Hey Big Lug: Grow up!

Governor Culver is a good man.  I know that from spending hours with him as a photographer while he was Secretary of State.  I also know that his wife Mari has a very funny biting wit. Her calling him a "Big Lug" is one of the few comments suitable for TV.  Being a good guy, however, and being a good governor are two different things.  

Republicans and Democrats are urging him to support a 8 - 10 cent increase in the gas tax.  It's time to get on board.  

Frankly, I don't understand his opposition:  1.  The tax is paid partly by those driving across our state (although the 20% estimate from supporters seems high to me).  2.  Both Dems and Republicans support it so there's little political fallout.  3.  Iowans like good roads and don't mind paying taxes for something we can actually see have a positive impact. 4. Construction spending will be much less this summer.  Providing additional jobs to those workers is a good idea for all concerned.

I hope Mari gives the Big Lug a push to get his head out of his ass.

Black guy vs. the racist guy

Mr. "I didn't notice there were no negroes at my country club" had not dropped out of the race for RNC chair.  In fact he survived the first couple rounds of voting getting more votes each round as others dropped out.

After five rounds it came down to racist Dawson vs. the black guy Steele.  Should have been an easy one, right?  Well, there was a "we'll show them" backlash that almost got the racist guy elected.  Steele ended up winning 91-77. 

NBC's Chuck Todd summed it up:

The GOP averted a P.R. disaster after the race came down to Steele and Dawson. It was a pretty obvious choice: Pick the African American or the guy who had to quit an all-white country club. Had Dawson not had that negative mark on his resume, he would have won because he was a party insider. (Will this lead to him and other southern Republican politicians to end these country club restrictions? It's very retro in this day...)

No longer a Classic

In 1985 Coke shocked the world by changing its flavor.  That led to people like me calling 1-800-GET-COKE everyday to get them to switch back.  

Coke was so sure that the new flavor would ultimately win that they left the new Coke with the name "Coke" and reintroduced original Coke as "Classic Coke."  

Sales of new Coke tanked and the product was off the market in a few years.  (If you want to remember what new Coke tasted like hop on a plane to Nepal...)

Coke has finally decided to drop the word "Classic."  I'm surprised it took them so long.

In a word: Screwed

Today's economic news is worse than reported.  The number showing a 3.8% decline in output is artificially good.  Why?  Business inventories rose in the fourth quarter.  That's usually a sign that companies are gearing up because they expect strong sales.  In this case the build in inventories is because people stopped buying.

Therefore, the real number for this quarter is a stunningly bad 5.1% and that build in inventories means companies will cut back even more sharply now.

Yep folks, we're screwed.

Update 1:  You may be listening to the news and hearing, "The number is not as bad as expected..."  Yeah, the top line number isn't as bad as expected but it's because of a fluke in inventories.  

Update 2:  Here's the real sign we are screwed:  Rush is telling listeners that things aren't that bad.  It's all media hype...  Further he is conducting a count of "casualties" of the Obama administration.  He says every laid off person is real and affecting real families so he's going to count the casualties "the way the drive by media counted casualties" in Iraq.

The guy is equating someone losing their life to someone losing their job.  If a commentator on my side of the aisle did that they'd be run out of the country.

Oddly anxious

Republicans elect their new national chair on Friday.  I'm looking forward to the outcome.  Mr. "I didn't notice there were no negroes at my country club" pulled out today.  Unfortunately, there are a few candidates left that are just as bad.  

I hope they follow Iowa's example:  After some far right Bible beaters were elected to prominent party positions last summer there was serious question as to who would be the next state party chair.  

The party chose a fellow Benton Community grad.  I assumed that was good because Benton is not exactly a hotbed for far rightwing politicians.  

My Republican insider friend assures me that it is very good; the fundamentalists not only lost the race for chair but for every major position.  

Yippee!  Both parties have their batshit crazies.  It's best that they don't get into power.

Update:  I was wrong about which guy dropped out.  Sorry.  I am following the election closely and will make a post when it has been completed.

Thought for the day

A back wax is satisfyingly masochistic.

Flowers for Susan

I sent flowers with a "Congratulations!" balloon to Susan.  An insider said she refused them from her office because she was concerned they were poisonous.  

I worked for her for five years and she never understood me.  There's no reason to start now. 

She truly has no idea how grateful I am.

What is bi-partisanship?

Not a single Republican voted for the stimulus plan in the House.  

Why, oh why, can't our President re-write the bill?  Take out all the Republican sweeteners and make it a pure stimulus bill.  

You tried to play ball, Mr. President.  They refused to play.  Fuck 'em.  

I'll stick with the Rocky Mountain oysters, thank you.

In case anyone has tried to serve you blowfish testicles you now have an excuse to say no.

And, no, I've never been able to bring myself to have Rocky Mountain Oysters.  Eating a 100 year old duck egg at Wu's Chinese New Year maxed out my creative eating habits.  I would bomb at the eating contests on Survivor or Fear Factor.  I can't control my gag reflex.  Problematic, I know.

Who is playing who?

The liberal blogosphere has been unhappy with President Obama meeting with Republicans.  Many have commented along the lines that I have:  Obama should say, "Fine, if you won't help I will rewrite the bill..."

Others think Obama is playing to a bigger audience.  Even if no Republicans vote for it the American people see him playing it bipartisan and his approval rating goes even higher.

Republicans are seeing this, too.  They are buying insurance by saying they like Obama and can work with him... it's those darn nasty House and Senate Democrats that won't play ball.

