So today I went to Adventureland...for the first time since i was a young lad. Not that I paid to go or anything. IHS was having a company outing day. I went, ate some lousy food, sat at the same table as an executive. I did ride a few rides, rode 3 of the 4 coasters and the space shot...or whatever it's called. One, the oldest one, the Tornado, was unavailble for rides for one reason or another. It was ok...I'd still like to go to a good theme park...but then you'd probably have to wait all day in lines and stuff... It's nice that IHS is actually starting to do things that big companies do. They are kinda new, and before we really weren't a seperate company from some from the other affiliates. So part of it's all new to the whole thing. It's the right direction, and fun for a lot of the families I guess. While walking around the park I did run into a few people. I ran into a bunch of people from IHS HR and didn't even hear them say my name cause I was just off in my own world...just lost in thought. I also ran into a little blast from the past. I ran into Jackie, her sister and her sister's husband and child. So that was cool. I got her phone number and the next time I'm gonna head up to Ames, i'll make sure I give her a holler.

So I watched this movie Runaway Jury. What it comes down to being all about making an industry pay for a product they make. I don't understand this. People want to place blame for everything that happens on someone else, and keep going up the chain. Some lady spills hot coffee on herself, and then she sues and wins because they don't have a warning sign. Why is there no more personal responsibility? If someone goes nuts and shoots a bunch of people, why would it be the gun manufacturers fault that someone made the decision to shoot people? The tobacco industry's thing is a bit diffrent, because even though I think that someone that want's to smoke, drink, whatever, is thier right as a person, lying to people about their product is wrong. And they have been very consistant about the "truths" that they have been telling since science started to investigate the ill-effects of the products. Many products are bad, many products have addictive properties, many product when used incorrectly can hurt or kill people. But that's what freedom is. We should all have the freedom to use these products for their intended purpose. People use the arguement that if there were no more guns on the streets then there would be less crime. This may be true, but that's not what our country is about. It's about having the freedom to do and use things as long as you commit no direct harm on to others. Should there be restrictions? Yes, should there be limitations? sure. But if someone wants to go down to the store, buy some malt liquor and drink it, that's their choice. They have the freedom to do that.