Political update, Halloween edition

1. The McCain campaign is "dead even" with Obama in Iowa. You read that right. Dead even. In Iowa! You can even read about at the liberal network NBC. Those polls showing Obama up by 10, 11, or 15 points are meaningless. If it wasn't close why is Obama in the state today?
2. Even Jay Leno and David Letterman want to see John McCain elected.
3. The polls are tightening! The polls are tightening! Well, just one, but it's a good one: Rasmussen. He has McCain only down by four and pulling the highest percentage since early September.
Don't forget yesterday's Fox poll that shows that Obama's nine point lead last week is down to three!
With that kind of momentum McCain will win by a larger share than Bush did in 2004.
4. Read this leak from the Obama campaign:

According to this leak, Obamas campaign think MO, NC, NV, CO, all outside their reach. Only IA, MN, PA, true battleground. They trail in OH, but "hope" they can still get OH!!

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The MSM (that's Main Stream Media for all you non-blogging folks) will do whatever it can to get Obama elected. Don't believe the polls. Where are those polls' headquarters? New York, Chicago, and D.C. Of course they will have a liberal bias!
I'm from rural Iowa. My daddy owns a shot gun and pick up truck. You don't get any more real American than that.
There's no way real America will support the leftist, socialist, communist from the Chicago machine politics.
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Update: McCain takes the lead in Zogby's poll. Remember, Zogby is a Democrat. It must be killing the Obamabots to be losing this! They can't deny the truth when it comes from one of their own.

They can do that?

Skip the Obama button for now.

I bought today's newspaper because of the headline: "Sulayem Rules out Drop in Dubai Real Estate Prices." I was not sure who Sulayem was but anyone able "rule out" a drop in prices must be pretty powerful.

It turns out the headline was misleading (to me at least). Mr. Sulayem is the Chair of the Dubai Group, the major real estate developer. And his ruling out was NOT in the way of "I command prices to remain constant." It was ruling out prices falling in the way of "it's just not going to happen." He's making the case that the financial conditions here are strong enough to withstand the global meltdown. If he stopped there I'd be very skeptical. Every dot.com explained why they were not like the others in 2000, only to declare bankruptcy two weeks later.

Mr. Sulayem points out that demand for housing is still outpacing supply. Therefore, prices shouldn't drop. Sounds reasonable. There is nobody who is going to say we've reached a housing glut in this country.

Why did I add the Obama button? Because if that one is elected and his socialist policies are enacted HE will dictate prices. Not that anyone will be able to afford a house...

Halloween is almost over.

You'll be seeing daily posts from now on!

I received this from a friend:

I logged back into my e-mail account to praise your blog.  Yes it's random, but it's real, it's funny, it's intelligent.  You hardly ever leave yourself out there if at all.  It's almost a daily thing for me to read your blog, which puts it right up there with showering for me.  Only reading your blog takes place slightly more often.  Yes you may quote that without using my name :).

Yep, daily posts going forward.  If I run out of material I can always talk about the weather.  Speaking of which...

A high of 74 on Halloween?

I swear there was snow or freezing rain for every Halloween when I was kid.  Of course, we had to walk six miles up hill to get a small bag of candy...

Today's warm weather notwithstanding, October continues the streak of below normal temperatures.  Cedar Rapids has yet to have a month in 2008 of temps meeting the historical average. 

Halloween...

I have gone all out for Halloween the past couple of years... even shaving my head two years ago. Marcy Dent did great make up. As she was applying it her son Ben taunted me with, "You're not scary... I'm still not scared..." By the time she was done Ben's eyes were wide and he moved a healthy distance away.

I can't find ANY pics of me from previous Halloweens. Anyone got any?

Happy Halloween (to my Republican friends)

This cartoon is from Greg Mankiw's blog. He's the guy who advised Bush for a couple of years.

Anyhow, I mentioned a while back that we will be looking at a massive fiscal stimulus after the election. Mankiw agrees and points to fellow conservative economists who feel the same way.

Happy Halloween

Mike Longwell sent me these pics. Actually, his e-mail had many dogs in costumes. I thought it was funny that half of the pics were pugs.
Gus' previous owner gave him to me with a bunch of costumes. I don't use them.
When I first got Gus he had Darth Vader tendencies. He has since proven to be on the right side of the force.
A pug as Robin Hood? I could buy that. Or is this supposed to be the three musketeers?
The owner of this dog should be turned in to someone.
Ditto.

McDonalds

I have little hope of losing weight while I live here. They don't sell Cherry Coke Zero so I drink Coke most days. And I have fallen in love with the McArabia. It tastes like a chicken gyro. I have no idea why McD's doesn't sell the Chicken Big Mac and the McArabia (renamed, of course) in the US.
I don't see the veggie Pizza McPuff catching on!

Cedar Rapids news

There is no doubt I am following the news back home much more than when I LIVED back home.

The story of the woman killing one child and trying to kill another is something I can see making the national press.

I would like to know what makes a person a mold expert.   That's a degree I missed in the college brochures!

Oh, come on!

I know some believe the election of Obama is a sign of the apocalypse. Even one of my friends thinks that. (Hi Jay!)

Signs like this make me wonder if they're right!

Pic from Ben Smith. I like one of the comments written on Ben's blog:

"Wow. Dislike of Bush trumps ingrained racism. I guess Bush did fulfill his promise when he said he would unite us as a country. It took him 8 years, but he did it!"

My friend Matt hung a large Confederate flag in his Coe dorm room. If he tells me he voted for Obama I will check the sky for locusts.

$36 steak

I'm 1-4 in ordering steak in this country.

A couple of years ago I suggested to my parents that they go to the Chophouse for their anniversary. Mom and Dad went... and left. The steak prices started at $20.

I'll admit that's pricey for Iowa.

I added the blurb below the header for this blog because I really, really miss good beef and pork. Tonight I ate a $36 steak. It was, well, not so good. If I had paid half that price back in Iowa I would have sent it back.

The menu claimed it was a rib-eye. From my stops at Chili's I should have learned that the meaning of rib-eye is not the same here as in the US. A good Iowa rib-eye is amazingly tender with lots of marbling. Here it is much more similar to sirloin.

Ironically, the one good steak I've had here was a sirloin at Chili's.

Quote of the day

It's almost 2AM and I'm still reading politics... Here's the quote of the day:

"Senator Obama has run an effective campaign, but Senator McCain will make a stronger leader. Let's face it – Democrats may do politics better than Republicans, but politics will not ensure our liberty. Leadership will."

- Congressman Zach Wamp.

That's funny; I have always thought the reverse. A party smart enough to come up with a phrase like "Death tax" seems much better at politics than my side.

Who knew the US even had a Congressman Wamp?

