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I finished up my parents' Christmas newsletter today.  In case you're interested, I made a .pdf file of it that you can download below.  I used Microsoft Publisher 2000 and Photoshop to do the whole thing in a little over an hour.  My mom wrote it, so you can blame anything that sounds too cheesy on her.  I just typed it in and did the layout. 

We've done something similar to this for almost the last ten years, except for the Christmas that my sister had her cancer surgery (which is also mentioned in this year's letter).  In case you don't feel like downloading the file, she's been cancer-free for six years now, and there's a picture of her in there, to show you what she looks like now.

I rather enjoy desktop publishing, I did quite a bit of it in high school, when I was on the yearbook staff.  Back then, we had to use Publish It! on the Macintosh, and our fastest machine was an LC, if I remember correctly.  Yes, we also had to walk uphill both ways to school, barefoot, and floppy disks cost at least a dollar each...

If you're interested, there's the low quality .pdf file available here, weighing in at 331K.  Or, if you're on a broadband connectiong, get the high quality version (suitable for printing and framing!) here, it's about 8MB. You'll need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, if you haven't downloaded it already.

I try to be a reasonable tech support person.  I don't retreat to the "we don't support that" excuse very often.  However, there are days when I cling to it like a lifeline.  Today is one of those days.

A certain faculty member decided to blow away the installation of Windows NT 4.0 that we'd set up on his computer, and took it upon himself to install Windows Millennium Edition.  Now he's having lots of problems.  He wants me to fix them.  There is not, and will not be, a single Windows Me computer that I'll support here at work, and I made that very clear to him this morning, as has my co-worker in the past.  He can't systematically ignore our advice, and then expect us to bail him out when he screws something up.

I was nice enough to offer to put Windows NT back on it for him, or Windows 2000, whichever he'd prefer, but he'd like to tinker with it some more.  I'm guessing he'll have given up by Monday...

Final Examination

I've got my final exam today in my Presidency class. I've still got some cramming to do today at work, I need to read through a few more chapters of The American President, and then just relax before my test.  I'm not someone who does well if I cram right up until the last minute, I tend to stuff information into my head until about an hour before the test, then I just relax, and go with the flow.

The test is mostly essay, so I'll do okay.  I think a great question would be:

100 points: Completely explain this year's Presidential election:

That one would separate the men from the boys, so to speak...

I watched Gore and Bush speak last night.  Gore's address was top-notch, a finely crafted and honest concession.  I did get a bit tired of hearing the stuff about "coming together as Americans", but I know it was important that he said it.  I watched the speech on NBC, and I swear that the correspondant who has been covering the Gore campaign for the last year and a half had tears in her eyes when Brokaw asked her for her reaction.  Tim Russert pointed out that he congratulated Bush on "becoming President", that is, he didn't say "being elected President".  I find that very amusing.  I think there's a very good chance that we'll see Al back for more in 2004, and if he can polish his style so he comes across as well as he did last night, he'll be the 44th President.

I was prepared to enjoy Bush's speech as well.  I found myself actually wanting him to do well, to appear "Presidential" and to appear as a leader.  Unfortunately, I thought that Bush's speech was average at best.  It seemed to be much of a recycled campaign speech, and he didn't seem to have any real emotional investment in what he was saying.  Perhaps it is just me, but when I've heard Bush speak, I have never gotten the impression that he understands what he is saying, he just gets up on the podium and spouts catch phrases until people applaud.  I think of Bush's speeches as something like this:

"And I promise to [buzzword] this [catchphrase] to better all Americans, because only by [buzzwording] our [buzzwords] can we [catchphrase] for a better tomorrow. I'm a [buzzword] and I believe in [catchphrasing].  We need to [catchphrase] our [buzzwords] together and begin the [catchphrasing] of this nation." 

It's like he's speaking with "finger quotes" around every other sentence, it reminds me of an old Chris Farley routine on Saturday Night Live...

And last night's speech was just that, a bunch of recycled catch phrases from the campaign.  I would have rather heard something new, something that would give me a little more hope for the future, and something original and fresh, after two years of the same rhetoric.

