The Man on the Bottom

Output from the Canon 300D. For purposes of web publishing, the camera doesn't really make much difference.

Commuter Hell

I shot this while we were still living in New Jersey. It's on the way home from the office in the Miata. I was using the Olympus 460-z that has since made it's way to the care of my son-in-law in the hope that he'll get hooked on photography. The Olympus C-700 that followed on the heels of the 460-z is now in the hands of the other son-in-law - along with the Miata.

From a recent chili cook off ...

Some times you eat the chili, sometimes the chili eats you.

Metamorphosis

Roots ... thank you Alex Haley.

Well, now! With the arrival of Hello and Picasa2 this blog just took a 90 degree turn. It's new stated purpose is a gallery for my photographic ego.

Memories

When my father was alive both my mother and I pressed him to record his memories; all those stories about being young and foolish before and during the Depression, about being in the Merchant Marine during the war, about teaching in the VA hospital about being a high school teacher ... all those stories that so often had a point of some sort - to be interjected into a conversation as a way of making the point more digestible and more memorable. He never did anything about it and I've felt the lesser for that fact.

I pressed my mother to embark on a similar project while she was alive, too. Nothing ever came of the thought except for a couple of voice activated tape recorders; one for each of them, bought about 10 years apart.

Now they are both gone and, except for some small anecdotes of theirs that I remember so imperfectly, their memories, insights and life's lessons with them.

I have started writing down all of my favorite stories; those little anecdotes taken from incidents in my life that I love to bring into a conversation to make a point - to make the point more digestible and more memorable. The outline is now about 15 pages long and I add new things as I think of them. At the same time, I'm doing a little literary back filling; writing out some of the memories as I go along.

If I don't capture these things, however unimportant they may be for the world, no one will. I want to give them to my daughter. When I'm gone they will be a nice reminder - a reminder I wish I had of my parents and their past.

I don't think it's out of ego. I think it's out of love for the future that will come through me and Alexandra and out of a respect for the past - and a fear of forgetting and being forgotten.

I am not a grand player on the stage of life. I have not been at the center of historic events, important discoveries or heroic deeds. But I have been here and I have seen the things I have seen. I have learned things from my mistakes and I have learned things from the mistakes of others. I think it's important to share those kinds of things.

On Adding Ads and Other Thoughts from an Insomniac

Just some personal Stuff

Fool that I am, I've added AdSense to the "Double Negatives" blog. It would be a moneymaker IF I actually had something to say. But that's right up there with "If we had ham we'd have ham and cheese sandwhiches, if we had cheese."

I'd hoped that some of the other people on my list would like to participate. McGowan seems to be the only one. I'm not sure that they have an intuitive access to posting ... there have been a couple added comment lines, though.
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I'd hoped Ali (daughter) would be able to spend Christmas here. That became impossible so, I hoped that Ali would be able to come in January. That's become impossible. She's new with her job and doesn't want to jeopardize it by asking for some time off. I'd sent her money for air fare. When she offered to send it back, I told her that she should keep it as a Christmas present. Buy some clothes or some furniture for her apartment.
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Candy (wife) has been in a great mood since she got some shots for her back pain. It had been getting progressively worse ... to the point that it was impossible to contemplate going anywhere much beyond grocery shopping. We got an electronic gizmo that has electrodes for her back ... and electronic back massage in twenty minute cycles. We're saving that as we keep the effects of the shots under observation.

In the meantime, my blood sugar level is still elevated. I won't say that it's amusing to watch death creep into our lives but it is at least interesting. I've come to the conclusion that it is not death that I fear so much as the dieing. The process is the scary part.
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Contract Delights

The first draft of the new contract was a lawyers dream ... something that could be litigated for years.

My initial response to the 16 page wonder:

Pursuant to our phone conversation earlier this morning, here are my questions regarding the proposed contract and suggestions for contract modifications (absent my pithy remarks about the Declaration of Independence being only a single page document, 1/3 of which is devoted to signatures).

