And It's Our Fault

Iraqi fisherman nets shark 160 miles from sea | Oddly Enough | Reuters.com

The story was pretty interesting until I got toward the end. Then it got funny. From the article:

"Tahseen Ali, a teacher, said there was a '75 percent chance' Americans had put the shark in the water."

I'm not sure what the hell they're teaching at West Point, but I have an inclination to believe sharks aren't mentioned, even in psychological warfare. I find it interesting that in even such an odd occurrence, the Iraqis believe it's our fault. They blame everything bad on Americans.

If you were religious (not saying you aren't, but play along please), and in the same position (foreigners having invaded your country and blown up half of it, let's just say) wouldn't you be quite angry? It's a stretch to blame a shark's presence in the Euphrates on the United States, but I can begin to see where they're coming from.

This is the Coolest Thing About the Internet

It's not that the latest technology can bring us all together, communicate with each other instantly around the world, or provide opportunity where there was once none. It's that in 2007 I can let my daughter learn a little bit in the same method I did.

It's like a friggin' time capsule.

I Don't Want to Speak Too Soon, But...

It looks like I'm back. I went running again today and finished without pain. I ran on a level quarter-mile track to work on my running mechanics and it looks like I've found a good stride. There aren't any marathons in the near future, but at least I can sweat a little more these days.

I've applied for a job far away. That's all I'm going to say at this point. The day after I sent my resume, another possibility popped up out of nowhere. They say "when it rains, it pours," but I'm not one to believe that. Nothing is pouring yet, and it is unclear when anything will happen if it does at all. I should know something more in two weeks.

Aside from that, there's not really anything to report. I haven't been in deep thought until a few days ago when I was contemplating the possibly drastic life changes that are imminent and how to plan for that. I've just been trying to get motivated in to doing my schoolwork and it's not working. The last two Friday nights found me experiencing crunch time and almost missing deadlines because I just don't want to do the work. Two classes: one is boring and one is difficult. "Professional Communication" is boring and "Discrete Mathematics" is proving to be a challenge.

In a classroom setting, this would be a breeze even at this pace (5-1/2 weeks), but online work is different from that. There are no tests or quizzes. There are live online presentations, and two assignments due each week for each class. One must stay in a constant state of concentration (or at least have it in the back of the mind) to keep up with it while avoiding crunch time on Friday night. My problem is that the classwork doesn't concern my everyday tasks or interests, and so I don't care.

One must then decide whether it's better to just do the work on time and keep up with the class and instructor or to crunch and still get A's. I'm still in debate. Until then,

Back for a Minute

So as I said earlier, I've been a bit busy. The month of September kept me away from home for three weeks, one in Atlanta, one in Savannah, and a final resting place for my birthday in Helen, Georgia. Helen is a nice place, if not a bit overrated. The pseudo-Germans were cool, I guess, but pretty much everyone who was not in my group (of coworkers) was either old, rich, or both. There were either groups of the elderly who arrived on a bus of some sort, or a group of motorcyclists on BMWs. It would have been a great ride, but Beth and I weren't ready for a trip that long on two wheels. 300 miles in one day would have been too long of a first ride. Maybe next time.

I finished my first quarter at Colorado Technical University Online, and I have to say I hate it. But I need the degree, and that's the fastest way to get one.

My fresh new Gateway laptop went for repair not long ago, and it turns out that my memory upgrade went to shit. Oh, well. Back down to 1GB for a while. I guess I'll manage.

My job is getting easier, even though I'm responsible for a bit more. I'm covering as our division's webmaster until we find a replacement, and it seems they want more than they originally asked of me. I don't mind it, but it would be nice to see a little bit of that two-step pay grade advance, too.

I started geocaching and recommend it for anyone who wants something purely extracurricular. Finding something in the woods with your daughter is a great way to bond. We had a great time today stepping through spider webs and briar patches to find an old ammo can hidden in the forest. Beth was a good sport.

I just discovered that the little running gadget on this page doesn't display correctly in IE7. I'm not fixing it - you'll just have to use Firefox.