lifewithoutanet

What's up there, dude? Congrats on that jump. Wish I'd been around for it. -C.

Nope. Not, yet. But one day...with a lot more training and a bit more patience...I shall. -C.

I like WinMX and keep it around for those 'emergencies', but for the most part, I've switched over to iTunes. Only prob is not all artists are listed there, but when they are, it's $0.99 a song and the songs download immediately, whereas I usually have to wait in queue on WinMx. Happy theiving, -C.

I don't know who to respond to in this thread, so I'll start w/ Steve's post since it's the one I agree with most. I was in Paris for the Prologue of The Tour last year. As an American standing 10 meters from the finish line watching other Americans running by w/ American flags and obvious support for the USPS team, let me just say I witnessed NOTHING but support (okay, maybe indifference, but not protest) for Lance and his teammates. I saw plenty cheering for him, but not a boo or jeer amongst the crowd. Does that mean that there are no people who hate him? Of course not, but in 9 hours standing in one place, the only negativity I witnessed was during an interview I had with a French journalist...and that probably had a lot to do with how I slammed the media repeatedly in response to her questions. In any case, that very same thing (anti-whoever) can be experienced here in America, or Germany, Switzerland...wherever. And I've certainly made some jokes at the French's expense. It's easy and fun. (See?) But the criticism we wage at each-other is fed largely by the media and their propoganda. Still, as the media is not much different in their tactics from nation to nation, the people are not that much different, either. You can hardly find much sociological difference in us and in other nations... Humans are humans. While we slam the French, they so slam us, as well. We can't call them assholes when we cast judgement upon them, as well. Okay, we can...cause it's fun. -C.

........ I hung out w/ Dave Matthews for about 4 hours in a bar in DC one night, just chilling out and chatting w/ him and his friends like he was any regular guy. He actually introduced himself to us...probably had something to do with our blonde friend Noelle, but seriously, what a nice guy. Then I ate dinner at a table next to Helen Hunt in another DC establishment. My girlfriend and I were out celebrating her graduation and Helen was seated at the table next to us. She jokingly interrupted our dinner by saying..."You're sitting at MY table," and then chatted w/ us all night. Finally, a few months ago when I was choosing a flight school, I walked out of the owner's office and bumped into Angelina Jolie. She smiled, said "Hi there" and walked off w/ her instructor. Care to guess how quickly I decided that I'd be taking flight lessons at that school? -C.

You're going to Hell for that. It's okay, though...I'm one of a few people you know who's driving that shuttle bus. -C.

From 'Last Comic Standing' last night...it's pretty fitting... "You women ask us questions we can't answer, like: 'Do you remember...?' NO! We invented 'Instant Replay' because we can't rembember something we JUST SAW!" -C.

Thread hijack, but it had to be done. (see attached) -C.

Thanks. I love these guys, too. They were probably a bit happier in that pic than than they are now. That was taken in my old office, where dogs were a common thing. New office (same company) is much, much different. I work from home now and then and they love that, but they're not with me everyday, all day. -C.

I have two: a golden retriever named Jake and a chocolate lab named Cale. I adopted them together when the family who had them started travelling too much and didn't think it was fair to leave them behind as often as they had to. I'd really only set out to adopt one dog, but when I saw these two, my decision was made. I grew up with goldens and a chocolate lab, so I really lucked out with these two. Jake is the 'older brother' to Cale. He's 9 years old and is the more mellow of the two. He's also the laziest golden you'll ever meet, until you show him a tennis ball. He'll let you know it's time to stop petting him by leaving you alone. Until then, keep petting him. Cale is 8. He's got a genetic condition wherein he doesn't get enough blood flow to his eyes and as a result, he's night blind and has tunnel vision. As a result, he routinely bumps into a lot of shit. He gets around pretty well, though, when he's familar with an area. He'll also beat Jake to a tennis ball any day, provided he sees where it went. Otherwise, he'll just follow Jake and steal it once Jake starts to bring it back. The two are inseparable and sometimes it seems that Jake really does look out for Cale, as if he knows Cale needs him around. -C.

What really sucks is how easy it is to get hooked on this kind of thing. Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck. Okay, sorry...I'm leaving now. -C.

Vibes your way, bro. -C.

Hey, man. Sorry to hear about all that. But think about this... You are aware of your condition, though...and you set out to take on the task anyway. That's an admirable fighting spirit, man. Hold onto it. Blue skies to you, as well. -C.

Which is neither steak, nor seafood. -C.

I'm sure SNL is gonna be all over that one. -C.

Well, we're going to disagree on removal of rights, as I don't believe your rights are being removed if you're using mass transit or going to a sporting event and could pose a significant threat to many others. That topic has been discussed to death in these forums, anyway. I was more wondering if people would change their opinions at all when it was less about "my rights" and more about "my loved ones". As for your son's situation, what complete bullshit. Sorry that happened. Your son is certainly not the first person to say that the world would be better off without people. When it comes to our schools, it's my opinion that we've been down this path far longer than post Sept. 11th. Columbine, 'zero tollerance' for everything in schools including Tylenol...the list goes on. It's all about holding someone accountable...a target at which to point the finger. Because if the school doesn't do something, they're afraid of what might happen and how they'll be blamed for it. When it got to the cops, they should've called 'bullshit' and told the school they had real police work to be doing. What, and we didn't at that age? When I was 14 I thought my father was the most ignorant man on the face of the planet. When I turned 21, I thought, "My god, he's learned a lot in 7 years." -C.