Page 1 Paragraph 1:
Are we talking about a single PO covering the full 12-month period or individual POs for each of the succeeding months?
If XXXXXX Company considers this a subscription service and we are doing this on the basis of POs, why do we need a 16-page contract? Does XXXXXX Company now require a 16-page agreement when purchasing a subscription from The Wall Street Journal?
Where is/are the PO(s)?

Page 3 Paragraph 6
Regarding Communication – I don’t think these paragraphs complicate the issue enough. I’ll get back to you with proposed modifications so convoluted that they render communication totally impossible.

Page 4 Paragraph 8 (and following pages)
Regarding Confidentiality – pages 14, 15 and 16 represent a separate Confidentiality Agreement. Should there be a conflict between these two Confidentiality agreements, which agreement will XXXXXX Company consider to be the binding agreement? Given that everything I do for XXXXXX Company involves materials obtained in the public domain, is this a moot point? Is it now a requirement in XXXXXX Company legal that all attorneys therein wear both belts and suspenders in order to ensure their pants don’t fall down?

Page 6 Paragraphs 9, 10 and 11
Work Product - Based on our conversation this morning I was left with the impression that XXXXXX Company’s intention is to structure our relationship predicated on a.) I am not an employee of XXXXXX Company and that I am a self employed contractor [all very agreeable]; and b.) that, as a result, I am free to peddle my services around the block [we discussed why this can not and will not happen – but it furthers neither XXXXXX Company nor me to include language defining the agreement as being in any way exclusive] – yet the legal department seems to see it as appropriate to include language that does just that – rendering what I do as part and parcel of an exclusive relationship. Should we ever find ourselves in court [heaven forbid], it would seem that for me to try to maintain that the relationship with XXXXXX Company was exclusive would be as deniable as if I characterized the relationship as non-exclusive based on. Legal gymnastics of this sort would prompt even the most obtuse Solomon to cut the baby in half. If there were ever language included in an agreement that would provide justification for employee status, Paragraphs 9, 10 and 11 would form the basis for making that case – most particularly in light of the public domain nature of the material.

Page 8 Paragraph 14 / Page 9 Paragraph 17
It is absurd for XXXXXX Company to require me to maintain insurances for liability, personal injury and property damage in 14 while at the same time requiring me to hold XXXXXX Company harmless from liability in 17. If XXXXXX Company wants to run my “business”, they should either buy me out and hire me as an employee or underwrite the costs of their requirements. If none of these options represent an agreeable course, then XXXXXX Company should be satisfied to be simply “held harmless”.

I was, of course, requested to tone down the sarcasm so that my comments could be shared with the legal department without starting WWIII. I came up with the following:

Here are my questions and concerns regarding the proposed contract and some suggestions. I hope we can resolve these issues to everyone’s satisfaction in short order. I certainly believe that to be possible.

Page 1 Section 1:
Are we talking about a single Purchase Order (PO) covering the full 12-month period or individual POs for each of the succeeding months or daily POs to cover each successive OPI Report?

If XXXXXX Company considers this a subscription service and we are doing this on the basis of POs, why do we need a 16-page contract? If the OPI Report is, in fact, going to be dealt with as a subscription service, not unlike the Wall Street Journal, wouldn’t it make more sense to base the relationship on Purchase Orders as it is with the other subscription service?

Where is/are the PO(s)?

Page 3 Section 6
Regarding Communication – I believe the more control XXXXXX Company insists on having over how I conduct the internal administrative functions of my business, the more I begin to look like an employee. I believe it would be sufficient to substitute language that says all substantive communication between us will be via certified or registered US Mail.

Page 4 Section 8 (and following pages)
Regarding Confidentiality – pages 14, 15 and 16 represent a separate Confidentiality Agreement. Should there be a conflict between these two Confidentiality agreements, which agreement will XXXXXX Company consider to be the binding agreement? Given that everything I do for XXXXXX Company involves materials obtained in the public domain and I have no access to anything at XXXXXX Company other than the database of public domain materials I maintain for XXXXXX Company, is this a moot point?

