A Short Rant about the Information Security Industry

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My employer hosted a public lecture on the relative insecurity of the voting process in the US last night. I’ll post a link to the recording once it’s live. During the lecture though, I got excited and started texting commentary to a non-IT coworker who was also present. This morning she asked me if I was so passionate about the subject why I wasn’t working on it. My off the cuff answer is no one will pay for it. And while in this particular instance it’s true, there’s more to it than that.

I think if I’m honest, that I don’t want to work in the industry. I don’t like the way it feels. I go to professional conferences and hear people talk at one another about the problems, and it’s a lot of “they” don’t understand what we do, and we need to convince the C-suite to give us money. After that a vendor stands up to pitch their latest firewall with a nifty new dashboard. Sometimes they even have the guts to try to disguise it as an academic or scientific talk about new threats, but it’s the same crap in a different wrapper, and they’re not fooling anyone. I earn 8 credits toward renewing my CISSP for enduring this.

 On the flip side, the hacker conferences are at least fun. Everyone gets drunk and shows off their coolest science projects and bitches about The Man and then signs up to interview for a job with an NSA contractor.  

The employment opportunities themselves feel parasitic, feeding off peoples’ fear of technology they don’t understand, or at least fear of getting sued. I read postings on LinkedIn, and they want someone to check boxes to make sure they’re in compliance in case their practices come under government scrutiny or they want someone to configure ACLs and build concentric walls and moats because that’s the analogy that’s been fed to them. For the people already in these positions it’s a cushy gig. They don’t have to actually DO very much, but they can still scream for more resources and cry that no one understands how important they are. I close my browser and walk away without sending my resume.

I want to help solve problems. I want minimize fear and mitigate unnecessary risk. I want to help make our society a safe place without sacrificing freedom. Admittedly, I also want a steady paycheck. If something like that opens up, give me call. Until then I’ll continue to watch from the sidelines.

By the Way, I Got a New Car

It’s been a while since I wrote anything about the car search. To be honest, it came to an abrupt end. I didn’t drive everything I wanted to, but in the end, a dealer made an offer I couldn’t refuse. I went with the Hyundai Genesis. I really liked the car the first time I drove it. By the time the dealing was done and factoring in insurance, the cost was less than the Optima I had. I’ve actually been driving it now for a couple months. It’s taken me a bit to get to the point where I felt like sitting down to write. I figure that’s ok anyway, because it gave me a chance to really get to know the car before I wrote about it.

So let’s start by going through my list of requirements and see how the Genesis matches up. 

NEW – yep. It’s a 2016. It had less than 50 miles on the clock.

AFFORDABLE – I got a great deal on this car. My Optima was close to base, no options. This is a car that Hyundai is trying to position against BMW and Mercedes, and I’m paying less than I did for the Kia.

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION – yep. 8 speed with paddle shifters. It gets really touchy about letting you hold the gears too long in manual mode though.

AWD/4WD – It’s rear-biased AWD. It has a “snow” mode. The one brief opportunity I had to use it, it was pretty good.

SEATS 4+ - It seats 4 no problem. Five looks doable but it might not be comfortable for the person in the middle.

WIFE’S APPROVAL – This actually was a hard one. It was dusk when we pulled in to the dealer, and the lights on the lot at that time of day made the car look like an odd shade of brown (it’s red). It’s also big. She was won over by the features and the comfort.

The car checked all the boxes for the needs. What about the wants?

SEATS 4 COMFORTABLY –There’s plenty of leg room, and the seats are comfortable enough. With two in back there’s still plenty of room. There have been complaints about the seatbelt being hard to reach, and my mom had a hard time not accidentally hitting the seat warmer button. I’ll go with mostly there in this area.  

25 MPG COMBINED – We fall a little short here. The Genesis has a 3.8 liter, naturally aspirated direct injected engine. It pushes out 311 horsepower. In a world of turbocharging and supercharging and twin-charging and hybridizing It feels a little old fashioned. That 311 HP is pushing a little over 2 tons of car via AWD. It’s not the most efficient thing in the world. On the other hand, I’ve been getting around 23 MPG on average for my daily commute, so it could be worse.

HEATED/COOLED SEATS – I got the heated part, and the rear seats are heated too. There is an option for cooled seats, but I would have had to get a bunch of other things I didn’t want along with them. It wasn’t worth the price.

HEATED STEERING WHEEL – YES! My wife made fun of me for this one until we had a cool day and she used it. I don’t think I’ll ever go back.

REMOTE START – sort of. This is one of the few issues I have with this car. The only way to get remote start from Hyundai for this car is through their app. Which is an extra charge. Which I will pay, because I can preheat my car in the winter and precool it in the summer. I will still grumble about it. My understanding is this will be complimentary in future versions of the car, when it becomes the Genesis G80.

USABLE CARGO SPACE – The trunk is pretty big. I managed to get two six foot (portable) folding tables and three camping chairs in it with no fussing. You could probably fit several pieces of luggage in there, or maybe two or three bodies. I probably wouldn’t use it for hauling bodies though, or yard and garden stuff. It’s too nice to dirty it up.

FUN TO DRIVE – The Genesis is not a sports car by any stretch of the imagination. That said, it’s by no means slow. The 311 HP I mentioned above moves the car easily. If you step down on the pedal at 65 the power rolls on pretty much instantly.  The car lets you know it’s go plenty more to give and it’s happy to do so. It makes a happy grunting sound when you step on the gas that may be at least partially simulated and pumped through the speakers, I can’t tell. But it’s a fun sound, like it wants to be driven hard. The car feels planted in corners for a big sedan and doesn’t waddle all over the place like say an old Crown Vic or a new Impala would. At the same time the suspension is soft enough that you don’t rattle your teeth out on Rhode Island’s fantastically cratered roadways. It smooths out the road without disconnecting you from it. Steering is right in the middle, not overly sensitive, but not sloppy. There’s a sport mode. I’m not entirely sure what it actually does. It appears to change the gear mapping and tighten the steering. That could all be psychological. It does appear to make a noticeable difference at least in fuel economy.

That’s all well and good. But I spend a lot of time commuting in heavy traffic and crawling along at 25 miles an hour. Speed and handling don’t do me much good there. What the Genesis does offer in this situation is a very comfortable seat. It’s possibly second only to a Volvo S60 in this area. The sound system is good and the radio controls are fairly intuitive, with a voice command system that actually works pretty well. Apple CarPlay is available, but I haven’t installed it at this point. So while commuting isn’t really ever fun, at least it’s relatively pleasant.

It will be interesting to see what happens as the Hyundai stands up Genesis as a separate brand. This car, renamed the G 80 for the 2017 model year is the pivot point, along with an Equus replacement. I think it has the quality and enough of an upscale feel to hang with the Lexus and Mercedes crowd without all the badge snobbery. Hyundai is also promising white glove top notch service from the Genesis dealerships. This will be a necessary component, especially given that there will be no standalone Genesis dealers to start. I’m a little skeptical of the plan. Hyundai dealerships have never impressed me as being detail oriented or refined. The one I got my car from is crowded, dark, and didn’t strike me as being terribly clean. They are building a new building, so that may change. At this time however, they are not on the list to get the full Genesis line. That may be inconvenient when it comes time for another round of car shopping.

