Security over Privacy

I try to stay away from just about anything that is a really touchy subject on the internet, and things that can be viewed as politics are one of those things. But as this subject really affects me I feel like I might as well write up how I feel about it. This really shouldn't be a political issue, but as we have a 2-party system, anything that I say can pretty much be linked to one party or the other. Although I think many people in both parties feel the way I do. One thing I am against is extremism. So really I don't like the extreme left, right, or religious fanatics. Anybody who drinks only the kool-aid freaks me out. I'll keep my brain thank you very much.

Anyway, lets get to the meat and potatoes of the issue. As you (B, J, and K :P) have probably already heard, the TSA has been getting more annoying over the past year and in the past few days has gotten a lot of people upset. I was really upset about the 3D full body x-ray machines that left nothing to the imagination. But as I am apathetic towards things in general because, lets be honest, my life was going too well to care. That happens a lot. Should I always let it happen? Of course the answer is no, pretty much everybody would say the answer is no. But what really scares me is how crazy things can get before anybody seems to notice.

I mean here we are, 2010. We already have to take off our shoes and belts in every airport. Because I don't want to walk weird, I normally swing my arms as I walk through the metal detector and my pants often fall down a little bit. I quickly pull them up and look around to make sure nobody noticed. Somebody always does. Sure, I guess it's just a little shred of decency I have to lose in order to stop shoe and belt bombers. Why not right? Good thing we stopped all those shoe and belt bombers.

Then we get news that there was a Christmas underwear bomber. I just about pee'd my pants because the thought of some sad sucker putting explosives in his underwear in the name of extremism just cracked me up. Just before that news broke, I heard about these new fancy 3D x-ray scanners at O'Hare airport. I saw a censored 3D scan that showed some fat man with a saggy gut. This struck me as pretty invasive, but the news program assured us all that they censored the naughty bits. But here's the thing, Mr underwear bomber would've still gotten through the scan if this was the case. So if this censoring was true, I was sure that it would soon change. This upset me, but then again I thought to myself. Well I don't fly that much. So what's the big deal? I'll just go through the light pat down if I don't want the TSA seeing my privates. It's not so bad. Yeah, it's not so bad.

A few days ago I hear about updated pat down rules that make it more like an intimate groping. It would be molestation if it wasn't in the name of security and a "trained professional" wasn't doing it. So why the heck is it allowed? Don't let my mild wording fool you. I am livid. I now have a choice of having either a full 3D body scan with exposed privates or they get to feel up my privates and even between my buttocks. Wow sounds like TSA can get to 2nd base in about 2 minutes, better than even the most talented lady's man. But again, the news assures me, and the rest of the world, your face is not shown to the TSA examiner who is looking at your 3D scan. Well thanks! At least they don't know what my face looks like, phew. But wait! What about the yet-to-be discovered tongue bomber who stuffs enough explosive under his tongue to blow a hole in the side of a plane! I can't be the only person who has thought of this. I'm not a terrorist, nor a security expert. So I am pretty darn sure the TSA employee knows what your face looks like too. Lets not even get started on the topic of frequent fliers and the amount of radiation they are exposed to by these new scans. I guess it's all justified in the name of security.

So this brings me to my last point. If everything is justified in the name of security. Why don't we make driving, swimming and elective surgery illegal. Every year around 43,000 American die in automobile accidents, almost 4,000 by drowning and another 3,000 or so due to complications during surgery. I don't want to sound at all callused to the gravity of the 9/11 attacks, but even with that complicated terrorist plot 2,752 people died. This specific plot won't happen again. We've made adjustments. So relatively the likelihood of a larger number of people dying in one year in America due to a plane related terrorist attack are pretty slim, even without the invasive 3D scans or rub downs. So my point is, what really is the true benefit of this loss of personal dignity for millions with these invasive airport security measures?

Yes, I agree 100% that if these security measures aren't in place it will be easier to smuggle explosives or weapons onto a plane, but the risk of it happening already is extremely low. I wish stats about how much safer we are with the new measures were actually available. I bet a lot of people would be surprised at how ineffective they actually are compared to all the ways you could die just living your life everyday. But I guess some people would still chose minimal security over decency and privacy. I am not one of those people.

I am drawing the line here. Starting today. Enough is enough. I may never be a rally-starter or political activist. But I am writing my senator. I hope that many other Americans do the same or even more than I can do, but all I can say is Enough is Enough

car clear bra FAIL

So, this weekend I attempted to put on a protective clear bra on my front bumper/hood. The instructions made it look super simple. The web site selling it of course said that it is easy for anybody to install... yeah. Well I cleaned my car super well just like they said I should. I didn't see a speck of dust. I turned on ALL the lights in the garage and even brought out an extra light. I start installing the thing and it immediately becomes apparent that my garage really isn't dust free as this sticky plastic was apparently the air's equivalent of a Swiffer Sweeper because once I installed it, I noticed a ton of dust and small particles under the plastic. I told myself it would be ok and pushed on to the actual bumper, I had just finished the hood. Well the bumper is where the real nightmare began. As you all know bumpers aren't flat, they're curved and have lines and ridges to make them look better. These aspects of the bumper made it virtually impossible for me to get the plastic to fit properly, and each re-application I made, more dust would be trapped. I eventually gave up and ripped it off and put it back on it's original packaging.