This is awkward

Backstory: While I was in college a HOBY friend who was active ROTC shockingly died of a heart attack at the age of 20. I attended the wake and funeral. I had known Kirk for two years and had previously met his HS and college friends. At the wake there was this incredible outpouring of people who seemed to be his best friend. Kirk was a great guy but I thought to myself, "Who are these people?"

Fast forward to this week. One of my fellow new colleagues who was also placed in this crappy new apartment building died of a heart attack. I had only spoken to him once because during our first six weeks he wasn't with us in the Hilton, he lived at the Intercontinental, aka Shelbyville. A fellow Shelbyviller posted signs around our building inviting us to "A brunch in celebration of Brian's life."

That's all well and good. I'd like to think that if I died someone would do that for me... but I didn't plan to go. From everything I've heard Brian was a great guy. I simply didn't know him.

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This afternoon a woman from HR called me.

HR person: Hello, Steve. Have you heard about the brunch in memory of Brian?

Me: Yes.

HR person: Would you be willing to send an e-mail to all of the new faculty and staff letting them know about it?

Me: Umm, why me?

HR person: I was going to send it but our HR director says it can't come from this office because it's not an official university event.

Me: OK. Maybe this should come from the guy planning the event.

HR person: I will forward you the e-mail addresses of all of the new people. Will you send the announcement?

Me: I'm still not sure why it would be coming from me, but yeah, sure, I'll send it.

And, of course, I sent it.

Now I have no choice but to go to this gathering tomorrow. Someone will be sitting there saying, "Where's that Steve guy who sent the invitation?"

I have one more reason to avoid this luncheon: It's the place I got food poisoning when I arrived.

Speed bumps

Count how many you go over today and I'll do the same.  Let  me know your results.

Political Potpourri

I've mellowed a bit since this afternoon. After I received news of the cheating incident I must have paced several miles. That's good. Any exercise I get here is good. I'll write more about the cheating this weekend.
For now I'll return to my near constant obsession. (An obsession that can described this way: Tonight I was stopping back at my apartment building to pick up a friend to join a couple of others for dinner. I called to let her know that I needed to time to run in to my apartment to use the bathroom. All true. I didn't add that I needed a minute to check the latest Rasmussen daily tracking poll, which, just yesterday, had the race tightening. I have become such a geek that I know the time of day each of the seven tracking polls are released and become quite irritated when they don't post on time.)
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First, I watched the Obama 30 minute infomercial. Its Ken Burns Civil War narration style helped calm me down from the cheating furor. It was very well done and the transition into a live rally was absolutely amazing. How on earth did they get the timing that perfect? As I wrote to a Republican friend, "I wonder how many people saw it and whether or not it actually changed anyone's views. Anyone so uninformed as to not who they are going to vote for by this time is probably not going to watch a 30 minute infomercial. I think it will be effective, however, in energizing Democrats for the last push. It made me want to fly back to America to help out in any way I could... "
Second, whoever does Senator McCain's commercials needs spell check.
Third, we all get those forwards from people that make us shake our heads. I don't get many anymore because I go to snopes.com which debunks them and reply with a basic, "How can you be that stupid?" response. It's a wonder I don't have more friends.
Anyhow, they are often something witty supposedly written by a famous person. Right wingers like to forward stories supposedly written by Maureen Dowd. "See even a liberal columnist like Maureen Dowd questions Obama's fundraising!" The problem? Anyone who has read Maureen Dowd's work realizes it isn't her. As she says:

"It is hard to track down and control these things, and anyone who reads my column knows that this wasn't me. I got to the second line and I knew it wasn't me."

As I was reading George Will's latest column I thought the same thing. If it wasn't posted on the Washington Post web site I wouldn't have believed he wrote it. The number of Republicans who have jumped off the Straight Talk Express gives me the vision of the bus pulling a Thelma and Louise.
And finally, has the Cedar Rapids Gazette made an endorsement? In my memory they have always endorsed Republicans except in '92 when they were part of a handful of newspapers endorsing Perot.
P.S. Today's Rasmussen tracking poll has the race returning to the range it has been for the past month... Not that I was getting nervous or anything.
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Update: McCain may have spent years in the military but his campaign can't shoot straight. Today he's at a rally where he calls out for Joe-the-plumber. Joe's nowhere to be found. Why? He was sitting at home. Dana Bash of CNN called the moment awkward.
I'm sure it was.

Unbelievable!

While taking the exam at least one student used his camera phone to take pictures of the questions.  After class he/they had the pictures printed at a copy shop and distributed the test to later sections.
I found out two hours ago and this is the first I've been able to sit down and write.  It's a good thing I found out on Thursday and won't see my students until Sunday.

"One of these things is not like the other..."

Sandy's suggested title from the comments was much better than mine.
I found this pic reading Jonathan Martin's blog.

Fags vs. faggots

According to a British colleague one is a cigarette and the other is a sausage meatball.

84 degrees, clear skies, low humidity

I just took a nice walk along the wadi (dry river bed).

How's the weather where you are?

Holy bratwurst!

For the past couple of years Exxon Mobil has been the largest company in the world with a current market value of $370 billion.

Not surprising.

Today they are not the largest by market cap.  Who is? Volkswagen.

Shares in Volkswagen have skyrocketed in the past few days.  I heard a ten minute story on CNBC and I can't explain it to you because I didn't understand it!

Repeated many times during exam

"Do not talk"
"Be quiet!"
"No talking means NO TALKING!"
"Shut up!"
"You are making me lose hair on my head. As you can see I don't have much hair to lose." They liked that one.
What finally worked? "If you guys keep talking I will take off points for everyone in the class."
Towards the end of the class a student powered up his laptop to find an answer!

Quote of the day

From a student before taking his midterm: 

"I will do well on this exam.  I'm not flattering myself.  I am intelligent."

Eight days and counting

It's surprisingly close... in Arizona.
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I have volunteered for many campaigns. In each we were told either A. Do not talk to the press, or B. Let us know if anyone from the press talks to you. I understand the reasoning. The last thing a campaign needs is a volunteer or paid worker going off message. This youtube is unfortunate. 99% 90% of the people working in the McCain field offices are good people supporting their candidate. This guy needs to get some sleep.
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I'll repeat: If you are not reading the Hannity-insanity forums you should. You can find every stage of grief. I'll summarize for you:
1. Denial - "The polls are wrong. Nobody has polled me! All independents will go to McCain, the Bradley effect, the Bradley effect!" (The Bradley effect is the notion that people tell pollsters they'll vote for the black man but really vote for the white man. Unfortunately, Obama did better than his poll numbers in the majority of primaries - New Hampshire being the big exception. So if McCain cries between now and election day all bets are off.)
2. Anger. The Democrats are going to steal this election with the help of Acorn!
3. Bargaining. This is the best. If we all call four people today... and they call four people... well, hey we're so close to getting McCain/Palin elected. (This crowd loves Sarah, John not-so-much.)
4. Depression. This one is scary. One of the most popular threads on Hannity for the past couple of days was titled, "Today I purchased two handguns." Other threads discuss secession for the red states and "Will Obama make us pay reparations to the slaves?" Amazing, amazing stuff.
5. Acceptance. Here's a direct quote from an e-mail to me today from a Republican friend:

"All I hope is that people know what they are voting for. If they are in favor of this, then OK, but I just hope they know what they are getting....."

