Is it really fair that George Tenet recieved the Presidential Medal of Freedom for presiding over the greatest single intelligence failure in American history?

Just something to ponder...

I've had better days than today.

My grandmother passed away this morning, after a brief illness and a long period of declining general health. Most (heck, all) of you out there never met her. As far as I am aware, she never used a computer. But you would have liked her, if you had known her.

Amelia Pace was born in 1916 to a large family in Henderson County, NC. Her family and everyone else knew her as "Millie". She was valedictorian of her high school class, where she excelled in math, but she did not continue on to college. Instead, she met my grandfather, three years her senior, and she, along with thousands of other nervous wives, sisters, mothers, and girlfriends, waited as her love marched off to World War II.

Luckily, Hilliard Henderson ended up serving stateside, but he was shipped all the way across the country to guard the plants in Washington state where Boeing built the B-17's and B-29's that would rain destruction on Berlin, Tokyo, and dozens of other Axis cities. Millie stayed behind in the NC mountains and worked at a five and ten cent store. On a brief visit home, Hilliard was hanging around the five and ten cent store, and earned five dollars from a patron who was too ashamed to carry his own "slop jar" home. (Incidentally, "slop jar" is a rural euphemism for a bedpan. Carrying one would be admitting your home lacked indoor plumbing.)

When Hilliard returned to North Carolina, he built his young wife a small red brick house with a white door that became home to their four boys, a seemingly endless parade of 4-H animals, chickens, pigs, dogs, and cats. Millie practiced the homemaking skills she had learned at her own mother's apron strings, and fed the intellects of her sons as well as their bellies. She and Hilliard watched their boys grow up into fine men, sent them off to college and eventually into the world of work. Eventually, those four boys would bring home a total of eleven grandchildren, and Millie would answer to a new name: Grandma.

Unfortunately, my grandfather would not share all this with Millie. Diabetes took Hilliard away from her in 1973. She returned from an afternoon gardening to find her life's love collapsed from a heart attack. She buried her husband, but never forgot him. Her phone listing and mailbox continued to read "J.H. Henderson" for the next 26 years.

Grandma adored her grandchildren. She reveled in the chance to share her boundless love, to relate the wisdom accumlated over a lifetime, and to watch a second generation grow up. Summer weekends, she would lead a line of children into the garden, and do the chores that needed to be done, whether it be weeding tomatoes, digging for potatoes, or picking okra. She showed patience when one of us yanked up radishes, leaving morning glories in the ground.

As we got older, Grandma was game to shoot BB rifles with her grandsons, and her excellent marksmanship amazed us. Had we thought about it, we would have realized that she was an excellent shot because for years, she simply stepped out onto the back porch with a .22 rifle, picked out the evening meal, and with fairly little ceremony, placed a small bullet right between the unfortunate victim's eyes. For those of us to whom "farm-fresh chicken" comes on a yellow foam tray wrapped in plastic, the idea of keeping chickens may seem antiquated or backwards. But I guarantee you that you don't worry about the "sell-by" date on a chicken you killed yourself.

Her garden and her cooking were the two things that defined Grandma. They came together at the Curb Market. The Curb Market is a Hendersonville, NC institution. Vendors rent tables and sell handmade or hand grown goods such as crafts, produce, or in my grandmother's case, prepared foods. Every Saturday morning, Grandma loaded up her car with fried apple pies, homemade soup, banana bread, dried apples, and whatever garden vegetables were in season. Every saturday afternoon, she would return with empty boxes and soup jars returned by loyal customers. She collected money and made change from an old cigar box, with an NC sales tax guide taped under the lid.

When the Curb Market celebrated its 65th anniversary, the Hendersonville Times-News featured my grandmother in a multi-page story "Henderson Comes Back Because Of The People". Grandma told the stories she accumulated over 35 years of running her table at the Curb Market - like when several Mercury 7 astronauts stopped in and bought items from several vendors, then signed one of the tables. (Years later, I would look up the names I had seen on those tables and become enthralled with the stories of the Mercury 7.) She also related in that article that one of her daughters-in-law had calculated her effective wage rate for her Curb Market venture, and it turned out she was making roughly 50 cents per hour. I think she would have done it for free.

