PhoneBoy Says

Despite George Snuffleupagus's direct question about how he might make the case against Hillary Clinton, he explains why he's the right candidate for the job. He didn't diss the competition per-se, but he is highly critical of how everyone else is taking a wait and see approach to Iraq.

I can't decide if this focus on a single issue is going to help or hurt Gov. Richardson's chances for winning the Democratic nomination. It is a clear difference, for sure.

Gov. Bill Richardson on This Week with George Stephanopoulos

On the high shelf…

Well I can finally say that we only own one house again. What a relief!

Friday we signed the papers. It looked like we were going to owe a few hundred dollars--yes we did have to take significantly less than we wanted to sell for. However, that ended up being a matter of the title company not having the most up-to-date numbers. Instead we got a few hundred dollars back. Or will once they send the check.

On Monday, everything funded, which means their money hit our banks. The wife brought up the keys and the garage door openers to the new owners. And that was pretty much that.

The old house, she had her good points and bad. It was a little odd walking through the old house while it was empty. A house that we had watched being built from the ground up and had lived in for four years. But now it's someone else's house to make memories in.

Meanwhile, we have our own "new" place to make memories in. And I can rest easy knowing we only have one mortgage to worry about. It is a much bigger mortgage than we had on the old house, but we'll manage.

While I'm personally sick of hearing Gov. Richardson's opinion on what we should do in Iraq, the fact is, he's the only one willing to actually do what the American public wants in this regard--get the heck out of Iraq. The other presidential candidates, well, they can't commit to a complete withdrawl. Sounds like our current President.

Spend a few minutes watching this video and pass it around.

The Choice on Iraq

I admit, this seems strange. But you have to understand, I've had this trusty old alarm clock since I was a small child. It's a piece of history in more ways than one.I've told this story a couple of times already. It's amazing I can come up with a third version of it. :) This clock, made by the legendary Fairchild Semiconductor, has been a part of my life for about as long as I can remember. My mom bought it in either 1976 or 1977. At some point, it became my clock. It's been in more or less continual service since it was bought.Until I walked into Jaden's room to wake him up Tuesday morning. I had given the clock to him so he could see what time it was from his bed. It was sitting there showing 12:00 like it's showing in the picture. It only does that when the power goes out. I tried setting the clock. No dice. It wouldn't budge. It was emitting an usual humming sound. Something went wrong.After the kids went to bed, I opened it up and looked inside. I couldn't see what's wrong with it, and I don't think it's worth trying to fix. Maybe for sentimental reasons, but I've got enough other things that I actually know how to do to keep me busy. Electronics repair was never one of my strong suits.30 years of faithful service is probably more than anyone expected thisalarm clock to last. It was looking ugly in it's old age, and evenfalling apart somewhat. But it was mine, damn it, and it worked.Even though it makes me sad to do so, and it's probably a collector's item--even broken--the clock that has been the one constant fixture in my life to date is now in the trash. That clock has a lot of personal history associated with it. Throwing away the clock is a symbolic gesture towards putting history where it belongs--in the past.Goodbye, old friend. I will miss you.

When we moved to the new place, my wife decided the pinball machine should go in the living room. Now, of course, she wants it fixed. Apparently, it will be something cool for the neighborhood kids to play with.

The problem with getting pinball machines fixed is that not a lot of people actually fix pinball machines. I called the place that owns/services a lot of the amusement machines at a local arcade. They referred me to one of their techs who does it "on the side." I called to see if/when he could come out. He's busy this week, but hopefully we can work something out for next week.

The first step is getting all the wiring reconnected. I had to disconnect all of the wiring between the head and the base so that the machine could be moved from my office in the old house. Now that the machine has been moved, I need to reconnect it all.

I also ordered a set of rubbers for the machine. No, not the prophylactic kind, but the kind that goes around the slingshots, flippers, and whatnot. They are starting to get worn and cracked. One of the slingshots is already missing it's rubber ring due to this. Fortunately, the sets are cheap and easy to get on eBay.

Here's hoping I can get this thing back online soon.

Mr. Rogers certainly made this six year old man of the house. One of the few truly good human beings to have walked the face of the earth.

Mr. Rogers talks to the US senate