The European Economy Explained

Leave it to the British to properly put this in perspective.

Understanding the Gulf Oil Spill

I have personally found the reporting over the Deep Horizon oil rig leak in the Gulf of Mexico to be quite lacking in technical details of the actual problem. I mean, why can't you just drop some bombs on the hole in the ground to plug it? The most recent issue of Economist has a nice breakdown of the technical difficulties facing the recovery team, as well as the various methods that are being tried to deal with it. I found it to be informative.

Charts are Fun

I like charts like this.

Car Issues

I have recently been having problems starting my car. I took it to a local auto parts store on Monday and had them test the battery. The guy said the battery was fine, but that it sounded to him like the starter was weak and/or putting too much of a strain on the battery. Well, whatever the actual problem is, yesterday after work when I went out to start my car, it just wouldn't go. One call to AAA later, I got my car jumped by a towtruck, and it started up, but the towtruck operator noted that it sounded like the starter was "hesitant." I had a coworker drive me from my hotel to the worksite, and he will take me back to the hotel to pick up my car this afternoon, and then we'll see if it will start on its own or not. Hopefully if it needs a jump we can just do that again, but either way it is going straight to the shop once I get back to St. Louis. Then I can find out if it really is a bad battery, or a bad starter, or both, or a bad wire, or a corroded connection, or what. Oh, and get the trunk opener fixed; that's annoying.

So This Is Pretty Awesome

Remember that scene in The Empire Strikes Back where Han finds a freezing Luke in the wastes of Hoth and uses Luke's lightsaber to cut open his dead Tauntaun and then puts Luke inside? Well, did you know that you can sleep in your very own Tauntaun right now? This is both "freakin' sweet" and kind of creepy at the same time. Hopefully it doesn't actually smell worse on the inside, eh?

Speaking of awesome, this past weekend I got to see my younger brother graduate with a PhD from the University of Iowa. Way to go, bro! Now finish that paper and make it actually official!

A Sign of the Times, Perhaps?

Here is an interesting story about the upcoming WWII victory celebration that Russia is planning, which for the first time will involve soldiers from the Allied nations (USA, Great Britain, etc.) marching in Red Square as part of the military parade. Whatever you think of the underlying reasons (an actual acknowledgment of historical ties vs. a cheap political play), having US soldiers marching through Red Square isn't something I thought I would be hearing about any time soon.

Redecorating

This past Sunday I took all of the pictures off of my walls, in preparation for the roof on my building getting replaced. It was recommended by the Homeowner's Association that if you didn't want your pictures falling off the wall during all of the banging and hammering during the roofing work, you really should take them down yourself. So I was looking at my bare walls and I realized that this is a perfect opportunity to re-think my wall decorations. The last time I made any changes at all to my wall art was 2 1/2 years ago, and most of the stuff that was up there has been up there for close to five years. So, I'm putting some thought into changing what pictures I have on the walls. I know my nature photos (spider rock and 'yellow day') are going right back where they came from, but everything else is up for review Does anyone have any suggestions for me of stuff that I should look into?

So, Should I Join Facebook?

I've been doing this blog for almost four years now, and I have almost 500 posts in that time. However, I am wondering if anyone still reads this. Should I just join the 21st century and join Facebook like everyone else in the known universe and give up all of my privacy? I'm not sure.

I Really Want to Drink a Fanta Now

Admittedly not as awesome as the Brawndo ads, these Japanese Fanta advertisements are completely awesome. I especially like the DJ and Soap Opera ones.

North Korean Jokes

The original listing has a notation up front that the jokes aren't actually funny, but the one about the fish is hilarious, and I also like the one with the two guys in the subway car. I guess Kiwis just have trouble with black humor.

Over There

Ready for 2010 World Cup yet?