The Swedes, Americans, and Oil Independence

Now this is a VERY promising event.
Sweden To Try To End Fossil Fuels Dependency By 2020

I really think these people have a really good idea. Note that there are some very well-recognizing and well-respect people pushing for a very similar policy here in the USA...
Set America Free

(sorry for the preachy post - this is one issue I'm really starting to care alot about)

Ray and Ribs

Tonight we went to Ray Lewis' Full Moom BBQ in Canton (Baltimore). Delicious. I got a rib platter which had four spare ribs (BIG spare ribs) and two sides, two ears of corn in my case. All was delicious. Cin had the grilled salmon (the last piece they had apparently) and a salad and mac&cheese. The restaurant was really nice, all decorated with lots of Ray Lewis stuff. There was no wait and we had excellent service. This one gets a highly recommend from both me and Cin. :)

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Tonight was the season premiere of Lost.

More proof that this is the single greatest thing on TV today. Potentially one of the best things on TV ever.

If you're not watching this show, you need to.

Today be the Day!

Arr! Surely you all best be knowin' that today is the day o' all the pirates of yore! It be Talk Like A Pirate Day! Best wishes to all the cap'ns out there and all their mates! Surely you shant be walkin' the plank like a bunch of scurvy dogs!

http://talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

Rooibos

At Borders the other day, I found a tea bag container from The Republic of Tea called Red Tea. Turns out it's not "real" tea but from a plant that only really grows in South Africa - it's called "rooibos," not to be confused with Chinese "red tea," which is what they call black tea. Anyway, it's good. It's really good. It's caffeine free. It also has alot of antioxidants, but according to the web it does not have as much as green tea, contrary to what the container says. Anyway, this stuff if really good. Highly recommended.

Read about rooibos plant (and associated tea) here.

Canton

On Saturday, me and Cin went into Canton (part of Baltimore) for dinner and drinks with our friends, Mike and Sara. We had dinner at the Outback - the one in Canton apparently never had a line and it sure didn't on Saturday night. We had a good dinner. Then we went into Canton's main square (lots of bars) and went to a place called the Cosmopolitan, where they specialize in martinis of various sorts. They had a list of around 100 different ones. I had a "Raventini" which tasted like grape. Very tasty. After that it was back to their apartment and we watched So I Married an Axe Murderer, one of Mike Myers' earlier movies. It was funny - predictable, but funny. We didn't get home until 1.30am or so, but it was a fun night. I really like Canton - it's even nicer than most of the bars in Federal Hall. Very cool place - we'll definatly be back there.

Buona sera!

Today, me, Cin, and DrMo started Italian class. It's once a week for two and a half hours at HCC and is not for credit. But this is the same Introduction to Italian class that's offered for credit. I was a little worried about this, as it's two and a half hours on Tuesday night, but it was alot of fun. And I did pretty good at it, even if I do have to say so myself. Hopefully this keeps up.

In other news, on Friday the bartending staff at Fridays, our every-week happy hour place came over when me, DrMo, and our friend Jen had just gotten there and told us that TheBartender had been fired on Wednesday (I'm going to steal DrMo's nickname for TheBartender, as it's appropiate as he has been our bartender for years and he's damn good at it). Apparenly he didn't come to a meeting (that none of the bar staff came to) and he got fired. Apparently the new manager there (they go through managers like no tomorrow) was out to get him. TheCuteGirlBartender (that one I made up) was quite furious about this and told this manager that like 80% of the folks that come to the bar on Friday came to see TheBartender (which is true), to which the manager said that they'd have to attract new regulars then. Man I feel appreachiated. Anyway, TheBartender is looking for work and we think he'll end up at another bar we like nearby. So happy hour may be moving after multiple years. What a messed up situation. How dare they screw up happy hour ... I ought to club them and eat their bones! :)

Goodness with the new Cell Phone

Here's a feature. I was driving home from Delaware this evening and almost ran into an accident. The large truck in front of me slammed on its brakes (as did I) and as we drove past, I saw what used to be an Eclipse spun-out in the middle of I-95 with the front and back bashed in and the driver just getting out of the car. I dailed 911 on my cell and got a busy signal. I hung up and dialed again - at which point I noticed that my phone had gone into Emergency Mode. Apparently once one dials 911, the phone stays in that mode until cancelled, with the GPS receiver online so its broadcasting your position to emergency services (this is Enhanced-911 or E911). Very cool. To summarize, the police were already responding to the accident and everyone seemed OK.

Cin's new anti-gas guzzler

Cin got a new car. Long, and probably uninteresting, story.

The interesting part is the mileage. At first we thought the gas gauge was malfunctioning but we computed the MPG during her first fillup. 41.59MPG. Sweet.

Yep, it'll be time for me to get a new car in the next couple months.

Gas

One gallon of regular unleaded.

Wednesday Morning -> $2.69
Wednesday Evening -> $2.79
Thursday Morning -> $3.09
Thursday Evening -> $3.19

Now I understand how the global oil market works and I know there is nothing I can do about this but grin and bear it. But still.

I absolutely think we're headed for a serious energy crisis in this country. Why are we still living as if oil was our future? Winston Churchill once said the politicians are concerned with the next election and statesmen are concerned with the next generation. It's obvious that oil is not sustainable for our generation, much less the next one. We really need to start thinking about what we're going to need to be doing in twenty years and start planning and developing for it now. Instead we just keep increasing our oil usage... Sigh.