Countdowns are for rockets.

Last week came the rather sudden news that Keith Olbermann was finished with his show at MSNBC. There has been some speculation as to just why what happened did. I will not add to that speculation as, like those speculating, I do not know the real reasons.

I can say that I won't miss him or his show. I did see many references to it and his screeds "editorials" but only watched one of programs and that was quite enough. When jmaynard's Tron Guy fame (or notoriety) was in its initial phase, there was some bit about that and we watched the show just for that. I don't recall much about that bit, other than it came at the end of the show.

I do recall that the show itself was annoying as it was quite selective with context. All the clips were of real events and comments, but any responses or set-up was carefully omitted. It reminded me of a line about a Soviet spokesman, "We never caught him in an actual lie, but his version of the truth left most of it out." (Paraphrased) It also brought me back to the mid-late 1980s when I listened to shortwave broadcasts quite a bit - as it was like listening to the Radio Moscow of those days.

Do I think that this the end of Olberman? No. No matter how little I might think of him and his show, he and it did have a significant or at least vocal following. Some other network will likely try to get those folks to aim eyeballs at their ads and so I expect he will turn up again. Where? No idea. Though the idea of him turning up on Fox News amuses me, just because of the reaction that would likely generate.

How Dry I Am

No, not about desiring a drink, but about humidity. Cold air can hold less moisture than warm air, and thus Winter is rather dry. This is apparent in how much more static (clinging clothes, electrical discharges) there is in the Winter. A few days ago I bought hygrometer to see just what the indoor relative humidity was. It has been solidly at 16%, save for the time I put it in the bathroom while taking a shower. The listed range of the detector is 20% to 95% so that 16% is likely wrong, but it does tell me it's too dry. Ideally, relative humidity should be in the range of 25% to 55%.

The obvious answer to the problem is to get a humidifier. The problem is, which one? I've looked around the web a bit and decided I do not want to go with an ultrasonic type, and I'd rather not go with a "warm mist" type due to the power draw, and that leaves the "cool mist" type. Even within that, which one? Inexpensive is good, but I'd like to avoid cheap - I want the humidity in the air, not spilled all over things I'd rather not have get wet. I don't need to see a visible plume of moisture. Something that just unobtrusively works is what I desire.

Any suggestions?