Car Shopping Round 1

After repeated calls from the Kia dealer, I decided to start looking at cars yesterday afternoon. I started at the Toyota dealer, first because they really only had one car I was interested in, and second because it’s at the extreme end of the highway that most of the dealers closest to my house occupy. I think with a couple exceptions every brand available in RI has a presence along Route 2. So in spite of the kid I talked to trying to sell me anything else but a 4Runner, I drove one. It’s not as big as I thought but still plenty roomy. It’s an honest truck based SUV, and the one I tested didn’t have many frills or unnecessary extras. It would be great for camping trips or hauling things, and I have no doubt that it’s plenty capable in any situation I’d be likely to throw at it, and then some. The problem is I’ll be using this car primarily for commuting in often heavy traffic. The truck based MPG and truck based ride kind of don’t make sense there. Even though the thing has some torquey grunt, it’s a big heavy truck so it doesn’t get off the line quickly. What I’m getting at is I think the 4Runner is great, but not the right tool for the job. I’ll probably look at it again when we decide to replace the Jeep.

The next stop was a Ford dealer. I didn’t actually drive anything here. I sat in an Explorer and a Flex. Both were very nice, but HUGE. Way too big to serve primarily as a daily commuter. I also took another look at a Taurus, just to be sure. I quickly confirmed that they are oddly small inside, like a reverse Tardis. The kid also showed me a Fusion even though I explained my issue with them. I get the impression that maybe he got some extra incentive if he sold one. Unsurprisingly, the center console remained unchanged, so I had no interest. I will say that all the Fords I looked at were nicely appointed. With the exception of the Flex what I looked at were midlevel trim models (The Flex was the only one on the lot and had all the options save a couple minor cosmetic things). Ford has really stepped up their game in this regard. I was impressed, but the individual pieces didn’t come together in a way that worked for me.

I drove down the road to the Hyundai dealer. I really only wanted to see a Genesis. After a brief glance at a Santa Fe and Tucson to ensure that they really are nondescript egg-like CUVs, I spoke to a sales person and drove a Genesis. There’s a reason Hyundai is using this car as the breaking off point into a luxury brand. This thing is NICE. It’s slightly bigger than the Optima, and the base model has more bells and whistles than I really want or need but it was comfortable. It’s also laid out intuitively, which is something car makers seem to struggle with as they cram more gizmos into products. I wouldn’t call it fast, but it hit highway speed with no effort, and it wasn’t afraid to pass. For a bigger car it corners well. There’s apparently also a sport mode that the salesman didn’t show me until after the test drive. I’m not sure it would make a huge difference, but I’d like to find out. I priced it out, and it’s easily in my range. This thing makes the short list.

At this point I was running into the time I had agreed to meet up with the Kia salesman, so I made my way down the road to the dealership. I was expecting it to be a quick trip, as I’d already decided the Sorrento is too big, and the only other option is the Sportage, which looks eggy. Or at least the 2016 model did. They’ve recently updated the looks and released the 2017 model (in March?). It’s slightly less hideous, and I’ve had good experiences with this salesman and this dealership, so I gave it the benefit of the doubt and drove one. If you’re in the market for a car and not sure what you want, dump any preconceived notions you may have and go look at a Kia. They’re putting together some decent cars for fairly reasonable prices. The Sportage I drove was an EX, their midlevel trim. But it had heated leather seats, dual climate control, a heated leather steering wheel, a huge fancy power sunroof I would probably never use, and all sorts of the warnings and nannies and things that people want now.

It drove fine. It wasn’t exciting. The ride was fairly smooth. The seats are comfortable. It was capable on the highway. It’s got space for people and stuff. It’s a good solid all –around car. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it. If it was crazy cheap I would consider it. The problem was, it wasn’t crazy cheap. It’s not expensive either, no Kia is except maybe the K900, but I’ve never actually seen one in person. They may be a myth. These things are fresh off the truck and Kia is trying to flush out the 2016 models, so there’s no incentives on them. That combined with the fact that I need to dispose of the Optima put the price just a few dollars shy of the Genesis. I can’t think of a reason I would do that to myself.

It took me about four hours to run through this gauntlet. I think they were fairly productive. I eliminated Toyota and Ford, and unless something interesting happens, Kia. I didn’t expect the Genesis to make the cut, but it’s currently a top contender.  I’ve also come to the conclusion that most SUVs are probably a bad fit for my situation, even if I like them (Jeep). I’ve also got time. I don’t need to rush to find something, and I can make sure I’m getting a  good deal when I figure out what I want.

On a final note, I’d like to encourage you again to go look at a Kia if you’re in the market for a new car. My opinion is likely strongly colored by the good experience I had at the dealer (Bald Hill Kia) and with the salesman (Al Paulo). The thing is, Kia really is building good cars now, and for the price it’s hard to beat the options. If they made an all wheel drive Optima, I’d take one in a heartbeat. They don’t currently, and the AWD options they do have aren’t meeting up with my personal taste and use case. Maybe they’ll meet yours though.

Rhode Island Auto Show

After reading the last blog, my wife pointed out her two requirements and asked that I add them. First, she would like to be able to sit high enough so that she can see out of the car. Second, she would like the gas cap to be on the driver side. She realizes that this is largely up to chance, and it's not a deal-breaker. 

This past weekend I managed to convince my wife to attend the Rhode Island Auto Show with me. This is a smaller show, sponsored primarily by the RI dealers association and Motor Trend. It’s mostly current model cars, though I saw at least one preproduction model. There may have been more, but if so they blended in with everything else. This isn’t the sort of thing I would normally attend, but since I’m in the market for a new car it was a good chance to look at a lot of things on the list without dealing with sales people. I did have to contend with other people trying to do the same thing but they generally weren’t bad. People letting their kids play in the cars was mildly annoying, however. I also found the teenage boys taking selfies in the high end cars mildly amusing.

The RI convention center isn’t huge, so not every model from every brand was represented, and there were a couple of makes that were absent entirely. Still, I was able to check out a majority of the cars on the long list and get my wife’s impressions. We agreed on two overarching points. First, there is very little diversity of design, even across brands, particularly in the midsize sedan and small and midsize CUV categories. I find this to be especially true with the CUVs. They all tend to be vaguely egg shaped high riding boxes of bland.

Second, control layout, particularly the center stack in most cars is in serious need of UI engineering. It’s like everyone is so fixated on cramming as much tech into the car as they possibly can that they forgotten to make it usable. The potential for distracted driving is really high with some of the layouts and options. It’s no wonder they’re starting to pile on assisting breaking and lane departure warnings as a standard. 

Like I said above though, I did get a chance to take a look at several of the cars on the list, plus a few more, and get my wife’s opinion before she got too burned out and just responded to everything with “meh, car.” It altered the long list pretty significantly. My notes are below. I will say first, that after looking at the crew cab pickups, they’re out. They just feel like a compromise in every direction. Anyway, on with the notes:

Mazda CX-5: The wife says it’s practical and too cute. “A kindergarten teacher’s car”.

Mazda CX-3: We both liked the way it looked, but it’s really tiny on the inside.

Volvo XC 70: The wife said “I like this” but Volvo is really the first place we took note of the crazy center console design. The dial pad in the middle is weird and dated. I didn’t look at an XC 90 to see if it still existed in a newer offering. Maybe I should have.

Audi A3: it’s too small. Incidentally, the wife pointed at the A3 avant, laughed, and said it was a total kindergarten teacher car. So there’s that. I’m not sure why she hates kindergarten teachers so much.

Hyundai Tucson and Santa Fe: bland, inoffensive, boring, forgettable. They blend right in. My actual note was “meh”.

Honda Pilot: Not originally on the list, I was on the fence about the Pilot. I still am, but the wife liked it, so it bares a closer look. I usually have a problem with the seats in Hondas being too firm, but they weren’t awful in the Pilot we sat in. Also of note, I didn’t see an HRV. It may have blended in with all the other Hondas. If so, not a good sign.

