I think my cold has left. All that sleep must have helped.

I drove all the way to work for my last day, and there was no one there. It had snowed the previous night and those getting overtime were out making sure the Group Healths were clear. So anyone out there in a position to hire someone such as me, I show up every day, even when I shouldn't. It felt good walking away from that place this morning.

I've been thinking a little, and without bravado, I think that it'll be Earthworks' loss in laying me off. It may just be a favor for me because now I'll look for a better situation. They are loosing someone who is conscientious, consistent, dependable, and who works well and with an eye for detail. But I don't have a spray license so I'm let go. I can't wait around for two months though until the grass starts growing again. And why would I want to go back to that pittance of pay? Be good to your landscapers, they don't get paid much. A few of the guys I work with are more bummed that I am I think. I don't have to get up Monday and go back to the "black hole" of employment as they refer to landscaping work. Hopefully I've escaped. The horror, the horror.

"Iraq has old-school Marine regretting support for Bush" "That brings him back to Wolfowitz and his neoconservative allies as the root of the problem. 'I don't know where the neocons came from — that wasn't the platform they ran on,' he says. 'Somehow, the neocons captured the president. They captured the vice president."

I have the beginnings of the flu I am told. I hope that it doesn't get any worse. It isn't that bad right now. I'm taking a decongestant to keep my sinuses clear. I can already feel the relative heaviness in my chest, so it has already moved in there. I have three more days of work so I hope I am somewhat better by then. I'm not too concerned about my usefulness when they are going to let me go.

On the recreation side, I've gone to Alki Beach twice with my metal detector. So far I've found some junk metal, two quarters, two dimes, a nickel and a bunch of pennies. I need the wherewithal to complete this quasi-retirement shtick.

Merry Christmas everyone.

I was told yesterday that I'll be laid off January 1st. Now I need another job, obviously. Don said that they'd hire me back in two months, but maybe this is my chance to get away from the landscaping and into a better situation. If I go back into a kitchen I think the gods would smite me.

"For democratic societies a timely flow of information is the lifeblood of the body politic."

Three days of work this week. No travel in my future. I bought the Best American Travel Writing for 2003 and I'll dip into that. I went with Lee today to see the Last Samurai and as Mom used to say, "it's not so hot". It had a weak love story, too much gore and a questionable storyline. Go to the matinee like we did.

At this milestone birthday I return to the words of Henry Miller: "Once you have given up the ghost, everything follows with dead certainty, even in the midst of chaos." I don't know that age had anything to do with this outlook. Maybe life experience got him there.

Mom used to make me red velvet cake for my birthday. While I was in West Palm, I used to make my own. Here, I have looked for it in the supermarkets but have never seen any. Yesterday I went to Fred Meyers and lo and behold, there it was, a whole red velvet cake - on sale. That and some IPA rounded out my exciting evening. I guess I have already given up the ghost. I went to Fred Meyers because from the apartment complex I could see the backup on 520 and I didn't want to go near that by crossing over 520 and Avondale (*not Avalon). Y'all have a great day. It's Friday.

Here is my horoscope from the Seattle Times:

"IF DECEMBER 18TH IS YOUR BIRTHDAY . . .you were different and so wise that adults wondered about you. Your outlook is larger than life. What you have to contribute and say inspires many. With your psychic talents, the world can be your oyster. It's up to you. Every year on your birthday, the galactic center is aligned with your sun, giving you additional powers. In 2004, you tie up loose ends. "

How often can you say that the galactic center is aligned with anything of yours? Tying up loose ends sounds good.

I empathize with the people in this article. Car insurance and grocery bills are very important to many right now, especially to the un-, and under-employed.

Yay, the sun is out!

Not that I really want his picture on this site, but they got him. I'll try to write more entries so that this story will move down the page. MSNBC reports that of this hour, he is being held in an undisclosed location. I think I've heard of that place before. It must be getting crowded there.

Now that he is in custody it does not necessarily follow that the neoconservatives are vindicated in their policies, in my opinion. It means that Saddam is gone, that is all. Time and history will tell what this whole mess will mean. The whole story of Saddam's rise, his support by the United States during the Iraq-Iran war, the time during the Kuwait invasion when the U.S. gave no negative indication to invade and then tried to take Iraq out of the game in the mideast, and then finally this last installment will all come into focus at some time. How much is this power grab a give-away to Bush's friends in companies like Halliburton and the others in the energy sector? Could this outcome could have come in any other manner? Did we really have to sacrifice lives for this? Could we have done something any differently as far back as the beginning of the century and WWII that would have avoided a monster such as Hussein? U.S. foreign policy post WWII, along with the U.S.S.R and to a lesser extent Europe shaped the world until the fall of the Soviet Union. Are we going to continue with like policies in a like mind in the future? Who is really behind U.S. foreign policy and what sectors do they represent? Who benefits? A lot of questions and a lot of secrecy, which we do not need. Post 1945 /1948 U.S. Government secrecy should be laid aside.

We had our Christmas bowling party yesterday and today I am sore. I whacked my right knee pretty well on one of my first attempts to send the bowling ball down the lane. The muscles on both hips are sore also. I got a few strikes and I also missed the pins competely on four consecutive attempts. All in all I think I did well after about five years away from any lanes. What I found really interesting were the elderly people bowling there before we started. They were active - bowling and socializing. Another gift from Mom. They would have been just more people prior to two years ago.

Sonya wrote that, "[S]ometimes I just wish I could go and turn every bit of barb wire into birthday cake."

MSN sent me a notice saying that my photo storage on my MSN site will end in July. I'll have to go back and link all of them again if their new system enables me to store photos. I'm not looking forward to that. I could upgrade my Blogger account and then get photo hosting there, but I'd still have to re-link.

I went to the International Motorcycle Show Saturday to look at the bikes I can't have. Here is the replacement for the A.C.E.. They call it the Shadow Aero 750. I sat on it and it is low and small feeling to me now. I sat on the 1800 and to my surprise I felt comfortable on the monster. Here is the new ST1300. It is offered in blue this year. And how about a Ural? This one has two weel drive via the sidecar wheel. The Vulcan Nomad looks very good, considering Honda refuses to make a bike like it in the 1500 or 1600 cc sizes. The VTX is not like the Nomad or Road King.

I now have 290 pictures to re-link.

They gave me a jumpsuit, two more t-shirts, another sweatshirt and a new coat and hat. I guess that I won't be layed off soon anyways. The company just hired a new guy too. I really should look for something else. At times it isn't that good of a fit. I wonder what the hell am I doing sometimes as I load barrel after barrel of wet leaves into the truck. I enjoy being outdoors and the physical aspect of the job is good, but the pay isn't. No oracle for me now either.

"Hack the Vote": "...you don't have to believe in a central conspiracy to worry that partisans will take advantage of an insecure, unverifiable voting system to manipulate election results. Why expose them to temptation?...the credibility of U.S. democracy may be at stake."

Here is a nice article; "Participants said the scenery and the supporters made the Seattle Marathon, sponsored for the second year by Harrisdirect, worth the physical agony."

Dave says: "Forget about stupid, they must think we're total complete morons to fall for this bullshit."