J.P.

I think people in general have lost their minds. And I blame the Internet for this lunacy. What was once a safe haven for geeks and an easy way to exchange porn has become a mammoth machine of idiocy perpetuation. Anyone with a computer smarter than a toaster can broadcast whatever they please on Internet. This, in turn, seems to have given everyone the license to embrace all that’s idiotic and disregard any sort of common sense.

Some signs of this lunacy:

1. I was passed by a man driving a beat up car in a rather haphazard fashion this morning. He was moving at approximately 75 MPH. His path was erratic because he was steering with his foot so that he could use both hands on his mobile device, which was poised in either texting or donkey kong mode. I couldn’t tell as I was still trying to process the foot on the steering wheel thing.

2. Two bloggers that I have enjoyed over the years have basically reduced their blogs to a second rate episode of Bewitched, specifically the one where Agnes Moorehead and Mercedes McCambridge basically cackle wickedly at each other in attempts to see who can be the most witty and catty at the same time. All I want to do is read about the bayou and admire the ginger beards.

3. Another vehicle spotted on the commute today proclaimed that during the rapture on 5/21/11 his vehicle would be available for transportation since it would be empty. Sorry, but I’m not driving to wherever I’m suppose to be regardless of what happens on 5/21/11. Someone can drive Me.

4. People are croaking that they want to see the dead body of Bin Laden because it’s not good enough that the president said he was dead, we must have proof. A human being is dead people, regardless of the fact that the man is a monster and deserved what he got, he’s still dead. Would you walk up to a casket and shake the body just to make sure? Of course not. The president can still be trusted even though he’s not white, not old and not Republican. Would we have asked for the same proof if George Lite was in office?

5. Gas stations in the area are now modifying their price displays to show the price per gallon if you also buy a car wash or use their discount card. This makes the price appear lower when taking a quick glance. Deceptive. If you can afford to lower the price of gas when using these added benefits then you can afford to lower the price period. I want to take a solar panel and use it to aim a death ray at every gas station sign in the country. I’d be power my green car up while in the process of taking aim, of course.

6. Is the nuclear situation in Japan over? Are the people that were suffering from the aftermath of the quakes all better? Does anyone care? What’s happening to the people in the south? The country is being ravaged by storms this season but people don’t seem to really care about it.

2011 is right on schedule. And it’s full of nuts.

I’ve been doing a lot more reading than writing lately. I have always loved to read and I clearly don’t have enough time during my work week to enjoy it as much as I’d like.

I have found at I am growing tired of reading books about technology; this is where the Internet shines, because if I want to read anything about technology I am able to do a quick Google search and start reading away. I like that. Reading about Linux or whatever in a book though? That’s not my thing anymore.

I am reading a couple of books at the moment, one of them being my favorite science fiction book of all time, “The Demu Trilogy” by FM Busby. The characters feel familiar because I have read this book over two dozen times since my mid-teens, but I still find nuances and the like with each new visit of the book. I also recently finished a never published story from the Tom Swift series I read as a kid; this particular series in question was about Tom Swift’s adventures in space. I used to get quite excited when I would see a new book in the series on the shelf at the B. Dalton book store. I stumbled across a couple of PDFs that contained unpublished stories a few months ago and I have been enjoying them. The characters feels familiar in these new stories, it’s a nice blend of old and new. It’s kind of like stumbling across an episode of an old sitcom that you’d never seen before.

There are a couple of other books that I’m interested in pursuing this summer. I have found that audiobooks do nothing for me; I have to lose myself in the printed word. It’s a good feeling.

My energy level this week has been surprisingly high, despite the fact that we haven’t gotten much sleep the past couple of nights due to constant thunderstorms, pounding rain, a scared cat and weather warnings come over the EAS radio in the kitchen.

Honestly, I love this stuff. This is my kind of weather.

I’m sorry to read about the storm related deaths elsewhere in the country, though. Very sad This is where social media like Twitter and Facebook can be handy; follow the right folks on your Twitter feed and you have storm notifications long before the National Weather Service releases them.

Mother Nature has had a lot of energy this week and for the most part her displays have been fantastic. Just be prepared for when she gets overly cranky. Know the safest place in your house and keep your eyes and ears open.