Holy crap! I can't believe that it has been weeks (three to be precise) since I have posted anything here. I've been under so much stress recently that I think I have barely been holding on. Right now it is quarter to five... AM. And I haven't been to sleep yet. I am currently working on a poster that will be presented at the Midwest Enzyme Chemistry Conference in Chicago next weekend - unless I do not survive that long. I was supposed to have this done (or at least a draft) two weeks ago, but I have been dragging my feet. There was a piece of elusive data I spent a much to long on trying pin down... but have not had success. Hoping to get that piece of data, I had put off preparing the poster. Now my back is against the wall and time is running out.
With this and several other stressors, I've been having trouble concentrating on much of anything. I make stupid mistakes at work then I come home and just stare at the damned television. I haven't even been playing video games, just mindlessly staring and letting all the crap swirl around in my head and stress myself out even more. I should know pretty well by now that I need to write during these phases. So I'm back... apparently. The poster should be done soon and after the conference is over with I might have a chance to relax, until the next huge stressor (whatever that will be) pops up. It just seems like endless frustration. Where is the relief?
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Mildly Prepared For Some Football
The 2008 NFL season begins today for the Kansas City Chiefs. I have to admit, this is the least excited as I have ever been for the beginning of the football season. The Chiefs prospects for an even remotely decent season are pretty, pretty slim. Opening the season at New England is a game that virtually no one would predict a KC victory. But, with absolutely no expectations, it would be quite difficult to be disappointed.
I'm thinking about pitching a slogan to the team for this season. Something that would appear on bumper stickers and billboards around town. Here are my first three suggestions. I'll take votes on which one would be the most appropriate.
The 2008 Kansas City Chiefs - Mediocrity At Its Finest
The 2008 Kansas City Chiefs - Setting The Bar Low
The 2008 Kansas City Chiefs - Who Fucking Cares?
Live Update - As I was typing this post, Pollard destroyed Tom Brady's knee and Randy Moss fumbled on the same play. Maybe the Chiefs will have a chance in this game. If they can injure enough players, they just might level the playing field.
I'm thinking about pitching a slogan to the team for this season. Something that would appear on bumper stickers and billboards around town. Here are my first three suggestions. I'll take votes on which one would be the most appropriate.
The 2008 Kansas City Chiefs - Mediocrity At Its Finest
The 2008 Kansas City Chiefs - Setting The Bar Low
The 2008 Kansas City Chiefs - Who Fucking Cares?
Live Update - As I was typing this post, Pollard destroyed Tom Brady's knee and Randy Moss fumbled on the same play. Maybe the Chiefs will have a chance in this game. If they can injure enough players, they just might level the playing field.
Party Politics Defeat Personal Politics
I am a Democrat. However, I always do my best to hear the cases from every angle before defending a position or directing criticism. I watched both the Republican and the Democratic National Convention speeches (not just The Daily Show coverage). I even spent different nights of the conventions watching from different networks: CNN, CBS, PBS and NBC. I do not particularly "like" either of the candidates in this election. If I had to choose a candidate regardless of party affiliation or the linearity of time, John McCain circa 2003 would probably end up being the choice. However, I have serious issue with his party.
John McCain circa 2008 is nothing more than an empty shell of his former self. John McCain was a "maverick". McCain was willing to speak his mind and stand for what he believed, even if that meant crossing party lines. That was all before the 2004 election. There was even talk from the Democratic Party in the run up to the 2004 conventions that McCain was on the list of potential VP candidates on Kerry's ticket because of this willingness to reach across the isle. I do not believe that McCain would have accepted this invitation because he IS a republican. Party politics always come first (unless you are Joe Lieberman who stands for absolutely nothing). I am not discounting McCain for sticking to his party. I am discounting McCain for reversing his verbiage on every issue he previously stood for when he suddenly began campaigning for George W. Bush after his name became associated with Kerry (honestly, I can't blame him for not wanting to be associated with Kerry, but not at the cost of what he believes in).
