Its sad when you realize that you have not been the friend you could have and should have been. There was a girl I called my best friend in college. No, there was never anything romantic there, we were just really good friends; in fact, we were like family.

I recently got an email from her with a link to some pictures of hers. There were pics of her wedding, her son, and her life after undergrad. It made me realize just how much I have missed out on. For someone I was so close to, I have not been fair to our friendship. While it is not a case of me ignoring attempts of her trying to contact me (neither has been the best at trying to keep in touch), I have to take responsibility for my own actions, or lack there of.

I missed her getting her master’s degree. I missed her give birth to her first child. I even missed her wedding. Those are memories I will only ever know through pictures and stories. It saddens me to think about what other smaller, but just as important, life events I have missed out on. Its great to see how well things have turned out for her, I am so happy and proud of her.

If you have, or had, someone like this in your life, don’t make the mistake I have. Don’t let years slip by. The older you get, the faster time passes, and the easier it is to lose touch. Pick up the phone, log into your email, write a letter… do something… I am done writing about it, its time to be about it. I have a call to make.

As we know, I love HD, so when I realized my HD channels were gone earlier today, I was deeply hurt. My local cable provider recently changed, and I thought maybe they stopped broadcasting them for free. Right now, My TV will decode certain channels, so it picks up the local HD channels w/o the need for a set-top box.

I just looked on a forum for that is hosted by my community association and learned that I am not the only one without HD. It appears that the cable provider is having problems with their HD programming, so even those who subscribe to the service are without their HD channels. We all lost them just in time to not be able to see the football games in HD… great timing… where is FiOS when you need it?

Its snowing! Unless it keeps up hard over night, I doubt it will result in an extended weekend, but at least it finally feels like winter. Go out and enjoy the weather.

Evidently, birds have been coming to our front lawn to die. Several weeks ago, I found a small gathering of feathers on our lawn. While I thought it a bit strange, I really didn’t give it too much consideration.

This week, I came home to find a larger pile of feathers on the lawn, this one taking up about a square yard. Now its becoming strange. So, I have a few theories…

1. one of our neighbors is fighting their birds in our yard… hey, its better than pit bulls

2. there is a gang war among the bird community, and they are getting in gang fights on our lawn. I hope they are not trying to claiming as their turf. I’d hate to head out one day only to be jumped by pigeons.

3. the goodfeathers are taking out snitches in front out our house.

4. birds have a club on our roof, are getting a bit too wild at night, having too much to drink, and are not quite making it home. Friends dont let friends fly drunk.

5. there is a family of birds trying to teach their young to fly from our roof… I guess they are not ready for graduation.

6. birds are spontaneously combusting and all that remains is feathers.

Well, no matter what the cause, if I happen to be there next time it happens, I will take video of it and post it on You Tube.

PS - iPhone? Treo, you need to step your game up.

As I write this, I still don’t have a title for this post. I considered “Muslim in Congress,” but I didn’t know how that would be taken. Then I considered “One Nation under Allah,” but I figured that could be even worse, and I don’t want to unintentionally offend. When I offend, I want to mean it.

So today, the first Muslim Keith Ellison, was sworn into Congress. I have absolutely no problem with that. I completely believe in freedom of religion, however, I disagree with Ellison being sworn in using the Koran instead of the Bible. While my girlfriend disagrees with me, I understand her view point, and we respect each others opinions. She feels we (the US) should not force Christianity on people of other religions. I can respect that, however, I feel in this case, this goes beyond religion.

I believe the Bible being used in the swearing in of people is more tradition or ritual than ritual. Probably years back, it had a strong basis in religion, but in the days of numerous faiths and religions and even atheism, its more a process that makes people legally accountable for their words and actions than them making a promise before God. If a person commits perjury, he will go to jail. He can not claim that he is a Scientologist, and since he didn’t swear on a copy of Dianetics, he can not be held responsible. Whether one believes in the Bible or not, the process of being sworn in makes him accountable.
If there is a problem with people of other faiths being sworn in using the Bible, then remove it. Separate church and state. Make them “promising ins” and keep the same legal implications. Switching out the books people use to be sworn in creates an inconsistency, and I feel that will only lead to problems. Can those who have no religious beliefs now claim that since the do not believe in religion, they can not be sworn in using any book. What kind of implications will that have. I completely believe in freedom of religion, but feel in this case there needs to be a standard.

Whether its the Bible of no book at all, we need to make a choice. Otherwise, next time I take an oath, I may claim I am an Egreenist and place my right hand on a stack of my blog posts.

I am quickly approaching 130,000 miles on my car, and she is driving better than ever. I love Honda/Acura!

I recently had my car serviced at a local dealer (I only trust the dealer with my car), and since then, it seems my car has perked up. This was the first time I have used this dealer for a service, and with the exception if a mix up, I am pleased with their service.

I noticed they did not rotate my tires, so I took my car back, but I then wondered what else they might not have done. So, after talking to a service manager, they took the car back, and re-serviced it, this time providing me with a checklist listing the things they completed. The service manager was pleasant and helpful, so I am confident they corrected their mistake.

Well, now, my car drives better than ever. I am sure they did not do anything extra, but it seems there is a difference in the feel of my car. Acceleration is better, both from a stop and at highway speeds. Shifting is smoother and more responsive. I once got curious and discovered that the car is quite fast, and was only limited by the speed limiter/fuel cut off. She still wanted to go… That was a long time ago, though. I did, however, recently discover she will quickly get up to speeds I should not be going. But when a car is so fun to drive, its hard not to “drive” it.

Not only do Hondas and Acuras lasy forever, but they stay fun to drive. Whatever turbo boost this dealer put in my car, I hope they do it again next time. I recently considered trading in my car, but I have now fallen in love with it all over again at 130,000 miles.