What Would Jesus Drive?

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Thursday, April 27, 2006, clergy from around the Washington, DC and MD area will gather in downtown DC to pray for the lowering of gas prices.
"Dear Heavenly Father - We know You have a master plan and everything, and that You're probably busy blessing the meek and stuff. But just in case You haven't noticed lately, it's costing more and more to fill up the tank of the church Hummer. I realize that we're paying far less than pretty much the rest of the world, but You told the 700 Club that us Americans are Your chosen people. So we were wondering if You couldn't see fit to finagle that plan of Yours, and get those heathens in the Middle East to make a few more barrels and lower the price of gasoline. At least in the Red states. Big hugs, Your local fundamentalist wackos."
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Meanwhile, back in the Bay Area...

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Naked chimney guy
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Believing they had a botched burglary on their hands, police in Hayward, California, called to a house instead found a naked man wedged in its chimney, a police officer said Monday. The 23-year-old man came home early Saturday morning and, finding himself locked out and without his keys, tried to enter the single-story house through its chimney. "He told us he took off his clothes because as he was going down the chimney the clothes would rub up against it and slow him down," Branson said. "If it was skin on cement he felt he would go down easier." Officers booked Urbano for being under the influence of drugs, he added.
Gee... ya think?? Skin on cement. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.
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If you break it, you get to buy a new one...

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We've I've always had fairly crap luck with cameras. As much as I have fallen in love with digital picture taking, I suppose it's a natural consequence of carrying a camera pretty much everywhere I go: it's just exposed to more risk. There was the first camera, dropped from the back of a horse in the Gap of Dunloe. Then there was the camera we drowned in the Scottish firth while on horseback Before you say it's obviously not me, it's the horses, take a look at this camera:
There were no horses involved in this one. Just me, the car door, and my jacket pocket. Oops. It's not been a complete tragedy, we've got a backup camera. But it's old (2.1 megapixel - it was my present to myself when my dot com blew up, and while it's got a really nice 10x optical zoom, that also makes it extremely bulky to carry around (definitely no slipping it in the pocket to go). So I've finally been spurred to update my digital camera. I walked in to the shop with only two real requirements: a) that it use the SD memory card (so I could re-use what I already had) and b) that it not have to stop and think for 10 seconds every time I took a picture. Trying to tell the Critter to repeat something because the camera was still writing whatever else I had snapped a shot of is like trying to negotiate with a raccoon. She clearly understands I'm asking for something, but the request just doesn't make sense. Anyway, once I settled on a camera, I got two of them, identical in every way.
That way, my bride will stop griping at me for carting off the camera in my laptop bag everytime I go on a trip. No more competition over who gets the handy-sized camera. And for the money, it's a heck of a camera. Great resolution, a great lcd screen, and more features than I'll ever really use. It's not the digital SLR of my dreams, but on the other hand, it can fit pretty much anywhere, and is a great snap-and-go camera. At this point, I have a hard time understanding why anyone who takes pictures would still use film. Unless you're also into 8-tracks, or beta-max. Just to keep it old school. Net result: even more pictures of the Critter to come.
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