McCain just officially conceded with a live speech and congratulated Obama with his victory! Good times! :-)
I'll wait for Obama's victory speech in half an hour or so and then go to bed :-)
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Election Day
I watched the vice presidential debate and the first two presidential debates just to get a sense of Obama and McCain. Obviously they're both politicians who always turn the conversation to their own strong points.
While I'm not as enchanted by Obama as many Americans he is clearly the better candidate. I don't think any Republican could convince me of their ideas. Add to that the ludicrous choice of Palin as his VP candidate. Still don't know what exactly made him select her. Of course he was hoping for the women who loved Hillary Clinton to switch to Palin but the gap between those two women in terms of ideas and what they stand for is simply way too big.
Obama is a gifted speaker and makes more sense, if you will, but it remains to be seen whether he can live up to all his promises.
The bail out was inevitable and works for the short term but the US needs to start producing their own goods again if they want to be around in the long run. Time will tell if they manage to pull this off.
I'm having doubts whether I want to stay in the US with the current economic malaise going on. In case McCain snatches the election then I will most likely leave the US at the end of my contract at CMU. He's clearly not fit to run this nation, other than driving it even further into the ground. Which is still possible despite Bush' great attempts to do so.
Interestingly voters in the US have to register before they are allowed to vote. From what I remember in the Netherlands everyone of 18 years and older receives a note to go vote. If I remember correctly you can even choose the exact location where to vote from a shortlist of possible locations.
Not so in the US, each registered voter can only go to 1 place to cast their vote.
For me it's just another work day but I'm rooting for Obama to become the first black US president. And if he does then I hope he won't get assassinated. There have been a few arrests in this campaign of folks who were planning to kill Obama one way or another. It's sad but unfortunately a genuine threat i.m.o.
While so many people from all over the world consider the Netherlands to be so liberal and progressive even we haven't had a black prime minister, let alone a woman.
Fingers crossed.
While I'm not as enchanted by Obama as many Americans he is clearly the better candidate. I don't think any Republican could convince me of their ideas. Add to that the ludicrous choice of Palin as his VP candidate. Still don't know what exactly made him select her. Of course he was hoping for the women who loved Hillary Clinton to switch to Palin but the gap between those two women in terms of ideas and what they stand for is simply way too big.
Obama is a gifted speaker and makes more sense, if you will, but it remains to be seen whether he can live up to all his promises.
The bail out was inevitable and works for the short term but the US needs to start producing their own goods again if they want to be around in the long run. Time will tell if they manage to pull this off.
I'm having doubts whether I want to stay in the US with the current economic malaise going on. In case McCain snatches the election then I will most likely leave the US at the end of my contract at CMU. He's clearly not fit to run this nation, other than driving it even further into the ground. Which is still possible despite Bush' great attempts to do so.
Interestingly voters in the US have to register before they are allowed to vote. From what I remember in the Netherlands everyone of 18 years and older receives a note to go vote. If I remember correctly you can even choose the exact location where to vote from a shortlist of possible locations.
Not so in the US, each registered voter can only go to 1 place to cast their vote.
For me it's just another work day but I'm rooting for Obama to become the first black US president. And if he does then I hope he won't get assassinated. There have been a few arrests in this campaign of folks who were planning to kill Obama one way or another. It's sad but unfortunately a genuine threat i.m.o.
While so many people from all over the world consider the Netherlands to be so liberal and progressive even we haven't had a black prime minister, let alone a woman.
Fingers crossed.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
bong
Long empty bong yes. Been rather caught up with work and only since I just forwarded my blog's link to a friend am I inclined to post a small update.
As said, work's very busy, lots of deadlines looming in sight, coming closer at the speed of light. Also started to look and apply for new jobs since I'll be out of a job after summer 2009.
It's getting very (VERY!) cold over here. Just tonight I was shivering at the bus stop and the first bus that passed by my bus stop was so crowded it didn't even bother to stop. Fortunately a next bus finally did stop which also went to the bus stop nearest to my house.
And after seeing the 62F inside my house I finally decided to turn on the furnace and start burning some good gas to heat up my house to a more comfortable temperature. The 2 electric heaters I have are great but only warm up a small area of my house which obviously only takes one so far.
Halloween is coming soon (this Friday!) and I hope to have some time to make some short vids of the decorations some folks have made to their front lawns, porches and houses.
I need to get my car's annual check up done, the current check up is valid until Saturday. Will try to bring in the car tomorrow morning if I don't forget.
