no money, no way out, no communication with the outside world, no way to defend themselves. They're not supposed to face horrible diseases because of the putrid water and dead bodies surrounding them. I realize that people will argue that homeless people in America fight some of those battles every day, in every city of the country. I don't mean to minimize what they face at all, but I really don't think that it compares to what thousands, or tens of thousands, of people in Katrina's wake are facing.

I've tried all day to focus on my work and haven't spent a lot of time reading up on the day's latest news, nor have I seen any TV coverage today. But, I've seen headlines enough today and have seen enough TV coverage at night this week to know that the situation is going from utterly disastrous to something even worse than Stephen King could dream up for one of his horror novels.

Some excerpts from CNN's main article that are just impossible for my brain to process:

A police officer working in downtown New Orleans said police were siphoning gas from abandoned vehicles in an effort to keep their squad cars running.

The officer said police are "on their own" for food and water, scrounging up what they can from anybody who is generous enough to give them some -- and that they have no communication whatsoever. Police also told CNN they were removing ammunition from looted gunshops in an effort to get it off the streets.

The evacuation of patients from Charity Hospital was halted after the facility came under sniper fire, while groups of armed men wandered the streets, buildings smoldered and people picked through stores for what they could find.

"There are multiple people dying at the convention center," Lawrence said. "There was an old woman, dead in a wheelchair with a blanket draped over her, pushed up against a wall. Horrible, horrible conditions.

"We saw a man who went into a seizure, literally dying right in front of us."

There really are no words.

The Candidate Who Just Won't Die

Back in the day, when it looked as if there actually was hope that W's presidency would be limited to the 4 year term he did(n't) win, I decided that I wanted to do whatever I could to help make that dream a reality. Because I'm not the kind of guy who'll go out and campaign door to door or who'll make campaign phone calls, the only thing I could come up with that I thought might make a difference was to make financial contributions to the Kerry campaign.

I probably gave way too much money over the course of the campaign, but I did so hoping that it would make a difference. Obviously, that was a complete waste of money since a loss by even a slim margin is still a loss, and because W. is still the president.

One of the by-products of those contributions, however, is that I'm stuck on the johnkerry.com mailing list, and I get e-mails from him (more like from some johnkerry.com employee whose salary is being paid by all that money I sent to the campaign) several times a week. The latest one is begging for money to help pay for an ad in the USA Today next week trying to rouse public outrage over the Republican threat to use the "nuclear option" against the judicial nomination filibuster threatened by Democrats.

While I'm as outraged as most Democrats that the Republicans would do such a thing, I'm having a very hard time being motivated to contribute money to pay for newspaper ads against the idea. I mean, if the Republicans go through with their threat, then it's almost like the country is getting what it asked for. What good is a few dollars toward a newspaper ad going to do when you're trying to change the course of a juggernaut? With a Republican congress and a Republican administration, and a rabid conservative evangelical base, it just doesn't seem likely that a newspaper ad is going to change the outcome.

I suppose I'm glad that John Kerry is still out there speaking out and trying to hold the line against the Republicans, but he's not been very successful at motivating me. I know having all those "inactive" conservative judges confirmed would be a bad thing for the country. But maybe we just deserve it. After all, we got what we voted for.

I've Been Inspired!

Thanks to Beth, one of Ed's good online friends whom I had the pleasure of meeting a few years ago, my inspirational black hole has dissipated. Thanks, Beth! I was definitely hurting for ideas!

Beth's question - how insane are gas prices around Phoenix? - set me to thinking (a major accomplishment given my laziness last week).

Our gas prices are definitely ridiculously high (averaging right around $2.35-$2.37 a gallon in metro-Phoenix, I think), but I'm not sure that's really such a bad thing.

Now, don't get me wrong. I whine along with everyone else (probably more than most) about having to pay more than $25 to fill my tank every week since it used to cost less than $20. I'm pretty bad about driving out of my way (burning more gas and increasing my costs to refill) if I think I can pay 2 cents a gallon less by doing so, but really, that's just reflecting the years of conditioning by a father who used drive out of his way to pay $0.37 a gallon instead of $0.39. I also admit that the prices have annoyed me since they've made it more difficult for me to justify buying the new (not particularly fuel efficient) car of my dreams.