It will be interesting to see how the politics (and economics) of this issue play out.

A roommate first

I've had roommates who didn't help pay bills or pay any rent.

I've had roommates who were surprisingly messier than me. 

I've never had a roommate go 15 hours without walking his dog.  (When I let the dog out he got away and I had the joy of chasing him around the neighborhood.)

Nor have I had a roommate trash my house and take a door off the hinges to use it for beer pong.

Unfortunately for me, I seem to have hit the bad roommate jackpot.

A perfect storm

Economist Robert Samuelson writes in the Washington Post that we really are screwed. He says we face 3 problems any one of which would create big headaches.  Combined the problems are practically unsurmountable because the cure for one causes another to be worse.

The three problems he cites:

1.  Collapse of consumer spending.  Consumers are 70% of our economy.   When we stop spending we are in a recession, period.

2.  Credit crisis.  Banks are not willing to lend and won't be any time soon.

3.  Global trade imbalance.  We have been running huge trade deficits with Asia.  Basically, we've been keeping their workers employed (for low wages).  

It's a depressing article.  

Hillary's backside - The most viewed photo of my career

Andrew Sullivan gets over a million hits per week.  He's the most popular blogger on the internet.  On November 11, 2007, he posted this picture from me and my e-mail.  Sadly, he didn't quote me by name but simply labeled me as a "caucus-goer".

As I wrote in the e-mail, I was leaning to Hillary early on.  The Jefferson-Jackson dinner where this picture was taken was a turning point for me.  Now it is widely credited as a turning point for the entire campaign.  

Blog of the month

The only resolution I've been able to keep is a promise to stop making resolutions.  This year I had not so much a resolution but a goal to create a "Blog of the week" each week.  It's now the end of the month and I am getting around to the first one.

Andrew Sullivan is the first regular blogger I started reading back in 2003.  He's an interesting guy:  He's conservative (supported Bush in 2000 and the Iraq invasion) but came to realize the Bush administration was neither conservative nor competent.

He broke ranks with fellow conservatives to support Kerry in 2004.  He liked McCain early on but was turned off by the stunt after stunt performed by his campaign.  

In the Emirates his blog is not accessible from home but is from the University.  I have no idea why.

I am jealous of Andrew because he has a small team and gets to blog for a living.

Here's the blogsite:

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/

He recently linked to a great photo of the inauguration:  (it may take some time to come up because they are getting heavy traffic to the site)

http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=15374&window_height=844&window_width=1665

You can zoom right down to see Clarence Thomas sleeping during Obama's speech. 

Why sugarcoat it?

Tonight I met up with a friend who has had a string of bad luck. If his dog died tomorrow he'd have a complete country song.

As he was telling his story he stopped several times and apologized for being such a buzz kill. Finally I said, "You know what? It would really piss me off if you tried to act like everything was great when it clearly isn't."

I have never understood the need to sugarcoat with good friends. Yes, someone you meet in passing in the mall who asks, "How are you?" doesn't really want to know how you are. Saying, "Fine, how are you?" is the right response 95% of the time. But when you are having a one-on-one conversation I've never understood the need to pretend.

Let it snow... in the UAE??

It has snowed for the second time in history in the UAE.

****
My Republican Confederate friend Matt in Atlanta e-mailed me the story. I booked my ticket to fly back on February 5 and have a 12 hour layover in Atlanta. Matt is taking the day off from work and we're going to the Coke museum. I'm practically giddy. I hope he is still willing to go after he reads the next post...

What are the odds?

Republicans went on the Sunday talk shows to say they don't plan to vote for the stimulus package.

Fine. No problem. Democrats have solid majorities in both chambers of Congress and don't need a single Republican vote for it to pass. I wonder if we will hear the following speech from President Obama:

"The nation is facing the most dire economic crisis it has faced since the Great Depression. I tried hard to get Republicans votes by including tax cuts that they would like. Most economists said those tax cuts wouldn't help the economy much but I included them to make the Republicans happy.

Well, it didn't work. Republicans are taking their cue from Rush Limbaugh and putting party before country. Therefore, I have decided to come up with an entirely new stimulus package. I have asked Nobel economist Paul Krugman to design it..."

Krugman has been persuasively arguing that the current plan is too little and misdirected. His suggestion of a new New Deal is probably what the country needs and would send Republicans into fits of rage.

We won't hear this from President Obama because, 1. It goes against his "Can't we all get along" governing style, and 2. Well, there is no 2.

And 1. is pretty weak.

Losing for winning

A friend invited me to join a poker game that started just before midnight.  The other players were from The Gazette and they couldn't come out to play until tomorrow's issue was put to bed.  

Or something like that.

Anyhow, I had good cards and won the first tournament.  By then it was past 2AM and I really, really wanted to go to bed.  

There's a courtesy rule in poker:  If you win you have to stick around to give the guys a chance to win their money back.  Early in the next game I went all-in against the host.  I hoped to give him my chips.  Sadly, my lousy cards were just a little better than his and I took him out.  

I didn't win anything in the second tourney but didn't get out until 4.  If playing poker were a job I made less than $10/hour tonight.  If I had only managed to come in second in the first tournament I could have been to bed hours earlier.

Great timing

There's nothing like arriving home at 4AM to a house that is 50 degrees (no exageration).  Apparently my furnace has stopped working.

I tried to get the fireplace working but after nine months of non-use it's not cooperating.  It's now past 5 and I'm sitting in my really cold house using the stove and space heater to try to generate some warmth.  

My only hope is that the poker tournament is still going and that they see daylight before it is over.

