Notes and Jottings

It looks like the social conservatives won. The general information from exit polls suggested that moral values were most important to users, followed by the economy. Not quite “it’s the economy, stupid,” after all! And it really wasn’t the “war on terror” which won it either.

I consider myself a social liberal of some sort or form, which I guess means that I don’t think that government should be a regulator of every part of daily life. Of course, one then has to hope that people will in general do the right thing. But there are many ideas of what “the right thing” is, and it doesn’t always seem right that the government should be the arbitrers of that divide, sometimes; for example, single-sex marriage in the US. It’s not like it’s hurting anybody, I really don’t mind either way, but I wouldn’t want to force my views on people. That does seem to be the way the US is going, for better or worse (I’m sure some people would say better).

At the end of the day, I’m not sure how different international events will be over the next four years. But at home, it may cause large changes. The fact alone that four Chief Justices may retire over the next four years alone is going to be huge.

On the international front, I hope that the neoconservatives and Bush have learned their lesson with Iraq. I fear otherwise.

Back (again)
============

Hello, it’s been a while, busy again. What have I been up to?

Well, there’s been a lot of stuff at work. Which I’d prefer not to talk about right now; the start of next year might be more appropriate. What I can say is that I’m off performance and architecture, and back(?) in product development. C, C, C. Oh I just bought a cool book by Sedgewick on algorithms, but that’s neither here nor there…

Hallowe’en has come and gone. It really impacted on my last week - because I made my own costume. Made, as in sewed. With a sewing machine. With hemming, and interfacing, and reversing seams so that they’re in the garment, things like that. Quite a learning experience! But definitely more work than I expected. Still, it was worthwhile - there’s [two photos available](http://www.lyranthe.org/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core:ShowItem&g2_itemId=124)

So - Friday was a day off work (so I could finish the costume), then work party on Friday night, followed by a trip to Terry’s party. Latter better than the former.

And - Saturday involved a large, rather cool, Hallowe’en/birthday party in Kimmage. Best party I’ve been at in a while, thank you to the organiser!

I’m living in a new apartment near Shelbourne Park. As a new development, it’s tidy and clean, and a lovely place to just relax, or to invite friends to. Mal lives there too, if anybody’s looking for him
I have my (two) ski holidays booked. Painfully expensive… but… ah y’know how it is Going with family at Christmas, with friends in February. Mastering short turns, and getting to grips with moguls - those are my tasks this year.

If you’re interested in bridge, some friends play it in Mahaffeys on Monday evening. I’m trying to get into it, but there’s a learning curve that I’m working on.

Oh, there’s some sort of election in the US today, I hear… If you can vote, vote! Not that it’s important for the continuation of civilisation as we know it, or anything…