As I was getting ready for work this morning I noticed that one of my cats had barfed in my shoe. I suppose I could look at this as a sign that if the day starts off that bad, it won’t get any worse…

Last Thursday night walking up to the Long Horn Steakhouse I pointed out a large cloud formation to my 4.5 year old son, Thomas.

Me: Thomas, look at that cloud up there.
Thomas: Wow. That’s really huge!
Me: What does “huge” mean?
Thomas: It means “enormous.”
Me: …

Then last night he was playing his Thomas the Tank Engine computer game. As we were heading up for bedtime he told me about it.

Thomas: … Yeah, and I talked to Henry.
Me: And who is Henry?
Thomas: He’s the big green engine.
Me: How did you talk to Henry?
Thomas: Well, Thomas talks to Henry automatically.
Me: What does “automatically” mean?
Thomas: Well, it means you don’t have to do anything and it does it.
Me: …

He has a rather large vocabulary for his age…

Just like funeral directors, who do their jobs to help grieving families through a tough time, crime scene cleanup companies do the same thing. While I couldn’t do either job, I’m glad that there are folks who can. This story is an excellent article about this business, and a couple of the owners in particular. There are some gross details in it, and some bad language, but it’s worth reading it.

Dave Jacobs, a friend of Dave Winer‘s, is in desperate need of an O-positive kidney. Here’s the story. I don’t actually know either of the Daves but I thought I’d help spread the word. If you or someone you know can help, please contact them.

And sign up to be an ORGAN DONOR! You only give your organs when you no longer need them, and you could literally save several lives in the process. You can go here for more information on organ donation. If your state lets you declare your intentions on your driver’s license, do it! My state, Georgia, actually gives you a discount on the driver’s license fee if you agree to be an organ donor.

Yesterday I wrote about how I had gotten two emails trying to get me to help get loads of cash out of Nigeria and Senegal. I replied to one of them with a single line: “Blow me.” Believe it or not, I actually got a response from the spammer. He said that he didn’t understand the contents of my email and would I please respond with an explanation. Ah, the mind reels at the possibilities…

Pain = Broken toe.

Worse Pain = Trying to ride a mountain bike with a broken toe and dismounting quickly to keep from hitting my son, landing squarely on the aforementioned broken toe.

I’ve gotten two 419 Scam emails just this morning. One was from the traditional Nigeria, while the other was from Senegal. The first, the Senegalese one, had some of the worst spelling I’ve ever seen. This asshat tells me he needs me to help launder 25 million dollars. Yeah, right. Here’s a sample (yes, it was in all caps, as most of them are):

                                 STRICTLY CONFIDENCIAL DEAR SIR,  I KNOW THIS MAIL WILL COME TO YOU AS A SUPRISE CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT WE HAVE NOT KNOWN EACH OTHER NEITHER WE HAD ANY FORMAL DISCUSSION BEFORE.         HOWEVER, I GOT YOUR ADDRESS COURTESY OF A BUSINESS JOURNAL OF TRADE TRUST, INCOME  STOCK,PROPERTIES INVESTMENT PROMOTION COUNCIL  THROUGH SOME TOP AFRICAN TRADE/INVESTMENTS DELEGATE TO YOUR COUNTRY AND FUTHER SEARCH THROUGH YOUR COUNTRY WED-SIT FROM THE INTERNET .THOUGH AFTER READING THROUGH YOUR ADVERT AND YOUR COMPANY PROFILE, IT INTERESTED ME MUCH TO CONTACT YOU FOR LONGTERM BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP AND INVESTMENT ASSISTANCE IN YOUR COMPANY.  MY NAME IS  JONNY R GUEI, THE SON OF FORMER MILITRY LEADER AND THE HEAD OF STATE OF REPUBLIC OF COTE D"IVORE  LATE GEN.ROBERT GUEI. MY FATHER ALONGSIDE WITH MY MOTHER AND MOST OF MY FAMILY MEMBERS WERE KILLED BY THE REBELS ON THE  19TH SEPT,2002. DURING A COUP ATTEMPT. THE FULL STORY IS BELOW:  1)http://allafrica.com/stories/200209200598.html  2)http://allafrica.com/stories/200209200001.html  3)http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2269238.stm  4 http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/africa/09/22/ivorycoast/index.html     AFTER THE TRAGIC INCIDENT I AND MY REMAINING FAMILY MEMBERS RAN TO DAKAR-SENEGAL FOR SAFETY DUE TO THE ONGOING POLITICAL CRISIS. WHEN I WAS GOING THROUGH MY FATHER PRIVATE BOX I DISCOVER THAT LAST YEAR MY LATE  FATHER OF BLESSED MEMORY DEPOSITED THE SUM OF$25,000,000,00 US DOLLARS.(TWENTY FIVE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS) WITH ONE  OF THE BANK  HERE IN DAKAR, SENEGAL. HE DECLARED THAT THE FUND BELONGS TO A FOREIGNER  WHO DID CONTRACT WITH THE GOVERNMENT AS A RESULT OF HIS POST IN THE GOVERNMENT.  

I’ve gotten several of these now where they will say that their husband/father/sugar-daddy was assassinated as part of a failed coup, and they will include links to actual CNN or BBC news stories of actual Nigerians being assassinated, to lend credence to their claims. It’s a nice touch, but of course I wasn’t fooled.

I just found this story about a man who was arrested in Canada for scamming people out of 6 million dollars using this method. It amazes me that people are still falling for this after so many years and so much publicity, but they are. I guess greed can really blind people. The news story has a quote from Mark Simchison, the detective in the case where he says that “I truly feel sorry for the victims. They’ve lost everything. There is no further down to go. They’re in the gutter.” You know what? I don’t feel sorry for them. They were driven by greed and the prospect of a pot full of easy cash. They should have known that what they were doing would be illegal, or at least shady, and dealing with people in that realm is dangerous. I say they got what they deserve.

I’m listening to my Rat Pack Live at the Sands record, reveling in the silky sounds of Frank, Dean and Sammy. I listen to this record a lot because it’s just so cool. Recorded in 1963, the boys are at their best; singing, cutting up and just having a great time. (I also listen to my Sinatra at the Sands record from 1966 a lot.) But I sometimes get a bit sad when listening to it when I think about the fact that all three of them are dead. These guys were hip, cool music for a very long time. They had style, talent and tons of class. Contrast that with today’s music scene. There are very few “recording artists” today who could hold a candle to Frank, Dean or Sammy. I can’t think of any, actually. Most of what passes for music these days is just unredeemable crap (to wit). These guys had the mojo and they recorded a ton of music that will live on. Today’s bands could learn a lot from them.

In the kitchen at my office they bought us a new microwave a few months ago. We only had one at the time and there was always a line at lunch time to use it, so they got us a new one. Very nice. But this microwave, instead of just going “beep… beep… beep…” when your food is ready plays music. And not just one tune. No, you have your choice of tunes, such as “Auld Lang Syne” or selections from The Music Man… Is this really a feature that we need in our microwaves? And the tunes don’t really sound that good since a microwave is not a truly chromatic instrument. Thus some of these tunes just don’t sound right; just like some songs were never meant to be played on the bagpipe, even though people sure try. I’m not complaining about the microwave because it does cook well. I just don’t see the need for the serenade when your food is done. That feature was probably invented by the same guy who came up with “cool downloadable ringtones” for cell phones…

I just got a new Saturn L300 and I love it! If you’d like to see a few photos of it, go here.