print_r($RAndoMness);

print_r($recent);

Array
(
[511]=>New Car
[510]=>Zoom Zoom
[509]=>Another one bite...
[508]=>Aware of the pos...
[507]=>The latest addic...
)

RAMCal(date('my'));

August 2008

archives(RAM);

print_r($newStuff);

Array
(
[RAndoMness]=> 29Mar08
[JPsDocs] => 27Jan06
[JPics] => 09Mar08
[frontpage]
[FeedBack]
)

print_r($background);

Array
(
[today]=>

[past]=>backgrounds
)

added Sat March 29 2008 at 10:09 PM
10 comments

I actually wasn't meaning to keep it a secret - just haven't been in a writing mood lately. I really had planned on writing more soon after I got it, so sorry that I didn't.

So my car decided that it didn't want to start anymore. I'd been having troubles with the battery (I had jump-started it three times in the previous couple of weeks). Basically, the battery didn't seem to hold a charge for more than a few hours at a time. I had a choice to make - I could replace the battery and hope that was the only problem with it, or I could get a new car. Originally, I was hoping to wait until June to buy a new car. That's when I get the second half of my signing bonus. Not to mention that I'm not really in a state of mind to be making large decisions like that.

After deciding that I should probably just get a new car, I had to decide what to get. I'd been talking about getting a MINI Cooper for quite a while. However, half the fun of MINI Coopers is getting one that's customized the way you want it. Unfortunately, it would take about 3 months to get that from the factory.

I went to the Mazda dealership to test drive a Miata, but also because a friend recommended I check out the Mazda3. The Miata was fun, but ultimately completely impractical - somewhat more expensive than what I wanted to put down at the moment and barely had enough room for a few groceries (I shop like my mother). The Mazda3, however, felt like a perfect compromise between my practical side and having a nice car. I got the sSport trim so that it feels like it has a little bit of a nicer touch, but it's also reasonably priced. And it just feels comfortable to drive - the arm rests are in the right location, the steering wheel adjusts just right so that I can sit how I'd like. I chickened out and got an automatic instead of a manual like I'd originally planned, but it's the semi-automatic kind that lets you manually shift up and down when you want to - it's fun to play around with but doesn't really do too much for you otherwise.

There's more to read. Read the extended entry.

added Wed March 05 2008 at 11:52 PM
2 comments

[This page intentionally left blank]

added Thu February 07 2008 at 10:46 AM
2 comments

Well, then there were three:

Romney's out.

Sorry, Michael.

added Sat January 12 2008 at 8:12 PM
9 comments

I made a post on a public group in facebook stating my support for Ron Paul. I got a message a few hours later from some girl I've never met, that said:

"Are you aware of the fact that this man wants to legalize prostitution, heroin and cocaine, do away with the sales tax and Income tax ( do you like your hospitals and your nice paved roads)....I believe that's a bit radical and it is not slander...these are his positions"

And my reply:

Prostitution is already legal in one state - and Ron Paul wants to leave that decision up to the states (see the bottom of the page at http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=3970423 ). Sounds like the way it already is. Just because he received a donation from the owner of a Nevada brothel doesn't make him a pimp any more than receiving a donation from me makes him a computer programmer or receiving a donation from you makes him a female.

The "war on drugs" is a waste of money that could be otherwise spent on hospitals and nice paved roads - or given back to you the taxpayer. Already this year, one billion dollars has been spent in this "war," yet the government is not any closer to winning it then when it started. How many people do you know that have taken drugs? How many of your friends have smoked pot? I have never taken drugs and never will, but I know that this prohibition is exactly as effective as the last national prohibition brought by the 18th amendment. The alcohol prohibition gave rise to organized crime very similar to the way that illegal drugs drive current gangs. Furthermore, if you were to legalize it, you could tax it to the point that it generates enough income to pay for the idiots' hospital bills when they overdose. That burden is currently left to the general public.

The federal government does not have a sales tax, so getting rid of it would not be a radical idea. When I first heard his plan to eliminate the income tax, I questioned its validity as well. The answer is that if we keep spending at the rate that we are, we can't eliminate the IRS. The federal government gets a little under half its money from individual income tax ( http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy08/hist.html ), the rest comes from corporation income tax, social security, and "other" (such as tariffs and excise tax). In order to reduce spending to the point that we can afford to get rid of the income tax, we would have to cut spending in half. The federal government spent $2.65 trillion in 2006 ( http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/index.php ). If you cut that in half, you get $1.325 trillion - let's pretend that's our new budget. If we take into account inflation (which is another topic on its own), we would need to reduce spending to the levels of 1976. Maybe we should ask our parents if they had paved roads and hospitals when they were our age. Would it be tough for the government to make this transformation? Yes, but imagine not having to give that money to the government.

I know the positions of my candidate - do you?

added Thu January 10 2008 at 8:46 PM
2 comments

It's been awhile since I've picked up a serious new addiction. Perhaps this came along because I swore off online dating sites as a New Year's Resolution (they just weren't working for me, but that's another topic entirely). On the other hand, maybe this really is that kind of awesome.

thesixtyone.com is a new music site, geared around trying to introduce you to a variety of new independent artists. It's all about discovery. It combines simplicity (you can just go and click play and get started listening to the current favorites) with complexity (spend points by "bumping" songs and get points when other people bump that song, according to some algorithm depending on how early you bumped the song). In the past week, I've heard so much incredible new music, it's almost too much to handle. Normally I'll find one new band every few weeks and I'll add them to my current rotation and I'll listen to them a ton of times until they slowly phase out of the rotation again, but here I can just go from one awesome band to the next to the next.

I spent a few days pursuing lots of points. And for a time today, I made it to be one of the "top rookies." And then I decided that that would be good enough because it was taking simply too much time. And yet I still am listening to it - right now, in fact. So go check it out. If you sign up and want to give me credit for the referral, my login is petiejoe - big surprise. But I don't really care about the referral, it's just an awesome site and an awesome experience.