The Electric

• My left knee is all gone to crap. If I was a horse, I would be shot. Keep that in mind as you gaze at this post.

• I pray that Texas beats OSU so I won’t have to listen to Buckeye fan all fall rant about how they’re #1. Part of the joy of college football has been taken from me by having to live with Buckeye fan for the better part of 25 years. God I wish I was back in Bama.

• Starting to get pissy at work which isn’t a good thing. Makes me wish I could just throw down the “That’s just the way it is.” card as well as have a switch I could throw that would not make me care what others thought. I would be insufferable to those around me but it not like this is ever going to happen… I’d implode from the guilt.

• Question of the week: You try to start a grassroots project with a co-worker That project is then dovetailed into a larger effort involving other co-workers from different groups. You are happy because the scope of this effort could be enormous and needing additonal resources to be done right. In the final project proposal, key things you felt passionately about were pushed into the “to be reviewed” section while other things that you feel are stupid have been moved to the top “do now” section. These stupid things are so stupid, you didn’t even get pissed when you’re name was left off the final proposal. These things could wreck the whole project but you’re not on the list anymore so why should you care but then again it would majorly suck if something isn’t done. Something that made you head down this path in the first place. So what do you do?

The last three years, I’ve been the captain of the OCLC cooperate challenge co-ed softball team. This is a dubious distinction given that the team hasn’t won a game in the close to 4 years I’ve been with the company.

Now this year I had hoped to pass captaincy to someone else. Except that person never did showed. So thanks to my locked up schedule (new job, family commitments plus trying to get a fence built) we never had a full practice with everyone showing up.

Because of this, I was expecting the worse.

So I must note that this year’s team was surprising in many different ways.

First, we had some new players join us for the first time who played really well given that they hadn’t been on a field in a few years.

Next, we scored more runs in the first inning of the 2nd game than the previous 4 teams did COMBINED.

Yet we still went “Two and a barbecue”

First game with Bysis was close except for one big inning that did us in.

The second game with CAS hurt in more ways than one. After a 10 run first, we only managed to put another 7 on the board. Next, CAS just kept chipping at us until they got a big inning of their own to tie the game. After the top of our order was held scoreless, CAS push across the winning run just before the skies opened up raining out the rest of the event.

I should also note that one of our women players had to come off the field due to the heat which was like being in a sauna. I’m praying she is able to bounce back and would be willing to play with us again.

My knee is sore and the Advil hasn’t hit yet so I’m heading to bed…

This might be one of the few times that a Windows guy like me can look at a Mac and just thank goodness I didn’t buy one

Long the secret envy of Windows folks like myself for their ease in producing professional quality multimedia as well as ‘just working’, I’ve always looked at the Mac with bitterness.

First there is the smugness of Apple and then there are their business practices that are worse than those at Microsoft.

So on the eve of Apple shanking of yet another business partner, in this case IBM, as they move to Intel chips, Mac users now must face the fact the Apple took their eye off the ball and you as their customers are about to pay.

Because while they were busy selling iPods and ripping off shareware ideas for Tiger, Intel along with AMD and Microsoft cracked the 64bit dual processor nut.

These chips are basically two very fast (by about twice the speed) computers in one. Already Industrial Light and Magic switched to these chips running a beta version of Windows XP64 to crunch effects for War of the Worlds and Episode 3. Now that power is available to Windows folks at the end of this month in a new computer with all the bells and whistles for about $2000.

Now here’s the rub for Apple folks:

Apple has 0 experience with 64 bit OS development and the current OS is based on 32 bit open source. So unless Apple does what Microsoft did and sell both 32 and 64 bit versions of the OS, you’re going to see a new Mac OS that won’t work for your Mac. BTW Microsoft has had 3 years of 64 bit development

Here’s the other kicker. The intel chips stink, bad, their just a notch above their current high end 32 bit chips. Their so bad that their major competitor, AMD (who’s chips ILM used) doubled the price on their 64bit dual core.

So when Steve gives you a peak into the Mac future, remember to start saving now.

Yesterday might have been my worst game in a long long time.

0 for 3 and none of the balls were hit worth a flip plus I have had no real confidence at the plate all season. My days of just show up and rake the ball anyplace I want to take it appear to be over.

To add insult, I slip on a wet home plate while moving out from my muddy place behind the plate to field a throw for a force play at the plate.

We got the out and won the game yet my right knee feels like crap. My hope is that before the next game, I can make it out to the batting cage to some swings in.