Okay, I can deal with a screw up as well as anyone else, but even I have a limit. I found out that the limit was 147 dozen eggs. Let me tell you why.
So Judi and I did our normal expedition into the mouth of the beast and went to Wal Mart. Not too unusual, you get desensitized to it after a while, like banging yourself in the forehead with a hammer, after a while the pain goes away. So, we roll up to the check out lane and unload the cart, not a big deal, pretty normal. I swipe my card while the minion is still scanning things. Then it happened. The eggs. He could not find the UPC code on the eggs, it seems they did not have one. So he scratches his head, checks his cheat sheets, stares at the eggs some more, checks his sheet again, then goes back to looking at the eggs. So he says /How much were the eggs?/. I said/$1.47 I think./ He somehow overrides the register and we happily go back to mindless scanning. We get to the end and he hits the key to charge my card, a whopping $300+ dollars. Okay, I was stunned for a moment, but I thought maybe there was that much. He hands me the receipt and I begin to look for the offending item. Eggs. 147 dozen eggs at a cost of 1.47 each. $216.09 worth of eggs! Wait a minute, 144 dozen eggs are a full palette! I get his attention as he is happily starting to scan the next poor fools stuff. Hey dude, I think we have a problem. I show him the receipt and he is shocked. Oh man, take it to customer service and they can fix it for you. So off to customer service we go.
This is where it starts to go down hill. The young lady at customer service was very nice and ran off to check the price of the eggs and find the upc /because it will be faster if she does it./ So five minutes pass and she returns. She now has a second dozen eggs with a upc. Then comes the computer follies. She starts to do a return receipt and is told by a higher up she has to put the item in 147 times. Apparently there is no way to tell the computer that 147 of something is any different than 2. So she starts with the repetitive key combination. Somewhere around 90 some odd entries another person shows up and suggests she just do it as a department refund or some such thing. I think Judi could tell my patience was getting short. So the go to do a refund, swipe my card and then have me sign the receipt. Oh, by the way it will take 9 days for this to show in your account. WHAT? 9 days!. I think they could tell I was getting pissed as the other lady suddenly interjects /or we can give it to you in cash right now./ Good answer, you move into the bonus round and get to keep living! So the ritual starts again, tap tap tap, print, swipe scribble, count out the cash. After all is said and done, we got the eggs we wanted for free and a refund.
Something deep inside tells me hat the egg saga is not over, but I feel it may take 9 days for me to see the problem. Then I will go from there.
Monday, December 8, 2003
Sunday, November 30, 2003
Be kind, rewind....
Remember my mentioning of Elvis recently? Well that theme has continued. Last night Dan, Heather, Zak, Barb, Judi and I went to see Bubba-Hotep. Freaky stuff man. It was enough to make you loose your peanut butter and nanner sandwich. Just reinforced my dislike of butt sucking, soul eating mummies. Ozzie Davis was way cool as JFK. Par usual Bruce Campbell was beyond what you could expect. The whole thing got me thinking, which can be a dangerous idea unto itself. Anyway, the evening was filled afterwards with Barnes and Nobles, a quite decent burrito that was way over stuffed due to the judicious use of Spanish at the right moment, and tons of bad Evils impressions. Funny thing was that Zak and Dan were the worst offenders, the two real skinny white guys. Made me think back to the Wall Mart sighting.
I got a book by Hunter S. Thompson. YEA! I like Dr.Gonzos writing. Although it makes me consider something, am I a warrior writer as he is, just minus the heavy medication and alcohol or one of The Doomed? I will hope for the first one. I know way too many of the latter.
The cold has arrived in Athens. I hate cold. I know it makes for the complete cycle and does have some benefits. Kills off germs and those unhealthy animals that have to live in it. I still hate it. Light dusting of snow still left on the ground. The temperature here has been like a yo-yo, its up and then its down. Sometimes it just goes down and spins on the end of the string. Other times it walks the dog. Confused? Good, then lets continue. Turn to chapter three in your textbooks.
The napkin.
While we were at the burrito place in Easton Mall, The Chipolte, we had need of the most common addition to every American fast food meal, the napkin. Now, I know a lot of dim people, but there is a limit on how far I will go to try to shove them out of the shallow water of intelligence. Others it seems do not have such self-restraint. On one side of the napkin was the name of the place, Chipolte. This is not strange, product branding and all. Flip the napkin over and low and behold, instruction for eating a burrito. To give it a little more international panache, it was all done with what looked like little international signs. You know, like the ones you see on electric hand dryers in public restrooms. I did find our translation a little more interesting though. It went something like this. Make ritual offering of burrito. Peel protective safety wrapper from outside of the burrito. Remove top of burrito to ignite and allow flames to escape. Who comes up with this symbology? Like the public washroom dryers, they can have multiple interpolations. Look at a dryer next time. Watch for the panels progression that looks like this, wash hands, press button, receive free bacon. I kid you not. They are done by the, get this, World Dryer Corporation. Maybe they are some evil corporation who is actually at fault for this whole global warming thing?
Till next time, be mindful and awake.
I got a book by Hunter S. Thompson. YEA! I like Dr.Gonzos writing. Although it makes me consider something, am I a warrior writer as he is, just minus the heavy medication and alcohol or one of The Doomed? I will hope for the first one. I know way too many of the latter.
The cold has arrived in Athens. I hate cold. I know it makes for the complete cycle and does have some benefits. Kills off germs and those unhealthy animals that have to live in it. I still hate it. Light dusting of snow still left on the ground. The temperature here has been like a yo-yo, its up and then its down. Sometimes it just goes down and spins on the end of the string. Other times it walks the dog. Confused? Good, then lets continue. Turn to chapter three in your textbooks.
The napkin.
While we were at the burrito place in Easton Mall, The Chipolte, we had need of the most common addition to every American fast food meal, the napkin. Now, I know a lot of dim people, but there is a limit on how far I will go to try to shove them out of the shallow water of intelligence. Others it seems do not have such self-restraint. On one side of the napkin was the name of the place, Chipolte. This is not strange, product branding and all. Flip the napkin over and low and behold, instruction for eating a burrito. To give it a little more international panache, it was all done with what looked like little international signs. You know, like the ones you see on electric hand dryers in public restrooms. I did find our translation a little more interesting though. It went something like this. Make ritual offering of burrito. Peel protective safety wrapper from outside of the burrito. Remove top of burrito to ignite and allow flames to escape. Who comes up with this symbology? Like the public washroom dryers, they can have multiple interpolations. Look at a dryer next time. Watch for the panels progression that looks like this, wash hands, press button, receive free bacon. I kid you not. They are done by the, get this, World Dryer Corporation. Maybe they are some evil corporation who is actually at fault for this whole global warming thing?
Till next time, be mindful and awake.
Friday, November 28, 2003
Wow
I am not sure I can put what I just saw into words but I will try. Bear with me.
It was unlike anything I had ever seen. Massive wave upon wave of humanity rushing forward crashing against each other and the landscape. Goth and Visigoth surging forward to loot and pillage all around them. I stood shocked and silent as the waves of the insane washed around me like a standing rock at the shore. I was dashed upon and hammered by the surge. I heard the yells of frightened women, the screams of children and the haunted eyes of war weary men who no longer really saw where they were. The elderly caught up in this bloodbath clutched to each other and where ever they could to steel themselves against the onslaught. I could smell the fear and adrenaline in the air. It was salty with sweat as I passed through the lines where fragments of the day lay strewn about, layer upon layer, and the spoils of war passing from hand to hand. Fresh troops moving in as others, spent in all their energy fell back to safety. A few kind, if misplaced, souls were walking among the masses passing out food and drink to those who had fallen by the wayside. Anywhere could be a place to rest as the throngs clashed in mortal combat, with no clear victory for anyone. It was human horror at its height, unlike anything I had witnessed before. Yes, I just came back from Wal-Mart, and it's not even 10 am.
Turkey day was spent mostly at home working on things I should get done. Not really house work, but projects. Judi saved me from doing the dishes /YAY Judi!!!/. In the late afternoon we adjourned to my sisters and met up with the family for the turkey dismemberment. Pete carved for his first time, so dismemberment is not too far from the truth. Always seemed like some sort of right of manhood when you get to carve the turkey. Seems like something the Shel-Mik-Edmu would do. Take this ritual weapon..Magunga!..Yes, you are now a man; begin the ritual dismemberment of the sacrificial bird. Did you end up with all the fingers you started with? Good. Hamammas...Now go get your gourd to wear.
Well, got to get back to working on a few things and start dinner /Yes, 9:45 am and I am starting dinner for 7pm tonight./ Lentil and pork roast stew. Big pig! Yummy!!!!!
It was unlike anything I had ever seen. Massive wave upon wave of humanity rushing forward crashing against each other and the landscape. Goth and Visigoth surging forward to loot and pillage all around them. I stood shocked and silent as the waves of the insane washed around me like a standing rock at the shore. I was dashed upon and hammered by the surge. I heard the yells of frightened women, the screams of children and the haunted eyes of war weary men who no longer really saw where they were. The elderly caught up in this bloodbath clutched to each other and where ever they could to steel themselves against the onslaught. I could smell the fear and adrenaline in the air. It was salty with sweat as I passed through the lines where fragments of the day lay strewn about, layer upon layer, and the spoils of war passing from hand to hand. Fresh troops moving in as others, spent in all their energy fell back to safety. A few kind, if misplaced, souls were walking among the masses passing out food and drink to those who had fallen by the wayside. Anywhere could be a place to rest as the throngs clashed in mortal combat, with no clear victory for anyone. It was human horror at its height, unlike anything I had witnessed before. Yes, I just came back from Wal-Mart, and it's not even 10 am.
Turkey day was spent mostly at home working on things I should get done. Not really house work, but projects. Judi saved me from doing the dishes /YAY Judi!!!/. In the late afternoon we adjourned to my sisters and met up with the family for the turkey dismemberment. Pete carved for his first time, so dismemberment is not too far from the truth. Always seemed like some sort of right of manhood when you get to carve the turkey. Seems like something the Shel-Mik-Edmu would do. Take this ritual weapon..Magunga!..Yes, you are now a man; begin the ritual dismemberment of the sacrificial bird. Did you end up with all the fingers you started with? Good. Hamammas...Now go get your gourd to wear.
Well, got to get back to working on a few things and start dinner /Yes, 9:45 am and I am starting dinner for 7pm tonight./ Lentil and pork roast stew. Big pig! Yummy!!!!!
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Perspectives
Let me put the past week into perspective for everyone:
I saw Elvis.
Normally this would have bothered me quite a bit, but for two reason it did not. One, Judi saw him as well. Kinda skinny with a blue sequined jumpsuit and the bootblack trademark hair. Two, this is Athens. Because of two, after a while you get used to seeing the oddest things and commenting with something like - My, That is a bit odd- and leaving it alone. Now, the confusion was complied when you take into consideration /where/ we saw him. Wal-Mart. Yep, the King was chilling in the snack bar. My, that is a bit odd.
So I go to get the car so Judi does not have to trek out to it and on the windshield is a flyer. Not too strange. Bright red and very easy to see. I pulled it from under the wiper and gave it a quick read: See Elvis Live in his Christmas Show!
Elvis...Christmas Show...When did Elvis become a part of the christmas tradition? Turkey, tree, presents and Elvis. A little further reading of the flyer helps to put it all into perspective. It is taking place in Meigs County. Okay, sure, why not? Wonder if I can have Graceland for christmas? Doubtful.
My mood of late has not been the best. I have been in general avoiding people besides Judi. I do that as a protective measure for those around me as I know what I am like when I get like this, there is just little I can do about it. I think a lot of it has to do with my creative side. Part of it could be due to the lack of sun too. Hail and all glory to Judi for putting up with me of late. To say she is patient would be like saying The Rockies are a little large. If you see her, thank her. She keeps me in check most of the time thereby making the world a safer place. Writing in general has been a lot like pulling a painful bad tooth using a little kids set of hollow plastic pliers. Painful when you can bring yourself to do it but something you need to do none the less. I do get minor fits of creative satisfaction like the base for the goblet I made Judi. That came out good, not great, but good. Judi says I am my own worst critic. Or the traditional tomahawk I made and decorated for my adopted neice Morgana. I think she will like it, least I hope so. What else are wierd old uncles good for if not to toss a kid a surprise now and then? More often than not though, the creative side of me will get all fired up and I'll get all hyped about a project, get all set up to do it and finaly set down and then, nothing. Poof, the muse has left the building. Stupid bitch! What a fricking tease.
