I have Food Network on a lot, and sometimes watch Rachael Ray (although she can grate on my nerves). But, she cooks quick meals and since I usually cook, I like to get ideas. But, she says "delish", and this bugs the crap out of me. What's so hard about adding 'us'? Delicious.. not hard to say, just an extra syllable and it's actually a word.

I also hate "sammy". It's a "sandwich". I'll even take "sammich", but not "sammy". If you're wanting to refer to a smaller-than-usual sandwich, at least use the word "slider". I think slider is more reserved for mini-burgers (a la White Castle), but it makes more sense than "sammy".

That's what you hear over and over during an eye exam. And, sometimes you really can't tell if it's better or worse. Sometimes, it's pretty close, or looks the same during the .03 seconds you have to decide when your eye hasn't had the change to adjust yet.

This is now the 2nd or 3rd year in a row where my new prescription doesn't seem right. Each time, my left eye is just a little "off". I give it a few days or my eye/brain connection to adjust, then just can't the funhouse effect I get anymore and need to revert back to my other prescription.

I wonder how common this really is, since it's now been a few times for myself. I now get nervous during an exam that I'll give the wrong answer. This last time, when I couldn't tell which was better/worse, I said it, instead of just picking one. But, I don't know which one the doctor chose, or how he chose it.

I think next year, I'll have my exam, and just say "whatever you found, just give me the same prescription that I've had."

I really can't stand calling a business for something, leaving a message, and not getting a call back. Especially, when it's someone who has done work for you, or because you are calling because they need to come fix something.

On Monday, I called the landscapers I have used to install my sprinklers saying I had a broken head. I asked if there was a way to turn one head off so I can still run that zone, and if they would come replace the head. As of now, no return call. I happened to have just had my back yard re-graded, so need hydroseeding. Since they are unresponsive, I called another company for a quote. While giving me the quote, the guy also replaced my sprinkler head and adjusted a few others. Chances that I'll ever use the first company again, zero. Nice guys, but if you can't take 2 minutes to call me back, you don't deserve my money.

And, there is also the hardwood floor guy. In the Fall I noticed some gaps in some planks. He came out and said to wait until mid summer to see if they go back together with the rise in humidity, then call him back if they don't. No problem, I waited. Many gaps didn't close up, so they need to be fixed. Again, been calling since Monday and NO RESPONSE. I really have no problem having someone else fix them, then take them to small claims to be reimbursed. I just want them to fix what they said they would, and to call me back. I'd be satisfied with a "We got your call, we're very busy, can we call you back next week?" Fine, that's all I ask. I'm tempted to call, leave a different name and my cell # saying I want a quote for some Brazilian Cherry floors, and see how quick they call me back.

If you own your own business, and you have someone who is an existing customer, call them back within 2 business days. No matter what your business, you have competition and if they provide better customer service, they will take your customers.

Well.. back to leave ANOTHER message for the floor guy.

UPDATE: Someone actually answered at the flooring people. They said the owners are on vacation. Here's a tip, if you're not planning to call people back, leave that sort of message on your answering machine.

I think these people who walk around with bluetooth earpieces in their ears are pretty silly looking. I see them on the street, at TKD and in their cars with this thing in their ear. Not talking to anyone, but they are so damn important that they need the phone stuck in their ear because someone MAY call them AT ANY SECOND!

There are two parents at Tae Kwon Do which always have it in their ear. And, seeing both of them, twice a week, for months I have yet to see them actually talking on it. It just sits in their oh-so-important ears. Take the thing out of your ear, you look stupid and you're not that important.

Why is it that toothpaste and mouthwash companies seem to think adults either like no taste, or mint. Things for kids have a full line of yummy flavors like strawberry and bubblegum. But, companies like Crest seem to think that once you reach a certain age, you crave wintergreen, peppermint or just mint.

I want some strawberry, tarter control, whitening flouride toothpaste which doesn't have a picture of a cartoon character on it and is for adults (kids toothpaste doesn't have whitening).