I sincerely believe that Bush and Co. got to McCain and promised him their support in the 2008 pre-election build up. I believed this theory at the time in 2004, and now I believe it to be completely obvious. McCain's speech at the RNC (which I did watch at great personal discomfort) was full of Bush rhetoric and people apparently do not recognize this. John McCain is no longer a maverick and Sarah Palin is still just an attempt by the Republican elite to pander to the independent/undecided voters. There is nothing special about this ticket. They are just party politicians doing the job of the Republican Party.
I will conclude this post with two more videos by way of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Again, Comedy Central proves itself as the only news network with the ability to point out fallacy in politics or the media. Comedy Central and The Daily Show, the most respectable news organization in the United States... pathetic.
John McCain circa 2008 is nothing more than an empty shell of his former self. John McCain was a "maverick". McCain was willing to speak his mind and stand for what he believed, even if that meant crossing party lines. That was all before the 2004 election. There was even talk from the Democratic Party in the run up to the 2004 conventions that McCain was on the list of potential VP candidates on Kerry's ticket because of this willingness to reach across the isle. I do not believe that McCain would have accepted this invitation because he IS a republican. Party politics always come first (unless you are Joe Lieberman who stands for absolutely nothing). I am not discounting McCain for sticking to his party. I am discounting McCain for reversing his verbiage on every issue he previously stood for when he suddenly began campaigning for George W. Bush after his name became associated with Kerry (honestly, I can't blame him for not wanting to be associated with Kerry, but not at the cost of what he believes in).
I sincerely believe that Bush and Co. got to McCain and promised him their support in the 2008 pre-election build up. I believed this theory at the time in 2004, and now I believe it to be completely obvious. McCain's speech at the RNC (which I did watch at great personal discomfort) was full of Bush rhetoric and people apparently do not recognize this. John McCain is no longer a maverick and Sarah Palin is still just an attempt by the Republican elite to pander to the independent/undecided voters. There is nothing special about this ticket. They are just party politicians doing the job of the Republican Party.
I will conclude this post with two more videos by way of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Again, Comedy Central proves itself as the only news network with the ability to point out fallacy in politics or the media. Comedy Central and The Daily Show, the most respectable news organization in the United States... pathetic.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Never Trust A Pundit
Why is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart the only news program that is willing to show the bullshit other news organizations constantly air? Why is The Daily Show the closest to non-partisan outlet available today? No one should look down on viewers that use The Daily Show as their main source for news items. You will find more intelligent criticism of the political process here than any of the slanted major news networks. Enjoy this clip and remember... never trust anything said by a pundit. They are ALL completely full of shit.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Giant Steaming Pile Of Crap
Today was one of those days... The last couple days have been semi-crappy, so my motivation wasn't particularly high. I dragged my feet in starting my experiment in the lab because I really didn't want to work on it. I did a feeler type experiment last week to find a jumping off spot for today's experiment. I wasn't going in to this blindly. Because this is a time-course experiment, I had to pretty much stare at a shitty old computer monitor for the entire day. The experiment started off poorly, so I was forced to make adjustments and restart (wasted hour number one). My adjustment wasn't drastic enough, so I had to restart it again (wasted hour number two). The third attempt appeared to be declared, "good enough". With the background reading out of the way, I continued on to the actual experiment. The first curve - crap (wasted hour number three). I repeated it again with more adjustments - crap (wasted hour number four). One more time - still crap (wasted hour number five). That was enough for me and I called it a day... at 830pm.
All of that time spent collecting data just to have it all be worth exactly nothing. What makes this even worse is that I have to start it all over tomorrow. How am I supposed to get motivated to do this all over again? My choice - spend some time catching up on blogging. Holy crap - it's been a week and a half since I've written anything here? How did that happen?
All of that time spent collecting data just to have it all be worth exactly nothing. What makes this even worse is that I have to start it all over tomorrow. How am I supposed to get motivated to do this all over again? My choice - spend some time catching up on blogging. Holy crap - it's been a week and a half since I've written anything here? How did that happen?
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