Anyway, enough pissing and moaning out of me. I'll update again soonly, I hope.
Till next time, be mindful and awake.
I saw Elvis.
Normally this would have bothered me quite a bit, but for two reason it did not. One, Judi saw him as well. Kinda skinny with a blue sequined jumpsuit and the bootblack trademark hair. Two, this is Athens. Because of two, after a while you get used to seeing the oddest things and commenting with something like - My, That is a bit odd- and leaving it alone. Now, the confusion was complied when you take into consideration /where/ we saw him. Wal-Mart. Yep, the King was chilling in the snack bar. My, that is a bit odd.
So I go to get the car so Judi does not have to trek out to it and on the windshield is a flyer. Not too strange. Bright red and very easy to see. I pulled it from under the wiper and gave it a quick read: See Elvis Live in his Christmas Show!
Elvis...Christmas Show...When did Elvis become a part of the christmas tradition? Turkey, tree, presents and Elvis. A little further reading of the flyer helps to put it all into perspective. It is taking place in Meigs County. Okay, sure, why not? Wonder if I can have Graceland for christmas? Doubtful.
My mood of late has not been the best. I have been in general avoiding people besides Judi. I do that as a protective measure for those around me as I know what I am like when I get like this, there is just little I can do about it. I think a lot of it has to do with my creative side. Part of it could be due to the lack of sun too. Hail and all glory to Judi for putting up with me of late. To say she is patient would be like saying The Rockies are a little large. If you see her, thank her. She keeps me in check most of the time thereby making the world a safer place. Writing in general has been a lot like pulling a painful bad tooth using a little kids set of hollow plastic pliers. Painful when you can bring yourself to do it but something you need to do none the less. I do get minor fits of creative satisfaction like the base for the goblet I made Judi. That came out good, not great, but good. Judi says I am my own worst critic. Or the traditional tomahawk I made and decorated for my adopted neice Morgana. I think she will like it, least I hope so. What else are wierd old uncles good for if not to toss a kid a surprise now and then? More often than not though, the creative side of me will get all fired up and I'll get all hyped about a project, get all set up to do it and finaly set down and then, nothing. Poof, the muse has left the building. Stupid bitch! What a fricking tease.
Anyway, enough pissing and moaning out of me. I'll update again soonly, I hope.
Till next time, be mindful and awake.
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Insert witty title here.
Howdy again readers.
Well it has been slow of late. Not much of anything has gotten me into one of those inspired moods to write. It must be the change of seasons.
Those who came looking for any comments about fencing on sunday, tough. I will not discuss it in a public forum.
Life is moving slowly along. Judi just had her birthday, which worked out to a 3 day celebration. And on the command of her mother, she just turned 25. Yay me! How many 36 year old guys have a better half who is 25 and so great? I am lucky!
Consider this: Does George W. Bush, Jr remind anyone else of Elmer Fudd??? I keep waiting to hear about the next thing happening with the Irwackys and the teriwowrists. Also, how may people can point out the VP in a line up? How many people remeber his name? It's Dick Chaney. I wonder if he is any relation to Lon Chaney, junior or senior?
Lon Chaney, now how many people today know who he is? Never heard of him hu? Well he was a great actor and the father of FX makeup. He did things so far beyond what his contemporaries were doing. Ever see the classical Phantom Of The Opera? No, not that farcical stage production. The original black and white silent movie. He was the phantom. His work was so far ahead of anyone else when it premeried he actually had people leave the theaters since they thought he was really that deformed. He also did the Hunchback of Notre Dame, again the silent version. Look for one of his movies and you will see what I am talking about.
It's vetrans day today. If you are in the US, take a moment and thank a vet for your freedom. Nothing huge, just a simple thanks. Watch the look in their eyes. Remember it the next time someone trys to take away one of your rights or freedoms. Visit a memorial or just stop and look at the flag for a moment. The red stripes are for the blood that was spilled to keep us free. Not everyone was a medal of honor winner, but that does not mean they did not do their best and guard freedom for you and generations to come.
"Veterans make up a third of homeless people and 47 percent of the homeless veterans served in Vietnam, up from 38 percent in last year's survey."
-Associated Press - Dec 29, 2000 - USA
Do not look away. Do not make excuses. A buck will not make you die and may mean the diffrence between life and death for them. Winter is comming. If your uneasy about giving cash, try a warm blanket or a good coat. If we all make an effort to be compassionate, even for just 2 minutes every day we wll eventually right the wrong. Go out and do something. Volunteer to help somewhere. A few hours a month can change a life forever and make a diffrence.
Till next time, be mindful and awake.
Well it has been slow of late. Not much of anything has gotten me into one of those inspired moods to write. It must be the change of seasons.
Those who came looking for any comments about fencing on sunday, tough. I will not discuss it in a public forum.
Life is moving slowly along. Judi just had her birthday, which worked out to a 3 day celebration. And on the command of her mother, she just turned 25. Yay me! How many 36 year old guys have a better half who is 25 and so great? I am lucky!
Consider this: Does George W. Bush, Jr remind anyone else of Elmer Fudd??? I keep waiting to hear about the next thing happening with the Irwackys and the teriwowrists. Also, how may people can point out the VP in a line up? How many people remeber his name? It's Dick Chaney. I wonder if he is any relation to Lon Chaney, junior or senior?
Lon Chaney, now how many people today know who he is? Never heard of him hu? Well he was a great actor and the father of FX makeup. He did things so far beyond what his contemporaries were doing. Ever see the classical Phantom Of The Opera? No, not that farcical stage production. The original black and white silent movie. He was the phantom. His work was so far ahead of anyone else when it premeried he actually had people leave the theaters since they thought he was really that deformed. He also did the Hunchback of Notre Dame, again the silent version. Look for one of his movies and you will see what I am talking about.
It's vetrans day today. If you are in the US, take a moment and thank a vet for your freedom. Nothing huge, just a simple thanks. Watch the look in their eyes. Remember it the next time someone trys to take away one of your rights or freedoms. Visit a memorial or just stop and look at the flag for a moment. The red stripes are for the blood that was spilled to keep us free. Not everyone was a medal of honor winner, but that does not mean they did not do their best and guard freedom for you and generations to come.
"Veterans make up a third of homeless people and 47 percent of the homeless veterans served in Vietnam, up from 38 percent in last year's survey."
-Associated Press - Dec 29, 2000 - USA
Do not look away. Do not make excuses. A buck will not make you die and may mean the diffrence between life and death for them. Winter is comming. If your uneasy about giving cash, try a warm blanket or a good coat. If we all make an effort to be compassionate, even for just 2 minutes every day we wll eventually right the wrong. Go out and do something. Volunteer to help somewhere. A few hours a month can change a life forever and make a diffrence.
Till next time, be mindful and awake.
Friday, October 31, 2003
Friday, T minus 16 hours and counting
Well here it is again. We moved gamming to Saturday night again this week for a good reason. Out of the blue a friend of mine showed up to SCA on Tuesday. / Were having a party on Friday, I want you all to come./ Karen is such a sweetheart, how could I say no because of gamming? She thought I had moved out of town. Well no, I have not even moved in town. I live 2 blocks from her and her husband Howie and have not really seen them in 10 years much. My own fault as much as anyones.
Athens is getting ready for /Invasion of the Beer Guzzling Idiots/ , also known as Halloween. For the next two days our little town will turn from a simple semi-quite place to live to Mardi Gras on Acid! They take over the center of town, a whole 2 blocks from here, and drink and yell till the wee hours. Well, at least when you do get to sleep it is dead quiet. Now you may thinking that like 500 or so people show up. Wrong, big time. We are talking THOUSANDS of people. It will be nuts to the nth degree. Imagine a standard 2-lane city street. Make it 5 blocks long. Now fill every square foot of it with people. I'm not kidding it is that packed. Now add in hundreds of private parties and maybe you have a vague idea of what we are facing. Wish us luck.
I will port a little about the party later on this weekend or next week.
Till next time, faithful readers. Be mindful and awake and happy Samhain
PS - Before I forget some good news. Seems someone out there reads my writings for our local SCA newsletter. I won the William Blackfox Awards for AS XXXVII - Best Continual Feature. Tres Cool, no? :) This is a competition with all the newsletters, now get this part, in the WORLD! Not too shabby for the kid who always failed English.
You can check out the webpage at http://www.sca.org/officers/chronicler/blackfox-awards.html
Athens is getting ready for /Invasion of the Beer Guzzling Idiots/ , also known as Halloween. For the next two days our little town will turn from a simple semi-quite place to live to Mardi Gras on Acid! They take over the center of town, a whole 2 blocks from here, and drink and yell till the wee hours. Well, at least when you do get to sleep it is dead quiet. Now you may thinking that like 500 or so people show up. Wrong, big time. We are talking THOUSANDS of people. It will be nuts to the nth degree. Imagine a standard 2-lane city street. Make it 5 blocks long. Now fill every square foot of it with people. I'm not kidding it is that packed. Now add in hundreds of private parties and maybe you have a vague idea of what we are facing. Wish us luck.
I will port a little about the party later on this weekend or next week.
Till next time, faithful readers. Be mindful and awake and happy Samhain
PS - Before I forget some good news. Seems someone out there reads my writings for our local SCA newsletter. I won the William Blackfox Awards for AS XXXVII - Best Continual Feature. Tres Cool, no? :) This is a competition with all the newsletters, now get this part, in the WORLD! Not too shabby for the kid who always failed English.
You can check out the webpage at http://www.sca.org/officers/chronicler/blackfox-awards.html
Monday, October 27, 2003
Hey an update!!!!!!!!
Long time between updates again, I know.
I could make a lot of excuses, but I will not this time. It has just been life in general. Quite a bit has gone on of late so I will head into the short version. I was sick, now I am not. Judis Grandmother died, then we made a flying trip to Tennessee for the funeral and we came back. We did not actually fly, but I found I do enjoy driving at 70 miles per hour, the legal speed limit in Tennessee. After driving like that 55 seems like walking for some reason.
Now for a few more details and observations from the past few days; all right, 2 weeks.
Part of me misses living down south. Part of me does not. I still love the cooking and the general demeanor of people down there. People in general seem nicer and more polite. For example, I do not think the entire time we were down there Judi ever got to open a door. If it was not myself, someone else opened it for her. Heck, at one point a little 8 or so year old kid ran past the two of us quite carefully so he could hold the door for her. He was quite proud of the fact he could hold the door for a lady. I wish I had a picture of his smile when I passed and said /Thank you, sir./ Manners deserve manners.
I asked the lady at the desk for directions to Ruby Falls. She had that thick Deep South accent and answered with a smile /Why, it is just a left, a right, and a left/ I mentally added / Your actually gonna go there, bless you pea picking little heart / She did clarify for me, and it was exactly as she said left right left Bless her pea picking little heart
One bad side effect of me going down south is my accent has returned somewhat. On Friday when we got back I was nearly incomprehensible to the locals here. Needless to say, Judi just loves it and is surprised that my accent was thicker then hers. I am starting to return to a semi normal speech pattern again.
We stopped by Ruby Falls, a natural cave and falls located inside Lookout Mountain. I was in awe to say the least. I cannot even begin to describe the wonders of this place. If you ever get the chance to go, spend the hour and a half and you will be glad you did.
Other than the heavy-duty drive both ways the trip was somewhat uneventful. That is a good thing I would say. I passed thru Kentucky twice without incident. Therefore the area of taint must be localized to La Grange, KY. Take heed of my words and avoid La Grange. There is something evil there. Ask me in person some time and I will tell you about what happened. I will never go there again, ever.
On to other things: Of late I have noticed my interest peaking in the areas of mountain man technology, even before the trip to the mountains. Still waiting for a new book on their gear to arrive. This is why I have been on the flint and steel kick. Made a few other things last weekend at Robbins. I also perfected a tinder match. It is much better than charcloth.
Well, that is it for now, more news as it happens.
HEY BLOGGER! FIX THE PUNTUATION PROBLEMS THIS STINKS!!!
I could make a lot of excuses, but I will not this time. It has just been life in general. Quite a bit has gone on of late so I will head into the short version. I was sick, now I am not. Judis Grandmother died, then we made a flying trip to Tennessee for the funeral and we came back. We did not actually fly, but I found I do enjoy driving at 70 miles per hour, the legal speed limit in Tennessee. After driving like that 55 seems like walking for some reason.
Now for a few more details and observations from the past few days; all right, 2 weeks.
