I sometimes wonder about the guys who were at the Alamo. Did they know they were going to fail? We know the outcome but when they were watching the Mexican army coming forward were they saying to themselves, “We can do this!” The reason I was thinking about this today is I have a project which should have started a year ago, but it has come down to the last three weeks and I have no choice but to attempt to get it done. As I sat in the meeting this morning, some are optimistic some are cautious and me, I feel defeated! We have come up with the best plan possible but it seems like spitting into the wind at this point. The truth is I have no option but to charge forward and pray for the best. The guys involved have done their best all that is left is the doing! No one will look back at this like the Alamo as a great moment, all of us involved will try to forget it as quickly as possible. My problem is that if we are successful, they will want us to pull something off like that again. If we are not, we won’t learn any lessons that will help us in the future. Everything will go on as if it never happened. At least at the Alamo they slowed down the army, I am not sure my project could stop an ant!

We have officially lost our collective minds. When did everyone start thinking that we had to agree with everyone else? The politically correct craziness is causing our country to stand on a cliff of stupidity and if we jump we may not be able to come back from it! Yesterday looked like a feeding frenzy of piranha running to destroy all mention of the civil war and the confederacy like it was a juicy fish! I do understand that the shooting in Charleston was pure evil, and the confederate flag has been used as a symbol of hate, but we cannot cleanse our country of everything that offends. We should have learned from the years of prohibition that making something illegal does not change people’s minds about it. If we keep going in this direction we are going to end up like the dystopias we see in popular movies lately, everyone wearing gray and no deviation. I for one will not go along with this, and I tell you now, you are free to disagree with me. You are even allowed to hate the things I believe in. I will not try to ban you or even be offended, thou I may try to discuss it with you and try to convince you of my beliefs. I am a Christian and I believe that God wants you to be part of His family! I do not believe that I can force you to be a Christian, I do hope that I can convince you! However, if you choose not to be a Christian I will not like you any less. I also hope that you afford me the same respect. As long as we respect each other I think we, and our country have a chance!

My wife, son and I went looking for an apartment for our son to stay at while he is doing his masters. The criteria we searched under after close to campus was handicapped accessible. I am always amazed at what people think is “accessible”. For example curbs and weird sidewalks are not the best for someone who has balance problems, and having to go all the way around the building to get to the one ramp isn’t that great either. Some thou are just plain silly. A complex with wider doors and elevators is great but the front door is manual. How would someone in a wheelchair get through the door even if it were wider? They could fumble with it and go back and forth till they got through I guess. I never understand why you do all the things to make it more accessible but forget one of the basics? I think that every apartment that is allowed to advertise accessibility should have to pass a test. Bring in someone with a scooter or wheelchair and have him or her navigate the building. If they can get to an apartment and get into it without help they should get a seal of approval! If not call it friendly, or something else which would let the perspective renter know of the possible issues.

Early Father’s day was going a little slow so I turned on the TV. The only thing I found was golf so I sat down to watch little. One of the golfers who had just finished was being interviewed and he was complaining about the greens. He said the course was not very good and he watched his golf ball bounce all over the place. To that I say, good! Finally a golf tournament that looks like the golf I get to play. I can’t afford to play at some $300 a round golf course, the ones I play are more like $40 with a cart. I have never putted on grass that rivals the back of a unicorn, I have putted on a green that would have been easier with a sand wedge. When I hit into the rough, I sometimes lose the ball and I have had a small animal run off with my ball. If these guys are really the best in the world they should have to play in those kinds of conditions. I have seen some of those tournaments where the winner shot something like twenty under par. That is not impressive, to me the guy who was able to be five under after four days on a rough and bumpy course get my vote for the best golfer. To me that is closer to the game I play and shows he can play anywhere.To the golfer who was so upset, please stop whining about the course, the rest of us wish we got to do what you do for a living.

I have never been a “Cat Person”. I have had cats most of my life but my cats and I have had an understanding, we don’t mess with each other. That was until we got the two cats we have now. They have been most un-catlike. They like us, they want to be with us, I can pick them up and they don’t scratch me. I can even flip them over in my arms and scratch their bellies and come away with the skin on my hand. They almost make me like them, that is until I find the presents they leave me. I can handle the occasional mouse in the middle of the living room floor. We live in an old house in the forest so I know there are a lot of holes for them to get into the house. What I can’t stand is the deposits on my couch, chair, and sometimes beds. You know where the litter box is, it isn’t that far, use it! When I was young our cats were outside cats, but where we live that would mean catsicles or fox treats so that isn’t an option. We do let them out but one has returned in need of stitches so leaving them out would mean good odds of them never returning. These are the times when I think about why I have pets and how I think that after these are gone I won’t get another. Then again, I didn’t have much say in getting any of the animals we have in the first place.

