What do you want from me?

October 4th, 2004 I found this little self-help site the other day. Clean Sweep. My baseline was 21. 9 below average. I like the idea of removing the junk from our lives. The whole transformation process that takes place when accepting Christ, to grow into his image, is the process of surrendering our earthly nature to God's will. Although the site is only human psychology in action, I think I'll find it useful in my own life. Truth is truth, no matter where it is found, as my father says.

I have been listening to the archives of The Splendid Table lately and I encourage everyone who has any interest in cooking, entertaining, or eating to listen to the show. I am going to have to try her suggestion for adding a pinch of Brown Sugar to every Table Spoon of Balsamic Vinegar.

I also found Tuscan Hills today, which can not only rent you a villa for a week, but also help you find and renovate your own Tuscan Villa. This isn't like the movie Under the Tuscan Sun, according to the original article the design and renovation process is all handled by the company using local builders/artisans. The client uses email, video conferencing, and the company as a third party when interacting. I wonder if the first time many people see their villas is after their finished. I cannot imagine spending $450,000.00+ for a property I've never seen. Maybe if you had an Airpass you could visit it during every stage of development. Of course if you can afford an air pass you can probably afford to quit your job, move to Tuscany, learn Italian and renovate your own villa. Of course this all got ties into the previous paragraph, since so much good food comes from Italy, and Tuscany in particular.

October 25th, 2004 I was reading A new (old) view over at Ztuff and followed his link to Big Business and the Rise of American Statism. This essay changed my outlook on the relationship between business and government regulation. Since the essay was written before my birth, let me give you a modern example. Sarbanes-Oxley is currently ravaging the company I work for. The executive team is being forced to pay two separate sets of consultants from two expensive firms to meet some government regulation, pushed by big business, likely including the consulting firms leeching off of our firm. The whole thing feels more like a mafia extortion racket designed to put the smaller, agile companies out of business.