Hurricane Frances

Well, that was, um, fun. Never been through a hurricane before and am sure I don't want to do that again. NE FL. got high winds, loads of rain, and power issues galore (we still don't have it at the house). But all in all we were extremely fortunate that the storm was down to a catagory 2 by the time it actually hit whereas if it had remained a 4 there would've been a greater amount of damage throughout the state.
Our prayers go out to those on the Bahamas and those in central/south FL that had more damage and are still hanging out in shelters.

Nuclear Testing Fallout

Wow, I just read an interesting submission to Slashdot today Here, about the fallout patterns from the nuke tests (both above and below ground). Look like the state of Delaware (I was born there) was covered several times with the stuff from multiple tests.

I wonder if that explains why my grandfather (paternal) had skin cancer, my grandmother (also paternal) had thyroid cancer as did my father, and why recently my uncle passed away from pancreatic cancer?

I know it's a long shot, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Update:  Here's the pic.  Had to get it from the Wayback Machine.

Road Trip '04

Ok, so I'm on vacation with my family and kids in the mega-suv and was passing through southern Tennessee today (Did I mention this was a major road trip?), and we are suddenly stopped on the freeway (as in parking lot). We're about 4 miles from the last exit and can't turn around to go another way if we wanted to. Anyway, we start to look around at the others in our unfortunate position and besides the truckers, we seem to be in the middle of a college bash. I mean people from all different states and walks of life.

So we're thinking "What's up with this?", are we near a college town or what? It's not long before we notice a car with "Bonnoroo or Bust". So what's Bonnoroo? There's several thousand cars in this line with us and it's starting to give us the impression of some sort of WoodStock revival. Well, come to find out , sheesh that's what it is. We've been so out of touch I guess that we've never heard of this.

Oh well, had to go online at the hotel to find out what it was that kept us over an hour and a half off our schedule. Sounded pretty interesting if I were 10 yrs younger or maybe more plugged in to the latest music stuff. But I've got to say that one of the reasons I'm not plugged in to the latest would be that I can't find anything I like. It seems to be either too commercial (aka Brittany/Boy Band), or too bizzare/angry/bitter/sappy. But I guess most of it isn't even my interests.

Most of what I listen to is either Christian based, or instrumental. Not what you'd call "main-stream". Oh well. I think it'd be interesting to attend Bonnoroo or something like it, or at least to hear some of the stuff played there just to get a clue of what's out there to form an honest opinion. I imagine that some of those bands are truly trying to make a statement or difference and are not tied in to a corporate entity.

By the way, did I mention that a Yukon costs over $55 to fill at todays prices? I was the celebrity at the pump. The folks around me were amazed. If you see us on the road, wave.

Oh well, Ciao for now.

Latest on Gasoline

Ok, Now we've done it. NE Florida has finally followed much of the nation and gone past $2.00(US) per gallon. Someone told me it's expected to go to $3.00 by the end of the summer (unless the gas companies stop their extortion). My theory is: Per year, bring the price up to a new high, bring it down (but not nearly as low as before) when everyone finally screams loud enough, then the following year go to a newer high. And so on.... this way they get the pricing/profits up incrementally. All while blaming OPEC.

Gas Prices

I just heard on a news story that documentary evidence has been obtained that oil refineries are artificially inflating the prices at the pump. The oil barons claim the war and OPEC are to blaim but as the report I saw showed, they are merely hiking up the profit margins.

While am an advocate of the free market system that's supposed to balance supply with demand and price, this is obviously a case of abuse of the system. The oil companies have us over a barrel (pun intended) as the ability for americans to conserve gas by using less pretty much only works for those chosing to drive during their vacation (OK so the American penchant for bigger vehicles could be curbed, but for those of us with a large family, that's not an option).

The real problem is that as gas prices rise, all prices rise to pass on the cost of transportation to market.
I think it's pretty sick that oil companies are willing to sacrifice a long term economic recovery for short term gains in their profits. Eventually, the higher prices at the pump will even affect the oil barons for every thing they purchase will cost more. Eating away at any gains their bank accounts might've had.

My $.02 (or drop of gas).

First Post

Greetings to the world! As this is the first time I've "Blogged" (is that a word?), I'm gonna keep it simple.
I'll probably post something about myself as that's kinda the point, right? Ok, um... c'ya.