Just when it seemed the scandal surrounding the semi-nude Miley photos in Vanity Fair was dying down, the new photos of the 15-year-old Hannah Montana star were published after they were reportedly stolen from her email account by a hacker.

In one photo Miley, then 14, takes a shower in a wet t-shirt. A second photo shows Miley with her tummy exposed, blowing a kiss into her iPhone while taking a picture of herself. (news)
(pics)

Anda tentu tahu atau pernah mendengar tentang Sakura kan? Jepang sendiri memang dijuluki sebagai negeri Sakura bukan? Sakura akan muncul pada awal pergantian musim dari musim dingin ke musim semi. Ini berlangsung selama dua minggu. Jadi dua minggu pertama adalah "the best season" jika anda ingin liburan ke Jepang. Itu terjadi sekitar awal sampai pertengahan april. Posting saya sebelumnya tentang sakura (in English) bisa dilihat di link ini.

Selain itu sebenarnya yang hampir tidak kalah adalah musim ketika terjadi pergantian warna daun menjadi merah sebelum menuju coklat dan akhirnya rontok. Pergantian warna daun menjadi merah terjadi sekitar mulai minggu ke dua november.

Untuk musim dingin sendiri sebenarnya Jepang tidak terlalu parah. Suhu minimum sekitar nol derajat. Paling dingin juga mungkin minus 2 (tidak separah di Eropa Barat seperti Belanda). Hanya "heating system" di Jepang kurang baik untuk rumah-rumahnya. Akibatnya tetap saja suhu di dalam rumah menjadi lebih dingin dibandingkan rumah-rumah di eropa yang memiliki "heating system" yang lebih baik.

Nah yang terburuk adalah musim panas. Di Kyoto, khususnya musim panas bisa mencapai suhu sekitar 35-39 derajat Celcius. Selain itu yang memperparah adalah udara yang lembab, akibatnya banyak keringat dan badan menjadi lembab. Puncaknya terjadi selama bulan Agustus, walaupun suhu panasnya sudah dimulai dari pertengahan Juni - akhir Juli. Kalau boleh memilih, sebenarnya lebih baik tidak tinggal di Jepang pada musim panas :-(

Kalau musim panas, biasanya kita jarang melihat orang jalan2x. Kereta-kereta terlihat jauh lebih sepi dibandingkan biasanya. Orang Jepang biasanya menghabiskan lebih banyak waktu di luar negeri pada musim panas. Biasanya mereka akan pergi ke Eropa dimana "summer" akan terasa lebih dingin. Setidaknya walau tetap panas, tidak terasa lembab dan banyak berkeringat.

Tahun lalu ketika mertua saya transit lewat Jepang dan mampir ke Kyoto, itu benar-benar sedang puncaknya suhu. Mungkin sekitar 39 derajat. Tadinya rencana mengunjungi beberapa tempat wisata sekaligus, jadinya dibatalkan karena kepanasan.

But there are some lines that even the well-respected veteran would not cross.

If you think she was not wearing a top in the picture, look again.

ShinMin Daily News reported that the veteran actress, known as "Ah Jie" to her colleagues and fans, was not entirely comfortable with the shoot. The camera crew and Zoe's manager realised that she "held back a little" during the photo session.

To make her feel more at ease, she was eventually allowed to wear a white tube top, which can only be seen if the photo was scrutinised closely. (story)

Tira-teima: LANCE

	Quarter Final			Semi Final			Final
	POR vs GER Score : (2 - 3)
	20/06/08@10:30pm Delayed - TV9
				GER vs TUR Score : (3 - 2)
	CRO vs TUR Score : (2 - 4) Penalties			26/06/08@02:15am Live - TV3 / NTV7
	21/06/08@02:15am Live - TV3 & NTV7						vs GER vs SPA Score : ( 0 - 1)
							30/06/08@02:15am Live - TV3 / NTV7
	NET vs RUS Score : (1 - 3)
	23/06/08@10:00pm Delayed - TV9
				RUS vs SPA Score : (0 - 3)
	SPA vs ITA Score : (2 - 4) Penalties *ARGGHHH! menyampah!			27/06/08@02:15am Live - TV3 / NTV7
	23/06/08@02:15 am Live - TV3 / NTV7

Forza Azzurri!!!