In reality, though, I think gas prices are actually probably too low still. Call me crazy, but if we're consuming a non-renewable natural resource at a record pace, the sources of which tend to be countries that hate us, prices should be pretty darn high. At some point, prices could actually get to a level that they would discourage use. With all the monster SUV's on the road, that couldn't be a bad thing.

I think Bill Maher said it best on Real Time Friday night:

How come we have cars with global positioning systems, satellite radio and voice-activated web access, and we still power them with the black goop you have to suck out of the ground?

He went on to say that prices of $2 a gallon probably make people choke on their $4 lattes.

That's probably true, but let's not get crazy. I'm willing to reduce my gasoline consumption but I'm not too thrilled about giving up my Starbucks.

I'm Not Worthy

Sometimes, I just feel inadequate. Like, for instance, when I met Hillary Clinton at a book signing last year. I stressed for days ahead of time about what I could say to her that would display the right combination of respect, admiration, and appreciation without being ridiculous and without pushing her just one step closer to the catatonic zombie-like state she probably feels herself hurtling toward every time she has to endure hours and hours of cheerfully greeting crowds of people at book signings or political rallies.

I mean, what exactly could I say to Hillary Clinton that would even be remotely interesting or memorable to her? After all, she's met Kings and Queens and Popes and Matt Lauer and Barbara Walters and Oprah. I know that pretty much the last thing she probably cares about doing is shaking my hand and listen to anything I might have to say.

But still, I do admire and respect her, and I'd like her to know that. Plus, I have such a thing for any presidential trinkets, including a small, but growing collection of presidential memoirs signed by the authors, that I couldn't avoid taking the opportunity to get her book signed and to meet her.

So, after stressing about what to say, and struggling mightily to build up my courage, I pretty much blew it at the moment of truth. My turn to shake her hand came, I stepped up, she looked at me with a wide smile meant to put normal people at ease, stuck her hand out, waited for me to say something, and I totally froze. I did shake her hand, and once she recognized the signs of celebrity-induced idiocy in me, she said something to the effect of "thanks for coming." I finally managed to get something along the lines of "thank you" out, but it was a struggle, and I doubt she even heard it.

As I was walking away, I felt like the old Chris Farley character on Saturday Night Live - I don't remember his name, but he was always down on himself. He'd do something dumb, then realize how dumb it was, and slap himself in the forehead saying "stupid, stupid, stupid!". That was exactly how I felt.

So, now I'm going to meet another woman that's only slightly lower on my list of really intimidating women - Madeleine Albright. She'll be in town on Friday to sign copies of her book, so I've got a ticket and am trying to figure out what to say to her and to build up enough courage to actually say it.

I mentioned my dilemma to a co-worker today, which was coincidental since he just happened to meet Muhammad Ali, Bo Derek, Chevy Chase, and John Corbett this weekend. They were all in town for some celebrity fight event. Now, meeting Muhammad Ali would probably be as intimidating to me as meeting either Hillary or Madeleine, so I asked the co-worker what he said to Ali. He said, "it's a pleasure and a real honor to meet you."

I can try saying that to Madeleine, but I'm pretty sure I won't be able to get it out.

Survivor: Todd Edition

I apologize for the dearth of posts lately. I have no excuse, other than the fact that I'm feeling over-worked, over-stressed, and under-motivated lately. I've taken to thinking of it as the Todd Edition of Survivor.

I'm not stranded on a tropical island with a bunch of beautiful people and I'm not really trying to out wit, out last, or out play anybody. Instead, I'm sitting in my cozy little corporate-cubicle home and trying to survive one of the periodic spikes in work load that come my way occasionally.

I'm not getting freaked out by weird critters scampering over my naked chest while I'm trying to sleep, but I am trying to survive the snakes in the grass who are only more than happy to pounce on any employees who let their guard down for a few minutes.

I'm not plotting who to vote off next, but I am watching my back.

I'm not worried about the next reward challenge because, well, we don't believe in rewards much around here.

I'm not stressing about how to get the immunity idol, but I am looking for ways to make myself invaluable to the rest of my tribe. Even though we don't have tribal councils, we do have these things called layoffs that are almost as bad.

As rough as it is at times like this, I'm not ready to get voted off my little corporate island. Give me a few more years and a few more dollars in the bank, and I may just vote myself off, though...

Blah blah blah

Like all good Americans (except those equally good Americans who chose to watch something a little more entertaining), I dutifully sat through the State of the Union address last night. I tried to listen carefully, but I must admit, I didn't retain a lot of what was said.

