Veal is nasty. The texture just squicks me. Blech. Raw beef, however, yum!

This is just... weird (from Salon:

The Bush administration concedes that the president's plan for private investment accounts won't do anything to improve the financial health of the Social Security system. The plan will have a "net neutral effect," the administration says, meaning that, whatever Washington does with Bush's proposal, it will have to come up with some other way to "save" Social Security. Does the president understand that? You be the judge.

As his Social Security roadshow pulled into Tampa, Fla., over the weekend, Bush was asked how his plan would ensure that Social Security won't run out of money down the road. Here, straight from the White House Web site, is the president's answer in its entirety:

"Because the -- all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those -- changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be -- or closer delivered to what has been promised.

"Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the -- like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate -- the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those -- if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.

"Okay, better? I'll keep working on it."

Love carpaccio, which is pretty raw.

Robin forgot to mention Allyson's FANTASTIC HAIR.

I was going to say.

Tommyrot, there's still enough time to purchase a TiVo, set it up and have it running and ready tomorrow night - really!

Sorry I missed the AM's discussion about programming skills versus job descriptions. I do program, and aside from a half-handful of academic courses taken after I was already working as a programmer and formal training workshops in specific software, I'm a learn-on-the-job worker.

The most useful course I took was Data Structures and Algorithms, in which we not only covered much of the basic theoretical aspects, but we did it by programming memory-resident utilities in Windows under C++. For a night school course, come to think of it, it was damn ambitious.

But the thing is, in the first nigth of the course, the professor explained what we would be covering, and then said something that still sticks with me: "I know that some of you here must make a certain level of grade in order to be reimbursed by your jobs. I do believe that everyone in this room can master this material. But what you should realize is this: Anyone can learn to program, but not everyone can be a programmer. You should authentically enjoy the work if you're going to prosper in a career as a programmer."

I don't know that I've ever actually eaten veal, other than parm, which eh. Raw beef I am ALL OVER.

I just went through the whole process of setting up my work voicemail, only to discover that the message I had was a wrong number. Ah well. At least it's done now.

And I finally have my cell phone ringer loud enough that I can hear it outside, which makes it really embarassing when it rings inside.

I finally have my cell phone ringer loud enough that I can hear it outside, which makes it really embarassing when it rings inside.

I might settle for switching my no-I-was-just-ten-feet-away-not-screening embarassment for yours.

Of course, the times when I switch the ringer off and forget to switch it back on are only my fault.

Eek! Raw meat!

Of course, the times when I switch the ringer off and forget to switch it back on are only my fault.

Yeah, I do that too. Eh.

Eek! Raw meat!

Call it carpaccio, think of it like (extra) rare roast beef, and it's not so bad.

I always have my phone on vibrate, so if I can't hear it, chances are I'll notice my bum buzzing.