Fonte: (e altre foto su) Repubblica.it

Condividi questo post: BlinkList | del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | ma.gnolia | Netvouz | Newsvine | reddit | Rojo | Segnalo | Simpy | Smarking | OKNotizie | Diggita | FaiInformazione | Manda ad un amico

We're continuing our detailed coverage of all the bits and pieces dripping from the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Fransisco. As you all might recall, Apple bought a chip company called P.A. Semi not too long ago, a maker of low-power PowerPC chips, fuelling rumours Apple might use them in its own products such as the iPhone and iPod. This has now been confirmed by His Steveness himself.

The New York Times caught up with Jobs after his keynote presentation at WWDC, and the most interesting bit is a few words Jobs shared with the New York Times on Apple's acquisition of P.A. Semi. Jobs said:

PA Semi is going to do system-on-chips for iPhones and iPods.

This has been pretty much a dead give-away for most of us, but it's nice to finally hear a confirmation from the best source you could ever wish for. I think we can now also safely put to rest any of the crazy ideas some people had about Apple using P.A. Semi's chips in laptops or desktop computers. I'm with you on it being exciting, but it won't happen.

This may also shed some light on the recent news that Apple might - possibly maybe - drop support for PowerPC chips when Snow Leopard comes out. P.A. Semi currently makes PowerPC chips, and if those were to end up in iPhones, Mac OS X cannot drop support for PowerPC, since Apple points out - ad nausea - that Mac OS X-proper is the same as Mac OS X-iPhone. PowerPC users, do not rejoice just yet: who is to say P.A. Semi isn't simply going to make ARM or low-power x86 chips?

La tecnología de clusters ha evolucionado en apoyo de actividades que van desde aplicaciones de supercómputo y software de misiones críticas, servidores Web y comercio electrónico, hasta bases de datos de alto rendimiento, entre otros usos.

El cómputo con clusters surge como resultado de la convergencia de varias tendencias actuales que incluyen la disponibilidad de microprocesadores económicos de alto rendimiento y redes de alta velocidad, el desarrollo de herramientas de software para cómputo distribuido de alto rendimiento, así como la creciente necesidad de potencia computacional para aplicaciones que la requieran.

Simplemente, cluster es un grupo de múltiples ordenadores unidos mediante una red de alta velocidad, de tal forma que el conjunto es visto como un único ordenador, más potente que los comunes de escritorio.

Clusters son usualmente empleados para mejorar el rendimiento y/o la disponibilidad por encima de la que es provista por un solo computador tipicamente siendo mas económico que computadores individuales de rapidez y disponibilidad comparables.

De un cluster se espera que presente combinaciones de los siguientes servicios:

1. Alto rendimiento (High Performance)
2. Alta disponibilidad (High Availability)
3. Equilibrio de carga (Load Balancing)
4. Escalabilidad (Scalability)

La construcción de los ordenadores del cluster es más fácil y económica debido a su flexibilidad: pueden tener todos la misma configuración de hardware y sistema operativo (cluster homogéneo), diferente rendimiento pero con arquitecturas y sistemas operativos similares (cluster semi-homogéneo), o tener diferente hardware y sistema operativo (cluster heterogéneo)., lo que hace más fácil y económica su construcción.

Para que un cluster funcione como tal, no basta solo con conectar entre sí los ordenadores, sino que es necesario proveer un sistema de manejo del cluster, el cual se encargue de interactuar con el usuario y los procesos que corren en él para optimizar el funcionamiento.

Pensei ontem, o Club America do "gordinho" Cabañas, pode entrar para a história sendo o primeiro clube mexicano a vencer a Libertadores¹. Os caras não estão para brincadeiras, primeiro na fase ainda de grupos, passou em segundo em um grupo que tinha River Plate, Universidad Catolica e Universidad San Martín. Na listagem dos melhores times o America ficou em 15º de 16 posições. E eliminou o Flamengo (2º) e Santos (10º). E jogara contra a LDU Quito (11º). Vencendo enfrentará o Fluminense (1º) ou Boca Juniors (12º).

Lembrando que na Libertadores de 2007 o "gordinho" Cabañas foi o artilheiro, fato que deve ocorrer novamente este ano, já que ele está empatado com Marcelo Moreno do Cruzeiro, time que já foi eliminado da competição.

Ontem eu percebi uma coisa, o Club America joga como um time argentino, fechando bastante os espaços e ainda por cima fazendo aquela catimba que os só "hermanos" sabem fazer. Vamos ficar na espectativa pela final, o Manchester United está esperando o seu adversário para o Mundial Interclubes FIFA que é realizado no Japão em Dezembro.

