Mostly Sane Thoughts in an Insane World

Shotgun Thoughts ('Cause They're All Spread Out, Baby)

2011-05-02T16:39:00.000-04:00

Thoughts from my twisted mind on all that's going on in the world the last few days...

Tornadoes - It's still hard to put into perspective what April 27th's tornadoes really did. I haven't really seen the damage, other than in pictures. I think it's safe to say that at least in Alabama, it will go down as a worse day than 4/3/74. As I type the number of missing in Tuscaloosa is STILL over 500. That can't be good, folks. I've read where people have said that the death toll likely has to get higher before the cleanup is all said and done. And that's just in one town. I have friends from Cordova... it's gone. Hackelburg? Gone. Phil Campbell. Tanner. Harvest. Dekalb County. That doesn't even address what happened even closer to where I live, where Trenton, Ringgold, and Apison were so devastated. I wish I could put some great speech to words and try to eloquently describe how I feel, but I just can't. Survivor's guilt? I think I have some of that.
Bin Laden - I don't know if he deserves my attention. I probably shouldn't even waste my time typing words that mention him. I guess something has to be said though. Look, I struggle with my Christianity, I admit that. I certainly believe in God, but also have a very hard time serving Him and glorifying Him as I should be doing. Does it make Him sad for people like me (and many of us) to celebrate the death of a man? I don't know, pals. I hope He understands us on this one, though. While I don't want any man to have to suffer the curse of an eternity in hell, it's hard to argue that Bin Laden doesn't deserve it. I am thankful that after ten years of eluding us, that he finally got a small measure of the justice he so much deserved. I'll also gladly admit that a part of me wishes he could have been brought back alive and drug through the streets of Manhattan while people point, laughed, kicked, spit on, and generally did whatever else they felt like doing to the pathetic SOB. But again, like I said... I'm not the best person in the world. Lord, please forgive me.
Myrtle Beach, SC - Finally, I wanted to mention being here in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as I type this. I was conflicted over this. My parents called me about two weeks ago and, sort of "out of the blue", asked if I wanted to go with them on this trip. I agreed. Now look, I love my family to death. I really do. But, we have a lot of differences. At 28, it's hard to go on a family vacation with your parents and 23 year old brother. Four grown adults, even in a three bedroom condo, just isn't a good recipe for harmony. A few months ago I was engaged and had a completely different dynamic working with my family, and my fiancee would have been with me on a trip like this. That would have made things a little easier. Seeing a bunch of happy couples walking around, and you still trying to move on from the last relationship, is not an easy thing to do. Plus I've got this terrible guilt of being here, while others are back in Alabama or Tennessee or Georgia, helping with the tornado cleanup. It would have been foolish to turn down this trip and lose money on canceled reservations... but it still feels so wrong. I will have to do SOMETHING when I get back to Chattanooga. I am a very fortunate person, and do want to help those that can't say the same.

I'll leave with this picture. As Jimmy Buffett might say... "the weather is here, I wish you were beautiful"...

The Longest Day

2011-04-29T19:38:00.001-04:00

I have heard a lot about April 3, 1974, during my lifetime. My dad lived through that day, and being a weather geek himself, always used to tell me about how it wiped Guin, Alabama, and Xenia, Ohio, "off the map". It was a day that spawned several F5 tornadoes across the country. They called it a "generational" tornado event. Well, apparently, "generational" is equal to about forty years.

What we all witnessed on Wednesday is not normal. Thankfully, it is NOT something that we have to get used to (I don't think). Atmospheric conditions made Wednesday the absolutely perfect day for what we saw. Forecasters knew it was going to happen days in advance. I first heard about the forecast on Saturday. Even though the storms eventually took hundreds of lives, if not for the advance warnings we had, I'm sure it could have been higher.

Here in Hamilton County, we were pretty fortunate - for the most part. The folks in Apison wouldn't agree. The extreme southeastern portion of the county was hit by an EF-4. At work today, my coworkers went out to photograph the devastation. What the pictures show, they said, is nowhere near an accurate description of the true story. If you've seen the images of Tuscaloosa... then you know what Apison looks like, albeit on a much smaller schedule. There were houses in the pictures that are just completely... gone. A pickup truck was sitting beside a railroad track, its wheels nowhere in sight and no good explanation for where it came from. Just unbelievable destruction.

My heart goes out to all the people affected by this, and there are many. I love Tuscaloosa - anybody reading this probably knows that. While I never made it to the University, I still feel a connection to that city. To know that it was hit by what may soon be declared as THE most devastating tornado to EVER hit the US... that's just hard to fathom. It's a cruel reality of how bad the day was. It's not something that those of us who lived through it will soon forget. I just read a book a few months ago, entitled F5, that was about April 3 and the damage it brought on Limestone County, AL (Athens). I wouldn't be surprised if I'll soon be reading the sequel, unfortunately set in Tuscaloosa County.

I'll leave you with this image. This is satellite photography that you can actually see tornado tracks on. You can see them from space! Absolutely the most efficient tools of destruction the earth has ever seen.

Tornado tracks across central Alabama - http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/severe-storms-20110429.html

New York City Dreamin'... Doesn't Have the Same Ring

2011-04-03T14:32:00.000-04:00

I haven't written a blog post in months. This will probably seem like a crazy post to come back to. But oh well, my life has been a little topsy-turvy lately anyway. This post is about a dream that I had last night. I'm used to having crazy dreams, but this one struck me as different for some reason.

The setting is New York City, and it's apparently September 11, 2001. Note that date... I'm sure you already have. I'm on the streets of Lower Manhattan, suspiciously close to the World Trade Center towers. I think it starts with me, early in the morning, hanging around outside a coffee shop. I see people going to work, with their Starbucks in hand. Then I wander into a subway, and there is the first peculiarity - I see former WCW/WWE wrestler Dean Malenko, the "Man of 1,000 Holds". Yeah... I haven't thought about Dean Malenko in yeeeeears. So that would be weird enough. I think I may have asked Dean something about when he'll resume his wrestling career. Either way, I know that we greeted each other like old friends.

Next, I am in some kind of store, looking at, I believe, touristy-type merchandise. The store owner seeme to be this hippie woman, with red hair in braids, but she was very friendly. I walk back outside, and that's when I look up to see one of the two planes (I'm not sure which one) striking one of the World Trade Center towers. It seems like it may have been the second plane, but oddly, I had not even reacted to the first one if I knew it had hit. Either way, I do remember feeling very shaken by this (duh).

I'm not sure what happened in between, but next I am listening to a man giving a speech outside the store I mentioned above. It was apparently about terrorism and what our response should be to this tragedy. That's when I look up, and see that the building is starting to collapse. Naturally, I'm terrified. I duck into the store again, trying to outrun the now wave of smoke and debris making it's way from the tower down the street in front of me. It grows dark as night in the store and people are screaming. All of a sudden, instead of being in the store, I'm in some sort of SUV with my now ex-fiance, Amanda. We are trying to outrun the still-charging cloud, but there's only one problem... the SUV will apparently only go in reverse. I'm looking out the back window as we continue down a hill, and I see a park with a lake. For some reason... we apparently cannot turn OR stop the vehicle either. Sure enough, we continue on, and crash into the middle of said lake.

I think this is where the dream ends, sort of anti-climatically. If there was more, it was the kind of situation where I had forgotten it by the time I woke up. That always frustrates me actually. I have a strange dream in the middle of the night, wake up, fall back asleep, and then have ANOTHER dream that causes me to forget much of the first one. The dream I described here was striking enough that I woke up in the middle of the night and almost wrote down these thoughts. But, it was also important enough that I am able to remember details twelve hours later (though probably not all details). It involved such an important event in our lives, that I think it really struck a nerve.

Very strange, and not a type of dream I would like to have again, any time soon.

The Things Men Have to Do...

2010-05-03T14:46:00.000-04:00

So look, I know we have all been in this position and it's not really anything new, or anything that you haven't heard before. If you have been in a relationship you know that you have to inevitably change certain habits or ways of doing things to make the significant other happy. My current relationship with my Lovely Girlfriend is no exception. But as I was shopping in Bi-Lo today for a few groceries, I think it finally hit home just how much a woman can influence your buying habits.

First, let's go back to yesterday. We are in Walmart together, and I mention that I need to pick up some deodorant. No sweat, huh?... Ok, sorry, I know that was just bad. Anyway. I go straight to my usual antiperspirant/deodorant. As I'm grabbing it off the shelf, the critique begins. Now understand, I'm alright with some constructive criticism. If she doesn't like a certain smell, I don't care to change. She is a person that is very aware of things in the news, and proceeded to remind me of how certain deodorants contain aluminum, which has been proven to cause breast cancer. Don't laugh, I had a great uncle that died of breast cancer. With that information, I successfully found a stick that does not contain aluminum (FYI: apparently it's the combo of antiperspirant/deodorant that contains aluminum). Of course, this was not until after a Soddy-Daisy NASCAR tshirt/jort wearin', mullet sportin' red laughed at me for her suggesting I try a stick that smells like "lavender". No harm though.

Back to today. I'm shopping for a few groceries, browsing through the produce section trying to find any fruits or vegetables I might actually consume. Whoa. That's not something I used to do. I turn the corner to find a freezer bunker full of packaged chicken. It was then that I finally caught myself, as I looked at a bag of frozen grilled chicken patties, thinking how many preservatives each piece of meat contained... "Dude, she's changed you." What I would have normally considered to be a fine microwavable meal, I pass up, searching for something a bit more natural that I don't have to nuke (something else she doesn't like to do).