As I read over the transcript of the speech, it reads much better than it was delivered.  It will be interesting to see how Bush does on his feet, I don't think I've ever seen him seriously grilled, with the possible exception of his appearance on the Dave Letterman show.  I've watched Clinton's press conferences, say what you like about Clinton, but the guy thinks extremely well on his feet, and he's comfortable fielding all sorts of questions without preparation.  I don't get that sense from Bush.

Okay, I'm done with the election now, I promise.  I'll try to shut up about it, and eventually we'll all forget about it, and go on with the rest of our lives...

End Game

It looks like Gore's going to concede the election tonight.  I think he should, it's doubtful he can win from here.  There are still a handful of court cases which could change that, but they're not likely to be ruled in his favor.  I haven't gotten a chance to sit down and read the complete opinions of the Supreme Court yet, I plan to do so later today, but I'm left completely baffled by what I have read.

I've had to read Supreme Court cases for class several times, and generally I feel that they get it "right".  I don't always agree with everything they say, or the implications it has for the country, but I can generally follow the logic and the law that they use to reach their decisions.  This case leaves me baffled.  The Equal Protection argument seems absolutely bizarre, so much of a Presidential election varies from county to county, why would it surprise anyone that standards would as well?  I'm not saying that there shouldn't be a uniform standard, but all the legislature wrote was "intent of the voter", it should be their job to be more specific, not the Florida Supreme Court's.

I also don't see what business the Supreme Court has sticking their nose in what is in essence a matter of Florida law.  As Justice Breyer wrote in his dissent:

"The Court was wrong to take this case. It was wrong to grant a stay. It should now vacate that stay and permit the Florida Supreme Court to decide whether the recount should resume.

That stay should never have happened.  The counting should have gone forward, many of the experts are saying that it would have vindicated Bush anyhow.  The Court could have always ordered that the recount was unconstitutional, and that the results should not have been included, but they should not have stopped the count of the "undervotes" from taking place.  The dissenting opinions, especially Breyer's, are probably the most harsh that I've ever read from the Supreme Court.

So what do I think they should have done?  Well, I'm not a lawyer, but I agree with what Justice Souter wrote in his dissent, that would have been the proper course of action. 

"As will be clear, I am in substantial agreement with the dissenting opinions of Justice Stevens, Justice Ginsburg and Justice Breyer. I write separately only to say how straightforward the issues before us really are .... In deciding what to do about this, we should take account of the fact that electoral votes are due to be cast in six days. I would therefore remand the case to the courts of Florida with instructions to establish uniform standards for evaluating the several types of ballots that have prompted differing treatments, to be applied within and among counties when passing on such identical ballots in any further recounting (or successive recounting) that the courts might order.

Will I give my support to President-elect Bush?  I probably won't refer to him as "His Fraudulency" as Rutherford B. Hayes was called after a tainted election, but his Presidency will be forever stained by the election mess in Florida.  I think that he'll be the legitimate President of the United States, that's not to say that I think the system functioned properly, but he made his way through the convoluted mess, and came out victorius.  I don't think that our next President will have an easy time of things, regardless if it had been Gore or Bush, they're coming into office with no mandate, they've got to deal with an evenly divided Congress, and the economy is bound to go south in the next four years.  It's a foregone conclusion that it won't be an easy job.

On the bright side, Rush Limbaugh won't have much to gripe about in a couple of months.  I doubt he can do an entire show every day about Senator Hillary Clinton, but I'm sure he'll try. 

If you believe in the Curse of Tecumseh, then Bush won't live out his term.  It's a freaky set of coincidences, but Reagan is the only President elected in a year ending in zero since 1840 who lived out his term, and keep in mind he was shot. 

Comedians everywhere have to be rejoicing, there's a lot more comedic material to be found in a Bush presidency than in a Gore one.  With Gore, what have you got to work with?  His lack of personality? That gets old pretty quick.  With Bush, you've got his reputed lack of intelligence, alcoholism, drunk driving, his frat boy image, the fact that his Dad was a President, and the fact that he mangles words daily.  He's like Dan Quayle and Gerald Ford all rolled into one...