If you knew that you could find Grandma at the Curb Market on Saturday, then you also knew that Fruitland Baptist Church is where you would find her on Sunday. She taught Sunday school with her friend Minnie Willis, leading children in learning Bible stories and singing "Jesus Loves Me, This I Know." Together, the two of them introduced hundreds of kids to biblical stories like Noah's Ark, Daniel and the Lion's Den, and of course, the stories of Christ's birth and death on the Cross.

Eventually, the stress of running a household became too much for Grandma, and in 2000, she left her small brick house for the Pardee Center, a long-term care facility. As age robbed her of her mobility, she was as fiesty as ever. When I brought my fiance to meet her, she let me know I was being too affectionate with typical bluntness as she leaned over to my mother and said "Get those two out of here, before they start making love!

Last week, Grandma came down with a severe pneumonia. She started responding to treatment, then took a turn for the worse. As my father told me, this morning she went to be with my grandfather. If there is an afterlife, I like to think that they're catching up now. She's telling him about his grandkids, and I like to think he would be beaming with the same pride I saw in her eyes when she looked at us.

Last month, my cousin and his wife had my grandmother's first great-grandchild. It's time for the next generation of women to assume the mantle of "Grandma". My mother and my aunts will answer to that name, and life will go on. We lost a big part of our family today, but those of us who are still here and hurting today will heal. There is some comfort in that.

First off, has anyone else noticed the trend of Brazilian Churrascaria restaurants opening up lately? They all seem to be rough copies of Fogo De Chão, which as far as I know brought the concept to the US. But these restaurants are the single greatest thing since sliced bread. Basically, your meal consists of two courses - an "exotic" salad bar, which has super fresh veggies, a variety of cheeses, and usually some seafood and cold cuts (cured ham, sliced turkey, etc.). It's really better than I am at describing it. The real highlight of the meal is the second course - the meat service. Basically, waiters pour out of the kitchen at roughly 45-second intervals with different types of meat on large, sword-like skewers. You are constantly being offerred different cuts of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and sausage. Want a break to enjoy your food? No problem - beside your plate is a little card - flip that card from green to red, and the waiters will leave you alone, except to occasionally refill your glass. If one of these restaurants opens up near you, go try it.

Second, I saw "The Motorcycle Diaries" last weekend. The story of a pair of students setting off on an 8,000km motorcycle trip together across South America would be compelling even if one of the students did not turn out to be the revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevera. The story in this movie is powerful, as we watch Ernesto experience the injustices that he will spend his later life fighting to right. As powerful as it is, however, the story takes a backseat to the magnificent backdrop of South America. Every frame of this movie seems like a work of art. Regardless of your feelings about Che's politics, this movie is worth seeing just for its treatment of the vast vistas of South America's Andes Mountains.

Finally, I just got home from seeing "Team America: World Police". While it's funny in places, Trey Parker and Matt Stone are not at their best here. At its best, "South Park" has the ability to cut our world's hypocrisy to the bone. "Team America: World Police" shows us that hypocrisy has a hangnail. Dare I say that the South Park boys have gotten a little too preachy? Yes, guys, movie actors are self-important liberals. We KNOW. Still, puppets having sex is pretty damn funny. Just not $7.00 worth of funny. Wait for the rental, or just wait for it to show up on Comedy Central one weeknight.

An acquaintance of mine has revised his website and posted a couple of tracks from his last album. Emil McGloin used to be the lead guitarist for Bruther Monk, a Chapel Hill, NC area funk/jam outfit that was fronted by a good friend of mine, Ronnie Cruz. Emil's solo effort is laid back and bluesy, with riffs that remind you of the Beatles, Tom Waits, and Dave Matthews all at once. Now based in NYC, Emil is playing local clubs and bookstores all up and down the eastern seaboard. Check out his website, download some MP3's, pick up a CD or two, and make plans to see this talented singer-songwriter.

