Election Day is rapidly approaching, so if you've received your absentee ballot, just go ahead, vote, and mail it in.

As good friends know, I'm center-right like the country is and John McCain is a natural pick for me. In these trying times, the country needs a steady hand to lead after tumultuous times, not someone who needs on-the-job training. You can have all the aides in the world advising you, but in the end, it's the president's decision and his alone. Even Bill Clinton needed two years as president before he became effective. With 8 years at the state level and a couple of years in the United States Senate, Barack Obama has a limited amount of experience to fall back on and make a decision, the tiniest of which will affect millions of Americans.

I don't agree with everything John McCain has done or promises he will do. During the primaries, the thing that worried me about him was his temper. You can tell he's been showing restraint, but if he was free to speak out in this campaign, you would see a very different John McCain.

Also, he could have chosen a better VP than Sarah Palin. McCain has a history of skin cancer and if it recurs, it puts Palin as the leader of the country, a scary proposition. The thing that allays my fear is that she has more executive experience than McCain, Obama, and Joe Biden combined and that being in the #2 spot will allow her to have on-the-job training, the thing Obama should have first.

McCain's health care proposals sound a little fishy to me, as he's offering a $5,000 tax credit while also taxing employer health plans. And, a try-everything energy policy is great but heavy reliance on nuclear power plants that won't be online until after McCain is out of office isn't the answer.

However, in the most important issues of the day, I'm more in line with McCain's policies. Sunday was the 41st anniversary of when he was shot down in Vietnam, and from that day forward, that has influenced his policies on protecting this country. As a Republican, he doesn't believe in the kind of income redistribution that Obama believes in and focuses on not raising taxes for anybody and promoting policies that create jobs and takes people out of welfare. And as someone who has taken on his own party in order to promote campaign finance reform, immigration reform, and earmark reform, he has the opportunity to promote just enough change to get this country back on the right track.

McCain was right in saying that we should not be scared of an Obama presidency. If that day comes (now becoming more and more likely), we should embrace it with open arms and speak with one voice on how to move this country forward. Obama is one of those once-in-a-lifetime figures that promises to transcend the status quo and govern effectively and efficiently. I just wish he had more experience because the office of the presidency should cap your career in politics, not something to start your career. However, what I am scared about is the prospect of a unified government which promises to turn this country to the left with Nancy Pelosi leading the House with 20-30 more votes this time around and Harry Reid leading a possible supermajority in the Senate.

If there's a silver lining to this outcome, the last time Democrats held the White House, the House, and Senate was after Bill Clinton was elected in 1992. Two years later, Republicans controlled the House and Senate.

In any case, no matter your opinion, November 4 is Election Day. Please make sure to vote.

I've been back for two weeks but here it is...the trip report from Boston.

Any red-eye flight is never fun and the San Jose-Boston trip was no exception. To add insult to injury, US Airways started to charge for everything. Among them, they added a charge of $2 for water and soda. So there I was in my middle seat, cramped for hours just waiting for the plane to land.

We got in a hour early. I went to Enterprise for my rental car. Good price but they gave me a PT cruiser. Has anyone actually driven these things? Oh my, it's a piece of crap! It seriously took 60 seconds to go from 0-60. It was pathetic. It did however get me to where I was going, which was a road trip through Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut and back.

First stop was a half hour south of Boston to Mansfield/Foxboro. Foxboro is home to the New England Patriots. Mansfield has the Comcast Center, which was the venue for the Radiohead concert that night. There seemed to be a buzz going through the Pats' part of town (I subsequently found out they had signed John Lynch that day). Next to the stadium, a new mall is opening up called Patriot Place. Inside was a new luxury theatre. We didn't pay the extra $10/ticket for the luxury part but from what I could tell, we could be looking at the future. A grand piano thats plays in the lobby. Sit-down restaurants up front. Luxury seats and at-your-seat food service. We saw Tropic Thunder, which was an excellent movie.

There wasn't much in terms of restaurants in the area, so we ate at two local chains. Both places seem to serve popcorn as an appetizer. Is that a New England thing? The first place also was a little peculiar. The menu offers entrees with a potato and vegetable. My sister asked for rice and broccoli. To which the waiter replied, "usually rice is your vegetable...what kind of potato do you want?"

