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Thursday, September 04, 2003
If it isn't Blogger/Blogspot, it is my computer. As I was half through a blog entry, the computer decided to go bye bye. It happens about once a week with XP which is a vast improvement over several times a day with ME.
Tonight is music night and I really need it. Amazing how playing old country music tunes works off the pain caused by a week of work.
I see that Cletus is planning to sing Merle's I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink. The joke is on him since it has a few short verses and about three minutes of instrumentals. I can't play it very well, but I think I can fill up the three minutes so we don't have to listen to him.
posted by Larry at 5:21 PM
Wednesday, September 03, 2003
Spent this morning at the hospital as my younger brother got a heart catherization done. He is okay, no blockages and his heart is strong. He does smoke and agrees he needs to quit. We'll see.
My brother was recently laid off from his job and has spent the last month worrying about when he will get back to work. He is a Teamster and the Union has a job lined up, but he doesn't like being off. He is nearing retirement eligibility, but I don't see how he can retire. He took a vacation many years ago and didn't like it so he hasn't taken another. He spends all his off time working on something. Not sure that there are possible hobbies for him that will fill all day, every day.
I was talking to my wife about my brother's work ethic and was informed that it seemed to run in the family. I don't know why she would say that. I took two days off in January, two in July and plan on two more at Thanksgiving.
posted by Larry at 4:13 PM
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
Today I had to go on the local Army base on business. As are all military bases, the post is at a high security profile. It is a real hassle to get on the base especially if you happen to be driving a car without a Defense Department decal. The non-decal line was backed up about a half mile and was moving very slowly.
The building I visited has large concrete barriers blocking all then access lanes that pass directly next to it. That kind of makes sense. Keep vehicles away from the building and the potential damage from a car bomb is lessened. The problem: the barriers only block the lanes. The sidewalks and lawn areas next to the lanes are open. Jump your bomb laden car over the curb and access to the building is yours.
That seems to be the problem with all aspects of the Homeland Security effort. It is a lot easier to do the cosmetic things than to impliment true security which involves thinking like the people you are trying to thwart. The security professionals I have known over the last thirty years are pretty good at what they do and are quite paranoid, a good characteristic for a security person. In their opinion, there is never enough security. In fact the average security person will sacrifice the mission in the name of security so commanders and other senior managers try to add some common sense to the security plan. The problem then is the non-security person has never learned to think like a bad guy. Rational thought works against security. Throw in a little "what will this look like on the front page of the paper" thinking and security ends up merely cosmetic and not capable of stopping serious people.
I believe that all potential enemies should be treated as serious people and the security systems we have installed fail to do that.
posted by Larry at 5:33 PM
Another pretty good weekend. I survived it and appear to have no new wounds. We cleaned a little more junk from the out buildings on the farm and hauled some cardboard to the recycle collection point. Of course, I used more gasoline getting there than the recycle will save but it is the thought that counts. See, a recycled cliche.
Saturday evening, we went to my wife's high school reunion. About 20 people from 70 showed up. They have an annual reunion and usually have more people. The most surprising thing to me was there were three military retirees attending from the class. What are the odds on a class of 70 having 3 career military people. We are talking a small country town no where near a military base. The class behind them has a Marine Major General.
Monday we went to see my cousin's new little girl that she went to China to get. A real cutie.
And now, back to work. I think I liked the weekend better.
posted by Larry at 9:43 AM
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