Part of me misses living down south. Part of me does not. I still love the cooking and the general demeanor of people down there. People in general seem nicer and more polite. For example, I do not think the entire time we were down there Judi ever got to open a door. If it was not myself, someone else opened it for her. Heck, at one point a little 8 or so year old kid ran past the two of us quite carefully so he could hold the door for her. He was quite proud of the fact he could hold the door for a lady. I wish I had a picture of his smile when I passed and said /Thank you, sir./ Manners deserve manners.
I asked the lady at the desk for directions to Ruby Falls. She had that thick Deep South accent and answered with a smile /Why, it is just a left, a right, and a left/ I mentally added / Your actually gonna go there, bless you pea picking little heart / She did clarify for me, and it was exactly as she said left right left Bless her pea picking little heart
One bad side effect of me going down south is my accent has returned somewhat. On Friday when we got back I was nearly incomprehensible to the locals here. Needless to say, Judi just loves it and is surprised that my accent was thicker then hers. I am starting to return to a semi normal speech pattern again.
We stopped by Ruby Falls, a natural cave and falls located inside Lookout Mountain. I was in awe to say the least. I cannot even begin to describe the wonders of this place. If you ever get the chance to go, spend the hour and a half and you will be glad you did.
Other than the heavy-duty drive both ways the trip was somewhat uneventful. That is a good thing I would say. I passed thru Kentucky twice without incident. Therefore the area of taint must be localized to La Grange, KY. Take heed of my words and avoid La Grange. There is something evil there. Ask me in person some time and I will tell you about what happened. I will never go there again, ever.
On to other things: Of late I have noticed my interest peaking in the areas of mountain man technology, even before the trip to the mountains. Still waiting for a new book on their gear to arrive. This is why I have been on the flint and steel kick. Made a few other things last weekend at Robbins. I also perfected a tinder match. It is much better than charcloth.
Well, that is it for now, more news as it happens.
HEY BLOGGER! FIX THE PUNTUATION PROBLEMS THIS STINKS!!!
Monday, October 13, 2003
Mission Sucessful!
Well, after a multistate effort, the Fish and his wife Heather have now moved into new quarters. Again, the Amazon Moving Company(tm) did an outstanding job with nothing broken in the move that we know of. The quote for the move was /I keep waiting for the little car to show up full of people with red noses and big shoes!/ Yea, it was a circus, but we are professionals and got thru the whole thing with only a few pulled muscles and no blood. All in all, I give it a 9 out of 10 for our efforts. Ask me sometime about the giant gophers and the evil mole people, this one is a hoot to say the least, but needs to be told.
I made a great achievement this weekend. Now some of you will laugh when you read this, but wait till the end.
I made fire.
Yea, I know lots of people make fire, but I did it with flint and steel. I made the striker, chipped the flint, made some awesome char cloth and it all worked. There is something that is satisfied deep within a person when they can make fire with just a spark and tinder. You may not understand all this, but once you do it, you get to understand the magical fascination with fire. It is an almost religious experience. I read on a web page that someone felt it was truly a magical experience since you brought the fire into being with a few simple elements. I can see that.
I am mostly over that uncommon cold that has been plaguing me for the past week or so. Needless to say it has hampered my writing a bit.
Oh, new link to pass on from my favorite FrootLoop to her blog: http:\\slupine.diaryland.com
I made a great achievement this weekend. Now some of you will laugh when you read this, but wait till the end.
I made fire.
Yea, I know lots of people make fire, but I did it with flint and steel. I made the striker, chipped the flint, made some awesome char cloth and it all worked. There is something that is satisfied deep within a person when they can make fire with just a spark and tinder. You may not understand all this, but once you do it, you get to understand the magical fascination with fire. It is an almost religious experience. I read on a web page that someone felt it was truly a magical experience since you brought the fire into being with a few simple elements. I can see that.
I am mostly over that uncommon cold that has been plaguing me for the past week or so. Needless to say it has hampered my writing a bit.
Oh, new link to pass on from my favorite FrootLoop to her blog: http:\\slupine.diaryland.com
Monday, October 6, 2003
Recovery from the weekend
Oh man. I hate the uncommon cold. This past weekend was the (In)famous Paul Bunyan Festival in Nelsonville, Ohio. The amount of testosterone in one place can be staggering. What is Bunyan you ask? Well, simply put it is /the/ expo for loggers and logging equipment in the US. Now, I bet your wondering why I was there. Good question. I ask myself the same thing every year. It is held at the campus of Hocking College, where Robbins Crossing is located. If you do not know what RC is, it is an 1840 village I spend my weekends at running the blacksmith shop. Fire...metal...good.
Anyway, while I did make a little cash, I suffered for it. I had a cold all weekend. Still do today. Perhaps I pushed a little too hard this weekend, but all in all the food for the soul it creates makes all the hassle worth it. We made many peoples day with our showing off, stories, jokes and trinkets we gave to the kiddies. I know if I heard / My was a blacksmith.../ Okay, sure. Thanks for coming. Seriously, seems everyone who came by had a relation to a blacksmith and somehow that made him or her more knowledgeable than the average schmuck. There seems also to be some sort of inverse correlation between the closeness of the relative and the lack of donations they leave. Direct relative the leave zip, zero, and zilch. One generation away, well change maybe. 2 or more generations, folding money. Heck, we do not care, it all adds up.
So, here I am on Monday, still sick, but now my hands and wrists are swollen to go with it. Talk about feeling puffy. Its like typing with boxing gloves. Overall I am not too bad off, just stiffer than a corpse who ODed on Viagra. The body just does not want to move very well. This has nothing to due with age or lack of physical conditioning; just we spent close to 22 hours working in the shop over 2 days. Imagine going to the gym for 22 hours of working out in two days and how would you feel when the day after rolled around? Yea, you get the picture.
Now to add into all the normal weirdness of Robbins, add the Bunyan show to it. Okay, now here is where the exponent of weirdness was added: About 50 feet from the shop a group of Ecuadorians set up two stalls. Not too strange, I got some awesome llama wool serapes for Judi and I. Tent number 2 is where the weird began to flow. For two solid days we were forge working to the native sounds of Ecuador. Yep, flutes and everything. It was like National Geographic on acid. All these flannelled loggers running around an 1840s village to the tunes of a group of native people from South America. Check please, table 2!!!
I have started relaxing a little more now that Judi has become more mobile, but I most likely will not mellow all the way back out till she is sans-cane and back to fencing. I know, shes a big girl and can take care of herself, but hey, what can I say, I care a lot.
Anyway, while I did make a little cash, I suffered for it. I had a cold all weekend. Still do today. Perhaps I pushed a little too hard this weekend, but all in all the food for the soul it creates makes all the hassle worth it. We made many peoples day with our showing off, stories, jokes and trinkets we gave to the kiddies. I know if I heard / My
So, here I am on Monday, still sick, but now my hands and wrists are swollen to go with it. Talk about feeling puffy. Its like typing with boxing gloves. Overall I am not too bad off, just stiffer than a corpse who ODed on Viagra. The body just does not want to move very well. This has nothing to due with age or lack of physical conditioning; just we spent close to 22 hours working in the shop over 2 days. Imagine going to the gym for 22 hours of working out in two days and how would you feel when the day after rolled around? Yea, you get the picture.
Now to add into all the normal weirdness of Robbins, add the Bunyan show to it. Okay, now here is where the exponent of weirdness was added: About 50 feet from the shop a group of Ecuadorians set up two stalls. Not too strange, I got some awesome llama wool serapes for Judi and I. Tent number 2 is where the weird began to flow. For two solid days we were forge working to the native sounds of Ecuador. Yep, flutes and everything. It was like National Geographic on acid. All these flannelled loggers running around an 1840s village to the tunes of a group of native people from South America. Check please, table 2!!!
I have started relaxing a little more now that Judi has become more mobile, but I most likely will not mellow all the way back out till she is sans-cane and back to fencing. I know, shes a big girl and can take care of herself, but hey, what can I say, I care a lot.
Wednesday, October 1, 2003
Why so long between updates?
Well, I sit writing this in a hospital waiting room as Judi is in surgery. She is getting arthroscopy on her knee. To say I have been a little uptight and reclusive of late is an understatement. I would say to an extent my sense of humor has gone to hell and my temper has become so short that I have avoided talking with people. I back off when I know I am having one of those times when little things like people saying /Where have you disappeared to?/ piss me off to no end. I go from Bryian to asshole in 2.2 seconds. This is a protective measure I think so I do not say things I would later regret. If you feel slighted by my not being around perhaps this will help put things in perspective. With the past two weeks being loaded with trips to the doctor, work, our normal schedule, MRIs, x-rays and a wedding all thrown in you can begin to see how things can get away from me. No fault here, just the way things are. I sometimes am a little too protective of Judi, especially when she is in pain. I know I have to reign that in now and then. I have had too many good things in my life go to hell in a hand basket in a very short time to ignore her, at least in my own mind. I will not let any inattentiveness cause us problems. As such, my hobbies such as writing, chatting online, games and such have kind of been thrown to the wayside. I understand why and agree the reason is well worth it, but this is my choice. I get what relaxation I can when I can. I try to fence with the team to help and online mindless games seem to help a little. Still there are a lot of things that while innocent in their intention push me over the edge. To know thy self is to know thy enemy. I know I can be a belligerent ass; therefore I try to control it. I also have almost no sympathy for anyone. I can look someone strait in the eye after a heart-rending story that would evoke compassionate responses from even Attila The Hun and calmly say /So?/
Hopefully this puts things in perspective a little for people. A few words of advice do not push me right now. I may react in a way I will regret later. Please, be kind and give me my own time about things and I promise I will return to being me.
Hopefully this puts things in perspective a little for people. A few words of advice do not push me right now. I may react in a way I will regret later. Please, be kind and give me my own time about things and I promise I will return to being me.
Friday, September 19, 2003
And yesterday went to hell, minus the handbasket.
To say yesterday was bad would be an understatement. Sometimes I think the universe gets some preverse enjoyment out of torment. Lets start with the first thing in the day:
1)Get up, hit toes on bedpost.
2)hobble to bathroom, try not to dump books into toilet.
3)Wonder how normal toilet has now become a Blue Water B'day *BRRRRRR*
4)Get coffee into blood stream - Chew coffee as somehow the filter decided that it would work better by dumping grounds into coffee.
5)Go back upstairs - Catch shoe on stairs - rip shoe
6)Take Judi to work -Take car to garage for odd noise
7)Watch as they take apart front of motor discoverign things as they go- waterpump bad, 2 pulleys shot, new belts
8)Watch as of course parts are not avalibe except by special order till monday
9)Begin to reconsider plans for trip we were leaving to go on Friday noon
Then for no reason, things turned around. It's wierd. Parts were found, things got done, naps were had. It is almost unbelevable. Suddenly the universe was righted again.
Okay, todays rant: Excuses
I read another one this morning on cnn.com (All hail CNN, your rights are reserved and copyright). These two kids who killed a 45-year-old man and injured a 19 year old woman while shooting at cars from an overpass say they were inspired by the game Grand Theft Auto. They both plead guilty to reckless homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.
Alright, wait a frigging minute! This is one of my pet pevees real bad. The video game did not cause you to do anything, nor did any movie, magazine, sugar additive, or anything else for that matter. You two did it. People today like to shuffle the blame for things they do. I think the blame lies with two groups: The kids and their parents. Want parents to get more involved with their kids? Fine, charge them as well. First few who do time or pay fines that are gonzo costly will shock the SUV crowd into action. Maybe.
And on the subject of SUV, what the hell is going on? Any bigger and they should be busses! And get this, the other day I saw a stroller with seats for 4 kids. Stroller SUVs???? This is getting out of hand. Perhaps we can stem the tide of the SUV invasion by requiring a special permit for them (With an added tax of course) Just prove you need one. Plain and simple. Example: Your a re-enactor and you use it for events to carry all your stuff and other people - APPROVED. You want one cause you see the hommies with one and think it is going to make you cooler and less subburban - DISAPPROVED (and turn around that hat) You need to carry 12 kids to a soccer games - APPROVED. You just got a promotion at work and want one - DISAPPROVED. I knew back in the 80s we shoud have allowed YUPPIE hunting. All of this would have been solved back then. Now their larve have matured and are driving, making their own larve.
See? Simple solution.
Or we could just make them spend a year driving a 1976 Ford Station Wagon Land Yacht first. (Hehehe) After that, economy car here they come!
1)Get up, hit toes on bedpost.
2)hobble to bathroom, try not to dump books into toilet.