The Radiohead concert was excellent (especially compared to the imperfect one they gave at Outside Lands). 25 songs, old and new were sung. The last part seemed to contain most of the slow songs Radiohead has performed but that didn't stop the drunk guy next to us from loudly singing along.

The next day, we headed further south. My brother's flight was delayed so we had to stick around the airport. There was a huge freeway sign that read MALL, so naturally we went there. Upon arrival, there was a Wal-Mart and a large building that used to be a mall. Inside it, the most popular place in there was a DMV renewal station.

We got out right away. I picked up my brother and we headed to Mystic, Connecticut, made famous by the Julia Roberts movie Mystic Pizza. Yelp didn't like their pizza so we didn't try it, but I wish we could have spent more time in the city. Instead we headed to Abbott's Lobster. It's a lobster place that's only open during the summer and they steam lobsters from 1 pound to 10 if you can believe it. They crack it for you to enjoy and it was mighty tasty.

Next was Foxwoods, the largest casino in America. It used to be the largest in the world but Macau is starting to build larger ones. Imagine a forest and then a group of trees was replaced by a casino. That's how the scenery is there. It's actually 4 separate casinos under one roof but they still took my money just the same. $100 at the blackjack table gone in less than 20 minutes...5 minutes of that from the dealer shuffling the 6 decks. In a weird reversal, I won $150 at the slots, so it was a net win. Inside were some great restaurants including a Craftsteak from Chef Tom from Top Chef, a David Burke steakhouse, where we got some sliders, and a Junior's Cheesecake, straight from Brooklyn.

Time to head back to Boston. Upon our arrival, we ate at the Top of the Hub. The Prudential Building is the second tallest building in Boston and on top is a restaurant with great views of the city. Our table looked toward Cambridge. Also, it just so happened that a lightning storm was going on, giving us great views of that.

The next day was Chinatown and a tour of the city. The Chinatown here is actually pretty good. Not as touristy as New York, not as small as D.C.'s, it seemed like a smaller version of the great one in San Francisco. Decent dim sum too. Afterwards was the Boston Duck Tour. What they call ducks are WWII vehicles that could go on land and in the sea.

Sunday was a transition day as we moved to a new hotel, the Intercontinental, one of the newest hotels in Boston. The sign on the door says that the room should cost $999/night. The website said $349/night. I got it for $149/night. Thank you Hotwire! Boy was it upscale. The staff were extra friendly. You turned on an electronic sign to signify do not disturb. The shower head was so strong, you could have fallen like Kramer did when he installed his black-market shower head on Seinfeld.

We ventured that night to Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market and to the North End. Faneuil Hall is a major historical landmark now turned into a shopping marketplace. It also holds a Cheers bar. If I understood this correctly, the TV show based their bar on the Cheers Beacon Hall location and the Faneuil Hall location based their bar on the TV show. Yeah, confusing. The North End has a large concentration of Italians. We ate at Giacomo's, highly recommended by many including Rachael Ray. A few peculiar things about the place...it only seats 30-40 people. Cash only. And you must stand in line. But boy is the food good. We sat at the bar area facing the kitchen. A little hot to sit there but with lobster, clams, mussels, and pasta for $18, I'm happy. Also had a cannoli from Mike's Pastry. Yummy.

Monday we ventured back to the Back Bay for the Fenway Park Tour. For $12, you get to see the park for much cheaper than going to a game. The only disappointing part of the tour was not getting to go on the field. Apparently, people were stealing the dirt and grass (LAME!). My sister then discovered Newbury Street (Chanel! Betsey Johnson! Burberry!). You get the idea. I fled to Borders.

Dinner that night was at the Omni Parker House, the birthplace of the Boston Cream Pie. Extra good and pretty cheap as it was one of the restaurants participating in Restaurant Week.

Our last day was a visit to Harvard and MIT. The Samuel Adams tour was supposed to cap the trip but they were sold out when we got there.

One last story...I was sitting in the middle seat because of my sister. She slept a lot on this trip and on the trip to Vegas for a layover before Boston, she rested her head on another passenger's shoulder, which scared her half to death. So I said, you get the window from now on. On the return trip, she's sleeping but her head's moving around everywhere. Finally, her head dropped and hit square on the window and she woke up. I couldn't help but laugh really loudly.

And that was my journey.

