The Last Ephor

It's Friday at 3:30 and I get a call on my cell phone from my recruiter and account manager. For those of you who are consultants, you know this is not good news. I can practically hear the sympathetic head tilt in their voices as they start talking. I stop them in mid sentence. "They're cutting the contract aren't they?" "Yes. But it's not performance related." "Small consolation. How long?" "Two weeks which is generous." She's right. Most contracts end the day they cut the funding for the project. In any case I finished the job and on my last day home from work I stopped to get gas. When I got back in my car it wouldn't start. Had the car towed to the dealer who got me back on the road a mere $900 later. Cause that's what I needed now that I'm unemployed. Oh, and yesterday the A/C stopped working. I can only imagine what that's going to cost me. The long and the short of it is: I'm unemploy...

I'm on something of a haitus for reasons to be explained later. Bear with me.

Some are calling this Obama's Sniper Story but I have to say this is less egregious than hers. Memory is a relative of truth but not it's twin. In Obama's defense the applause was lukewarm at best which to a politician is the same as silence I guess. The lesson is simple: There's video of everything. Don't go out on that limb unless you're sure.

Ever have a zinger that is simply too good to pass up? One you know will get you in trouble but you're powerless to resist lest the moment pass and never come up again? I had one of those the other night. Eldest has been having trouble getting to sleep at night. If we leave him in his room he won't stay there. Sometimes he'll go in and wake the baby up. Sometimes he sleeps in my bed and sometimes he just wanders around his room getting into all kinds of trouble. I've found that if I lay down w/ him for about 10 minutes Mr. Sandman comes sooner rather than later. Well, I lay down w/ him the other night and I was so tired I was out. My wife left me as she figured I was tired and would wake up on my own. I did but about an hour later. I dragged myself up and into our bed and was out for the night. My wife decided to torment me. Mrs. Duffy: You missed some hot lovin' last night Duffy's Brain: Dude, you must return fire. You can't let a hanging ...

So the price of gas is going nowhere but up (you may have noticed). I boldly predict that trend will continue for the foreseeable future. This, in turn, means the airlines are going to have major problems in short order. There are going to be fewer passengers as they are forced to increase the prices to compensate. They will then begin the wailing and gnashing of teeth and file for bankruptcy. Congress will then write them a check for a few hundred million dollars to get them back on their feet. Not a loan mind you, a gift. A gift that you and I don't get and will never get. I have zero sympathy for them. I ought to know, I used to work for one. They are stupid beyond imagining. They know they'll never be allowed to fail if they get big enough. The smaller carriers will come and go but someone is always going to get a big piggy check from the government taxpayers to keep flying. How dumb are they? Let's go to Ed Cone for more: The picture at far left is the...

and so is John McCain. At least that's what I keep hearing. Every utterance from the President is scrutinized for any possible interpretation that makes him look stupid. McCain is derided for saying Shia when he meant Sunni. What would the world say if either of them referred to the "57 States" they've visited? There would be unceasing howls from Berkley to Boston and rightfully so. So what to make of Obama describing his visits to 57 states? Some in the audience laugh but it's clear he's not joking. He goes on to say that he wanted to visit Alaska and Hawaii but his staff couldn't justify it. The fact that this is not news anywhere on the MSM is proof positive that democrats and especially The One will never be subjected to the same cynical eye cast on republicans

My libertarian instincts sometimes fail me. Here's a prime example; Man Ticketed For Wearing Speedo On Beach

This guy has brass ones. and this guy is suicidal. That's like biking through an 8,558 foot long cigarette. Seriously the air in that tunnel is so poor it probably takes an hour off your life each time you drive it let alone sprinting on a bike.

...as only the DNC can. DNC Superdelegate Puts His Vote Up For Sale Steven Ybarra Wants $20 Million For His Vote It's OK though because he wants to spend it on illegal alien voter registration Mexican-American voters. Right. None of that money would be redirected, squandered, stolen or what have you.

Everything is coming around full circle. But Liu is investing $10 million in the Palmetto State, building a printing-plate factory that will open this fall and hire 120 workers. His main aim is to tap the large American market, but when his finance staff penciled out the costs, he was stunned to learn how they compared with those in China. Liu spent about $500,000 for seven acres in Spartanburg -- less than one-fourth what it would cost to buy the same amount of land in Dongguan, a city in southeast China where he runs three plants. U.S. electricity rates are about 75% lower, and in South Carolina, Liu doesn't have to put up with frequent blackouts. About the only major thing that's more expensive in Spartanburg is labor. Liu is looking to offer $12 to $13 an hour there, versus about $2 an hour in Dongguan, not including room and board. But Liu expects to offset some of the higher labor costs with a payroll tax credit of $1,500 per employee from South Carolina. So the high labo...

This is weird. My most popular post is this one. People apparently google for it specifically.

