No Sarah, listening and being exposed to the 2008 presidential campaign is hell. Or it has at least become an exercise in anger management thanks to you, your running mate and the entire Bush/Rove Republican Prevarication Machine that seems to be guiding your campaign. The only message that is coming across from you is, "Muddy the waters!" Change? You espouse change? Or is it another case of "We were for it after we were against it!" Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. Day after day we hear the same tired half-truths from you and your lackeys. Never slowing down even when confronted with facts, figures, ( you know, "proof"? ) that you aren't "straight-talking." But I guess John McCain has abandoned that vehicle for one that seems to be more expedient: talk fast, talk nonsense, never look back, never back down. Just this morning Carly Fiorina tried it again on ABC's "This Week." The steamroller didn't stop even when confronted with the facts. The only answer? A smile and a diversion. The same smile that we see so many McCain spokespeople use these days, which has basically become a "fuck you America... we know you are all stupid!"

To McCaskill and Stephanopolous' credit, they didn't blithely accept this talking point and move on in Charles Gibson fashion. Stephanopolous corrected Fiorina when she falsely claimed that Palin had “rejected the money for the Bridge to Nowhere.” Fiora's answer of course..."The fact of the matter is Sarah Palin significantly cut earmark spending..." ( Even though she didn't ) It doesn't matter WHAT the mainstream media does or says. They aren't allowed to even do their jobs when they get around to doing them! Would this type of behavior out of Obama's campaign be accepted? No, of course not. But you see, everyone knows that. And everyone knows, or at least expects a Democratic campaign NOT to engage in these tactics. Can you say "Kerry/Edwards?" Now, to give John McCain some credit I have to say I USED to hold him to a higher standard. I USED to believe if there was one Republican I could support or at least believe in it was him. The man running for the White House right now? That's not the John McCain this country has gotten to know in the past twenty plus years in Washington. That man wouldn't be running one of the nastiest, most deceptive, divisive campaigns in modern history... all while attempting to rest on his past record... one that clearly decries every tactic being employed against his rival. But this is politics. Let's hope the end doesn't justify the means in this case though. And obviously the adage is correct: You can never REALLY know a person, can you?

I don't think that I can take it, 'cuz it took so long to bake them..."

No, my life isn't a stanza from MacArthur Park, but, there are days that make it seem all the more surreal. And yeah, I know the song isn't about donuts, so before you feel the need to point that out, just don't, ok?

You see, I am strangely attractive to certain women, in social settings, usually out of doors, especially in parks, who seem to single me out for their attentions. At times I have chalked it up to different situational reasons such as possessing box of donuts (hence the headline), or looking like I HAD a lighter for the cigarette that gets waved casually/emphatically/casually by 'her.'

What generally happens is this: Chris goes about his business reading, (always reading) on a bench or table, by himself, wearing his standard, "LEAVE ME ALONE" face. 'She' approaches, circles, walks away, then comes back to sit uncomfortably close. It's a bit like when you are in an elevator alone and another person gets on, but instead of standing as far away as possible, stands RIGHT next to you, but pretends not to see you.

After a few minutes of sitting there with my book, that I am obviously reading... (we're back in the park now, stay with me) No eye contact is made. No greetings are exchanged. In fact, an awkward silence always persists for far too long.

I suppose I could always just say 'hello', but that would signal defeat in my eyes. After all it's my solitude that's shattered, not hers.

Interloper.

She then gets up and leaves.

I breathe a sigh of relief. Until the next time.

Now, you could say I am cold or callous, or ungentlemanly, but without a doubt, this is the same bitch who I then collide with getting off an elevator the next day because she's completely unaware of her surroundings and/or is unaware of anyone else around her in polite society. Oh yes, she yells at me telling me how rude I am.

I am quite gallant. Just don't cross me.

And leave me alone when I'm reading in the park.

After going through the steps to upgrade the software that controls the back end of this site, uploading, transferring, etc. I have come to the conclusion that simply 'upgrading' for it's own sake just isn't worth the trouble. The site works fine as it is. ESPECIALLY since I never touch it or change it, right?

So we will stick with the tried and true version of Joomla that everything here is running through.

I'm really just procrastinating anyway. I should be invoicing, packing (I'm going to visit a friend in Michigan tomorrow) doing laundry, hell... a lot of things... but I'm not.

And now I'm sitting here and the Claritan FINALLY kicked in. This 'non-drowsy' formula may not make one drowsy, but it sure as hell makes me feel like I'm on Venus. I think I'll stick with my sniffling and coughing. Summer cold? NOT. Allergies are simply a fact of life for me now I suppose. I managed almost four decades without suffering too much at their mercy, so I can chalk that up.

Oy.

Should I simply gouge my eyes out with rusty spoons now?

I have been going around and around and around with a friend's laptop (Dell Inspiron 600m) for the better part of the afternoon. I am painfully reminded that I vowed a long time ago NOT to paint myself into a corner from which I could do nothing but provide windows desktop support.

From Dell's insipid 'Support' Center attempting to provide useful tutorials and 'needed updates' to a maddeningly useless 'Security Center' provided by Comcast, by way of McAfee that can't seem to find ANY spyware or other intrusions on this particular system to the wireless network chooser continuing to randomly drop, switch, turn off, etc. I'm ready to just hand the machine back and tell him, "why don't you just buy a FREAKING MACINTOSH!?"

I have rarely had this many problems doing simple maintenance on a pc... and yes, even though "I'm not a pc guy" that doesn't necessarily mean I don't know what I'm doing. I just prefer NOT to waste all of my time struggling with my computer to get it to work, or loading it down with crap software that keeps it from catching any and all viruses/ malware/ etc. that it comes across.

If I had my choice I would certainly not choose to be the 'boy in the bubble' who can't exist in the real world. I'll take a walk outside and not worry about every little threat, or even someone sneazing across the room, thank you!