Arrested for a library book?

In 2004 I checked out a book about the botched AOL-Time Warner merger from the Cedar Rapids library.  It was a terrible book and I forgot to return it.  

The chief of police in Anamosa is a friend of mine.  He knew about my indiscretion and urged me to come clean.  He said, "You could probably get away with it, but people have been arrested for overdue books."  I basically said, "Yeah, right."  This spring I became paranoid about something screwing up my job in the UAE so I went to the library and confessed.  Fortunately, it cost me less than $30 and there were no handcuffs.

According to The Gazette this poor woman from Independence wasn't so lucky.

Paglia's

I joined recent Sigma Nu grads for pizza in Iowa City.  As the "pizza with pork" deprived member of the group I insisted we go to Paglia's. "They have great pizza!" I told them.

Scratch that.  They used to have great pizza.

We ate 4 large pizzas and none of them were particularly good.  They've changed the sauce or something.  So very disappointed.

Not how I remember things...

In five days I've had three strange encounters:

1.  On day one a child is screaming at the top of his lungs in Fareway.  Mom does nothing.  It goes on and on and on.  I was standing in line at the register and didn't even realize I said aloud, "Have things changed that much when I was out of the country?"  A guy ahead of me replied, "No, this is pretty unbelievable."  The woman behind me said, "My parents would have yanked me out of here long before now."  I agreed and was grateful that that type of behavior had not become the norm.

2.  On Saturday there was a woman at Bushwood who... well, I have no desire to recount the affair but "fucking rude" would be an understatement.

3.  Today I had an early dinner with my friend Peter at the Hamburg Inn in Iowa City.  Nobody else was dining.  In walks a mentally ill guy who sits two seats away from us and doesn't stop talking.  Sometimes he seems like he is talking to us, the waiter, people walking on the street or his imaginary friends.

You could be in Iowa for a year and not encounter any of the above.  To get it all in five days?  Wow.

At least the weather is what I expected.

The downside of development

The post below indicates that quick decision making in the world of nearly unlimited funds is a good thing.  It can be, but it can also lead to ridiculous decisions.  

As we were moving into our apartments workers were planting thousands of flowers on the roundabout near us.  The RA was beautiful.  You can kinda see it in this post.  Anyhow, a week before I left they ripped out all the flowers.  

On my campus there is a beautiful old building.  "Old" as in maybe 20 years.  (I will get a picture up after I return.)  It does need refurbishing.  Nah.  Let's tear it down and build new.  

Government expenditures on construction projects is likely to increase both in the US and the UAE; more so in the UAE.  Dubai was expanding faster than Miami, Pheonix and Las Vegas combined.  (That's not an exageration, I simply can't find the link to the story on tons of concrete and cranes in use in each city.)  That construction has gone from 100 to 0 in three months.  While many of the unemployed workers have been sent back to their native countries the companies have extraordinary excess capacity.  The government has promised to increase spending in construction to make up for some of the difference.

If I'm lucky they'll build more housing in Al Ain...

Contrasting styles of development

When I was 10 years old Cedar Rapids temporarily ended construction of Collins Road at Edgewood Road.  For years they had road detour signs with flashing lights indicating the end of the road.  Those were replaced by semi-permanent barriers and 30 years later there is still debate whether the road should continue on.

In the Emirates the road connecting my city to Dubai turns into heavy traffic the closer you get to Dubai.  It goes from three lanes on each side of the road to five.

That was not enough to handle the traffic so in the short time I've been there they broken the traffic into 3 different roads, five lanes across.  Headed to Sharjah (east) take this freeway.  Headed to Abu Dhabi (west) take this freeway.  Still bound for Dubai?  Stay on your five lanes and ride on in with less traffic.  

This came to mind as I read in The Gazette that Cedar Rapids is studying the need to expand Collins Road.  Studying the need?  Yesterday I sat through two traffic lights before I finally made it through.  There is no need to study.  Anyone who drives on Collins knows the need and it's been there for years.

The joys of Panera

I have no internet access at my house.  I'm going to Panera for my daily coffee and internet surfing time.

Right now there is a guy smacking down his food like something out of a bad sitcom.  I can't help but stare and he's only sitting four feet away from me.

It's one thing to have your mouth open while you chew.  It's another to chew 20 times before each swallow.  Somehow this must be therapeutic for the guy because he has a look of total zen-like bliss on his face.  He is totally oblivious to the fact that my head is bobbing up and down on every slow chew he makes.

Heaven on a plate

Here's what you are looking at: An Iowa porkchop with homegrown potatoes mashed up and combined with grilled onions, bacon, and cheese. It's topped by porkchop gravy and homegrown sweetcorn.

This post is more for Ann back in the Emirates than anyone else.

My hometown

I couldn't help but sing Springsteen's song as I drove through town.

Although it had not snowed in days, winds keep blowing drifts across the rural roads.

Loser?

My friend Mike is trying to say I'm a loser.  He didn't realize from the camera's point of view the "L" is going the wrong way.

Who's the loser now?

The upside of the inflation numbers

In the post below I explain why I don't believe the government's numbers showing virtually no inflation for 2008.  However, there can be no denying that virtually every commodity (think oil, corn, wheat, steel, cement, etc.) is priced much lower than a year ago.  

Each time you go to the pump and pay $30 to fill your tank instead of $70 you are recieving the equivelant of a $40 tax cut.  Combine those savings with super low interest rates and we should see a boast in spending for everything else.  

