Thoughts on Sunday Morning

Ah, it's Sunday Morning. Time for another brain dump.

Neighborhood drilling
My week has been somewhat consumed with my reaction to the proposal for gas drilling in the Barnett Shale in my neighborhood. We've been organizing and had a couple of neighborhood meetings. I'm absolutely thrilled to have the chance to meet some of my neighbors for the first time. I guess I wish it were under better circumstances. I must admit that the thought of the money excites me a bit, but I'm really, really hesitant about the environmental issues it's going to bring. I wrote about it earlier this week, so I won't go over it again here.

The Job
I'm going to Scottsdale again this coming week. Hopefully, I'll have the chance to get a bit more mentoring and training. No problems with the technical part, but still trying to learn the business. I've had some frustrations with little things, and I'm afraid it sounds like bitching, but I just feel a bit like I'm trying to work with my hands tied. For instance, my desk and chair are just not ergonomic. I don't have a keyboard drawer, so my wrists hurt a bit from reaching too high. My monitors have lower resolution than I'm used to, so I don't have enough room on my screens to view all of the windows I'm working in. I replaced my company-issued mouse with a new trackball, but this silly thing has no scrolling wheel like the one I use in my personal office. So even though it's easier on my wrist, ergonomically, it's frustrating to use. I don't have a headset on my phone, so it's been difficult to be on the phone and computer at the same time.

Like I said, it's little stuff. I'll get it fixed.

Politics - Obama and Biden
The big news was that Obama picked his running mate. I liked Biden early on because of his performance in the debates, and I wasn't in favor of Evan Bayh due to his support of a new war on Iran. So, I'm pleased that he chose Biden.

I know it doesn't quite fit the narrative of change to pick a guy who has been in the Senate so long, but I think it's a trade-off that is necessary to make sure that the team has a strong player on the foreign policy front.

I really appreciate Obama placing so much value on seeking wise counsel. He has said that he's not looking for someone that agrees with him on every issue, but rather someone to challenge him and compliment his skill set. I think that by having Obama as the visionary, and Biden as a navigator, we would have a very good chance of getting good policy implemented.

Electorally, I don't know how well it does him. I've sort of given up on that sort of punditry.

I'm looking forward to watching the Democratic Convention this coming week.

School Starts
This coming week is the first week of school. Mamask8z and I will be glad to get them out of the house. Be careful in those school zones, ok?