Saturday Night Whatevers.

• The wife's been sick the past two days. She began to not feel well at the Christmas Party that was held at the school. She complained about having chills and a headache. Going to work today, I worried that she had enough energy to make it through the day.
• Meanwhile, Tony has an eye infection. Crusty crap (I can't think of the name of the stuff) is forming in his eyes.
• Tony loves to dip his hands in water. Today, he had a good time with our water machine, getting his hands all wet and then running to the couch.
• Tony can pronounce "Ma, Ma" very clearly. Tonight, he chanted "Ma, Ma" like a boy playing with a newly discovered toy.
• Some days, you wonder why you go to work. Today was a day that made me rethink my assumptions.
• How did Bernard Madoff get away with for so long as he did? There were people saying all along that he was pulling a scam. But these people weren't the regulators who Madoff probably also conned. Madoff, being a former NASDAQ chairman, had no problem fooling the SEC. Milton Friedman observed that when the government needs help in regulating industries, it of course goes to people in the industry itself to "help" regulate.
• I haven't been smoking much lately. I can't afford to and I really have to stop bumming smokes. Today, I can say I didn't have any, though last night I bummed four. The lack of smokes has made me feel snarkier than usual.
• Lucky me. I had a seat on the bus both to and from work.
• I listen to the latest edition of Radio Derb which I download from Itunes every Saturday. Today, I downloaded it at work and was able to listen to it on my way back home. Derb's big thought was about the U.S. no longer being a simple commercial republic. When Harry Truman finished his presidency, he had to take out a loan to get the time to write his memoirs. Bill Clinton, as an ex-president, is raking in the dough getting tribute from sultanates and leaders all over the world.
• The inauguration of the Big O will probably attract a crowd of 2 to 4 million people. The Big O if he had any decency, could try and stop this Nuremberg type rally with all its expense from happening by swearing himself in at the registrar's office. I have never watched an inauguration before and I certainly won't be watching this one. I have enough gas as it is.
• I was watching the movie made about the original Woodstock Music Festival tonight. Some of what I saw revolted me. I must be too conservative for my own good. Clearly, people took their wealth for granted and decided to become barbarians. The Love and Peace that was on display at the festival wouldn't have lasted much past the three days of the festival because people have to eat and clothe and bathe themselves. People can be happy together when they don't have to work, but when there is work to be done and human laziness makes an appearance.... Some of the music wasn't bad. The two songs I saw performed by the Who were dynamite. But I couldn't getting around all the people behaving abominably. One kid was interviewed and though he acknowledged that his immigrant parents had done a lot to raise him, his attitude to this was "so what" and he wanted a freedom his parents were too square to understand.
• I went to a nearby grocery store to buy eggs and I couldn't help by be disgusted by these two men smoking as they waited in line to make a purchase. Now, I am no anti-smoking fascist. People complain about smokers ruining their health, and I complain about anti-smoking health-fascists ruining my soul (thanks to the Derb for that thought). But there is a line that smokers should not cross as those men I saw tonight did.
• I don't follow the NHL much anymore, but I was interested to hear about the Black Hawks playing an outdoor hockey game in Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. I saw the setup of the rink on the field though, and I wonder how anyone in the stands would be able to see any action.
• The wife tells me it will be cold tomorrow. The past few days, I have been feeling over-dressed.