View From the Bushes

The horrible earthquake that hit Pakistan on Friday should hopefully provide a little perspective on Katrina. Not to say that Katrina was not a great tragedy, but as natural disasters go, ~1000 people dying is not even going to get you in the top 25 of the last century (and might not even get you in the top 100, depending on how you break things down). Of course, the financial cost of Katrina is mind-boggling, but mostly because of the morons we have passing for politicians these days.

There is some speculation that Bin Laden may have been killed in the earthquake. The current party line is that there is no evidence he died. But when you consider how little evidence he generally gives as to whether he's alive, it's hard to imagine that you would be able to know with any certainty whether the earthquake did him in for many, many months. I do think that there would be a certain delicious irony to the whole situation, if after all of the resources we've spent hunting him, an earthquake, or as I prefer to think of it, if an "Act of God," did him in.

The weekend was pretty low-key. Though I did have some car trouble to add a little bit of excitement to things. I was over at my sister's house getting ready to head home when I discovered that the car wouldn't start. It was obvious that I had battery power and all that good stuff, but the starter motor wasn't turning over at all. So I flagged my dad down just as he was pulling away, and seeing the commotion my brother-in-law came out (yet another brother-in-law whom I don't believe I've ever previously mentioned in my blog). Fortunately, he not only had a floor jack but some cover-alls (we were all in suits) and he was able to get under the car and tighten the wire leading into the starter motor and fix the problem. As my wife pointed out, that's one of the advantages of having a big family: someone is going to be able to help you with just about any problem you're having.

Starting up the climb at the beginning of the roller coaster
Ross