Icewind's Ramblings

I’m heading down to Homer Alaska for a little fishin’. Have a great weekend! I’ll be back online on Monday . . . Ice

Politics lately have been really boring with all the in fighting between all parties on almost any talking point.  No one is happy about the Health Care proposals and the stimulus money is being squandered away like many people thought it would be with little oversight or accountability. The economy is in disarray with the jobless rate continuing to rise “as things are getting better” and the vehicle rebate program flooded the nation with scrap metal and the upcoming wave of repossessions as those who traded in cannot afford to make the payments. “Change” was promised and that is what we have received . . . like it or not. I am into being positive each day and sometimes you need those little positive affirmations to set the tone for the upcoming day.  Tony Robbins says those things help break the cycle of negativity and can change habits and thought processes. Here is my daily routine when I get up in the morning before heading off to work.  I grab my cup of coffee...

I read a lot of blogs when I get the chance on all kinds of subjects and one that seems to get a ton of verbiage is about people who work in offices.  Some are complaints about people who have co-workers who steal their lunch or co-workers who wear too much perfume.  A few about those people who haven’t mastered email etiquette at work.  I read blogs where people rant about their bosses, complain about their work schedule, moan about their cubicle size. Which makes me feel somewhat guilty. Because usually . . . I don’t have anything to complain about.  Sure, I might have a backlog of work from submittals or O&M manuals waiting for my attention or a list of calls to return but is that really something to complain about?  Not really.  The work hectic but I think I thrive on it if truth be told but this is just . . . It’s sort of a gross story, but I did it as a child too . . . so I can understand the appeal. (Get it . . . A PEEL?  I’m here all ...

An update. The social experiment of neighbors competing and then voting each other out of the neighborhood ended Sunday with the winning family beating out the other families of the $ 250,000 prize money.  Eight families were isolated behind 20 foot high walls and the bickering began and continued for the last seven weeks.  The first thing to happen in the scorching heat of summer in a suburb of an Atlanta Georgia subdivision was the power to be cut off. No air conditioning, no television, internet, cell phone, texting or other ‘modern day’ items to occupy the time.  It’s like a trip back to the 50’s when families spent time together.  There is the family dynamics of spending time together 24 hours a day plus the interactions between the other families playing the game. The neighbors, 5 of the eight families call themselves “The Core” while the others who have not been living there as long “The Outsiders”.  The core group moved in when the subdivision w...

Originally appeared in the September 2003 issue of Esquire Do you remember this photograph?  In the United States , people have taken pains to banish it from the record of September 11, 2001. The story behind it, though, and the search for the man pictured in it, are our most intimate connection to the horror of that day. Read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0903-SEP_FALLINGMAN#ixzz0QruXC4RU   Falling Man. Taken by Richard Drew at 9:41:15 a.m., on September 11, 2001 In the picture, he departs from this earth like an arrow. Although he has not chosen his fate, he appears to have, in his last instants of life, embraced it.  If he were not falling, he might very well be flying.  He appears relaxed, hurtling through the air.  He appears comfortable in the grip of unimaginable motion.  He does not appear intimidated by gravity's divine suction or by what awaits him.  His arms are by his side, only slightly out rigged.  His left le...