So the CIA destroyed some home movies they made of them nicely asking terrorists to tell us their secrets.  They claim they did it to protect the identities of their agents conducting the interrogation. 

So let me get this straight.  The CIA can’t handle keeping materials that might give away the identities of their own people.  Do these people have paperwork at the CIA?  Do they have an HR department?  I’m guessing those folks have some names, photos, and more info… If they’re incapable of handing such materials how is it they’re not busy destroying everything in the dang building for the same reason?  :P

This department is supposed to be all sneaky and this is the best excuse they’ve got?  All I can hope for is that this is one of those situations where they figure that people are more prone to believe a big lie than a little one.  That or … on man they’re stupid.

On a side note I’d generally feel a lot better if our government would just behave in some manner reflecting some of the better values and laws of the nation.  No, it wouldn’t end any current wars but doing so would probably have avoided some current problems, and at the least it would make me feel better.

Nuclear Power

So I was thinking about this whole global warming thing and it seems to be the only way to seriously reduce carbon dioxide emissions on a large scale ASAP (as ASAP gets in this case) is Nuclear Power.  Not to say that conservation, wind energy, solar power, research on increasing efficiency and etc shouldn’t also be done, but I don’t see any of those filling future demand and lowering emissions right now.  My house, business and etc are still powered by these big coal and similar plants that put out a great deal of carbon dioxide.  The only right here right now working at this very moment with high output alternative to high carbon dioxide emitting power seems to be Nuclear Power.  

There is actually a plant not to far from me in Monticello.  I used to think of it in less than a positive light.  No serious problems that I’m aware of, but it is nuclear power…  Yet with the whole global warming concept I admit I’ve thought of it in a more positive light lately.

I think it is time we all go green…er well hopefully without glowing green.

Vikings

Even before they were 3-6 after a 34-0 pounding by Green Bay I figured my Vikings were dead in the water.  Rookie QB, defense that was monstrous against the run but did not get pressure on the QB and let passes fly by them at an alarming rate meant this team was in trouble. 

Four games and wins later and they’re in contention for a wild card spot.  The rookie QB still seems to be on a very limited diet of plays and operating under the “just don’t loose the game for us” policy, but hey, he’s not loosing the game for them.  The offensive line is performing far better than it did early on in the year and even when Peterson isn’t freezing safeties like he has superpowers Chester Taylor can still run like a mad man meaning opponents must always defend the run rather than just when Peterson is in.  Also the defense has found a way to disguise their blitzes and get actual pressure while holding up their run defense. 

I’m still thinking of this as a team to look forward to next year rather than a real dark horse in terms of the playoffs as some are saying.  Making to the playoffs still requires winning out or at least going 2 and 1 and hoping some other teams loose.   Even so making the playoffs and at least a respectable showing will have me chalking up this season as a good one. 

At the very least it has been an entertaining one with Peterson running around like a mad man.

Storm Door

Two weeks after having a new storm door put on our townhouse … a wind storm came along and destroyed it.  Ugh.  The folks at the store we bought it from think that the manufacturer might cover it.  Of course even if they do that will take time and in the meantime there is this broken (won’t even close) storm door on our house for prospective buyers to see.  –sigh-

Moving

We moved out of the townhouse into the new house last week Wednesday.  Well in truth we’ve been moving in over the period of several days.  We rented a truck and moved a few of the large things and boxes on Wednesday.  As usual we rented a 10 foot truck but they only had a 15 foot truck but gave it to us at the 10 foot truck price. 

Thankfully, Wednesday was before the weather turned biting cold, above single digits Fahrenheit.  We left a number of items in the townhouse including most of the larger furniture to keep it presentable for those folks who might buy it from us.  We’re so hiring movers for phase 2. 

Despite having the truck one day we’re still scampering back and forth with the outback picking up misc items and boxes.   Thankfully it is all of a mile away or so.  At the new hosue it’s not pretty as there is stuff everywhere but we’re surviving.

Unpacking will have to wait for a while as on Friday we’re heading off to our Mexican cruise.

Mexican Cruise

The trip was organized by the in-laws.  This spring last remaining sibling of my father in law’s died.  I think this whole trip is an effort to not be sitting around home noticing an empty spot in a chair or at the table all Christmas.  It is probably for the best.

I’m not sure if I’ll enjoy a cruise.  I’m not a big swimmer or hang out in the hot tub kind of guy…  not at all.  At the same time I recognize that the females in this particular family all have this extremely strong need to worry and control things.  I’m sure in their heads it is for the best but it is also downright insane and counterproductive most of the time.  Plans made are remade and redone numerous times for no apparent reason and sometimes with no thought given to the reason the plans were made differently in the first place, just a frantic rush to replan.  It is insane to watch.  There’s no question that the cruse won’t solve this issue but hopefully it can at least mitigate it to some extent. 

I expect the trip to be all touristy but even then I look forward to getting some nice photographs. 

Things to do before the trip:

Haircut for cripes sake.
Arrange airport taxi to take us to airport.
Plan a trip to the wild animal park for the extra day we have in San Diego.
Change address and tell USPS to hold the mail.
Tell newspaper to hold my newspaper.
Make sure I have enough underwear and socks that will last me a week...
Make sure I still fit in my summer shorts (some may be too big or now).
Pants for the trips to cathedrals that don’t allow shorts.
Load new music onto iPods.
Pack headphones.
Voice recorder for journal purposes?
Turn water off in both houses.

Things to remember to pack for the trip:

Suit for “formal night.”
Nintendo DS and a new game.
Camera equipment (big and small camera).  Taking at least the wide angle, 50mm, and midrange zoom lenses.
Cash.
Ransom money.

Photography

I haven’t been doing much photography what with new house buying, moving, and all.  Even so I’ve started to miss my 50mm lens more than ever.   Since turning to my digital SLR several years ago my 50mm lens effectively turned into an 80mm lens due to the smaller sensor size compared to film.  Now I enjoy the nice 80mm range for the purposes of  portraits and such but darn it I enjoyed the flexibility of my 50mm lens a great deal.  It is tempting to find a nice 30mm lens to give me the same effect my 50mm lens had before it got cropped by the camera.

Late

If any of this husiary seems less coherent than usual it is because I’m on #2 of my two weekend night shifts in a row.  The guy who does the schedule is an asshole.  Fortunately, I know I won’t have to do anything like this again soon, because I’m the scheduling guy.