In what is one of my nightmares scenarios, a flood has caused all the animals in the zoo in the country of Georgia to be released on to the streets of the city. There are great pictures of bears in windows and tigers wandering the streets. My favorite is the hippo laying in the middle of the street. Zoo officials are asking the citizens to not shoot the animals, and they are upset with the police for what they call unnecessary killings.
I would have to say this is a no-win situation for everyone involved. If the cops shoot an animal everyone says they are mean, if someone gets killed by an animal the cops didn’t do enough. To the zoo I say, tigers are wondering the streets something is going to die! Unless you are Daniel of Bible fame, a lion in your home is a bad thing. No one can say that these animals are just going to wait to be recaptured so trapping these animals is going to be quite a chore. I also guess that some will just disappear and never be seen again. Which will mean that Years from now legends and folklore tales of strange creatures in the forest which snatch up little children will be used by parents to keep kids from wandering off. Thus creating a whole new version of the Grim fairy tales.

While watching the NBA final last night I noticed the announcers were getting a little bored with the game toward the end. This is usually when they start to pull out the most random facts and stats to fill the time. They do this in all sports but baseball is one of the worst. Probably because a lot of the games can be really slow. Some are better at it than others but they all do it. They will same something like, “Frank, did you know this is the first time a left-handed player has hit with his right hand in the third inning of a game five?” The other guy in the booth will say, “I didn’t know that”. Another classic “John, I was unaware of this but this is the first time a player who was born in Russia has made a basket in the fourth quarter while his team is down more than ten points?” Then Frank chimes in “wow that is interesting” which we all agree is not. It can be really annoying but I can blame them, if the game is pretty much over what else can they do to fill the time? I actually heard an announcer start singing during a rain delay. I don’t think I could do better than these guys at filling all the dead time, or maybe the producers could queue up funny sports bloopers to show in a small window in the corner, that way there would still be something worth watching while waiting for the clock or rain to stop.

Two nights ago I was standing in line at Walmart. I don’t know why but it seemed I picked the worst time to be there. Every line was long and everyone in front of me had a basket full of stuff. So as I waiting I started looking around at all the items for sale just between the carts and the checkout. Candy of course was a major player, but not just one size of each candy, everything from fun to king size of the same candy. Really, did you think I would buy the fun size when the king is right next to it? And behind me a soda or cold coffee to wash it down with. Another item, beef jerky in flavors I didn’t know I could buy, jerk chicken flavored, is that beef or chicken? How about energy shots, I don’t care what flavor you get they all taste horrible! Playing cards or a lighter? I did like the lighter that was also an all tool that could be handy if I was lost in the woods. Batteries the, I almost forgot item and magazines about people I have never heard of who are cheating on other people I have never heard of. With all this stuff around me it is a wonder I made it out with only an extra bag of peanut M&M’s and an eight pack of batteries.

Ok, I have to be honest. When I was younger I didn’t have the money to buy some software so I downloaded it on an illegal download site. The software was really expensive and I justified it by saying that they were making a ton of money and wouldn’t miss mine. I of course have a very guilty conscience so not long after downloading it I imagined someone knocking on my door and arresting me so I deleted it off my computer. You hear these stories of people getting knocks on the door from the police who then serve them with a bill for thousands of dollars for illegal downloads. We always see this as giant companies like Microsoft or Apple with millions in resources and lawyers catching people. What about my buddy who wrote a book self-published and just found it out on a download site. He isn’t making a killing, or a living by the book royalties, he is just fulfilling a dream. He doesn’t have the ability to track down who is doing this or who has downloaded it. I always thought that millionaires should complain that someone got their music free and did contribute to their drug habit or buying them another car. That scenario is maybe one percent of the artists and creators out there, the rest are struggling artists just trying to scratch out a living like my friend, maybe we should all remember that next time we look at downloading something for free.

I think I have signed up for way to many freebies when I go to tech conferences. I get asked to take surveys or go to the next conference every day. Most of these I ignore or at most mark them as spam. Sometimes though they say I can win a prize or get something if I take a short survey. IF they say I will be entered in a drawing, I delete them. Today I got one that said I would get $45 dollars if I took a survey. Hey $45 dollars is free cash so I clicked on the link. It started out asking me what language, then how big a company I work for and finally what my job was. Once I submitted those it spun for a minute then came back with a message that say, sorry but you don’t fit the criteria we are looking for, thanks anyway! Say what? You ask me four or five questions then you say sorry? What the heck, I don’t want to do these stupid things anyway but don’t entice me with cash then yank it away. What are you looking for anyway? I use your product, I setup and maintain others who use your product and I influence the decision to use your product. Perhaps I needed to check the box that said I write the check for your really expensive product, then I could have received the kickback cash. Whatever the case I want your company to know that I have now added you to my spam filter so any attempt to lure me in with the bait and dump will now be seen by no one!