Category: Politics

Thanks Obama and McCain!

Posted on by Todd Osborne

See, now look what you have gone and done. Split a perfectly good family right in half! 🙂

These boys are family of ours, and it saddens me to see them split like this. Can’t we all just get along? I wonder if they sneak out at night to steal the other one’s sign?

Stand strong Will in the face of adversity, I am with you brother. Rock On Obama!!! 🙂

A Reason to Like McCain, and Off to SkyDive!

Posted on by Todd Osborne

Today is a rare day. Not only because I am going skydiving for the first time, but because I am actually awake at 6AM on a Saturday and did not work all night first! I will be leaving here in about 10 minutes for my drive over to East Troy, WI.

I was checking out CNN.com as I do most days and was reading this page. It talks about the questions and comments John McCain was receiving yesterday in Minnesota and Wisconsin from people angry that Obama is leading in the polls, and that his lead is getting larger.

One person said “I don’t trust Obama. I have read about him and he’s an Arab.”. Anyone with half a brain knows this is not true, but it was nice to read McCain’s response to her “No ma’am, no ma’am. He’s a decent family man…[a] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. That’s what this campaign is all about.” So even though I am not a big fan of McCain, I do appreciate his answer and not just laughing off this lie about Obama.

One man at the rally said he was “scared of an Obama presidency.” McCain later told the man he should not fear Obama. “I want to be president of the United States, and I don’t want Obama to be,” he said. “But I have to tell you, I have to tell you, he is a decent person, and a person that you do not have to be scared as President of the United States.” Thank you Senator McCain.

Ok, enough about politics, it’s time to go skydiving!

Well Since Aunt Deb Asked…

Posted on by Todd Osborne

Yes, I did watch most of the Vice-Presidential debate. Like a lot of people I tuned into to view the train wreck that Sarah Palin was likely to create while bringing down John McCain. I was surprised, and occasionally impressed by her. I find it very difficult to agree with her politics, and some of things she has done truly disgust me. But she held her own against Joe Biden, and that is saying something.

I do think Biden won the debate and appears much more intelligent and experienced that Palin. But she did a good job. I was really hoping for a modern day version of the Dan Quayle debate, but it was not to be.

Tired But Not Ready for Bed

Posted on by Todd Osborne

Today has been a long day, and a tough one. It seems that every computer I own, and some I don’t, were out to get me today. They must have been talking to each other, because they really ganged up on me. In the end I win, of course, but I have been sitting at this computer for over 16 hours and should be on my way to bed.

But I failed to mention that I am also sitting in my new office! There are still a few things to do before I post pictures, touch up some paint here and there, move more furniture and stuff in, but I am working in my brand new space. It is clean, roomy, and has no cat or dog hair. They are not allowed in here. I am still debating whether or not kids are allowed, I think not.

I moved the computer and desk in late last night, after spending 2-3 hours cleaning everything. Since the computer was in the workshop side of the basement for the last 2 months, everything had collected quite a bit of dust and construction debris. It was actually pretty hard to get it all clean, but I managed.

Since I have not written in my blog for a week, I guess I should catch up a little. I worked a lot last week which you can always tell because I neglect the blog.

I did take time out to watch the Presidential Debate last Thursday and the Packers 2nd loss in a row on Sunday. At least the Bears (who I hate) beat the Eagles (who I hate more). I think I shocked my sister when I told her I was actually rooting for the Bears.

I thought McCain did pretty well in the first debate, and I am hoping Barack shows some teeth in the next one. Either way I think we will be just fine, unless we all go broke because congress wants to hand out $700 billion dollars to banks and financial institutions that apparently don’t know how to handle money. I think the better plan would be to force the oil companies to pay it out of their profits. I cannot even imagine what $700 billion dollars looks like, or could buy. I am sure several countries and a tank full of gas.