Page 6 Sections 9, 10 and 11
Work Product – It is my belief that our collective goal is to structure the relationship between XXXXXX Company and me as being predicated on (a.) I am NOT an employee of XXXXXX Company and that I am a self employed contractor; and (b.) that, as a result, I am free to peddle my services to other companies – yet the this document seems to include language that severely impedes that – rendering what I do as part and parcel of an exclusive relationship. It would seem that for me to try to maintain that my status with XXXXXX Company was exclusive and definable as an employee would be a point as easily made as if I characterized my status as non-exclusive and independent. I believe XXXXXX Company would be confronted by the same dilemma based on the language set forth within these and other sections of the agreement. If the object of this agreement is to make clear that I am an independent contractor who provides a specific service on a business to business basis, I believe this language coupled with language in other sections within the document which appear to speak to an exclusive relationship between XXXXXX Company and me only serve to undermine that premise.

Page 8 Section 14 / Page 9 Section 17
It is counter productive for XXXXXX Company to require me to maintain insurances for liability, personal injury and property damage in Section 14 (for reasons stated in the previous paragraph) while at the same time requiring me to hold XXXXXX Company harmless from liability in Section 17. If XXXXXX Company wants to run my “business”, they should either buy me out or hire me as an employee or directly sustain the costs of their requirements. If none of these options represent an agreeable course, then XXXXXX Company should be satisfied to be simply “held harmless”.

My basic premise here is that I am an independent contractor providing a very specific and specialized service. I maintain that XXXXXX Company secures other similar products and services, such as a subscription to the Wall Street Journal, by means of a simple Purchase Order and without benefit of a 16 page agreement defining how the publishers of the Wall Street Journal should administrate their internal affairs. Though defining the specifics of what that product and service XXXXXX Company expects makes sense in this agreement (or on a Purchase Order for that matter), I believe the more XXXXXX Company defines how I administrate the internal workings of my business, the harder it is to make the case that I am an independent contractor. Given that XXXXXX Company can disengage from the relationship with 15 days notice, for any reason what so ever, without further liability other than to pay for services accepted, I believe we are all far better served by keeping the agreement between us as simple and straightforward as possible. I believe the more demands and restrictions XXXXXX Company imposes in this agreement the more we undermine the premise of independent contractor status and the more we support the case that I am an employee.

In defining what I do with respect to XXXXXX Company as a “subscription service” I believe XXXXXX Company is obligated to deal with me in a manner consistent with its relationship with other “subscription services”. To do otherwise runs the risk of creating issues where none need exist.

The draft response was a nine page wonder that addressed some of the questions I raised. It's an agreement based on the previous versions that we've been using for the last year and a half. If there are no major changes of mind on their side between now and the formal final version is available, I think I might be able to sign their effort.

It will be nice to have a full year contract ... even if there is a cancellation clause in it.

Alexander

Well, we went to see the movie. It certainly wasn't as bad as the reviews made it out to be - but it wasn't a great and epic movie, either - though it had all kinds of pretentions to be just that.

Personally, I felt it was a casting error (challenge). The bleeched blond Irish dude simply didn't strike me as having the kind of charisma that would inspire men to folllow him to the ends of the earth.

The battle scenes (were there only two battles in seven years on the road?) were awsome. The first, against Darius, gave me for the first time a feeling that I knew the scale and scope of an ancient battle, of how the armies were arrayed, how they actually fought (much better staged in this regard than Braveheart, to be sure) and what the tactics looked like. The battle in India had more gratuitous bloodshed and was far less informative and enlightening for the effort.

Given we took in an afternoon showing at discounted prices of $5.50 a head (no discounts on the pop corn and soda - which actually cost us more than the tickets to the movie), I felt the first battle scene was worth the price of the flick.