Was considering to buy a bike but with the current cold and the recent fatal accident at the intersection close to my house prolly made me rethink this. Not sure if I wanna cash out several hundred $ just to have a bike until the summer.
So yes, lots of stuff happening but nothing of too much importance or excitement. It's hard to follow up a best paper award! haha
I must admit looking forward to a Christmas vacation where I don't have to lie down and bleed for 2 weeks :-D
But let's not get ahead of myself here. November has not even arrived yet. Almost but not yet.
Time to relax!
As said, work's very busy, lots of deadlines looming in sight, coming closer at the speed of light. Also started to look and apply for new jobs since I'll be out of a job after summer 2009.
It's getting very (VERY!) cold over here. Just tonight I was shivering at the bus stop and the first bus that passed by my bus stop was so crowded it didn't even bother to stop. Fortunately a next bus finally did stop which also went to the bus stop nearest to my house.
And after seeing the 62F inside my house I finally decided to turn on the furnace and start burning some good gas to heat up my house to a more comfortable temperature. The 2 electric heaters I have are great but only warm up a small area of my house which obviously only takes one so far.
Halloween is coming soon (this Friday!) and I hope to have some time to make some short vids of the decorations some folks have made to their front lawns, porches and houses.
I need to get my car's annual check up done, the current check up is valid until Saturday. Will try to bring in the car tomorrow morning if I don't forget.
Was considering to buy a bike but with the current cold and the recent fatal accident at the intersection close to my house prolly made me rethink this. Not sure if I wanna cash out several hundred $ just to have a bike until the summer.
So yes, lots of stuff happening but nothing of too much importance or excitement. It's hard to follow up a best paper award! haha
I must admit looking forward to a Christmas vacation where I don't have to lie down and bleed for 2 weeks :-D
But let's not get ahead of myself here. November has not even arrived yet. Almost but not yet.
Time to relax!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
I just finished watching the "Kingdom/Riget" DVDs I bought a while ago. Hadn't seen this TV series directed by Lars von Trier in years but I still love them as much as when I first saw them.
A shame they'll never make season 3 of this brilliant TV series since both Ernst Hugo Järegård and Kirsten Rolffes have died after the completion of season 2. Both played major characters in the series thus without them it just makes no sense to make season 3.
This particular scene where Ernst Hugo Järegård's character Dr. Helmer shouts "Dansk jävlar!" is a running gag that sometimes occurs multiple times in each episode. If you know anything about the history between Sweden and Denmark you'll giggle like a schoolgirl every time you see this scene haha.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
accident news
Here's the latest news concerning the accident from yesterday:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08264/913671-52.stm
The victim had the right of way but the bus driver most likely never even saw her.
It's strange knowing that the victim was European (German even) and probably didn't establish eye contact with the bus driver. Having the right of way and actually getting it are two different things.
I know Europeans are used to getting the right of way by simply crossing and thereby forcing the car driver to stop but American drivers don't have the same awareness of pedestrians and cyclists as Europeans have.
I'm Dutch and I cross in situations where most others would not but whenever there's a school bus nearby I never ever cross.
It's a very sad accident which, as many accidents, could've been avoided easily I think.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08264/913671-52.stm
The victim had the right of way but the bus driver most likely never even saw her.
It's strange knowing that the victim was European (German even) and probably didn't establish eye contact with the bus driver. Having the right of way and actually getting it are two different things.
I know Europeans are used to getting the right of way by simply crossing and thereby forcing the car driver to stop but American drivers don't have the same awareness of pedestrians and cyclists as Europeans have.
I'm Dutch and I cross in situations where most others would not but whenever there's a school bus nearby I never ever cross.
It's a very sad accident which, as many accidents, could've been avoided easily I think.
Friday, September 19, 2008
accident
When I left my house this morning around 9:20am to walk to my usual bus stop I was stopped by 2 women who told me there had been an accident at the intersection between my street (Monitor Street) and Shady Ave. I could see police cars and had to take a detour since they had secured the area.
Just looked it up in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08263/913447-100.stm
Apparently the bus struck the victim twice. Pretty horrible accident since it was a school bus and other pedestrians were around.
Nasty way to start the day but alas, such is life :-(
Just looked it up in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08263/913447-100.stm
Apparently the bus struck the victim twice. Pretty horrible accident since it was a school bus and other pedestrians were around.
Nasty way to start the day but alas, such is life :-(
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