Lustening?

I think one of my new years resolutions will be to become a more regular blogger...

Christmas was good this year. In the wake of the failed business deal, I was able to shut my computer down on Christmas eve and not boot it up again until the morning of the 27th. I expected more withdrawal symptoms, but I think I've gotten to the point, where I actually hate my computer in recent weeks, so it was more of a relief.

Before I begin this main part of this posting, let me apologize to all of my readers of the more feminine persuasion. I mean no disrespect and if I am being entirely objective, she does have an excellent voice and a great deal of performing talent, not limited to her dancing and stage presence.

One of the last gifts I opened in Christmas Day was a CD. Good Girl Gone Bad : Reloaded by Rihanna. First of all a huge hats off to the wife for being secure enough to purchase me a CD by a woman about whom I have been very vocal in my opinion that is SMOKIN' HOT. I'm not typically a R&B type guy, but she is that good!

I'm listening to it right now, or is it lusting....

OK, enough of that.

On other fronts... My pirate friend has not been around recently, not sure if it's because he is off for the holiday break, or if the patch was only temporary and now he's back to normal, in which state I may not be able to recognize him.

Perhaps inspired by the pirate man, this years New Years Eve in the Koda household will likely feature a Pirates of the Caribbean marathon. I'm thinking of putting together a Dr. Seuss marathon for the kids, perhaps starting with The Grinch, then the Cat in the Hat and finally Horton Hears a Who - hopefully at which point they will all have fallen asleep in various spots around the family room.

Anonymity, the Closet and Money

It's been a pretty stressful couple of weeks. Hence the some what sketchy blogging all around. I have a side business and as part of that I got into a partnership with someone a year or 2 back. Based on my calculations the deal could have allowed me to gross 1/2 million over the next 3 years. I'm guessing my business partner realized this too, used it to bring a few of his buddies into the mix, and on Sunday was gracious enough to offer me $15,000 in shares (Of course only if the company gets sold). Needless to say I didn't take the news well. We're no longer in business together. It's actually quite a liberating feeling. I think I could probably get a decent law suit pulled together, but that's not the way I like to do things. I figure I spent 2 years building the man an incredible web application, so why couldn't I take the same application, improve on it, and market it myself (With 100% equity, that's not a bad deal!)

On other matters, I'm not ready to come out of the closet. Despite my fervent support of Gay Marriage it's not that closet. Nor is it the broom closet, although I have taken quite an interest in pagan worship practices in recent months. Its the closet of exactly who I am inside, and I'm still confused about that myself.

On that same note, I really appreciate the anonymity of the blogosphere. It gives me a place to vent, to explore my feelings and to bounce ideas off friends.

In checking my logs on my other blog earlier today, I realized that that anonymity may have been in danger recently. I'm hoping not, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. If you are a regular reader of the Koda Think Tank, please send me an email, so I can send you an official invite to read it. I'll keep any email addresses strictly in confidence and delete them as soon as the process is complete.

Click here to email me

I hate to do this, but I think it is the best course of action for all involved.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Arrrrrrrrrr Matey!

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I've run into a moral dilemma twice in the past week, and I thought I might see if anyone had any insights into how to handle this situation.

I believe it is the same gentleman in both cases, but once on Tuesday and then this morning as I passed through a doorway, I have been confronted by a man with an eye patch. And not just any eye patch, but nice big black, piratey looking eye patch. The man himself if probably in his late twenties or early thirties, and has been dressed reasonably well both times.

So here's the dilemma... Could he be doing it as a joke and by my not making a comment about it, am I offending him? Or if I lost my self control and said something like "Aye, ye scurvey ridden yellow dog" would he be offended?

I just don't know quite how to handle myself around the man...

Did I get the scoop?

I'm not sure who got it out first, although I read it on the website for a local news outlet, so probably neither of us. Read yesterday's post and compare it with the "Worst Person in the World" segment on Keith Olberman's show yesterday.