Would love to have sat around over coffee or brandy or whatever for a post mortem (and there certainly was a fair share of mortem to go around).

Too bad about the blond dude, what's his name? He struck me as being more suited to a smaller screen. I liked him better in both Telephone Booth and Heart's War whre his characters were really quite credible. It was all too obvious that he couldn't fill Alexander's sandals, coming off more as being a little person filled with post teen angst and confusion than being a highly complex, emotionally torn conquerer of the known world. But then, maybe the conquest of the world was merely an overly dramatic cry for daddy's attention and approval after all.

We'll buy the DVD when it comes out and prices drop to about $14.95. I could stand to watch it again, now and then - but Band of Brothers would probably get more frequent rotation on my hit list of war movies.

Unhealthy Insurance

Fell off COBRA effective yesterday. We now have "affordable" health insurance from BCBSAZ. Interesting how it works - the insurance / health care business. If you have insurance, you pay $17 for prescriptions that would cost you $84 if you don't have insurance (even thought we have no prescription benefit). It'll be some time before we hit out five kilobuck deductible. The system is structured specifically to hold down those who are already down. Also, having insurance affords one cut rates on visits to the doctor as well. How much is health care? If you have to ask, you can't afford it. Fortunately, I see it as a relatively minor thing for us, however, my heart goes out to those who are really "going it alone".

Out of pocket cost of a visit to a doctor's office - granted, a specialist,
but it points out a severe inequity:

• With company insurance policy: $15 co-pay
  
• With private insurance: $165
  
• W/Out Insurance: $325
  

a reason to withstand corporate humiliation handed out by bone headed bureaucrats... they pay for the privelege.

There is an argument that would suggest that an unintended consequence of current health care system profit structures will be socialized medecine. It is little wonder that so many people don't have health care insurance, preferring instead to let the state take care of it via Medicare and Medicade and the passage of laws that hold hospitals liable for providing "free" health care to those who can't afford it.

A doctor of our acquaintence complained that malpractice insurance caused him to close his practice and retire (in his 40s) - he said that it was breaking him. Interesting to note that, following the closure of his practice he took a six month vacation before retiring to his new home in the Caribbean. Is there something about this that strikes you as ... odd?

Contract Time

The contract has arrived. It's been modified .. oh, how it's been modified! First, to the good. The contract has been changed to an annual renewal cycle from the original six months cycle. The bad news is that the new version was assembled by emptying a wastebasket full of boilerplate into an agreement format and throwing it at me to see if I noticed anything smelly about it.

1. The first paragraph of the 16 page document announces that I am a subscription service and that the company will arrange to buy the output of my services by means of a Purchase Order. If we are going to use a purchase order, why do we need a 16 page document?
   
2. A second and related question that is unanswered in the grey ambiguities is are we talking about a single, blanket PO to cover the twelve month period or are we anticipating twelve purchase orders, one fir each successive month?
   
3. The agreement outlines provisions for communication so convoluted as to make communication totally impossible.
   
4. and on and on and on ...
   

Thought process like the one outlined in the agreement would have even the most obtuse Solomon cutting babies in half.

Is it now fashionable for corporate attorneys to wear both suspenders and a belt to keep their pants from inadvertently falling off?

I'm assembling my concerns and suggestions for modification - the original run at it involves some level of sarcastic humor and Bob thinks that to be a tad inappropriate. Must do a serious version that he can take to the legal department without, in his words, "starting World War III."

Walter Mitty

The Professional

A photograph about photography ... and those people that get real uppity about how professional they are because they make money doing whatever it is that they do.

Random Thoughts

I started a "public blog" ... At least "public" in the sense that I've invited a bunch of other people to join in, post their thoughts and to comment on what others are saying. I'm hoping that it will extend on the dialogs that were going among these people during the recent election period. I have no idea where it will go now ... probably into the ground. I don't think I know a group of "virtually social" types. I guess we'll see.