Like I said, nothing earth-shattering here. And don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all. It's nice to have somebody that is looking for ways to live a little healthier and will influence you to do the same. Lord knows most of us guys wouldn't do it on our own. It's a change for the better.

Now, excuse me while I go to my 3:15 hair appointment, something I avoided like the plague until about eight months ago when we started dating.

SERUG and Charlotte

2010-04-26T20:28:00.002-04:00

Due to what was, actually, an unfortunate series of circumstances, I find myself in Charlotte, NC, as I write this blog post. What am I doing here? Well, SERUG is not a German pronunciation of something you'd find on the living room floor. It's the ESRI Southeast Regional User Group Conference. In the GIS world, it's one step below going to San Diego for the national conference. And while Charlotte isn't quite San Diego, I had never been here before this week. So not only was I anxious to attend the conference and get my learn on, but I was also excited (as a good geographer would be) about seeing some place new.

I actually made the drive over from Chattanooga on Sunday. Let me tell you... a roughly 300 mile drive has never taken so long. Seven hours after I left, I managed to make it to the Queen City. That's what happens when the interstate you planned to take is shut down because our esteemed president decided to visit Asheville (which I was driving through since my GPS told me that would be the fastest route). As if I needed another reason to not like the guy. I just happened to take a detour that wound up down about three mountains. Did I mention that the brakes on my car were already starting to go? Oh well. I did get some nice views, as the weather was beautiful.

Charlotte itself is, from what I've seen, pretty nice. Downtown there are several tree-lined streets. The one thing I keep noticing is, everything seems very clean. Now, I don't mean to make it sound like Chattanooga is filthy, but... spend some time in the heart of downtown 'Nooga, and you'll notice it's not the cleanest town in the world. Charlotte is trash-free and (thankfully) beggar free. Those are good qualities. As far as entertainment, the Panthers' stadium looks nice. The Bobcats are actually playing a playoff basketball game here tonight, but I assume it's sold out. There are a lot of restaurants, as you might expect. My dining choice tonight (Monday) was a place called "Fujo Asian Bistro". I ordered a sumo steak and had a desert of cheesecake. Wasn't the best I've ever had of either one, but they were alright. I'm sure there are some better culinary choices.

Now, on to the conference. After Day 1, I feel there is one central theme of what's happening in GIS. Well, two. First, ESRI is dead-set on beating into our heads that ArcGIS 10 will be the single greatest piece of software in the history of mankind. Maybe, but let's wait and see on that. It sounds like 10 will have tools that we use every day - for instance, the toolbox itself - a lot better integrated into the working environment. It sounds good. But I'm a creature of habit, so part of me fears that the changes they make will be just for change sake and will just serve to frustrate me (and others). The guys that I heard speak from ESRI-Charlotte seemed pretty knowledgeable, however. One even invited all of us to follow him on Twitter: @DaleLoberger. Appeared to be a nice guy. Follow him, I did.

The other theme of today's presentations was the ultimate goal to tie what we GIS professionals do in ArcMap or other applications, to the web itself. We saw several websites where local governments have put a gluttony of data out there for the public to digest if they so desire. I was particularly impressed with the City of Greenville, SC. While they DO offer a lot of data to the public on their (somewhat clunky) public GIS site, it's what they do behind the scenes that was way cooler. Their GIS department put together a program used by emergency management officials that allow them to see weather stations around the region, track the movement of fire trucks, see police incident reports - all in real-time, as they happen, and put into an easy to comprehend map layout. It's something that I can see every local emergency management organization eventually latching onto.

So that sort of wraps up the first day of my GIS odyssey. The conference continues until Wednesday. If anything else of note happens, I'll be sure to blog about it.

Of course, me saying that is ironic, since my previous post was Part 1 of what was supposed to be a two-part series. Obviously, I never wrote Part 2. Let me sum it up here: we had a delightful breakfast with an entertaining Australian couple, we attended an Easter service at a mega-church, we ate some good food, and we drove home. If you need more details, just ask.

And oh yeah, more Charlotte pictures can be found in my Picasa album.

Asheville, NC... Part 1

2010-04-09T21:36:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, April 3 and 4, my lovely girlfriend and I decided to make the four hour drive to Asheville, NC. We have season passes to the Biltmore Estate and wanted to visit it (for the second time). We also wanted to explore downtown Asheville, since we had heard good things about it but didn't have the opportunity to get down there the last time we went to the Biltmore.

We got into Asheville about 11 on Saturday and quickly got into the Estate. If you haven't been there, once you go into the "Estate" you have to actually travel several miles down the "driveway" to reach the actual house. Once there, the house is... well, beyond words. It is the single largest private residence ever built in the U.S. There are four floors in the house, as well as a basement that is as large as the entire house. The total square footage is over 175,000. In other words... this place is really freakin' big. This picture at left is from our first trip there back in November.

Being season pass holders, we were able to immediately get into the house, for "free". Unfortunately there are no cameras allowed inside the house, so I can't show you just how awesome it really is. George Vanderbilt built the estate in the late 1800s. Today it is still owned by his 86 year old grandson. If you aren't familiar with the estate I recommend you read up on it here.

After leaving the house we drove another few miles across the estate to its newest addition, titled "Antler Hill Village". It was built between the estate's winery and working farm. We were able to do free wine tasting before proceeding down the hill to the actual village. Here you can tour the winery, or several shops and eateries. From there, a short walk up another hill leads to the old farm area. It was here the estate's horses were kept. Today you can view the original barn, see a real blacksmith performing demonstrations, visit a petting zoo, etc. We had a great time, and I would recommend to anyone, but especially families.

Before leaving we checked prices at the Biltmore Hotel. With prices starting at over $300 per night (!) we decided it was just a bit out of our price range.

Leaving the estate we decided to try out downtown Asheville. First, let me say that if you ever get to Asheville and need some info on the area, check out the visitor center. It was extremely modern (including free wifi) and gave us a lot of ideas on places to stay. In fact, it led us to the awesome bed and breakfast we eventually stayed for the night. Neither Amanda nor I had ever stayed in a B&B, so we really didn't no what to expect. And most are pretty pricey. We were lucky to be checking into the Wright Inn about 3:00 in the afternoon, and with only one room left, the owner gave us a reduced rate. It turned out to be a price that was comparable to most boring, "pillbox" hotels. I will say that after staying in an awesome old house like this, I never want to stay in a conventional hotel again.

After checking in we headed to downtown Asheville. Living in Chattanooga, I thought our downtown area was pretty cool. While Asheville is smaller than 'Nooga, the central business district has a lot more to choose from when it comes to dining options. There are a ton of local restaurants. Amanda was in the mood for Mediterranean food. I was apprehensive at first, but we eventually decided on a place called the Jerusalem Garden Cafe. I was impressed. My food wasn't exactly 100% Mediterranean - I had a crab-covered filet with smashed potatoes - but I loved the atmosphere (which included belly dancing!). Amanda loved it as well. I think we concluded that it was certainly worth 4 stars out of 5.

So after an exciting first day in Asheville we were pretty tired. We headed back to our incredibly comfortable room and crashed for the night. We had a great night of sleep and woke up on Easter Sunday ready for a great second day, of which I'll write about soon.

If you're interested in seeing my entire photo album of Day 1, check out my photo sets on either Flickr or Facebook.

A Tradition Unlike Any Other

2010-04-07T18:38:00.001-04:00

Well it's spring once again. How do I know it? It doesn't matter what the temperature is. It doesn't matter that it's been in the high 80s earlier in the week, or that it will only be in the 50s late this week. Blooms on the Dogwoods and Bradford Pears could happen in mid-March, but it still wouldn't mean it's spring. Nope... the beginning of spring, for me, is when I first hear that legendary Dave Loggins instrumental tune simply entitled "Augusta". The Masters golf tournament, played every year in early April, signals the turn of the calendar from the cold winter months to the rebirth and renewal of the spring season.

Alright, now that I've waxed poetic for a few moments... yeah, it's time for the 2010 Masters. I'm excited. I absolutely love this golf tournament. Simply put, Augusta National Golf Club is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Period. If you disagree, you must have a bias against the game of golf. The lush green grass set against the vibrant reds, pinks, and whites of the azaleas are just visually stunning. The music is classic, calming, optimistic even. And of course, the golf is some of the best that you'll watch. I haven't been too happy with the winners the last few years, but regardless, it has made for some exciting viewing. Last year's final round dramatics where Kenny Perry let the Green Jacket slip through his hands was ultimately fun to watch, but so heartbreaking at the same time.

So now the big storyline this year, as it is almost ever year, is Tiger Woods. He's returning from therapy for his "sexual addiction" and promiscuity. His wife has apparently left him, and Tiger is trying to pick up the pieces from both his marriage and his career (especially his sponsorships). He hasn't played since November. Nobody knows how the crowd will respond to them, though most assume it will be positive. Still, there could be demons haunting him when he takes to the first tee tomorrow.