Many states, including North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, and others, have opened the polls for "No-Excuses" early voting. In some states, you can even vote on Saturday. Regardless of your political leanings, your voice will go unheard if you don't vote. If you've made your mind up, go ahead and vote now. That way, if your guy loses on November 2, it's not because you didn't get out and vote.

Some light reading for prospective voters:

Without A Doubt - In last week's New York Times Magazine, Ron Suskind examines how faith, specifically fundamentalist Christianity, fuels George Bush's decision-making, and how dissent, even discussion, is not tolerated in the Bush White House.

Is Bush Wired? - A summary of the hullabaloo surrounding the "bulge" that appeared during the debates.

I do. It's probably because after all these years, Martha Stewart is finally behind bars.

Call it a draw. Edwards and Cheney slugged it out, and addressed more substantive issues than the guys at the top of the ticket, but they also both got facts wrong, and both have issues with their past records. I can't believe Cheney voted against a resolution calling for Mandela's freedom, but at the same time, I know John Edwards has spent more time in Iowa and New Hampshire than he did in Washington as NC's senator. But right now, I'd feel safer with John Edwards one heartbeat away from the Oval Office than with George Bush in it for four more years.

Kerry won. Big. Bush looked flustered and angry, annoyed at even having the suggestion that he might need to defend his policies.

And yet, there are people posting all over the Internet today that Bush showed what a great leader he is, and how he'll never flip-flop, blah, blah, blah.

Put the Kool-Aid down, people. This president needs to go.

So, I get a submission posted, right? No big deal, except as a joke, I leave a link to Sun's HotJava browser in the article. (The article was about IE bugfixes, and I pointed to HotJava as an alternative browser people might want to try)

Now, in the year 2004, what group of self-proclaimed "nerds" wouldn't recognize the suggestion that people try using a browser last updated when Bill Clinton was president as a joke? If you said the Slashdot User Community, you're absolutely right!

Geez, folks, lighten up.

We had an absolutely gorgeous evening here in Raleigh tonight - my only wish is that my wife was here to share it with me, instead of working for "tha man" on assignment in Houston, TX. But, since she isn't, I rounded up the dogs, a nice cigar, a glass of whiskey and water, and sat out on the upstairs porch, smoking and drinking while the dogs tugged at their new rope toy.

It's really amazing that at 28, I've owned my own home for several years. My parents were in their mid-thirties when they purchased their first home, and the financial strain destroyed their fragile marriage. My wife's parents were pretty much the same way - money problems destroyed their relationship as well. It's something I think about often, especially when I consider how hesitant I was to pull the trigger on buying a home.

I actually rented a house with the intention of buying it when I was 21. Instead, I lived there for four years, building up someone else's equity. My advice to you, if you're renting right now, is to seriously look at purchasing a home - interest rates are so low that if you have decent credit, it's actually cheaper to buy than rent in a lot of places. For example, my mortgage payment (without escrow and PMI) is right around $1100 monthly - right about what I was paying for an apartment with about 3/5 the space of my current home. Granted, I have some expenses I didn't have before, but by skipping a few meals out each month, I'm building equity in a little patch of land that in a few decades will be all mine. :-) I'll trade PB&J on Tuesdays for that feeling anyday.

But, I titled this JE "Living In The Lap of (Middle-Class) Luxury". What do I mean by that? I mean that my current lifestyle is incredibly comfortable given my relatively modest beginnings. As a family, my wife and I have the money we need to get by and put back some savings each month. I could no doubt get by on more if I *had* to, but together, we've managed to hit a sweet spot.

Growing up in Smithfield, NC, I never imagined that I would honeymoon in Scotland, London, and Paris. I never thought I'd travel all over the U.S. and Canada. But looking back, I realize that my parent's sacrifices made it all possible. They made sure that I had the tools to learn anything I wanted to - they convinced my grandparents to buy us a (more expensive) Commodore 64 instead of an Atari 2600. My dad surprised us with a 1541 floppy disk drive, which sparked my interest in creating programs, and eventually led directly to my career in IT. I owe them a lot, and I really have no idea how to thank them, except to make sure my kids have it even better than they made it for me.