Specifically he cites an interview Obama did in 2001. I had read the text and didn't understand what Republicans found so incendiary. Ken forwarded me the Youtube of the interview. I listened... played it twice, actually. I guess I'm one of the Americans hypnotized by Obama because I heard nothing outrageous. In case you don't play the youtube here is the quote from Obama in 2001:

But the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society. And to that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution, at least as it’s been interpreted, and the Warren Court interpreted it in the same way that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties... And one of the, I think, tragedies of the civil rights movement was, because the civil rights movement became so court-focused, I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which to bring about redistributive change.

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Finally, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens has been found guilty. He's been on trial for weeks but was still running even in the polls. He demanded a speedy trial because he was sure he would be acquitted before election day. Alaska's new senator will be Mark Begich. Another name you will never need to remember.
Democrats can gloat, but we have our own scum. We picked Tim Mahoney to replace gay predator Mark Foley (you remember, he would send IM's to 17 year old pages asking, "So what are you wearing?"). Tim, proving he was straight, had an affair with a female staffer and fired her after she broke up with him. Realizing this would cost him dearly if she went public he promised to pay her $121,000. This is one House seat my side will be giving back to the Republicans.

"Tokyo Rose" quote of the day

"You're a nice young man and I thought you had a political future ahead of you, but that just ended your political career right there," Senator Harkin to his opponent Christopher Reed.  Reed said Harkin gave aid and comfort to the enemy and was like a Tokyo Rose.
It's one thing to lose a campaign.  It's another to go down in flames. 

Life is rough.

It took me ten minutes to figure out where the maid put my bottle opener.

Not from Cedar Rapids... ugh.

I hate it when I see really stupid quotes attributed to Iowans. It's even worse when the guy lives in Cedar Rapids. This quote is from a Cedar Rapidian attending the McCain/Palin rally on Saturday:

"We don't really have a choice right now because otherwise it's going to be slavery, you know," Getz said. "The guy who's running on the other side, he's not an American. He don't even think like we do."

He is right about one thing: me don't think like he do.

What I'm missing

Dad raises great vegetables. He raises onions potatoes, radishes, etc. He even keeps his parsly going long after the frost and snow starts. I try to freeze as much corn and green beans as I can.
Shortly upon my return I will use these veges to make soup. A soup that is wonderful. But alas, unavailable here.

On the return trip I can bring back several bags of frozen corn and green beans.

Then maybe, I can cook the way I like here.

Over the counter

Back when I had food poisoning Ann was able to buy Cipro for me over the counter (and at a price much lower than the US). Tonight I learned that I can buy Lipitor (for my ridiculously high cholesterol) over the counter. I forgot to ask the price.

To get to sleep I cannot, however, buy Ambien or it's generic. "That's a controlled substance, sir," said my polite Egyptian pharmacist.

Ambien CR (the one that helps you stay asleep) is listed as a narcotic on the same level as heroin or cocaine. I've never tried either of those but I do miss Ambien CR.

Worker bees

A fellow Sigma Nu sent this question: 

I have been building a couple of things for my apartment and Amanda's house, so are there hardware stores where you're at? Could you go out and buy a gallon of paint? Or get yourself some 1x12" pine boards and sinder blocks to build a dorm bookshelf? These are things I have taken for granted growing up in a family that has done many home improvement projects around the house.

Yes, there are hardware stores and *IF* I were handy I might use them. 
But I don't.
Moving an apartment's worth of stuff?  Hire helpful Indians.  Cost?  $80.  I tipped them an extra $80 because they were great and helped me (did it for me) hook up the appliances.
Need to drill in the wall to install new curtains?  Done for $10/curtain.
In 2004 Mom gave me new curtains for my house in CR.  They are still not up.  If I had someone to do it for me for $10 they'd of been up four years ago.
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Please be like Peter; send me questions.

Oh, so wrong!

Iowa photos

I have a collection of my own Iowa photos but I'd appreciate links to more.  I've promised my classes that I'd show them pictures of Iowa. 

If you have links to Iowa photos in general or to the flood please send them to me at stevekranz@aol.com

Political roundup

11 days and counting.
According to the Register even Republican analysts can't understand why McCain/Palin is spending so much time in Iowa.
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As the Bush Sr. campaign slowly ground its way to defeat in 1992 Mary Matalin never waivered. She remained loyal to the end while other aides were sending out resumes before the first vote was cast. Apparently there are no Matalins in the McCain inner circle. Another story is titled, "GOP forms circular firing squad."
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It doesn't get any better than this: Who was the highest paid campaign aid for McCain/Palin in September? A make-up artist.
As one disgusted Republican wrote on Hannity's forum board: "I think they are trying to lose."
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And finally, there's this youtube about a vet who did not vet.
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Update: From the scratching my head department: In Sioux City Governor Palin said, "I don’t know what to think of having in my family Uncle Barney Frank or others to make decisions for me."
Huh? I doubt she's trying to say that like Newt, Cheney, and Alan Keyes she has a gay family member. Perhaps she was simply refering to the out congressman as "uncle" as part of the code words Republicans use when talking to each other.

You can't get there from here

I live two blocks from my office, which also happens to be 2.6 miles.  The blocks here (roundabout to roundabout) can be quite long.  They divide the city into neighborhoods.  There are roughly a dozen neighborhoods and as you navigate the city signs at the roundabouts indicate which neighborhood you are entering.
For that reason few people refer to street names here.  They reference neighborhoods or roundabouts in giving directions.  When I told the cable guy I live on the corner of Shakboot and Al Awwal he gave me a blank look.  I followed by saying, "On the Prowzenick roundabout..." 
Because the city is divided by these long stretches I have found myself seeing where I want to go but having no idea how to get there.  Once I parked my car and walked across the street to Hardees because I figured it would be easier than driving there.
In Dubai today we found ourselves on the wrong side of Zayed (the main road connecting Abu Dhabi and Dubai.  A relatively simple task - get to the other side of the road - took over 30 minutes.  Even when we could see where needed to go we couldn't get their due to construction.
I'm still debating whether I like the roundabout system here better or worse than our streets in the US.  There are certainly advantages to both systems. 
The "you can't get there from here" feeling is a definite negative.

