Food, food, food and more food.

Drink, drink, drink and more drink.

Eat, eat, eat and more eating.

Thanksgiving will lead to a lot more working out upon returning to San Diego. Here's the food intake recap:

1. Wednesday evening was spent at Riverview Tavern with Mike Nissley and a steak. A lot of beer and Maker's Mark Whiskey.

2. Thanksgiving day, Thursday, started-off a little shaky with too much libation from the previous night and a hurt head. The end, however, was a lot more better because less drinking meant less of a hurt head this Friday morning.

3. Friday started with a shower and lunch of BBQ rib tips. Mike and I are preparing to smoke a whole turkey on the Weber this evening and Manhattans are on the horizon.

Here we go again.

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On the morning of my Thanksgiving getaway from San Diego to Chicago, there are two news items of interest: (1) the record number of travelers predicted for the Thanksgiving holiday will rival that of 2001 and (2) Mexican green onions appear to be the cause of a Hepatitis A outbreak in the United States.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that there will be a record number of people who will travel more than 50 miles from their home during the Thanksgiving holiday, one of them being me.

The Tribune is advising travelers to arrive at least two hours in advance of their flight, pack all metal items into checked luggage, remove laptop computers from their carrying case, and to remove coats when entering the TIA inspection areas.

The San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that four companies in Mexico, some of them American-owned, may have contributed to the deaths and illnesses of Americans with tainted green onions exported here.

The companies in question will be further investigated this week by U.S. and Mexican officials in a joint operation.

The Union-Tribune article reported the initial comments from a Mexican official who said the Hepatitis A outbreak in this country may have been caused by the use of unsanitary, standing water used to wash the onions, and that ice used to transport the onions was made from water unfit for drinking.

The companies were apparently shutdown by Mexican officials.

Mexico's economy is highly dependent on exports of agricultural products to the United States. A disease outbreak situation such as this could be troublesome to their economy.

The desert area of Baja California, where the suspected tainted onions originate, is experiencing a difficult time getting consumable water, which is one reason why some companies were using standing water to process the onion product.

Bad decision. Rule number one: companies won't stay in business for very long if you they kill or sicken customers.

November 25, 1963 Washington, D.C.

Americans are conflicted. On one side we want the badges of wealth and affluence -- big houses and big SUVs -- and on the other side we want less dependence on foreign energy, cleaner air and drinkable water. As a culture, we Americans despise looking inwards and judging by our litigiousness, self-criticism isn't in our inventory when there's someone else to blame.

We can't seem to connect the dots that what we want and what we need are on a collision course. We Americans don't seem to want to stop for a moment and look into the proverbial mirror and examine the amounts we consume. Consumption amounts, after all, is the current measure of individual success and all one citizen needs to do is look to the television and see how, when and at what quanitity equates to successful consumption.

This blog senses that there's a general feeling of consumption entitlement and that the American culture has entered a race to the bottom.

Read this New York Times article on energy consumption and perhaps you might want to look into the mirror in the near future. Or, on the other hand, perhaps not.

"Good bye God, I'm going to Bodie"


Dan Heller Photography

Bodie, California, located 50 miles south of Lake Tahoe, is a bonafide ghost town.

Bodie became a boom town in 1877 and by 1879 Bodie boasted a population of about 10,000 with 2,000 buildings, and was second to none for wickedness, badmen, and "the worst climate out of doors". One little girl, whose family was taking her to the remote and infamous town, wrote in her diary: "Good-bye God, I'm going to Bodie." The phrase came to be known throughout the west.

During its boom years, the main street was packed with saloons, enough to supply the booze needed to make Moscow Moscow.

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The U.S. Department of State issued a record 7,300,667 passports, including first-time and renewals, during fiscal year 2003, which ended September 30. This follows two years of declining passport numbers. The previous annual record of 7,292,182 was set in 2000. The increase brings the total number of valid passports to an estimated 59 million, representing about 21 percent of the U.S. population. (source: Travel Industry Association of America, November 13, 2003)

In the United States, the technology boom and its ability to create high-paying jobs has come to this:

"We're laying off you, and you, and you. Now you, you get to keep your job, but you have to go to India or teach a bunch of Indians your job."

(more)

Phone number portability is coming to the top 100 markets in the United States on November 24, that's Monday of next week. What this means is that you may keep the same telephone number if you choose to switch from your current mobile phone service provider to another, or that you can transfer your land-line number to a mobile phone service provider.

This is a new federal mandate that's being managed by the F.C.C. and it's not without some fine print.

In the past, mobile phone service providers were in position to keep customers and offer spotty customer service because moving to another carrier required one to change phone numbers. It's costly (changing business cards, letterhead, etc.) as well as cumbersome to change telephone numbers. People would rather put up with shoddy c.s. than to change numbers, and providers know this.

