Yuck.

• They changed all icons to a washed out gray.
• They replaced the application icon with the most Windows looking icon I’ve ever seen on a Mac.
• They violated their own User Interface Guidelines and changed the three buttons to Enlarge/Minimize/Close window from a horizontal to vertical position.

Here’s what’s most disturbing:  Apple has carved their niched on consistent, intuitive, and beautiful interfaces.  Yet here we find a washed out, inconsistent, ugly interface with a Windows 7 rip-off app icon.  And it made it past Steve Jobs and a group of people formerly known for some of the best industrial design in the world.

I’m a Mac fan. However, every success eventually declines, and has to rediscover greatness or fade away.  Will we look back one day and realize this was an early sign that Apple was entering the end of this creative streak?  That version 2.0 of the doldrums from the mid-80s and 90s were just around the corner?

Empires and great companies often peak before most people recognize the signs. Usually because the signs are so small, and so open interpretation, that they can’t be recognized without the benefit of hindsight. 

Yet for those with eyes to see, and sound intuition, the little things tell you a great deal.

Technically, Apple is progressing.  The unibody construction, the faster speeds, the environmentally manufacturing.

But . . .

There hasn’t been notable movement regarding industrial design since the original iphone, Mac Air, latest form factor iMac, and Mac Mini.

They have had antenna issues with the iphone 4G, iTunes being hacked, increasingly accurate R&D leaks, more diversified operations (less focus), and now this sorry tweaking of the iTunes interface.

It’s the little things that can be most telling.

A hiccup?  Hopefully.  Cracks in the empire beginning? Based on organizational life cycles, I think is a real possibility.

The Democratic House leaders made a big deal to call legislators back to Washington D.C. during their summer break. The purpose?  To pass a mini-August surprise bill to fund 300,000 plus teachers and public employees. 

For the record, most Republicans voted against it. Obviously they don’t support education.

Only those living in make-believe land can fail to see how the timing and spin, at the very least, suggests a barely veiled attempt at buying votes.

Come now, you say.  After all, these really capable legislators had absolutely no clue that many schools were cutting staff as they balanced budgets.  It took our congressmen and women completely by surprise.  It’s coincidence that they had to interrupt their summer break merely a week or two before teachers report back to school.  Their motives are geniune. They only wish to ensure the kids have the well staffed schools any child deserves.

Yeah. Like I said. Make-believe land.

After all, there was no way they could have anticipated this need.  There was no way to have passed legislation, oh, I don’t know, say, before the congressional recess?  There was no way, absolutely no way, to have saved the taxpayers all the travel expenses from the hundreds of legislators and untold staffers who flew in and out for the vote.

Then again, the airlines deserved a little summer stimulus lovin’ too.

Being positive, I will give the house leadership this. The Democrats abided by their own “pay-go” rules. 

For part of it, they raised taxes (removed a tax loop hole).  Someday multi-national corporations will pay more money. We know this, because there’s absolutely no chance they’ll be able to find any other tax loop holes.  I do feel kind of bad for the schools.  They are supposed to pay the teachers now, and wait, I presume, to get reimbursed for by the federal bureaucracy.

Fortunately, in the meantime, they did cut some money.  The Democrats cut food stamp benefits.

I confessed that I’m cynical.

Yet, I can still be amazed at the ever new low people can set in their quest for power. You’d have to be harder hearted than I am not to be troubled that the teachers get their salaries funded by taking food out of the mouths of many of the children they teach.

If only the children on food stamps could come together and make campaign donations large enough that their cries of hunger could be heard by the party who pushed this through.

I guess in the meantime, the rest of us will have to be their voice.

I do not have experience with all the propane companies in the U.S.  However, it is hard to imagine a company more difficult to deal with than Amerigas.

When we bought our house, we assumed the propane contract the bank had been using. It was the middle of the winter (who wants to shut down your furnace in January), the price seemed competitive, and we didn’t see a reason to switch at that point. If we assumed the contract, the tank rental is waived. That was the limit of our contract.

Boy, do we regret that decision.

From the standpoint of on-site service, Amerigas has done okay. They fill promptly enough, and the workman are pleasant.