This is sort of ironic. Yesterday I spoke about the Rose Rock suing Cracker Barrel thing. Well, last night Kyla and I went into Hallmark to get Suzy birthday cards (b-day is Saturday). The cashier was helping someone and we were standing there at the counter mulling around waiting for her to finish and ring us out.

When she was done, she just walked away and started stocking shelves. I stood there, staring at her, walking away like we weren't there. No, "Are you ready to check out?" or eye contact.. just walked away.

I should mention that she was black, and I am white. I HAVE BEEN DISCRIMINATED AGAINST!!!!

True story.

Last week I called the heating people since it seemed that my heat wouldn't stay on until it reached the temp I had it set for. Today, the guy comes to take a look (an hour late). He does see that there is a problem and he has to move some pipes or something.

He says he doesn't have the stuff to fix it today, and they'll have to call and schedule a time to come back. Now, I saw him pull up in a van. And, heating systems all have a series of pipes. So, what the hell is in his van? How can a heating service guy come to a call with no elbows and pipe? Why couldn't he just call one of the installers which are in the neighborhood (and they are) and get what he needs from them?

Sometimes, business' make no sense. Being an hour late, not having the basic stuff to fix a heating system your coming to look at (service), and going to put me out on another day.

Madonna adoption boy arrives in UK - CNN.com

Human rights groups are concerned child protection regulations may have been swept aside to benefit a singer who has been generous to the impoverished, AIDS-stricken southern African nation.

Makes sense. The little kid has the human right to stay in an AIDS infested mud pit with so many flies landing on him he doesn't even bother flinching while he waits for some other human rights worker to give him a plate of slop and sliver of bread to eat while he's crouched under a cardboard roof in his dirty and torn clothes. No sense in making it easy for one of the richest women in the USA to take the boy out of that life.

Sometimes, things are a pain in the ass. Sometimes, they are a pain in the ass with an extra kick of annoying.

Last month I got an "overdue" bill from Time Warner Cable for the account we had (and closed) at the old house. The bill was for $3.80. Turns out when I called Suzy in Mexico, it for some reason takes them forever to actually bill you for some calls. I was pretty annoyed that I had to pay anything on a closed account, and didn't like that I had to waste a check and a stamp for $3.80. And, really didn't like that the bill said "Overdue" all over it, even though I hadn't been billed before for it. But, I payed it right away.. in it's own envelope so it didn't get confused with my new bill (which I was also paying the same day).

Friday, I get a "disconnect notice" about the $3.80. Although they are free to disconnect the already disconnected account, I don't like that the bill mentions "a possible collection fee". When people mention, to me it's really "threaten", anything about collections I get pissed. I have an excellen credit score and have maybe been late on 2 bills in the past 15 years or however long I've been paying bills.

So, pretty pissed off about this (remember, it's $3.80) I called up Time Warner. The guy on the phone couldn't handle this for some reason. The woman who could wasn't at her desk. He said he'd call me back, but didn't. I had given him the check number, and I told him the check had cleared on 9/21 (which it had, I was looking at my bank statement at the time).

I called again this morning. I go over the whole thing again with the guy. After going in circle of "The check cleared", "It shows you have a balance", "Great.. but the CHECK CLEARED", "The account shows the balance", "THE FUCKING CHECK WRITTEN OUT TO TIME WARNER FOR MY ACCOUNT HAS CLEARED" for too long, he asks "Can you fax the cancelled check, front and back?". I just say "No, let me speak to a manager." A few minutes of being on hold and he comes back saying "Your account has been credited", "Well, I paid it so it should be."

And that was that. I've now spent about 40 minutes of time on this $3.80 between being on hold and talking to these people.

I swear, moving can be a pain with billing. Between this, my garbage collection people billing me under a different name, Mobil totally freezing the account and my mortgage company sending me my invoice 2 days before it's due it's an added pain nobody needs.