I don't have any kids yet - they're not even in the plans right now. But when we're ready, and kids do come along, I'm going to remember my parent's lesson to me and nuture my kids' interest. It may lead to their future careers.

I was browsing the University of Wyoming web pages last night, when I found this page, which led to this page.

Now, that doesn't mean anything to you, the reader, but to me, the student lacking only a C3 University Studies requirement for graduation, these pages meant that I could use a CLEP test to fulfill my final requirement and graduate.

I decided to go ahead and take the exam with zero preparation, since I'd heard it was relatively easy from the gang over at degreeinfo.com. I called around, and found that Strayer University's North Raleigh campus offered same-day CLEP testing in the evenings, so I scheduled the test for 7:00PM.

My confidence turned out to be well-founded - I earned a scaled score of 73/80, easily enough to surpass the 50 I needed. So now, all I have to do is wait for the results to be posted to my UW transcript, and wait for December to officially graduate.

Had I realized that this CLEP was accepted back in August, I'd already have graduated! As it stands, since I have the extra time, I'm doing an independent study project that will consist of creating a guide to earning a UW degree using CLEP and DSST exams. This will give me the extra UW hour I need to graduate with honors, and hopefully, will provide a service to future UW grads.

Not me, my mom. At the end of the last school year, my mother retired from her job as an administrator in the public education system. She set a world record in going stir-crazy and is looking for something new to do even before her old school returns to the classroom.

I've been helping her with the job search, and have been somewhat dismayed by the lack of jobs for experienced people out there. Most positions outside of academia are entry-level, with crappy hours and even crappier pay. If I was looking for a position in this climate, I'd go nuts, and I'm feeling very empathetic for those of you who are looking right now.

But I think we found the perfect job for my mom - her alma mater is hiring a graduate program coordinator. She's got the info and will be applying soon. I hope it works out for her!

And maybe a half dozen or so were on-topic.

Congratulations to Slashdot!

Well, first of all, I'd like to thank everyone for their insight - I had about 50 people weigh in on this one between friends, family, and folks online.

I decided to go ahead and graduate, but I also decided to try to have my cake and eat it too. So I called my advisor and asked if there was anyway I could still graduate with honors. What ended up happening was that my advisor disagreed with the registrar's office about whether or not I should be allowed to graduate. Registrar's office said yes, advisor (and more importantly, the Outreach School) said no.

My advisor won. So it turned out to be a moot point. I was kinda bummed out about it for a bit, but I realized that I'm in no worse position now than I was on Wednesday. I'll still be done Real Soon Now, and I did get a lot of great info from a bunch of people. Thanks again, everyone!

Okay, so this really fits no one's definition of a "problem", but I have an issue I need some help with, and time is of the essence.

I got a call from the University of Wyoming 's registrar's office today - seems they reviewed my record, corrected an error, and if I want, I can graduate on Friday with a B.S. in Business Administration. All I have to do is pay the graduation fee and drop a correspondence class I'm taking to meet the requirement that I was lacking before my record was reviewed and the error was corrected.

Sounds simple enough, right? Well, as it turns out, I have 47 hours of UW credit, and a GPA somewhere between 3.9 and 4.0. If I had the same GPA and *48* hours of UW credit, I would be eligible to graduate with honors (specifically, magna cum laude). So, I have three options:

1. Graduate now, with a plain "no honors" degree.
2. Complete the correspondence course, graduate in December with honors.
3. Drop the correspondence course, take something I really want to be taking, and graduate with honors in December. (I suppose I didn't mention I really don't like the correspondence course)

I called a couple of graduate school admissions office to ask how much honors mattered to them, and they told me for the most part, that it didn't. One (USC) said that it really depended on the school or department, that some were more impressed by things like that than others.

I have to make my decision one way or the other by Friday morning. If you were in my shoes, what would you do? Stick it out, or take the diploma and run?