Did a little minor office redecorating this week – thanks to some art from Hugh MacLeod and his Gapingvoid Gallery.

New Role - New Nameplate

Hugh's Create or Die Print

Hugh's Ignore Everybody Print

Star Tribune Business Page from the Shareholder's Meeting

I like the new art! Gotta keep things fresh!

I’m a third generation Boy Scout. Like my father and grandfather before me, I chose to stay the course and complete the requirements to become an Eagle Scout. Each Eagle must complete, as a part of the requirements for the rank, a project involving community service and leadership of others. While my own project isn’t really worthy of mention this Memorial Day, the project of Michael Foor, the older brother of a classmate of mine is relevant today.

Michael, who was the first Eagle Scout in our new troop, endeavored to visit the various cemeteries throughout Fountain County, Indiana and map the location of every veteran’s graves. Annually, each weekend before Memorial Day, our scout troop received a large shipment of American flags from the government and proceeded to place a flag 12 inches in front of each veteran’s graves throughout our county.

It remains one of the single most impressive Eagle Scout projects that I’ve come across. And it served to a young man like me as a poignant reminder of what many families have sacrificed – even then, half a lifetime ago, my thoughts were with them on Memorial Day.

I haven’t written much lately – been involved in a project at work that has been quite involved – but my current team has been bugging me to provide them with something to read on here… so inspired by Lex’s post, here’s something new:

Kimber Ultra CDP II with Wilson Magazines at Bill’s Gun Shop & Range North.

Get a Kimber. Compromise somewhere else.

Red Sox 3, Angels 2

Tampa, you’re next….

To all of the military service men and women who serve today – who have served – and who will serve – you have my thanks on this Veterans Day 2005.

Pictures from my 2005 visit to the World War II Memorial.

Completely unexpected to me, the new Powerbook arrived around 8:15am yesterday morning. Pretty impressive since I had ordered it on Thursday, it was in China on Saturday, and made it to my doorstep on Tuesday.

I’m not complaining, mind you, just impressed.

So here’s some pictures of the unpacking & process:

I used Apple’s transfer process to move over all of my applications and settings from my 3 year old Powerbook over to the new one. Took about two hours in total and I was up and running. Nothing needed to be reinstalled from scratch.

So far, very very happy with the new machine. Really enjoying the fact that the screen isn’t wobbly like my old broken one was.. the lighted keyboard rocks as well.

More to come….

Chap recently reminded me through one of his posts about this man:

A very long time ago, I described him as quite possibly the bravest man that I had ever seen.

I just hope that if the time ever came, that I would have the courage to do as he did.

Wash:

• The hurricane is Bush’s fault – it’s because of Kyoto and Global Warming!
• The levees are Bush’s fault – it’s because the Southeast Flood Control Budget was cut a record $71.2m!
• The slow FEMA response is Bush’s fault – it’s because he appointed someone with no disaster management experience the head of FEMA!
• The slow National Guard response is Bush’s fault – it’s because all of the Louisiana National Guard is in Iraq! BRING THEM HOME NOW!
• The….. is Bush’s fault…. it’s because….!

Rinse

Cycle

Repeat

Rinse

Cycle

Repeat

So predictable…

And now for some scotch.

Too tired and busy last night to post the final update on the 1400 mile drive, but here is the update.

I made it to Woodbury, Minnesota around 430pm CST yesterday, having followed the path below:

One sees many interesting things on a 1400 mile drive, but the only one I took a picture of was outside of Madison, Wisconsin at a rest area. It’s the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Memorial:

I’ve now bought the new washer and dryer and a new grill – looked at some other things and have much to do. Closing is tomorrow at 10am.

You might have also heard of that bitch, Katrina? Yeah, thought you had. That’s on my mind too tonight.

Pulled out of Boston’s Nine-Zero Hotel this morning at 5:45am EST, pulled into the Residence Inn in Toledo Ohio about 7pm EST. The cat managed to not puke until we got to the hotel, so that’s an improvement over what has happened in the past.

Here’s the map for you Google Geeks out there:

It’s about 774 miles – I drive a 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid, and averaged 40.4 MPG for this trip, so my fuel used was only around 19.16 gallons so far.

In fact, at 500 miles, I took this picture with the Treo 650:

Now for pizza, some old James Bond on the telly, and out the door by 6am for the remaining 660 miles to go to the new home in Minnesota. Closing is Monday morning….

As seen in Detroit’s Metro Airport last Friday:

I set off at 4:30pm on what will likely be my last bike ride in Massachusetts. I headed to Massasoit State Park, just four miles away, and the scene of many biking memories over the past year. I’ve likely ridden about 200 miles within the confines of Massasoit…

So there I was, hydrated and loose, in the blue mountain biking top, cruising to the Six Feet Under Volume 2 Soundtrack – “Breathe Me” was ripping through the iPod, I was headed down hill. Life was good, when suddenly…

WTF, where is my bike?

I had been looking too far down the trail and had drifted too far to the right, caught a stump on a pedal, which brought the bike to a near halt, tossing me over the handlebars and into a nice roll into the brush – I ended up about eight feet from the bike.

No major injuries.. just some scrapes and alot of dust and dirt.. even some leaves ended up in my shorts…

So I got up, dusted myself off, and did the best thing I could.

I rode on.

Giro Atmos. And it rocks.

“I want to say one thing: This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty or the powerful, it is not aimed at presidents or prime ministers, it was aimed at ordinary working-class Londoners. That isn’t an ideology, it isn’t even a perverted faith, it’s mass murder.”

- London Mayor Ken Livingstone

Photo by the Sidekick with the new Nikon D70.

In Boston’s Old Granary Burying Ground near the Boston Common lie three of the five Massachusetts men who signed the Declaration of Independence. John Adams, cousin of Sam, lies six miles to the south in Quincy, Massachusetts next to his son – both Presidents of the United States.

Rest in peace….

Cox & Forkum have a great editorial cartoon and column up about Memorial Day:

In the sloppy terminology so typical of today, it is common to attribute the courage of our soldiers to “self-sacrifice.” But this misses the enormous difference between our soldiers and the malevolent fanatics on the other side, who declare that they want to die because they “love death.” American soldiers do not go into battle because they love death. They go into battle because they love freedom. They love the liberties we enjoy and the prosperous and benevolent society that these liberties make possible. And they realize that someone has to fight to defend all of this.

Our soldiers do not want to die, and they do not expect to die; they know they are far better trained and better armed than their adversaries. But they know that some of them will die, and they believe that freedom is worth that risk. Here is how the family of Petty Officer 1st Class Neil Roberts, the first American soldier to die in Operation Anaconda, expressed it: “He made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that everyone who calls himself or herself an American truly has all the privileges of living in the greatest country in the world.”

Smash, the Indepundit, also has a great post up about Memorial Day and his “Flags In” experience with the local Boy Scouts, something I did for many years in and around my hometown of Covington, Indiana.