Dubai

I spent another day in Dubai.  Dubai seems similar to Manhattan in terms of traffic but it is not pedestrian friendly like Manhattan.  It has a stunningly beautiful skyline that is too often obscured by haze/sand.

Every time I'm there I have the same feeling I have when I'm in Manhattan:  Great place to visit; glad I don't live there.

Gina is happy...

My niece hopes to go to Europe with her new in-laws. Now that trip will be a whole lot cheaper.

Collectively everyone who is paid in dollars has received a pay raise in the past couple of months. And it's been a healthy one. The dollar at its weakest point took $1.60 to buy one euro. On Friday it took only $1.26. That's a gain of 21%.

The rest of you (not planning a trip to Europe) probably don't care, but you should. The precipitous fall in the dollar has led many in this region to question why currencies here are pegged to the dollar. While the rise in the dollar may be short lived, it has killed the constant drumbeat of ending the dollar peg. Also, a stronger dollar will help keep inflation low in the US. To get out of this mess will require a huge fiscal stimulus. Think FDR. A stronger dollar will help keep that stimulus from causing inflation.

Meanwhile, oil was at a high of $147/barrel this summer and closed at $64. That's a 56% drop. More good news for Americans. According to Gasbuddy the price of gas in CR is $2.39.

In real terms that's still a loss of revenue for this region: Oil down 56% with the dollar up 21%.

But it's only 6PM in Iowa...

I hate being awake past 3AM.  It's the second time in three days.  I came to the UAE with only 30 or so Ambien tablets.  I take a half dose on night's I have to get up early and I will not take them on nights (like this one) where I do not have work the next day.

The result?  It's 3:10 and I'm still awake.

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Have you ever wondered about the timestamp on my posts?  They are neither UAE time or Central time.  They are Pacific time.  Google, the owner of this blog site, is in that time zone.

I'm going to try to go to sleep.  Wish me luck.

Quote of the day

Steven G. Calabresi, Professor of law, Northwestern University:

"The bottom line here is that as investors have come to expect an Obama presidency with around 60 Democratic senators, the stock market has crashed and expectations of a severe recession have risen. There are many causes of all of this, but Obama's tax and regulatory plans are one of the reasons for the plunge. If he wins, we should expect further losses and less social wellbeing than we have enjoyed over the last eight years."
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See?  The Dow going from 3,000 to 10,500 during the Clinton years was due to Reagan's tax cuts in 1981.  The Dow dropping from 10,500 when Bush took office to 8400 today is Obama's fault.  All good news is thanks to Republicans and all bad news is due to Democrats.
I'm glad I was able to straighten that out for you.

Fred Thompson

The McCain campaign is running a web ad showing Fred Thompson endorsing McCain and explaining why Obama would be a bad president.  The endorsement and ad aren't that interesting; the fact it looks like Fred is sitting in the oval office is fascinating.  I wonder how many Republicans will see this and wonder how this election would be different if they had only nominated Thompson.  I know of at least one of my blog readers who wishes it had been Thompson...
Personally, I'll always wonder how things would have been different if the McCain of 2000 was running and not the McCain of 2008.

The financial crisis explained

This American Life is a great program. Those of you in eastern Iowa can hear it by tuning in to AM 910 or FM 90.9 on Saturdays at 2 PM.
Try as I might I cannot quite get a radio signal from Iowa. Fortunately, the show is on the internet.
In May they did a great show about the sub-prime financial meltdown.
Earlier this month they did a show on the current financial crisis.
They explain things as well as any source.
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The headline of today's Gulf News newspaper: UAE opens liquidity traps.
Terms like "sub-prime mortgages" and "bailout" are so yesterday. The term you need to learn now is "liquidity trap." When I was teaching economics a decade ago I talked about liquidity traps. In the past few years I did not. Quite simply, I didn't think it was relevant anymore.
What's old is new. The last time the US suffered a liquidity trap was in the Great Depression. Fortunately, our current Fed Chair Ben Bernanke has spent his academic life studying the Great Depression and liquidity traps. He knows what we are in for. You may have seen him on Capitol Hill this week endorsing a new round of fiscal stimulus. He knows the US is in a liquidity trap and as Fed Chair he is powerless.
It's time to strap in and hold on to your seat.

Gifts

I’m taking gift requests. I have already purchased fascinating jewelry for female friends. Sam will get a lifetime supply of shorts because I keep buying pairs that are way too small for me… But I am open for requests for the rest of my blog readers. Since I know there aren’t many of you I’m not afraid of breaking the bank on this offer.

Key chain, coffee mug, T-shirt, an Emirati tea pot, Afghan jewelry, discounted plane ticket to come over in January (trust me, the weather will be much, much nicer than Iowa)… whatever interests you let me know.

I love youtube

Two weeks ago today I moved into my apartment. Everyone else got cable and internet within a few days. My internet was set up Wednesday and I still don't have cable.

Fortunately, I can still catch Survivor on youtube.

The cable we can get here has every news channel I could ever want. I'll be a geek in heaven.

Unfortunately, they have no DVR. I have come to love my DVR (aka TIVO) more than any other recent invention. Nobody here has heard of it.

Stock market

I wish I had money to invest right now. The way the stock market has tanked there are some very good buys right now. I would argue Google, Apple, and my beloved Coke are all reasonably priced for the long haul.
The one stock that is downright a steal right now is ebay. The stock is trading with a P/E of under 10.
Google is down because online ad revenue is expected to be down. It may be, but as the economy goes through a recession and subsequent recovery marketing companies are going to be even more cautious in how they spend. They will be looking for ways to target their audience and Google has the ability to reach a specific customer.
Coke might be getting hurt by the economy and strengthening dollar (the profits overseas won't be as high when translated into dollars) but is there any reason for Coke be trading at $41 when it was at $65 earlier in the year?
Apple is over 50% down from its high. This is probably the riskiest investment of the four.
Right now:
Apple $91.13
ebay $14.31
Google $327.24
Coke $41.12
We'll see where they go in six months.

From the department of over-hyped

Sorry for the post promising a story that will knock your socks off... and I apologize for not posting yesterday. This story did shock me but I way, way over promised on this one. Now that I hope I've lowered the bar...

The story: In class one of my students said she had an American professor who told her class she couldn't vote for Obama. Why? Obama's father was Muslim. The student claimed the professor went on to say, "You wouldn't want a Christian ruling this nation, would you?" Another student in the class backed up the first student's story.

All of us teaching here work in a Muslim country and at a Muslim university. That anyone working here could harbor such prejudice is scary.

