Falling under the category: “surprised but not surprising”, a coworker with lung cancer passed away. When people around you die after being diagnosed with lung cancer, and after being a long time smoker, wouldn’t you think it might be time to stop smoking? (If you were a smoker?) I see folks hacking away, braving in-climate weather to get their nicotine fix, and I wonder what is going through their minds. Does the calming effect of nicotine help them get over the fear of cancer, or are they just in denial. I just don’t know.

It appears that my silent requests may be about to be answered. My wife will vouch for me … I’ve been wanting an online music service that would allow me to purchase/download music to my computer, play it on my computer where ever I am (even if I’m not connected to the internet), and burn it to CDs to play in my car (or elsewhere). The word on the street is that my favorite computer company is about to deliver such a product to my eager little hard drive. There has been no word on the details of the service yet, but if I can purchase individual tracks for (at most) a couple of bucks, then they can have my money. My fingers are crossed.