However, when it comes to the contract and billing, it’s like dealing with . . . well the government.  They make the rules, and we can shut up and pay up.

We assumed a contract. 

Did you know they tell you it’s a two year contract on the phone, send out a truck, fill the tank, and then present paper work? Oh, and now, with the tank filled, it’s for a three year contract?  But don’t worry, you are “taking over” an existing contract.  So you only have to finish the remaining time.

Did you know that they tell you that you are “taking over contract” but that they really view it as a new contract?  Meaning the time remaining on the contract you assumed is reset to the day you assumed it? 

But don’t worry, you can break the contract. For a fee. Well, two fees.  They also charge you to pump the gas back out of the tank.

We told them we didn’t want to pay their ridiculous fee to “lock in the price”. We’d take our chances. 

However, they just knew we really wanted the price lock, and proceed to make the unauthorized charge on our credit card. 

We called, not very happy. They claim we authorized it.

We disputed it. They said they would check the phone recording and get back with us.

They didn’t call back.  We called again.

Yep, the phone recording has us authorizing it.

Again we said “no, we did not”. But if we are wrong, play the tape for us where we authorize it and we’ll apologize and shut up. Sorry, they said, that’s confidential.

To top it off, they said the charge would be made to our credit card upon delivery.  They charged more than authorized, prior to delivery.

Then, they recently sent us an invoice. The invoice was for the automatic price lock renewal. You know - the price lock we never authorized to begin with.  Oh, and the invoice date was AFTER the date they billed the renewal fee to our credit card.  But it was our fault that we were billed, then invoiced, for a charge we didn’t authorize.  You see, we don’t have a credit account, so they charge first, bill later.

We continue to call, they continued to stonewall, deny, and refuse to return calls when they say they will.

It probably won’t help, and if Amerigas were to read this, I’m sure they won’t care - my wife asked on the phone if they cared at all that we would tell people about our louse experience. They said it didn’t matter. I suppose they could try to bully me into being quiet.  But I’m going to tell the world . . . when you choose a propane company, choose any one but Amerigas!

I nominate Amerigas as the worst propane company on the planet.

Michigan has gone in cycles for as long as I can remember. Republican. Then Democrat. Then Republican. Then Democrat.  Given the cycle and the climate in Michigan, the Republicans are likely to take the governorship this year. Will this be the year the cycle breaks?

Currently there are five Republicans, two Democrats, and several “third party” candidates.  Of the two major parties and three largest third parties, I could live with 8 of the 10 candidates.  And even one of the two I would not be happy with has a couple of decent ideas.

That isn’t to say that I think all are equally easy to live with. My comfort level covers a continuum.

I rarely have endorsed candidates. Today I am doing the unusual. In my role as a private citizen I’m going to endorse my first candidate.

I have looked at the experience of each, their track records, their proposals, and the way they’ve run their campaigns.

I have several areas of agreement with the candidate I have chosen.  However, I also have some areas of disagreement.  I can live with that. None of them are “deal breakers”.

He appears to be a man of conviction with whom you can have an honest disagreement.  He has experience in business, in administration, leadership, and politics.  He’s well-rounded. 

Notably, he has been straight forward about some of the tough decisions that have to be made. He has not shied away from presenting controversial solutions to those challenges, even when they were not politically expedient.  I don’t support every single idea, but I like the discussion he will bring to the table. He talks like a man who has conviction in what he says. You know where he is coming from before he’s elected.  I recognize the discipline of leadership practices in his style and speech.

Any of the other candidates for the Republican nominations would be strong candidates. Mike Huckabee, former pastor and Governor of Arkansas has endorsed Attorney General Mike Cox. Dr. Dobson, while not a pastor, has endorsed Representative Pete Hoekstra. I don’t carry quite the same weight as Huckabee and Dobson, but for what it’s worth . . .

My first choice for the Republican nominee for Governor in 2010 is former Michigan Senator and current Oakland County Sheriff, Mike Bouchard.

Great for the person turning the big ah . . . 50. Yep Fifty. Not forty.  Totally doesn’t apply to them.

Enjoy.