Great quote from Overheard in the Office. I know a couple of co-workers who could be on this site.

Heated caller: So let me understand this: if I die, I get $100,000?

CSS rep: No. If you pass, your beneficiary will receive $100,000.

Heated caller: But it is my money. I am paying the premium for it. I should be able to get my money. Why can't I have my money?!

CSS rep: Because you will be dead, ma'am.

Heated caller: That's ridiculous. I want to speak with a manager.

Everything you have heard about The Dark Knight is true. Come watch the great performance by Heath Ledger but stay for Christopher Nolan's great story and direction. It keeps you riveted for a lengthy 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Next Wednesday, July 30, The Cheesecake Factory is offering its cheesecake slices for $1.50 per slice.

Oh, what a day.

So here was the plan. I'd fly to LA to see the new Simpsons ride at Universal Studios on Sunday. On Monday, Vegas. Tuesday...back home.

But Sunday...man, just bad luck all day long.

It started very early. 2 am to be exact. My sister's been a car accident. Idiot. Ran into a stone wall and totalled the car. She wasn't hurt (in fact, it seems like she forgot that it even happened). But by the time I picked her up and brought her back, it was time for me to get on a flight to LA.

9 am. We're making our final approach into LAX. The pilot comes on: "those of you on the left-hand side of the plane will see smoke coming from a building. That's Universal Studios."

Hmmm, that's where I wanted to go today. Steves picks me up and we go to his workplace (Code Monkeys on G4) to check the news. The park opens at noon. Ok, let's go. We get there. The park is still closed. In the end, it wouldn't open at all that day.

So we head down to UCSD to see Alex and have dinner. There are some great garlic fries to be eaten down there. Steves drops me back at my hotel so that I can rest up for the early morning flight to Vegas. I'm waiting at the elevator with a guy who had just checked in. We get in the elevator and I ask what floor. He replies 6. That's where I am. We walk out and we both head for the same room! They double-booked the room! My stuff is already in there so this room was mine, but man, what if I got there a minute too late?

The rest of the trip was better. Some quick hits:

It was weird to see two Amish couples flying in an airplane.

Lawry's the Prime Rib place is the original prime rib place, as our waitress insisted, not the rumored "Prime Rib House" (sic) in San Francisco.

I won $120 at the tables.

I'll be back in LA in a couple of weeks.

Indy Jones 4. Ok, I could ignore the LED countdown clock in the year 1957. I can look past surviving a nuclear blast in a "Punky Brewster" lead-lined refrigerator. And sure, Indy could be the know-it-all that Nic Cage was in "National Treasure". As we move along through the film, it's actually pretty good...lots of action, good characters...but that ending??? Oh my. That pretty much ruined the film right there.

Just watch the whole thing...

It took a very long time into Sunday night, but finally the San Jose Sharks succumbed to the 3-0 hole they dug themselves in and lost to the Dallas Stars 2-1 in quadruple overtime and ultimately lost the series 4-2.

Many questions can be asked as to why this happened. Were they overconfident after getting points in 20 of their last 22 games? Is San Jose's relaxed nature not ideal for a playoff atmosphere? Is Ron Wilson the right coach to lead them into the playoffs?

If we learned anything from this series, the Sharks need somebody who can be aggressive, score, and lead. The team has plenty of people who can do one, maybe two of these things, but not all three. They only need to look across the ice for the ideal person in this series, Brendan Morrow.

Where do we go from here? We're probably not going to re-sign Brian Campbell unless he comes back at a discount. These playoffs prove he's not worth the $5-6 million he's probably going to command in free agency this offseason. He was very shaky in the defensive zone and his offensive prowess wasn't enough to offset it.

Keep Brian Boucher. He was more than competent and would give Nabokov more rest during the season.

Finally, keep Ron Wilson. He knows what he's doing and probably no one else is available who is as good as him.

Dallas...congratulations. If history is correct however, you're not going to win the Stanley Cup. No team who has defeated the Sharks in the playoffs has ever gone on to win the Stanley Cup.

Crap, where have I been?

March Madness is pretty much done, which means my basketball site is done for another year. It sure took up a lot of time this year, but that's what happens when it attracts 350,000 hits in 5 months. Two newspapers wrote about it including South Carolina's largest newspaper The State (that's how the guy introduced himself) and the Palm Beach Post plus it was mentioned in USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post, CBS Sports and others.

