Every week, I see all of these road warriors in the airport with their little rollaboard and a small briefcase and I wonder how they can possibly fit all of their essentials into such a small space.

My rollaboard is at the large end of the "acceptable" (to the airline at least) spectrum. Even so, by the time I fill it with my essentials, it is already more than half full.

What are my "essentials" you ask?

• A pair of sneakers into which I have stuffed the chargers for my PDA and cell phone. Note: to minimize duplication, I carry car adapters instead of AC adapters and also carry an AC to car converter and a Y adapter. The AC to car adapter fills one shoe, and the rest fills the other.
• My shave kit (which is kept in a zip lock to minimize "overhead") including shave cream, razor, tooth brush, tooth paste, floss, deodorant, and a hair brush.
• My medicine kit (also in a zip lock) containing small vials of occasional need items such as anti-histamine, analgesics, Rolaids, etc.
• Creative TravelSound travel speakers and AC adapter.

• 2 sets of workout clothes - shorts, t-shirt, socks.
• 1 pair of slacks (in addition to the ones I travel in).
• 4 shirts, 4 pairs underwear, 4 pairs socks - in addition to the ones I travel in.

This doesn't seem in the least unreasonable to me, yet, when I try to close my suitcase, I have squeeze to get it to close, which of course wrinkles the clothes.

So, one might ask, "why don't you just get a larger suitcase?" To which I reply that my existing suitcase barely fits - with significant shoving and grunting - into the overhead bin of a Foker 100. I can't even unzip the zipper that allows the suitcase to accordian out an inch or so and still fit the suitcase in the bin, so there's no way a larger suitcase would fit at all.

So, the question is: how do all of those "other" road warriors - who always seem dressed to kill - make due with their dinky rollaboards?

Jeanie and I watch the Super Bowl every year. Not because either of us are football fans, but because we want to see the commercials.

Even though I am not a sports fan, there are a number of sports that I do enjoy watching, football being one of them. I don't keep up with who the players are or what team rankings are, but occasionally, I do enjoy just watching a game for the sake of the play.

In this particular Super Bowl, even though I do not have a favorite team, I am rooting for the Panthers - just because they are from Carolina.

So, here's the question...

Given all of the above, why did I find myself yelling at the TV urging some Carolina player to "RUN!" And when he sailed across the goal line, why did I shout "YES!"

Strange...

From the nastiest to the nicest, one common element of every men's room I've been in is the same...

The soap dispensers always drip.

Why can't someone invent one that doesn't dribble a little after you're done?

Oh....

Maybe it's a "man thing."

I still can't bear to watch the explosion of the Challenger.

I get queasy every time I see the World Trade Center Towers crumble.

The events were horrible to see once.

But the networks insisted on burning the images into our brain, into our psyche, into our very soul.

Now they insist on doing it again.

The trail of the fireball that was the end of Columbia burns in my brain with the intensity of re-entry.

Why won't they stop?

Were these seven lives more valuable than any others?

I ask, because in the past week, a helicopter crash in Afghanistan claimed the lives of four special forces commandos, an explosion in Kinston North Carolina claimed the lives of four factory workers and put more than 200 others out of a job. I could go on, but I think you get the point.

Were the commandos any less brave than the astronauts? Was their mission any less noble?

Is the life of a highly trained and educated person more valuable than the life of a factory worker?

Why did the majority of major broadcast and cable television networks devote at least eight hours of commercial-free coverage to the destruction of Columbia, but only a few minutes to the stories above?

Why will the government spend millions of dollars to collect every last scrap of wreckage, yet allow U.S. children to go to bed hungry tonight?

I love the space program. My dream as a child was to be a welder in outer space; I wanted to help build a space station. I still marvel every time I look at the night sky. My of my fondest memories was of a night sky devoid of ambient light pollution and moonlight - with the sky more full of stars than I thought possible.

But sometimes, I just wonder why we can be so focused on one tragic event, and shrug off another.

But no, it is about my observation that our perceptions of everything we experience is relative to our frame of reference.