I have also been really sick for 10 days, but am feeling better the last 2. It really sucks when you have to work 12-14 hour days when you are coughing up a lung and running a fever constantly. I only really crashed one day, a week ago Sunday, never left the couch. That was a good day 🙂

Another Funny Headline

Posted on by Todd Osborne

“Bush lands in Texas; Residents urged to leave” – Can we all go? Why just Texans? 🙂

Even though I am a big fan of Barack Obama, I have also always liked John McCain. He seems like a good and decent man, is not afraid to go against his party on major issues, is a true war hero in every sense of the word, and an all around good American. I was never planning to vote for him, but have always felt that no matter the outcome of this election, our country will be in good and capable hands.

Then McCain did something I cannot explain, he picked Sarah Palin for Vice-President? What? Who? She is a hard-core, extreme right-wing, bible thumping Jesus freak with about as much experience in politics as me. She’s an extreme conservative, you know the moral majority (which is neither by the way) family values type woman, that just happens to have a pregnant 17 year old daughter. Her total experience in politics has been as mayor of a small town in Alaska, and now as the governor of Alaska. That’s it, nothing else.

She is Pro-Life to the point that the only time she feels abortion should be legal is when the mother WILL die giving birth, not in cases of incest or rape, or apparently when the hockey stars condom breaks while banging your 17 year old daughter.

She even voted to make women who are raped in her town pay for their own rape kits so that police can investigate the crime. Those are between $300-$1200 each, and even if they were $.50, seriously, charging a rape victim for the kit so police can investigate a felony? WTF. No, I’m not even going to abbreviate that. WHAT THE FUCK!

Women across this country should be appalled at her, and at John McCain for picking her. Men too. I am looking forward to the Vice-Presidential debate when Joe Biden (who I also don’t like much) will pick her apart. Maybe by then she will actually know what the Bush Doctrine is? Seriously, she did not know.

Now, she does have some good points in my book. Being a hunter and lifelong member of the NRA is a good thing, as is being from a small, almost insignificant little town and not having spent a lifetime in DC. She’s kind of pretty, in a Tina Fey sort of way. Not like Cindy McCain (who’s freakin’ hot), but she is easy on the eyes. Yep, I think that sums up her good points. Anyone else think her husband looks like Tim McGraw?

I am a good American, and totally support her rights to have her views, as whacked and crazy as I think they are. But she is NOT the type of person that should be leading this country. John McCain would do just fine, but he is an old man. Is Sarah Palin really ready for that job? HELL NO!

I usually support John McCain’s decisions, but the choice to pick Palin as his running mate was one of the dumbest things I have ever seen in politics. McCain is a middle-of-the-road republican, not an extreme conservative. So why did he pick her? To appease the far right? As if they were going to vote for Obama? Give me a break. That showed that maybe McCain is not capable of making good decisions, and is a major blow to his campaign in my mind.

Out of all the perfectly good VP candidates to choose from: Rudy Guiliani, Mit Romney, Charlie Crist, he chose Palin? John, John, John… You almost had me rethinking my Obama vote, instead you just sealed it.

Enough is Enough

Posted on by Todd Osborne

Let me preface this blog by saying that I am not a racist, not at all. I don’t care what color you are, what your ethnic background is, your religious beliefs (as long as you keep them to yourself), etc. Now, with that little disclaimer out of the way…

What the hell is up will all the Indian call centers? I had to call Capital One to update my address. Indian call center. Then I called HSBC to do the same. Indian call center. Then it was CitiFinancial’s turn, since they financed my truck. Indian call center.

Now I wouldn’t have a major issue with this, if these people could freakin’ speak English. Maybe it’s me, but I cannot understand hardly anything they say, and have to ask them to repeat things over and over again. If you are going to be working in a call center answering calls from American’s, you need to speak fluent and clear English, or Spanish. But what they hell do they speak? And why do all of these companies think it’s such a great idea to have their call centers there? Yeah, I know the answer, it’s cheap.

So that is what Capital Once, HSBC, CitiFinancial, Dell, Microsoft and all the others think we as customers deserve. Before I open my next credit card or take out a loan, I am going to call the potential creditor’s customer support number. If I cannot understand them saying hello, I will look elsewhere.