Honestly, I was a big fan of Tiger. I liked his competitiveness. I'm not an "underdog" kind of guy. I liked seeing him when tournaments, and by large margins. He didn't seem like the nicest guy in the world, but hey, I don't know him personally. All he has to do is entertain me when he's on TV. Now, was I mad at him for what he did? Yes. Cheating on your spouse is something the lowest of people do. Forgiveness does not and should not come easy. I wish Tiger hadn't done it, both for himself, his wife Elin, and myself, so I wouldn't feel so bad for still liking him. But like him I do. I want to see him win. I want to see him dominate. Then, I want him to cry at the press conference and show actual emotion while again begging his fans, and his family, for forgiveness.

That being said, my official prediction for the 2010 Masters Champion? Ernie Els. No specific reason why, but it seems like he deserves. My alternate pick is Ian Poulter. I wouldn't be happy, but it could happen. I will say Tiger finishes in the Top 10.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

2010-03-27T17:31:00.001-04:00

I have written several negative blogs over the last week. If you are a conservative like me, it's hard not to have a pessimistic view of the country at the moment. Heck, I'll say that everybody should at least be fearful of what the current administration is doing. Liberals used to yell that Bush was "stripping away personal liberties", which is laughable at best when you compare Bush to the current yokel in office. Actually, it's hard to call Obama a yokel; he's a very intelligent man, just an intelligent man that likes the idea of power. And our government is quickly gaining way too much power over the people. But I digress.

Chattanooga is an amazing place to live. To me, it represents the perfect combination of "big city" amenities, shopping opportunities, restaurants, things to do, and just overall funness (to coin a word) with a small-town atmosphere. Geez, that sounds like something that could be in a travel brochure. But seriously, it's pretty awesome. So take that awesomeness and combine it with a sunny day, not a single cloud in the sky, and temperatures around 70. Man, talk about a beautiful day. That's exactly what we had today.

For a geographer, Chattanooga is the perfect combination of different landscapes. As I took a drive today I was able to follow a path along the Tennessee River, winding around small inlets and bays and up and down hills. The Bradford pear trees are in full bloom, so that is a nice change from the mostly prevalent bareness on the branches of other trees. As I turned west and headed over to the Soddy-Daisy area, I was able to drive along the base of Mowbray Mountain and Walden's Ridge. More beautiful scenery. Then I looped back east through Red Bank and traveled up and down the narrow residential streets that criss-cross the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. You can literally look eastward from the tops of these ridges and see mountains in North Carolina. That is powerful. It's the kind of view that makes you stop and just thank God that for a small moment in time you were able to gaze at His creations and forget about your daily struggles. That's actually something I recommend that more people do, whether you are looking at mountains or whatever it may be.

I didn't get a chance to take any pictures today. I actually went with my girlfriend and her beautiful daughters as they shopped for Easter dresses. Yes, I'm that domesticated. But I love 'em all and enjoy it. I'll leave you with a picture I took last year about this time, on an equally beautiful day. It shows one of my favorite places to go in Chattanooga, Coolidge Park. I've shown it on the blog before, but it is one of my favorites.

Until next time, y'all...

Franklin Pierce (yes, he was a president) Was Right

2010-03-23T19:22:00.000-04:00

I know that Franklin Pierce is not generally regarded as one of our finer presidents - actually, I'm guessing most people couldn't even start to guess what number he was (14th). But I think his comments in an article in this morning's Chattanooga Times-FreePress were rather apropos. Actually, it wasn't so much an article as a slideshow that showed various healthcare bills and proposals that have been passed (or rejected) by Congress over the decades. You can see it here. It's an interesting look at how healthcare has been an issue since even the early 19th century, and has been a platform for both Democrats AND Republicans. Of course, one need only look at Abraham Lincoln to see that not all Republicans are in favor of small government. But Lincoln is a topic for another day.

Back to Pierce. After vetoing a proposed national mental health bill in 1854, he said it would be unconstitutional to regard health as anything but a private matter, and something in which government should not become involved. He then challenged Congress as to where the line would be drawn if the government were to indeed start to meddle in the people's health concerns. "I can not find any authority in the Constitution for making the Federal Government the great almoner of public charity throughout the United States," he wrote in his veto letter. If only we had somebody with his mental capacity - or at the very least, reverence for the Constitution - in the Oval Office today.

The Constitution, in fact, was written for a collection of states that all had the autonomy to govern their people as they saw fit. It was only through the Civil War that Lincoln succeeded in his (un-Constitutional) goal to centralize the federal government and strip power from the individual states (is it any wonder Obama idolizes the "founder" of the modern Republican party?). On Sunday night, the traditional southern states (plus Kentucky, Missouri, and Oklahoma) left no doubt whether they wanted to bear the burden of this healthcare bill. Of the sixteen, the bill was voted down by their representatives 104 - 44. Under the auspices of the Constitution, we southerners should be able to opt out of the federal bill. Try getting Washington to agree with that though.

Liberals will argue that the Constitution is out-dated, or is a "living" document that is supposed to "change with our times". I'll argue that most liberals are idiots and horse's asses.

Yay for Socialism

2010-03-22T10:49:00.002-04:00

Well, for a year and a half we conservatives have been dreading this day. Late last night Obama and his minions/cronies were finally able to push their healthcare bill through the house with a vote of 219-212. All that's left is for the Senate to pass this final version of the bill, which they undoubtedly will. The United States is one step closer to having the health of the people be controlled by the government. A government that, for example, runs the Postal Service, an entity that is bleeding millions of dollars per year. "But oh", say the dimocrats, "that's completely different". Yeah. Sure it is.

What does this mean for the average Joe Schmoe, like you and I? Well I try to always be positive about things, I really do. I like to say that things are never as bad (or as good) as they seem to be on the surface. If (and this is a really big if) this plan somehow improves healthcare in America over the next decade, I'll gladly eat my words. No, seriously. Save a link to this post somewhere in your e-filing cabinet, and throw it in my face in ten years. I'm pretty confident that you won't have to.

I found an excellent commentary that scratches the surface on what you can expect from this bill: http://boortz.com/nealz_nuze/index.html.

Basically, it's like this. Anybody that doesn't currently have insurance will be forced to buy some, or pay a penalty when tax time rolls around. What's that, all you dims thought that you would be "given" free healthcare. LOLZ. Guess again. But of course, we all know that the illegal immigrants and current welfare-recipients won't be paying for insurance OR the fines, either way. More on that in a moment.

Insurance companies will be forced to provide insurance to people, regardless of pre-existing conditions. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, necessarily; everybody needs access to SOMETHING. But let's be honest. The fact is, the insurance companies will have to shell out a ton of money to new insurees. Who do you think will bear that burden? Those of us that already have policies. Our premiums will sky-rocket, and if you don't believe that, you have your head up Nancy Pelosi's ass.

So when the public begins to cry out to Washington AGAIN, because of insurance premiums that they can't afford, what do you think the dimocrats will do? By George, they'll put in that public option. That's right. Everybody WILL have "free" healthcare then - or as I like to call it, socialized healthcare. But it won't be free. Those that still have a job - small businesses will be severely penalized by this healthcare bill, so there goes a large segment of available jobs - will be forced to bear the (ever-increasing) tax burden. There will be an ever-widening gap between the upper class and the lower class. The middle class will be all but gone, forced to bear the toughest burden of taxes to pay for the nation's healthcare.

Once the government is completely in control of your health, just think of all the taxes they'll impose. Let's see... sodas, candy, chocolate, etc.? They're all sugary foods that make people fat and increase healthcare costs. We'll tax those to keep people from buying them. Going to XYZ country may be a potential health risk, as statistics show diseases are a higher risk there? Why, we'll simply forbid you from going there (or you'll have to pay a stiff penalty if you do). Some lab somewhere develops a new medicinal supplement that "increases resistance to disease"? It won't be an option - you'll be forced to take it. The government will literally be able to inject you with anything they desire. If you think this feels very science-fictiony, you're right. But if you think it's out of the realm of possibility (somewhere down the line), refer to the above statement about Nancy Pelosi's derriere.

The thing that chaps me the most? Unless it was removed at some point that I'm unaware of, there is a provision to using taxpayer money to fund abortion. That's right, I will now get to pay for a process I consider to be murder. Lovely.

And if the American people somehow wake up to what's going on, and fiercely demand change in Washington? The dimocrats will just go and implement immigration reform, where they can literally declare millions of illegals to be US citizens so they can have their votes.

If you are still on the Obama bandwagon, that's fine. I doubt at this point anything I can say will change your mind. But I do hope this somehow wakens the American people to the liberties that are slowly being taken away from us. This is a small step towards the government controlling every aspect of our lives. And some of you may be alright with that. If so, you have a hell of a lot more confidence in the people we send to Washington (both dimocrat and Republican) than I do. I will never trust the government.

And now, having written this, if I disappear in a few days you'll all know why. It was nice knowing you.

Back in the "Swing of Things"

2010-03-14T16:02:00.000-04:00

I'll admit that I am notoriously bad at updating this blog. It's been over three months since I had the hankerin' to do a new post. I don't suffer from a lack of things to talk about, by any means. I'm just lazy. But anyway, I'm back today, and as the title implies, I really do hope to get back to updating this thing semi-regularly. Today I present a series of thoughts and opinions that I currently have on the state of the world. Without further adieu...