But we probably won't.  1.  Consumers don't want to spend.  The notion of taking on debt to buy a new car isn't as appealing today as it was a year ago.  2.  Banks aren't lending.  The government is buying the banks "troubled assets" to help free up capital for the banks to lend to you and me.  The trouble is that the banks have gone very conservative.  You could get a great interest rate for a house!  (As long you have 25% down payment and a credit score over 750.)

*****

While the next post shows the downside of the government's numbers, the news of near zero inflation is good.  It gives the Fed the leeway to keep interest rates at zero to help get us out of this mess.  

For whatever it is worth, I'm more optimistic about the economy today than I was at Thanksgiving.  Then again, I'm not trying to get a job right now.

A new reason to deny you a raise

According to the government inflation for the year 2008 was .1%.  The lowest inflation for our country since 1954.  

Think about what the number is saying:  A year ago you spent $100 to buy stuff.  On average you will now spend $100.10 to buy the same stuff.    Prices, on average, have not changed.

Really?

Economic textbooks list reasons why the government's inflation rate is too high:  Inflation doesn't measure the fact that $500 today will buy a better computer than $500 a year ago.  Inflation doesn't measure people who substitute.  If the price of bananas goes up you stop buying as many.  Those who measure inflation assume you buy the same number of bananas each and every month.

OK, so there are problems in measuring inflation.  

But I'm not convinced that if the average family in America totaled all of their bills that they are only paying .1% more this year.  

*****

Most employers use the inflation rate as the base for deciding how much of a raise to give their employees.

I hope you weren't planning on a raise in 2009.

A beer pong table...

... is not what I expected in my living room when I got home.

It's all about me

I invite friends to a bar. I am excited to go to a real bar, as opposed to the crappy hotel bars in Al Ain. The friends read the blog; they know my life. My goal was to learn about what's been happening with them for the past 5 months. What do we talk about? Me, of course.

The more appropriate question is "What does Steve end up talking about? The answer: All the stuff I can't put on the blog... I guess I need to start a different subscription based blog.

They did get cool Yak wool hats from Nepal. That must be worth something. I guess I'll find out the next time I come home and invite them to come out.

I didn't even bring a camera to get a picture of them in their cool Yak wool hats. How lame is that?

*****
It is now 1AM Iowa time... or 11AM in the UAE. I have stayed up all night into the next day. I'm glad to know my insomnia pays off once in a while.

Made it

I'm back. I didn't sleep much on the flights. The bottom line is that I am in CR. One of my luggage bags is missing. I will try to write a coherent post tomorrow.

Having real problems with AOL. Don't expect an e-mail from me.

The longest day of my life.

Thursday for me started at 2 pm Iowa time Wednesday. I boarded the United flight in Dubai. It was raining and lightning. The flight was delayed takeoff for about an hour. I missed my connection to Chicago.

Delayed flight because of weather... in DUBAI! If you lived in the country with no weather you'd know how funny that is!

The delay itsn't too bad. I should arrive in Moline about 90 minutes later than planned.

I am waiting in DC for a flight to Chicago... I bought a Coke. It was wonderful! Coke in the Emirates is close, but not the same. I'm in heaven.

I have no idea how much I'm going to be charged for this internet kiosk so I had better cut this off.

Worth the wait

When I booked this ticket last July I didn't know that I could have left here a couple of days earlier. Getting a chance to see locals driving on wet streets was worth the wait. They treated it like ice... cut their speed by more than half. Some slow drivers put on their blinkers. I have never passed as many cars as I did today!

Well, we leave Al Ain at 4AM (all times here are Iowa time). We're doing some stuff in Dubai. I don't get on the plane until a little after 2PM. I arrive in DC around 5AM, go through customs and, hopefully make it to Moline via Chicago by 11AM.

I am way, way too worked up right now. The title of this post should be: Chicken with the head cutoff.

See 'ya Thursday. Literally, I hope.

Today's must read

Either I'm a little loopy from the excitement of rain and coming home or this is very funny.

Now that I've seen everything I'm ready to come home

As I was packing - I hate packing, by the way - I heard some noise over the sound of the washing machine. It couldn't be. It sounds like... rain. Real rain. Not the sandstorm/misty rain we got back in August. A genuine storm with a little lightning and thunder.

I live in a country where there is simply no weather. This is as exciting as it gets for a weather geek.

E-mail of the day

From Denise:

In the last four days we’ve had around 10-11 inches of snow. Had you still been on vacation, I would’ve entered a post titled “Thanks for the 10 inches last night, Steve!”

It was -5 when I drove into work. That doesn’t count the wind chill.

Iowa is a jealous lover and when a self-proclaimed “True Blue Iowan” leaves, she plots her revenge up his return. So I’m blaming you for the weather now.

I’d type more, but I have to go into the restroom to run my hands under hot water so they thaw out for a while.

Packing

I hate packing. I am treating this trip like I am coming home for 200 days, not 20. The trip itself is about as good as it gets: My plane departs Dubai at 12:30 AM. We fly through the night and land in Washington for a transfer and Chicago for a transfer and then arrive in Moline at 11:30. Last night I was awake until 5AM UAE time. My insomnia should reduce the jet lag! I've been moving to Iowa time every day this week.

Back to packing. Ugh. Did I mention I hate packing?

Dear Friends and Family

The high on Thursday will be minus 5 with a strong wind from the north. The state has been hit by back to back snowstorms.

Today I sat outside of a cafeteria for lunch. We sat in the shade because it would have been too warm to sit in direct sunlight.

I regret to announce I have decided to stay in the UAE. It's just too cold in Iowa.