Well, that sucks. Nothing will justify taking a 13 year old's words out of context and giving him a record for it, but I'd like to hear some more details. Care to share? Who made a huge deal out of it? In the context of the safety of others, pardon me, but screw anyone's presumed innocence. If you're driving the bus my kid takes to school, I don't want you doing any drugs. Still, my question hasn't really been answered. Or possibly (I'll admit), short of, "You're right, okay, I'm willing to sacrifice some liberties to possibly save my wife/son/mother from being a victim of a preventable attack," I won't be satisfied with your answer. It's just not logical to me to think that when the fight has been brought to us and we know they want to bring it to us again, our response is simply reactive to bring it back to them. -C.

A false sense of security serves no purpose. And it can be argued that the threat of greater searches only motivates those hell-bent on attacking us to be more thorough in their planning. I'll give you that much. It's not feasible for everyone to join the military. So, what about those who can't? Are they to just go about their lives and hope nothing happens to them? Blindly trust in the military to take the fight to the terrorists? Okay, if you can't join the military and do something directly, do you do nothing? -C.

I get that and you articulate it well, but that wasn't really the question I was asking... That handles it after the fact...what about when something can be done beforehand that might prevent such a thing from even happening? -C.

JUMP!!! Wish I were. -C.

There's a lot of discussion about liberties in this forum. Some will give them up, others will not. The common positions are: "If a little inconvenience keeps me safe, fine by me, I have nothing to hide, anyway." -Or- "Sacrificing one's liberties is not freedom. I'll accept the risk as long as I preserve my rights." (Forgive me if I didn't articulate that one well...admittedly, it's not a position I choose for myself.) Either way you look at it, whichever your position, that's a lot of focus on 'Me'. So, let's turn this around a little bit. It's not about 'Me' anymore, but rather about 'My'. It's about My SO, My kids, My parents, My siblings, My best friends, My neighbors, My coworkers... Anybody but 'Me'. It's selfless and maybe even a bit noble to say that we're willing to give up our liberties or our lives for whichever of those positions we support. So, removing that selfless aspect...what are you willing to do to protect the people that mean the most to you? Or are you? My position on this is probably obvious. I'd prefer that it take a little longer for my brother to get to his seat on the plane, because my brother is a stranger to your mother and she doesn't know that he's not going to harm a soul or that he has nothing in his bag. But maybe someone else's brother ends up putting an improvised weapon to your mother's throat. Sorry, there's really no need for that kind of visual, but ask anyone with loved ones on those four planes on September 11th if they believe their loved ones died in protection of our civil liberties. Or maybe think back to that day... Did you have a loved one that was in the air? Did you call friends in New York, wondering if they were okay? Did you have friends and possibly family members in the Pentagon that day? How did you feel about what happened? I'm not challenging anyone or saying that some of you weren't outraged or frightened. But what are you willing to do to protect the people you love? I count myself lucky. I knew people who lost people, I knew people who knew people who lost people...from all walks of life. My father, who spends a fair amount of time at the Pentagon--and used to work there--wasn't there that day. But if he had been, 'justice' would not have been enough to avenge his murder or make it okay, especially if there was something we could have done that might have prevented it. There will be another attack on our society. When it happens, you can blame it on poor intelligence and uncooperative agencies and an administration that didn't do enough, whichever administration is in office. But who might you have lost and what will you have done to prevent it from happening? I'm not willing to lose anyone in my life or tens, hundreds or thousands of people I don't know when there's something we might be able to sacrifice in order to prevent such a thing from happening. I'm genuinely interested in what my fellow skydivers have to say, regardless of their stance. What about when it's not about you? Anybody? -C.

It was in the Speaker's Corner. Unbelievable true story - a must read -C.

Interesting rally her stock is making right now. MSO up nearly 30% (as of 0950 Pacific). -C.

That's barely enough time for her to get settled and get it decorated for guests. -C.

Hmmm... Does that make it Fair and Balanced? Just poking holes with a little subtle irony. Fox is rarely quoted as a source against Bush. I know this is an affiliate and not Fox News Channel, but I had to chuckle when I read that. As to the heresay... When I lived in DC, a close friend of mine was a producer for NBC's Today show in their DC office. She had a lot of interesting anecdotes she'd tell us about, most of which were hilarious. Some of the more unbelievable ones were just that...completely unbelievable. She'd hear reports of something happening, often from other reporters or staff as the story made its rounds. But she'd been there when those 'somethings' happened and typically the more 'damaging' it was to someone's moral character, the further it was from the truth. Just my $.02. -C.