Journal 05/08/00

Saw some strange objects while meditating. I am not sure what they were as I only glimpsed them. I saw the face of a man and he had something in his mouth. It was a disk of some sort.

According to Kelsey (The Other Side of Silence), having been through “the dark night of the soul” now makes me a Shaman.

An NFL team called off practice this week because of an out break of swine flu.  Of course, none of the team members were actually tested for the swine flu but they did display flu like conditions so therefore, it must be the swine flu.

After all, getting the regular flu is just so common and boring.  So, if you are going to get the flu, why not say that it is the swine flu so that you can grab the headlines.

I suppose that the Lions could use this as an excuse for the way that they play, but, unfortunately, the flu doesn’t last that long.

Well, it was only a few weeks ago that the Virginia socialites crashed a White House event. Now, another couple are talking about how they were accidentally admitted to a breakfast for veterans.

It seems that the couple were scheduled for a White House tour but mistakenly showed up a day early. After they cleared the standard security checks, they were ushered into a breakfast where they met the president.

When the couple pointed out to an aide that they were only there for a tour and not the breakfast, they aide told them to go ahead and eat anyway.

While I applaud the fact the everyday people can meet the president, I am concerned that security it a little too lax. I hope that stories of these incidents don’t start popping up like Tigers girlfriends.

When I was in Meijer’s (regional grocery chain) the other day, I happened to wander into the sporting goods section, specifically, the hunting section. I noticed that they were offering a kit for cutting up game.

The kit contained several knives, a cleaver and a sharping steel. And, all of it was packaged in a plastic camouflage case.

Set was very inexpensive and I am sure it was geared for the hunter who wants to process his own game. But I did have to wonder at the need for the case to be camouflaged.

Now, I can see having camouflaged clothing and camouflaged guns and bows. But a camouflaged game processing kit seems a little on the edge. I mean, most hunters are just going to gut their game in the field and process the rest back a camp.

But, I suppose there are those who literally live in the bush for days at a time. So, maintaining full camo is vital.

As for me, I pay to have my deer processed.

A few years ago, several of us here at the state, were in a meeting at another agency. In their meeting room, they had an electronic white board. With the push of a button, the contents of the white board were printed out on a built in printer.

Great idea! We should get one for our office. So, 30 days later, our electronic white board arrived. Eagerly, my co-workers removed it from the box and assembled it.

It was a free standing unit that was on wheels so that it could be move from one room to the next. It had a series of colored pockets for colored markers and a special pocket for the eraser.

It was slick except that there was no printer. There were connectors for something but a printer was never connected to it. And as far as I can tell, the thing never printed. It became just a very expensive white board that no one uses.

Zip head a few years and someone else gets the idea that we need a white board that prints. So, 30 days later, a new white board arrives. And, once again, my co-workers take it out of the box and assemble it. And, like its predecessor, it too was free standing with wheels for mobility. But, alas, no printer.

Ah, but it did have a connection for a PC. And, from the PC, the white board info could be printed on the network printer. Great!

An old laptop PC was attached and we were ready to start printing. But wait, how do you use the thing? There were no instructions. So, we played with the PC trying to get it to work. After a while, we just gave up. Eventually, the laptop disappeared. So, now we have two expensive white boards on wheels that don’t print.

I was in a meeting the other day with another state agency. They had a white board. When they got through using the white board, they pressed a button and the contents of the board were printed out at the bottom. I thought to my self that it would be handy to have a white board that printed…..

The other night, I was concerned that I might get snowed in while in Grand Rapids. So, I decided to look on the internet for a room just in case. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that this one motel was located at the foot hills of some mountain in Grand Rapids.

I have long suspected that most of these motel chains use canned pictures and not actual photos of the hotel of interest. I imagine that the actual view from the hotel will be something less pristine.

Ever heard of air band? Air band is where you pretend to perform a song. Well, now there are air abs.

Abs, of course, are abdominal muscles. And for people with really good bodies, abs are those six bumps that you see on their stomach.

Well, now with the aid of an air brush, you too can have athletic looking abs. First they spay you with a bronzing dye. Then, they color your stomach so that it looks like muscles.

I wonder if they can cover celluite?

Last fall, the voters of Michigan approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Because a doctors approval was required for all applicants, the State of Michigan assumed that there would be few applicants. However, that proved not to be the case.

With over 10,000 applicants still seeking approval, the requests are overwhelming the system. I guess the medical profession views marijuana in little different light. Either that or they are getting paid under the table. Regardless, if we tax the crap out of it, maybe we could continue to support public education..

Since the voters of the State of Michigan decided to legalize Marijuana in last falls election, it is now legal for individuals to grow their own pot for medical use.  And, if you can’t grow it yourself, you can obtain it from a designated “care taker”.

Now, most people are not versed as to how to grow marijuana.  So, to off set that fact, a young entrepreneur is offering a course on how to grow and process marijuana.  While there is no degree offered, the class guarantees that the attendees will make a substantial amount of money.

Since I am sure that organized crime will be apposed to such efforts, I suspect that “care takers” should keep their activities as quiet as if it weren’t legal.

In the election last fall, the voters of the State of Michigan approved the use for marijuana for medical purposes. This, of course, placed a burden on the State of Michigan as to how to regulate the stuff.

After much deliberation, the state decided that the pot program should fall under the department of Community Health and not the Department of Agriculture. After all, the Department of Agriculture was already too busy certifying gas pumps.

The Department of Community Health determined that anyone with permission from their doctor would be allowed to grow and process 6 mature marijuana plants per year. But, knowing that not everyone would have the knowledge of how to grow marijuana, they allowed “caretakers” to grow and sell marijuana to their customers, err, “clients”.

Thus, with the consent of the State of Michigan, certain people can grow marijuana  and certain people can buy marijuana.  I hope the State of Michigan is collecting tax on the pot as the population is going to increase.