Sorry Gus.

Don't go away mad... Just go away.

One of the joys of living in this country is that I actually hear President Bush very little. Tonight I played his final press conference. The guy needs time with a psychiatrist more than Tony Soprano.

In an amazing view of recent history he says he didn't make mistakes in Katrina. He shouldn't have landed Air Force One because it would have pulled away local law enforcement from their duties. (True.) And, basically, they did all they could. (Are you joking?)

Update: Bush is the new Truman, or so says Fred Barnes. I'm guessing history won't be as kind.

Global Village

Imagine inviting retailers from around the globe to one place to sell their products. The actual people from those countries come to sell the products. It was fascinating. The prices were great on many items. Ann and I were compelled to stop at the Nepal shop. Much of the merchandise was similar to what we saw a month ago but it was not as similar as I would have expected. We only priced one item - a picture frame -and he wanted 5x what it went for in Nepal.

In the Iraq section I bought an "I love Iraq" scarf. The guy selling it to me asked where I was from. When I said "America" he looked stunned. "Is it safe to wear that in America?" I assured him it is, but I guess I'll find out on Thursday. The forecast high for the day is -4.

By the time I made my last purchase we I simply had too much to carry back to the car. We I rented this cart (and the guy with it) to get the stuff back to the car. If you click on the picture you can see that his going rate is 20 dirhams per hour. He spent 20 minutes with us and I paid him 25. As I wrote last night, he had a look of "you just ripped me off" on his face as we left.

Only for marrieds?

I'm not sure what makes a honey "only for marrieds" and I guess I'll never find out. This was not an anomaly; all vendors of honey and most vendors of tea had the "only for marrieds" variety.

There be gyros!

Ann and Mike were ecstatic to see gyro's being sold in the UAE. It's a first.

While we were eating the manager came to ask how we liked the food. Fine, whatever. But his interest was sincere as Ann and Mike explained that having lived near Astoria (the greek section of Queens) they know gyros. Ann explained what they need to do to improve the sauce.

Maybe, just maybe, good gyro's will be headed to Al Ain soon.

Iraqi artist

Ann and Mike met this Iraqi artist years ago. He's an interesting guy. He's a true entrepreneur in the sense that he creates his own artwork and sells it wherever he can. Some American troops made purchases and it reached a point that he feared retaliation.

His artwork is more pedestrian than he is... he's quite flamboyant. In America he'd be out and living a fabulous life. In Iraq he has a wife and two kids.

This is all that is left of his pottery. This picture doesn't do it justice. Those are all separate pieces that fit together as a collage.

Why no more pottery? Electricity in Baghdad has not been reliable since the invasion.

C-SPAN

Starting next month I can get C-SPAN.

Yippee!

The price? $20 per month.

Are you frickin' serious? $20 per month for C-SPAN? Nothing else. Just C-SPAN.

Yeah, let me know how many subscribers you get. I'm as much of a political geek as there is living in this country. I wouldn't pay $5 for C-SPAN.

Iraq

My favorite country to visit in Global Village was Iraq. Iraq for me - not unlike our government - opened up my wallet. I spent casually and carefree not knowing anything I was buying.

No, not really, but I did buy a lot. Among the things I bought was a "I love Iraq" scarf. I thought, "We bombed your country the least I can do is support your country by buying a scarf..." and a couple of key chains and several hundred dollars worth of art work.

The guy selling me the scarf asked me where I was from. When I explained America he said, "This won't give you any problems?" As an Iraqi he assumes all Americans hate Iraq. I assured him that Americans don't hate Iraq. I wanted to say, "Most Americans never gave a shit about your country until we invaded, lost 4000 Americans and a $Trillion." I didn't. I assured him that the American people wish them the best. And I proceeded to overpay for my scarf and key chains.

Confusion

In this country you don't rent a cart to get your stuff back to your car. You rent a worker to put the stuff in a cart to take to the car for you.

The charge for the cart/worker was $5. For that $5 he was our cart guy for an hour. We were done shopping. It took a little time to find the car, maybe 10 minutes... I paid the guy $6.50. I thought a $1.50 tip was gold because because his total time with us was under 20 minutes. He could walk back and collect another fare while still on our clock.

He stood looking as forlorn as anyone I've ever seen. The Steve that arrived in this country probably would have tacked on another $2.50 or $5 just for the look. Instead I laughed and said, "Get real." As we pulled away he continued looking at us like I had just stiffed him.

The guy will be happy to know that his look will bother me for quite a while. I keep thinking, "I did not cheat you. I paid you $5 for 20 minutes. I tipped you. I know most of your customers do not tip. Why in the hell did you give me that look and keep giving me that look?"

How do I know that most of their customers don't tip? In the short time I've lived here I've come to realize that America is the most tipping country on earth. The notion of tipping the person who cuts your hair, brings the food to your table, dry cleans your clothes, or takes your Global Village purchases to your car simply doesn't cross other peoples' minds. And that's why the guy's look bothers me. Dude, you helped for 20 minutes. I gave you a tip. Why are you looking at me like I kicked your dog?

Global Village

For four months shopkeepers from around the world set up shop in Dubai. It is called Global Village. We spent six hours there today and could have spent six hours more to see everything.

I didn't buy anything for the first two hours. I was so proud of myself. Then I saw bargains and my "Inner Imelda" was unleashed.

By the time we left we I had to rent a cart to get everything back to the car.

Ann has the pics on her camera... I will get them up tomorrow.

Facebook invites?

I'm coming back to Iowa on Thursday (I think).