A recent server move added a minor complication. (Though is felt much less minor until I figured it out).

Not sure what I’m going to do about EE going to 2.x.  Their new version sounds pretty nice, and I’d love to try it out long term. But it also comes at a cost . . . 

So - A CMS switch?  Stay w/ 1.6.9?  Cough up the cash? 

Not sure.

I’m in the process of rethinking and rebranding my web presence and strategy. (Sounds sophisticated ).  That will ultimately drive my final decision.

You may have heard. Jim Joyce made an error in judgement. It was a mistake. A major league screw up. Literally.

He’s an umpire, and he made a bad call. 

He’s not the first. He’s not the last ump who will make a bad call. They are only human. 

He’s not the first ump who made a bad call that had a significant impact.  Arguably, bad calls have cost games and and even titles throughout history

Jim’s bad call did not cost the Tigers the win. It didn’t deprives them of a league championship.

It simply altered how the win would go into the record books. But what an alteration.  It was a historic record. Something that, arguably, goes beyond a win/loss, or even some title. It was a history making record that legends are made of. And that’s were the disbelief and anger comes from.  His mistake didn’t cost a team a win, or a pitcher a record. His mistake cost all baseball fans one of those stories told and retold for generations.  It robbed the community of an enduring feel great moment. It stole a dream come true moment. Worse, this dream-inspiring legend was stolen in Detroit.  A community that desperately needs hopes and dreams and legends to encourage it as the city and state seems to be crumbling around them.

That has magnified the reaction.

But what about Jim Joyce.  Here’s a guy who grew up in Toledo. You’ve got to think he’s a life long Toledo Mud Hens fan and a Detroit Tigers fan.  Prior to his mistake, he was considered one of the best umpires in MLB by some.  He’s got a dream job, umpiring for a team he loves.  And he caused their pain. He doesn’t screw up often, but when he did, it couldn’t have been much worse professionally. Now he has made the record books, and not in a good way.

A lot of people are angry with him. Scary angry.  I’ve seen professing church-goers encouraging his death in the most horrible and painful of manners.  Now there’s a great witness.  I have to say, some of the Tiger’s fans really are a poor testament to God, Michigan, Detroit, the Tigers, and themselves.

But you know who has been admirable?  Armando Galarraga, the pitcher whose perfect game will live forever in our memory, even if not in its proper place in the record book.  Ironically, it will probably be remembered even longer and be an even bigger story as time goes on than if it had been recorded as a perfect game. The imperfect call has made the achievement infamous.

And Jim Joyce has been admirable.  The guy went in, watched the replay, and saw he was wrong. He then acted like a quality person, a real man.  It was too late to undo his error.  He didn’t walk away though.  He initiated a meeting with Galarraga. He owned up to his mistake to the whole world. He did everything in his power to take responsibility. Then he faced the consequences and walked back out on the field the next game to a crowd that isn’t too happy with him, and a team that isn’t too thrilled by him.

His reputation is in tatters. Even more, you can see in his interviews that he is being as hard on himself as any fan.

His mistake, although not intentional, caused an injustice.  A minor injustice when seen through the world’s long history of injustices.  But it was a mistake that hurt people.

Me, I can’t throw a stone. I also have made mistakes. Some big.  You have too. None of us want to be defined by our mistakes, and each of us fears that our mistakes will end life as we know it.

In those moments, that’s when we have a desperate need for grace. Mercy. Forgiveness. Hope. And restoration. 

It’s cool to see many Tigers fans are coming together with support for Joyce. It’s a whole lot easier to do it when he broke with our culture’s tradition of initially denying failings, then holding a press conference of tears (under pressure), then disappearing into rehab for some underlying cause. It is easier because, from the beginning, Joyce stood up, was genuine, faced his error and took it like a man.

The rest of us men can learn something from him.

As an aside, it’s time to deal with the real source of the injustice. A rule book that doesn’t allow a reasonable remedy for injustice. In a day when technology provides instant replays, a simple check before finalizing the call would have prevented this. Plus a process to fix rare errors like this could be in place.

Dec. 1 EE 2.0 hits release candidate.  Am interested to see it - its supposed to be a major upgrade.