Again, I know I oversold the story. I'll chalk it up to being new to the blogging world.

Is this blog about living in the middle east anymore?

Yes. For me, living in the middle east is everything when it comes to writing this blog. Not for a second have I forgotten I'm from Iowa.

As a real American who likes to drink beer I find this story interesting.

Trust me, tomorrow I'll relate a story from my students that will knock your socks off.

Or at least it did mine.

And the loonies never let you down

I knew Obama was the Messiah, but I didn't know that McCain-Palin needed supporters to pray for them to ward off witchcraft.

I like turtles

Since I finally have internet at my home I can actually play the youtube. I have to admit that I posted the "I like turtles" Breathed comment without actually playing the youtube he referenced.

Now I can confirm: I like turtles.

How does McCain win?

There are several scenarios on how Obama wins but it is a relevant question to ask how McCain wins. Let's say Obama takes all Kerry states (except Pennsylvania) plus Iowa, New Mexico and Colorado. By virtue of winning Pennsylvania McCain is the next president. The problem? Obama is ahead 53.7 to 38.4 in Pollster's average for Pennsylvania.

That says nothing of the polls in Virginia, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Florida. McCain would have to pull the upset in Pennsylvania AND win all of the states above to win the presidency. I'm not measuring curtains for Obama but I'm glad to be on his side.

And I must say, "Thank you Sarah Palin!"

She's the gift that keeps on giving.

Update:
McCain is spending all day Saturday in Iowa? Most of it with his running mate? And since he's doing Meet the Press from Waterloo it means a good part of Sunday as well.

Yippee! I'm so happy the McCain campaign is in Iowa for the second to last weekend before the election. That means he's NOT in a state that could actually decide this election. Then again, this is progress because John McCain doesn't work weekends.

Do you dream in color?

I should preface this with the fact that I have very few blog readers over 50... Hi Mom and Dad! (and Miriam)...

This story of older people dreaming in black and white took me by surprise.

When I was young I did ask a sibling (Miriam, I believe) what it was like to live in black and white. Since everything I saw on TV from the '60's was in black and white I thought the world was black and white.

Is anyone surprised?

Can anyone who lives in Cedar Rapids be shocked by this story?

Iran in trouble

Are you hearing about this? I'm not finding it in the newpapers I read (NY Times, Washington Post, DSM Register, or CR Gazette).

According to two Emirati newspapers Iran is in serious financial trouble. When oil prices were high they did nothing to stockpile money. Now that oil prices have fallen the government simply does not have enough money.

One newspaper noted that last week merchants went on strike. The last time that happened was right before the fall of the Shah and the Iranian revolution.

Well, there goes my pay increase!

** sniffle **

Oil under $68/barrel?

********
Living in the US I have CNBC on every Wednesday morning. Why? The energy report is released at 9:30 Iowa time. Today the report said that energy supplies were much higher than expected. The result? The price of oil plummeted.

So let's see... the price of oil in July was $147/barrel. Today it is $68/barrel. And we haven't started all that off-shore drilling!

*********
I am well aware that admiting I tune in each Wednesday morning to see the energy report raises the level of my geekness.

I love the fact...

... that my workweek is over by the time my friends wake up on Wednesday morning!

I also LOVE the fact that I now have cable and internet at home!

Yippee!

I wasn't sure it was going to happen.

All of us moving into the crappy apartments signed up for internet and cable two weeks ago, just before we moved in. All of them had it hooked up within a few days. I did not.

Yesterday I went to the cable/internet place. I tell the guy, "I signed up for service two weeks ago and I still don't have it."

He replies, "Are you having any problems with your service?"

I repeat that I still don't have service.

He again says, "Are you having any problems with your service."

I thought my head was going to explode. Fortunately, a nice woman sitting next to him overheard our conversation and offered to help. Thanks to her it has been installed today.

Again, yippee!

Student question

Here's a joke for my Republican friends:
A student asked me how he can vote in the American election.  I responded, "You can't.  Only Americans can vote."  I could have added, "But I'll have ACORN sign you up..."

"I like turtles"

I think I've found a new catch phrase. Berkeley Breathed (cartoonist for Bloom County and Opus) was interviewed by Salon. Responding to a question he didn't want to answer he says:

"I like turtles. Maybe you saw the YouTube of the kid at Halloween saying precisely that to the TV reporter when she asked what he thought of being made up as a zombie. It's a perfect dodge from unpleasant candor."

How can *I* use it?

So Steve, how do you deal with your male students who won't stop talking in class?

I like turtles.

What happened when you put a relatively simple math question on the board that nobody could answer?

I like turtles.

This could come in very handy.

Inflation update

Ann's favorite sausages used to be 12.5 dirhams and have jumped to 19.5 dirhams. Now that's inflation!

Pork sausages, btw...

**************

Totally unrelated: Chip, you're the closest thing I have to a physics geek friend... and I don't have your e-mail so I'll use this blog.

Can you explain this post? Given the reader comments it's supposed to be really funny and I hate it when I don't get the joke.

Not in Kansas anymore, Toto!

You know you live in a strange foreign land when Hardees makes the best hamburger and the BMW drivers are NOT the biggest pricks on the road. Here that title would have to go to the drivers of the Land Cruisers. (Although the various Lexus models also believe road rules are meant for other drivers.)
80MPH on a city street? No problem. Enter a roundabout with oncoming traffic? No problem, “I drive a Landcruiser, they will move for me or get run over… either way I get to where I want to go.”
The trip from here to Dubai or Abu Dhabi is worse; the Landcruisers and Lexus (Lexi?) routinely run 120 -130 MPH. The speed limit is 72 MPH.
Speed is monitored by radars that registers a ticket that the driver knows nothing about until s/he pays for the car registration the next year. In two months I have yet to see a single cop pulling someone over for a traffic violation.  The radars are no deterrent for those with family in the police force or enough money not to care.

The real debate

"Is Obama the anti-Christ or simply a representative of the anti-Christ.

Discuss."

I'm tellin' ya, you can't miss Hannity's blog!

Quote of the day

"Don't underestimate the capacity of Democrats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Don't underestimate our ability to screw it up." - Senator Barack Obama
The fundraiser was hosted by Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen. Obama said, "Sorry, Bruce and Billy, but I grew up with you all."

It dawned on me that Born in the USA was released when Obama was in college, and Piano Man when he was just 12!

Blog of the day: 538

Two guys used to analyze sports. They'd pick apart a team's performance and make predictions on future games. By all accounts they were pretty good.

They've turned their attention to politics. The name of the site "fivethirtyeight" is the total number of electors. Getting one over half (270) gets someone elected president.
If you're a political junkie this is a must read every day.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

More racing pics

We go racing at night and it's a lot of fun. I suck, come in last place, etc., but it's still fun.

