I stopped by Radio Shack (Slogan: “You’ve got questions? We’ve got batteries.”) this morning, looking for a battery for my cordless phone. I have a Sony cordless that is, to say the least, a few years old. It sounds wonderful, though, and is perfectly serviceable, the battery simply stopped holding a charge.

The battery was still available, and cost $20.00. This is approximately the cost of a very basic, no-frills cordless phone of recent manufacture, but I happily paid it. Even though the phone is only a couple of years younger than Alexis (and Mort!), I would wager that it still performs better and more consistently than the cheap junk being sold today. And with that, I have officially become a geezer! 🙂

The technician from BellSouth stopped by yesterday and installed the copper pair that will bring our T-1 line from the fiber shelf out at the roadway into our building via copper pair. Today, a second technician from COVAD (the service provider) will arrive to install the terminal hardware, and assist with getting our router ready to go. That means that within a day or ten, we might have a working T-1 here! I know everyone’s been anxiously awaiting the return of the webcam. The suspense must be incredible. Has my bald spot increased in size? Am I wearing the black or the brown suspenders today? Is the large drink cup on my desk from RaceTrac or QuikTrip? What am I having for lunch? I mean, without proper surveillance (especially by you folks across the pond) I could be sitting here drinking tea without milk, with complete impunity.

I would like to point out, in case anyone hasn’t yet noticed, that filmmaker Michael Moore is a scumbag.

I used to actually like his work. I thought “Roger and Me” was a brilliant film … I still own a copy and love watching it with friends who haven’t seen it. It always gets a laugh, and Moore’s pithy, sardonic, shameless style of poking fun at those who so richly deserve it always kept me interested.

Some time ago, Moore was in Iraq working on his latest film. This was at a time long before the prisoner abuse at Al Ghraib(?) came to light. He hired a film crew and sent them in “embedded” with an American military unit. The crew, none of whom were American by descent, blended in so well that the American soldiers let their guard down and actually allowed themselves to be filmed (reportedly) torturing or at least abusing Iraqi prisoners.

Now, imagine yourself in Michael Moore’s position. You’ve got, in your hands, the first evidence that American military personnel have crossed the line and are abusing Iraqi prisoners, in violation of the Geneva Convention and about a million other military and civil laws. You have two choices.

First choice: Turn a copy of the footage over to the military command authority immediately. If no action is taken, give another copy to the US government or civilian authorities. If that doesn’t work, give the film to the press. Do whatever is necessary to stop this, NOW, before it gets out of hand, and a far worse situation develops, maybe at a military prison, and makes America look like a horse’s ass.

Second choice: Sit on the tape. Wait for a worse situation to develop. Then include the footage in your new feature film so that you can make lots of money capitalizing on a problem that you had the power to solve, months ago. Then gloat that you’ve made America look like a horse’s ass … as if we needed your help to look that way.

Michael Moore, patriot and responsible citizen that he is, chose the second option. In fact, he still hasn’t shown the tape to anyone of any importance. Furthermore, in interviews, he seems still to believe he made the right decision. If there’s a better way to prove a complete lack or moral character, I’m not aware of it. So, (with apologies to Henry The Thirst) I hereby nominate Michael Moore as (was that the doorbell?) of the week.

I watched an interesting show on the National Geographic Channel on cable TV last night. It was called “Demolition Squad”, and it followed the British crew of Controlled Demolition (CDI) through a series of explosive demolition jobs. It caught my attention because The Discovery Channel had done several programs featuring work by the home US crew of that same company (the Loizaux family).

First they blew down a big London apartment building. I think it was called St. Fabian’s or something similar. Then they knocked down some cranes by a seaport in Liverpool, and then four big concrete smokestacks at an old power plant (Blyth, I think.) This was all pretty fascinating for me. Explosives engineering is the art of controlling the uncontrollable, and I respect anyone who can do that.

The Merman Cometh … last I heard, everything was on-track for him to arrive in Atlanta this evening. Good thing. I’m ready for a pint or twelve, after the week I’ve had! 🙂