Obs: Gostei do Fluminense ter ganho o São Paulo, para mostrar a todos que uma "clínica de reabilitação" não é a melhor saída para trazer craques e crescer no mundo como um time de futebol

______________________________________________

1 - Fontes: Wikipedia

Oração a Santo Antônio

Lembrai-vos, glorioso Santo Antônio, amigo do Menino Jesus, filho querido de Maria Imaculada, de que nunca se ouviu dizer que alguém daqueles que têm recorrido a vós e implorado a vossa proteção tenha sido por vós abandonado.

Animado de igual confiança, venho a vós, fiel consolador e amparador dos aflitos. Gemendo sob o peso dos meus pecados, me prostro a vossos pés e, pecador como sou, ouso a me apresentar diante de vós. Não rejeiteis, pois, a minha súplica. (Fazer o pedido), vós que sois tão poderoso junto ao Sagrado Coração de Jesus, mas escutai-a favoravelmente e dignai-vos a atendê-la. Amém.

(Rezar um Pai Nosso, uma Ave Maria e fazer o sinal da cruz.)

Quem nunca acreditou em surperstições, atire a primeira pedra.

São famosas as relacionadas ao Santo "casamenteiro" Antônio de Lisboa (na verdade, ele é protetor das famílias e o santo "namoradeiro", sim, é o Valentim).

Na semana passada, antes da Su viajar de férias para a Argentina, visitamos nossa amiga Sinhá-Moça para comer o bolo com cobertura de chocolate que sua filhinha havia-nos oferecido. Assim que adentramos à casa, a querida Su lembrou do plano de roubar o Santo Antônio da Sinhá-Moça!

Explico-lhe: Certa vez, em um dos mil chás-de-panela que fomos no ano passado, nossa amiga Sinhá ganhou um Santo Antônio. Depois disso, choveu homem bom na horta da Moça. Foram tantos que ela sofreu para escolher um só.

Disse, uma amiga nossa em comum, que o Santo Antônio só "funcionava" se a imagem fosse dada ou roubada. E assim que a possuidora arrumasse um pretendente, teria que passá-lo adiante.

Enfim, no dia em que fomos comer o bolo, com a ajuda da filha da Sinhá e de um pouco de desenvoltura e liberdade com a dona da casa, roubamos a imagem. Ambas foram co-participantes no crime, logo, a imagem pertencia pertence às duas.

Na época do roubo, eu estava passando uns dias na casa da Su, para comemorar as suas férias e a chegada de julho (saindo todas as noites). Eu, Su e Sinhá somos companheiras inseparáveis de balada noturna (e diurna também). Já percebemos a diferença no primeiro dia em que o Santo dormiu em casa.

Saímos para um bar chamado Boêmio, na rua de casa. Eu tinha apresentado uma alergia fortíssima momentos antes de sairmos. Tinha tirado a maquiagem e exibia um olho meio inchado e ainda vermelho. Mesmo assim, conquistei metade dos jovens da mesa ao lado.

Quando a bagaça terminou lá, fomos então para o Boteco São Matheus, nosso abrigo preferido nas noites belenenses. Lá quem fez sucesso foi a Su.

Vale ressaltar que, nós somos de beleza mediana, comparando com as garotas daqui - não que elas sejam tão belas. E parecia que, nesse dia, éramos sulinas ou algo assim, de tanto homem que choveu.

Em um desses dias, fiquei com um amigo da Su, o qual vamos chamar de Semi. O Semi é um cara legal, loiro, de olho azul e tudo; bonitão, cavalheiro e tímido. Tão tímido que acabou bebendo demais. No outro dia ele me mandou a seguinte mensagem.

Percebeu porque o apelido Semi? Semi-analfabeto. Eu o conheci na quinta e sumi até o sábado. Só reapareci para dar-lhe o fora - a pedido da Sinhá, que fez questão de que eu não o magoasse. ¬¬'

"Voltei com meu ex-namorado", via torpedo. Resposta: "Tudo bem. Discupa". Se namorasse com ele, o primeiro presente seria um daqueles Aurélios bem grandes...

No mais, como a Su foi pra Argentina, o Santo Antônio ficou comigo. E coisas continuam acontecendo...

Qualquer dia, conto mais detalhes sobre o Primo, que não é meu primo, mas vai ter esse nome até segunda ordem. Espero poder falar mais dele aqui.