NPR had a thing on writing today. "Do a page a day and after a year, you have a book" was the bottom line. Actually, that's a pretty good idea .. though I suspect a page is a lot more than it sounds. I know I have trouble putting a page of thought together for this blog.

I was sharing some of the old stories with Eric today. He said he was having a slow day, and it was certainly a slow news day for OPI. I told him the one about Marc Nelsen giving the cat a bath. It reminded me of the night Jim Fecke, W. David F. J and I rolled David's Renault trying to find a bar, first in Stockton .. then in Freeport ... but never arriving in either place. That puts me in mind of the set design I did for the production of "Under Milkwood". Free association through the ages.

All of these memories are important to me but I realize that they mean nothing to anyone else. I watched that happen when my father died. All those things that were so very important to him ... and to me and others around him as a consequence, suddenly meant nothing at all except for the $.25 per memory they'd get at a yard sale.

I was talking to Darlene on line. She's one of the very few people from the past that I have any contact with. It was an interesting exchange:

Darlene: And lots of us have survived traumatic events in childhood. Peggy's Mom used to say, "Lots of us make a living off our scars." You may remember she was a famous child psychologist.

Darlene is no longer idle at 11:38:17 AM.

Darlene is idle at 11:39:13 AM.

Me: as a matter of fact, I remember F. Michael inadvertantly spilling a drink down someone's back at Peggy's mom's place ... some kind of reception, I think

Me: not sure how I ended up there .. that's actually the only clear image I have of the event I think I was the only one who saw it ... and Michael, with a his puckish look, trying to brush the droplets off the back of the jacket

Darlene: Yes, I remember that party. Maria invited us all. We got into an argument about the game of "Go," and Peggy grabbed the phone and called the ultimate expert, Edward Teller, a family friend.

(10 minute silence in chat)

Darlene: You know, the guy who invented the atomic bomb?

Darlene: That Edward Teller.

Me: yup .. that guy

Me: also of the Larry Livermore Lab

Darlene: Where's that one?

Me: Lawrence Livermore ... I was using the familiar

I hope Darlene didn't think I was being sarcastic. Actually, I probably was being a little sarcastic. sometimes that streak gets the better of me.

I found the incident so amusing. It was also very nice to remember with someone. It was nice to have a common past. I don't know why I find that both amusing and touching ... maybe vindicating.

And still, chat remains a little bit of the thearter of the absurd when you read the transcript back.

Perspective and a History Lesson

For those who don't know, Dennis Miller is a comedian who has a show called Dennis Miller Live on HBO. He is not Jewish. He recently said the following about the Mideast situation:

"A brief overview of the situation is always valuable, so as a service to all Americans who still don't get it, I now offer you the story of the Middle East in just a few paragraphs, which is all you really need. Here we go:

"The Palestinians want their own country. There's just one thing about that: There are no Palestinians. It's a made up word. Israel was called Palestine for two thousand years. Like "Wiccan," "Palestinian" sounds ancient but is really a modern invention. Before the Israelis won the land in the 1967 war, Gaza was owned by Egypt, the West Bank was owned by Jordan, and there were no "Palestinians."

"As soon as the Jews took over and started growing oranges as big as basketballs, what do you know, say hello to the "Palestinians," weeping for their deep bond with their lost "land" and "nation."

"So for the sake of honesty, let's not use the word "Palestinian" any more to describe these delightful folks, who dance for joy at our deaths until someone points out they're being taped. Instead, let's call them what they are: "Other Arabs Who Can't Accomplish Anything In Life And Would Rather Wrap Themselves In The Seductive Melodrama Of Eternal Struggle And Death."

"I know that's a bit unwieldy to expect to see on CNN. How about this, then: "Adjacent Jew-Haters." Okay, so the Adjacent Jew-Haters want their own country. Oops, just one more thing. No, they don't. They could've had their own country any time in the last thirty years, especially two years ago at Camp David. But if you have your own country, you have to have traffic lights and garbage trucks and Chambers of Commerce, and, worse, you actually have to figure out some way to make a living.