How do you let everyone know you are returning? Send a post card? Please, Grandma doesn't even use them anymore. Call? Assuming numbers that haven't changed, it's too expensive from here. Text message? Too cumbersome.

E-mail would work, that's soo 1990's.

I am tempted to create an "event" on Facebook. I have somewhere around 100 Facebook friends in Cedar Rapids. I can create an event on Facebook, say a gathering at Bushwood on Saturday night... and just wait for the crowds to gather.

Or listen to crickets chirp. I guess they don't chirp in Iowa in January, but they do here. There's one outside my window every night.

If my going away party was any guide a Facebook "Yes" means maybe. A "we'll see" means no chance in hell. And a "No" is from those with legitimate reasons they can't make it and want me to know why. Very polite.

In late October a writer for the New York Times posted a story that I fear would be my Facebook party if I threw one. I was going to comment on it at the time but was too wrapped up in the election, and, you know, not voting.

Update: The NYT article linked above makes similar comments to mine about those who say "Yes" I will attend an event. I didn't plagiarize. On the night of my going away party I was truly stunned by the close friends who had responded on Facebook that they'd be there that didn't show. Meanwhile, a HS friend living west of Des Moines did come. I thought that night, "That's the difference between a Facebook friend and a real friend."

Looking for a way to be unique

I'll bet I may be the only person in the world to sleep every night on $200 king size Egyptian cotton sheets on a couch.

The king sized bed I bought them for is just too hard, said Goldilocks.

The Bush years

As a long time Rush Limbaugh listener I remember January 1993. He told listeners that he was so sure of a failed Clinton Presidency that he was willing to bet his own money - $100k per variable or $1million total to prove that Clinton would fail.

He asked listeners to look at unemployment, interest rates, the deficit... etc. He was sure everyone of those indicators would be negative four/eight years later.

He chortled for weeks and months in 1993 that nobody was willing to take him up on the bet. That had to be proof that he was right.

Sorry, Rush, virtually every economic indicator improved in the 1990's.

Unlike the 2000's.

Part of me would like to know how Rush would explain this away, but he never revisited his negative Clinton predictions, so there's no reason to expect any substance now.

I'm ready to come home...

After rationing it for months I have ate the last of Dad's homegrown popcorn.

The good news is that he had a good crop this year and I'll be able to load up my suitcase when I return.

Cold carb turkey?

In the past I have had amazing success on the South Beach (low carb) diet. It's easy because once the carbs are out of your system you lose your appetite and lose weight. (After a week of hell to reach that point...)

Now I'm experiencing the opposite effect. For the last seven days I have been living off of Coke and Snickers. In 48 hours I polished off a case of Coke. That was common in college but my body's response is another reminder that I'm not a college kid anymore.

The result of constant carbo loading? Constant hunger. The second my sugar level begins to drop I reach for another Snickers.

I'm not going to go cold turkey, but I symbolically dumped my last Coke. I need to give away my frozen Snickers...

The never ending semester

I am still not done. I have grades done, it's paperwork that I don't understand that I don't have done. I've asked three people and had three different answers. I'm going in early tomorrow morning and camping out until someone holds my hand and leads me through the process.

I told my students I wouldn't be in the office today but I went in anyway. There must have been a siren cry because out of the blue 20 students appeared... wanting to know their grade and pretty much every one of them pleading for a better grade. I said, "I already gave each of you a larger bump than I have ever given any class in ten years of teaching." That sailed over their heads. I reached the point of saying, "Were done here. If you keep arguing I will remove the free points I've already given you..."

Ann laughed when I had told her earlier in the week that I was holding office hours after I was done grading. Silly, silly new teacher. I sent her a text today, "The piranhas have picked the carcass clean..."

Panic time

I finished grading this afternoon and had entered all the scores on the spreadsheet. I took a break and was talking with other inmates in the Khabisi Palace, aka home.

When I returned I saw Windows was in the process of performing an update. Something with the update didn't work. After 3 hours of rebooting and rebooting and rebooting it finally worked. Now I'm trying to complete the work that is due tomorrow morning. During the three hour ordeal I was in a panic: I hadn't backed up the spreadsheet in weeks. If it was lost I was totally screwed.

Leave it to Microsoft to pick the night I'm finalizing grades to do this.

*****
The National Weather Service says there will be colder than normal temps in the 8-14 day forecast. Since I expect to arrive home in 8 days I should have expected that.

A great Freudian slip!

I'm going to post the entire story as it appeared on the Gazette website. (I suspect the AP will make a correction so the link may no longer show the mistake.)

Read carefully:

The Associated Press

DES MOINES - U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin says the confirmation hearing for former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as the nation's next agriculture secretary will be on Jan. 14.

President-elect Barack Obama chose Harkin for the post. Harkin, an Iowa Democrat who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, predicts an easy confirmation for Vilsack.

Vilsack served two terms as governor, winning election in 1998 and in 2002. He did not run again in 2006 and made a brief run for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Since leaving office, Vilsack has taught at Drake University's law school in Des Moines and has been a consultant with a variety of clients.

Did you catch that? "Obama chose Harkin for the post."

He sure did.

Obama didn't pick Vilsack based on real agricultural experience. My being raised on a farm gives me more agricultural experience than Vilsack.

Obama chose Vilsack for three reasons:

1. Harkin, chair of the Senate Agriculture committee, wanted him. Harkin is well liked in the liberal community and had begun to grumble about Obama's cabinet picks. Perhaps Harkin was grumbling just to help Vilsack get the nod.

2. Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance committee, wants to coast to reelection in 2010. As every Iowan knows, he WILL coast to victory. A poll out in November showed that one Democrat could give him a race: Tom Vilsack. It's no wonder that Grassley positively gushed about the appointment... his only real opponent had been eliminated. The Finance committee position gives Grassley has more power than most Iowans are aware of... Grassley probably won't vote for Obama's plans but he may be less likely to lead the resistance.

3. Iowa. God love us, we will still be the first game to play in 2012. It all started in Iowa in 2008 and Obama will never forget that. A bunch of old white Iowans (with the help of some younger white Iowans) showed up on caucus night with numbers nobody believed possible. Like Jimmy Carter in 1980, Iowa will be the new President's firewall against an attack from the left.

(My original posts following Vilsack's selection can be read here and here.)

Crisis of confidence

I've spent the day - going on 14 hours now - grading finals. The scores are bad. Bad as in, "Were these people sitting in my classroom?" bad.

At one point I said to Ann, "If I was grading someone else's class I'd be thinking, 'This guy can't teach. There's no way his students should be getting these scores.'"

There were bright spots. A few students who asked questions during class performed very well on the final.

I'm not ready to throw in the towel but I'm also not expecting any "Teacher of the year" award.

Dissappointing

News that 40% of the stimulus package will be tax cuts is very disappointing. Tax cuts have a spotty record as a stimulus. The 2001 cuts didn't work; they paid down bills. 2003 did work. It went to parents in August and baby did get a new pair of shoes just in time for school. The 2007 cut was largely a bust.

In tough economic times tax cuts don't work because when you're scared of losing your job you save the tax cut. Smart individual thinking, very little help for the economy.

This is one where it is bad economics AND bad politics. By including large tax cuts Obama's idea is to get 80 votes in the senate. Even before details are released Politico is running the headline, "GOP unusually resistant to Obama tax cut".

Paul Krugman expresses it best.

Can't you at least pretend you are taking a test?

I had 120 male and 100 female students taking their final tonight. I was on the male campus and colleagues proctored the female campus. In addition to Ann's volunteer help, five were with me to help on the male campus. Five.

Two hours before the exam Ann helped me prepare the room by spreading desks far apart and taping labels to the chairs. Every student was assigned a specific seat... and then the fun began. Students began filtering in a half hour early. "What? Assigned seats?" Several huddled in the back. How will we cheat now if we can't sit next to each other?

For the duration of the two hour test Ann remained planted in a section of the room where the worse offenders were seated. For the most part everything went smoothly. Oh, how my standards have changed. In America I'd have said, "It was terrible! Everyone was trying to cheat everywhere." But on the standards I've grown accustomed to, it went as well as it could.

Because of the assigned seating and multiple versions of the test students many had no idea what to do so they sat. And sat. And sat. Over an hour into the exam several had not even bothered to pick up their pens. I looked on in amazement and thought, "Can't you even pretend you are taking a test? Maybe act like you are trying really hard?" Nah. I'll wait. My time to cheat will come somehow, someway.

It didn't come. In a panic some answered all "A" on the multiple choice and all "True" on the T/F. The short answer answer essay questions? Blank.

I have only graded a few but I'm fairly certain I will have to eat my "why even take the final?" post. This is one final that is going to change a lot of grades and none for the better.

Poor New Mexico!

They get their governor back.

I'm an Iowan who went to see every presidential candidate on the campaign trail as often as possible. Governor Richardson struck me as the most over-hyped candidate on either side.

Update: Fred Thompson may have given him a run for his money. I saw Fred at the State Fair with his $400 shoes and lack of a stump speech and thought, "This is going nowhere..."

Too many quotes for one day

If you are looking for time to kill (I call it work avoidance) this article in Vanity Fair is worth a read. It's 35 pages if you print it.

The article is nothing but quotes from people inside and outside of the Bush Administration. It takes the reader painstakingly through the past eight years. This isn't a Bush bashing piece as many quoted are still loyal to this day. But even Bush's most ardent cheerleaders have become disillusioned. The final quote comes from Matthew Dowd. Dowd is a former Democrat turned Bush supporter who orchestrated the reelection campaign in 2004. He says:

You know, the headline in his presidency will be missed opportunity. That is the headline, ultimately. It’s missed opportunity, missed opportunity.

The article is worth reading just to see how Colin Powell slowly came to realize his job as Secretary of State was to "pick up the dogshit" left by the neo-cons.

Quote of the day

“In high school, the way they taught us religion was very white and black,” said Mr. Azam, a 28-year-old Saudi who works as a recruiter for Toyota. “You always felt you were doing something wrong, and it drove a lot of people away.”

- From Saturday's New York Times.

The article is both encouraging and sad. It talks about spreading toleration and moderation via satellite around the Muslim world. Encouraging. Two of the men interviewed were secular and now that they are "moderate" have left their wives who refuse to wear head dress.

D'oh!

*****
Another quote from the article is one I live every day in conversations with young Emiraties:

For young Arabs, he offers a way to reconcile a world painfully divided between East and West, pleasure and duty, the rigor of the mosque and the baffling freedoms of the Internet.

I could talk about America every day and students would be happy. They want to know everything. (I know the "If he talks about this he won't cover new material" look. The interest in America is genuine.)

At the same time they love their religion and traditions. They wonder if their society has changed too much too fast. It's a relevant question as they have changed more in 40 years than America has in 100. Our change was gradual; theirs came by way of ships with new electronics and Landcruisers. You can't go from riding camels and taking a seven day journey from Al Ain to Dubai to a generation later speeding down the road at 140 KPH without at least a little whiplash.