I do not consider myself rich in a monetary sense by any stretch of the imagination, yet to the vast majority of the world's population, I am unimaginably wealthy.

In fact, even relative to one point in my life, this is so. There was a time in my life, where the only money I had to buy food was the few coins that I managed to find scattered around the trailer that I lived in. My "treasure" was enough to buy me a can of biscuits, and a stick of oleo - which constituted that night's dinner.

I will spend a considerable amount of effort and time to fill out, copy, and mail a form for a $5 rebate - to me a statement about the significant value of five dollars. Yet, at other times, I can consider five dollars to be a "measly" amount barely worth concern. To much of the world, five dollars represents at least a day's wages.

So, the question becomes, are there really any absolutes in life, or is everything relative... to time, to location, to perspective, to the rest of the universe?

I'm guessing that they fudge the results high to try to get you to join...

I remember it so vividly...

Like it was just yesterday. The never ending arguments over what Dad would play on the radio...

Muzak - elevator music - dentist office music - whatever the name, it was the same... instrumentalized, homogenized, non-offensive "background music."

I hated it. It drove me crazy. It made me want to jam a screwdriver in my ears to deafen myself just so I wouldn't have to hear it.

I wanted to listen to current, popular music - be it folk, rock, progressive.

Dad would counter that "that isn't music, it's just noise."

While I do occasionally find a new artist that I like, I tend to stick with my old favorites. And even though I have broadened my musical horizons somewhat, I have not been able to embrace hip-hop, rap, grunge, post-grunge, or I-don't-even-know-what-they-call-today's-hot-musical-style.

While I work, I sometimes listen to new age type music - just to avoid what would otherwise be deafening silence...

So, today I started listening to a new Windham Hill collection...

And what should it contain, but new age'd versions of songs that were popular when I was in high school

Arg!

Oh, the horror, the horror!

Office Max has a bunch of FAR (Free After Rebate) stuff including CD-Rs, network cards, an much more. Circuit City has binoculars, a modem, and a UPS FAR - but they usually only have a few in each store, and they get gone quickly. Best Buy has a DVD player for $39.99 and a 75GB hard drive & memory for $49.99 AR and 2 75 packs of CD-Rs FAR.

Last year, I got totally shut out, so, the idea of sleeping in is fairly attractive...

At first it was a lot of fun.

It was new and exciting. I really looked forward to making my entries.

But lately, there just doesn't seem to be much interest on my part.

I don't know if I'm just worn from work, or having a bout of SAD, or if the novelty has worn off and I'm ready for my NBT.

For the two or three folks who are regular readers, I apologize for the lack of entries.

It really bums me out.

I wonder why I let it?

I don't even know her, other than what I've read on her blog, and a few comments in both directions.

As much as I try not to be, I am quite thin skinned.

One of these days, maybe I will learn to not allow other's actions to affect me so much.

i.e. is it all-or-nothing?

When you fall off the wagon, is it absolute, or can you fall off the wagon a little?

If there are degrees, have you really fallen off the wagon, or are you just partially hanging off the wagon?

If you have fallen off the wagon, how do you know when you are back on the wagon? Is there a waiting period before you can say you're back on the wagon, or are you back on as soon as you stop doing whatever threw you off?

Hmm, that's another question... does "it" throw you off of the wagon, or is "it" just beyond the edge of the wagon, and when you grasp it, that is what causes you to fall off?

And where did the expression come from anyway?

It took so much more time, and so much more energy, it will add so much more work and stress to my life, and ultimately, it may negatively impact my job/pay/career.

It would have been so much easier (and safer) to have done the wrong thing.

So, why did I choose to do the right thing?

As far as I'm concerned, one should have to be paid to attend a concert, not visa versa.

Why?

First of all, you have to fight the traffic just to get there.

Then, you have to walk "forever" to get from the outrageously priced parking to the venue.

Once there, you are immersed in an immense crowd.