1.) Current Events: Well right now you have natural disasters and our boob of a president dominating the news. The earthquake in Haiti was, well... bad. The earthquake in Chile, at least according to the Richter Scale, was badder. So bad, in fact, that it moved cities. Look, I feel bad for any and all people affected by these disasters. But at the same time, from a geographer's standpoint, the effects these earthquakes had on our planet are just really freakin' cool. A local GIS guy here in Chattanooga had some interesting thoughts on the subject that sort of sum up mine. I invite you to check out his thoughts (and his entire blog) right here.

2.) Current Events, Part II: Like I mentioned above, I guess the other big story capturing the headlines is the ongoing debate over the Democrats' healthcare reform proposals. Anybody that knows me knows that I am a pretty conservative guy. I am an avid supporter of smaller government (and yes, I know the fact that I work for the government is ironic). I could go on a several-thousand-word rant about this subject. The topic is talked about so much now, that I am starting to just not care anymore. I've lost the will to fight it. And maybe that was the Democrats' plan all along, I don't know. What I do know: our country is bleeding money by the millions. China is inching closer to owning us, in a very literal sense. We have the highest unemployment since, what, 1984? And yet, President Obama doesn't know how to talk about anything other than healthcare reform. Does healthcare in America need change (har har)? I certain areas, I'm sure it does (though I'm far from an expert on the subject). It just seems to me that there are more pressing concerns in our country right now. Like, oh I don't know... the economy (more on that in a moment). If the Democrats had tried to push through reform over the course of a few years, I think they could have been a lot more successful. Hopefully this all-or-nothing attempt will ultimately fail and they will be forced to go back to the drawing board. If it doesn't? I'll try to forget about it and go on with my life. I can't let politics dominate my day-to-day life and how I feel when I wake up in the morning. You shouldn't either.

3.) Economics (or Current Events, Part III): Hey, did you notice the price of gas is creeping back up again? Buying groceries is now outrageously expensive? That, kiddos, is what we call the beginnings of inflation. I'm no economics major, and I would be lying if I sat here and tried to explain the processes of inflation (or stagflation) or whatever it may be that's happening. But I can understand that when the government is giving away billion-dollar stimulus packages left and right, expanding government services whenever possible, and running the printing presses double-time to produce all this extra cash... it can't be good. The value of the dollar will naturally drop. When you couple that with that fact that most businesses (or in my case, a county government) can't afford to give their employees raises... uh oh. Can I rewind about five years and choose a different major? One that doesn't leave me hovering near the poverty line? Crap.

4.) Entertainment: Oh well, on to happier subjects. Like television, our escape from reality. Well, unless all you watch is reality shows (personally I hate them all). My recommendation for what to watch currently centers around the CBS network. Specifically, Monday through Wednesday is full of all kinds of win. My personal favorites at the moment: How I Met Your Mother. Two and a Half Men. Big Bang Theory. CSI Miami. NCIS. NCIS: Los Angeles. Criminal Minds. All of those shows are worth your time, in my opinion. At the movie theater, the last flick I caught was Sherlock Holmes, though I admit that was two months ago. Holmes gets two big thumbs up from me, and is worth checking out on DVD here soon. Just a note: I neither saw Avatar, nor have any desire whatsoever to do so in the near or distant future. It just LOOKS stupid. Call me crazy (or worse), but sometimes, I simply base decisions that I make in life on the "stupid test". Does it look, sound, or appear to be stupid? If so, I probably won't do it.

5.) Sports: Finally, let's take a look at the sports world. Since I last wrote, our beloved Crimson Tide of Alabama won the 2010 BCS National Championship. To see I was happy about that was a bit of an understatement. The basketball team was far from replicating that same success, but hey, I'm trusting Coach Grant to get things turned around eventually. The NCAA tournament is now upon us - a time of the year that gamblers everywhere look forward to like Christmas morning. Baseball is next up, with spring training having already started. While I usually get bored with it by the time August (and football) gets here, I'm usually excited this time of the year. I'll try to get my look at the 2010 Atlanta Braves up within a few days.

Finally, I'll leave you with a few things that I am diggin' right now, and a few other final, random thoughts...

I'm diggin' Thai food. The spicier, the better. I'll blame my not knowing about this until my 26th year to the fact that Florence is a culinary wasteland when it comes to anything outside of Applebee's, Chili's, or various local catfish restaurants.
I'm diggin' this blog. It's called "UniWatch", and is one guy's look at all things uniform-related when it comes to sports. It may sound cheesy or boring at first, but I promise, it's got some really cool stuff. Paul is an interesting writer, even though he is a damned Yankee that gives way too much love to hockey and curling, of all things.
I'm diggin' The Sims 3. Geeky? Sure. But man, is it an easy way to kill an hour or five.
Random thought: Florence is boring, unless you have kids. I've learned that children love Deibert Park, and to a lesser extent, River Heritage Park. Watching them have fun can bring you joy. But when a 27 year old male goes to Florence alone and tries to find something to pass the time? Oy. Good luck. There's only so much fun to be squeezed out of going to Regency Square or, gulp... Wal-Mart (shudder at the memories).
Random thought: There is a new thang called "Moblogging", which is basically, updating your blog via your mobile phone. I might be giving this a shot, since my attention span (being that of a monkey on crack) rarely allows me time to update the site.
Random, final thought: Geotagging, or the art of assigning a geographic location to a blog post, tweet, Facebook status update, etc.... it's really cook. 'Specially for a geo-geek like me.

Final, final thought/shameless plug... if you aren't already, please follow me on Twitter (@chrisholder) and Google Buzz (chrisholder262@gmail.nospam.com), removing the "nospam" in that Gmail address there. Thanks, and until next time, my friends...

The De-Stupifying of College Football, Part 1

2009-12-07T10:14:00.003-05:00

So, the 2009 college football season has brought upon us what every black-rimmed glasses-wearing, sweater vest wearing, pointy-headed geek that created the BCS system always feared: not one undefeated team... not two undefeated teams... not even three, or four. There are FIVE undefeated Division 1A (I refuse to use the term "FBS") schools and room for only two of them in the BCS title game. Oh man, what a dilemma. What ever should we do?

Let's start with the facts. Alabama was the SEC champion, defeating several ranked teams along the way, including a thrashing of the previous AP/BCS #1 team and defending national champions. Bama finished the season undefeated in a conference that has produced the last three BCS national champions. To say that Bama doesn't deserve to go to Pasadena would be laughable at best. I know I'm biased, but the SEC has proven itself time and time again to be the toughest/best conference in college football. Alabama is no fluke of a team, and deserves its shot.

What about Texas? As an undefeated team and champions of the Big XII, they make a hard sell for their inclusion in the title game. Interestingly, the Big XII has only produced one previous BCS champion (compared to five for the SEC): Texas, in 2005. They have lost four other attempts. Still, the merits of past teams should not necessarily be weighted when determining if the 2009 Longhorns are championship material. So far, they have done everything their schedule asked of them. Yes, they've had a few close calls... but what team hasn't?

Oh, you might mention that that other team from Texas dominated all their games. Hmm, did they? Let's look at the schedules. Now of course, we know that TCU plays in the Mountain West Conference. A team shouldn't necessarily be penalized for what conference they play in, I get that. And for the conference games TCU played, their average margin of victory was 43 - 12. That would be impressive for anybody. But look, the so-called "mid-major teams" know going into the season that they have to produce impressive victories to get their chance. This includes in their out-of-conference schedules. TCU played two "major" conference schools: Virginia and Clemson. While a 30 - 14 victory over a rather bad UVa team looks good, a 14 - 10 win over Clemson - who, though they made the ACC title game, also lost to South Carolina and is ultimately a Music City Bowl-level opponent - just simply does not impress. A hard-fought 20 - 17 win over Air Force is also not the stuff of champions. Look, I know that a win is a win. But these teams know that they have to do more than just win, they have to completely dominate and annihilate every opponent to get the shot. The facts are that TCU did not. Hey, I'm not saying that they aren't deserving of Pasadena or that they are worse than Texas. I think there's a good shot they'd beat Texas. For the system that we have in place though, and the pre-defined "rules" that exist in the BCS system, TCU did not do what it takes to make the title game. Twist it any way you want to... that's still the truth. Maybe they should petition the PAC-10 or Big 10 for a spot in a big boy conference.

Apply everything I just said to Boise State. Yeah yeah, the 19 - 8 win over Oregon looks good. They then spent the rest of the year not playing a single team from the six so-called BCS conferences. They also struggled to beat Tulsa. You have to be more impressive than that, Broncos.

So then there's Cincinnati. BCS conference? Check. Undefeated season? Check. So why are they excluded? The reputation of the Big East, for one reason. Since the departures of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College, the conference has had its BCS credibility attacked from all angles. Cincy was champs in 2008, and promptly got beaten 20 - 7 by a rather average Virginia Tech team. That's not a good way to impress people of the strength of your conference. The "new" Big East has yet to regain its credibility and needs a BCS bowl victory by one of its teams to get back over the hump. If the Bearcats can beat Florida in the Sugar Bowl, things could change for the future. But in 2009, with the standards, preconceptions, and notions that are in place relative (TM, Nick Saban) to the BCS process... Cincinnati had no chance.