3)Wonder how normal toilet has now become a Blue Water B'day *BRRRRRR*
4)Get coffee into blood stream - Chew coffee as somehow the filter decided that it would work better by dumping grounds into coffee.
5)Go back upstairs - Catch shoe on stairs - rip shoe
6)Take Judi to work -Take car to garage for odd noise
7)Watch as they take apart front of motor discoverign things as they go- waterpump bad, 2 pulleys shot, new belts
8)Watch as of course parts are not avalibe except by special order till monday
9)Begin to reconsider plans for trip we were leaving to go on Friday noon
Then for no reason, things turned around. It's wierd. Parts were found, things got done, naps were had. It is almost unbelevable. Suddenly the universe was righted again.
Okay, todays rant: Excuses
I read another one this morning on cnn.com (All hail CNN, your rights are reserved and copyright). These two kids who killed a 45-year-old man and injured a 19 year old woman while shooting at cars from an overpass say they were inspired by the game Grand Theft Auto. They both plead guilty to reckless homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.
Alright, wait a frigging minute! This is one of my pet pevees real bad. The video game did not cause you to do anything, nor did any movie, magazine, sugar additive, or anything else for that matter. You two did it. People today like to shuffle the blame for things they do. I think the blame lies with two groups: The kids and their parents. Want parents to get more involved with their kids? Fine, charge them as well. First few who do time or pay fines that are gonzo costly will shock the SUV crowd into action. Maybe.
And on the subject of SUV, what the hell is going on? Any bigger and they should be busses! And get this, the other day I saw a stroller with seats for 4 kids. Stroller SUVs???? This is getting out of hand. Perhaps we can stem the tide of the SUV invasion by requiring a special permit for them (With an added tax of course) Just prove you need one. Plain and simple. Example: Your a re-enactor and you use it for events to carry all your stuff and other people - APPROVED. You want one cause you see the hommies with one and think it is going to make you cooler and less subburban - DISAPPROVED (and turn around that hat) You need to carry 12 kids to a soccer games - APPROVED. You just got a promotion at work and want one - DISAPPROVED. I knew back in the 80s we shoud have allowed YUPPIE hunting. All of this would have been solved back then. Now their larve have matured and are driving, making their own larve.
See? Simple solution.
Or we could just make them spend a year driving a 1976 Ford Station Wagon Land Yacht first. (Hehehe) After that, economy car here they come!
Friday, September 12, 2003
And the wheel turns....
I woke up this am to the news that Johnny Cash had died. I remember hearing him on the jukebox when I was about 6yrs old and wondering about the man in the box. I think most little kids did, as for now, I can not say. I do not like country and western music. Never have. I always found it too banal and depressing. The man in black had fun with it. He told stories, not just whined. Even those that were, in truth, depressing always had some part of a redeaming quality. It speaks volumes about a persons talent when people who do not like him music can still say they respect him for his work.
I have considered death for a while now. Reading some of the buhddist texts makes you do that. As for answers I have none. Now, I have many more questions. I would love to ask the Dali Lama (someone I have a great deal of respect for) a lot of questions. I would think he would have the answers or at least could tell me where I had to look. Then again, part of me does not want to be responsable for driving such a wonderful and compassionate man insane with my rambelings. If you are one of my readers, you should question yourself and your grip on the real world.
It is Friday! Ah, my favorite day of the week. Here in lies the gateway to the weekend, that blissful place we all seem to strive for and lament its passing. Gamming and friends will abound tonight. There will be much rejoycing. There will be enjoyment and fun for all. If not, I am gonna bust some heads. I have my cane, and I am not afraid to use it. In a sense, Friday nights are group thearapy for me, a release. I can be myself with people who let me be just that. I can speak my mind on any subject that I want. I learn from them. To me, this is freedom.
9-11 came and went. I think it will fall into the same catagory as when Kennedy was shot. Do you remember exactly where you were when you got the news? Most people do and will never forget it. A moment in time locked in our collective psyche. Now, 2 years later, our world is very diffrent. War has come and gone. I think in general we as a people feel no better. Thing about americans is we share our pain. When we hurt we make sure someone else hurts too. This will mark an era I belive. To take a quote from B5 - We mark our history by our wars, not our peace.
Till next time, be mindful and awake.
I have considered death for a while now. Reading some of the buhddist texts makes you do that. As for answers I have none. Now, I have many more questions. I would love to ask the Dali Lama (someone I have a great deal of respect for) a lot of questions. I would think he would have the answers or at least could tell me where I had to look. Then again, part of me does not want to be responsable for driving such a wonderful and compassionate man insane with my rambelings. If you are one of my readers, you should question yourself and your grip on the real world.
It is Friday! Ah, my favorite day of the week. Here in lies the gateway to the weekend, that blissful place we all seem to strive for and lament its passing. Gamming and friends will abound tonight. There will be much rejoycing. There will be enjoyment and fun for all. If not, I am gonna bust some heads. I have my cane, and I am not afraid to use it. In a sense, Friday nights are group thearapy for me, a release. I can be myself with people who let me be just that. I can speak my mind on any subject that I want. I learn from them. To me, this is freedom.
9-11 came and went. I think it will fall into the same catagory as when Kennedy was shot. Do you remember exactly where you were when you got the news? Most people do and will never forget it. A moment in time locked in our collective psyche. Now, 2 years later, our world is very diffrent. War has come and gone. I think in general we as a people feel no better. Thing about americans is we share our pain. When we hurt we make sure someone else hurts too. This will mark an era I belive. To take a quote from B5 - We mark our history by our wars, not our peace.
Till next time, be mindful and awake.
Tuesday, September 9, 2003
Buddist truth, reality, and frozen hamburger
Well, time to update again. I seem to be letting more and more time slide between updates. A mental fad for me? Could be, more obviously it has been a very busy few days. When you begin to make a distinct choice between sleep and eating, you know you need to slow down a bit.
Anyway, my readings of late have focused on the words of Buddha. Concepts of self and reality. To be more precises, non concepts that do not include a reality, a non reality, a self and a nonself. This stuff can make your brain hurt real bad sometimes. Altho, I must say that I have gleaned a few tidbits here and there that will most likely stay with me for a while.
Example:
If you can not find truth where you are, where will you look for it?
Deep hu? Mystical, bordering on the edge of confusing. I find much of it that way. I have the worst time with some of the names. Varishnuwannpingfangalangabingdong - The Bhodisatva of Confusion and Enlightenment. Called Bob by his friends. Along this general line came something on Saturday that I feel the need to share. Consider for a moment a buddhist monk. Okay, you got your picture from a cheezy kung-fu movie, but that will work.
Now, make him Elivs. Shaved head with the sideburns and a sequin robe.
Hey baby..Ohm..I said Ohm...Wanna reach Nirvana? Bring me a peanutbutter an 'nanner sandwich...The Buddha has left the building....
Anyway, so last night I somehow injured myself making dinner. Yes, kitchen accident. Somehow I got solidly frozen hamburger jammed up under my thumbnail. To quote Dr. Evil "It's quite breathtaking, I assure you..." Not many people can understand how stupid you feel with friozen hamburger jammed under your nail as you look at it and your mind tries to reconsile this thing that has happened. Perhaps it was the cows last act of defiance. If it were, I can respect it and take the blow well thrown and honestly.
Well, off into life again..wish me luck.
Anyway, my readings of late have focused on the words of Buddha. Concepts of self and reality. To be more precises, non concepts that do not include a reality, a non reality, a self and a nonself. This stuff can make your brain hurt real bad sometimes. Altho, I must say that I have gleaned a few tidbits here and there that will most likely stay with me for a while.
Example:
If you can not find truth where you are, where will you look for it?
Deep hu? Mystical, bordering on the edge of confusing. I find much of it that way. I have the worst time with some of the names. Varishnuwannpingfangalangabingdong - The Bhodisatva of Confusion and Enlightenment. Called Bob by his friends. Along this general line came something on Saturday that I feel the need to share. Consider for a moment a buddhist monk. Okay, you got your picture from a cheezy kung-fu movie, but that will work.
Now, make him Elivs. Shaved head with the sideburns and a sequin robe.
Hey baby..Ohm..I said Ohm...Wanna reach Nirvana? Bring me a peanutbutter an 'nanner sandwich...The Buddha has left the building....
Anyway, so last night I somehow injured myself making dinner. Yes, kitchen accident. Somehow I got solidly frozen hamburger jammed up under my thumbnail. To quote Dr. Evil "It's quite breathtaking, I assure you..." Not many people can understand how stupid you feel with friozen hamburger jammed under your nail as you look at it and your mind tries to reconsile this thing that has happened. Perhaps it was the cows last act of defiance. If it were, I can respect it and take the blow well thrown and honestly.
Well, off into life again..wish me luck.
Thursday, September 4, 2003
MX2004,Marketing and How do idiots get in charge of everything?
Well, another multiday break from the blogger. Last night I had a stroke of good luck. I went with Judi to a Macromedia Usergroup Special meeting that was a worldwide net-confrence call that showed off their new suite of tools. Guess who won a copy? Yep, your truly. I go the new Studio MX2004. I am starting to think that the rest of the group mildly resent when we have some mondo prize as I always seem to win it. Colf Fusion Server 5...yep, 5k woth of software, mine. First release of Studio MX, retail about $900, again, mine. And now the new MX2004, again about $900, also mine. Needless to say, I feel enoug guilt about winning these I keep going to the meetings even tho a lot of it still flys right over my head, like a sonic boom. I watched the demos and Judi and I kept passing notes. It was real cool to me. Reminded me of being in High School again. Hard to explain to anyone, but maybe not if you think about it.
Todays rant:
Marketing people.
Okay, first, when the revolution comes the marketing people should be lined up and shot. No rubber bullets, just good old 100 percent lead. I can not stand most marketing peole. They have the same karma slime that used car salesmen do. How can someone be like that? LAst night was a good example. Ask a question, and if it didn't fit with the info they wanted to feed us, it did not exist. Would not that be wonderful in real life? Oh look a parking ticket. Nope no ticket there. *POOF* All better. Reminds me about something Bill Engval said about life would be much easier if we could have it like news casters. When things get too bad, just switch cameras and all is better. Camera 1:1000 people die in a horrid and very tragic manner while attending a kindergarden graduation being preformed by a group of blind nuns...Cut to Camera 2: Good news for egg farmers!
See? All better.
So, marketing is the art of the lie. Falsehood and diversionary tactics. Taking something bad and selling it to peole who follow along like sheep. These are the same people in IT who bypass the IT department and go directly to the CEO and sell him this wonderful whizbang program that does everying including make fries, coffee and gives you a blowjob. CEO buys it, proclaims it as wonderful and gospel for the company. IT department gets it and goes /Excuse me, this is a peice of junk you just paied 60 k for and we could have done it with freeware. It is buggy, crashes, dosen't do the job, and needs us to revamp all our hardware. The rebuild is going to run us 100k minimum and we have to sacrifice our lives for the next 2 months. So just why did you buy this?/
CEO:/IT will save us 20k a year for the next 5 years! Is that not great?/
IT: /Umm, Boss? Let me get this strait, your going to spend in excess of 160k plus overtime to save us a grand total of 100k?/
CEO:/Yes!/
It:/Were you dropped on your head much as a child?/
Can you tell I have been through this before.
If your a CEO and read this, take some advice: If your sick, you talk to your doctor before you go to the hospital and get surgery to replace your heart. Be smart, talk to your it people before you do anything rash. They will make your stuff work and run smoother. And btw, take that 100k and give em a bonus. They have earned it. Think how many times they have pulled your butt out of the fire at the last minute, or how they saved something you screwed up. They make you look good.
If your in IT and your CEO reads this and takes my advice:Email me for the address where you can ship the check or freebies ;)
Todays rant:
Marketing people.
Okay, first, when the revolution comes the marketing people should be lined up and shot. No rubber bullets, just good old 100 percent lead. I can not stand most marketing peole. They have the same karma slime that used car salesmen do. How can someone be like that? LAst night was a good example. Ask a question, and if it didn't fit with the info they wanted to feed us, it did not exist. Would not that be wonderful in real life? Oh look a parking ticket. Nope no ticket there. *POOF* All better. Reminds me about something Bill Engval said about life would be much easier if we could have it like news casters. When things get too bad, just switch cameras and all is better. Camera 1:1000 people die in a horrid and very tragic manner while attending a kindergarden graduation being preformed by a group of blind nuns...Cut to Camera 2: Good news for egg farmers!
See? All better.