Dith Pran was a survivor of the genocide in Cambodia and his story was dramatized in "The Killing Fields". When we watched it high school, classmates said I looked just like the actor who portrayed him. One even drew it in my yearbook. Now Pran has passed on. RIP

Finally, this should bring back some memories.

The 2008 Academy Awards - Predictions

It's that time of year again to predict the Oscar winners. Here we go...

Best Picture - No Country for Old Men

Personally, I enjoyed Juno more, was more fascinated with Michael Clayton, in awe of the performance by Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood and liked the storytelling of Atonement. No Country for Old Men however works on so many levels, it pretty much is a complete movie.

Best Director - Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men

Best Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Best Actress - Julie Christie, Away from Her

Best Supporting Actor - Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

Best Supporting Actress - Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

Best Original Screenplay - Juno by Diablo Cody

Best Adapted Screenplay - No Country for Old Men by Joel and Ethan Coen

Best Animated Feature - Ratatouille

Best Documentary Feature - No End in Sight

Best Documentary Short Subject - Salim Baba

Best Foreign Language Film - 12

Best Cinematography - There Will Be Blood

Best Editing - No Country for Old Men

Best Art Direction - Atonement

Best Costume Design - La Vie en Rose

Best Makeup - La Vie en Rose

Best Original Score - Dario Marianelli, Atonement

Best Original Song - Falling Slowly, Once

Best Sound Mixing - No Country for Old Men

Best Sound Editing - Transformers

Best Visual Effects - Transformers

Best Animated Short Film - Madame Tutli-Putli

Best Live Action Short Film - At Night

Please remember to go vote February 5. As a Republican, I can only vote for Republican candidates in this election and for this primary, the field could have been better. But of the men left, John McCain is probably the best choice to uphold conservative values and have a chance to win in November.

My heart says vote for Mitt Romney. He's a businessman. He co-founded Bain Capital and was CEO of Bain and Company, one of the best consulting firms around. He saved the Winter Olympics in Utah. However, he seems to be one of those guys who tells you what you want to hear rather than what he believes in. He's the Republican Party's own John Kerry and we'll be killed in November if he's nominated.

Rudy Giuliani is best known for keeping New York City in order after 9/11. If that man was running for President, he would have an excellent shot at winning. However, we got Giuliani, pre-9/11, whom New Yorkers never truly embraced with his divisive policies on race, the homeless, and education. Watching him on the campaign trail, it doesn't seem like he's taking it too seriously...always reaching for the next joke or one-liner. When he does take it seriously, he relies upon 9/11. His strategy in the primaries have certainly not helped. By ignoring Iowa, New Hampshire, and other states, he needed to be the front-runner in the national polls to ensure victory in the later, bigger states such as Florida, California, and New York. Now, he is trailing and has no momentum.

The beneficiary of Giuliani's decline? McCain. He's got national security down pat. He's said the right things about the economy, though it is not his strong suit. He is portrayed as a truthful man which can be good and bad at the same time. There are questions surrounding his health. After all, if inaugurated, he would be 71, the oldest ever. There are also questions about his loyalty. Whenever he doesn't get his way, he runs to the Democratic side, siding with Joe Lieberman on climate change, Russ Feingold on campaign reform, and others. However, in this time of war, McCain is the one Reublican candidate who can ensure we can stay on top of national security while bringing about enough change to reunite a country so badly divided after a less-than-stellar Bush presidency.

Briefly, on the Democratic side, I wouldn't mind an Obama presidency but I couldn't stand a Clinton presdiency. The prospect of a Billary White House would seem to be a wrong move in a country desperate for a fresh start.

Hope everybody had a great start to the new year. Christmas was good. I got a Slingbox, which allows me to waste even more time at work. Oh yeah! Work. I'm full time on my $36 million contract after transferring all my previous workload to the two newbies. The temp I interviewed became a permanent employee, but the more I get to know her, the less I'm impressed with her in terms of...what do you call it?...intelligence.

The Oscar nominations are out which means Oscar predictions will start up soon. Of the best picture noms, I've watched Juno and No Country for Old Men. Michael Clayton is coming out on DVD in a couple of weeks. That just leaves Atonement and There Will Be Blood.