Howdy.

So things have been going well. The weather is getting nice here in Richmond and I'm feeling that get-out-there and run urge that I used to get. There's nothing more satisfying than sore legs in the morning from a good jog. Feels good to hit pavement again.

The database upgrade project has so far been a complete success. We got everyone out of the system, duplicated all the files, then worked on rebuilding the duplicate. That kept everyone working with the real one while we ran a dry-run on the upgrade tests.

Have I bored you yet?

Well, the tests went well, better than I was expecting, actually. I learned quite a bit too. Everyone's now on the new version, and no one has even noticed. Funny how I gauge my level of success. If no one notices, I've done it right! :-)

<I wrote this a while ago>
It was a nice night for a ride yesterday- I got some more good seat time on the bike. Last weekend, I took a day trip with Chris and Jeff up to Lake Anna. The ride was nice, but we got caught in the rain on the way home. Since it's never safe to be on a motorcycle in the rain, we took it slowly (about 5-10 less than the speed limit) and were just fine. It was a good day.

Also on that trip, I drove my 1000th mile on my bike. With about 45% of those being at night, and a whole mix of highway/backroad/general traffic driving, I definitely have more confidence in my ability to safely travel on a motorcycle and have fun doing it. And with gas prices at 2.87 per gallon here in Richmond, I like to make my short trips with the bike because despite it's age, it still pulls in 54 mpg.</I wrote this a while ago>

So let's see.... what's new? ( I smell a rant coming on...) Terrorist Zacharias Moussaoui's trial has finally come to an end. It took a few years, but the slow wheels of justice have pooped out another really truly benign sentencing. The guy we nabbed who conspired to kill everyone who ended up dying on September 11th is getting ::: drum roll please ::: a long, slow life in a maximum security prison.

::: crickets chirping :::

Yea. That's it. Dammit, sometimes I really wish we didn't try and rehabilitate criminals. I think it's a misnomer to say they're rehabilitated in jail anyhow, but let's face it- we're a nation that condems crime but gently taps criminals on the wrist. Anyone walking through the gate of a maximum security prison didn't get there by accident. Nope. If you're in there, chances are, you deserve a long, slow drawn-out punishment. In the case of Moussaoui, that'll mean rice and beans, a cell where he can pray and read religious books, reliable shower and excercise access, 3 square meals a day, clean clothes and sheets when he needs them... all things he and his group of thugs denied thousands of people on 9/11.

This is too easy of a sentence for him. One lady was quoted outside the courtroom saying, "He will be in confinement, he will not be released and we can all take pleasure or gratitude in that. He's a bad man. We showed the world what we will do to terrorists and that we will treat them with respect, no matter how much they disrespect us and that means an awful lot, that makes us the bigger and better person and society."

Well, while I respect the notion that a 9/11 widow doesn't want to see any more death, I have to disagree. All we've done is convey to Al Queda and any other group that if you kill us, we let you live. Is it the moral high road? Yea, possibly. The right thing to do? I'm not so sure. Won't this invite more attacks? Now that you know that if you kill thousands you'll just end up with 3 squares a day? shit, we should all be so lucky!

No, I think he got off way too easily. If I were on that Jury, I would have kept us in that deliberation process until I had convinced every freakin' one of them that this man did not deserve life in punishment...he deserved a very public execution on an Al-Jazeera and CNN simulcast. He deserved to be sliced by something small, drug in sewage, with appendages chopped and kept alive by IV if needed just so he could endure more pain. On the wall would be home movies projected of every 9/11 victim as they blew out their birthday candles or toured the world with their camcorder on vacation. Regular beatings from victim family members would be allowed, but not to the point of death- just to drag it out. Hell, I'd make him watch "Ellen: all day too. That'll learn ya.

Of course, it's easy for people in pain to want the cruel satisfaction of revenge. But the other side does have a point. There's nothing we can do now to undo what happened on September 11th. There's no one we can muscle around, no person we can capture to bring those people back. Our lives have forever changed and we must learn from the experience and continue on living. I get why a lot of the victims' families don't want death- it doesn't bring anyone back. It's just more violence for violence.

What I don't get though is why the jury didn't see that Moussaoui and his group do not think like we do...they do not say "Ah, good for them...they took the moral high ground. Wow, you've got to respect a country who does that to a criminal after so much pain has been delivered to them" Nope. They don't get that at all. You can't reason with these people. There's nothing we could say to an Al Quaeda soldier that would convince them of anything. All they see is hate. and that's a language Americans USED to know how to speak. I just wish the jury did in this case. 'course, that could be the pain talkin. I really wanted that man dead though.

But onto sunnier topics...

Working at Notaviva Vineyards this past weekend was a lot of fun. I drove up to help Steve and Shannon get some work done and hopefully save them some time before the weather starts getting unbearably hot. They had an HGTV crew filming us, which was kind of strange. You know how they say it takes more effort to frown than to smile? Well, it takes more effort to ignore that a camera is right on you than it does to just acknowledge it. They interviewed me about being there when Steve first started talking about a vineyard. I mentioned that we came out to the land to see if it was worth buying waaaay back in the day. He's a dreamer, but more than that, he follows up on his dreams. You have to respect that. I certainly do, and try to live the same way. I hope I didn't come off too sappy on camera, but that's really how I feel. Anyhow, I may be on TV sometime next year. That is all beside the point though- I came up there to work! I told Mackey that if I didn't come home sore on Sunday evening, I did a lousy job. Well, I was close to being sore (but since I've been working out, it wasn't so bad) More than anything, I had to deal with sunburn. :-) We got a lot accomplished and I hope we all saved him some time.

Also last week, I volunteered with one of my clients at a two-day golf tournament. It was a great time, driving the golf cart around and supporting the 20-30 volunteers. I got to know everyone much better...they're just a great group of people. Plus, we raised about 50k for missionary work and school constructions out in Niger, Africa...that's a great feeling because 50k goes a LONG way out there. I was glad to finally give back and volunteer again. I feel like such a dick when I do my taxes and get to the charitable contributions line if I haven't done much of anything. I'm glad to turn things around and give back- I've been very blessed with good health, marketable skills, good family and friends, freedom...the list goes on and on. It's worth it to contribute to the greater good. I love doing that.

Other than that, things are going pretty well. I've got Utah on my radar as a possible vacation in the fall, but it wouldn't upset me if I saw Bryce and Zion parks sometime next year instead. 2006 is about growing my business. If that means I can't take an extended vacation as I have in the past 4 years, then so be it. I think i can swing both, but we'll see.

Talk at 'cha later.