So, marketing is the art of the lie. Falsehood and diversionary tactics. Taking something bad and selling it to peole who follow along like sheep. These are the same people in IT who bypass the IT department and go directly to the CEO and sell him this wonderful whizbang program that does everying including make fries, coffee and gives you a blowjob. CEO buys it, proclaims it as wonderful and gospel for the company. IT department gets it and goes /Excuse me, this is a peice of junk you just paied 60 k for and we could have done it with freeware. It is buggy, crashes, dosen't do the job, and needs us to revamp all our hardware. The rebuild is going to run us 100k minimum and we have to sacrifice our lives for the next 2 months. So just why did you buy this?/
CEO:/IT will save us 20k a year for the next 5 years! Is that not great?/
IT: /Umm, Boss? Let me get this strait, your going to spend in excess of 160k plus overtime to save us a grand total of 100k?/
CEO:/Yes!/
It:/Were you dropped on your head much as a child?/
Can you tell I have been through this before.
If your a CEO and read this, take some advice: If your sick, you talk to your doctor before you go to the hospital and get surgery to replace your heart. Be smart, talk to your it people before you do anything rash. They will make your stuff work and run smoother. And btw, take that 100k and give em a bonus. They have earned it. Think how many times they have pulled your butt out of the fire at the last minute, or how they saved something you screwed up. They make you look good.
If your in IT and your CEO reads this and takes my advice:Email me for the address where you can ship the check or freebies ;)
Sunday, August 31, 2003
Sunday...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
After several days of putting it off, I'm updating the blog. Thursday got busy and slipped into friday then seemed to smear into saturday. On Saturday, I hit one of those memoents of clarity. You know , where you understand you are in the right place at the right time doing the right things. If you have never had one of these, well, they are nearly orgasmic. We had a hammer in at Robbins Crossing. What is a hammer in you ask? Well, a bunch of blacksmiths get together at some location and subject each other and any bystandards to lots of bad jokes and puns. Seriously, we get together and work or play as the fancy strikes us. Mr Norman Wendel showed up and brought one of his latest constructs with him, an electric trip hammer. If you do not know what one is, look it up on Google. It was most excellent to be around so many other smiths. Their work was fantastic and I learnd a few things as well. We teach eachother.
PS Dear Santa, I want a trip hammer. Any color will be fine. I have been a good boy this year and can produce sworn statemts to such. I will leave the usual offerings of cookies and moo juice. You have not taken it before so I am beging to wonder if you do not like cookies and are lactose intollerant. If you want a diffrent snack, let me know. I will even do Cajun or Chineese if it is more to your liking.
Anyway, that workday faded into a nap and shower and then gamming with almost everyone here. We moved it from Friday for scheduling reasons. Again, more fun. Didn't get to bed till almost 2 am. Friday night it was after 3. Needless to say it is now sunday and I am getting road rash from my ass dragging the ground. And there is still another workday at Robbins. I am glad monday is a holiday, I need the rest.
PS Dear Santa, I want a trip hammer. Any color will be fine. I have been a good boy this year and can produce sworn statemts to such. I will leave the usual offerings of cookies and moo juice. You have not taken it before so I am beging to wonder if you do not like cookies and are lactose intollerant. If you want a diffrent snack, let me know. I will even do Cajun or Chineese if it is more to your liking.
Anyway, that workday faded into a nap and shower and then gamming with almost everyone here. We moved it from Friday for scheduling reasons. Again, more fun. Didn't get to bed till almost 2 am. Friday night it was after 3. Needless to say it is now sunday and I am getting road rash from my ass dragging the ground. And there is still another workday at Robbins. I am glad monday is a holiday, I need the rest.
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Fiddle de de, tomorrow is another day
Well, yesterday came and went.
Nothing much to go on about. Judi made it to her fist day of P/T and her therapist, C. Skip Vossler, to say the least rocks. Credit where credit is due, Judi has been working hard to get back to nermal. Yes, I wrote nermal on purpose. So far this week we had our Macromedia User group meeting ( www.seomug.org ) and plans are afoot for our next conference. For a little group, we are pretty cool on an international level. Long story. Anyway, Tuesday brought what almost every Tuesday does, SCA. Our local group, the Shire of Dernehealde has for once been meeting consistently over the summer. Parks are nice and all that, but all mosquitoes must die. This city needs somewhere for orgs to meet that does not cost an arm and a leg. Before you say community center, let me respond with $150 per hour for room rental. Yea, that is right.
Well, looks like I have my rant for today, the Athens Community Center.
We had a community center; it was a converted airplane hanger. It was not the greatest, but it was affordable somewhat. Then someone gets the idea to build this new community center. Wow, great, cool. The city funds it with taxes, a little less enthusiasm, but still, okay I can see it. It runs over budget, normal for projects here. So we have this cool looking brand spanking new community center with meeting rooms, b-ball courts, fancy gym. All in all, not a bad set up. Now comes the kicker you have to /join/ the center and pay a /membership fee/. Wait a minute! Did I not already help pay for this place and all its stuff with taxes? Well, yes, but there are operating expenses. Okay, I can see that, but they get funding from the city that covers most of that, close to 90%. Their memberships are for an Adult, $150.00 due annually. No kidding. In a county where most of the population makes less than 20k a year, they want that kind of money. Yea, real nice guys, an in town country club. That was real slick. Most of the time the place is vacant, except for a very few people(read our local $$$$ people). This place is a money sinkhole now. Wamt to see it for yourself? Click here.
The University here has great facilities, but does not allow community usage. They say its just for the students. Again, elitists abound. So here you can see what life in Athens is kind of like. One group of elites trying to out do the other while all of us other people who just want good lives get crushed in the middle. We have our carpetbagger politicians, our transient politicians (come in, get started in city politics, then move to county, then state, perhaps onward), our share of fanatics and loonies (Hi Art Gish, rot in Kansas you bastard, cause that is worse than hell!), freaks, zealots, released inmates from the insane asylum, and others. A colorful place to say the least.
Well, that is about it, except for the shout out to Tom (Yea, him from the blog entry from the other day) Welcome to the blogworld! You can see his blog here.
Nothing much to go on about. Judi made it to her fist day of P/T and her therapist, C. Skip Vossler, to say the least rocks. Credit where credit is due, Judi has been working hard to get back to nermal. Yes, I wrote nermal on purpose. So far this week we had our Macromedia User group meeting ( www.seomug.org ) and plans are afoot for our next conference. For a little group, we are pretty cool on an international level. Long story. Anyway, Tuesday brought what almost every Tuesday does, SCA. Our local group, the Shire of Dernehealde has for once been meeting consistently over the summer. Parks are nice and all that, but all mosquitoes must die. This city needs somewhere for orgs to meet that does not cost an arm and a leg. Before you say community center, let me respond with $150 per hour for room rental. Yea, that is right.
Well, looks like I have my rant for today, the Athens Community Center.
We had a community center; it was a converted airplane hanger. It was not the greatest, but it was affordable somewhat. Then someone gets the idea to build this new community center. Wow, great, cool. The city funds it with taxes, a little less enthusiasm, but still, okay I can see it. It runs over budget, normal for projects here. So we have this cool looking brand spanking new community center with meeting rooms, b-ball courts, fancy gym. All in all, not a bad set up. Now comes the kicker you have to /join/ the center and pay a /membership fee/. Wait a minute! Did I not already help pay for this place and all its stuff with taxes? Well, yes, but there are operating expenses. Okay, I can see that, but they get funding from the city that covers most of that, close to 90%. Their memberships are for an Adult, $150.00 due annually. No kidding. In a county where most of the population makes less than 20k a year, they want that kind of money. Yea, real nice guys, an in town country club. That was real slick. Most of the time the place is vacant, except for a very few people(read our local $$$$ people). This place is a money sinkhole now. Wamt to see it for yourself? Click here.
The University here has great facilities, but does not allow community usage. They say its just for the students. Again, elitists abound. So here you can see what life in Athens is kind of like. One group of elites trying to out do the other while all of us other people who just want good lives get crushed in the middle. We have our carpetbagger politicians, our transient politicians (come in, get started in city politics, then move to county, then state, perhaps onward), our share of fanatics and loonies (Hi Art Gish, rot in Kansas you bastard, cause that is worse than hell!), freaks, zealots, released inmates from the insane asylum, and others. A colorful place to say the least.
Well, that is about it, except for the shout out to Tom (Yea, him from the blog entry from the other day) Welcome to the blogworld! You can see his blog here.
Monday, August 25, 2003
Return to Earth
Man, what an excellent weekend!
The part on Saturday was a riot! Drums, Barbaras cooking, more drums, nice people, food, coffee, the nice weather, it was most hoopy! I have never played my bodhran so much in one setting. I started playing in ways I had only read about. More than one drum had the living daylights played out of it. I played till I now have a blister on one finger from my tipper. Then I played till it became two. Who cares, I will heal. It was awesome. I got to renew some old friendships and reconnect with people I drifted away from for a while. I also re-met Morgana. She's Barbaras daughter and quite a character in her own right. Barb should be very proud of her. I do not think Morgana fully understands our ways and us yet. The concepts of you are the child of my extended family and therefore an extension of my tribe seemed foreign to her. She will always have a place at my fires as long as she wishes. Dan and Heather celebrated their first anniversary as well. One year down of happiness and hopefully eons more to go! Sunday was recovery day. Needed LOTS of sleep and rest. I packed in a lot of hours to a very few days. Thanks to Tom for coming up and for the stimulating conversation on the way back from Mayapple. Made the 1.5-hour drive seem like 15 minutes. I love those conversations that seem to mess with your perception of time.
Now, for my rantings.
We have been watching Season 3 of Babylon 5. It is one of the greatest stories I think has ever been told on the small screen. Judi and I enjoy it to no end, but I have begun to find it disturbing in a way. I am seeing too many parallels between the story and our world right now. If you have not seen B5, this rant will make almost no sense to you. There are things where you can supplant one name for another and feel like your watching the news. Nightwatch and the idea of it scares me. Think Homeland Security. Clark is Bush. An unseen enemy is used to rip away our basic freedoms in the name of greater safety. ISN as CNN. Media that spews the party line. I think it is even worse after watching the episode where ISN comes back on line after being hit by the presidents forces. They begin to spew propaganda a lot like I see now on TV. They were talking about how much people enjoyed the lower crime rate since Martial Law had been imposed. This is fiction, I keep telling myself. Then this morning I was reading thru CNN as part of cup of coffee number one. I saw an article saying how the crime rate is the lowest it has been since 1973. This is mostly due to the /Homeland Defense/ measures. The one thing that bothers me is I have yet to see any form of resistance to this. Anytime anyone speaks up, the body politic wraps itself in the American flag and begins chanting nine–eleven. Better fall inline or the terrorists are going to get you. They are out there, lurking in the shadows and hidden alleyways planning and plotting. But, if you will just do what your told, we will save you. In truth I am scared, not of the terrorists, but of the government. Sometimes I feel my friends and I are the lone voice crying out in the night, but no one listens. We have no political agenda per-se. We just see what is happening. We decry evil stupidity where we see it. We are ashamed of what America has become. In a way I think we keep looking for the patriots of old, not the media patriots you see in info bites with more spin than a top. I think if Thomas Jefferson were alive today he would cry from what we have become. Perhaps it would turn to rage when he saw where we are going. America today is quite different from when I was in high school. I want my freedom back; I want to give it to the next generation. The present one does not deserve it for allowing this.
The part on Saturday was a riot! Drums, Barbaras cooking, more drums, nice people, food, coffee, the nice weather, it was most hoopy! I have never played my bodhran so much in one setting. I started playing in ways I had only read about. More than one drum had the living daylights played out of it. I played till I now have a blister on one finger from my tipper. Then I played till it became two. Who cares, I will heal. It was awesome. I got to renew some old friendships and reconnect with people I drifted away from for a while. I also re-met Morgana. She's Barbaras daughter and quite a character in her own right. Barb should be very proud of her. I do not think Morgana fully understands our ways and us yet. The concepts of you are the child of my extended family and therefore an extension of my tribe seemed foreign to her. She will always have a place at my fires as long as she wishes. Dan and Heather celebrated their first anniversary as well. One year down of happiness and hopefully eons more to go! Sunday was recovery day. Needed LOTS of sleep and rest. I packed in a lot of hours to a very few days. Thanks to Tom for coming up and for the stimulating conversation on the way back from Mayapple. Made the 1.5-hour drive seem like 15 minutes. I love those conversations that seem to mess with your perception of time.
