My Paranoid Fantasies

I get really paranoid when I'm by myself in my apartment, thinking about things. I've taken a couple of naps today because I didn't sleep so well last night; did a fair amount of thinking.

My dear friend Alex, who is currently residing in Bulgaria with the Peace Corps, sent me the disturbing news that Putin has returned Russia's air defense bombers to the skies, just like the Cold War all over again. In true Max Thom Stahl form, I'm watching Wargames right now to celebrate this little daydream of mine.

Since the US has gotten stuck in the quicksand desert that is Iraq, people have been coming out of the woodwork everywhere just to do whatever it was they wanted to do if the US would ever drop its guard. Afghanistan's poppy fields are churning out more heroin than ever before, North Korea's gone off the crazy-charts, and now this from Russia. I had a bit of a scary thought earlier....

While the US is out there trying to make money for big Oil and for the Halliburtons of the world, playing in their 169,234 square mile sandbox, the grownups are finally coming out to play. Everybody sees that we're occupied and can't really muster the resources to deploy anywhere else right now, so they're just doing whatever they want, wherever they want. There's nothing to stop them now.

I don't believe the line that Iraq was enough of a danger to the US that we had to invade them, at all. I just don't. There simply was not enough evidence to support the idea and then once we invaded most of the "evidence" turned out to be what leading insiders would call "bullshit". The anthrax factories thing was an embellishment at best, but a complete fabrication at worst (I lean towards complete fabrication), and ruined Colin Powell with that shameful presentation of his at the UN. Nobody was buying it, but we invaded anyway for some reason. And now, this war is a clear and present danger to the US and to the whole world, because the balance is gone. In the good old days, ten years ago, the US was the most powerful nation in the world but the whole world could, together, keep us in check. Now our president has tried to grab more power than this nation is entitled to, it's backfired, and every rogue state out there knows we've got our pants down.

This sucks, people. 

Max's Magical Fung Wah Adventure

After a much needed mini-vacation in central Mass., I decided that my preferred way to get to NYC for this business trip was the illustrious (and infamous) Fung Wah bus. I have ridden the Fung Wah once before, and it was an interesting journey. This time wasn't nearly as shady (I didn't have to buy my ticket from a guy in the back of a bakery in Chinatown) but had almost all the required elements. In particular, there's the fact that my "ticket" was a hand-written card that I'd signed:

Amazing, right? So I got on the bus and actually, it wasn't that bad. I even made a friend along the way. Now, being in Brooklyn with all the rain and negative feelings I have about this place, it's really hard not to think that I'd really like to be back where I just was, or Chicago, or somewhere completely different. I just don't know. I bought a nice army surplus jacket, and that'll help with the rain and cold... but that's really just removing the cause but not the symptom. Think what I really need to do is just go for a while.

*sigh* I'm gonna go back to maintaining. See you later, space cadets.

More iPhone Awesomeness

Got myself an iPhone. Oh yes. That's right. iPhone. Feelin' pretty good about this decision.

This does not mean everybody needs to start sending me emails like crazy 'cause they know I'll get them in a timely manner. I will do my best but it's an iPhone, ok?, not a crackberry. That being said, I'm just gonna try to get the usefulness out of having a smart phone that I need without doing all the asshole things that smart phone owners do. And, before anyone asks, no AT&T's network doesn't reach into the tunnels. When I'm on the train, that's Max time. Ok? Got it? Awesome.

That being said, I really dig this thing. This is me coming from the world of regular, boring phones whose only data capability is SMS/MMS messaging. I just upgraded from a not-fully-enabled Razr to an iPhone and that's a pretty nice step. The web browsing is absurdly smooth and fast on my wifi, and email functionality is pretty easy to use. The whole thing is just so nice, I'm never going to be able to go back.

In other news, I got my power adapter for my Macbook Pro, so now I'm able to work normally on my projects. So, all around, things are looking up for me and for getting things done in a timely manner. Feelin' good about all of this.

Later, space cadets. It's time for me to go watch youtube videos on my iPhone.

Why is it so f*cking hot out?!?

I feel like I've left entries like this before.... Oh well.

Weather Underground says it's 90.3°F outside. I dunno if I believe that. Seems like it's much hotter here. Nothing inspires crazy workaholic behaviour like excessive hot or cold weather though, I guess. I'm at my drafting table now, in my undies, sweating still.

Wish me luck as I try to persevere, space cadets. Over and out.