O último acontecimento foi o ganho de um número de telefone inesperado na noite de ontem. O cara é tudo-de-bom.com.br (intelectualmente falando), mas é meio platônico, nunca me deu papo, nem chances de grande aprofundamento na relação virtual que temos. O fato é que, num dia em que ele estava inspirado a conversar comigo, ele me falou que poderia me chamar para um café (ainda salientou que não chamaria qualquer uma, mas ME chamaria), se eu estivesse na cidade dele. Sim, estou planejando ir até lá (não por causa dele, mas porque já ia mesmo) e ontem, quando soube da confirmação, disse-me para eu avisar quando chegar e reafirmou o convite.

"Assim que eu chegar, comento no teu blog. Isto, se houver cybercafe no meu hotel..."
"Este é o meu número. É só ligar quando chegar"
""

Confesso que eu nunca pensei que seria tão fácil ter o número do carinha mais-sensação-do-momento, só porque ele escreve bem, mas tá valendo! Confesso que ele não me chamou atenção por causa disso, e sim, porque ele fala as coisas na cara, sem medo de ser julgado e com intenções claras: a de descobrir as pessoas por trás da máscara. Fora que ele parece ser curioso que nem eu e tem noção de tudo: relacionamentos, arte, comportamento, budismo, etc. Além de tudo, ainda tem uma barba cerradíssima (ui!) que envolve um sorriso lindo (ai!).

Essa fase boa pode ter sido apenas coincidência com a presença do Santo em casa.
Aliás, DEVE SER.

O problema é que, quando se acredita na superstição, ela dá certo!

Deve ser isso que as pessoas chamam de fé...

Dica de Filme: A Chave Mestra: adooooooro! Mesmo sendo suspeita para falar já que eu sou super-fã da Kate Hudson, desde o filme Quase Famosos.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

سيمي برو

الفلم يعتبر من كلاسيكيات الكوميديا الأمريكيه , فيه لقطات حملت كوميديا خارقه !
ويل فاريل قاعد يصنع الكوميديا الخاصه به
يعني لو تشوفوا Blades of Glory , Elf , Old School , Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy .... الخ كلها تحمل طابع كوميدي غير , انا اسمي هذا الطابع "فاريلي" نسبة الى ويل فاريل
على العموم نرجع للفلم , الفلم في اول 15 دقيقه تشوفه ممل شوي , يعني فيه بعض اللقطات تحمل طابع كوميدي مستهلك , لكن بعدها يتطور الفلم و يرجع طابع الفاريلي كما عهدناه
كاخراج كوميدي اعتقد كان متوسط , ما اعتقد الفلم حطوا جهد جبار فيه , يعني كانوا يمديهم يطوروا فكرة انه جاكي موون "ويل فاريل" المالك واللاعب والمدرب في فريق ميتشجن تروبيكز .. كان يمديهم انهم يفرعوها شوي , بس اعتقد المخرج كينت التيرمان بغى يخلي الفلم كوميديا بسيطه ..

في الحقيقه الفلم ما فيه شي يميزه عن افلام فاريل الكوميديه السابقه
علشان كذا اعطيه 7.8 \ 10

اوه بالمناسبه الفلم معطينه بـimdb
5.8/10

Jackie Moon (Ferrell), the owner-coach-player of the American Basketball Association's Flint Michigan Tropics, rallies his teammates to make their NBA dreams come true.

Download Torrent

Russia 0 - Spain 3
Euro Cup Semi Final Match
Vienna, Austria
June 26, 2008

Xavi Hernández 50' Güiza 73' Silva 82'
Cautions: Zhirkov 56' Bilyaletdinov 60'

This was an amazing match despite the large margin at the end of the two halves. Russia and coach Guus Hiddink were able to get this far and for sure their fans do see something a lot more interesting with their performance in their future tournament campaigns, especially the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

But the great tactics of Luis Aragonés and the 'La Roja' proved themselves the second time that they are the better side. Spain beat Russia 4-1 in the group stages which created a hat trick and the top goal scorer David Villa who still is on the top with 4 goals after scoring one more goal against Sweden. The Spanish team were much better in defense and they were able to make tons and tons of chances to which three important shots were converted into goals by Xavi Hernández, Dani Güiza, and David Silva in the second half.

Nothing much to say, but at this time, I might consider getting a hold of some football kits from the sports store. The jersey I would definitely buy would be the Turkish one for how much I wish for them to get to the final and actually win the cup. Fatih Terim definitely made no excuse in the semi-final match which were their farewell in the Euro Cup 2008; he played 11 players in the pitch and he knew the spirit was always there whether they win or lose.