To argue for a playoff between these five teams is ludicrous, in my not-so-humble opinion. What do you do, add a sixth team and give two teams bye weeks? How do you determine who gets the byes? And do you realize, there is only one one-loss team in Division 1A? That's Florida, which got thumped by Bama. To give them another shot at a championship is ridiculous. What next, expand the playoff to eight teams? What two two-loss teams do you give a chance? There are plenty of those to choose from. Don't even get me started on doing a sixteen-team playoff. Does anybody really think West Virginia deserves a chance to "get hot" and somehow fluke its way into a national championship? Really?

Whether anybody likes it or not, Alabama vs. Texas is the only logical matchup this year for the system we have in place. Am I saying it's perfect? Of course not. The BCS is inherently flawed, and always will be. But that doesn't mean that college football has to always suffer for it. I think there are ways to make the game better, without having to resort to a ho-hum, us too system of an eight or sixteen team playoff. Controversy is the lifeblood of college football; it makes the games, the rivalries, the trash-talking, all of it, even better. So what's my solution to "fix" the game? We only need to look to the past. My answer will be in Part 2.

Grilling

2009-07-11T17:46:00.003-04:00

This one will be short and sweet... or should I say, grilled. If it's one thing I love about summer, it's grilling food. Any kind of meat is good... steaks, chicken, pork chops, ribs, the list goes on. Even some vegetables.

Just look at that, you can almost smell it now. This was just one part of our menu today, but I thought it turned out really well. For the chicken, I used a recipe that I saw in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press. It goes something like this:

Apple-Smoked Chicken Thighs

2 cups apple juice

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

4 large bone-in chicken thighs or thigh/leg combination), rinsed and patted dry

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup wood chips, soaked in apple juice and drained

For apple spray: Put juice and sugar in stainless-steel saucepan over medium heat, and simmer until sugar is dissolved. Cool to room temperature and pour into a plastic spray bottle.

Sprinkle the chicken with pepper and salt; set aside while you prepare the grill. When coals are ready, spread them evenly across half the grill; scatter wood chips over hot coals. Place chicken over indirect-heat side of grill (not directly over coals) and spray with apple juice. When smoke starts to rise, close the lid. Place a candy thermometer in the grill vent. Smoke chicken at 225 F to 250 F for 1 hour, spraying chicken every 20 minutes. After 1 hour, spray chicken again, then transfer to direct heat over hot coals for 2 minutes, turning as necessary, or until the skin has crisped all over.

For the record, I substituted chicken breasts for thighs, since... what can I say?... I'm a breast man. But seriously, these turned out to be very tasty. Juicy, with a definite apple flavor. I recommend giving it a shot sometime.

Hate to run, but I think I'm up for a second helping now...

Crazy Dreams

2009-07-04T08:47:00.002-04:00

I can dream almost any time I fall asleep. If I hit "snooze" on the alarm in the morning, and drift back to sleep in that nine minute period, I can usually have another dream. I've been told that this means I am not getting a very restful sleep, though I seem to be doing okay. Nevertheless, my mind usually tells some interesting stories during the night. I just thought I would share some of last night's.

It starts with my parents and I riding around Chattanooga (if you are in Nooga or familiar with the area, we were apparently on Amnicola Hwy). Somehow I take a wrong turn before I get to Dupont Pkwy, and end up in an area near the river that I had never even been to. This area had all sorts of shopping establishments and restaurants, including a mall that I didn't even know existed.

So, we go in this mall and start looking around. Before we know it I look at my watch and notice it's almost 2:00 in the morning. This security guard comes up to us about this time and tells us the mall is about to close (I wonder exactly what kind of shops were in this mall to be closing at 2?). When we step outside, the sun is up and it's bright as day outside. Naturally, I'm freaking out. We start driving down the road, just wondering what the heck is going on. Suddenly the "sun" starts moving across the sky. We realize that this is not our sun, but actually a comet. A few moments later, it apparently explodes somewhere in the earth's atmosphere. We heard the explosion, but apparently it didn't do any damage around us. Still, scary stuff.

Apparently I woke up after the comet explosion, but went back to sleep. That is when the second dream took place. In this dream I was being released from jail (!) and the year seems to be 2012. Strangely, I get out wearing a dress shirt and slacks, and I am desperately searching for a necktie. I find myself in an old, rundown factory where I must have had some items stored while I was incarcerated. Unfortunately my items are not there. Of all people, Larry the frickin' Cable Guy (I'm not a big fan) was there to tell me that while I was locked up, the country had completely fallen apart (I could make a political rant here, but I'll spare you all). Cities had been burned and communism had apparently taken over. At this point, I don't know what to do.

I somehow find a phone, and now call my parents for help. My mom answers and I tell her that I have been released from jail, and want to come home. She is hesitant, though. Apparently I was locked up for "supposedly" killing somebody (!), though I know that I was innocent. My own mother isn't sure though. She doesn't know if she wants me to come home. However, in the next instant I am back in Florence at my parents' house. My brother begins to tell me what all has changed in the three years I was in prison. For some reason, instead of telling me how the country became full-on communist, he is more concerned with updating me on TV storylines. I was happy to learn that my current favorite show, Two and a Half Men, is still on the air in 2012.

So there you have it. I believe there were a few other parts of my dream world last night - I recall being in the backyard of my childhood home, looking over the fence at a pool party happening next door. But this "story" is very hazy. Unfortunately I tend to forget my dreams almost as soon as I wake up, unless I write them down. Hopefully you have enjoyed the parts I did remember.

What are you doing, RIGHT NOW???

2009-06-07T18:21:00.003-04:00

So I doubt anything I say will be something you haven't thought about before, but I wanted to at least put my spin on things. I bought an iPod Touch last week (shameless plug, but I highly recommend it), and it has led me to being online even more than usual. It's not the iPhone, where you can almost literally have an internet connection anywhere; it can only hit wifi hot spots. Still, it makes me feel like I am even more connected than I have ever been.

And that's what I want to talk about, this "connectedness" (to coin a word) that we all have nowadays. I mean, I'm 26, only eight years out of high school. That time has flown by, but really, in the grand scheme of things eight years is not that much. But I think about how relating to people has changed in those eight years and it's almost amazing.

In 2001 "chatting" online was still cool - as in, actual chat rooms, on AOL, or Yahoo, or whatever. Instant messenging was around, but probably still not done by a majority of people - only high schoolers and college kids. Still, it was not the main way we communicated with people. Even high schoolers still used the phone for the most part. Not cell phones, land lines. I think I had two friends with cell phones, and that's it. Texting had not even become an option yet.

Now look at where we are today. We don't even chat or IM with people in real-time anymore. It's almost like we've regressed in that sense. Now, we have Facebook to take its place. Obviously Facebook is more advanced than IM conversations ever were. We literally post every bit of information about our lives on there. If we take a trip, and have pictures to prove it, it's on Facebook within the hour. People find out if you've started or ended a relationship with someone simply by looking at your profile.

Facebook has also, in ways, become the determining factor in whether you are "accepted" by someone or a group of people. Now I know there are plenty of people out there that pad their friend lists with people they just randomly meet in class and then never talk to again. I'm talking about the people you meet and actually expect to see and spend time with sometime in the future. Once you have looked at each other's profiles, and add each other as "friends", you know it's acceptable to talk to them/contact them/whatever. Of course, that interaction no doubt eventually happens on Facebook, not face to face or on the phone.

Then of course there's Twitter. It takes Facebook statuses (stausii?) to a whole new level. I mean, we are already to the point where Facebook status updates now consist of "_____ is fixing dinner and then watching TV!". And I'm not saying that I'm not guilty of it. But now you have Twitter come along, and almost everything you do is summed up in 140 characters. When people start posting status updates, or tweets, from the bathroom, on their iPhone or Blackberry or whatever... you wonder if a line has been crossed.

So in all this rambling I'm not really sure I have a point. I guess the point is, we are more connected than ever. We now constantly know what each other is doing, almost 24/7. Where does it go from here? Will it get to the point where our every move and action is not only told to the world, but also GPSed so people know our exact location as well? That's already happening in ways. It's not scary to me, really. I'm just anxious to see where this all goes next.

What to Do With Braly Stadium

2009-05-26T14:24:00.004-04:00

I don't know how many of you have heard about this, but there have been some speculation lately that the D2 Championship Game could be moved out of Florence after this year. The TimesDaily ran an article about it a few days ago here. The NCAA made a list of demands for upgrades to Braly Stadium. Included were such things as artificial turf, new lights, and a video scoreboard.

Braly as we know it today is a nice place to watch a football game, especially at the D2 level. I know most of us haven't been to many other D2 stadiums, but I have seen some pictures; trust me, there are high schools with better facilities than some of those teams. However, I think I understand what the NCAA is saying here (and I agree with the NCAA on very few things). The D2 championship game needs to be played in one of the best, if not THE best, stadiums in the country. It gives the players and the fans going to the game something to look forward to. While "pretty nice", Braly is far from being the best even in D2.

One thing I feel should be addressed is the parking situation. While there are a lot of college football stadiums that require you to park on the street in a neighborhood, we can do better. I present to you exhibit A:

If you notice, on the south side of the stadium there is a baseball field that was once used by Coffee High School. Well, as you know that school no longer exists. Florence High School plays their baseball games at the former Bradshaw High School. This field may be used by a JV team, I'm not sure; regardless, baseball fields are not hard to replace. In my opinion, this piece of land should be used to build a parking deck for gamedays. This would obviously solve a lot of the parking problems and put you directly at the field when you get out of your car. Also, the deck could be used by UNA students during the week (with the shuttle buses used to take students to campus).