Thinking back on the speech, all I can really remember is a droning voice saying stuff like,

"blah blah blah Iraq blah blah Freedom blah blah blah marriage is between a man and a woman blah blah blah Freedom blah blah social security blah blah blah danger blah blah blah blah Freedom blah blah blah social security blah blah..."

I know that was bad of me. I'm sure some serious things were discussed, but I just really didn't care to listen too intently since I already knew what was going to be said.

The night wasn't a total waste, though. Watching the speech transported me back to September 2000 when Ed and I visited Washington as tourists. We made tour arrangements before the trip with our representative, expecting nothing more than tickets for the White House tour and maybe tickets to a Capitol tour. Much to our suprise and great thrill, the congressional wannabe aide guy who was in the representative's office when we arrived, took us on a very cool personal/private tour of the Capitol building. We got to walk through the famous basement tunnels from the congressional office building to the Capitol building itself. He then proceeded to take us all through the building to see things we had no idea even existed. At one point, we paused outside a closed door, he opened the door and invited us to follow him in, and we found ourselves standing on the floor of the US House of Representatives, represented terribly crudely by the stick figure drawing below:

I nearly soiled myself. From the best I can remember, we stood right in front of the seat where the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs was sitting last night.

I know most people wouldn't think that was quite as cool as I thought it was, but I was pretty much in another world at that point. The shear magnitude of history that has been made in that very room was a bit overwhelming to me. I could see in my mind's eye FDR in that room telling the country about "a date which will live in infamy," JFK standing at the podium encouraging the country to send a man to the moon, and all of the other big moments that have happened there.

Amazingly enough, our tour didn't end there, either. Next, we found ourselves strolling through the Speaker's office and out onto his private balcony overlooking the Mall, with probably one of the most spectacular bird's eye views in all of Washington - the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and Arlington House all lined up. It was quite a tour and one reason I'll always be grateful that we visited DC the year before 9/11. I have a feeling we won't see any of those cool things on our next trip.

Disgust

Every so often, something is said or done that just throws me over the edge. I'm usually a pretty laid-back guy and I don't let things really bother me, but there are the occasional times when I just get really offended and bothered by things I hear, see, or read.

That happened to me today.

There's a police officer in Phoenix, Jason Schechterle, who was involved in a hit-and-run traffic accident several years ago. The car he was driving was rear-ended, and it exploded in flames. Officer Schechterle was burned extremely badly. He managed to survive by some miracle beyond comprehension, but he was burned so badly that he essentially had no face left.

The physical pain and suffering he had to endure just to recover from such a severe burn must have been unreal, but that was probably nothing compared to his having to learn to live with such a horrible facial disfigurement. He has spoken of how his own young children were too scared to look at him at first and how he contemplated his own suicide as a result. It is a real tribute to him, and incredibly inspiring to me, that he managed to overcome all of those issues and has had the courage to not hide and remain cutoff from society, but to make public appearances and bravely go on living his life as normally as possible. He has used his notoriety for good causes, and he deserves a huge amount of respect for all that he has managed to survive.

Instead of respect, though, he's been treated incredibly cruelly. Some grocery store tabloid, The Weekly World News, has named him one of the 10 ugliest people in the world.

Is it really necessary to add to the man's grief by putting him on such a list? Does the money generated by the tabloid's story justify the cruelty that they displayed in publishing such a list? Sometimes when you see junk tabloids like this, it's easy to forget that these may be real, thinking, feeling people. They're not animals and they deserve some basic human dignity. Unfortunately, the people at The Weekly World News apparently don't see things that way.

Today's Word of the Day

Turbidity. Having sediment or foreign particles stirred up or suspended; muddy.

There's just something about that word that makes me laugh. I keep seeing it since the City of Phoenix is sending out updates about our even-crappier-than-normal drinking water several times a day, and our office building has big "Don't Drink the Water!" signs posted at every drinking fountain.

It feels so 24 around here.

Oy

I just finished watching the inauguration and thinking to myself, "I hope we survive the next four years," and what is the first thing I see online afterwards? An article saying that SpongeBob SquarePants is promoting homosexuality. Good old James Dobson thinks that Spongie, Barney, Winnie the Pooh, and Bob the Builder crossed a "moral line" in their new video promoting tolerance of diversity.

It's gonna be a long four years...