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There has been a HELL of a lot of stuff that's happened in the past few weeks, and I've had so many diffferent things a-brewin' in my brain, that's it's been a little tough figuring out just where to start.

I suppose the most immediate is as good as any. jadra went with her best friend Jenn, said friend's goddaughter and and godson on a week-long trip up to Virginia to visit Jenn's mom, show her goddaughter some edge-ju-mah-cayshunal stuff during brink break, etc.

On the way back home, they stooped at a Wal_mart, and encountered an animal rescue. Where one puppy found my wife.

So, I present to you the newest member of the family:




Armegeddon Blue Struck (Armie for short).

She's a Great Dane/Black Lab/Dalmation mix.

How'd she get her name? Well, see, jadra always figured if she got another dog after PJ, it's be another Pug, probably a black Pug. Then Jenn would get a Pug as well, and name it Gawd. So the joke would be "First came Armageddon, then we found Gawd."

Armie is about 6 weeks old, and still a little unsteady on her paws; they're already kinda big, and we realize she's gonna grow to be BIG ol' dog.. and that's okay. She's a real sweetheart and I'm glad she found my wife. ;)

And lemme tell ya-- having a young puppy seems to be similar to having a kid-- up and down several times a night to check on her, taking her out side to do her business, little sleep... but she's totally worth it. If I  get Jenn's okay, I'll see about posting some pics of Gawd, too.

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Also recent good news-- after several weeks of hard work, hoping, and waiting, I can now officially announce that I will soon be gainfully employed! I will be working as the webmaster and web developer for the non-profit organization North Texas  Food Bank. I am very excited about the upcoming challenges and opportunities  this position will offer me . The environment already seems worlds different than the corporate world; I've gotten welcome emails from everyone on staff, my boss has a great sense of humor, and I've been told that everyon'es busy picking out a "dragon-related nickname" for me (apparently they read my site). As long as no one calls me, "Puff", I think I'll be okay.

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This issue came up in passing the other night (when I was trying to make a point about something else): Apparently, there's a big fooferaw over Al Gore using a reported 20 times higher than average use of electricity for his home. This started on the conservative hatchet-job/rumor-mill site The Drudge Report and spiraled out from there.

Where were all these figures taken from? "The Tennessee Center for Policy Research, an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization committed to achieving a freer, more prosperous Tennessee through free market policy solutions" . Sounds pretty impartial, right. Except it’s not. It’s actually an Exxon-funded project of a 26-year-old right-winger that's so incredibly fake-fakey FAKE it's not even considered a real organization. Yessir, that "independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization committed to achieving a freer, more prosperous Tennessee through free market policy solutions" is a sham that doesn’t even research what they claim. They didn't even call the actual power company to ask for the real numbers. The Tennessee Tax Dept. does not consider the "Tennessee Center for Policy Research a legitimate group and its only registered address is a P.O. box.

At any rate, the "average" home electricity use quoted by TCPR is a national average that includes apartments and mobile homes. In Gore's climatic zone, the East South Central (Dept. of Energy PDF), the average is much higher, thanks to hot, humid summers and cold winters. Within that zone, Gore's usage is three (not 20) times average, and his per-square-foot usage is squarely average. (More here.)

From Think Progress:

1) Gore’s family has taken numerous steps to reduce the carbon footprint of their private residence, including signing up for 100 percent green power through Green Power Switch, installing solar panels, and using compact fluorescent bulbs and other energy saving technology.

2) Gore has had a consistent position of purchasing carbon offsets to offset the family’s carbon footprint — a concept the right-wing fails to understand. Gore’s office explains:

What Mr. Gore has asked is that every family calculate their carbon footprint and try to reduce it as much as possible. Once they have done so, he then advocates that they purchase offsets, as the Gore’s do, to bring their footprint down to zero.

Here’s something funny. Or maybe sad. Dick Cheney ran up a total $186,000 power bill in 2001 - before the post-9/11 energy hikes- and then demanded the Navy (funded by us American taxpayers) pay for it. So… apparently Gore spending too much of his own money on electric power is  bad, wrong, badwrong, or perhaps badong…, while VP Cheney billing Americans to waste power isn’t.

Anyhow, this all part of what got me thinking a few weeks ago-- Gore's testifying before congress, holding the awareness concerts- doing “An Inconvenient Truth”… everything he’s doing for the cause now that's become so effective is what's making him more and more appealing as say, a Presidential candidate.  But the only way he'd run is if he wasn't being so effective with what he's already doing. The fact that he cares so much about what's he's doing right now means he wouldn't want to give that up to run for president.

Think about that for a sec: Running for President would make him less effective and detract from the issues he cares about and is making a difference on.

That's messed UP.

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Finally, Puzzle Quest is an amazing game-- deep story, addictive gameplay, and a lot of fun. Or so I've heard.

jadra is hoarding her copy. ;)