I chose to take pictures this night but if I were racing you wouldn't see me... I'd be coming along a minute later.

Once it cools down we'll go during the day and I'll be able to get better pictures.

Bath

The workmanship and pride is clear when one looks at the bathtub.

The instructions must have read, "If a tile is broken simply use extra plaster."

Lookin' good!
This picture undoubtedly makes no sense. What you're seeing the bottom of the tub. There's a glue-like substance covering most of the tub. I have to wash my feet off after I get out of the tub.

Quality!

It's one thing to have a small apartment. It's quite another to have one that looks like it was slapped together in a couple of weeks.

Oh that's right, it was slapped together in a couple of weeks.

There's just plain grime and filth everywhere. I paid the custodian $80 to clean the place. These are the after pictures so I obviously didn't get my money's worth. A couple of other tenants paid an outside service over $200 and their places don't look much better.

At the base of this door is the white powder (dry caulking I assume) and for some reason it is cardboard sticking out of the floor.
The workmanship is outstanding!

I can't believe I missed this headline

Appreciate the support...

There's been a few e-mails and comments to let me know that there are a few more than two readers. I appreciate it. I wrote the posts in my office solitude. Nobody around for hours... only distant call to prayers to be heard. It made me wonder if I was the last person on earth!

Today I'm sitting in a coffee shop playing upbeat Latin music. It's amazing how much surrounding affect mood.

Alas, it is time to return to my apartment. I'll take some pics and get them up tomorrow.

The price of oil

If there's an upside to financial panic it is that the price of oil has dropped from a high in July of $147/barrel to under $80 today.  Why?  Financial panic leads to economic downturns which leads to less oil consumed.

My sister Miriam e-mailed to say she paid $2.53/gallon yesterday.

Here's a great website to follow gas prices around the country:  Gasbuddy.  Iowa does pay relatively lower gas prices.

I hope the price of oil doesn't drop too much, my raise next year depends on it!  (And my blog readership has now dropped to two.)

K... as in "Kolumbia"

I moved into my apartment last Friday.  Everyone else in my building has cable and internet up already.  I do not.  I have called Etisalat (the monopoly phone, cable, and internet service here) and, well, it was quite an experience.
In verifying my username "Skranz" the guy said, "S as in Sam, K as in Kolumbia..."
The hardest letter was "z".  He thought it was a "v" or a "d".  I later learned that the letter z is pronounced differently here.  Go figure.
The bottom line is that I still don't have internet and have no idea when I'll get it.

Miscellaneous

Early on I planned for this blog to be about experiences in the middle east.  It is, of course, but I have added politics and other topics I find interesting.  Why?  Two reasons:

1.  It's my blog and I can write what I want to!
2.  I think I'm down to about five readers, so who cares?  If a blog falls in the forest and nobody is around does it really make a sound?

**********

The dollar has had quite a rally.  It has made up everything it lost vs. the euro in the past year.  Basically, the world markets are saying europe  is more screwed than the US.  How's that for brightening your day?  I pay close attention to the value of the dollar because I live in a country where the currency is tied to the dollar.  If the dollar goes up the value of the dirham goes up.  Since EVERYTHING is imported to this country a stronger dollar means the 10%+ inflation should moderate.  Hopefully.

***********

Robby says two waters and a Coke cost him $3.50.  He's the only person who replied to that question... one more reason to believe I'm down to five three readers.

Per Karey's (one of my three remaining readers) request I will take some pictures of my wonderful new apartment and get them up soon.

And finally, William Cooey could have been me.  And y'all could have cut the article from the Gazette and told people you knew me!

Paging Larry Craig

A little over a year ago Idaho Senator Larry Craig announced to the world that he's not gay, he just has a "wide stance" in the bathroom. He didn't comment on why he peered through the cracks in the door or ran his fingers under the divider between the stalls.
I bring this up because, I... uh... (I can hear you thinking, "Where in the hell is he taking this?")
OK, I'll get to the point: Since arriving in the UAE, I have developed a "wide stance." You see, most toilets here have a nozzle hose that can be used in place of toilet paper. Apparently a lot of people like using the spray (many bathrooms don't even bother to stock toilet paper).
The result is a puddle on the floor in front of most toilets. I have a wide stance to stay clear of the water.
I'll try not to peer between the cracks or run my fingers under the stall divider...

"Take away, please"

Every person working fast food is a non-native English speaker.  When I order food "to go" they look at me like I'm from another planet.
One replied, "No sir, you must take your food."
I've never given it much thought, but saying, "I'd like my food to go" doesn't make much sense.

The Wu retort

Man, this is killing me, but I have to say it: Wu is right again.
(This is inside baseball economics so feel free to skip to the bottom of this post.)
Greg Mankiw is a conservative economist. Like the vast majority of other conservative economists he made fun of the supply siders. Contrary to popular belief supply side economics (read: tax cuts for the rich raise tax revenue) is not endorsed by prominent conservative economists. See writings by Gary Becker, Milton Friedman, or pre-2002 Mankiw for details.
Mankiw has the most popular selling economics textbook of all time. In the first edition he made fun of supply siders calling them "charlatons and cranks". He accepted the position as Bush's advisor after the 2001 supply side tax cut. After he realized the administration had no interest in listening to economic advice he quit. Wu points out that he lost his integrity when he agreed to sign on to the Bush team and helped them justify another round of supply side cuts in 2003.
Mankiw removed the "charlatons and cranks" reference in his later editions. It would have been a terrible thing to say about himself.
********************
Spellman once had this to say about debating Wu:
"Never say Wu is right. If Wu is right say it was your idea all along."
Somewhere Spellman is shaking his head at me.

Favorite Blogs

Here's one that I've spent way too much time reading lately:  Sean Hannity's blog.

I love it for two reasons:

1.  The narcissism.  Count the number of images and silhouttes of Sean on any page.

2.  The bloggers.  It's like they live on a different planet.

If you want to read what the wingnuts have to say this is a great place to go.  I've added a link to the right to give you easy access.

You know you've sat in your office too long...

... when you have heard three calls to prayers.

Does where you wear your T-shirt affect the meaning?

Today a student wore a T-shirt that read:

"I don't have to be dead for me to give you my organ"

I've seen similar (and much worse) slogans on students' shirts in the US. But it was surprising to see it at the all male campus...

Quote of the day

From Mickey Edwards, a former Republican congressman:
"This is the dilemma: we know too little about Obama and too much about McCain to be truly comfortable with either."
Fortunately, Obama's calm, steady hand in this election has reassured jittery voters. The Ayers attacks might have worked if McCain had launched them in June. Now they look desperate and out of touch with the real problems the world is facing.