Now, for my rantings.
We have been watching Season 3 of Babylon 5. It is one of the greatest stories I think has ever been told on the small screen. Judi and I enjoy it to no end, but I have begun to find it disturbing in a way. I am seeing too many parallels between the story and our world right now. If you have not seen B5, this rant will make almost no sense to you. There are things where you can supplant one name for another and feel like your watching the news. Nightwatch and the idea of it scares me. Think Homeland Security. Clark is Bush. An unseen enemy is used to rip away our basic freedoms in the name of greater safety. ISN as CNN. Media that spews the party line. I think it is even worse after watching the episode where ISN comes back on line after being hit by the presidents forces. They begin to spew propaganda a lot like I see now on TV. They were talking about how much people enjoyed the lower crime rate since Martial Law had been imposed. This is fiction, I keep telling myself. Then this morning I was reading thru CNN as part of cup of coffee number one. I saw an article saying how the crime rate is the lowest it has been since 1973. This is mostly due to the /Homeland Defense/ measures. The one thing that bothers me is I have yet to see any form of resistance to this. Anytime anyone speaks up, the body politic wraps itself in the American flag and begins chanting nine–eleven. Better fall inline or the terrorists are going to get you. They are out there, lurking in the shadows and hidden alleyways planning and plotting. But, if you will just do what your told, we will save you. In truth I am scared, not of the terrorists, but of the government. Sometimes I feel my friends and I are the lone voice crying out in the night, but no one listens. We have no political agenda per-se. We just see what is happening. We decry evil stupidity where we see it. We are ashamed of what America has become. In a way I think we keep looking for the patriots of old, not the media patriots you see in info bites with more spin than a top. I think if Thomas Jefferson were alive today he would cry from what we have become. Perhaps it would turn to rage when he saw where we are going. America today is quite different from when I was in high school. I want my freedom back; I want to give it to the next generation. The present one does not deserve it for allowing this.
Saturday, August 23, 2003
Yea Baby, its my groove and its freaking me out!
Woo hoo!
Friday got pulled out of the shitter by Dan (The Fish) who came back to town from a long journey early. Well, not early perse, but none the less he was here and there was gamming. Not just any kind but old style gamming. We did not get to bed till 4am. I feel so much better. Sated the gamming beast for another week. Its my monkey, but I love it.
Today we are going to a party with some old friends of mine, Zak and Barbara. 3 hour road trip to see them, but it will be worth it. Drums, food and fun at Mayapple (Their farm)Tom and The Fish will be there too. This aught to be awesome. Might have to bring a recoder to grab samples of some of this music. You would not belive what we sound like together. It's all improv, but who cares, it rocks! Zak can play anything with strings I am convinced and has way too much bluesman in him for a little white guy. Barbara has a voice that belts out with power and clarity that you could see her coaxing the birds from the trees or the deer from the woods. Me, well, I can play 4/4 time on my drum :) Judi (when she relaxes and lets her self) can get her doumbek to kick with the best of them. The Fish aught to be our front man with his doumbek as well. We have more drums than a refinery, but what the hell, we like it. The Fish said Barbara is going to make jambalia. Whooo YA! I gurentee we all gonna be fat, hell ya!
Gee, think I am psyched about this?
Friday got pulled out of the shitter by Dan (The Fish) who came back to town from a long journey early. Well, not early perse, but none the less he was here and there was gamming. Not just any kind but old style gamming. We did not get to bed till 4am. I feel so much better. Sated the gamming beast for another week. Its my monkey, but I love it.
Today we are going to a party with some old friends of mine, Zak and Barbara. 3 hour road trip to see them, but it will be worth it. Drums, food and fun at Mayapple (Their farm)Tom and The Fish will be there too. This aught to be awesome. Might have to bring a recoder to grab samples of some of this music. You would not belive what we sound like together. It's all improv, but who cares, it rocks! Zak can play anything with strings I am convinced and has way too much bluesman in him for a little white guy. Barbara has a voice that belts out with power and clarity that you could see her coaxing the birds from the trees or the deer from the woods. Me, well, I can play 4/4 time on my drum :) Judi (when she relaxes and lets her self) can get her doumbek to kick with the best of them. The Fish aught to be our front man with his doumbek as well. We have more drums than a refinery, but what the hell, we like it. The Fish said Barbara is going to make jambalia. Whooo YA! I gurentee we all gonna be fat, hell ya!
Gee, think I am psyched about this?
Friday, August 22, 2003
Friday
Yes, once again, no gamming. Guard weekend for one of our players, so we are sans 4 total. Next weekend is not looking good either already.*sigh* The weather today seems to be changing yet again. Yesterday was dam hot and humid. Even I was having problems. Today, well its 9am and the sky looks like 5am. Dark and forbodeing. It is starting to rain some, but stll not enough and it's almost 80 in the house.
I have decided that there is a bad side effect to reading Stephen Hawking early in the morning, your mind comes up with questions you can not answer. Today for example, mine was what is the mass of light? If it is energy and it can be measured, it must have mass. Dr.Hawking, feel free to email me about this, you have my address from my previous emails. Concepts of linerar and nonlinear time have been much on my mind of late. Why? I do not know, my brain does its own thing and I seem to be here just for the ride sometimes. Ever since I convinced myself Albert was in error, these things work their way thru now and then. Yea, I said it, Albert made an error. Now before you hard science types out there start grabbing the pitch forks and torches, screaming heritic and asaling the walls of my home, hear me out.
Everyone pretty much knows E=MC2
Energy=Mass x C(The speed of light) squared
Simple enough right? Well here is the flaw when you do any type of calculations:
Mass is expressed in grams and kilos, he said the speed of light was 186,000 miles per second per second.
And there in lies the flaw. You cannot multiply a standard measure by a metric measure and get a usable figure. So if you correct for this mistake you find that your results are radically changed. 186000 miles = 299,337.984 kilometers. Most 5th graders can see the change. So there you have it.
Took me a while to get back to this so I will stop here and work on the Saturday entry.
I have decided that there is a bad side effect to reading Stephen Hawking early in the morning, your mind comes up with questions you can not answer. Today for example, mine was what is the mass of light? If it is energy and it can be measured, it must have mass. Dr.Hawking, feel free to email me about this, you have my address from my previous emails. Concepts of linerar and nonlinear time have been much on my mind of late. Why? I do not know, my brain does its own thing and I seem to be here just for the ride sometimes. Ever since I convinced myself Albert was in error, these things work their way thru now and then. Yea, I said it, Albert made an error. Now before you hard science types out there start grabbing the pitch forks and torches, screaming heritic and asaling the walls of my home, hear me out.
Everyone pretty much knows E=MC2
Energy=Mass x C(The speed of light) squared
Simple enough right? Well here is the flaw when you do any type of calculations:
Mass is expressed in grams and kilos, he said the speed of light was 186,000 miles per second per second.
And there in lies the flaw. You cannot multiply a standard measure by a metric measure and get a usable figure. So if you correct for this mistake you find that your results are radically changed. 186000 miles = 299,337.984 kilometers. Most 5th graders can see the change. So there you have it.
Took me a while to get back to this so I will stop here and work on the Saturday entry.
Thursday, August 21, 2003
The adventure continues....
Well, this evening my bud Tom will be comming to town for a visit. Yes, my faithful companion (He hates the term side-kick) Tom-to!
The Lone Stranger Rides again!!!
Lone Stranger: Tom-to we need some information and more mountain dew. Go to town and see what you can find.
Tom-to:No
Lone Stranger:Oh, why not? Come on man!
Tom-to:No way, Kemotherapy. You go to town. I'm not going to get my ass beat again.
Lone Stranger:Alright, then lets go to Wall Mart.
Tom-to:Much better, no one gets their ass beat at Wall Mart...
Alright, it's not like that. Tom does not get his ass beat every time he goes to town. But hey, made for a short funny dialog, right?
Okay, now on to one of my more asurbic and pissy rants. I have been letting this one ferment for a few days just to get real good.
Peace Marchers:
Alright, listen up screw heads. I am sick and tired (gods I sound like my parents!) of all of you. First off, I do respect and have even defended your right to speak out on your point of view. Note I said speak, not yell. When a large group of people under 25 start in screaming about peace this and no Bush that I get irked. Now, understand I am no fan of Bushy at all. What I want to know is where you Platnum card carrying, nappy headed dreadlock wearing, patchouli stinking, seem to have an ingrained fear of soap and water, bunch of purchased your way into a subculture, suburban yuppie spawn get off!?!? You can not even defend your posistion, let alone have an intelligent discussion. You say stop the war, fine, good general idea. Now I ask why and your sheep like mentallity bleets back, cause people are dying. Okay, people have been doing that for centurys, but lets see something. How many people died under Saddam? How many were poison gassed? How many were totured and raped? Lets try this on for size; hundreds of thousands. How many died in the invasion? Less than 3000. Still 3000 is a lot of people, but that is just what is called a press count. They are not verifiable. Saddam killed 5000 in a single day (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2854019.stm). Thats in ONE DAY! He was a proto-Hitler and I am dammed glad we stopped him. Do not even mention sanctions and inspections to me. You people cry Inspectors, let them do their jobs, wait and see. We waited 10 years and nothing. Saddam carried on, promicing whatever we wanted to hear and people still died. The coalition forces have lost about 317 people (http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx). They knew the price of freedom and paied it. There are your real heros in this story. When confronted with fact, your usual tactic is to try to shout down the person presenting them. Very effective tactic, it worked before
.
Ask yourself this question:What have I done to deserve the freedom I enjoy?
For most of you, nothing. The freedom you have was earned with the blood of our parents and grand parents on back into time. Look them in the eyes and talk about inspections and how your right. Go out and talk to a Holocaust survivor and ask what they think. Ask them if we were right to stop him or should we have negotiated more. Go find a WWII vet and ask their opinion. Listen and learn. Read up on Prime Minister Chamberlin of Great Britan and see what he did. See the results of negotiations with a madman. That which is given and not earned is never appreciated. What have /you/ done to earn your freedom? No, you don't have to go join the millitary to protect your freedoms. Learn, be informed, make rational decisions, vote, hold elected officals responsable for their actions. Be a citizen, not a subject. Want to do something socially responcable? Go work in a homeless shelter instead of going to see a Phish concert. Take a vet to lunch and listen to them for a while. Go to a retirment home, visit and learn from our living history. Now can you look them in the eyes and say what you yell on the streets? That pain you feel in your chest should tell you something is wrong. You proport to live in the tribe of man, fine. Go learn from your wisened elders. Let nature take care of herself for a while, she did fine before you and I got here and will continue to do so. Sitting in the street does nothing but polish the bricks with your ass. Get off of it and become involved for real. I and my friends stood the line, and now another generation stands there protecting us. Where will you stand?
(Shouts out to Daniel W. - Hoo Rah! Good job! Carry on!).
There, I feel much better. Oh, one more thing:
Shouts and all the props to my Advisory Muse, Ravynn. There, happy now? :)
The Lone Stranger Rides again!!!
Lone Stranger: Tom-to we need some information and more mountain dew. Go to town and see what you can find.
Tom-to:No
Lone Stranger:Oh, why not? Come on man!
Tom-to:No way, Kemotherapy. You go to town. I'm not going to get my ass beat again.
Lone Stranger:Alright, then lets go to Wall Mart.
Tom-to:Much better, no one gets their ass beat at Wall Mart...
Alright, it's not like that. Tom does not get his ass beat every time he goes to town. But hey, made for a short funny dialog, right?
Okay, now on to one of my more asurbic and pissy rants. I have been letting this one ferment for a few days just to get real good.
Peace Marchers:
Alright, listen up screw heads. I am sick and tired (gods I sound like my parents!) of all of you. First off, I do respect and have even defended your right to speak out on your point of view. Note I said speak, not yell. When a large group of people under 25 start in screaming about peace this and no Bush that I get irked. Now, understand I am no fan of Bushy at all. What I want to know is where you Platnum card carrying, nappy headed dreadlock wearing, patchouli stinking, seem to have an ingrained fear of soap and water, bunch of purchased your way into a subculture, suburban yuppie spawn get off!?!? You can not even defend your posistion, let alone have an intelligent discussion. You say stop the war, fine, good general idea. Now I ask why and your sheep like mentallity bleets back, cause people are dying. Okay, people have been doing that for centurys, but lets see something. How many people died under Saddam? How many were poison gassed? How many were totured and raped? Lets try this on for size; hundreds of thousands. How many died in the invasion? Less than 3000. Still 3000 is a lot of people, but that is just what is called a press count. They are not verifiable. Saddam killed 5000 in a single day (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2854019.stm). Thats in ONE DAY! He was a proto-Hitler and I am dammed glad we stopped him. Do not even mention sanctions and inspections to me. You people cry Inspectors, let them do their jobs, wait and see. We waited 10 years and nothing. Saddam carried on, promicing whatever we wanted to hear and people still died. The coalition forces have lost about 317 people (http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx). They knew the price of freedom and paied it. There are your real heros in this story. When confronted with fact, your usual tactic is to try to shout down the person presenting them. Very effective tactic, it worked before
.Ask yourself this question:What have I done to deserve the freedom I enjoy?