Save the Paramount

The cost to repair the Paramount after the 2008 floods will be $25 million. FEMA will pay 75%, the state 10% and the remaining 15% is to be paid by the city.

The city must decide if it is worth spending $3.75 million (15% of $25 million).

If this were Final Jeopardy I'd say, "Alex, stop the music: This is a no-brainer..." (and I'd be quickly disqualified since I didn't phrase it in the form of a question).

Let's say they spent all that money, completed the project and blew it up. That's right. Take dynamite to the place and level it. The $3.75 million investment from the city would still be worth it. Why? The project is worth much more than $25 million. In economics it is what is called the multiplier. All of those workers will buy food, shop for new clothes, maybe even buy a car from a bankrupt automaker... In other words, a dollar spent to rebuild the Paramount doesn't die. It lives on and multiplies in the community.

Now, assuming they won't blow it up the Paramount was (will be again) a great venue. Some criticize the project because the Paramount was underused. Agreed, it was underused, but that's no reason to oppose the rebuilding plan.

Why not skip the final?

My classes have taken five quizzes plus a midterm. I know their abilities. I know that the final on Monday will not change many grades. Finals rarely do.

I also know that I can't cancel it. Why? First, I'd like to stay employed. Second, students expect a final. I've received numerous e-mails from students wanting extra credit, extra work, etc. My response: "The final is worth 30% of your grade. If you do well it will raise your grade."

It's not likely to make a difference, unless students here are very different.

At Hamilton I had over 500 students per year for five years. Of those 2500+ grades assigned I doubt more than 10 saw a full letter grade change because of the final. Less than 100 saw a change to a "+" or "-".

Martin Feldstein

Feldstein is a respected conservative economist. He served as Reagan's top economic adviser until he realized that president wasn't serious about reducing the deficit.

Today he was interviewed on CNBC. His main points:

1. To deal with a recession he would normally he'd prefer monetary policy (think low interest rates) over fiscal policy (government spending and taxation) but these are not ordinary times.

2. The stimulus must be very large and must be predominantly government spending. Those tax rebates last year were a joke of a stimulus as only 15% of it was actually spent.

3. By the end of 2009 we may see the worse of this recession but we won't likely hit bottom until 2010 or later.

In short, a fiscal-hawk conservative come out in favor of running very large deficits for the next couple of years and sees no great benefit to tax cuts. Wow.

I'm betting Rush and Hannity don't invite him on their shows anytime soon.

Piles

220 students in six sections.

Homework and quizzes to grade.

63 group projects to grade.

All to be entered into a grade book which is a little more difficult when 90% of your students have one of the same five names.

Final on Monday to be administered and graded.

I'm not complaining; the benefits of my chosen profession far outweigh the negatives. And the one upside: Six days from now - come hell or high water - I'm done. I'll have a whole week to enjoy Al Ain before heading home.

OK, the real reason for this story is to give an excuse for light posting over the next couple of days...

Not quite in the party mood...

NYE was somewhat subdued as I have not been feeling well the past two weeks. The mere thought of consuming alcohol has made me nauseous. Ann and I were discussing it today and it turns out she has the same symptoms I have. I'll spare you the details. We both started showing signs 11 days after we left Nepal.

I voted that we get Cipro and give it a try. Ann's the investigative type who'd like to find out more... Each of us (not knowing the other had the same symptoms) have been googling for the past week. The results have been, well, disgusting.

Oh, the joys of traveling to a third world country.

NYE 2008

I joined a group of Ann's friends for a New Year's Eve dinner at Chili's. Chili's is in the mall right across from McDonalds. (Feel like you're in America?)

Some easy tasks in America are not so easy here. Following the dinner I left this group to join another NYE/birthday party. Earlier in the day I decided to get a gift certificate as a present. The first restaurant I went to had no idea what a gift certificate was. I drove to the other end of the city and, while they understood what gift certificates were, they didn't have any.

I thought, "Oh, just get one at Chili's..." Easier said then done. Our waiter was going to apply the gift certificate to our NYE meal. (So I just bought a gift certificate to use for myself???)

This came at the end of a 3 hour meal. The place wasn't busy; service was that bad.

That's the point: This place can be very similar to America in that there's a Chili's and McD's to eat at. Yet, it's not quite the same.

*****
I see the Hawks just kicked ass in the Outback Bowl. Yippee!

Anniversary missed

On December 27, 1998, I returned home to Iowa to celebrate Christmas. One of the observers at the Norfolk, Nebraska, weather office called to tell me that a letter arrived announcing the closure of the weather station on January 31, 1999. Effectively, we were all losing our jobs.

The postmark on the letter was December 23.

When I finally read the letter myself I looked for any sign of recognition of the callousness of the timing. Nope. It was as cold and bureaucratic as everything else from the government.

"This has ruined me and my company"

A quote from the front page of today's The National newspaper.

On Tuesday Dubai announced that it was canceling all public celebrations of the New Year to show solidarity with those suffering in Gaza. Interestingly, Abu Dhabi did not.

The man quoted above is Mr. Ram Nath who had spent over $250,000 preparing for a celebration that was canceled. He went on to say, "I had got all the proper permits from the government, booked and paid the artist, paid for plane tickets and hotels and venue."

Now he's bankrupt.

For his event and many others thousands of guests who made reservations demanded their money back and had to make alternate plans at the last minute.

In December 2009 people will be making plans for the next New Years Eve. I wonder how high Dubai will rank on their list.