UEFA EUROPEAN CUP CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

Germany vs. Spain
June 29, 2008, Sunday
Vienna, Austria

]]> http://indiecitizen.wordpress.com/?p=356 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:00:48 +0000 indiecitizen http://indiecitizen.wordpress.com/?p=356

Germany 3 - Turkey 2
Euro Cup Semi-Final
Basel, Switzerland
June 25, 2008

Boral 22' Schweinsteiger 26' Klose 79' Semih 86' Lahm 90'
Caution: Semih 53'

Well fought by the "never-say-die" team Turkey but the match was to be for the favourites after Lahm's goal at the end of the match. Uğur Boral scored the first goal at the 22nd minute giving Turkey the advantage and the proof that they can face the powerhouse German team. Bastian Schweinsteiger cancels the lead as he scores 4 minutes later from a situation comparable to their first goal against Portugal in the quarterfinals where Lukas Podolski makes a cross from the left side ending up on Schweinsteiger's foot which landed behind Turkey goalkeeper Rüştü Reçber.

The rest of the match couldn't be seen on the television screens. Basel was hit by a power failure at the time when the two later goals was scored. It was Philipp Lahm in the end who made a smart move to break through the defense and score at the strike of 90 minutes.

This match may have been a disappointing one by Turkey who was playing their best football despite their player crisis with injuries and suspensions but it does show that they still deserve to be called the "Comeback Kings" throughout their tournament and they will even do much better as the World Cup Qualification in UEFA is looming in 3 months time.

Best of luck in the World Cup for Turkey! But for the meantime, Germany have done a great job to go all the way to the finals against the winner of the second semi-final match between Spain and Russia.

Tira-teima: LANCE

Blogged with MessageDance using Gmail | Reply On Twitter

Vivian Hsu (Xu Shu Juan) is a multi language actress from Taiwan. Vivian Hsu sometimes
looks like a japanese girl, but actually Vivian Hsu is a chinese. Vivian Hsu is a singer also,
one of her songs I love very much is AI XIAO DE YAN JING. By the way, don't look Vivian Hsu's innocent face, actually Vivian Hsu always posts in nude for photo albums. Wow.

Name: Vivian Hsu
Birthday: 19 Mar, 1975
Born :Taichung, Republic of China (Taiwan)
Occupation :  Singer, actress, model
Zodiac Sign: Pisces
Blood Type: O
Height: 161 cm
Weight: 45 kg
Teledamas:Love Storm

Vivian Hsu sexy pics, images, galleries, photos, pictures of hot Vivian Hsu

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream.

We always think that making ice creams and sorbets require a ice cream machine - well at least that's what I've always thought. Even if I choose to make ice cream by hand, it will be pretty tedious and sometimes I am just too lazy to attempt making them - until I came across semifreddo.

I first came across semifreddo a few years back, while watching one of Jamie Oliver's TV series. I remembered vaguely that he's making a Praline semifreddo and I was intrigued by how it's made as it was really simple and did not require the help of the ice cream machine.

Semifreddo is an Italian word for "half cold", and from wiki, it refers to:

A class of semi-frozen desserts, typically ice-cream cakes, semi-frozen custards, and certain fruit tarts. It has the texture of a frozen mousse.

The first semifreddo that I experimented is this strawberry semifreddo. Though Jamie Oliver whips all the egg whites and cream using hand, I choose to employ the help of my mixer to save some strength. :D

There's basically just a few steps into this recipe. First purée the berries then cook up the syrup. Whip the egg whites and then the cream. Lastly is just the mixing and into the freezer it goes. There is no need for the semifreddo to be taken out from the freezer to be re-beaten, which is what motivates me to make this recipe.

It is a great recipe as it can be prepared well before hand and be used for last minute desserts or for unexpected guests. Commercial fruit-based ice creams often lead to wild guesses as the taste may be because of the flavouring instead of the real fruits themselves. This, is REAL strawberries and REAL taste.