Honda Civic – they had a 2016 on the floor. I’m really impressed with it. It’s big enough that I initially thought it was an Accord. It’s really nice looking, and the wife thought so too. It’s not AWD though, so it doesn’t get added to the list.

Ford Flex: The wife really liked the Flex. I want to hate it, but I don’t. I’m adding adding it to the list. It wouldn’t be the first time I’m surprised by something I think I’ll hate.

Ford Taurus: For as big as this car is, there really isn’t much room inside.

Ford Fusion: The Fusion made realize I should have been taking pictures all along. It, along with its cousin the Lincoln MKZ had what my very well be the stupidest design “feature” we saw the entire day. Forward of the gear selector, right next to your knee in the spot where in most cars there’s a little tray or a bin where you chuck your phone and your extra bits and spare change, there’s this impossibly deep hole with open sides. W.T.F? I don’t think I’ve ever been turned off from a car by a more minor, but significant detail.

This is by your knee. How is that useful?

Ford Explorer: They had a Platinum trim model on the floor. It was very nice and Crissy really liked it. I still on the fence about them, they’re big, and they get expensive quick when you start adding options. Also, it’s sitting on the same platform as the Taurus but it still wants to pretend it’s a truck. I have a hard time reconciling that.

Lincoln MKZ: same as the fusion. The 2017 is probably the sexiest Lincoln I’ve ever seen though. Or maybe I’m just getting old.

Fiat 500x: I think Fiat probably has one of the best marketing media groups in the industry. On line these looked neat. They gave the impression of being bigger and a little more rugged, almost like a rally car. In person they’re almost indistinguishable from the other versions of the 500.

Chrysler 200: I had read the warnings about how small the rear passenger openings and back seat are. I still managed to hit my head trying to get in. Who designs this stuff? How does it get past QC?

Jeep Patriot: This one caused a little confusion, and I admit some frustration for me. My wife has laughed these off repeatedly as “wannabe jeeps” in the past. I ran with that opinion in my mind, and, added to the consistently poor reviews these have received, I didn’t consider it. My wife pointed it out at the show, said it was neat, and refused to hear my objections. I may have to drive it before I’m allowed to dismiss it entirely again.

Jeep Wrangler/Unlimited: I knew my wife liked these, I just didn’t realize how much. There were all sorts of alternate driving arrangements proposed, and after sitting in both a 2 door and a 4 door, both in Sahara trim, she was spent. I still question the practicality of the Wrangler as a daily driver.

Mercedes GLA: Mercedes also has a great art department, or at least good photographers. On line, the GLA looks like a slightly lifted, sporty little hatchback. In person this thing is a toad on wheels.

Lexus IS: In particular, an IS 350 F AWD. Lexus takes the cockpit feel to the extreme. It was a neat car. I’m not an overly large man, and my wife is on the petite side. When we both got in the car the word she used was “smooshed”. I’m guessing the backseat is there for show.

BMW 2 series: This is the only realistic car BMW had at the show. It’s tiny like a go cart. There was an M4, and I wanted to take a look to get an idea of the interior room. It was surrounded by teenage boys taking selfies. I couldn’t get close to it.

Toyota 4runner: This thing is truck in all the right ways. It still might be too big.

We also looked at several other things on list but they received reviews of “acceptable” from my wife, or at least “meh, car” which I take to mean “acceptable, but I’m tired of looking at cars, and we’ve been here two hours and I’m hungry.” As I may have mentioned previously, cars are really not her thing. For those of you keeping score, we’ve eliminated all the Mazdas, the Audi A3 and the Hyundai CUV. Also gone are the Fusion and the Taurus from Ford ( I thought these would be top contenders), The sole Lincoln on the list as well as the lone Fiat. Rounding out the eliminated pool are the Chrysler 200, the GLA from Mercedes, the Lexus IS, and the 2 series BMWs.

I also added a couple cars. I will definitely be taking a close look at the Ford Flex, and I haven’t ruled out the Explorer, but again, I think it’s too big, and too expensive when you start adding options. I’ll also likely be taking a closer look at the Pilot when I go to find the elusive Honda HRV. Finally, I don’t think I can satisfactorily dismiss the Patriot without a test drive.

All in all this was a worthwhile trip. Admittedly it was a lot to take in, and even I got burned out by the time we left. The next step is probably some dealer visits and some hefty review sifting. I probably won’t start that for a couple of months to give the weather a chance to stabilize and to be closer to the lease end date on the Kia. As always, if you have a comment or a suggestion, let me know.

The Long List

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As mentioned earlier, I've put together a long list of cars. It’s cars that I plan on going and checking out in person, and probably writing about. The list is mostly based on the criteria that I listed in my last post and my own personal aesthetic taste. Not everything on the list necessarily fits all of the desirable but not required features, and all are pending wife approval. It’s likely that I will get priced out of some of these. There are some things you’ll notice about what’s not on the list:

Vans – I’m not even sure you can get an AWD van in the US. It doesn’t matter. My experiences driving vans have been uneventful at best, and never pleasant.

Pickup trucks (for now) – Full size trucks are completely beyond anything I would need and quickly spiral out of my price range. Midsize trucks are becoming more available, but they always look odd to me with the crew cabs. It’s a flimsy reason to discount them and I may still take a look when I’m wandering around.

Mitsubishi – I would really only consider the Lancer anyway, but the the closest dealer is out of state and inconvenient even from my office.

Nissan – The Xterra was originally on this list, but they discontinued it after the 2015 model year.

GM, with the exception of Cadillac – One of the things I should have mentioned in my list of desirables was fewer electronic gadgets. I know that’s harder and harder to do, but GM is purposefully going in the opposite direction. A standard wi-fi hotspot pushes them over the breaking point. I don’t want it. I still want to take a peak at the ATS.

You may also notice that there are a lot of crossovers that easily fit the criteria but didn’t make the list. I have a hard time with crossovers. I understand why they exist and why they sell so well. In fact, if someone told me they bought a Honda CRV or Toyota RAV4, I would congratulate them and tell them they made a good choice. These are both really good cars. I could also say the same for a lot of other CUVs. They just really aren’t for me. So when I do have one the list there’s something in particular I like about it, or it’s close enough to a hatchback or a wagon that I can convince myself that’s what it is.

Anyway here’s the list with some brief preliminary thoughts thrown in:

Dodge

Charger – it’s a cop car

Chrysler

200 – These got good initial reviews in the press but rumor has it the transmissions are finicky. I’m also on the fence about the styling. It’s still light years ahead of the old version.

300 – I don’t know if I’m old enough for one of these

Ford – The last Ford I had was a probe, so there’s that.

Fusion – particularly the 325 hp sport version they’re releasing

Taurus – I always picture the 90’s version when I hear the name.

Jeep

Wrangler – I’ve always wanted one of these, but I’m concerned about the practicality of daily driving

Wrangler Unlimited

Grand Cherokee

Mazda

CX-5

CX-3 – might be too small?

Kia – At one time I said I would never own a Kia. They’re staggeringly improved over the first one I drove in the late 90’s. If they made an AWD Optima, this whole exercise might be moot.

Sorrento – this is best looking AWD vehicle Kia makes. It’s probably too big.

Hyundai –

Genesis – Probably too expensive, also maybe no longer a Hyundai?

Santa Fe Sport – maybe?

Toyota

4Runner – one of the last genuine SUVs in existence. They’re big and they get expensive quick. Used examples are somewhat rare and still expensive.

Honda

HRV

Subaru – When in New England, do as the New Englanders do?

I’m open to anything but the BRZ. I’ve also heard that the Legacy is a little weak compared to other cars in its class.