This picture is looking towards the south endzone at Braly. If the parking deck is rising above the field there, why not add an additional bonus: a couple of luxury boxes on the end facing the field, a la what was done at Bryant-Denny Stadium? Some new concession stands could also be incorporated, perhaps offering some "higher end" foods than what you find currently.

The final part of this plan would be a new "plaza" style entrance at field level in the south endzone. It would be here that fans could meet before the game, perhaps buy some souvenirs, etc. Statues could be incorprated, just like at Bryant-Denny, to honor former Lions and the national championship teams. Walking into the stadium here, you would be looking up towards the north endzone where I envision a new HD scoreboard would be. It would make for a great entrance to the stadium and pump up not only UNA fans, but fans visiting for the championship game.

Those are just a few of my thoughts, I'd love to hear others.

Chapter One

2009-05-24T20:37:00.002-04:00

I had posted this in a note over on my Facebook site, and decided to do the same here. Lately in some fits of boredom I have been running through my head some ideas for a book I'd like to write. I'm usually more of a nonfiction reader, but I think I have a pretty good basic storyline for what I want to do. I've always enjoyed writing (I was a journalism major for about 35 seconds), but I have to confess that part of the inspiration for this came from my good friend Andrew.

So anyway, this is what I have so far. I don't really know where it goes from here, I am still working on that. I know it's long, but give it a read if you have the chance. I'd like to hear any criticism, good or bad. This is something (writing) that I still feel will be a part of my life going forward, so I need any constructive criticism I can get. So without further adieu...

***

The headlights grew ever brighter in the rearview mirror. Any other time he would have shrugged it off, but this time, he knew there was something different about the trailing car's movements. Sure enough, as his grip instictively tightened on the steering wheel, the car lurched forward as steel met steel at the car's rear bumper.

"What the...!?"

The car, or now what he almost positively knew was a full-size pickup truck, rammed the rear bumper for a second time. The teenage driver whipped his head around, not to look through the high beams, but to check on the boy strapped in the car seat behind his right shoulder. The young boy began to cry. "Shhhh", the teenager said, "it'll be alright", almost as much a reassurance to himself as to the child. "I've got to lose him somehow".

He floored the accelerator, and the old V8 began to roar as it reached down deep for every extra horse it might produce. For a split-second, he thought the rear tires lost their traction as the light rain had now become a full-fledged downpour. Somehow he kept the car under control. His own headlights, dimmed with the car's age, were having a hard time cutting through the moisture-laden summer air. To make matters worse, his own sweat begin to drip into his eyes and cloud his vision. Still, the truck remained a few car-lengths behind as they went through a gradual curve on the two-lane road. "If I can just get to the straightaway, maybe I can lose him".

Up ahead, he knew the road straightened out as it came to an old bridge crossing the creek. Once past the bridge there were several turns, one of which he might could take to evade his follower. The key was to put some distance between them. He pressed on the gas even more, feeling the pedal come in contact with the exposed metal on the floor. The bridge was up ahead, and the white fence posts to his left were starting to look like one continuous line in his periphreal vision. Still, it looked like he was beginning to pull away. His breathing slacked just a bit, though perhaps he had been holding his breath for a few seconds - he couldn't even remember. He glanced again in the mirror at his backseat occupant, whose tear-stained face he saw looking out the back window. "We're almost there", he thought.

The car bounced as it reached the end of the bridge where the deck met the asphalt. He eased off the accelerator, contemplating his next move. He had to take one of the turns; or, would the truck anticipate that? Should he keep going instead? His eyes left the road just for a moment, perhaps to check the speedometer. Whatever the reason, it proved costly. Through his own perspiration and the deluge outside, his eyes focused on an object just to the side of the road about a hundred yards ahead. Suddenly, it was moving out in front of him. He slammed the brakes hard and turned the wheel. The rear of the car swung to the right, and he fought with the wheel to regain control. It was too late. The car skidded off the left side of the road and went into a roll. The child screamed. The teenager braced himself and prepared for... the end, whatever that would be. Finally the car came to a rest, sitting up, at the bottom of a revine just above the water's edge.

It might have been only seconds that passed, or it could have been hours. The teen shook his head, which was now throbbing with incredible pain. He tried to clear his blurred vision as he looked out the broken glass of the front windshield. His first thought was not to help himself, but to check on his young passenger. He slowly started to turn around. A searing pain shot through his right arm. "Something's probably broken", he thought. He reached back with his left arm and touched the toddler's body. He shook him. No response. Blood was running out of his nose, but he could feel him breathing. "Help", he muttered, to nobody in particular. He opened the driver's door and fell out of the smoking vehicle and onto the wet ground.

Struggling to find his feet, the adrenaline began to flow through his body. With a somewhat clearer mind he realized he had to get back up to the road and find somebody. He started climbing a hill, slipping at first before managing to start the ascent. His right arm dangled from his body, useless. The 25 or 30 foot climb felt like a mountain. At the top he stopped to catch his breath. The rain, sweat, and now blood pouring from a gash on his forehead all mixed in his mouth to produce a salty metallic taste. He spit and started looking around for signs of an approaching car. Sure enough, one was coming from the direction opposite the bridge. He stared into the lights as the vehicle slowed and pulled onto the shoulder just a few feet from where he was standing.

Two men stepped out of what he saw to be a Ford truck. "I need some help", he choked, his hoarse voice sounding like someone else's. "Yeah, you do", one of the men shot back before stepping in front of the teen. He fell into the man's arms, his own strength now diminishing. He barely felt the ground as the man let him go, allowing him to fall into a crumpled heap. "Pick him up!" another man barked. The voice was recognizable in an insant, and the boy snapped to attention. He now realized the truck for what it was. With a burst of energy that shocked the two men, the teenager took off running in the direction of the bridge. "Get him!" the driver growled to his passenger, reaching in the truck to pull out a rifle before joining the chase on foot.

"I have to get to the other side", the boy thought, not really knowing what his reasoning was. Halfway across the bridge though, his injuries caught up with him. He tripped and landed hard on his already limp right arm. He coughed, and it hurt. Bad. He knew he should stand up but just couldn't do it. He closed his eyes as the two pursuers reached him. He gasped as one man kicked him in the stomach, and reached to cover himself with his left arm. The two men pulled him up to his feet and pushed him against the railing on the side of the bridge.

"Didn't I tell you not to run, you little bastard?" he heard the more familiar voice say, though it echoed through his pounding head. He felt the older man's hot breath just inches from his face. He tried to open his eyes but they refused. All he could think was, "please let another car come down that road". But none came. "Just finish him off, he's caused us enough trouble", the other man said. The teenager heard a familiar metallic "click", a sound he knew all too well from years of hunting in the woods behind his house. He felt the cold point of the gun barrel on the side of his head, for an insant almost helping to relieve the awful headache. His eyes still closed but his other senses seemingly heightened, he thought he could hear a young boy crying in the distance. "Please help him", he started to say, but didn't finish the sentence. The older man whipped the gun around and with all the force he could muster, rammed the butt of the rifle into the boy's stomach. The blow lifted him off the ground and back, and over the bridge railing. He was powerless to stop himself. The world around him became a slow-motion blur, as he flipped around to see the men standing over the side watching his descent. He saw light bouncing off the raindrops falling around him, and thought he heard the boy crying one last time. Finally there was a brilliant flash that seemed to completely surround him, and the pain escaped his body. And then...

The Anniversary

2009-05-14T18:10:00.005-04:00

One year today.

That is how long it has been since I officially got settled in here in Chattanooga. One year ago today I started my first “real” job and got out of the cocoon that was Florence. Of course, a lot of people get away from home long before their 25^th year, so I was late to the party. A scholarship to UNA was too much to pass up though, and even after it was gone I couldn’t pull myself away from family or friends. So it took a while to get here, but now I’m away and a whole year has already passed. So what have I learned?

I've learned that starting out on the bottom of your field is not fun. My job is... let's say, routine. It's not bad by any means. It's just a lot of repetitiveness that can lead to being very stressful at times. I feel like a lot of the things I learned in college are not being put to use. Considering I'm paying back $10k worth of loans, I'd like to use some of that knowledge. Oh, and have I mentioned that the pay is not great and I'm probably not getting a raise? Stupid economy. Still, I am thankful to have the job and for the opportunities it has given me, such as moving to Chattanooga.

I’ve learned, however, that living by yourself sucks. I had never done it before last May. I have done it for a year and it has not grown on me. Even though I am shy towards new people, I am at heart a socialable person. Sometimes it drives me crazy to sit there alone.

So since I don’t enjoy being alone, I’ve worked to establish some new friends. It’s not easy when you know nobody in a city. I’m not outgoing; walking up to a group of strangers and introducing myself is not me. My entire life before now I have been able to use school as a way of meeting people. Once that is gone, your social circle shrinks to just those you work with. While I really do like my coworkers, they are mostly all married and have lives of their own. I need different kinds of people to “hang out” with.

So yeah, this year has certainly had its ups and downs. There have been frustrating times when loneliness was at its worst. There have been dates that went nowhere. I have felt like Ted on How I Met Your Mother, desperately searching for that special someone but feeling as if she will never be found. There have been thoughts of ending it all... NO, no, not like that, I just mean moving back home... lol. But there have been good times. The friends I have made are great. I have learned to do things I had never done before. I have had a lot of fun taking in all that Chattanooga has to offer. It's a great city and a great place to live.

