Coming Soon from VW: A 69.9 MPG Diesel Hybrid | Autopia from Wired.com:
What’s all the techno-jargon mean? The Golf Hybrid will get almost 70 mph while meeting Europe’s stringent Euro V and America’s Tier 2 Bin 5 emissions standards, making it green enough even for California. The car is said to emit just 89 g/km of CO2. (For comparison, the Prius emits 104 g/km and Honda Civic Hybrid emits 116.)
The hybrid Golf may be just the start.
Entries from February 2008
WANT
February 29, 2008 · 1 Comment
Categories: Nerd Stuff · Work
It doesn’t get easier. You just find new ways to cope
February 23, 2008 · 2 Comments
Last night, I spoke with a friend who is losing her grandmother. One part of the conversation went like:
“So many people are saying they don’t know what to say…”
“Oh, I know what to say. I’m a mother-fucking-expert on grief and loss.”
That, dear reader, is a lot of bullshit and bravado. I do know a lot about the grieving process–I started blogging as a way to cope–and I also know how to listen. At the same time, I think it’s rather difficult to be an expert on something that is so intimate and personal for everyone who experiences it. Everyone eventually experiences it.
I do know that saying goodbye to a loved one, no matter how hard, is infinitely preferable to not saying goodbye. I also know that grieving doesn’t get easier, one just learns different ways to cope. If taking ownership of Kübler-Ross’ Five Stages of Terminal Illnes works for you, do it. Personally, after going through the process before, i prefer the idea used in grief therapy for kids–that of a tornado. Some days, you’re fine–you’re at the top of the tornado. Somedays, you can’t get out of bed and your life is devastated–thats when the tornado touches the ground and cuts a swathe through your daily functions. Most days, you’re in the middle. All sorts of thoughts and feelings hit you. One minute you’re in denial of everything that has occurred, the next you’re in a state of depression so deep, you can’t even cry anymore. The next day, you remember a favorite story and you have enough energy for a half-day at work–before you’re overcome by an anger so palpable, you want to punch something.
I know that time helps one develop coping skills, but time alone does not heal wounds.
I know grief is personal–and every time I talk about it, I have all those thoughts and feelings rush back. I’m lucky enough to have learned how to cope, so listening and supporting others is still easy for me. I just wish it was a bit easier for the people who need to talk to me.
Lawyers, Drugs and Mourning
February 22, 2008 · No Comments
Cook County prosecutor charged with drug use, possession — chicagotribune.com:
“He lost both of his parents to cancer in the past two and a half years,” Rendler-Kaplan said before leaving the courthouse.
There is something about this article, and the closing line in particular, that pissed me off.
Juvy Court Scuttlebutt is that Chad worked in the Juvy Court. He did have a number of ties (family, professional) to my job, but I don’t remember him. I think it is unfortunate that instead of getting the help he desperately needed, he turned to drugs (and probably a lot more). One would hope that the State’s Attorney’s Office would have provided him with the support he needed to get his shit together.
I also wonder how hypocritical he was in regards to his prosecutions–did he prosecute users more severely than others? Did he push for maximum sentences for dealers? Did he give his suppliers and their relatives breaks? From the article, it appears as if he’s been out of the court room for at least two months, so it would be possible to chart his downwards spiral. I’m sure as the court date approaches and the media devours this case, more details will become clear.
While I feel for the guy, the parting shot by his lawyer makes me want to scream. I lost both of my parents to cancer (and a grand parent) within eighteen months. While my parents were sick, I know my work performance (remember, I work with Juvenile Sex Offenders) decreased significantly. I also drank a lot more, especially after chemo appointments. Oh, and I cried myself to sleep a number of nights. While I did some fantastically stupid things, I didn’t start using heroin to cope with my grief. I saw a therapist. I dragged my ass to work and was honest with the folks around me. I didn’t use my parents as an excuse to why I missed court appointments or wasn’t my ideal clinical self when being yelled at by mothers who should have had their parental rights terminated. I took responsibility for fucking up and worked a lot of overtime to make up for it. I cut down on drinking, terminated a relationship with someone who made things worse and got back into the swing of things.