Lexus

IS

RC

BMW – I’m not sure I can pull off a BMW

2

3- I particularly like the wagons but they’re pricy

x1

x3

Infiniti

Q50

Q60

QX30 – this really is just a hatchback. They’ve said so.

QX50

Mercedes – I… have a hard time with Mercedes.

CLA

GLA

Volvo – fun fact: there are three Volvo dealers in Rhode Island. THREE!

S60

V60/crosscountry

XC70

Volkswagen

golfR

Fiat

500x – I don’t know why, but I like the way it looks. The interiors are supposed to be really nice.

Audi

A3/S3

A4
A5

Allroad

Jaguar

XE - I’m not sure I can get one configured the way I want in my budget. They also aren’t actually on dealer lots yet in the US as far as I know

Land Rover

Discovery Sport – same issue as the Jaguar.

Cadillac – I don’t know if I’m old enough to drive a Cadillac

ATS/coupe

Lincoln – I don’t know if I’m old enough to drive a Lincoln either.

MKZ

Mini

Clubman All4 – Probably not.

So that’s the list. I probably won't actually start looking at cars until the weather warms up a bit. Let me know if there’s anything I missed, or a reason that something that’s here shouldn’t be.

I'm in the Market for a Car. Want to Read About It?

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I find myself once again in the market for a new car. I’m currently leasing a Kia Optima. This is the first time I’ve ever gone down the lease road. I may not have considered it but at the time it seemed like the most viable option given the situation. It hasn’t been bad so far, but I may feel differently when the lease is up and it’s time to turn in the car. Speaking of the car, I have been really pleasantly surprised by the Kia. It’s well put together, sporty (for a midsize sedan), and not bad to drive. I might even consider keeping it, except that I went for a less equipped model because of the situation at the time. There are a few things it’s missing that I’d really like to have.

This puts me in an interesting situation. I like cars and driving but I wouldn’t exactly call myself an enthusiast or an expert. My wife calls me a car snob, but she has to listen to me talk about cars. I live in an area with a prolific variety of car dealers. I don’t really hold any brand loyalty. I do have a fondness for Jeeps, and admittedly, I’ve owned as many Chrysler products as other brands combined. That said, I’d like to explore all the options.

But this leaves me with a lot of choice. The auto industry is probably the best it has been in my lifetime. No matter what your requirements are there is a good car to meet them, and probably two or three. If I randomly wandered on to dealer’s lots I would probably waste a lot of salespeoples’ time getting lost in all the options.

So I’ve decided to put together a list of requirements in order to narrow things down. Oh yah, I’ve also decided to write about my experiences and the cars I look at in order to give you a layman’s view of the car buying process. Maybe we’ll all learn something. Maybe (likely) you’ll all laugh at how stupid I am. Anyway, here are my requirements:

NEW (or possibly CPO) – In the past I have purchased used cars almost exclusively. The depreciation hit a new car takes alone is worth it. I would still consider a used car if the right one came along. The problem is (1) the used car market, at least in my part of New England is really ugly. It’s almost as if cars don’t take anywhere near the depreciation hit they used to. (2) there are A LOT of used cars out there. At least for the purpose of trying to decide what I really want, it’s better to focus on the new ones. Maybe after I narrow things down to a specific model or two I’ll take a look and see If I can get a deal on a gently used example.

AFFORDABLE – I’m going to avoid talking actual numbers here because I think it’s crass. If you pay attention you’ll be able to figure out what the range is anyway. I will let you know if I come across a great deal. Something like $10K below MSRP for example. Anyway, the goal here is to keep both my payments and my insurance from making me want to drink when I get the bill every month. I should also note here that I’m open to leasing again if the terms are favorable.

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION – I know; hardcore car guys shun autos. This is part of the reason I don’t claim the enthusiast title. My wife and I can both drive a stick. The problem is the area of the Midwest where we both learned to drive is MUCH flatter with much straighter roads than Southern New England. My wife doesn’t want to worry about making a mistake in bad weather or heavy traffic and causing an accident. She will occasionally drive the car. I can’t blame her. Auto it is.

AWD/4WD – I understand the arguments. I know without a doubt that a good set of snow tires will do more in winter weather than AWD. I have driven front wheel drive cars and even a rear wheel drive pickup in northern winters without major problems. Still, the weather is unpredictable here with intense rain and snow blowing up out of nowhere from time to time. It would be nice to have an extra bit of traction when things get interesting. It also limits the pool of contenders a bit.

SEATS 4+ - I honestly don’t have passengers, other than maybe my wife. Still, it’s nice to be able to cart visitors around when we have them without having to rent a bus. I may need to take the dogs somewhere at some point too. I can’t see fitting all three of them in a two seat coupe.

WIFE’S APPROVAL – She will have to drive it occasionally. She will have to be seen with me driving it. I’m spending our money. She gets a say.

Other things that would be good to have, but aren’t deal breakers if they aren’t possible:

SEAT 4 COMFORTABLY – Like I said, sometimes we haul visitors around southern New England all day. Ever ridden in the back seat of a Mustang?

25 MPG COMBINED – Gas is fairly cheap now, but I’m not holding my breath that it will stay that way. 25 MPG combined isn’t too much of a stretch given current engine technology. Also: environment and stuff.

HEATED/COOLED SEATS – the better to be comfortable with.

HEATED STEERING WHEEL – Every winter I want one more and more.

REMOTE START – I never knew I needed this until I had it. I’m not sure I can live without it anymore. I love going out to a pre-warmed car on a cold morning. I know, it’s not so environmentally friendly.

USABLE CARGO SPACE – we like to go places. It’s nice to take stuff with us, especially if we’re also bringing the dogs. I also have a decently sized garden and lots of home and yard projects. The more cargo space, the better.

FUN TO DRIVE – This should probably be required rather than nice to have. The practical side of me says this shouldn’t matter. I’m stuck in slow traffic for part of my average commute anyway. Even so, there is a great deal of value to me in having something that is enjoyable to spend time in since I spend at least of an hour of my day there. I’ll probably end up putting a great deal of weight on this quality.

So that’s it. My plan is to throw up my longlist of options in the next post with some preliminary thoughts. I would love to get suggestions and thoughts as I’m going through this process. You can even tell me I’m making mistakes. I’m open to constructive criticism. Please don’t tell me “FORDSUCKSCHEVYRULEZ!!!!” though. I already know.

A quick thought about US military structure

I'm sure someone smarter and/or more knowledgable than I has already thought of this, but it's been floating in my head the last couple days, and I thought I should at least put it out there so someone can tell me why I'm wrong and why it wouldn't work. There has been a lot of "post-war" budget wrangling for the military, and I think I have a way of streamlining things that makes sense in the current environment and plays to the strengths and needs of our nation. 

First, close all US bases on foreign soil. Admittedly, this is probably the most contentious part of the plan. Assets could be redistributed to facilities in the US, or eliminated if unnecessarily redundant.  Where treaties oblige us to keep a foreign military presence, develop infrastructure sharing plans with the host countries to minimize our footprint. 

Next, invest in the Navy and Marine Corps. The Navy is in the best position to provide power projection regardless of geopolitical boundary shifts, and can most easily globally redeploy assets based on the intensity of the conflict. Similarly, the Marine Corps has a tradition of and indeed the unique capability to be instantly deployable and effective in wide range of scenarios. The Navy/Marine Corps team is a complete combined arms package that can be utilized to intervene quickly in crisis situations or open a theatre for long term combat operations. 

This would leave the Air Force free to take up the "strategic" mission they seem to want to focus on. Let them build long-range bombers and air superiority fighters, and take the lead in "cyber" operations. 

