So I'm a geek now, am I?

	I received 70 credits on The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you?
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WWJFKD?

Who'd have thought that TV Land would have sent me into sociological ponderings. They ran a set of shows called the 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catchphrases, and due to an extreme dearth of other things being aired, I watched the last (best) 20 of them. Among the loftiest, lay Kennedy's iconic "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."

It may have been the first time I really considered what he was saying along with the current public ethos. Wow...how far have we fallen? Can you imagine the President of the United States coming out and brashly, boldly telling the people: "Stop thinking of yourselves! Stop looking for what you can be given! Start thinking of the entire nation. Start looking for a way you can make things better." I think it may have been revolutionary in 1961; I think it could be even more extraordinary today.

When going wrong goes horribly, horribly right

I got my wife an electric guitar for Christmas. It comes with an amp, picks, plugs, strap, case, and a DVD that supposedly teaches you to play. After getting the e-mail alert about it shipping, I looked up to see that it was to be delivered on Monday (yesterday) while my wife was at home, but I was not. No worries...I just let her know that her big present was coming and not to do any inordinate peeking.

It comes, and for some reason, is NOT conveyed in a nice Christmas-present-friendly plain-brown box; but instead is in a box proudly displaying what the contents are with pretty pictures and big bright words.

Thanks.

So, we discuss the ramifications of the spoiled surprise, and we decide that I get to open my big present from her, to sort of even the score. It's an XBox 360! I had been just about certain that I would not be getting a next-gen console, so the excitement was, shall we say, evident. (I then proceeded to stay up way too late playing one of the little games they give away free with the system.)

Yay!

TSA, DIAF

Ok, now I'm pissed. This article made me lose my cool. Quick run-down is this: Several uniformed soldiers are escorting a fallen comrade home for burial. After putting their friend on the plane (with an honor guard of locals), they are escorted to security by a uniformed policeman. Once there, the TSA screener checks IDs for the soldiers and cop, then has them go through the metal detector. Well, it's a medal detector, too, cause duh! So, in front of everyone waiting to get to their own flights, these soldiers (who are escorting the corpse of a friend, don't forget) are forced to strip down to socks, pants, and undershirts. While there's a local policeman there who knows they're legit. While there's a flag-draped coffin waiting for them in a plane on the tarmac.

What else is there to say: DIAF, TSA.