K ends up coming home and I am beating myself up because I just wasted $300. I ask her to help me make one last attempt, and she accepts. She's so nice. Anyway, we try to apply the thing in one piece for about 30 mins and we about give up when K has the bright idea to cut it into pieces where it doesn't seem to fit properly. At this point, I figure anything is better than just wasting $300. So I agree and we get it installed. Yay! So I take the car out in full sunlight and find out that not only is there dust under the plastic there are lots of water-filled bubbles that we didn't see to remove in the low light in the garage. So I can honestly say even with a few paint chips, my car would look better than it currently does now! I can fix the bubbles with a needle, but the dust and lint is stuck! I'll probably end up removing it all after the winter and I'll re-acess whether or not I should have it professionally installed. I can get the same thing installed professionally for an extra $150 or I can do just the bumper w/o the hood and mirrors for the same price. All I really care about is the bumper anyway because it already has a couple small rock chips. So hopefully I'll be able to convince K to let me pay somebody to install it in the spring ;) Either that or I'll just start saving up for a bumper repainting :)

@ the top of my mind

...is cheesecake ice cream! K and I made a delicious batch last night as our first trial with the ice cream maker we just got as a belated wedding gift. And to be honest, I think K and I love ice cream, deserts, and preparing foods so much that I think we may actually use this thing more than once a year. Believe it or not, it is actually sort of practical for us to have it. Let me tell you why. I love ice cream and milkshakes. So first and foremost, this will be a major motivator. Second, it only takes about 30 minutes to make a simple ice cream start to finish. (well if you don't include freezing the mixing bowl. So it would take us roughly that amount of time to go to the grocery store and back to buy ice cream. And third, we often buy various dairy products in bulk because mainly K bakes so much for others. So we often already have some sort of cream on hand. And instead of letting it go to waste, why not make some ice cream and freeze it! So as you can see, it actually is practical to have an ice cream maker!

But back to the cheescake ice cream. It was delicious. It was very heavy because the first two ingredients are 2 soft cheeses, followed by whole milk and sugar. So needless to say, you'll get pretty full on just half a cup of this stuff. I tried to eat a heaping cup and I couldn't finish it. This particular recipe is a bit heavy for my taste, but it would be good to garnish a hot brownie or maybe it'd be good in milkshake form because this recipe is also very sweet so watering it down with milk wouldn't hurt it! I want to try to make a hybrid of this recipe and vanilla ice cream one day to see if I can make it feel a little lighter. I could also use 2% milk possibly or maybe light cream cheese, but who knows if the lower fat content and higher water ratio would make it develop more annoying ice crystals!

The next thing on my mind is beef jerky. Can you tell I'm hungry? I haven't eaten lunch yet and I've got cravings on my mind! I want to try making jerky at home because the stuff you normally get at the store is super tough and dry. I have had very good jerky over the years, but I am not sure how to make it so that it doesn't feel so dry, or even tough for that matter. There are brands out there that are neither tough nor dry. Well all jerky is chewy to some extent, but I don't want to have to feel like I'm going to lose a tooth pulling it apart. So maybe this weekend or the next I will venture into attempting to make the perfect jerky. But I have a couple chores that I really should take care of first, one is re-staining the deck for that nice winter coat, and the second item is putting a clear bra on my car. I need to protect it from chips, and these sticky applications can take a long time to do right. So really I need to figure out how to do all this and make jerky, because that's what I really want!

The last thing on my mind is glassdoor.com. This web site helps people compare salaries and reviews of companies. I heard about it on CNN this morning and I really wish I hadn't. I have this thing where I feel like I didn't try hard or do well in life. It is a common re-occurring theme and I have to struggle with it a lot (see last blog post). Just seeing what the average salary was for Google and Facebook in California made me wish I had tried harder in school and gotten a job at one of these places instead of "settling" for Motorola in the job that I initially got. Even the Google jobs in Chicago pay more starting than I currently make. But there are two problems with this envy. One, I can't change where I am today, I can only work hard to make sure I do my best in the future. Two, even if I had applied myself 100% in school, I am not sure that I would've been Google material. I like to think of myself as smart, but I swear to you there are varying levels of smart, and the people that get paid more than my current salary right when they graduate college are the top tier of smart. Some are certified geniuses. So why do I let myself get so down about not being the best in the world? I will never always do better than everybody, and honestly even if I did work at Google I'd probably still be jealous of somebody or something. This is a major struggle for me. Logic tells me that I am doing well in life and that I am working hard, but my emotions tell me that I am a huge dummy and haven't tried hard enough in life. It's frustrating!

But at least I know that I have a loving wife to come home to that can cheer me up even on my gloomiest days. And it's things like that that really matter in life. I keep reminding myself that. It's important to remember to enjoy what you have going for you in life. I really am looking forward to that cheesecake ice cream sitting in the freezer, and I am also looking forward to having my car back from the shop. I'm looking forward to meeting with my church small group today and just having a good conversation. I am looking forward to seeing where life takes me.