I remain optimistic, as I always try to be. I have no idea where I will be one year from now. Graduate school is still a goal for me, and if the opportunity arises I would like to go for it. If there is a better job out there somewhere, in Chattanooga or elsewhere, I will not shy away from it. Above all, I hope that one year from now I feel like I have accomplished as much as I have in this past year.

Springsteen Concert

2009-04-28T16:32:00.003-04:00

So it's been a while, but I'm back to let all my crazy fans know what's happening in my life.

I'm sure most everybody has at least heard a few Bruce Springsteen songs. Personally I'm a casual fan, which means I have a "greatest hits" CD and know few songs beyond those. But, I mostly like whatever I hear from the guy. Could care less about his politics, but oh well.

My brother is a huge fan of the guy however, and so on Sunday night him and I went to Atlanta to see Bruce and his E-Street Band at Philips Arena. The drive down was pretty uneventful, except I drove through Gadsden for the first time ever. You know what? I'd be okay if it's the last time I do that. Lots of "red" in that area, if ya know what I mean.

We stayed at the Hilton, which was cool, simply because I can say that I "stayed at the Hilton". Valet parking and all, yo.

The concert itself was pretty awesome. We went through a "lottery" since we had floor seats, and were one of the 450 people allowed to be in the "pit". Basically, it was the area in front of the stage. The majority of the night we were about 30-40 feet from Bruce. I could care less about his sweat hitting me, so this setup worked for me. No opening act (thank God, they usually suck). The second song played was Darkness on the Edge of Town, a favorite of mine that he doesn't play at every show. I was pretty happy to hear it. Other than that, I knew about 5 or 6 songs out of 25. Most were good, but it's a lot more fun when you can sing along with everybody else. Still, nobody appeared to be too drunk, no fights were started, and generally there was no craziness in The Pit. I consider this a good thing. My eardrums also never bled, which is also a plus.

Monday morning, we had a little time before checkout so we went to the World of Coca-Cola museum. It is a pretty cool place to visit if you've never been. Lots of old Coke memorabilia, of course. You can taste-test over 60 products that are sold around the world (and not in North America). There was also a 3D movie. Not a bad way to spend some time for $15.

Random rants, since I am such an anger-filled person:

Like I said, Gadsden sucks. Lots of traffic lights with no obvious sequence. Also lots of rednecks.
People that tailgate me, then pass me, then get back in my lane, and THEN slow down, piss me off. I always drive with Cruise on on the highway, so don't get in front of me and slow down. It's just not cool.
Camera nazis at Philips Arena. Cell phone pictures suck, but it's the best I could do.
CNN. Actually, the CNN Center and the food court were pretty cool. I just think CNN sucks. So does Ted Turner. So do the Braves, unfortunately.
Finally, if you are staying in downtown Atlanta and need to get back to I-20 West, good luck. I pride myself on being a pretty good driver and it took me 20 minutes to get on an interstate I could see. I should have had my GPS, but it shouldn't be that hard. Plenty of signs directing you how to get to I-75 and I-85, but none for I-20. The genius that designed those roads needs to be, in the words of Garfield, drug out into the street and shot.

You can count on me to take lots of pictures, and you can find them all here: http://picasaweb.google.com/chrisholder262/SpringsteenConcert#. Enjoy.

Later y'allz.

Why Not, Florence?

2009-03-22T20:46:00.004-04:00

I went downtown to Coolidge Park today. It is Chattanooga's version of a "Central Park" you might say. It is on the North Shore, which is a trendy strip of restaurants/bars/coffee shops on the, you might have guessed, north side of the river. The park itself is really just a big open space along the river, though there is a carousel and a "splash pad" (an interactive fountain that kids can control). However, on nice weather days like today the place is crawling with people. It is a fun place to go and just watch people, take pictures, or sit down for a while and read a book. There were a lot of people today working on their sun tans, walking their dogs, or tossing around a frisbee or a football. Also a good place to meet people I would imagine.

Now of course, being a lifelong resident of Florence until 2008 I have a certain attachment to the Shoals area. Even though I don't live there I really want to see the area thrive. Under the right circumstances I certainly wouldn't mind to go back one day. But being in Coolidge Park today emphasized to me a point that often seems to be lost on Shoals area leaders.

People in the Shoals complain about having "nothing to do". Meanwhile, the politicians are busy trying to figure out what sort of tourist trap they can put in at Veterans Park. To me, Coolidge Park is the perfect example of something Florence doesn't have that would be so easy to create. As an added bonus it could be done without being a drain on the taxpayers.

Look at McFarland Park for example. It's not exactly deserted, but so much more could be done. When the golf course was closed (a decision I still oppose), acres of land just became wasted. They say it's camping grounds, but when I drive by there I never see it being used. At least part of it should be turned into an open space like in Coolidge, just for people that want to get out and throw a football or lay in the sun. Of course, unlike Coolidge, McFarland doesn't have an area with restaurants and nightlife. Florence is always talking about building an "entertainment district". How about putting it in McFarland Park? Take the money for the supposed "tourist attraction" at Veterans and use it to build some interesting shops/bars/restaurants at McFarland. Yeah, it's in the flood plain, but that just means these buildings could be an architectural challenge. Build them on stilts and put parking underneath. It wouldn't be that cheap, but it could be done.

I realize there are challenges. The Shoals is mostly scared of any kind of change. Bars in particular are almost forbidden, and I can imagine there would be an uproar about putting them in a public park. There are also not as many people in the Shoals, both living there and visiting. Obviously a park full of people requires there be a large number of people that actually want to use it. Perhaps the scale of the project would have to be smaller than Coolidge. The idea would remain the same though.

I just don't see why, if Florence is serious about an entertainment district in East Florence or anywhere else, this sort of idea couldn't work at McFarland. There is already a good number of people coming in and out of Florence Harbor and using the small park on the east side of O'Neal Bridge (which reminds me of something from Chattanooga actually). I think it could work. FWIW, I say McFarland because I really don't think any other park in Florence or the Shoals could work. Veterans doesn't have enough river access in my opinion, and Riverfront Park in Sheffield is... well... in Sheffield.

On a completely unrelated note, it's not big enough for its own blog but I thought I'd share another thing that annoys me. It's people that stop at red lights when they want to make a right turn. Now, I don't mean coming to a stop and then proceeding to turn. I mean the people that stop, have their blinker on so you know they aim to turn, but simply sit there until the light turns green. Even if there is nothing coming in any direction. People, unless their is a sign posted forbidding you, it is still legal to make a right turn on red. I'm not sure why some people do this but it's just downright stupid.

If you want to see some pictures I took at Coolidge today check out my album on Picasa. Otherwise, until next time...

Things That Annoy Me, Volume 1

2009-03-21T14:41:00.002-04:00

I would say that overall I'm a pretty happy guy. However, my five years at Wal-Mart provided me with an intense burning hatred of ignorant people. Okay, maybe "hatred" is too strong of a word, I don't know. I do know that I hate the stupid things that some people do. In what is sure to become a recurring feature of my blog, I will take a look at things that annoy me, and the mouth-breathers that are guilty of causing my frustration.

Let's take a look at today, for example. For lunch I decided to have lunch at Moe's (WELCOME TO MOE'S!!!). I'm not usually a big eater at lunch time but was extra hungry today, for some reason. So I stroll into the door (WELCOME TO MOE'S!!!) at 11:00. First person in the place. I order my food (Joey Combo, a chicken burrito with tortilla chips and queso) and go sit down in a booth by the window that's closest to my car. Not that anybody is planning to steal a 2005 Saturn Ion, but it's just a habit. I also normally try to avoid booths if I am alone, simply because I hate it when I'm with a group of three or four people and there are no booths because they are all occupied by just one or two people. But since I was the only person in the restaurant I thought, what the hey.

So as I get settled into the booth the next few customers are already coming through the doors (WELCOME TO MOE'S!!!). I'm just getting started with my burrito when a family of four sits down in the booth directly behind mine. There are probably no less than eight booths on the wall, and I was in the second from the front, but they choose to sit in the one connected to mine. That would have been fine, except when I say family of four, I mean a mother and three young children. Like, less than six years old. Do you think they were well behaved? No. In fact, they were climbing all over the place like a bunch of caged monkeys. One even tried to pull my cap off. Now I like kids, don't get me wrong, but you know what annoys me (other than sitting in a booth adjacent to mine in an empty restaurant)? Parents that don't control their kids. She didn't even try to.

The kids were one thing, but next we have a guy that looks like he's had a few too many burritos, if you know what I mean. Remember, there are at least eight booths along the wall (and another row of booths on the opposite side of the restaurant). There are at least sixteen tables in between. There are, at this time, three "sets" of customers in the restaurant. So where do you think big boy sits? In the booth on the other side of me. Facing my direction. Looking directly at me. Ugh. The kind of situation where every time you look up, you have to see this guy stuffing his face full of burrito, and dripping cheese on his shirt when he tries to eat his chips (no lie). You can't avoid it unless you sit there and chew with your head down or turned to the side. Very annoying, and something that could have been easily avoided if he would have turned his back to me - or, you know, SAT IN ONE OF THE OTHER ROUGHLY THIRTY OPEN TABLES IN THE RESTAURANT!

