"Perfection is our goal, excellence will be tolerated"

Nice motto. Goes very well with a colleagues comment of “Thomas is his own Nemesis”. That does not mean that I wouldn’t need any feedback. I want feedback, badly. Most of the time it’s more positive then my own assessment anyway.

My friend John McCain wrote me on Wednesday, asking me for helping him with that “cynical campaign of distortion and outright lies” he’s confronted with. While he has my full empathy, understanding the dire circumstances he is facing, his request to “fight back against the Democrats and their liberal allies” is outside my circle of influence.

I’m really concerned, and it’s so unfortunate that this happens now, my friend: After yesterday’s speech of the Fed Chairman (at the Economic Club of New York), announcing to send the value of my house down further, at least by another 15% (if I understood him correctly) I’m not even able to send you my pre-printed $35 emergency contribution. Actually, it’s even worse, maybe partially caused by the Republican Party contributing significantly to that worldwide economic mess.  Therefore, my dear John, “I’m counting on your immediate help to strengthen [my families] efforts in the critical days ahead.” Please send me a check (I can’t take credit cards, especially none which are not secured through valuable collaterals) with your party’s contribution of $28,500. I understood that this is the maximum individual contribution, but I think that will help us through the remainder of this calendar year.

John, please allow me some personal word. I’m a little reluctant to point to your own historic roots: Maybe you’d want to read de Tocqueville’s work, as he was much more eloquent then I could ever be. Me - a European with a different cultural context - and you (the old Republican), we seem to have different points of view on liberalism, and democracy. And, while I understand your battle for maintaining the status quo, and defend the comfortable I think your ask for support is not aligned with my current state of mind. But I seriously do hope that my comment, which is strictly personal, and not related to any aspect of American politics, will not hurt our long-term friendship.

Btw – what was the address of Joe, the plumber?

I installed the Obama app on my iPhone and now all it does is call for change ... (John Murrell, in today's GMSV)

Yeah, if I'd be a PC I'd call that too. But since I'm only human I'd recommend to use a real phone o/s, professional development tools, and some brains. That could help - no guarantees :-)

According to R-Trip I burned 9.210 calories since I started logging my commute walks. Walking saves the world, e.g. I saved 62.4 lbs carbon dioxide.

But there’s a challenge: They assume burning 152 calories per 20 minute mile walking at 3mph. Unfortunately, my walk is longer, and my speed is 4.6mph. So consequently, I must have burned more calories. For converting sleeping energy (aka fat) into movement, you need oxygen, and you’ll convert that into carbon dioxide. So the accelerated breathing, caused by me walking faster and longer, actually produced more carbon dioxide – damaging the environment even further. And I fear, that the CO2 savings indicated to me are mis-calculated.

What a petty. Because now I won’t be able figure out if my body is more energy efficient than the average combustion engine built into American crap metal (aka cars) and maltreated by Asian immigrants (aka licensed automobile drivers).