Similarly, this frees the Army up to focus on defense of our nation and preparing for protracted combat operations. 

In my mind, this streamlining of mission focus would reduce overall operational budget, allow for more targeted and effective procurement spending, and in the long term, create jobs inside the US. 

Admittedly this is not very developed, and it's from my own very uninformed point of view, but I feel like the idea should at least be explored. Please feel free to educate me if I'm wrong. 

Ms. Mumaugh

I lost a friend this week. Shirley Mumaugh was an amazing woman. She was more than just a teacher to so many people, and she changed many, many lives. Ms. Mumaugh never had any biological children, but she always referred to her students as “her babies”. She looked after them and cared for them as if they were her own, even after they no longer attended her classes.

Ms. Mumaugh loved teaching. More than that, she loved being an educator. She believed in helping young people fulfill their potential, and encouraged them to be the best they possibly could be. She had amazing insight into hearts and minds of high school students and would often advocate for the best interests of those in need, even if she didn’t have them in her class.

Shirley was unfailingly generous. If she perceived a need, she would do what should could to fill it without question, and with the greatest humility. She loved her community, and she supported and encouraged any effort to make the world a better place to live in.

I think it’s impossible to have known Shirley and not have been changed for the better by knowing her. I learned so much from her. She taught me to appreciate art, even if it wasn’t really my taste. She taught me that it’s ok to be a little different, because everybody is anyway. She helped me to express myself in meaningful ways and to make my point clearly (though I admit I’m still working on that). She encouraged me to dream big and chase big dreams.

Goodbye SAM, you will be missed here by so many.  You will not be forgotten  by any who’ve met you, and all of us are better people for having you in our lives. 

Some Thoughts About Libertarian Philosophy

If you know me, you know that my political views lean toward the libertarian. I've been doing some reading and thinking lately. I still believe in the principles of personal liberty, but as I've thinking about it, I've run into a couple of practical snags. I'm open to others' thoughts, but please remember that I am not a political scientist, so if I say something dumb, please be gentle in your correction.

The first problem I've run into deals with the idea of the free market. As I understand it, in a truly free market, goods and services are traded based on consumer demand and availability. There is no government intervention. A product succeeds or fails based solely on its popularity.

The problem I have is that this system expects all participants in a transaction to be inherently "good" or at least honest. Say a for example an individual has a new food product, soylent green (I know, but let me run with it). Every body loves soylent green and demand far out paces supply. Under the free market system, there is no obligation for the company to reveal to the public the secret ingredient that makes soylent green so tasty and nutritious. Unless there is an independent investigation into soylent green, no one will ever know that it's people, a fact that would certainly curtail demand once publicized. Under this system, those of dubious ethical standing are almost enabled to profit at the expense of the well being of others. How do we get around this without some form of regulation?

Another issue I have stems from the idea that as long as an act is nonviolent and mutually consensual to all involved parties there should be no prohibition against it. As long as the parties are"competent" adults I have no problem with this. Let people make their own choices and deal with the consequences of those choices. For me this starts to get sticky when we deal with children and the mentally ill or mentally challenged.

On the face of it, the child question seems easy. Children cannot legally enter into contracts, so they cannot consent and a parent must do this for them. But as above, we have to assume altruism. Unfortunately, there are several examples of parents doing horrible things to their children. Digging deeper, we have to question the age of majority. In the US we seem to have implemented a strange arbitrary graduated scale. At 16 you can drive, at 18 you can smoke, vote, and die for your country, but you have to be 21 to drink alcohol, and your auto insurance company thinks you become a safer driver at 25. Other nations have other standards. How do we determine who is old enough to be considered an adult for our purposes?

Those who are not mentally capable have a similar problem. Who speaks for them? How do we determine competency to begin with? Do we place restrictions on the mentally challenged? If so, does that create an inequality? Are we not then violating a principle of personal liberty?

I don't have what I feel are good answers to these questions. I just needed to get them out there so that I can stop mulling them over all day. I'm open to others' thoughts if anyone cares to share.

The Failure of the OWS Movement

There is a long and well documented history of mass protest being a successful driver for social change in this country. So why is it that the occupy/99% movement, in spite of steady growth sprinkled with some civil disobedience, has been ineffective?

In attempting to find an answer to this question, I realized I didn't quite know what change it is that the movement wants. In looking for answers I decided to go right to the source. On the site http://occupywallst.org/ I found this statement:

Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.This #ows movement empowers real people to create real change from the bottom up. We want to see a general assembly in every backyard, on every street corner because we don't need Wall Street and we don't need politicians to build a better society.

Let's take a closer look, shall we?

1. "Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless resistance". This sounds good  in principle. No leader, so everyone has an equal share in the direction of the movement. Everything is decided by consensus. But who organizes? Who chooses the issues to be decided upon? Do they have an agenda? How do we know that all the issues have been appropriately presented to the body for consideration?

2. "We are the 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%". Since the start of the movement, I haven't been fond of this. Where did these numbers come from? How accurate are they? Also, there appears to be this notion that because people share a common demographic they must share the same opinion, and therefore one person can speak for all. I feel this an offensive and counterproductive group-think tactic that leads people down the same paths as the establishment that OWS wants (I think?) to overthrow. It also sets up a simplistic "us vs. them" scenario that I'm not sure really exists. I think the situation is orders of magnitude more complex, with overlapping social issues that cannot possibly be so easily expressed.

3. "We want to see a general assembly in every backyard and on every street corner... we don't need politicians". Except that we already have these things in some form. Even if you tear down the established political bodies and build new ones you will still end up with politicians who have agendas. There is no way around this. I would love to believe in the ideal of selfless people all contributing to the greater good, but my experience with human nature says it's just not possible.

So what we have is lots people who are angry because they feel like they have been treated unfairly by (the man?) who want... what? New government? No corporations? Change? It's not clear, and beyond the message that everyone is really mad about something, and they blame the government and "Wall Street" for it, I'm not sure anyone else knows what's going on either.

Let's set aside for a minute the fact that we have a leaderless movement with no goals. Why protest on Wall Street? by making noise and marching and blocking subways you aren't hurting the guy with the diamond underwear and the private jet, you're hurting the people who work for that guy. You're interrupting the middle class office worker who more than likely sympathizes with the anger on some level, but is really much more interested in getting to work on time so they can do their job and make a living to feed their family. Blocking the subways doesn't stop the 1% from getting to work. Harassing people on the sidewalk and making noise around office buildings doesn't make the money stop flowing.

On a similar note, Occupy Hobart, Indiana (or any other small town for that matter) doesn't do a whole hell of a lot of good (sorry B). The businesses and corporations that exist there are more likely to be owned by the "99%" than the "1%". Protesting in these areas does not get your message across to your  target audience either. It just blocks traffic and might hurt those local businesses.

The same is true, though perhaps to a lesser extent, in places like Providence RI and Seattle WA. The cities are bigger, and there are corporations with holdings there, but again, you're likely just getting in the way same citizens you're trying to speak for. Providence is at least worth while because it's the seat of the State's government, but they don't have any money either.

I don't think that complaining about a thing without offering up suggestions for improvement does much good, so I can't just lest this post end here. Here are my suggestions for improving the Occupy Wall Street movement:

1. Find leadership. I know, some of you are saying, "But Mat, leaders got us into this mess." But I said find leaders, not politicians. They are not the same thing, and I would argue that few if any of the current politicians are really leaders.

2. Decide on some actionable goals. What is it that the movement really wants? Find something that the majority can get behind that can be enacted.  You will not likely end Wall Street and you will never ever get rid of politicians. However you can push for reforms that minimize corporate influence and corruption in government and you can strive for better equality in government funded education regardless of social or economic background (though that one might actually be more difficult).

