Posts

Showing posts from July 16, 2006

Every other friday off?

I heard an interesting rumour about the potential for doing L3-style workweeks here, where you do an extra hour every day and then take every other friday off. Everyone here already does way more than an extra hour a day anyway already. I can't remember the last time anyone actually did a 40 hour week. So that basically means no change in work pattern but we might get every other friday off. I'm not sure about that though. I'm inclined to think that if everyone else is away, I might come in because it's likely to be the one day every two weeks where I might actually be able to get some work done. You can't do much with a 3-day weekend anyway - it's not like you can go anywhere. You'd spend all day friday travelling wherever and all day sunday coming back. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out.

Let's hear it for digital downloads I actually want.

The latest record label / website to receive a little praise on this blog is AnjunaBeats.com - a key label in supplying Armin van Buuren with stuff for his radio show. They've started a webstore and I purchased a copy of the excellent 'Breathe' by Daniel Kandi - one of their up-and-coming DJs - today.

Prepping America for the $4 gallon.

The media today started the run-up to the record high gas prices that are going to happen around Labour Day weekend this year. Apparently, all-out war in Israel and a hurricane in the Gulf Coast could push oil to $95 a barrel, representing the $4 gallon at the pump. This is all Bush regime and Big Oil groundwork to soften the public up ahead of time. Obviously the reality of the situation is so much different. The API (American Petroleum Institute) publish weekly and monthly figures available to anyone who cares to look, which show exactly where America gets its oil from. In descending order: 1. Canada - 17.8% 2. Mexico - 12.9% 3. Venezuela - 12.9% 4. Saudi Arabia - 11.6% 5. Nigeria - 10.2% 6. Angola - 4.5% 7. Iraq - 4.1% 8. Algeria - 3.4% 9. Virgin Islands - 2.6% 10. UK - 2.4% Taking into account Saudi and Iraq, America gets only 15% of its imports from the middle east, and most of that comes from Saudi - a 'friendly' country to America's oil needs. Not one drop of it co

Passed muster

Sweet! Final electrical inspection was done on the house today and we've passed muster. So we're good to go. I'm going to see if the insurance co. will give us their 'renovation' discount now.

We're still here then?

With the escalating war in Israel, it's a pleasure to wake up and still be alive this morning. Israel aren't known for their tolerance and self-moderation, so I was fully expecting them to have nuked Lebanon by now. Bush has advised restraint (pot, meet kettle) but it doesn't matter what the international community tells them, they're playing the victim card (as usual), and when it comes down to it, you just know those f*ckers won't think twice about turning Lebanon into a glass parking lot. Things are getting really bad. The wholesale evacuation of European and US citizens has begun with Blair sending carriers to evacuate the English and Bush sending helicopter to start on the Americans. Meanwhile the troop drawdown in Iraq continues quietly - the war in Israel is a nice diversion from that bit of news. I wouldn't want to be the pilot in the last helicopter picking up the last few Americans from the roof of the US embassy in Baghdad (a la Vietnam).