The Padded Cell

     I just got off the phone with a friend of mine.  Talking with her is like trying to catch the wind.  Unfortunately she is not unusual.  Many people I know rush through the day trying to fit 40 hours worth of work in 1 day.

     "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork." (Psalms 19:1 KJV).  How often we forget to marvel at the simple beauty of the world around us.  Of course at times it is difficult to see these marvels as all the ambient light of our cities and towns often obscures the night sky and our busy lives keep us from knowing of the vast acres of green land that lie awaiting our exploration.

     Philadelphia, your typical city and a good example of a "concrete jungle", is full of parks and green lands.  Two of the biggest, Pennypack and Fairmont Parks, are all too often little known secrets by the general population, sanctuaries of unimaginable beauty and solitude.

     Every city has these jewels hidden within them if you look, not just Philadelphia.  We need to stop the train, get off and stop and smell the roses.  Only then can we see the glory and handiwork of God.

     The Washington Post reports in an article (see link below) that Comcast Cable is shutting down the accounts of people it says are using too much bandwidth.  It wasn't bad enough they started throttling the traffic of file sharing programs such as uTorrent and BitTorrent, but now they are out and out canceling the accounts of people they feel are using too much of their precious bandwidth.

     OK, they do give the user a warning but they don't tell them how much over the limit they are or what the limit even is.  Picture this.  You are driving along the highway when you are pulled over by the police.  The officer tells you that you are speeding but won't tell you what the limit is and will only tell you that you have to slow down because if you don't slow down enough you will lose your license.

     Am I the only one who sees that as monstrously ridiculous? This is what happens when we allow monopolies.  In many areas these poor people have no choice but to suffer with Comcast. What Comcast needs to do is be more truthful in their advertising.

"Download speed 3Mbits - but don't use all of it!"

Shutting down big downloaders - Washington Post - MSNBC.com

     I went out for a walk as I am want to do on these cool almost fall nights.  Ever house I walked past, ok maybe only those with their curtains open, seemed to have a flat wide screen TV in the living room and an SUV out front.  Yes even some of those that didn't have their curtains open.

     We complain that gas costs to much yet I count how many times I've seen a gas guzzling SUV occupied by one person.  But then again I'm guessing without such vehicles they would have no way to cart those huge TVs home.

     Me I drive a small car (see picture in the photo gallery).  Ok, it's not exactly like I chose the car I drive but it's a good car.  Better yet it's a convertible.  You can't say to many bad things about any convertible.  Alright, a convertible SUV would probably be a bad idea.  I also can't complain about 35 mpg.  Not that I'm some eco nut, I just prefer spending my money on other things then gas.  Just remember, if you think our wars are all about oil and you drive a big car, don't complain.

     Well I'm finally back on-line after 8 years.  I decided to go with one of the social networking spaces like Windows Live Spaces instead of going with my own personal web page.   They've come such a long way with all the tools they give you.  Of course you lose a bit of control and personalization but you don't have to spend DAYS over the layout or format anymore.  I guess it's that whole instant gratification thing

     I stuck with Windows Live Spaces because it just fits in well with all the other Windows stuff I have and I've always been a Microsoft fan even when everyone else seems to vilify them.  Well I hope you like my space and feel free to sign the guestbook or comment on my random ramblings.  As you can guess by the name, this will be the home for most of my lunatic ramblings so don't expect too much coherency!