"That's no fun. No, they want what all the other Jew-Haters in the region want: Israel. They also want a big pile of dead Jews, of course--that's where the real fun is -- but mostly they want Israel.

"Why? For one thing, trying to destroy Israel - or "The Zionist Entity" as their textbooks call it -- for the last fifty years has allowed the rulers of Arab countries to divert the attention of their own people away from the fact that they're the blue-ribbon most illiterate, poorest, and tribally backward on God's Earth, and if you've ever been around God's Earth, you know that's really saying something.

"It makes me roll my eyes every time one of our pundits waxes poetic about the great history and culture of the Muslim Mid east. Unless I'm missing something, the Arabs haven't given anything to the world since Algebra, and, by the way, thanks a hell of a lot for that one.

"Chew this around and spit it out: Five hundred million Arabs; five Million Jews. Think of all the Arab countries as a football field, and Israel as a pack of matches sitting in the middle of it. And now these same folks swear that if Israel gives them half of that pack of matches,Everyone will be pals.

"Really? Wow, what neat news. Hey, but what about the string of wars to obliterate the tiny country and the constant din of rabid blood oaths to drive every Jew into the sea? Oh, that? We were just kidding.

"My friend Kevin Rooney made a gorgeous point the other day: Just reverse the Numbers. Imagine five hundred million Jews and five million Arabs. I was stunned at the simple brilliance of it. Can anyone picture the Jews strapping belts of razor blades and dynamite to themselves? Of course not.

"Or marshaling every fiber and force at their disposal for generations to drive a tiny Arab State into the sea? Nonsense. Or dancing for joy at the murder of innocents? Impossible. Or spreading and believing horrible lies about the Arabs baking their bread with the blood of children?

"Disgusting.

"No, as you know, left to themselves in a world of peace, the worst Jews would ever do to people is debate them to death After September 11th our president told us and the world he was going to root out all terrorists and the countries that supported them. Beautiful.

"Then the Israelis, after months and months of having the equivalent of an Oklahoma City every week (and then every day) start to do the same thing we did, and we tell them to show restraint. If America were being attacked with an Oklahoma City every day, we would all very shortly be screaming for the administration to just be done with it and kill everything south of the Mediterranean and east of the Jordan."

- Dennis Miller

"Fallujah"

The sound of America's credibility going down the toilet.

MSNBC - 'This Ain't Over Yet': "'These guys are such cowards!' he shouted. 'Why don't they come out and fight?'"

Excuse me? Isn't that what the British said about George Washington and the Minute Men and other Amercan insurgents in the late 1700s? I guess insurgency never changes.

It seems to me, when we engage in an elective war - one in which we weren't directly attacked by the other party - we seem to fall into the same head as other aggressors before us - forgetting what people will do when they believe they are fighting in defense of their country.

We invaded Iraq because we had the "last-war" head thing going on. We invaded Iraq because we didn't understand that al Qaeda and other loose knit organizations like it (the real enemy) don't have a country or countries or an "over there" but we felt we had to do SOMETHING.

The proposition that "we're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here" is absurd. It would make sense if they had an "over there" but al Qaeda is not bound by borders. While we're attacking the movement "over there", they're blowing up trains in Spain, bombing night clubs in Bali and kidnapping people in the Phillipines.

To paraphrase Dorothy Parker, "There is no there there!"

16 Things You Need to Believe to be Moral in America

1. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.
   
2. The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.
   
3. Government should relax regulation of Big Business and Big Money but crack down on individuals who use marijuana to relieve the pain of illness.
   
4. "Standing Tall for America" means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.
   
5. A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.
   
6. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.
   
7. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.
   
8. Group sex and drug use are degenerate sins unless you someday run for governor of California as a Republican.
   
9. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.
   
10. HMOs and insurance companies have the interest of the public at heart.
    
11. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.
    
12. Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.
    
13. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.
    
14. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.
    
15. What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.
    
16. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.