Ever notice that about 90% of what we get in the news was told by someone "unidentified" or speaking "on condition of anonymity"? The only people who know things are people who are "officials" or those "close to those involved" which we can't know their names, who they are, what they do, or how they know the information.

At some point, it really gets hard to believe what all these "unidentified" "officials" are saying "on condition of anonymity" because they "can't speak publically" even though they are "close to those involved".

It's like the only news you can get is from people apparantly leaking information.

Wilton New York

The above URL is run by one or two guys around here. And, it absolutely sucks, and is pretty embarassing. I'm actuall embarassed for them to have their name attached to it. They also put out a newspaper called "The Wilton Report", which is actually something I enjoy getting. Aside from their "computer" article they write themselves, it's a nice little paper with ads and some local happenings. And, they say to go to the above URL. And, that's the crap people see when they do.

Anyways, over the past 2 years I've emailed them 3 or 4 times. Each time, asking if they plan to do anything with the site. Anything. Even a blank page would be better. Each time I say I'd happily take the domain over, or just help them make it a better site which is useful for the community. Never a response.

So, why don't I just buy a simiar domain and make it what I think it should be? Well, I don't have a newspaper which promotes the URL already. It'd be more useful to use the URL which people around town may already know.

I hope at some point they respond, or I run into them on the streets so they can't just ignore me as easily as they can an email. They need to not be so lazy about it, and do something with it. It's just silly that they don't.

Suzy and Kyla are in Mexico with her family for the week. So, last night I decided to give a try calling them. I ring the resort/hotel/whatever it is expecting to hear "For English, press 2" or something. But, no. Just Spanish.. fast Spanish. Not "2 years in high school 15 years ago" pace.

A man answers the line, I have no idea what he says. I say "English?" he says "no". I say "four zero nine" hoping he guesses it's an extension. He rambles some Spanish, and I repeat "four zero nine", then I'm on hold. The hold music sounds like the music on a merry-go-round. After 20 seconds he comes back, and says something.. he may have been calling my mother a goat.. and I just say "Not there?" and he says "no". Gracias.. and I hang up.

In the US you pretty much can't call anywhere without hearing an option for Spanish. ATMs all have the option. Everything has the option to hear Spanish. I'd doubt this is done for the benefit of people in Puerto Rico or Spain. It's likely done for the benefit of Mexicans (and the 12 million ones here illegally). So, why doesn't a resort down in Mexico return this favor and have an option for English? I'm sure we are what supports that economy (Cancun area).

I called again this morning (they still weren't in) but at least the lady spoke English. I used my Spanglish.. "Buenos dias.. habla English?" Next time, if they don't, I'll just say "extension cuatro cero nueve" and hope that works.

Suzy and Kyla got their passports. To do this, you need your birth certificate, forms filled out, swearing that information is correct and a cute little pair of photos of yourself.

What's interesting is that they then just mail these to you via regular mail, and put them in your mailbox. You don't even have to sign for them. Now, I'm not criminal mastermind here, but I figure that it can't be too hard to watch people at a post office who are getting passports (they would be carrying the forms or their little packet with the photos), follow them home, then snoop in their mailbox 2-3 weeks later. There they would be.. just sitting there in the mailbox.

You'd think that, with such care of these sort of things these days, that ORIGINAL passports would be sent registered mail or something. At least, they wouldn't be left unattended in mail boxes. Not only is the passport in the envelope, but also a valid birth certificate. That would give a bad-guy 2 very important documents.. be it a terrorist or someone wanting to steal an identity.

I wonder how much money I lose a year because of curb-side recycling. Whenever you purchase a bottle which you can return later to recycle, you pay a deposit. So, each can of Coke I get, I leave a $.05 deposit. But, I put all my recyclables into a bin, and put it out to be picked up (which is a service I pay for).

The service certainly beats saving bottles and cans and driving to the recycling center. But, I end up paying for a service to recycle, and never get back my deposit money. Yet, I did what I was susposed to by recycling.