I know I am being unfair about this. I also know that I am not being sufficiently compassionate in regards to this guy’s story. I probably did have better support in dealing with my grief than he did. The similarities between us, however, are so strong and our outcomes are so different, I cannot help but get frustrated about it. I’m furious that Chad’s lawyer invokes his parent’s untimely death. I’m pissed that there is no discussion of what sort of mental health support Chad received in order to deal with his grief. He should have received some sort of grief counseling. Now, he’s probably going to lose everything that he (and his parents) worked for. He could have been helped, instead, he’s going to go to jail.
Technorati Tags: Drugs, Mourning, DrugAbuse, Juvenile Court, Rant
He deserves it
February 21, 2008 · 1 Comment
When (part of) my world and Lolcats collide:
Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest!
Categories: Cat Vacuuming · Work
No need to rewrite the wheel
February 20, 2008 · 6 Comments
Lifehack defends my #2 vice with grace and style. Snippet to follow:
How to Defend Your Coffee Habit:
This is why we start drinking coffee in the first place, right? I started binge drinking coffee in order to stay up all night working on various projects, though it didn’t take long for coffee consumption to become a hobby in its own right.
Drinking coffee improves your concentration, alertness and staves off a tired mind. For me, work comes to a halt when I’m missing any of the above, especially concentration or alertness. Ten or twenty minutes after a cup of coffee, I can be back to work for a few more hours.
Apparently coffee improves your short term memory, which indicates that I’m not drinking nearly enough of it. Did I mention that coffee improves your short term memory?
Praise the lord and pass the coffee. If you need me, i’ll be shaking from a caffeine overdose in the corner.
Categories: Cat Vacuuming · Food and Drink · Ramblings
Democracy is messy, but should it be treacherous?
February 19, 2008 · 3 Comments
Snippets from other blogs.
Clinton targets pledged delegates - Roger Simon - Politico.com:
“I swear it is not happening now, but as we get closer to the convention, if it is a stalemate, everybody will be going after everybody’s delegates,” a senior Clinton official told me Monday afternoon. “All the rules will be going out the window.”
…
Delegates are NOT bound to vote for the candidate they are pledged to at the convention or on the first ballot,” a recent DNC memo states. “A delegate goes to the convention with a signed pledge of support for a particular presidential candidate. At the convention, while it is assumed that the delegate will cast their vote for the candidate they are publicly pledged to, it is not required.”
Clinton spokesman Phil Singer told me Monday he assumes the Obama campaign is going after delegates pledged to Clinton, though a senior Obama aide told me he knew of no such strategy.
and
Another reading of the delegate story:
UPDATE: The Clinton campaign e-mails with a statement from spokesman Phil Singer:
“We have not, are not and will not pursue the pledged delegates of Barack Obama. It’s now time for the Obama campaign to be clear about their intentions.”
A Clinton staffer puts out the assertion that they will go after Obama’s delegates if we are in a stale-mate by the convention. The Obama camp’s response “um, really?”
When the story breaks, the same Clinton staffer says “We won’t do it, now Obama needs to be more clear.” Exactly why should the Obama campaign respond to this?
I think I have their response: “At no time have we ever planned on going after delegates pledged to Senator Clinton.”
In reality, Obama does not need to clarify his intentions to the Clinton camp on this matter. For their part, the Clinton camp should avoid attacking the process in this matter. In this particular instance, these particular ends do not justify these particular means. These are the kind of politics we are trying to get away from. This is the change that Obama speaks about and Clinton, apparently, pays lip service to.
Categories: Politics
SAY IT AIN’T SO WILFORD!
February 15, 2008 · 1 Comment
FROM:
Wilford Brimley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Outside of film and advertisements, Brimley is also known as an activist, paying from his own funds for ads to have Utah allow horse-race gambling, and he was actively opposed to the banning of cockfighting.
Pro-cockfighting? Why Wilford, why?!
Categories: Ramblings
