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May 20, 2008

Trillion

America is $943.5 billion in credit debt. Are you fucking kidding me?! How in the hell did this happen? Did we all collectively spend too much time at Macy’s?! Did we all buy way too many grande lattes?! Did we all at once decide to buy those designer jeans on “sale” for $175?!

Jesus Christ. What is wrong with us? There’s no way I’m going to throw this high-tempered rant at everyone except me. I drive the boat with the rest of you. We’re all in this together. This is collective conscious here. No finger pointing. Except at ourselves.

So, back to my point. Holy shit.

We all complain about the war debt we’ve accumulated, except we all complained while purchasing items we probably don’t need. Gas is up. Food is up. Living costs more. And I don’t mean a standard of living. I mean just living. However, this can’t be the only thing dragging us down. Can it?

Gas is going up to $4. We’ll cry bloody hell, but keep paying. Exxon made $41 billion in profit in 2007. They thank us whole-heartedly while we keep bent over in the touch-your-ankles and hold-your-breath position. We just keep paying. We just keep buying big fucking vehicles we don’t need. Suzy the soccer Mom does not need the Ford Excursion. I don’t care how hyped up her son is on anti-ADD meds. She doesn’t need it. Neither does Bob the broker with the Rolex watch. This genius paid for his watch and Porsche Boxster with an American Express card. Welcome to slavery.

Throw me in the pile. I drive a Ford Explorer. I “bought” it seven years ago, simply because I wanted an SUV. Not like I need the thing. I’m a hypocrite, too. I can’t afford a different car. I can afford the gas to push this tank around. Barely, and with a little help from Visa. After I fill up I have those real engaging conversations where I praise the new hybrid cars, yet claim I’m not quite there yet, “I’ll just wait until it won’t cost so much to maintain the engine.” Sounds great. We all say it. Great excuse to stick to our shitty SUVs.

Let’s forget about gas prices and SUVs. I’m sick of that subject anyway. I’m American. I know I live a lifestyle way above the norm. Can we all stop complaining about the blasted wealthiest 1% in this country? They’ve never helped, nor will they ever. This is about our own lack of responsibility. They are not moving from their perch. Hell, even struggling Americans still live way above third world countries. But let’s not go there either.

So corporations are greedy assholes. The rest of us are hypocrites for the simple fact that we’re naive enough to not care. This big machine is not stopping. Anything is possible. Sure. I completely and absolutely believe that. However, in the realm of reality, today, it’s not stopping.

Forget about rising gas prices, dairy prices, and food (Christ, food’s going up?). Let’s focus on those lovely shopping sprees. The four cars in the driveway. The big screen TV (I need that for football season, you know?), the thousands of DVDs, cable service with 80 movie channels, the bed from the Cindy Crawford collection (it’s like, you know, softer), the Banana Republic wardrobe (aka The Gap but nicer and more expensive), and the iPhone.

Segway: I love Apple. I love their products. They make the world easier to navigate. Their prices are ridiculous. Yes, that’s right. $600 for a phone is ridiculous. Yes, it’s more than a phone. I agree. So I change my statement: $600 for a phone that does way more is ridiculous.

To get back on point (and after pissing off quite a few fellow designers), we’re nearing a trillion in debt. It’s due to our lifestyle. Not one thing, or another. Or the other. It’s everything. Everything we’re told. Everything we tell them (whoever they might be). It’s how we justify our spending. It’s how every choice we make. It’s every choice made for us. It’s greed on the highest level. Maybe it’s greed at my level, too. It’s wanting what we think we deserve. It’s not appreciating what we already have. It’s everything, and maybe it’s none of that.

For every blog post just like mine that tries to make sense and fine reason, most people who read it (myself included) will agree, possibly post a comment, then keep moving forward with our own nasty habits. I’m no motivator, nor would I ever consider telling you how to live your life, which is why I won’t do much either. Sad but true. World moves so fast, we have to stay on the ball of our own lives. Changing drastically might alter the course. We wouldn’t want that.

May 9, 2008

Multiple IE Fix

So I’ve been pretty lazy posting on Everomp lately. Boo hoo. Luckily it’s been for a good cause. We’ve been heavily (overly) saturated with work, both print and web. In wrapping up a micro-site I’ve been utilizing Multiple IE for testing purposes.

If you haven’t tried it yet, I highly recommend this solution for multiple IE testing. It’s self-explanitory: it gives you the ability to test in different versions of our favorite web browser. It goes as far back as IE3, however that might be overkill (though interesting for nostalgia sake!). I find it most useful for testing in IE6 and 5.5.

As usual, with anything IE-related, there is a catch. If you’re running Windows XP on your testing platform (be it a laptop, or Parallels on a Mac) you have a 50/50 shot of hitting a brick wall. Namely, IE6 and 5.5 crashes upon opening, making these browsers virtual paper weights.

After reading through dozens of comments, I found the solution:

Apparently it (possibly) has to do with Norton Antivirus considering these browser applications “dangerous” and shuts them down. In a way it makes sense, because Multiple IE is simply a hacked version of IE. I’m running a factory-installed version of Norton, though I can’t honestly confirm if this is the reason.

The fix? Rename the browser program file from “iexplore.exe” to “my_iexplore.exe.local”.

I won’t explain why it works. I’m not a good enough programmer to comprehend the answer. Bottom line: it worked for me.

I would note that, upon program name change, IE6 crashed once for me. The second time around it ran just fine. It has since worked perfectly.

February 16, 2008

Happiness

While browsing through my feeds this morning (as I do every morning with a piping hot coffee) I came across a simple idea. What makes us happy? What makes us happy on a daily basis? It got my mind churning. I realized we don’t often stop to consider the tiny moments each day that flag positivity.

Each morning I focus my attention for a moment on being happy. A cross between prayer, will, and simple thought. Happiness. May it come to me today, whatever the form. I then move on and don’t look back. I’ve never stopped to consider how this might manifest itself.

Consider this my exercise in appreciation. A random list of things that brightened my days this week:

  • Hugging Red for the first time in two weeks since her return from Hawaii.
  • Making our Project Manager well up in tears, laughing.
  • A true “guy” conversation had with Dad about the upcoming football season.
  • Finding the perfect song for a video the office is currently writing.
  • Finally getting the perfect photo I’ve been barely missing the passed two weeks.
  • A phone conversation with an old friend in Miami, making me laugh so hard my side hurt.
  • Red and I watching the Indiana Jones trailer. Can’t claim that often.
  • Discussing the finer points of Bruce Campbell awesomeness with Lea.
  • Finding a really great book to read.
  • Sipping on my favorite coffee for the first time in a month. Mmm-mm.
  • A couple deep breaths on Saturday, enjoying a Spring’ish morning in Orlando.
  • Blasting AC/DC throughout the office, attempting the Angus dance with fellow co-workers.
  • Checking my totals after selling quite a few items on eBay (holy cow, this adds up)
  • That Philly Cheese steak purchased on Thursday. Greasy and good.

It’s the little things in life we forget.

What makes up your list?

"Art is the highest form of hope."

— Gernhard Richter