Yeah... that's kinda scary.

I don't intend to make this blog much of a political rag.  But this one I couldn't help sharing as it kinda summarizes how I have felt the past 4+ years and recently with the re-election:

Link dump - business

Mainly for my own benefit.  Several links I have collected over time related to business:

Sir Richard Branson on five top tips to starting a successful business

What the SBA could learn from alternative lenders

Values-Based Business at Barclays

Google's new UK headquarters in London

How a revolution in business lending could transform the British economy

Intuit to enter small business lending?

Going forward, I plan to use my blog here to share links like this and to opine on them.  Again, my purposes are to explore and better my own understanding on the subjects presented.  But I certainly welcome the following and commentary of others interested in chiming in.

JDC

Self-education -- what made my old '00 Sony VAIO tick...

Trying to get organized with this bonus day off today.  I finally transferred the last of my contacts from my old cell phone into my BlackBerry, which I have had for OVER A YEAR now.  ('bout time...)

When I went to toss the old phone up on our "defunct technology" shelf, I decided to pull down the old laptop computer that's been sitting up there and has been out of commission for several years.  It was my tool of choice during my undergrad days at SVU, which helped me write many a paper and graduate w/ my Bachelor of Arts degree.  Then, it died.  :)

I've been holding onto it to "recycle it," but I decided to crack it open instead and satisfy my curiosity to see what makes a laptop "tick."  Crazy to see how much technology is contstantly changing!  This old machine rocked in 2000.  Today, it's something to laugh about!

First, the technical specs -- then a couple of pics!!

Processor:  Pentium III (yeah baby!)
Memory:  Not one but two 128MB RAM buses (I think my cell phone has more RAM now, probably?)
Hard Drive:  15.1 Gigs!  TOTAL!  Wow...

...and the KING of all specs

Extras:  3.5" floppy drive!  (Oh, and if that's not funny enough, Amanda found several ZIP DISKS on Saturday that have our papers, etc., saved on them!  Now, to find a ZIP DRIVE we can use to access those priceless projects!!)

Update on Lightning... "total loss" :(

Two weeks after the accident, finally got the word from the body shop that it would cost too much to fix to be worth anyone's time.  The estimator said it would cost just $300 less than the car is worth on the high end to fix it, half of that just to get the front section of the frame straight again.  This week we will be going through the "settlement" process, and I'm hoping Nationwide will continue to be good to work with when it comes to their offer. 

I went down on Saturday to clean out my belongings and take off the license plates (which I had just renewed for 2 years...  sheesh).  Got a couple of pics before driving away:

Thanks for 4 1/2 great years, Lightning McQueen!  I hope some autobody pro buys you and fixes you up, 'cuz you're still a great car!

Poor Lightning McQueen!!! 12/16 Accident :(

It started with a quick run to the Wawa a half mile from my office for a sandwich.  Instead of going back on the "busy" street, I opted to take the less congested back road.  Little did I know what awaited me.

I was the only car in the left turn lane waiting for the light to change.  When the turn signal turned green, I proceeded into the intersection.  Not more than about a car length into the intersection, I saw a big blue and silver object coming at me from the left.  That's when everything went into slow motion.  I knew what was about to happen--she was going way too fast to stop, I immediately hit my brakes, but I as quickly realized there was no way to avoid the pending impact; I braced myself and even recall saying before the impact, "Oh, come on!!!"

BAM.  Crash.  Drag...  My just-filled diet Dew went flying; the Wawa sack containing my hot chicken, spinach and tomato sandwich also took flight.  Then silence for a brief moment. 




OUCH!!


Ironically, this all happened right in front of the Henrico County Police Headquarters.  We had an unmarked officer on the scene in less than a minute directing us off to the side of the road.  Poor "Lightning McQueen" (as my kids have named my Camry) moved forward, albeit unwillingly and while making unpleasant sounds. 




From the side that was NOT hit...  can't even open the passenger side door!  Not good. :(


Another uniformed officer showed up to take over.  Fortunately a couple who witnessed the whole thing from a front row seat (while obeying the red light) immediately pulled over and gave their info and testimony to the officer.  Turns out the witness is a cop too.  Phew.  I never even had to talk to the other driver or her 2 or 3 passengers--all the better; not sure what I would have felt like saying to her. 

Fortunately, I was able to walk away from the crash.  I was both shaken and shaking (from a chill in the air) but counting my blessings that I didn't make it any farther into the intersection.  She plowed into me with a lot of force.  Had it been just a couple of feet closer to the driver's side door, I could have been going a block the other direction to the Parham Doctors Hospital.  In the end, I walked a block West instead to my office and tried to finish my work day.

Poor lightning McQueen!  We'll see what his fate is next week.



This pic reminds me of Doc Hudson from the movie Cars.  Sad day!  I love my Camry.  Hope they can fix it, but the insurance guy said this kind of impact often leaves cars "totaled."



One guy's take on how Hollywood's rampant use of the F-word is perceived overseas...

I just read this interesting article by a gentleman named Dan Bloom.  He's been living in Japan for 20 years and offers an eye-opening perspective in this piece about how children in overseas countries regularly greet western visitors with the F-word and "the finger" because Hollywood movies have, perhaps inadvertently, taught them this things are "cool!" 

Such a disgrace. 

For me, it gave me additional perspective to the influence that America has on the world.  That influence can be good--such as helping other nations in need with humanitarian efforts.  That influence can be bad--like teaching the world that gluttony is not only okay but should be aspired to.  And apparently that influence can also be downright ugly--as in the case made by Bloom.

Virginia Earthquake - August 23, 2011

Some very unique shaking, rattling and rolling hit us today!  It was not the first earthquake I've ever felt, but at 5.9 on the richter scale is was very much so the strongest.  Thought this was an interesting piece post by USA TODAY's Dan Vergano:

"Central Virginia does get its share of minor earthquakes, but an earthquake of this size on the East Coast is certainly very unusual," says seismologist Karen Fischer of Brown University.

Virginia is not on an active earthquake fault and is roughly in the middle of the North American continental crustal plate, she says. But it has residual fault scars left over from 200 to 300 million years ago, when it was an earthquake zone, at the time when the Atlantic Ocean rifted apart from Europe. "We are just seeing pressure build up and release on those scars," Fischer says. "There is a lot of debate on exactly what is going on down there and exactly how quakes this big happen in this kind of crustal zone."

Because the crust under the East Coast is colder and firmer than the West Coast, shocks travel more efficiently through it, accounting for the widely felt shaking.

"One lesson of this quake is that building codes will likely need to be revisited on the East Coast," Fischer says. "Because we are not as conscious of earthquakes here as the West Coast and we will have to see about structural damage to buildings, although I have not heard any damage reports so far."