I keep hearing this term. Windfall. Leftists/liberals are enraged by windfall profits. They want to take them away from the recipients and give them to people who will vote for Democrats. As with most things in politics (especially things that annoy liberals) it remains undefined. It is just accepted as fact that any person or entity making a certain amount of money is undeserved or unearned. Since said persons or entities are very wealthy to begin with the government is allowed to take that money in the name of "fairness". They won't miss it after all, they have plenty. I googled for a definition of "windfall" profit. The best I could come up with is this: Windfall Main Entry: wind·fall Listen to the pronunciation of windfall Pronunciation: \ˈwin(d)-ˌfȯl\ Function: noun Date: 15th century 1 : something (as a tree or fruit) blown down by the wind 2 : an unexpected, unearned, or sudden gain or advantage Windfall Definition Money received...

I get tons of emails about playing soccer with me on Wednesday nights. (OK, that actual number might be closer to zero) Herewith is why I play. Ignore the glitz and glam. The scenes of playing are dead on. This was directed by the ever brilliant Guy Ritchie

So I went to the Big Box 'puter store. I was buying an external hard drive. I knew what I wanted and basically walked in and directly to the item I wanted and went to the desk to pick it up (they had them in the back and you had to bring an empty box to them). Conversation with sales dork as follows: Sales Dork: Will that be all for you today sir? Duffy: Yes, thanks. Sales Dork: Do you need this professionally installed? Duffy: ... Sales Dork: Sir? Duffy: It's an external drive Sales Dork: Right and we can dispatch a tech to make sure everything is installed properly so you don't have to worry Duffy: (thinking: I'll play along) And just how much is that going to cost me? Sales Dork: We're having a special so we can do it for $29.99 Duffy: So, $30 to "install" an external hard drive. Does anyone say yes to that? Sales Dork: (somewhat deflated) Sometimes...(looks around to see manager has departed) sorry, we have to do that with almost everyt...

(An unpopular yet continuing feature) First up, Obama's interview: OBAMA: Well, I think there are a whole host of areas where Republicans in some cases may have a better idea. WALLACE: Such as? OBAMA: Well, on issues of regulation. I think that back in the '60s and '70s a lot of the way we regulated industry was top-down command and control, we're going to tell businesses exactly how to do things. And you know, I think that the Republican Party and people who thought about the markets came up with the notion that, "You know what? If you simply set some guidelines, some rules and incentives, for businesses — let them figure out how they're going to, for example, reduce pollution," and a cap and trade system, for example is a smarter way of doing it, controlling pollution, than dictating every single rule that a company has to abide by, which creates a lot of bureaucracy and red tape and oftentimes is less efficient. I think that on issues of education, I...

It's not nice to pick on the Jets but I just can't help myself.

Why is it then that so many Americans - and foreigners who come here - feel that the place is so, well, safe? I have met incredulous British tourists who have been shocked to the core by the peacefulness of the place A British man I met in Colorado recently told me he used to live in Kent but he moved to the American state of New Jersey and will not go home because it is, as he put it, "a gentler environment for bringing the kids up." This is New Jersey. Home of the Sopranos. Brits arriving in New York, hoping to avoid being slaughtered on day one of their shopping mission to Manhattan are, by day two, beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about. By day three they have had had the scales lifted from their eyes. I have met incredulous British tourists who have been shocked to the core by the peacefulness of the place, the lack of the violent undercurrent so ubiquitous in British cities, even British market towns. "It seems so nice here," they quaver. Well, it is...

"I have a question that I hope you can shed some light on. I am female, married for 10 years and am puzzled by my spouse's behavior. It seems that he is always trying to one-up me. It is disturbing to me that he takes my ideas and opinions and claims them as his own. If someone asks me a question when we are in a group discussion he will jump in and answer it in a way that I have expressed earlier as my own opinion, only he will make it look like his. It is extreme to the point of whatever I get involved in or volunteer for he gets deeply involved in and tries to make people think he is the one with the idea or passion, even to the point of his asking about getting employed where I am employed. He will go to the people whom I am intimately involved with and trash my name. It even happens with church relationships. At first I thought maybe I was overreacting, but several times I have changed people groups and tried to have my own interests and volunteer opportunities but this h...

Since April is nearly over and it's autism awareness month, I suppose I should talk a bit about it. I guess the best way to start is to rehash the story of How I Got Here. My oldest was born in 1999. Healthy, happy and so on. One peculiar thing he did as an infant was to avoid eye contact. Our doctor assured us it was because he was so young and his eyesight was undeveloped and he was probably focusing on something in the background that was more interesting. Besides, babies don't recognize faces for a few months after birth. Only later did we find out that our doctor was an idiot. He was 16 mos. old when his little brother was born and he was walking and making wishes known by pulling me or my wife by the hand to whatever he wanted etc. He was fascinated with the wheels on toys. If you gave him a truck he'd turn it over and spin the wheels and smile. Only later would I find out this is a major warning sign. This was our first born and what the hell did I know? ...