When you finally get to your seat, chances are, unless you have major connections and are made of money, you can't hardly see the performer, who is always late getting started.

The sound is either lousy, too soft, or makes your ears bleed because it is so loud.

The environment is either wet, too hot, too cold, or so smokey that you can't breath.

And finally, for the same money, you could buy a bunch of CDs you could listen to forever.

On the one hand, one could say that giving blood is a selfless act - it is giving something precious, literally of yourself - for the benefit of others.

You don't get paid for this, it takes your time, so, it is a selfless act, no?

But, there are other facets - at least for me.

I usually donate with a couple of friends. These are guys I have known for many years. We used to work together, and got to see each other pretty much every day. Eventually, we went our separate ways work-wise, and got busy with families, relationships, etc. So, we don't get to see each other very often, except for every eight weeks or so when we give blood. Usually, after the donation, we go out for a "replacement pint."

I really value the time we spend together; in a way, it is a reward for the donation.

And there are other rewards...

Medical studies have shown that one of the factors contributing to heart attacks is excess iron in the blood. The only significant way to reduce the amount of iron in your blood is via blood loss. Women do not tend toward excess iron because nature takes care of this issue on a monthly basis. Men, on the other hand, have no such natural regulator. Blood donation therefore, is a great way for men to combat excess iron accumulation. So, giving blood is good for my health.

Every time you complete another gallon donated, you get a little pin signifying your total lifetime contribution. I am working on my four gallon pin. While the pin may have no monetary value, I find that the staff makes a big deal each time you get one, and it makes me feel very special. So, giving blood is good for my ego.

Every now and then, if I go to the donation center just when they open for the day, they will mark my donation for pediatric platelets. When this happens, I feel most special, knowing that my blood might be the difference between life and death for up to eight little infants. Even if it is just tagged as a "regular" donation, I know that I have helped at least one person in a special and personal way. So, giving blood makes me feel good.

It is this last concept that I find most "troubling" in my search for this answer. For even if you are donating a kidney to a stranger, or helping build a habitat for humanity home, you will always have this benefit of feeling good because you did something good, "selflessly."

That's the question.

I know there are some nice features in 2.5, but I've done enough tweaks that I don't relish the thought of having to re-implement them all.

As far as the MySQL, I already have it running for other purposes, so it is just a question of do I convert the database. The questions are, will I get better performance or will it get worse, and how big a pain is it to migrate the existing data?

I love the latest and greatest, but I don't want to break what I have and then have to spend hours and hours just getting back to where I was... especially when there are no new compelling features.

This is not a rhetorical post... feedback would be appreciated.

Television was my best friend (or so I thought).

It never made fun of me, it never hurt my feelings. It was always there for me when I wanted it, but it never complained if I didn't.

TV showed me what a normal home was like (or so my innocent mind believed). And TV carried me far, far away from the sometimes harsh realities of my life.

Of course, TV also kept me inside, alone, and lethargic. The siren song of late night movies and old re-runs lured me into forsaking sleep - for which my school work paid the price.

Strangely, I was happy to see "the season" end and the re-runs start last spring.

It was like a shackle had been unlocked. Countless hours previously consumed by the tube were now available to me for other pursuits.

Of course many of these hours were consumed by another tube - the Cathode Ray Tube.

Nonetheless, there was a feeling of freedom in not arranging my evenings around the networks' schedules.

I am almost scared to watch any new shows, for fear of getting sucked in by them. At the same time, a few seem like they may be truly interesting and enjoyable. Will FireFly be my next SciFi fav? Will it replace FarScape if it truly stays canceled and I can't get my weekly fix?

On the other hand, I am eager to return to some of my old favorites. I have eagerly awaited the return of "Ed" and "The West Wing" on Wednesdays. I wonder what will happen on "Friends" this season? What will the future hold for Bud, Harm, and Mac on "JAG?" Will "Judging Amy" still hold our interest? Will "24" be as intriguing as it was last season?

I guess TV viewing is just one more area where I need to remember my mantra: "In all things, balance."