3. Occupy Washington DC. That's where the people who can change things are. The politicians, if nothing else, respond to pressure. The faceless corporations and their boards have no reason to change things. Instead, go to the politicians. Focus your anger on them and let them know it. They are the ones who make policy and they are the ones who most directly rely on the people for their jobs.

Think critically, and then speak with your votes. Right now, that's still the most powerful tool you wield.

You Say You Want a Revolution?

I've rewritten this a couple times over the last two weeks. There is a lot here, and I want to make my thoughts as clear as possible.

 I love this country. I think one of the things that makes it great is our right to free speech. Anyone who knows me me well knows that I will defend that right even if I don't agree with the ideas that are spoken. I love that this allows for debate, disagreement, and open criticism of our government. It goes hand in hand with our right to assemble peaceably, allowing us to both discuss our ideas and make them known to the powers that be.

There are increasingly vocal cries of discontent from several camps. I have been trying to critically analyze the things I see and hear in order to form my own conclusions. I have come up with some very general thoughts, which I have attempted to sort through below, for your consideration.  

1. "Deserve"is an often used word. The dictionary I have handy says it's a transitive verb meaning "do something or have or show qualities worthy of (reward or punishment)"(emphasis mine). What this means to me is that by default, a citizen of the United States deserves only rights guaranteed to them in the Constitution. You get those simply by having the quality of citizenship. Anything else requires some action on the part of the individual.

2. The government owes a lot of things to a lot of people. They owe me. If you've held a job in the last 74 years, chances are they owe you too. There are a couple problems here. First, many people believe that the government owes them debts that they simply have not earned. They feel that by their virtue of being, they are entitled to benefits that the government has not guaranteed they will receive. They expect something for nothing. The other side of the coin is that the government cannot pay what it owes. The government has debts not only with individual citizens, but also private companies and other countries that exceed the revenues that can be collected. As this debt increases, credibility decreases and public infrastructure crumbles due to the lack of funds necessary to maintain it.

3. Life isn't fair. It never has been. There is no system of government or economics devised by man that will ever make it so. There will always be haves and have-nots. political and economic shifts merely shuffle the numbers. Those with monetary wealth may have earned it, inherited it or stolen it, or (more likely,) some combination of the three. The system we have in place was originally designed with the idea that it should be possible for those who were not in the have category to change their station by their own merit. By the same token, those haves should be allowed to fall if they did not maintain their status through wise and responsible action. The catch here is that the system has been tampered with, and now functions abnormally.

4. The rights of the people as guaranteed by the Constitution have been eroded over the past 224 years. The system as designed worked well, but it wasn't perfect. The original designers foresaw the possibility of imperfections and designed the system so that it could be easily modified. The problem is that more often than not, laws made in the name of security have filed away at the edges of liberty. It seems to me that this erosion has accelerated in the past 20 years, though my perception may be skewed because of my frame of reference. This lack of personal liberty negatively impacts the ability of those who wish to change their socioeconomic status because it further limits the options available to them.

5. The government is in bed with big business. This is not a new situation that has cropped up in the current administration, the last administration, or even in the last thirty years. It goes back to at least the antebellum period and it's likely someone with a better grasp of history could point to much earlier roots. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least one example that predates the United States by a few hundred years. Money talks, and big businesses, of course have money. It would be naive to believe that politicians in either an official or unofficial capacity would be swayed by it. The problem is that the voice of the corporations has begun to hold more power than the voice of the people, and the rights of the corporation are protected over the rights of the populace.

So what can we do?
We as citizens have tools that have not as yet been stripped away from us. I believe it is still possible to initiate change within the current legal bounds of our society. Speak out. Talk, discuss, debate, write, blog. By all means, peacefully protest. As you do so, think about the change you're asking for. Does it truly benefit society, or is it a short term solution to your own needs?

Vote, but vote smartly. Forget political parties. They set agendas that benefit the members of the party. They could care less about the needs of the people. look at ALL the candidates. what do they claim as a platform? If they've held office before, does their record match what they say? If not, why? 

Why Can't Rhode Islanders Drive? (An Editorial in Their Defense, Mostly)

One of the things I was told when I started at Brown is that Rhode Islanders are terrible drivers. Coming from the outskirts of Chicago, and being used to Illinois drivers, I initially dismissed this as some sort of New Englander modesty. What could possibly be worse than the crazed exodus from the Loop on a Friday afternoon in late July? As I began to explore Providence I quickly found out. Their claim to poor driving is indeed valid.

At first I was annoyed and a bit afraid. As I experienced more and more of the local culture, I came to realize that there are aspects to life here that predestine the Rhode Islander (and maybe New Englanders in general) to higher insurance premiums and a steady employment rate for auto body mechanics. What follows are my observations in defense (mostly) of the largely deficient abilities of the RI driver.

1. Why bother?

This may only apply to city dwellers, but I suspect that it's true for the more rural areas as well. Everything is in walking distance. I have a grocery store at the end of my street, and a Walgreens a couple blocks away. There are myriad restaurants, bars, bakeries and even some specialty shops right in my neighborhood. It would be more painful to try to find a parking space in some cases than it would be to walk. Need to go a little further? The bus system isn't the greatest in the world, but it covers most of the state, and it's a hell of a lot better than public transportation in most of the midwest.

2. The "paved" roads require a trail-rated suspension.

I don't want to dog too badly on the state or city government. I haven't lived here that long and I don't think I have enough of the story to pass judgement. The fact is the roads are in pretty bad disrepair. They're full of pot-holes, cracks, and unintentional humps. I feel confident in my jeep, but I've had some close calls in my little Saturn. The truth is, more people have vehicles that are similar to my Saturn. They spend extra time and attention trying to avoid car eating pot holes or launching themselves over impromptu tree-root speed bumps.

3. Three hundred seventy-five years of history.

The City of Providence has a rich and interesting colonial history. Why is this relevant to the current discussion? The streets and roads have been in place for much of that history, a majority of which predates the automobile. What we have then is essentially a series of old cow paths and game trails that have evolved over time into modern roads. they are winding and narrow, and in the city they get narrower during heavy snow, as there is no place to put the excess snow that is removed from the streets. Rather than being laid out in a nice orderly fashion, they tend to radiate out from sometimes random seeming central points, the importance of which having been lost in the progression of time.

4. Here a sign, there a sign here and there a sign, sign.

Signage, especially street names, are inconsistent, and in several instances just plain don't exist. It's hard to know where you are, where you're going and what you're supposed to do when you get there. The disparity is so great that when people are confronted with signs, like the red octagonal ones, they aren't sure what to do. In the absence of authoritative direction people tend to make up their own rules. Take for example a certain intersection on my normal commute route. It would appear to the casual observer to be a single lane in all four directions with a stop light in the middle. However, the road is wide enough at the intersection for a turn lane, though nothing official indicates one exists. In the morning, (and only in the morning,) an ad hoc right turn only lane appears.

5. Where do we go from here?

In reality, this is a consequence of points 1, 3, and 4. Rhode Islanders outside of their neighborhoods tend to become disoriented easily as they try to make their way through unfamiliar territory. Without adequate signs to guide them, they must rely on landmarks for navigation. They put so much effort into finding these landmarks that they are unable to concentrate on the road.

6. 75% of Rhode Islanders (and possibly New Englanders) are too polite.

My wife and I both are blown away at just how nice people are here. Many extend this to their driving. They stop quickly to allow people to enter the lane, stop at throughways or when they have green lights for pedestrians, and wave people through at four way stops. While pedestrians do indeed have the right of way these actions can be disconcerting for others not accustomed to driving in such an overly accommodating environment.

