Latest from Germany

As Tam has stated numerous times, Europe has the ability to go from "friendly to jackboots" in about .5 seconds. Germany might be close to that cusp again - AfD, the second most popular political party in the nation, has just released a new campaign music video. Which consists of dancing, smiling, blonde-haired and blue-eyed pilots and flight crew partying to a remix soundtrack with lyrics consisting of "we're sending them all away, all away," and so forth, while other shots show Middle Eastern men being flown on planes out of the country to cheering crowds (and crying leftists interspersed). You think some folks are blatant on our side of the pond... things may be getting spicy over there.

Star Wars Thought

It's long established canon that Vader has some measure of external monitoriing and controls on his "suit". And, in a bit of stuff I won't argue, we can equally see from Episode 3 that he has a means of internal biomechanical control over some functions a la the 1984 Terminator drop down menus. Which implies, somewhere in the Empire is a job code for "Sith Lord Bio Suit Technician" who helps with all this. Leading to the following two random thoughts" " My Lord, you must hydrate more. And, your heavy metal and tritium levels are far too high..." *cringing knowing the rebuff that is about to come.* and "Well, we're just going to turn it off and turn it on again, Lord Vader. You'll lose about 5 minutes, but a hard reboot always helps."

Gratitude and Perspectives

Sometimes people suck. They annoy you. Do something irritating, or worse antagonistic. We're all quick vent about it, often for days. Sometimes - more often than the first, actually - they are decent, and generous, and downright amazing, even when they don't have to be. For example, a customer service call I just had where someone went over and above on not just the initial issue (which was not their fault at all, but a procedural double-check), but another thing where he went over and above, even without having to. Celebrate and talk about the people and places who stand out, more than the ones that bother you. If we all worked on that - myself, most of all - maybe it would help our perspectives.

DC Traffic

For those not familiar, there are two speed limits in the DC Beltway area: "Yeah, like people are going that slow," or "Hah, as if traffic would ever move that fast."

Show me your references

Look. I work for .gov. And, I'm the first to admit we are a hot mess. BUT - start sharing stories about "thousands of bodies in the trees;" "Body bags on order," "recovery efforts shut down," and so on. Show me your work. The federal government can fuck up a wet dream, zero debate. But, we're in the era where EVERYONE has a camera in their pocket, 24/7. If the evidence was there, it would be out. Natural disasters suck, by definition. Don't make them worse with RUMINT.

Time (keeping) in Retrograde

I like tech. I like convenience. This isn't anything new - I still remember working on a TRS-80 and a Zenith microcomputer in the 80's learning this "personal computer" stuff. So, no surprise, I've had a smartwatch. Super convenient. Preview messages. Check the weather. See appointments. So on, and so on, and so on. Except. Well, it started bothering me. Sure, it's great on the commute to see a text from my wife and be able to respond. Or to preview an email and decide how important it is. But, it was also intrusive. Texts at dinner buzzing on my wrist, driving the dopamine hit to "Just see what it says." Random moments at night, some notification that I had to determine whether or not was worthy of my attention. Spam calls hitting another piece of tech as I navigated my day. Not to mention, the times at work I can't have it on, given the spaces I'm in - so, then, what's the point, if I don't even have the tool? All this to say, about three weeks ago I pulled out the analog option. Dive watch, rated deeper than I ever intentionally plan to go again. GMT hand so I can keep my family's time zone visible even when I'm a world away. No bells. No whistles. No messages, previews, or vibrations. So far? It's been positive. I like being able to just look and see the uncluttered "it's this time". I certainly don't miss the digital intrustions. There's been moments of "phantom pain," and some times I'm like "Ugh, it would be nice to just..." - but, so far, the good outweighs the bad. Not selling off the smart watch yet. But, six months from now? Time will tell.

Welcome to My TED Talk

Just got back from a 23 hour return flight from overseas, no complaints there, honestly. Rather, I had to point out to one of the leaders over in our "International Office" that this was the sixth successful, well-received, and "we'd like more" workshop I'd done for them in just the past few years on a total of five of the seven continents. And, that, thereby, I would be updating my bio shortly to state "World-renowned speaker". I mean, that's how it works, right?

I think we fought a revolution over crap like this?

So, there's a bit of a kerfluffle going on in Merry Olde England at the moment, over a numer of issues. Whatever. I'm in the camp of "the whole point of 1776 and after is for me not to care about the U.K.". Including the royal family, et al. But, apparently, one of the police commissioners on that side of the pond has opined that they may very well seek to charge, extradite, and convict Americans (and others) who make social media posts of which the powers-that-be do not approve. Hurumph. First off, you appear to have greatly overestimated your capabilities, good sir. Secondly, reference the above revolution, you may feel free to pack sand. Thirdly, as said in another moment, molon labe (bring it on, in the modern vernacular)...

Dad Joke

Since my offspring refused to appreciate it, I will share here for even more mockery :D See, there's this grumpy woman who lives on the edge of the city. She mixes up potions and medicines for the locals, and is well-known. Of course, she's also overly-nosy and judgemental about her neighbors and those passing through. Townsfolk call her the Apotha-Karen...

Cultural Differences

If nothing else does, the near-ubiquitous presence of heated toilet seats argues for a superiority of Asian culture.