Oh, and by the way... the burrito did not taste very fresh, the chips were luke warm, and the food is overpriced anyway. I've had better food at Taco Bell. That's the last time I'm going to Moe's for a long time, and I recommend you all avoid it too.

Holder OUT.

The Russians Haven't Given Us Much, But...

2009-03-15T20:07:00.005-04:00

You know, when I think about it, I'm not really sure there's a lot the Russians have done to contribute to our way of life. Well, if you are a drinker I guess there's vodka, but I'm not much of a drinker. So I try to think about what the Russians have done for me. Let's see... I guess they were good as a "rival" to push our space and military programs throughout the Cold War. Mikhail Gorbachev's birthmark was um, pretty cool as birthmarks go, I guess. Other than that, what have they given the world? I can think of nothing but burly women with thick eyebrows, words with 17 consonants and maybe one vowel, and commies.

However, I can forgive the Russians for all of their shortcomings for one glorious video game they thrust upon the American public: Tetris. This game, even some twenty years after its initial release, stands up to the test of time. I played this game on a green-screen white brick of an original Game Boy. I played it on Super Nintendo. I played it on TI-86 calculators in high school instead of paying attention. I play it today against insanely awesome Japanese kids on my Nintendo DS and routinely get my butt kicked. But hey, it's all part of the fun. The game is seriously addictive, and if you've never played it (to which I would have to wonder the location of the rock you've been under most of your life), you owe yourself to give it a try. If it's good enough for Peter Gibbons in Office Space, it's good enough for you.

For those wondering, the inspiration for this blog comes from the fact that this past Saturday night (3/14), a gathering with four of my friends turned into a ginormous double-elimination Tetris tournament on their old SNES. You know you have reached the peak of geekdom when you are a single guy that spends a Saturday night playing Tetris until 2:00 in the morning. Oh well. FWIW, I finished third out of five people and have to admit that us three guys were all beaten by the two women we were playing against. I'll try to live with this by telling myself they were secretly training against some of those damn Japanese kids.

Now excuse me while I go get humiliated again by somebody with the screename "ラドクリフ、マラソ".

Recession? What Recession?

2009-02-28T14:14:00.011-05:00

So let me first say, I know that we are in a recession. There's no doubt that jobs are being lost and the economy is probably in the worst shape it has been in a long time - though relative to other points in our history, we are still doing pretty good (for now). Still, as I went out to pick up a few things today in Chattanooga, I had a hard time believing that we are in the midst of "tough economic times".

First I simply pull out of the driveway to my apartment and notice that traffic on the road looks like 5:00 rush-hour. I went out to the area around Hamilton Place mall, which is where all of the big-box stores are. My gosh - it looked like Christmas Eve out there. The mall was packed, as when I was trying to get through the food court I had to bob and weave just to keep from getting ran over. Lines were so long turning into some stores that turning lanes were overflowing into the regular traffic lanes. Wal-Mart was... well, Wal-Mart. Full of nothing but mouth-breathers, illegal Mexicans, and 250+ pound women with their hair dyed purple wearing a mini-skirt as they pull around their bratty, screaming horde of children. Oh yeah, don't forget that it's raining which makes the already unenviable task of driving even worse. Yes people, a little misting rain means you need to go 15 mph under the speed limit - I think that's a law in fact [/sarcasm].

So is it like this everywhere? Florence? Huntsville? The rest of America? I know that Chattanooga is actually one of the luckier towns right now. The economy hasn't fallen off that much, and in fact, new jobs are coming in. I just assumed that the media had scared people into not spending money. Are these people simply going out and doing their shopping routine, but not actually buying things? Are they trying to fool themselves into believing everything is okay? Are the majority of people really too stupid to sense anything is wrong, and they are doing what they would normally do? Or - and I would never imagine this - is the media stretching the truth and the recession not really as bad as what they say? I'm not economist, so I don't think I can judge what is right or wrong. But as a simple observer, it's hard to see any difference between now and the past several years.

Finally, just to put a happy spin on this blog, I am going to do something inspired by my good friend Andrew. I will post a personal picture of mine, a place that is dear to all of us geo-nerds' hearts. Enjoy.

Until next time, compadres...

Dentist Blues

2009-02-16T19:07:00.005-05:00

You know how some people use their blog to talk about stuff that is probably totally boring to other people? Well this is me about to do that. If you are reading, I apologize for the time you are about to waste.

I went to the dentist today for my six-month cleaning. Everything was fine, no cavities or anything. Just one problem, actually. I've had a back tooth that started hurting when I chew on it back in December. About a month ago I went to have them check it, and the x-rays didn't really find any problems. The most likely scenario was either I had a tiny crack in one of my molars, or get this, it could be totally sinus-related. My dentist gave me an antibiotic in case it was a sinus issue and that was that.

So needless to say, it wasn't a sinus problem. The tooth hasn't gotten any worse, but there also hasn't been any improvement. I can barely chew on that side, but mostly don't out of fear of making things worse. I heard that a root canal could be the only option to fix this. My dentist pretty much confirmed that today. However, he basically told me I was in this weird gray area of the tooth being a nuisance, but also, in his opinion, not being damaged enough for a root canal. His prescription? Let it go for a few months and see if it somehow happens to improve on its own (to which he gave a 25% chance). Isn't that just great? I also have to try to break my bad habit of chewing ice, which he said could have led to the tooth cracking in the first place.

The kicker to all of this is, my teeth have always been extremely healthy. In fact, I didn't take out insurance when I started my job because it was a.) expensive, b.) I could use that money for better things, and c.) my dentist is a family friend of ours and gives me a discount on the cleanings. It actually costs less for me to pay for cleanings two times a year than to pay for insurance. Of course, that was before I cracked my tooth. A root canal costs about $800 - $1000. Lucky me.

Finally, since I don't have any pictures to relate to this blog - I don't have copies of my x-rays, sorry to say - I present you with this picture of Vince, the "Shamwow" guy. BTW, it's made in Germany, so you know it's good. This picture actually comes from a pretty cool website, http://www.obamicon.me. It has a ton of pictures done in the style of the Obama (false) "Hope" poster. Funny stuff.

Brett, Go Away

2009-02-11T18:04:00.003-05:00

I still plan on doing my big-arse rant on the world economic climate sometime soon, but hey, sports is more important anyway.

The topic of the day is Brett Favre. I'm sure you've all read the articles, so I'm not going to provide any links. But it appears that Brett has told the Jets that he will once again "retire" and not be a part of the team next year.

Which would be fine if we could believe him. This of course makes two years in a row that he has "retired", and about three or four now that he has at least allowed the public to know that he is thinking about it.

Let me first say that I did not used to have a problem with Favre. I didn't love the Packers, but didn't really have anything against them, either. Brett was good, I respected him. I pulled against him in '97 when my Broncos beat the Packers in the Super Bowl. Otherwise, I didn't think about Brett very much, other than to acknowledge he was a pretty darn good quarterback.

The whole thing with Green Bay last year soured me on the guy. Newsflash Brett: you were NOT the Green Bay Packers. When you told them you were leaving and they prepared Aaron Rodgers for the role, they were acting like any sensible franchise would do. They did not "owe" you anything. When you suddenly changed your mind and decided to come back, under no circumstances should they have bumped Rodgers back to second-string and put you back in the starting role. Yeah, they might have won a couple more games, but it would have just been wrong. The Packers didn't screw Brett. Brett screwed Brett (props if anybody knows where that phrase originally comes from).

So now you are retiring again, and I've already heard sportscasters talking about teams that could use you and might be interested. Let me save you the trouble Brett: go away. Don't come back to the NFL. You have made millions of dollars playing a game. Probably 99% of the American public envies a guy that can retire as a multi-millionaire at 40 while they slave for a job they hate. They used to like you, but this continued crying at press conferences and indecision on what to really do is quickly turning people like me against you. Maybe you don't care, and that's fine. But I for one never want to hear your name on ESPN again. If you want people to remember you as a great player AND a decent guy, don't be stupid. Go back to Mississippi and enjoy life. I know I would if I were you. Well, except the part about Mississippi. I'd go anywhere but Mississippi.

Introduction

2009-02-10T20:55:00.002-05:00

So I really tried for a long time not to do the blog thing. Not sure why, exactly, other than the fact that I pretty much despise anything that makes it into popular culture. Of course, I openly embrace things like Facebook and Twitter, but I like to think that I was an early adopter for Facebook (before it became cool) and most people still don't know about Twitter. I'm sure though there are plenty of other pop culture staples that I take part in. I'm nothing if not a hypocrite. But hey, aren't most of us?

I intend on using this space to publish my views and thoughts on things. I feel like they will mostly be awesome and will be the way you should look at things, too. I'm guessing there will be plenty of disagreements though. That's okay, I'm always up for intelligent debate. Hell, I'm usually up for unintelligent debate that devolves into immature name-calling too. I have a pretty thick skin.

I have a big-arse discussion on the current state of world economics that I'm working on. That's probably an incredibly geeky thing to admit, but I was bored at work and wrote out most of it there. That's what happens when you get banned from most websites at work. They want us to be "productive", go figure. Check back soon for that, especially if you have masochistic tendencies.

Later...