I can hear someone saying "So, just go do it yourself!" I could. But, then I'm adding more work to recycle on myself by adding yet another bin. Plus, you need enough to recycle to make the trip worthwhile to the recycling center (it could cost me more in gas to get there than what I'd get back).

I just want all my nickels and dimes back!

For some reason, I'm getting all my new credit cards right now. None of them actually expire until much later in the year, but for some reason they are coming to me now. You can't just simply call the number, maybe answer a security question or two and hear a "Your card is activated.. have a nice day *click*". Every time, they try to sell you things to add to your card. More cards? Added protection plan? Move a balance? Upgrade your card? Change your PIN? Change your billing dates? Get a cash advance? No.. all I wanted to do is activate my card. Everyone has to try to upsell you. Maybe the CC companies could make more money if they didn't add all that extra advertising in their bills. Like, what I really need, is those pamphlets telling me that for $2.99 I can get some piece of crap calculator and luggage set.

The one question none of these people have asked me is "Would you like us to lower your interest rate?"

I got an email from a brother about updating contact info on our Fraternity website. So, a week later a get a nice big package containing an envelope and a bunch of material about where my money would go if I donate. I hate that shit. No "thanks for updating!" or "Glad you're back in touch!" The question is, what have you done for me lately? Nothing.. I'm not giving you any money.

I'll be sure to not update my info when I move to the new house.. otherwise I can look forward to years of begging for money.

I go on to USPS.com today to order up some new $.39 stamps. And, the coils of 100 are "not available at this time." Um.. how can the USPS be out of stamps? Especially the ones they just came out with for their price increase?

Pretty lame, if you ask me. Maybe when I run out of stamps I'll just write "No stamps available at this time" on the envelope.

USPS - New 39-Cent Stamps

You know, the USPS could have mailed people to tell them of the stamp price increase. I didn't know about it until Saturday when my real estate agent told me about it. Suzy mentioned it was going to happen a few weeks ago, but didn't know when.

A postcard would have been nice!

New home sales soar far above forecasts of cooling market - Nov. 29, 2005

New homes sold at an annual rate of 1.42 million in October, the Commerce Department said, up from a revised 1.26 million pace in September. The 13 percent increase was the biggest jump since April 1993.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast that sales would slow to a 1.20 million rate.

This is why economists don't know shit. The recent weeks of "Cooling/slowing housing market" reports have pissed me off. Not only because I'm selling my house, but because it's stupid. Yes, rates have risen.. whoopdy-doo. They are still below 7. The average rate in the '90s was 8%.. which really still isn't too bad. Everyone has been crying "THE BUBBLE HAS BURST" over the last few weeks, just because there was a small slowdown. Of course, the media is all over it like smell on poo, which does nothing but scare people. The slowdown couldn't have had anything to do with hurricanes, could it? There are entire regions where people buying homes almost came to a standstill. Katrina certainly didn't make people want to move to N.O. or the Mississippi coastal areas. Add that on top of the rise (and gouging) of gas/oil/material prices, and people weren't leaping to build a new house. As well as the insanely moronic decisions by the Fed to actually RAISE rates during that time. Now, oil prices have gone down, rates may be cooling off and material costs should be getting better.

Besides, there is NO "bubble". Every housing market is different, and each will do good or bad based on local and regional factors. If an area has jobs, people will move there, and people will want to stay there. This gives the sellers market. When an area loses jobs (plant closing, for example) and more people are selling than wanting to buy, it's a buyers market and the "bubble" pops.

Take a few examples of why reports of popping bubbles is dumb:

South Florida.. home values have (and will keep) gone up because people still want to live in that hell hole, and there is only so much land. Less land means less new homes, means higher prices for resales. As long as people keep wanting to move to hurricane central, prices will be high.

Los Angeles.. people can pay over $500k for a 1200 square foot "bungalow". Why? Because of less land, few people leaving, and everyone thinks they will be the next Tom Hanks. There are jobs, so people will go there and since more come than go.. prices will stay up.