And that is not something wrong with India, that is something wrong with America.

The Real Reason for Global Warming

Posted on by Todd Osborne

See the problem? It is almost 1AM and it’s sunny outside, at least according to Yahoo! Weather 🙂 I just looked. It’s dark.

I have worked about 40 of the last 48 hours on getting my online ePrescribing software running well. We have just over a week to go until we start certification, and I am excited, but also have a lot more to do. Everyone at Workflow is working some serious hours these days getting a lot of new features written. We are doing some great work, but it is starting to take its toll on the developers too. But we are a resilient and talented bunch, and will make it through this push just fine.

I can only work about 10-12 hours at a time, and then I need a break. Not to sleep, I am quite good at avoiding that, but to grab a bite to eat and put 30 minutes or so into my basement project. I think it helps clear the mind to do something totally unrelated to your work every now and then.

I usually take these breaks when I get to a point where I am stuck, a mental block brought on by frustration or fatigue. It’s funny, but I take a break and pick up a paintbrush, or run more electrical wire, and I start thinking about the problem at hand. I almost always come up with the solution when I am doing something other than sitting in front of the computer.

I am sure there is a scientific explanation for this, same for when you wake up at 4:15AM out of a dead sleep and know how to solve a problem. The brain works in mysterious ways.

I did a short break last night and watch Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. I enjoy hearing him, he is inspirational and a joy to listen to. Imagine what it would be like to have a president that is smart and personable. Sounds like a great idea to me. Plus, I just don’t think I can handle any more old white guys. It is time for a change.

I am impressed by the Packers new 2nd/3rd string quarterback Matt Flynn. We went 1-3 in the preseason, but I don’t put much weight into that. It was obvious the coach was trying some new things, it just didn’t work out that well. Flynn looked rough in the first games, but in game 4 he really shined, and threw a couple of incredible passes and scrambled like mad. I guess he got tired of getting leveled. He sort of reminded me of another Packers quarterback… What’s his name… Number 4… Broke every record known to man… 38 years old… Retired and then wanted to come back… Oh well, it will come to me.

Seriously, this kid has a long way to go before I even consider putting him in the same league as Favre, but he was impressive. Much more so than Aaron Rodgers. All the media talks about Flynn competing with Brohm for the 2nd string. Don’t be too surprised to see Flynn getting some serious field time this year while Rodgers sits on the bench, he looked much better than Rodgers.

So I am guess I am done rambling. It has been a long week, and will be a long weekend. I am hoping to score a block of about 6 hours somewhere, I think I can get my office almost ready to move in if I do. But work matters are pressing, so some things in life may just have to wait.

An Oil Man That I Like

Posted on by Todd Osborne

Happy real Birthday Lisa!!

I’ve been seeing T. Boone Pickens a lot on TV lately talking about his plan to reduce or eliminate our dependency on foreign oil. I watched the video on his web site and he certainly makes some very valid points about why we need to do this, and while his plan seems overly simplistic and incomplete, it is a start. Read more about it at http://www.pickensplan.com. It is time to get serious about this folks, we’ve got to figure out a way to tell OPEC to go to hell.

Did you know that the USA has 4% of the world population, but uses almost 25% of the oil? Do you know we send $700 billion per year to Arab and other oil producing countries? This is the largest transfer of wealth in world history, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that we are not transferring this money to friends of the United States. The nations that receive this money are either outright enemies of the US, or at best, nations that maintain neutrality with us because of oil and other economic reasons. They are not our friends, they do not like us, they only like our money, and we need their oil. Wouldn’t it be nice to have all those oil ships from Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela show up to one of our ports one day and be able to say “Nah, not today boys, go home”. That would be a great day.

Hell Week is over, Missy an I have made it through an entire week without smoking! Heck Week starts today, but I am not too concerned about that. The appraisal is going to happen today too, though we won’t know the result until the middle of next week. I’ve thought about going over to the house today to see how interested the appraiser would be in a free tank of gas 🙂