Happy Holidays!

I know this is early, but I'd like to wish a very Happy Holidays to all my readers. And by that I mean, if you - in no particular order:

Celebrate Christmas, then a very Merry Christmas to you.

Celebrate Kwanza, then a very Merry Kwanza to you.

Celebrate Hannakuh, then the most Happiest of Hannakuh's to you and yours.

Celebrate Solstice, the a most Splendid Solstice. Thanks for the heads up Morgan!

Celebrate Yule, then a Happy Yule to you and all of yours!!

I mean no disrespect by saying Happy Holidays, and I don't mean to take away from anyone's personal celebrations of the Season.

Now if you're some uptight senator in Utah, who should not be in office, but because dumb people cast straight party votes because they don't think God wants them to think, then it may offend you.

So much so in fact that you may opt to waste everyone's time and pass a resolution encouraging me to say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays.

Newsflash senator Buttars... This country wasn't founded on Christianity. It was founded on religious freedom. George Washington wasn't a Christian, and nor were many other of the founding fathers. That doesn't mean they were trying to offend you, they just had different views on life.

So Happy Holidays to all my readers, and an especially big "Happy Holidays" to you senator Buttars. I'm hopeful that under your tree this year, you may find some implement to help you get your head out of your rear end.

Blind Thanksgiving

I had a great Thanksgiving, thanks for asking! We had my brother-in-law and his family come and stay with us for a couple of days. A couple of their kids are older, so at anyone time we have 6 adults in the house, and then 7 rugrats running around. It made for an interesting weekend.

I really like that side of my extended family. They're real, they're logical, and they've seen enough crap that they don't just take stuff for granted. They don't necessarily agree with me on politics and religion, so I didn't bring it up, but I would have expected a decent discussion had I done so.

The actual Thanksgiving meal was pretty good. I took the approach of not eating too much, and not only did I leave feeling comfortable and satisfied, I also managed to lose a pound or two over the course of the weekend.

Something at the meal did bug me though, so if I may vent for a second...

Another member of the extended fam came over to our table (there were a lot of tables) to chat. He brought up the shambles that the economy was in, rightfully blaming the government, but then proceeded to start getting upset with Mr Obama's plans as president. Apparently Mr. Obama has spoken about pulling our troops out of foreign deployments, and redeploying them within the United States. This family member is just one of a number of people who I have heard complaining about this, including Glenn Beck. Generally the argument is about paying for these deployments.

I don't claim to know all the facts, and if you know more about this than I do, please correct me. But let me just share how I am seeing this situation.

First, we have troops deployed in countries which we have no business deploying troops in. Seriously, how long has Germany been free from the Nazi's and how long has the Cold War been over?

Next, we have troops deployed in Iraq. They should never have been deployed in the first place, and I would argue that there is a better way to honor our military men and women than sending them over to risk their lives in the desert. I admire their courage to fulfill their missions, despite the fact that I disagree with the mission. The argument has been that even though we shouldn't have gone in, we need to fix the mess we made. Iraq has asked us to leave - I think it's time.

Next I live near Hill Air-force base in Utah. There is a huge amount of fear that this base may end up being closed in the future, and if so, the huge negative impact it will have on the Utah economy, particularly in the area I live.

Finally, the US economy is in the crapper.

So lets put those things all together. We have troops overseas in places they don't need to be. They are stationed at bases which are likely a huge source of income for the local economies around where they are. We're funding those bases and thereby funding the local economies of these foreign nations. Can you see the problem?

If we bring those troops back to the US, and deploy them at a national level, wouldn't that only help the economy?

I think there are a lot of valid reasons why people could be concerned about the Obama presidency. Many of those concerns are just fears of the unknown. But from where I sit, whining about the man wanting to bring troops home and spend the military budget inside the US economy, really isn't something worth complaining about. I would think anyone with half a brain would want to support something like that.

Of course I could be wrong, and I welcome your opposing view points.