My area... this is simply a growing area. Jobs coming in, and not so many people want to leave the area. So, prices will stay up because of supply and demand.

So, I hope economists shut up and the media can stop their "OH NO! HOUSING MARKET GO BOOM!" frenzy. Just let the various markets do as they will.

We have been members of USAA for a long time, and use them for various things. They have been fantastic with customer support and I would suggest anyone who can use them (you have to be military or related to military) use them.

Because of the past great service, we decided to use them for our mortgage on the new house. So, far.. nightmare. It's been over a month, and I have no idea where our application stands. We were (pre)approved, so I'm not worried about getting the money, but don't know where in the process we are. So far, you can't get anybody there on the phone who can give an answer. Only people who can transfer you to voicemail for people who can. Then, those people don't seem to be very responsive. For example... Monday we called the main lady who is working on our file. When I last spoke to her (3 weeks ago or so) she hasn't even looked at it yet. So, we called Monday to see what was up since we were going to the blueprint meeting. Only voicemail, and no return call. So, we called again.. voicemail. We got someone and asked for a supervisor, and were transfered to yet another voicemail.

So, it's now Thursday with no return call. I just called again, and of course all of management is in a "meeting". So, I left a message with Yet Another Manager. Eventually, I'll get someone who is responsive. This guys name was Kevin, so he can't be all bad ;-) The meeting is to end at 11 (now), so we'll see if this guy is responsive. All I want to know is where my application is at.. not exactly a difficult thing or something that would take more than 5 minutes of time to call me. Not too bad seeing as how USAA would make a few hundred thousand in interest over the life of the loan.

UPDATE: Called back at 2, got Kevin's VM so transferred out. Ended up talking to another supervisor. Everything does look on track. I did say I wasn't happy about them not keeping in touch.

You don't hear from someone for over 2 years, then they IM you with the "Hey, how's it going?" then soon lead into the real reason they IM.. to ask you a question about something ex-work related. Simply rude.

Of course, I'm a nice guy and try to help. Well, at least the first time is free ;-)

I have been hearing a lot of hubbub lately of racial profiling.. people for it, and people (mainly those of Middle Eastern decent) against it. This topic seems to have been (re)spured by the London bombings, and the recent increase in security because of it.

I am 100% for authorities using racial profiling, whether it be an unspoken act or saying they are. In fact, I hope they are racially profiling. In fact, I demand they do it. Opponents say it's not fair, and the main thing I hear them saying is "Timothy McVeigh was white, and did domestic terrorism which shows profiling wouldn't work." That's such bullshit. The fact of the matter is that there are two groups of people who are our main threat. Islamic fundamentalists which are of Middle Eastern decent, and those which aren't. That's the profile of the guy with a bomb in his backpack. That's the profile of the guy flying a plane into a building. That's the profile of people hiding in caves firing RPGs. That's the profile of the guy using a knife to cut the head off a living man. So, why in the hell should authorities waste their time searching white, blonde women? Or, the elderly? When have those groups of people been known to strap bombs to themselves in the name of jihad?

Political correctness is out of control. We need to target the people and communities which are most likely to want to do us harm. When abortion clinic bombing were 'all the rage' I also thought we should be targeting the fringe right-wing Christians. Nothing different here, and I don't think profiling shouldn't be used simple because the profile itself contains a religion or ethicity.

Are there any good arguments as to why racial profiling is bad, or shouldn't be used? I know if I were an olive skinned man who fit the profile, I'd have no problem being stopped. I'd know if they target me, they may target those most likely to cause harm and not waste time on people who don't look like the 9/11 hijackers, the London bombers, the people who blew up the USS Cole, the people who did the first WTC bombing, the people who did the bombing in Spain, Turkey, Africa, Saudi Arabia, etc...

Suzy's health insurance company both rocks, and sucks. They rock because they have taken care of so much of the stuff Suzy has needed. I'm not sure if that really counts as "rocking" as an insurance company, since that's what insurance is. I guess if they cover what you're paying for them to cover, then they are just doing their job.. but, I'll say they rock in that respect.