7. 10% of the remaining drivers are overly aggressive assholes.

Honestly, these people exist everywhere. You know the type. Too busy on the phone to pay attention. Swerving in and out of traffic to get to the stoplight more quickly, pulling out in front of you, and rolling through stop signs. They honk and cuss and act like YOU are the idiot. I wouldn't notice them anywhere else. In Rhode Island because of all the above points they stick out like a sore thumb.

As you can see, the cards are stacked against these poor people. For most, it's not a matter of lack of skill, but environmental and cultural differences that cause the deficiency. The exception is as always that 10%, and you can find them anywhere. Screw them.

Long overdue post.

I'm still alive, though I'm guessing if you're reading this, you already know that as you probably are in contact with me in some other fashion. I have been meaning to blog more, but haven't had the drive to do so, and I kept finding other things to do. So now that nine months has passed, here I am trying again. I don't have much beyond work to distract me so I don't have any excuse not to write at least once a week. That's my goal. Those of you who know me outside the blog, (which is is probably all three of you that read it,) have my permission to bug me if I don't keep up with it.

So what's been going on?

Well, I am firmly entrenched at ICERM at Brown. We are in our new space and I'm overseeing the finishing touches on our A/V systems as well as trying to complete our VDI project on time. I've got a lot more going on but I don't want to turn this into a list of my projects at work. One of the things I've been learning to do better is delegate. It helps that some of the things that need to be done are out of my realm of expertise. I have no choice but to hand those tasks off to the people I hired because they do have said expertise.

Criss spent the better part of the last six months prepping the house to sell, getting it sold, and getting the moving done. I owe her. She is amazing. She ended up dealing with a lot more work than I thought she would have too. She handled pretty much the entire process and did an awesome job. Did I mention I owe her? The house was only on the market for three weeks. We ended up taking a pretty big loss, but it's better that we got out from under it. I was pretty upset at the time, but I'm over it. Mostly.

We are renting a place on the North West side of Providence in a quiet little neighborhood. The house is a little bigger than the place we had in Indiana. It has some quirks but for a rental it's great. The area is very diverse, and there are tons of little ethnic shops and restaurants on the main strip at the end of our block. Providence is full of little neighborhoods and we're finding that it's a neat place to live. We've been exploring some and once we get settled in a bit more we'll probably explore a lot.

So that's it, nine months in three paragraphs. Obviously I left out a lot of detail. Likely I'll bring these things up in later posts, if I can stick to blogging this time. I'll leave you with a list of things I might write about in the future. If you have suggestions for things you'd like to hear me prattle on about, by all means, let me know.

TOPICS I MIGHT DISCUSS HERE:

Work

VDI

IT

IT Management

Vendor relationships

Beer

Movies

Books

Living in RI

Exploring New England

Other adventure

Gaming (likely not casino or video)

writing (how meta)

politics ( gasp!)

religion (double gasp!)

geek culture

cyber conflict (still interested)

policy( still interested in that too)

the combination of the two proceeding

things that piss me off

Maybe other things as I think of them.

The Next Chapter

Back in May I asked what's next? I speculated a lot and didn't do three quarters of the things I said wanted to. I do have answers to some of the questions I asked back then. I have accepted a position at Brown University as the IT Manager for the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM) effective December 1. This will be a huge move for Criss and I. Criss has always lived in Northwest Indiana, and I have been here the majority of my life. We have a lot of unknowns at this point, but we feel that the path was laid pretty clear for us.

Afghanistan 2050 Roundtable

Guest post at Chicagoboyz.net. Read it here: http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/14814.html

And you may say to yourself "My God, what have I done?"

Lets talk about oil for a minute. I'm probably one of about 10 billion know nothings with blogs writing on the subject, but it's been on my mind lately so I want to get the thoughts out there. I don't know very much about deep sea oil drilling or even crude oil's effects on the environment, so I have to rely a lot on the media and the Internet for my information. If I say anything blatantly wrong please enlighten me gently so as to bring me out of ignorance.

As I am writing it appears that BP has finally had some success with a solution. But is it too little too late? How much sea life will die because of contamination? What is the global impact? Will the damage be repairable? If so will it happen in our lifetime? What is the economic impact? If the vibrant fisheries have been wiped out, certainly fishermen will lose jobs, but the economic loss will certainly roll down. There are cannery workers, and brokers, and boat dealers and maintainers, and marinas, and grocery store clerks etc, who will feel this. It won't be localized. The price of fish will certainly increase. This might be good for fisheries in Alaska, but Alaskan fish are not necessarily the same as Louisiana fish. The chain will keep going. I'm rambling about the economic toll this will have because it's the easiest thing for me to get my mind around. I don't think we can begin to understand the devastation that has been dealt to the environment. This is an unprecedented man-made disaster on an epic scale.

I have heard comments that the public is being overly critical of BP, that this incident is a "black swan" and that occasional accidents are the price of our dependence on oil. I don't think we've been hard enough on them. This was not a black swan. A black swan is a rare unknowable unpredictable event, an outlier (for more read Taleb). BP knew the risks. They knew what the appropriate safeguards were and chose not to use them. When the worst case scenario occurred, they didn't have a crisis plan in place. They moved slowly to find a workable solution, and claimed they didn't understand at first the scope of the problem. Really? It's their hole, they are the supposed subject matter experts. The rest of the world took one look at it and said "this is really really bad" and you couldn't see it? People died because of their negligence, more will suffer, their livelihoods ruined. Uncountable plants will be killed. Unknown numbers of animals will suffer and die, likely slowly and painfully. But BP CEO Tony Hayward is very sorry. He just wants his life back, so hey, let's go easy on them. It's all good, right?

There is some truth to the notion that this "accident" is related to our oil dependance. We as a global society have become tied to this natural resource. The notion that "these things happen" is unacceptable. I believe in sustainable resource management. We have the technology to make it happen. Greed gets in the way. Indicators point to greed, the desire for higher profit from this necessary resource, as the cause. There are known risks to this type of resource exploitation. There are mitigation strategies that were ignored in the name of speed and ultimately a larger profit margin. What does that profit margin look like now? Our dependence is indirectly to blame, yes. But the exploitation of that need in the name of money is direct cause. Accidents can be prevented. This one could have been.

Some say the public has been too harsh on our government. I ask "Where the hell are they?" The Coast Guard should be applauded for their early attempts. At least they tried to do something. Congress wants to investigate the root cause. That's all well and good, but how about we stop the bleeding first? The President has said vary little. When asked, he said he's angry. Good. We all are. What are you going to do about it? This is an incident of national significance if ever I've seen one, and I believe it has more potential to harm the nation than a killer flu outbreak. How is it being handled? Hell, who is in charge?

I have heard a few say that this really isn't that big a deal. Yes it's bad, but the earth is a self-healing system, and it will clean its self up eventually. Yes, the earth does have some capacity to heal damage over time. The problem is that post-industrial revolution mankind has the ability to overload that capacity. We have a tendency to outstrip natural processes in such a way that the damage we can do in a matter of a few years or even days will take the plant thousands of years to heal. In the mean time, we damage the systems we depend on for life to the point where they can no longer meet our needs and our societies collapse (for more, read Diamond). This is a big deal. we have pushed beyond the threshold on this one.

Some of you who read this (If anyone reads this) will think I'm just angry. I am. I'm also frustrated and depressed. I'm angry at BP and I'm angry at the government. We give corporations rights, will we hold them responsible? I'm frustrated because I don't know what I can do to help fix the situation. I'm depressed because I look and see the scope of the problem, and all the suffering now and that is to come, and I don't see much hope.