Strawberry Semifreddo

400g-450g strawberries, leaves cut off (there's no need to hull, waste of time~)
1 cup sugar (white sugar)
1/4 cup water
pinch of salt
3 large egg whites
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream

1. I'm sure most of us have eaten ice cream from loaf-pan-like-containers before, get one of those (1 litre will do) and line with 2 sheets of plastic wrap, leaving an overhang on all sides to make unmoulding easy. (For me, I choose to scoop the semifreddo out, so I left out the plastic wrap.)
2. Process the strawberries in a food processor till well puréed. Pour the berries through a coarse strainer and extract as much liquid as possible.
3. Bring sugar, water and salt to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Boil for 2 minutes and remove from heat. (Just a rough gauge will do, it will be lightly golden in colour.)
4. Beat egg whites on medium speed till foamy. Increase the speed to medium-high and pour in the hot sugar syrup into the egg whites with the mixer running. Be careful to avoid the beaters or else the syrup will splatter out. Continue beating for 10min till the egg whites are cooled to room temperature.
5. Beat the cream till stiff peaks form. With a whisk or a rubber spatula, fold berry purée into the egg white mixture, then fold in the whipped cream.
6. Spoon into ice cream container and spread into the corners with a rubber spatula. Cover with the overhanging plastic wrap or another piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the berry mixture. Freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight.
7. Turn out the semifreddo onto and serving plate. Let it soften for 10min before cutting into slices and serve with additional berries.

I would suggest keeping the semifreddo in the freezer for just up to 1 week, but then again, I doubt anyone can resist leaving it in the freezer for too long. ;)

Indulge!

Olta Boka - Albania Eurovision 2008 Semi
Video sent by albavideos

Albania's performance in the Semifinal of Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade. 22nd May 2008!

Simple - a lot of us don't!  And those who do have to charge more or we go under.  That's the trick - charging more. Trying to get these miserly brokers to part with the $$.  It's easy for them to say that the shippers won't pay it.  But it's also easy to call that exactly what it is - Bull Pucky. 

We talk to the shippers.  Brokers don't like that.  They don't think we have a right to talk to the people paying to move that load.  But when the owner comes out and chats with my husband, Rich isn't going to just turn away and walk off.   More often than not, the shipper asks straight out what we're getting paid for that load.  And when my dh tells him, the guys invariably chokes out, "That's all?  I'm paying  ----!"  Which is 50-80% more than what we're seeing.

I have no problem with a broker making 15% of the load.  For every $2.00/mile, the broker keeps 30 cents of that.  With current fuel prices we have to charge more than that - more like $2.25 right now. That's not making anyone rich. Just paying the bills and putting food on the table.  Add to that the broker's fair commission and it's about $2.60/mile.  That may sound like a lot, but it's not.  The shippers Rich talks to are frequently paying over $3/mile.  And you know what we see out of that?  Around $1.80 or so.  All that time the broker is swearing that he's only making $50 off the deal. 

Yeah, right.

Personally, I'd like to get rid of all the brokers and deal directly with shippers.  Sadly, that's not going to happen.  The sharks do fill a somewhat vital role - taking the paperwork load off the shippers so they can tend to their real business.  So, while we're paying for C H Robinson to send their people to Disneyland, we're wondering how we're going to make our next mortgage payment - on a double-wide!

I would love to get a job outside the house.  Tried it a number of times.  Didn't work.  Rich can't run this business from the truck. I have to be here, phone on each ear, jumping between five different computer programs in quick succession, searching, calling, negotiating, routing, faxing, reviewing contracts, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!

I love my life.

Truth be told, for all the frustrations of the transportation industry, I far prefer being here when my children are home, knowing they know I'm here.  They walk in the door run screaming in the house at 4:00 and I'm done with work.  I'm all theirs. 

That, plus the fact that Rich is a truck driver. That's what he does.  And he's good at it.  Tried to drive for other people.  He's a good truck driver, not necessarily a great employee!  At least when we butt heads he can't quit and I can't fire him.  I can't quit either, darn it.  Tried to. Didn't work.  Oh well.

What the rest of the world probably understands without me telling them is that when fuel prices go up, so does the price of everything else! That's why milk prices so closely resemble diesel prices.  Someone eventually has to pay for all this wonderful dead dinosaur juice we burn up at 5.5 mpg. And that someone is you, dear reader!

Problem is, there just ain't much can be done about it.  As long as we're in a tussle with major oil suppliers, as long as we won't use oil in ecologically delicate areas (and I'm pretty much in favor of keeping our paws off Anwar) and most important, as long as we can't figure out any reasonably economical way of not using that dead dino juice, we're stuck with whatever Exxon and Friends care to shove up our collective hineys. 

One a positive note, I have finally seen an ad for hybrid big rigs.  I'm very interested in them - after the price comes down to less than a Hollywood mansion.  Maybe our next president will be kind enough to offer tax breaks or gov't subsidies for buying "green" semi's.  Hmmm - there's an idea.  A president who won't protect the oil industry like his first born child.

We'll have to see what November offers.