But, they also suck. About a year ago, a medical office mis-filed with the insurance company saying that the doctor was out-of-network. Their mistake. So, we get a bill for the amount of the treatment. Not good. We immediately called both the insurance and doctors office. Basically, saying "You guys resolve this, it's not our mistake." Every month since then, we get a bill for the amount. EVERY MONTH. And, EVERY MONTH we call to ask them to resolve it. And EVERY NEXT MONTH another bill comes. Rinse, repeat... for 11 months. Every time we're told "Ok, it's worked out now. Ignore the bill and you'll get no more of them".. then a bill comes. And the "you owe us money" notes on them get more aggressive with going from "Hey, you're past due. Please pay" to "We will send this to collections."

When I see "collections", I get pissed. I tell these people every month that it can take some idiot or machine 2 seconds to mess with my credit, and take me years to fix it. "Oh, you're all set.. it's all taken care of".. riiiiiight.

Also, every time I call they tell me they can't talk about it with me since Suzy has to "go online" and fill out "a form" to say they can talk to me about it. Although, she has verbally told them. Them talking to me would be a HIPAA violation.. and I always point out to them that they HAVE spoken to me about it and since they already made the violation, just go with it! I also say to them, EVERY TIME that they don't need to talk to me. "I'm telling you there is a problem, you don't need to talk to me about the problem. You can just FIX THE FUCKING PROBLEM without having to talk to either of us." But, they don't seem to deal with problems unless they can keep someone on hold for 20 minutes at a time while they do it (well, not really do it but think they are) right then.

Why do I write about this now? A month ago, they again said it was taken care of. Yesterday, what arrives in the mail? You got it, a bill. I call, and have the same conversation as every month:

Them: "You're wife has to go online and fill in a form..."
Me: "You don't need to talk to me about anything. I'm telling you that the same problem from a year ago is still happening and you guys still haven't fixed it."
Them: "You're wife can call and we can talk about..."
Me: "Talk about what? She has written letters, sent faxes, made phone calls and yet every month we get a bill after you guys say it's fixed. Just fix it."
Them: "I'm sorry about all this, sir"
Me: "Don't be sorry, fix it."

So, Suzy called this morning. Some woman then called me to talk about it, saying she spoke with the collections dept. and the doctors office and "it's all taken care of in the system." I said I've heard that 11 times. She said she is at "management level", whatever the hell that's supposed to mean.

I'm taking bets if a bill comes next month.

FYI.. when it's 8:30pm in your time zone, and 11:30pm in mine, please add three hours to your time zone and make a better decision if you should dial that phone.

I really hate getting ID'd. I don't mind it if it's from someone new, or somewhere I haven't been before. I don't look 18, I even look over 21 and certainly look old enough to get a pack of smokes. I go to one of two places to get them, Mobil or Stewert's. Mostly Stewert's since it is 1/4 mile closer. I can be in there 3 times or more a week (I also get milk and eggs there) and everyone who works there has sold me smokes. Yet, the same ones keep IDing me.

This morning, yet again, I was asked for my ID. I said to the woman "Let me know if I got any younger since the last time you ID'd me." "Oh, have I ID'd you before? I guess I have."

I didn't mean to be rude. Well, maybe I meant it a little. I'd figure by now the people would recognize me (a few there do) and not hassle me. I figured maybe this time she'll take a harder look at me and remember me next time. A guy that works there knows me well enough that I walk in and say "Pack of UG" (like ugh) and he knows what I want.

After being a regular at a store for about two years now, you'd expect employees to recognize you and even know some of your usual purchases. At least, recall that they know you are over 18 and have proved it before.

I remember when I lived in New Haven I used to go to the same Dunkin Donuts every morning before work and get a coffee. The two women who worked the mornings knew me. Well, they didn't know me, they just associated me with "large coffee, light and sweet please." They even knew when I'd show up. It got to the point I'd walk in, be on line, and one would wave me up ahead with my coffee already made for me. Now THAT is service.