McCain ad in Iowa

Using the floods for political gain does not strike me as a good idea. I can't find any story about this on the Gazette website.
Here's the link where I first read about it.

Ding, Dong, the noise is gone, the noise is gone, the noise is gone!

Building water pressure for my leaky toilets was the problem. Once the toilet leaks were fixed the noise disappeared.

Be grateful. The sound was pushing me to violence. I was close to introduce the Emirates to a term they’ve never heard before: Going Postal.

Stunning development: Wu was right

Driving home I was searching for signs of locusts. I asked colleagues for a copy of the Bible. Reading Revelations seemed very important. Why? Mickey Wu (Econ Prof at Coe) got something right. Over ten years ago he said Paul Krugman will be a Nobel Laureate. Krugman is one of the most famous economists due to his twice weekly column in the NY Times. (A must read for me.) The Times archives all of his work for free. Back in 2004 Krugman started ringing the bells for the crisis we are now in. Largely he was ignored. Why? He’s a liberal. Republicans running the show back then weren’t about to take advice from a liberal economist.

Anyhow, Krugman is great. I’ve always wanted to see him in the action rather than simply commenting on it. If Obama wins I hope he appoints Krugman Secretary of the Treasury or Chief of his Council of Economic Advisors – A formally prestigious post that attracted Gregory Mankiw to accept under George W. Bush. When Mankiw realized that the White House didn’t want serious economic advice he quit.

Anyhow, it’s worth repeating: Wu is right.  Don't allow the children to play outside...

Hardee's

We stop by Hardee's for dinner. The restaurant is great - clean, well-lit, etc. Music is playing rather loudly.

The song? "She f*cking hates me."

Not a single person in the restaurant seems fazed by the lyrics.

Haunting experiences

Since I’ve arrived I have had two experiences that I can’t shake. I haven’t blogged about them because I don’t know that I can do justice in words.
First, one Friday night (holy day, the equivalent of Sunday in the US) Ann, Mike, and I go to shop at Carrefour (think Wal-Mart). The place charges $.25 to get a shopping cart. When you take the cart to the parking lot and return it properly you get your $.25 back.


As we took our cart back a guy stopped and asked us if he could take the cart back.
Umm, yeah, sure.
The guy works ten hours a day, in the heat, six days a week. His one day off is Friday. He spends his Friday walking the parking lot to take any carts back to get the $.25. In an hour he’d be lucky to make a dollar (most shoppers don’t have carts and those who do see the cart returns nearby and would refuse him).
Knowing that he undoubtedly walked two miles to get to the mall just adds to the rock in my stomach.

2. Living in the Hilton I was lucky to have two great house keepers. In talking to colleagues not all were as fortunate. My last housekeeper came to Gwen, next door, in tears. She had orders to be deported. She apparently had a spot her lungs (TB most likely) and had to leave. She revealed to Gwen her pay: 750 dirhams per month. That’s $200 for working 6 days/week for 10/hour days. I’ll do the math; it’s less than a dollar an hour. I had been giving her a tip of 20 dirhams ($5) each week and Gwen was as well. She upped it 50 ($13) in the last couple of weeks. I had no idea our tips were a significant source of her income. She was great and using her income to support her family back in the Phillipines. Now she returns home and suffering from TB.
Ugh.

Advanced Interrogation Techniques

That’s the term the Bush Administration uses for torture. One of the innocuous techniques is to play intermittent buzzing sounds hour after hour.

Living in this apartment I am experiencing this… this technique works and if it is worth anything: I’m ready to talk. I’ll confess. I helped kidnap the Lindbergh baby. I single-handedly helped bring the stock market down. Whatever you want me to confess to I will, just stop the damn noise!

It sounds like a distant fog horn. It goes for eight seconds. Stops. Silence for thirteen seconds then the sound begins again. It’s as constant as the northern star.

I’ve been here 48 hours and I’m losing my flippin’ mind.

Price check on aisle 12

For me every visit to the store is a comparison of prices. What’s cheaper here vs. the US? Some things are clearly cheaper. Gas at $1.30/gallon. While I’m getting gas I get two bottles of water and a Coke. The price? $.75! Please, please, if you are reading this go to your local Casey’s and try the same thing: Two bottles of water and a can of Coke. What is the price in Iowa?

Alcohol is more expensive, for the most part. The only American wines I’ve found are Gallo. The rockgut of America sells for a premium here. Budweiser? Try $5 per bottle in the bars. A case at the liquor store goes for $33! I have to admit I’ve broken down and bought a case… But just one case, and it’s my eighth week here… OK, I’ll stop trying to justify to an AA counselor.

Absolut and Stolichniya are cheaper here. Stolies is a steal at $13/bottle.

American candy

The most prominent American candy to be found here is Snickers. I have yet to see a Reese’s. During Ramadan the Muslims make their favorite sweets and serve them during Iftar - eating after fasting all day long. Living at the Hilton I had a chance to try them all (these are not the desserts I have shown below).

I’ll take any desert at Applebee’s over these. They weren’t bad; most were tasteless. When I bite into a dessert I want to experience something, not taste flour. Now that Ramadan is over colleagues have brought in desserts to share. Not bad, but basically tasteless. As I try each one I think, “How would they react to a really nice chocolate chip cookie?”

I suspect they’d gush. Again, if you’ve only had tasteless, bland crap sweets a chocolate chip cookie would be amazing. Once I get a working stove I will test this theory.

Chess

Cable will hopefully be installed soon, internet within a week. I have had to resort to the games Microsoft kindly included with the computer. Long ago I mastered Freecell with over a 90% win rate. And hearts, well, I’m very disappointed if I lose at that game.

But chess? I suck. I have currently won 3 out of 9 games and it is set at the easy setting! It shouldn’t bother me but it does. I have an analytical mind. As a kid I wanted to be Spock and he played chess on three levels (Trekkers (Chip) will know that reference).

Octoberfest

The Hilton celebrated Octoberfest tonight. Even though I moved out friends (still part of the Hilton homeless) invited me back. I wish I had brought my camera. As the son a full bred German it was, well, interesting. Think of every bad stereotype of Germans (lederhosen, accordion, etc.) The food got a thumbs up from my buffet weary colleagues. I chose not to eat. Just as I knew the Irish stew I ate a couple of weeks ago would send an Irishman off I knew the “German” food here would set me off.

On the long walkway to the food and band were several arches of balloons; you know, the type of thing that’s done at most proms. Anyhow, one of the arches was nothing but black balloons. Wow, I really wish I had brought my camera. I’ve never seen an arch composed of black balloons!

Oddly, I never expected that German food would be one of the things I missed most here. Perhaps it is because German food is meat centric and so far the beef here has been substandard, to say the least. Regardless, within 48 hours of my return in January I will be in the Amana Colonies.

