Burnt

Loyal Kraut-friend Chris, whom I have known from the old days in British Columbia mailed me this about the fires near Kelowna:



The park was a beautiful, wild place that was difficult to get to (no good roads) and was best accessible via boat. I've only been there once or twice in my lifetime.

And now it's gone.

Unemployment deferred

Kraut Corp (old) is ending its relationship with me on August 29th, 2003.

Kraut Corp (new) is beginning our beautiful friendship September 2nd, 2003.

I get a long weekend before I start my new job. Unemployment has been fended off!

HA!

Whining

I love how a good crisis brings out the self-righteous in all their glory. How long 'til torchlit mobs roam the streets, smashing the evil boxes of the world with names like Lennox and Carrier?

If I hear one more call in radio show a with sanctimonious host and whiny guests that rat out their neighbours: "ooooooo, he was running his air conditioner all night. I saw her doing LAUNDRY! I saw him shaving with an ELECTRIC RAZOR!" -- I'm going to scream!

Pointless Actions

You know...

I think it would've been better for morale if Kraut Corp (old) had just lined up all contract employees with less than two weeks remaining in their contracts against a wall and had them shot handed them a cheque for their two weeks' and shown them the door.

But oh no, they're going to make us ALL stick it out to the last minute with every boring "dig a hole, fill the hole" assignment they can think of.

I'm a predator. Set me loose on something with some meat on it for God's sake!

I'm becoming increasingly bored and violent and destructive anti-social.

There are at least three other employees like myself who are history as of the 29th. I believe there's a plot a brewing!

Interview 3 Debrief

Well, this could be it. I finally decided to pony up for the tolls on the 407ETR on the way to the third interview:

Elapsed time to drive to interview: 15 minutes
Distance to interview: 30 kilometres (about 19 miles for the 'mericans reading this)
Average speed of transit: 120 KPH/75 MPH

I think I could like this commute.

And I thought I was colder...

You're Brazil!

You're athletic, charming, and probably a good dancer.
 Unfortunatley, you don't really mind chopping down the rain forest, and you probably consider homeless people expendable in certain circumstances.  Of course, your personality is so diverse that it's hard to track down exactly what you're like.  You definitely like Pele, the World Cup, and shouting "gooooal" at the top of your lungs.
Take the Country Quiz at the Blue Pyramid

via Rue and the Flea

Thoughts on Power

Electrical power, that is...

Normally I'm a big fan of privatising things because of my inate free market beliefs- but this fun little experiment with medievalism (ie the blackout) has made me think this through.

Everyone is saying that the free market reforms (ie. privatisation) is at fault here. They're partly right.

The real question is what are the goals of the power producers that operate on the North American power grid? This isn't such an easy question after first glance.

Mail Bag

A reader named feste left the comment below in my entry. Hey feste, thanks for stopping by and commenting. All comments are welcome even if I don't personally agree with them. I noted some points in your post that I'll refute or expand upon.

His complete comment was as below:



1) Relentless criticism of Canada? No. Relentless criticism of the Liberal Government that has ZERO opposition and has screwed up left right and centre without being called on it? Yes. Hatred of the shrill Sheila Copps? Yes. Pissed off at the one party system we've got in Canada right now? Yes. I WANT A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE. That is not hatred of Canada as an institution because you say it is.

2) Constant praise of the U.S.? There are some, no many things that I think the U.S. does better than we do. And I'll point them out when I see fit. That's my right for living in a great, free nation like Canada. I can speak my mind and talk about how shitty some things are. Like the thought police at the CRTC deciding what I do or don't see.

3)

You're joking right? You have to be...



Really? Name me ONE of these magical powerful nations. Just ONE. Many nations may not have strong militaries and might do well economically. But that's usually because their security is being guaranteed by someone else who HAS a strong military.

Japan and Germany don't have huge armies because all the countries in proximity to Japan FEAR a re-armed Japan and the Germans are just too damned guilty about WW2. The USSR was all about the big military presence, but couldn't convert that into any sustainable power over the long term because they didn't understand economic realities and were strangled by terrible inefficiency.

4) You mention "powerful interest groups" and the "elites" as the reason for the big military. Typical. I dismiss that as the usual paranoid nonsense. Next you'll tell me about the "zionist conspiracy" that's popular in lefty circles. Whatever. The truth is that the U.S. military exists as the global safety guarantee. Most nations are happy it's there so they have something or someone else to blame if things don't go their way.

Picture a world without the U.S. military. Happy flowers and patchouli-stinking peaceniks dancing in a wonderful peaceful world? Or the swastika flying overhead? Or the hammer and sickle? Love them or hate them, they are necessary to the world we have today, which is a damn sight better than if the results had gone the other way.



States are ranked using many different criteria for many different reasons and DING! for the one you're using guess who ranks highest? And that also depends how you define the term "power" as well. Which you didn't bother to do by the way. Because guess what? The answer will be the same no matter how you slice it.



And here's your presumed triumph. You make a whole bunch of unsubtantiated "points", claim victory and then turn it into a question mark about my professional competence.

Sorry, economic power is only one aspect of a nation's power. And most financial professionals know this.

And that is why you are wrong.

If I was wanting to speak to you only about this I would probably be wasting my time. Your cute little "presumably" shows what little regard you hold for people who hold my opinion.

But thanks for giving me a topic to write on.

Stop back with any other "revelations" you wish to grace me with...

Herbies

YOU ARE MANDRAKE


What herb are you?
brought to you by Quizilla


Yeah, that sounds like me.

Spineless

Growing up I always wondered about my Dad's choice of sports teams.

In the Stanley Cup playoffs, if the hated Montreal Canadiens (BOO!) defeated the beloved Toronto Maple Leafs (YAY!), in the next round he would side with those same hated Montreal Canadiens against whatever American team had come through the other playoff round.

I asked him why, if he hated Les Canadiens so much, he could turn around and root for them the very next round.

His answer "I'll always root for the Canadian team." No matter how much he hated them during the regular season.

"It's part of what makes this country great. Right now some poor bastard in Vancouver, who's endured a loser season from his team, is rooting for Montreal to win the cup again. Because he's Canadian. Because we're all Canadian and are proud of Canada."

Personally I wanted Boston to give me revenge on the Habs. I never got my wish. It was the time of Lafleur, Gainey, Robinson, and Dryden.

But this entry ain't about hockey.