This Guy is My Idol

Ask for a raise, will you!? OFF the PLANET!

Workers Asked for Pay Bump, Got Bumped

Cancel the 2008 Tour De France

OK, I'm done.

The Tour's a joke. Let's take a couple years and fix it.

Cancel the 2008 Tour De France

Something's Rotten in Denmark: Rasmussen Ejected from Tour

Breaking news: Michael Rasmussen was just ejected from the Tour de France, 3 days before he would've ridden to victory in Paris.

He had the race locked up. But way back in June his team found out he'd lied about his whereabouts when he missed several drug tests. They just now decided to remove him. Yes, that's right. His TEAM removed him from the race.

So now two Team Discovery riders could be on the podium in Paris: Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer. That's very cool.

But I think cycling is officially finished as an international pro sport, for a long time. It'll take decades for the sport to recover, if at all. The anti doping authorities are every bit as disorganized and dishonest as the dopers - fans are so cynical at this point (myself included) that the major events have almost no value.

It's a shame. Some of these guys are amazing athletes.

Bring back the Tour de France Feminin instead...

No More Training Wheels

I'm a cyclist, and have been for, oh, 32 years or so. My dad is an accomplished cyclist, too, having ridden across the US and on numerous other tours and one day trips.

So when my son (now 7) showed signs of being, well, not so happy about learning to ride his bike without training wheels, I have to admit I had my first burst of fatherly testosterone poisoning. I kept it in check, by I flinched every time he picked his scooter or roller blades instead of his shiny Hotwheels bike. Our neighbor's kid, on the other hand, has been riding, jumping and popping wheelies since around his 6th birthday.

What was I doing wrong? I asked myself.

Nothing. I told myself.

I finally shrugged it off as proof that Nurture and Nature are equally important in bicycling, and left it at that.

Then, yesterday, breakthrough! I was gently pushing him along, and all of a sudden he just pedaled away. Within an hour he was standing up, riding in circles, etc..

I couldn't tell who was more excited, me or him.

Now, about his soccer technique...

Quote of the Day

'You're cordially invited to my new seminar, "Shredders as a motivational tool"'

I cannot take credit.

38 Years Ago, We Walked On the Moon

The Real Iraq

If you want to read what's really going on, read what folks write on their blogs:

http://drummondiniraq.blogspot.com/

This Post Brought to You By Wells Fargo Bank

My company has just been screwed by Wells Fargo. It doesn't feel good.

Like all small businesses, we live on a line of credit that's about 50% of our monthly receivables. So, if we earned $200k/month, our line of credit would be $100k. (not real numbers)

That line keeps us going between payouts from clients. Particularly since the average client will do anything they can to delay paying you, and the bigger the client, the more they delay.

I got into the office this morning to find out that Wells Fargo set our line of credit and credit cards to 'unavailable' because a contractor's employee sold personal data to a direct marketing firm.

While I appreciate their vigilance, doing this without asking leaves me in sort of a bind. A cashless bind.

I'm writing this while I'm on endless hold with their fraud detection department, trying to negotiate the re-opening of my line of credit. If that doesn't work, I'll have to start calling everyone we've sent checks to and ask them to hold off on depositing them. Yeah. That'll work.

I've been in business for twelve profitable years. Twelve. I employ 30 people. I've only had to lay off staff once, in 2001, and even then it was only two out of eight people.

Now I'm scrambling like I've been open for 2 weeks.

Thanks guys. A lot.

Speechless

US suggests flourescent vests for Iraqi informants.

"5) The U.S. military in his “battle space” (four provinces to the south of Baghdad) is not arming local security volunteers. Instead, they’re providing them with vests. This will let everyone know they’re working as informers and helping keep the peace. (Say what?)"

I couldn't make that up.

No further words necessary.

The Transformers Mystique

I just went to see the Transformers. I loved it. But why?

Why is a story about alien robots who choose to take the form of cars, and stereos, and other mundane stuff so compelling?

(image from MajorSpoilers.com)

I don't know about everyone else, but for me, it's the great simplicity of it all.

Autobots = Good
Decepticons = Bad

That's it. In the movie, there's a sequence when the Autobots (Good) arrive on Earth in a series of firey crashes. If you grew up watching the cartoon, then this scene might make the hair on the back of your neck stand up just a little. It's cool! The Good guys are coming to beat up the Bad guys.

The Decepticons (Bad) are already here - the movie opens with them visiting all sorts of nastiness on American troops (Good), who eventually get a little revenge by calling in air strikes against their attacker.

Way more fun to watch than American troops (Good) sent abroad by an administration (???) that lacks the good sense to win a chess match, never mind a war against a far sneakier opponent than Megatron.

I will watch this movie again and again. Particularly on days when I'm not sure who's Good or Bad in real life.