The intent of the mandate is to give consumers a chance to be better free agents in the mobile phone market place and for service providers to compete for business.

Phone number portability is nice, but there's a price. Providers can, and will, charge a fee when you take your existing phone number to them. I've read reports that it's upwards of $35.00.

Here's a good report from CNET.COM about this issue.

Here are the top 20 of the top 100 markets, and their populations, to get portability first. Other markets must adopt within six months.

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA 9,519,338
2. New York, NY 9,314,235
3. Chicago, IL 8,272,768
4. Philadelphia, PA-NJ 5,100,931
5. Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV 4,923,153
6. Detroit, MI 4,441,551
7. Houston, TX 4,177,646
8. Atlanta, GA 4,112,198
9. Dallas, TX 3,519,176
10. Boston, MA-NH 3,406,829
11. Riverside-San Bernardino, CA 3,254,821
12. Phoenix-Mesa, AZ 3,251,876
13. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI 2,968,806
14. Orange County, CA 2,846,289
15. San Diego, CA 2,813,833
16. Nassau-Suffolk, NY 2,753,913
17. St. Louis, MO-IL 2,603,607
18. Baltimore, MD 2,552,994
19. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA 2,414,616
20. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 2,395,997

bold denotes where this blog has or had mobile phone service since 2000

i so did it. fuckin' replaced the hard disk drive on my ibook.


pesotum.com - take a peek at the scene

the hard disk on the ibook was a noisy ten gigabyte 9.5mm ultra-slim dma, an ibm travelstar to be exact. as the disk rotated, the noise from it -- a constant sssswwwwwiiiiiisssssshhhhhh -- was annoying. especially when watching a dvd, the noise was too difficult to take.

with my birthday day-off, i went to fry's electronics in the afternoon and picked up a fujitsu 30 gigabyte 9mm ultra-slim dma, with a three year warranty.

using these directions, the task of swapping out the hard disk drives became a brief four hour task. thank god for the internet.

The song So Long by the Los Angeles-based Rilo Kiley is special these days because of the recent passing of Elliot Smith.

Play this song now: Dry Mouth by Sara Osmer

such a catchy, poppy, rock song.

sara's been playing solo gigs around l.a., where she moved to--from chicago--not too long ago.

giving it up for roy ayers' everybody loves the sunshine. "people get brown in the sunshine," is one lyric that appeals on a personal level.

after work festivities are beginning at mi casa. start slowly with a beer.

Go Shorty, it's your birthday. We gonna party like, it's your birthday. Sip Bacardi, like it's your birthday.

Today is this blogger's 39th birthday.

Birthday (Scorpio) horoscope:

dear Scorpio, don't be surprised if you meet people who are quite self-centered today. In general, it could be that you have a hard time understanding people that are egotistical and who don't participate in with others. Today, you could try looking at them as if they had something to teach you: the value of living a little bit more for yourself, and less for others.

On November 13th:

• In 1927, the Holland Tunnel opened to the public, providing access between New York City and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River.


• In 1942, the minimum draft age was lowered from 21 to 18.


• In 1956, the Supreme Court struck down laws calling for racial segregation on public buses.


• In 1971, the U.S. space probe Mariner 9 went into orbit around Mars.


• In 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington.


• One year ago: Claiming Iraq was seeking the "path of peace," Saddam Hussein's government agreed to the return of international weapons inspectors. U.S. Roman Catholic bishops overwhelmingly approved a compromise sex abuse policy after the Vatican demanded they make changes to balance fairness to priests with compassion for victims. Jewish Defense League leader Irv Rubin died nine days after what federal authorities said was a suicide attempt in jail; he was 57.

The Sun-Sentinel.com had this with which to pile on:

Steve Bartman's ill-gotten fame has spread to eBay. There have been nearly 200 items in auction, most with sentiments against the 26-year-old financial analyst from Northbrook, Ill., who interfered with a foul ball that Moises Alou may have been able to make a play on in Game 6, which Chicago lost. There are myriad T-shirts and decals (a boy urinating on the name Steve Bartman, one with "Steve Bartman NOT welcome" and the barrel of a gun, and another "Support Steve Bartman"). One seller auctioned copies of Bartman's high school yearbooks from a choice of freshman, sophomore or junior years. There's also a shirt with a mocked-up photo of Bartman holding a torch to the Hindenburg.

I wonder if The San Diego Union-Tribune has a Steve Bartman addiction? This just in:

Ethics for sale

As noted in this space yesterday, ill-fated Cubs fan Steve Bartman has provided fodder for merchandisers of T-shirts and bumper stickers, as well as for Jay Leno and David Letterman.

John Leptich of the East Valley (Ariz.) Tribune contacted about 50 eBay buyers and sellers and asked them whether they thought people were justified in profiting from Bartman's name.

