apple juice

Privatize Social Security? I can tell you who is happy about that idea: See That Line at the Ferrari Dealer?

Want to do something?

List of places to donate. [nytimes.com]

How to help [washingtonpost.com]

Doctors Without Borders accepts donations through the net with your credit card. As do a few others on the above lists.

Update: 2004/12/29 Donate to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund on Amazon.com

Hello Friends and Family,

Do not be alarmed if you call our cell phones and get our home answering machine or my work voice mail… you are not crazy, you called the correct number…

It’s just that I discovered how to utilize the call forwarding feature on my cell phone, so we are going to try that out and see how it works. Our house exists in a 40’x130′ black hole of cell reception… as anyone who has tried to call us knows. I think I saw the AT&T Wireless crews out on our block the other day. They had “Singular” written in magic marker on their hats. As in, there is a singular, non-stationary spot inside of our house for which you will receive full signal strength. They had tape measures and survey equipment, and little boxes with antennas. I’m not sure what they were up to, other than obviously thwarting my attempts to use their service. I’m still the poor fellow you see in their commericials at the breakfast table with only 1 bar above his head. Where I sit at work I have 5 bars. Crystal Clear, all the time. At home, it’s hard to say, but depending on atmospheric conditions, the position of the moon, the tides, solar flare activity, if it’s recycling day, and whether or not Yeti has gas, between 1 and 5 bars.

On another note, I figured out how to work our answering machine. Actually it’s Doug‘s answering machine, but I think he bequeathed it to me when he moved out of our apartment in Golden. It’s a Southern Bell machine, back from when there was a Southern Bell telephone company (ahh, the good old days, before anyone had a cell phone that could fit in your pocket). Regardless, there is no manual. The internets were no help in that regard either. So, today, at lunch, I just started mashing the buttons and it worked. I suppose it got tired of resisting me after 5 years of dutifully recording our messages.

We will now know the exact date and time you called, and you will be greeted by my friendly voice instead of that otherworldly character that has been inhabiting the machine until now.

The market share in Europe of diesel-powered passenger vehicles reached a new high this year. More than 50% of new passenger vehicles registered in were diesels. This compares with (i’m guessing here) about 2% of American vehicles being diesels.

This change will come to America as well, but the holdup is manufacturers waiting for the 2006 changes in fuel regulations and emissions. Once these changes are in place, the use of particulate filters and advanced pollution controls will become possible, as it has in Europe over the past year.

As the article mentions, a diesel engine uses one third less fuel than a comparably sized gas engine. That kind of overall increase in efficiency could substantially reduce our oil consumption as a country.

Hit the jump for some bragging about how much money you could save by driving a diesel.
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1. Napoleon Dynamite
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Hero
4. The Incredibles
5. Garden State

Best Older Movie Seen For the First Time: Rushmore

Here it is, my favorite albums of the year:

1. Funeral – The Arcade Fire
2. A Ghost Is Born – Wilco
3. Good News For People Who Love Bad News – Modest Mouse
4. The Grey Album – Jay-Z + DJ Danger Mouse
5. Med??lla – Bj??rk
6. Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
7. Antics – Interpol
8. Boy In Da Corner – Dizzee Rascal
9. A Grand Don’t Come For Free – The Streets
10. Two Way Monologue – Sondre Lerche

Favorite Song of the Year: Company In My Back – Wilco
Favorite 2003 album discovered in 2004: Give Up – The Postal Service
Best Soundtrack: Garden State
Favorite Concert: The Arcade Fire

Seen on a (seemingly homemade) bumper sticker over lunch:

“Bring it on, Iran!”

Uhh, yikes!

(sorry, no photo… it drove away too quickly)