Digging Out

I finally got around to updating the FAQ for this site.  I guess I should say I finally got around to creating the FAQ, as it has been blank up until now.  I put up all of the questions that I could think of, but if you have any other questions, Frequestly Asked or otherwise.  Let me know, and I'll answer them there.

I had to call Micron's tech support number today.  My computer has been suffering from a defective keyboard port.  It used to just be annoying, it'd stop working every time I restarted the computer.  If I turned the computer off, and then turned it back on, it'd work fine.  So, I just used a keyboard with both USB and PS/2 connections, no problem.  Now, it freaks out about twice a day, and starts shrieking like there is a key stuck on my keyboard, but the keyboard is fine.  So, Micron is sending me a new motherboard for the system, and they didn't even put up a fight...

What I'm listening to:  Today, I'm listening to the album of 1996 Grammy Nominees.  This CD has some pretty good tracks, it really takes you back, all the way to 1996! Boyz II Men, Joan Osborne, Michael Jackson, and Shania Twain are just some of the artists featured on this disc.  I bought this (in 1996) because it was chock full of good music.  I hate CD's that have three good songs and a lot of crap.  This disc might have a touch too much R&B for my tastes, but at least I consider every song to be worth listening to.  Yes, even Gangster's Paradise by Coolio...

This morning, I braved the -14° F weather to wrench my car from the clutches of winter.  There was a three foot high drift of snow behind my car, which I cleared without the benefit of a snow shovel (time to go shopping for one).  My car was a little reluctant to turn over, so I decided that I'd better make a pit stop at the McDonald's drive through before going to work, as to give my car some more time to warm up.  I also got some Sausage Biscuits to warm my tummy.  Camaros aren't the best winter cars, but if you drive slowly and brake well in advance, they'll get you where you need to go...

I had a chilly awakening, as apparently I'd brushed up against my thermostat before going to bed last night.  My apartment was 52° F when I woke up this morning.  I quickly turned up the thermostat, and jumped back into bed for 15 minutes while my apartment warmed.  There was no way I was going to take a shower while the temperature was below 60°.

The Iceman Cometh

I'm leaving work an hour early, I've got to trek the mile home across the frozen tundra, on foot.  It's -2°F outside, and the snow is really blowing. Windchill is around -30°F still, and I'm not wearing long underwear.  Hopefully, if I start to freeze to death, Han Solo will show up and slice open one of those smelly Tauntauns with a lightsaber.  Sure, they smell worse on the inside, but the steaming guts will keep me warm...

Alright, so I'm taking the whole Hoth metaphor a bit too far, but it really is cold outside, and I don't even have a Tauntaun to ride..

I just read the whole transcript of the Supreme Court session that took place this morning.  Yes, it's a slow day here at work.  Everyone has gone home because of the weather, but the University remains open officially, since it's finals week.  I'm feeling more optimistic for Gore after reading the transcript, the Supremes seem reluctant to question the Florida Supreme Court, since there doesn't appear to be a gross error on their part.  I've also come to the realization that I never want to stand in front of the Supreme Court while the nine of them hammer me with questions... Update: I had to laugh, I looked at Hal's weblog, and he said almost the same thing I did:

Gotta go. NPR is broadcasting the tape of the Supreme Court pleadings. Later: One thing I am sure of, I never want to stand in front of those nine Justices and get pelted, nay, hammered with questions.

I'm setting up our first 1 Gigahertz computer this morning.  It's a Dell machine, with 512MB of RAM. Needless to say, it's fast, very fast, at least until we get our first Pentium IV computer in a couple of weeks...

I walked my freezing ass all the way to work this morning.  It's only about a mile, but when the wind chill is -30°F, then 100 yards seems like a long way to walk.  I looked at my car, and decided it looked like it had been blocked in by the helpful snowplows. Adding in that we're expected to get between 4-10 inches of snow yet today, I decided that walking would probably be more efficient and safer.  I made it to work, with visions of The Empire Strikes Back in my head all the way.  When I made it to work, I had to defrost my facial hair, I unbundled then dashed the 40 feet from my building to the Union for a warm mug of hot chocolate...

It's -2 outside right now, you can tell the people who are either really stupid or really addicted to nicotine, they're the morons who are standing outside smoking a cigarette in this weather...