For most of you, nothing. The freedom you have was earned with the blood of our parents and grand parents on back into time. Look them in the eyes and talk about inspections and how your right. Go out and talk to a Holocaust survivor and ask what they think. Ask them if we were right to stop him or should we have negotiated more. Go find a WWII vet and ask their opinion. Listen and learn. Read up on Prime Minister Chamberlin of Great Britan and see what he did. See the results of negotiations with a madman. That which is given and not earned is never appreciated. What have /you/ done to earn your freedom? No, you don't have to go join the millitary to protect your freedoms. Learn, be informed, make rational decisions, vote, hold elected officals responsable for their actions. Be a citizen, not a subject. Want to do something socially responcable? Go work in a homeless shelter instead of going to see a Phish concert. Take a vet to lunch and listen to them for a while. Go to a retirment home, visit and learn from our living history. Now can you look them in the eyes and say what you yell on the streets? That pain you feel in your chest should tell you something is wrong. You proport to live in the tribe of man, fine. Go learn from your wisened elders. Let nature take care of herself for a while, she did fine before you and I got here and will continue to do so. Sitting in the street does nothing but polish the bricks with your ass. Get off of it and become involved for real. I and my friends stood the line, and now another generation stands there protecting us. Where will you stand?
(Shouts out to Daniel W. - Hoo Rah! Good job! Carry on!).
There, I feel much better. Oh, one more thing:
Shouts and all the props to my Advisory Muse, Ravynn. There, happy now? :)
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Ah, the joys of technology
Ah, I am out in the sunshine with the wireless laptop enjoying a very good cup of coffee. Did a little more work on the sci-fi. I kind of got a boot in the butt from 2 authors I know. One just flat out raves about my work. Told me I missed my calling. So another chapter started and life is good. Been reorganizing it a little, I decided to write out a character that was just dangling in open space, no pun intended (For once) If there is a sequel, he will be back, but for now he is unnecessary. I keep meaning to transcribe some of my notes from tape to the blog, but I keep putting them off. at least they are not so much vapor like a lot of my ideas used to be. I highly recommend a small tape recorder for your car. Toss it in and don't be afraid to blather into it. Sometimes ideas can form from helpless and hopeless ramblings. On that note, it seems that my ramblings have become a little more coherent of late. Now, let me put this in perspective a little. Before they were just disjointed thoughts that seemed to go nowhere. I watched /Where the buffalo roam/ and /Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas/ again not too long ago. Hunter S Thompson infects ones brain if your paying attention. An infection one should seek out? Now there is an odd concept. Most people try to avoid them, but there are benefits. The ability to observe the human condition and relay those observations through simile and description are the paint of the writer. The brush can be the pen, pencil or keyboard. Much like sable, synthetic or exotic brushes can affect the finished painting. Let's hope I don't go drifting off in to the school of abstract art where only heavy chemicals can convey your meaning!
It seems strange that blogger sometimes recognises the punctuation and other times it will not, even in the same paragraph. One good thing about it is it has cut down my reliance on contractions!
It seems strange that blogger sometimes recognises the punctuation and other times it will not, even in the same paragraph. One good thing about it is it has cut down my reliance on contractions!
Saturday, August 16, 2003
Sonofagodammutherfrackinpissantbuggermulesuckingpigshanikinghofart!
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rabid bastard goofed up the entire page!!!!!!!
Rabid bastard goofed up the entire page!!!!!!!
Blackout!!!
Okay, the lights went out. Not here, but for a good many people. Still, considering what could have happened, I am surprised at how overall the people took it. No massive riots or looting. People in NYC even felt safe enough to sleep on the street in front of the train station. I bet they now have a better understanding of the homeless, at least in one way. Bet next time they do not just walk on by, but actually give something to help.
Now we get on to the part I was expecting, the finger pointing. And in the true style of politics, it is everyone elses fault. Canada blames New York, New York blames Canada, and now, get this, they both blame Ohio. Excuse me??? Is the North East power grid so screwed up that an outage in Ohio takes out NYC? Let me sum this up for you faithful readers, No. The problem is not in Ohio. Now, Bryian how can you say that? Simple, look at the power grid maps, they are on cnn.com. A third grader could show you that on the US side, if you lost Ohio, there would still be power. Loose Niagara/Toronto and all hell breaks loose. Leave Ohio out of it. Back off New York, get a grip. Canada, do not make us invade and force you to pronounce about. It is not pronounced A-boot. You are not right, the rest of the English-speaking world says about. Blame the French.
Now Bushy (I hate calling him Dubya) says, Lets upgrade the power grid! Thanks George, did you color in the lines today too? Guess who is going to foot the bill for this Great Endeavor. That is right, you and I. Heaven forbid that one of these Power Company CEOs might take a pay cut or loose his multimillion-dollar bonus. Upgrade? Why is this starting to sound like Micro$oft?
To say I have some harsh views on politics is an understatement. I still believe politics was never meant to be a profession. The founding fathers tried to keep that from happening by putting the power of the vote in the hands of the people, to get rid of career politicians like England had, or hereditary dynasties (Can you say Taft, Kennedy, Bush? I knew you could!) Perhaps a three-generation exclusion would be in order. You cannot hold political office in the United States unless there is three documented generations between the candidate and the last elected official in the same family. Your spouse may not enter into politics, even if you are dead, physically or politically. I would think that aught to hold them for a while. It was suggested once I run for either City Council or for the County Commissioners office. Talk about your underdog candidate! I would be so unpopular with the elected status elite; they might revive lynching just in my case. I know what my first action would be. I also understand the results of it. I would push for an across the board pay cut for the local representatives. Now consider this: it is a smart move money wise. Put that back in the general fund I say. One of the first things most elected groups do when they get in office is vote themselves a pay raise. Not I says Brother Rabbit. Go for the cut and make it /very/ public. Here is where this idea blossoms. If they vote for the pay cut, the people win. If they vote against it, then they are showing their true colors to the people. Then we go from there. Slash and burn. No more emergency measures to buy a truck. Could I be speaking of my local government? No more suspending the rules. No more free reign. Look out, oh lords on high, there is a revolutionary in the masses and he is just waiting.
Now we get on to the part I was expecting, the finger pointing. And in the true style of politics, it is everyone elses fault. Canada blames New York, New York blames Canada, and now, get this, they both blame Ohio. Excuse me??? Is the North East power grid so screwed up that an outage in Ohio takes out NYC? Let me sum this up for you faithful readers, No. The problem is not in Ohio. Now, Bryian how can you say that? Simple, look at the power grid maps, they are on cnn.com. A third grader could show you that on the US side, if you lost Ohio, there would still be power. Loose Niagara/Toronto and all hell breaks loose. Leave Ohio out of it. Back off New York, get a grip. Canada, do not make us invade and force you to pronounce about. It is not pronounced A-boot. You are not right, the rest of the English-speaking world says about. Blame the French.
Now Bushy (I hate calling him Dubya) says, Lets upgrade the power grid! Thanks George, did you color in the lines today too? Guess who is going to foot the bill for this Great Endeavor. That is right, you and I. Heaven forbid that one of these Power Company CEOs might take a pay cut or loose his multimillion-dollar bonus. Upgrade? Why is this starting to sound like Micro$oft?
To say I have some harsh views on politics is an understatement. I still believe politics was never meant to be a profession. The founding fathers tried to keep that from happening by putting the power of the vote in the hands of the people, to get rid of career politicians like England had, or hereditary dynasties (Can you say Taft, Kennedy, Bush? I knew you could!) Perhaps a three-generation exclusion would be in order. You cannot hold political office in the United States unless there is three documented generations between the candidate and the last elected official in the same family. Your spouse may not enter into politics, even if you are dead, physically or politically. I would think that aught to hold them for a while. It was suggested once I run for either City Council or for the County Commissioners office. Talk about your underdog candidate! I would be so unpopular with the elected status elite; they might revive lynching just in my case. I know what my first action would be. I also understand the results of it. I would push for an across the board pay cut for the local representatives. Now consider this: it is a smart move money wise. Put that back in the general fund I say. One of the first things most elected groups do when they get in office is vote themselves a pay raise. Not I says Brother Rabbit. Go for the cut and make it /very/ public. Here is where this idea blossoms. If they vote for the pay cut, the people win. If they vote against it, then they are showing their true colors to the people. Then we go from there. Slash and burn. No more emergency measures to buy a truck. Could I be speaking of my local government? No more suspending the rules. No more free reign. Look out, oh lords on high, there is a revolutionary in the masses and he is just waiting.
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Um Excuse me!
Sorry about the few days with no posts, life happened.
So I'm reading CNN.com, and I run across this:
A failed attempt in November to shoot down an Israeli charter jet with a shoulder-fired missile as it took off from the airport in Mombasa, Kenya, was a /wake-up call/ for U.S. intelligence agencies.
Okay, now is it just me or wasn't 9/11 a wake up call? Or perhaps the Embasy Bombings going on or our ongoing episodes of In search of Osama Bin Laudin or our playing Where's Sadam (Like Where's Waldo). How many wake up calls does the US Intelligence services need? Now I grock they have a hard job. Intell is at best subjective and open to a lot of interpitation. It is rare to hear when they do something right, for if they do, nothing happens. There are no easy ways to keep track of all the wackos out there. Agendeas are as wild and varried as there are Fruity Pebbles. Still, every time something happens the media in general claims it is a wake up call. Um guys, THERE IS NO SNOOZE BUTTON! Let them alone to do their jobs.
The media, geesh, where to start this scetion of the rant? How about this: They LIE. Not for some nefarious reason but simply for an economic one. Truth many times is very boring. To quote Dr. Egon Spangler "Print is dead". I will just let the bird cage liners be and move on to mass media. First of all most of the information we see on TV and hear on the radio comes from a very few sources. AP and Ruters as well as the megacorp AOL-TIME/Warner-CNN. If only three groups are feeding us information and they all want us to watch so they can sell commercial time, then something has to be worth watching, right?
Let us take for an example of entertainment-information a simple case concerning Mr. Jerry Rivers. Don't know who he is? Yes you do, he goes by the psuedonym Jeraldo Rivera. I have other rants about him, but we will let that lie where it is for now. So Jerry and his camera man are in Iraq. Okay, so are a lot of other repoters. Jerry does a broadcast. Again so what? Jerry draws for the camera on a live feed the location and direction of american and british troop movements with points of refrence. Um Jerry, that's aiding the enemy. Did you also post signs on the American millitary vehicals that said "Important Command Information In Here - This sign brought to you by AOL" ? Perhaps you were passing out bullseye t-shirts to our people as well.
Jerry got asked to leave. I am sorry, but I can remember a time when Jerry would have been more likely to have had an /accident/ in the desert or just flat out gone missing. Can you sleep at night Jerry? How many familys instead of a welcome home party got a visit from a berevement detachment because of you? Did your story get its raitings and viewer share you wanted? How are your numbers man? Got your 2% market share and some great footage hu?
I have no words for the pain I hope you some day feel inflicted on your body and mind. Pain, much pain.
Somehow we need to stop these idiots feeding info-trash to the other idiots out there. They can't be trusted. Oh? Don't belive me, consider this: In the first Gulf War there was a planned amphibious assualt by US Marines. That is what they do, the are Naval Infantry after all. So this top secret invasion plan was made and executed and you got to see it all live on CNN. Wow, to see it first person, the boats comming ashore and all those guys assualting the beach. Did you catch what I said? Go ahead and re read it, I'll wait.
Are you back now? Didn't catch it hu? Okay lets go over this slowly. Top Secret Invasion of US Marines on a beach. Boats comming ashore. To see the boats comming ashore, the CNN crew had to be there first. Guess what, they were. Waiting on the sand as the Marines landed. So much for Top Secret. I am quite surprised someone didn't open up on them with a 30 cal and toast them on the spot. Again live coverage. The other name for that is real time intelligence for anyone with a tv. Sadam has tvs. I bet Osama Bin Laudin has at least 1 tv too. They showed the President of the US watching CNN during the Gulf War because the intell he was getting from there was faster than that of the millitary on the ground. That is sad, very, very sad.