What the hell is up with these these days? I remember "back in the day" when it was still taboo to do this. The rings where usually simple and it was more of a "I'm different" thing to do. Now it seems every chick has one. And, not just simple ones, but large shiny ones. Soon, people will be hanging car hood ornaments on them.

But really, what's up with that? It looks so dumb to have a large shiny thing hanging in your belly button. It looks like someone left the foil from a stick of gum in your navel on their 'way up'. Do (other) guys really think this is sexy? Shiny belly button lint? I think it's silly.

Don't get me started on the meaningless tribal tattoos women seem to be getting in droves right above their asses. You can barely tell the strippers from non-strippers these days!

Does anyone else notice more people putting re: inside emails? Like:

I agree with you re: paper cuts. They are annoying and can hurt.

What's up with that? What's so hard about typing:

I agree with you about paper cuts.

???

People are getting so damned lazy. I can understand using, and use, some shorthand.. FYI, FWIW, IANAL, etc... But, using 're:' doesn't even make sense. One day, all email will look like this:

I got it re: package. LOL. Funny. Thx. <g> BTW, IMNSHO,IJWTS u should b happy re: vacation. When u r here F2F, KYFC 4 gud weather. TTFN, GGFN.

LUV,
re: me

So, Kerry lost. I'm dissapointed, and can only hope that Bush can buck up and make some positive changes in his foreign policies and domestic issues. I cast my vote, and am proud of the voters for having the best turnout at the polls in.. ever I believe.

On another topic, I was arguing with someone on another journal about third party voters. My position is that voting for a third party in an election like this is a waste of a vote, and not the right thing to do. His seems to be that he shouldn't have to defend voting for a third party. But, he quickly got to a point of "kicking you in the head" verbage, which you simply can't continue debating on. That's the "I'm just going to talk now, and not listen" stance, which is a waste of time.

But, let me explain my position on this. I'm a social libertarian, liberal in some area, and conservative in others. I'm probably what you'd call "middle of the road". I don't usually vote based on party lines, and I'm currently a registered Democrat because I want to vote in the Primaries. For the most part, aside from "open borders" and their stance on gun control, I most closely align with the Libertarian Party.

With that, it looks like I'm a third party sort of guy. And I am. But, not in the presidential election. I'm all for it with local, district and state positions. I think having the third party views mixed in with legislature, congress, the senate, etc... is a good thing. It's the best way to ease communities into third party politics and values. You have to start small. A mayor, state rep, senator, and on up the line. You can't just throw a Libertarian or Green Party candidate into the White House. The counrty simply isn't ready for that sort of radical change of views. It could also slow down Washington even more than having a Democractic president and republical senate (or vice versa). These third party positions need to be eased in, and become accepted by more people first. People are used to, and comfortable with, Republican positions and Democratic positions. That's what we have all grown up with, what we are used to, what we learn about in school, and what we mainly read about.

So why should a "third party voter" not vote for a third party candidate for president? Because, they won't win. Most will rebute saying they are voting for the person which they are most aligned, and that's what they should do. They shouldn't have to vote for someone because they are one of the likely winners Good points. But, if I live in Chicago I won't put my money on the Cubs winning the World Series. I'd bet on the Yankees or someone who actually has a chance of winning it. Maybe I'd put a small bet in for the Cubs, or probably bet on them winning a certain game. That's like voting for third party candidates for mayor or state rep. But, I surely wouln't bet the bank on them winning The Series. They could be who I root for, but in reality, they won't win. Why take your precious vote, in a close race especially, and cast it for a sure loser? In what other area of your life would you put your time, money or backing into a sure loser? But, people so flippantly cast their precious vote that way. Many have, and will, die for your and their right to be able to cast that vote, but people so easily throw it away. Some people may say they live in a "red state" anyways, so their vote won't make a difference. Sure it does. It gives one more to that popular vote. Ever throw a soda can into the garbage instead of the recycling bin and think "It's only one can"? Ever wonder how many people are throwing a can into the garbage thinking "it's only one can"? The thing is, you just never know. It may be your can, or your vote, which makes the difference. Imagine what a difference 538 extra cans in Florida would have made in 2000? Did you know 2,274 people voted for John Hagelin of the Natural Law Party? That's right, the Natural Law Party. Those 2,274 votes went to a party which doesn't exist anymore, and believes laws should be discovered, and not created.

