Monthly Archives: September 2008

No bailout. Yet?

Posted on September 30, 2008 by Jim

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when the House failed to pass the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.  (Be patient.  That site is getting hit pretty hard right now.  You might be better off visiting your favorite news site for … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance | Comments Off

Just say “No” to the bailout

Posted on September 25, 2008 by Jim

Have you read the text of the Bush Administration’s proposed 700 billion dollar bailout of financial institutions?  If you don’t want to wade through the three-page proposal (although it is written in reasonably clear English), this summary will tell you … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance, Idiocy | 5 Comments

The Last Sucker Theory

Posted on September 24, 2008 by Jim

Join me in a little thought experiment. Seal a 100 dollar bill in an envelope, affix a price tag to the envelope, and write $110 on it.  Then put it up for sale, telling potential buyers that if they spend … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance, Idiocy | Comments Off

Removable Drives

Posted on September 22, 2008 by Jim

Although we’ve moved the crawlers and a large part of our workflow to a co-location facility, we still do some of our processing here at the office.  So on a daily basis I hop on my bike and ride down … Continue reading →

Posted in Computers | 3 Comments

Hurricane Rescue

Posted on September 15, 2008 by Jim

Almost every year during monsoon season in the Phoenix area, some idiot will drive around a barricade and attempt to cross a flooded low water crossing. In most cases, search and rescue workers are successful in plucking the occupants from … Continue reading →

Posted in Idiocy, Rants | 2 Comments

Hurricane Ike

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Jim

The latest projection of hurricane Ike’s path puts a tropical storm right over our house sometime early Sunday morning.  Of course, that’s just a projection based on current conditions and input from a half dozen climate models.  The storm could still move … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds 'n Ends | 1 Comment

An Hour A Day

Posted on September 8, 2008 by Jim

I hear a lot of people say that they want to change their lives: lose weight, make more money, learn something new, take up a new hobby, accomplish some physical challenge, etc. Sadly, most of those people then go on … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds 'n Ends, Rants | 2 Comments

Disposing of a refrigerator

Posted on September 1, 2008 by Jim

Some friends gave us a refrigerator about 10 years ago when they were moving to a new house.  It really wasn’t much of a refrigerator, even back then, but it fit nicely in the laundry room.  We used it mostly … Continue reading →

Posted in Odds 'n Ends | 1 Comment