I do belive there are a few journalists out there who do a great job. They bring us the truth and an unbiased opinion of the facts as they occur. They have morals and scruples. If the two of them ever run into me, I'll buy lunch cause I'll bet your hungry for not giving into the media machine. Keep up the fight and try to sway others to come over to the side of truth. Keep at it. Try to catch them just as they graduate and smuggle them away from the corperate sector real fast before they can be corrupted by the dork side of the force.
The media nowdays is not here to inform, they are there to entertain. Want to restore credibility to the media? Bring back Walter Cronkite. There was integrity. The man poped off at the head of the CIA when he was /accused/ of being an agent. Big brass there! He was our eyes and sometimes saw things we missed, but pointed it out to us. He made us think. Something a large ammount of Americans are loathe to do now days. He did not speculate with a bunch of paid analysts in bad suits. He was there. World War 2, Korea, Viet Nam, Walter went where the story was and showed us. No fancy 3d graphics and /Situational Theme Music/. Something harder, truth.
So, keep your eyes open. It is easier to spot the lies if you know your being lied to. You are, accept that. Find the truth and share it.
Word to ya Walter!
So I'm reading CNN.com, and I run across this:
A failed attempt in November to shoot down an Israeli charter jet with a shoulder-fired missile as it took off from the airport in Mombasa, Kenya, was a /wake-up call/ for U.S. intelligence agencies.
Okay, now is it just me or wasn't 9/11 a wake up call? Or perhaps the Embasy Bombings going on or our ongoing episodes of In search of Osama Bin Laudin or our playing Where's Sadam (Like Where's Waldo). How many wake up calls does the US Intelligence services need? Now I grock they have a hard job. Intell is at best subjective and open to a lot of interpitation. It is rare to hear when they do something right, for if they do, nothing happens. There are no easy ways to keep track of all the wackos out there. Agendeas are as wild and varried as there are Fruity Pebbles. Still, every time something happens the media in general claims it is a wake up call. Um guys, THERE IS NO SNOOZE BUTTON! Let them alone to do their jobs.
The media, geesh, where to start this scetion of the rant? How about this: They LIE. Not for some nefarious reason but simply for an economic one. Truth many times is very boring. To quote Dr. Egon Spangler "Print is dead". I will just let the bird cage liners be and move on to mass media. First of all most of the information we see on TV and hear on the radio comes from a very few sources. AP and Ruters as well as the megacorp AOL-TIME/Warner-CNN. If only three groups are feeding us information and they all want us to watch so they can sell commercial time, then something has to be worth watching, right?
Let us take for an example of entertainment-information a simple case concerning Mr. Jerry Rivers. Don't know who he is? Yes you do, he goes by the psuedonym Jeraldo Rivera. I have other rants about him, but we will let that lie where it is for now. So Jerry and his camera man are in Iraq. Okay, so are a lot of other repoters. Jerry does a broadcast. Again so what? Jerry draws for the camera on a live feed the location and direction of american and british troop movements with points of refrence. Um Jerry, that's aiding the enemy. Did you also post signs on the American millitary vehicals that said "Important Command Information In Here - This sign brought to you by AOL" ? Perhaps you were passing out bullseye t-shirts to our people as well.
Jerry got asked to leave. I am sorry, but I can remember a time when Jerry would have been more likely to have had an /accident/ in the desert or just flat out gone missing. Can you sleep at night Jerry? How many familys instead of a welcome home party got a visit from a berevement detachment because of you? Did your story get its raitings and viewer share you wanted? How are your numbers man? Got your 2% market share and some great footage hu?
I have no words for the pain I hope you some day feel inflicted on your body and mind. Pain, much pain.
Somehow we need to stop these idiots feeding info-trash to the other idiots out there. They can't be trusted. Oh? Don't belive me, consider this: In the first Gulf War there was a planned amphibious assualt by US Marines. That is what they do, the are Naval Infantry after all. So this top secret invasion plan was made and executed and you got to see it all live on CNN. Wow, to see it first person, the boats comming ashore and all those guys assualting the beach. Did you catch what I said? Go ahead and re read it, I'll wait.
Are you back now? Didn't catch it hu? Okay lets go over this slowly. Top Secret Invasion of US Marines on a beach. Boats comming ashore. To see the boats comming ashore, the CNN crew had to be there first. Guess what, they were. Waiting on the sand as the Marines landed. So much for Top Secret. I am quite surprised someone didn't open up on them with a 30 cal and toast them on the spot. Again live coverage. The other name for that is real time intelligence for anyone with a tv. Sadam has tvs. I bet Osama Bin Laudin has at least 1 tv too. They showed the President of the US watching CNN during the Gulf War because the intell he was getting from there was faster than that of the millitary on the ground. That is sad, very, very sad.
I do belive there are a few journalists out there who do a great job. They bring us the truth and an unbiased opinion of the facts as they occur. They have morals and scruples. If the two of them ever run into me, I'll buy lunch cause I'll bet your hungry for not giving into the media machine. Keep up the fight and try to sway others to come over to the side of truth. Keep at it. Try to catch them just as they graduate and smuggle them away from the corperate sector real fast before they can be corrupted by the dork side of the force.
The media nowdays is not here to inform, they are there to entertain. Want to restore credibility to the media? Bring back Walter Cronkite. There was integrity. The man poped off at the head of the CIA when he was /accused/ of being an agent. Big brass there! He was our eyes and sometimes saw things we missed, but pointed it out to us. He made us think. Something a large ammount of Americans are loathe to do now days. He did not speculate with a bunch of paid analysts in bad suits. He was there. World War 2, Korea, Viet Nam, Walter went where the story was and showed us. No fancy 3d graphics and /Situational Theme Music/. Something harder, truth.
So, keep your eyes open. It is easier to spot the lies if you know your being lied to. You are, accept that. Find the truth and share it.
Word to ya Walter!
Saturday, August 9, 2003
Interesting
seems Blogger has a problem with the apostrophe and quote marks, at least when you cut and paste from Word. Ah, another fine Micro$oft product. Billy aught to be on the list of people who get put up aginst the wall when the revolution comes. To be fitting tho, he should be executed with rubber bullets. Thousands of them. 1 a minute. It would kill, but it would take many days. I will happily be a loader for the belts of ammo.
Praise the Lard and pass the ammunition!
I wonder if anyone read this stuff. If you do, send me a comment: Click here
Hey Blogger-people! Here's a simple idea that would make a very cool addition: what about a blogger search engine so we could search other blogs for things?
A few words to pass onto my fellow bloggers: You write this stuff for people to read, right? WELL DON'T USE 4 POINT TYPE! *sigh* I am not done yet...another thing L33t3 sp3ak3 sux! Get a life and a vocabulary. Also, make sure the background your using does not kill the readability of the text. Say something, do not spew back things I can read on CNN.com if I wanted to. Tell me something. Grrrrrrr...turn your hat around, pull up your pants and shut up. Have an opinion, do not just regurgitate things you hear other people say. Learn, grow and develop or you will pay for it in the end. Evolve or do not, it all ends the same.
Man, what a prolific writing day! :)
Praise the Lard and pass the ammunition!
I wonder if anyone read this stuff. If you do, send me a comment: Click here
Hey Blogger-people! Here's a simple idea that would make a very cool addition: what about a blogger search engine so we could search other blogs for things?
A few words to pass onto my fellow bloggers: You write this stuff for people to read, right? WELL DON'T USE 4 POINT TYPE! *sigh* I am not done yet...another thing L33t3 sp3ak3 sux! Get a life and a vocabulary. Also, make sure the background your using does not kill the readability of the text. Say something, do not spew back things I can read on CNN.com if I wanted to. Tell me something. Grrrrrrr...turn your hat around, pull up your pants and shut up. Have an opinion, do not just regurgitate things you hear other people say. Learn, grow and develop or you will pay for it in the end. Evolve or do not, it all ends the same.
Man, what a prolific writing day! :)
Saturday...
Sometimes I sit and think early in the morning. To the casual observer it would seem like a semi conscious stupor brought on by the inability to become fully awake in any form of rapid fashion. This could be further from the truth. I do some of my most lucid thinking in this state. I feel free from the pressure of daily requirements somewhat in the same way an insane person is exempt from reality. Not that this is a permanent state, more like driving on a long road trip and cutting across the corner of the state to save a few hours time. Unfortunately, there are days when something goes horribly awry. The shortcut fails for some reason and you are stuck, half way out of there with a mental flat tire. You sit along side the road knowing you have no spare and it is too far to drive on just the rim. It never fails too; you get it in bat country. If you do not understand the reference, go see Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. So there you are alongside an unfamiliar road with a mental flat tire and without fail some semi-toothless simian with a pickup truck pulls along side. This is usually an idea you really did not want to deal with. He offers to help and your inner survival instinct says he is harmless enough. You accept and he just happens to have a spare with him to get you moving again. Great! There is just one small problem; the spare this idea gives you is lopsided. Thats right, you just got back on the road in a clown car. The brain starts that odd wobble up and down on the brainstem and shimmies side to side like a shriner in his little car screaming down the highway in a pack of semi trucks. You get the picture. The worst part is you have to keep driving like this because it is too late to pull into a mental service station, sleep, and get it fixed. Now from here your day goes on in this fashion. People wonder why I always take a nap in the afternoon. A simple; oil, filter, lube and a new tire for the rest of the day, if you do not go too fast, you can make it. Look for the sweet spot where things smooth out.
Friday, August 8, 2003
Alright..Who did it?!?!?
Who snuck in and swapped my Friday for a Monday? Hu? Who is the smartassed bastard that deserves being held by their lower lip in a set of vice grips while getting kicked in the groin till their eyes bleed? Transmission problems, users, stupid drivers, sleeplessness, headache, back flair up. Gee, think I've had a pissy day? What ever gave you that idea? And if you send me one of those fluffy bunny happy happy joy joy cards, I warn you, I have a set of vice grips right here and I know where my combat boots are.
There, I feel a little better now. I think it is a combination of gamming withdrawls among other things. I wanna play more, but then again I always do. 4 hours is never enough. I am an old marathon gamer. Play till you drop. 20 hours or more strait. Let the coffee burn an ulcer through the wall of your stomach, when it breaks the outside you can bypass that whole mouth/swallow thing. Pour it right in...arrrrgghhh, gimme more! I can take it, I have 4 heart valves, dam thing aught to still run on 3! No gamming next week either. Maybe the week after that. Maybe.
There, I feel a little better now. I think it is a combination of gamming withdrawls among other things. I wanna play more, but then again I always do. 4 hours is never enough. I am an old marathon gamer. Play till you drop. 20 hours or more strait. Let the coffee burn an ulcer through the wall of your stomach, when it breaks the outside you can bypass that whole mouth/swallow thing. Pour it right in...arrrrgghhh, gimme more! I can take it, I have 4 heart valves, dam thing aught to still run on 3! No gamming next week either. Maybe the week after that. Maybe.
Thursday, August 7, 2003
Arrrgh!
Day starts at 5:15am, also known as o-dark-stupid. Did get a little writing done before the morning started up. At least that was something. I've had the itch to work on the sci-fi I have been writing Click here for it but the universe seems to conspire against me and keep me from it. I still have Mitchner's words in the back of my mind the whole time "Writers block is an amateurs excuse". So I don't get writers block anymore, I just have inconvenient creativity malfunctions.
Wednesday, August 6, 2003
Weblog, part duex
You ever have one of those days...
You know the kind I am talking about where the universe tests your patience to no end? Well, I had one. Not that anything bad happened, just it was the threat thereof. Kinda like seeing the universe draw back a massive fist and your all braced for the hit only to hear it bellow out "Psych!". And you know, if you drop your guard, you will get nailed hard. Well, just for the record, I'd like to let the universe know it was funny the first time, back when I was 8 years old. The joke is worn, let it end please?
You know the kind I am talking about where the universe tests your patience to no end? Well, I had one. Not that anything bad happened, just it was the threat thereof. Kinda like seeing the universe draw back a massive fist and your all braced for the hit only to hear it bellow out "Psych!". And you know, if you drop your guard, you will get nailed hard. Well, just for the record, I'd like to let the universe know it was funny the first time, back when I was 8 years old. The joke is worn, let it end please?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)