Raymond Chen writes: The great thing about priorities is that you can always go one higher:

Over the past few years, I’ve seen a shift in the labelling of priorities in planning documents. A new priority has been introduced: Priority Zero. Nobody has explained to me what Priority 0 means, but I assume somebody invented it to emphasize that the feature is even more critical than priority 1. Mind you, I’m not sure what could be more important to a project than ‘If we don’t do this, we’re all fired.’ Maybe ‘If we don’t do this, the earth will explode.’

As you might expect, priority inflation has a trickle-down effect. People whose features had been assigned priority 1 said, ‘Hey, how come my feature isn’t priority 0? It’s just as critical as that other guy’s feature.’ Soon, everything that was priority 1 got reclassified as priority 0. Nature abhors a vacuum, so all the priority 2 items got reclassified as priority 1, and the priority 3 items got reclassified as priority 2.

This was common towards the end of my days at ISS. We were bombarded with “level zero” issues that had to be fixed now, and there was plainly nothing more important. Except the ever-growing list of other “level zero” issues. Luckily here at Nokia we have a pretty clear P1-P3 system that doesn’t show any signs of inflation.

From truthout: Obama Positioned to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions:

Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.

A team of four dozen advisers, working for months in virtual solitude, set out to identify regulatory and policy changes Obama could implement soon after his inauguration. The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive, said a top transition official who was not permitted to speak on the record about the inner workings of the transition.

Change we can believe in, indeed. Like I said on Election Night, we all did this. Mission Accomplished.

Santa Rosa cat, missing 13 years, is back home:

More than 13 years after he went missing from his Santa Rosa home, George the cat is back. ‘I was blown away,’ Frank Walburg said of the unexpected return of his missing feline. ‘Such a big chunk of time has passed.’

George was reunited with Walburg and his wife, Melinda Merman, both dedicated cat companions, last Wednesday after Sonoma County Animal Care and Control officers rescued him from a mobile home park – just 3 miles from their home – at the request of the manager. Authorities scanned the kitty and found an implanted microchip that was encoded with identifying information that they were able to trace back to the couple.

Walburg and Merman arrived at the shelter within 20 minutes after they got the call and saw a cat that was about half the weight of George 13 years ago. But the gray and chestnut coat and the black nose were the same, and so was the distinctive jowl.

All of our cats are chipped and this is why, though hopefully we wouldn’t have to wait thirteen years to get them back.

Not all El Pollo Loco locations are franchised, and of the ones that are, not all are owned by a Prop 8 supporter, but this blog lists those which are:

The franchise owner of the following El Pollo Locos in California donated money in support of Proposition 8. As one of my stand-by restaurants for any occasion, I will be boycotting the following locations owned by WKS Restaurant Corporation, owned by Roland Spongberg.

Also — If anyone out there knows someone at either CSULA or CSULB, there are Pollo Locos on those campuses owned by WKS. The campus communities should be made aware.