Replied Shawn, a decal maker whose eBay username is vividvinyl: "Buy a couple decals, and I will answer your questions."

I mean, what's the point of using Mr. Bartman's name if the subject of your article doesn't relate to accidentally screwing up your team? Continue this, Union-Tribune, and you guys run the risk of watering down the the latest, and a much-needed verb -- "don't bartman the game, dude."

The San Diego Union-Tribune used this headline: "Was that Bartman in the panther suit?" for the following article.

It's a safe bet the Carolina Panthers will be dropping their "Fan of the Game" promotion after what happened on Sunday.

An overzealous winner, dressed in a cat suit and calling himself the "Carolina Prowler," inadvertently inspired Tampa Bay's fourth-quarter comeback.

Given a chance to speak on the stadium PA during a timeout with 10:19 to go, the "Prowler" called out the Bucs and Simeon Rice, who had guaranteed a win during the week.

"Simeon Rice and Warren Sapp, you guaranteed a win," the fan yelled through his whiskers. "Well, we guarantee we're going to kick your butt."

The crowd went wild, and the Panthers looked on in stunned belief.

Rice immediately awoke with back-to-back sacks, his first two of the game, then pressured QB Jake Delhomme into an interception.

New news, people, and Steve Bartman's infamy continues.

An auction house located in Oakbrook, Ill. say they have The Steve Bartman Deflected Ball and they're gonna auction it.

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that MastroNet Inc.'s (auction company) Brian Marren said they got proof via "affidavits, ticket stubs and other information."

Bidding starts at $5000. (more)

NASA's Voyager Spacecrafts may be entering the outer reaches of the Solar System.


courtesy of The Christian Science Monitor

It may be your Miracle Day

In California, 20-month-old Mackayala Jespersen slipped through the sliding glass door of the home she lived in and fell into the family pool. Mackayala's mother found her face-down, not breathing and called 9-1-1. The paramedics arrived, performed CPR and Mackayala was delivered to the hospital, where an hour after she was found in the pool, doctors pronounced her dead. A police detective, in the performance of a routine examination after incidents such as these, went into the room where Mackayala was and noticed the young child's chest was moving up-and-down. The detective immediately called-out to the doctors and Mackayala was revived.

Mackayala is charmed. (more on Mackayala's story)

There's no "i" in Team. There's a "me," however.

If anyone mentions to you the No I In Team platitude around Noon, let it be known that "eat" and "meat" are. It's time for lunch. Let's eat.

Revisionism?


CHRIS REARDON / CBS - CBS's "Elizabeth Smart Story" stars (l to r) Amber Marshall (as Smart), Tom Everett and Hollis McLaren.

or


Paul DRINKWATER / NBC - NBC's "Saving Jessica Lynch" stars Laura Regan as Lynch

LeBron James' shoes


ASSOCIATED PRESS

Men in skirts


MIKE MASONI / Menintime - A denim skirt from the Menintime 2003 spring/summer collection is among the examples in "Bravehearts: Men in Skirts" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.

According to Herbert Muschamp of The New York Times, skirts for men are a new trend that's being pushed to the masses. Are you ready, dude?

JOHN GASTALDO / Union-Tribune - Mr. Bush shows a peculiar facial expression touring the fire-ravaged San Diego area. (November 2003)

An impressive young woman may have surfed her last wave, but no one should count on it. Bethany Hamilton's story, and most recent tragedy, is told here.

Fantasy football leagues are starting to get hot. The NFL season is at its midpoint and those ficticious teams, the ones you or a friend you know assemble and manage, are starting to show their true colors. This is the part of the season when teams that were dogs become alpha males, and the fast starters become their bitches. (read a primer on fantasy football)

With Yahoo! Fantasy Football the leading provider of online fantasy sport services, fantasy football teams are easier than ever to assemble and to compete against friends and co-workers. (This is the time in the story when Microsoft buys it)

I don't have a point for this blog entry other than to mention fantasy football season is starting to get hectic.

Fine life affirming things: to wake up in the morning with windows open and to hear the birds chirpping again; to take in a large amount of outdoor air into your lungs and to hold it without fear. Post-Wildfire life is what locals and visitors are dealing with, and the return of "My San Diego." Today is the one week marker for the great Southern California wildfires of 2003.

Mr. Johnny Conroy and galpal Vickie, both of whom reside in New York City, were here in San Diego this weekend to visit with Vickie's family. Mr Conroy met this blogger at Whistle Stop in South Park.


PESOTUM.COM Johnny Conroy sings and claps to a Christmas song (December 2000)


PESOTUM.COM Johnny Conroy performs at Continental in New York City (December 2000)

The last time Mr. Conroy and this blogger were in each others company was December 2000 in New York. Close to three years ago.

Today's blog entry is dedicated to Johnny and Vickie. Have a great week, guys.