The ethnic food here is wonderful. I tried a new Indian restaurant today. Great! But a good German restaurant? Not to be found.

Here’s irony: As I’m writing this I’m playing my limited music collection in the background (to drown out the buzz in my apartment). While I was writing this was the pro-vegetarian song from Howard Jones “Assault and Battery” with the lyrics, “Their lives were taken for feast at the table. A life of misery ending with a shock. Brutal murder, all hands to the slaughter.”

Here’s the best line, sung by children no less: “Children’s stories with their farmyard favorites, at the table in a different disguise.”

I still want to go the Amana’s.

The "Hamilton Effect"

Today the department secretary stopped by to tell me the department chair wanted to see me. Immediately my blood pressure skyrocketed. I felt my heart beat faster. At Hamilton being called in was never, never a good thing. I was written up for the most amazing things. I’ll give two examples:
1. The copier was jamming all the time in late August. I thought it might be a paper problem due to the humidity… so I went to Staples and purchased some fresh paper (on my own, not asking for reimbursement). It went through the copier fine. I was called into my boss’s office and reprimanded because I failed to go through the proper channels. The fact I solved the problem was irrelevant.
2. A capstone class (needed for graduation) was moved to Saturdays. Before the term started I told the registrar and my boss that I knew of one student who couldn’t come on Saturday because she had to work. I sent both of them e-mails in the first week explaining once again, Rosie can not come on Saturdays.
Rosie was scared that this would keep her being able to graduate. She had plans to move out of state upon graduating and she was justifiably worried. I told her I would meet with her on Tuesdays, but that I could not give her attendance on Saturday because Hamilton had a seat-in-the-chair attendance rule (with threats of firing if not followed). I met with her each week and she turned in her work on time.
In week four I was called in and given a write-up. Why? I should have told the student she HAD to come on Saturday. It was now week four and she had no attendance in the class and that created problems. I told my boss, “Any other place would have thanked me for going out of my way to helping a student. Here I get written up.”
All of this brings me to today’s interaction with my new boss. As I wrote above he called me to his office. Why? To see how things are going… and to talk about next term’s schedule. He presented two good choices and asked which I like better. I replied, “Both are fine. As long I’m not teaching at 8AM I’m happy.”
I know I haven’t been blogging much about this but every day I go to campus I have an experience I have come to call the “Hamilton effect”. Going to work every day for five years wondering when you will get fired takes a toll on a person.
Each and every day I am grateful to be out of that poisonous environment.

McCain in Iowa

I was surprised to read that McCain is returning to Iowa.  I would have thought there would be greener pastures elsewhere.  From today's Washington Post:
"McCain's political director, said internal campaign polling does not make the electoral map look as bad as some public polls suggest. For example: Asked why, if he has given up on Michigan, McCain has not given up on Iowa, a state that looks strong for Obama in public polls, DuHaime said because the campaign's polling has Obama's lead in the low single digits."
So McCain's internal polls show a close fight in Iowa.  Hmm. 

New apartment

Tomorrow I move into a tiny apartment. How tiny? In college I lived in one of the Coe apartments. It was larger.

Still, I can't contain my excitement. This is definitely an Ambien night. I will finally be able to have my own ice! (Oh, I haven't done that rant yet. It's safe to say ice is a rare commodity here.) I can sleep in my own bed. I am one of the fortunate ones to have some windows...

OK, in psychology this called sweet lemon rationalizing; being able to bite into a lemon and say, "It tastes sweet!"

I am well aware the apartment I am moving into sucks. There's something about having it settled that, well, settles me.

Unfortunately, I won't have internet access for at least a week. Posting may become sporadic.

Google e-mail goggles

Ever sent the late night e-mail you regret the next day?  I'd never do such a thing. (Cough, look for lightning)

Google will give you a test to see if your sober enough to send the e-mail.  Sadly, I don't think it would work for me.  I retain those skills even when other faculties have been impaired.

Thought for the day

Today the world's central banks acted in coordination in a way that's never been done before. From the press accounts I'm reading our Ben Bernanke led the way.

When Bush appointed him two years ago I praised the decision to my classes (who were surprised because I don't often praise Bush's decisions).

Bill Maher also praised the appointment but (paraphrasing) "Is this like the applause for a mentally challenged kid who gets a question right? In six years he makes one good appointment that is not a political hack and we're supposed to applaud?"

Now there's talk that world's central bankers might actually meet to discuss the crisis.

I can't help but wonder how this would be playing out if we had a President with the stature to discuss these issues intelligently.

Hilton

This is the front view of the hotel. On each side is a large "Hilton" sign. I wonder if Paris pulled up in front of this place if she'd know it was one her hotels.


I was quite certain that taking pictures in the pool area was an arrestable offense. (No joke.) So I snapped this quickly. The pool has a slide on the far end that is nasty. I love water slides. There's nothing to love about this one.

In 53 days of living at the Hilton I have visited the pool exactly 3 times. I have no idea why I haven't been there more. I can see the lap pool from my balcony. Yesterday I was on the phone with Ann while looking down at the lap pool. A woman changed her entire bikini. She was pretty old and overweight, but it was like a car wreck; you couldn't help but watch.


Probably most of my closest friends do not know that I have claustrophobia. As a kid I would hyperventilate on elevators. When I was very young our family went to St. Louis and visited the Arch. I pondered what it would take to walk up the stairs rather than get inside the little pod that takes you to the top.

While teaching at Hamilton there was one room that I told the registrar to not even consider putting me in. It was a very small classroom that to me the walls looked like they were closing in.

I write all this to explain the elevator you see background. I live near that elevator on the third floor. (They call it second floor here, but that's a different story.)

In the month I've been in this room that elevator has been under repair at least 25% of the time. When it does "work" it does some fun things.

One day it took me to the first floor and the doors wouldn't open. I had to pry them open to get out.

Another day it took me almost to the first floor and stopped. It was about a three foot drop so I tried to pry them open again. Then it started moving to the top floor (7th story). At the top floor it stopped again. I kept trying to get it open but didn't have enough time to get out. The elevator started dropping... and dropping fast. I looked at the people in the courtyard to see if any of them noticed the elevator was in free fall but nobody looked up. The elevator stopped abruptly six inches from the first floor. I pried the doors open and got out.

There's another set of elevators in the old section of the hotel that are quite efficient. They don't bother to wait until the doors are completely closed to start moving.


This has been my home. I did nothing to clean it up for this photo. I believe in blogging purity.(!)


The balcony is great. As the temps have cooled down it is wonderful to stand out there and see... oh, wait, I already told the story of the woman changing the bikini.