What Next?

That's a good question. This last year has been extremely full. I pushed hard to graduate in two years rather than the three I originally planned. Now that I'm done, I'm finding myself with large holes where I used to study. I'm sure I'll find ways to fill them, like blogging for example, but I need to consider what my options are and where I'm going.

First there's the trip. Criss and I are taking a vacation that we've been looking forward to and I need to kick planning and prep into high gear. We haven't taken a vacation together without other family involved since we've been married. She may kill me before we get home.

Next there's the garden. We had really good results last year, and we're going to expand. I plan to spend a lot of time taking care of it and the yard in general this year. Maybe the neighbors will stop giving me the evil eye when I'm outside. Maybe closing the blinds in the bedroom would help too. I also have two years of an accumulated to-do list that needs to be taken care of. Not as much fun as the garden.

I need to get back into shape too. I have no excuse any more, and I just don't feel healthy. I'm going to start exercising again on days when I don't have to work late. I'm also going back off pop and I'm going to try to stay away from fast food. there's no reason I can't.

There are some other things too. I also want to spend time painting more. I feel kind of odd doing it in the summer when it's nice out, so that will probably be reserved for nasty weather or the winter months. I want to game more too, but I'll take that as it comes. I have a whole backlog of things I want to read for fun. Some of them are related to my research, some not so much.

I also have some more long-term (and slightly more serious) things I need to consider. I'm shopping for PhD programs. It would be easy, except I had to go and pick an odd niche research area that doesn't fit cleanly in one discipline. I have a couple of front runners, but I'm taking my time. I also still need to take the GRE. I got lucky. PUC didn't require it for the Master's program.

On a somewhat related note, I find am in an interesting employment situation. I have a Master's degree, I'm a CISSP, and I've got two publications under my belt. I feel like I have outgrown the position that I am in. There is nowhere to get promoted to and not much room to go sideways. I have discussed this with my boss, and (I think) he understands the position I am in. I need to see what's out there. I can take my time, find the right thing. It's nice to be in that position. It has not happened to me very often. I'm willing to entertain suggestions on any of the above subjects. Let me know.

Good-bye Bear Cat, My Friend.

We lost Bear this morning. He was a good cat. He had a good life. We will miss him. Some people say that animals don't have souls. I don't think this is true. I believe that animals act on instinct over reason, are incapable of making the choices that lead to sin, and are therefore innocent and have a place in heaven. So rest in peace, Bear. You were a very much loved part of our family, and you will be missed.

33

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 33. There's nothing particularly spectacular about that age. Nothing important happens. I took the day off yesterday any way, and I did some thinking. I've actually been doing a lot of thinking lately anyway, but I've come to some conclusions, and I'm going to throw them out here to organize and validate them.

1. I don't care about money. I have to have money to survive, (right now,) and it makes life easier, but it is not how I measure success, and it will not make me happy. Toys are nice, but they are just that. I can live without them. I did the corporate money driven thing, and I hated every minute of it. I refuse to go back to it.

2. What does make me happy is making a difference. I want to make my community, my country and my world a better place. I thoroughly enjoy teaching. I like the concept of helping others help themselves. There's something else here I haven't quite worked out, something about the well being of the society. I'm not quite there.

3. I need to be a better steward of the things I have been given. This is a simple statement for a complex set of issues. I need to take better care of my self, physically, mentally, and spiritually. These are things I've been working on, with varying success. I need to provide for my family. For me what this means is I need to be a good husband. I'm pretty sure sometimes I miss the mark. I get so wrapped up in taking care of me that ignore my wife's needs until it's too late. I need to manage my property better. Part of this is maintaining the physical things I have better. I have a plan, and it's getting better, but it's still not where I want to be. The other part is managing money better. This appears to be in conflict with part one, above, but it's not. If I had no debt, money would become less of an issue, and would hold less sway over my life. To this end, I'm trying to live with a budget. It's hard to stay on track. The unexpected rears its head and I keep having to adjust. It's painful, but it appears to be life.

The question is where do I go from here. This little bit is a lot to balance. I have a short term goal, but how do I derive long-term goals from here? It's there already but it's very broad and very vague. I have more thinking to do.

Update Ramble.

Hello Everyone. Consider this an update and forgive me if I ramble on in random directions. It's been five months since I posted here, which makes me about as consistent as I always have been. I have been writing fast and furiously most of the summer, and most of it has been posted to a blog, just not here. It was almost all team writing, and I'm not excited about what the team produced, so I didn't link to it. If you know me well enough, and weren't bored stiff by the content, you've read it any way.

I'm officially half way through my masters coursework, and have been encouraged to speed up my plan of study, so I'm shooting for a spring graduation. It hasn't gotten any easier, and in fact, it's getting harder. I've given up all of my regular gaming groups and have forgone most things that aren't connected directly to school or survival. Maybe that's a bit over-dramatic, but sometimes it feels that way. Part of the reason I'm writing this is to get back in the swing.

This process has been made painfully more difficult by the untimely demise of my Macbook Pro. This whole episode should probably be a post by it's self, but long story short: AppleCare doesn't. I'm pretty certain they didn't even diagnose the problem. I think they looked at the woefully inaccurate level one tech support notes, opened the box, saw my dented case and made a decision. My plan is to take it to the Apple store in the next week or two and make a Mac Genius troubleshoot it. I'm totally unimpressed with the way this process has gone, and I'm disillusioned with Apple's customer service.

In the meantime I'm getting along with a department loaner that weighs about three tons, but is still a fairly capable machine despite its age. I do miss Mac OS though. I'd forgotten how frustrating XP can be. I would have loaded Linux but I don't have time to mess around with drivers and such. I have seen bits and pieces of Windows 7, and it looks promising, so I might have another go. Maybe if it's good enough I can load it on Criss' laptop, and she can get the full potential out of the hardware.

It's time to replace the Neon. It has too many problems that I've fought with for too long. I've been looking around at inexpensive cars, (getting harder to do, because the government is gobbling them up in an effort to encourage people to buy things they can't afford,) and I've found that I have an attraction to all things Jeep. It's become a bit of an obsession lately, as I scour the Internet for the perfect deal. I'm looking for a Cherokee or YJ, TJ, or maybe JK that is in decent shape and won't cost me a fortune. I figure I can use it as a daily driver for a year or two and slowly build it into a wheeler as I get time/money. Anyone want to buy the Neon for parts or a project?

Criss and I got a chance to canoe a couple weeks ago. We took a weekend trip and went down the Tippecanoe River at Tippecanoe State Park. It was a decent trip. We paid the local livery service to drop us at the boat launch and then drive Ruggy back to their place, and it didn't cost us much. The park was nice and quiet (and big) and the trip down the river was smooth. We went at a good time, and we're looking at going back soon.

We've also decided that we don't do that sort of thing often enough, so we're making plans. Next summer we're doing Yellowstone to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We're also looking at a small hike up into the Smokies for a night or two at a rustic cabin. Who knows where else we might go.

This sort of thing requires that we be in shape. We've fallen of the wagon a bit in the last month or so, but we have done a fairly good job of not eating out, (especially fast food,) Not drinking pop, and in general trying to make healthy food choices. Oddly, it's helped us save money. We've also started exercising mostly, on the Wii. It's easy to scoff at, but I've lost weight and gained a bit of strength, and I feel better in the morning.

I'm certain there are other things I could go on about, but I've probably bored most of you to tears anyway, so I'll leave off here. the whole point was to get my brain running again and get ramped up for writing anyway. I will try to post more often as things come to mind, but who knows when that will be.