So why not vote for a sure loser, even though that's what your heart tells you? After all, this is a democracy? (Well, it's really a republic, and arguably socialist) Do people really think Nader would be a good President? Exactly what makes him a leader or presidential? Bandarik? The only office this guy ever held was Executive Vice-President of his dormitory at Indiana University. How can someone actually vote for a person for President of the United States whose political career began and ended with his college dorm? He is a Life Scout (didn't make Eagle Scout), but that doesn't give him the experience to be the most powerful man of the free world. No matter how you align yourself with his party ideals, he really isn't much more qualified than myself to do the job. Heck, I was Greek Council President, after all! When people are voting for these folks, I believe they are really voting for the party, and not voting with the person in mind.

You need to remember, you vote for a person as well as a party. I've said, from before the primaries, that if Dean won the nomination that I would vote for Bush. Why? Because I believe Dean would do a worse job, and wasn't presidential material. I wouldn't vote Democrat because I couldn't vote for the man of the party. I also wouldn't vote for Nader or Badnarik for the same reasons. I don't believe they are qualified for the job, so why would I vote for them?

So, that leaves us with Kerry and Bush. If I felt that Bush did a good job over the past few years, I'd vote for him. Partisan ideals aside. But, I don't think he did a good job. I don't think he's done well with the economy, I don't think he's done well with the deficit, I don't think he's done well in Iraq, and I don't think he's capable of rethinking any position he has made in the fear of showing any weakness. He'd rather be right, than correct. On the other hand, there was Kerry. I believe he is qualified to do the job, and that he could do no worse than Bush. Also, it's expected that the next president will be appointing up to 3 new Supreme Court judges. This is a huge thing. A very huge thing. As my grandfather said to me "Most people don't understand the power these people have. It's greater than the President, and can sometimes be more important." I'm afraid that Bush would appoint based on his personal beliefs and morals. I'm afraid that he could and would appoint people who interpret the Constitution with a Christain slant, instead of having no theology in their decisions.

This rant has sort of jumped around, but I hope you get my point. I'd hope that one day this country could have a third party president. But, it's just not ready and no third party candidate has remotely been qualified for the job. Of course, if Kerry represented the Natural Law Party, I wouldn't vote for him because of the idiotic party :-) And, I don't think that burning a vote to "take a stand" against the "two party system", or "because where I live it won't matter anyways" are valid reasons to do so. It's just taking your vote for granted. I live in NY, and we all know it's a "blue state", yet I was up bright an early and went right away to cast my vote. It didn't matter what the polls said my state would go. It didn't matter what history shows my state would go. There was no bandwagon involved. I went and voted for one of the two realistic candidates for Commander in Chief which were on the ballot.

We hear there are about 10% of voters which are "swing votes", and can go either way in the election and have yet to decide. What the hell are they waiting for? I mean, really, we are weeks away from the election. What do they need to have happen before their minds are made up?

Are they waiting until election day to see if something specific happens with Iraq? Or waiting to see if there is another terrorist attack? Would those things make them decide? What are these peoples "swing issues" which they can't decide on? The economy? Healthcare? Taxes? Gay marriage? What are they still analysing? Both candidates have pretty well laid out their plans for various things. If you ignore what they say on the campaign trail and read independent analysis of these things, you can get past the rhetoric and see what they want to do, and make a decision.

So what is it? Why can't people decide by now? What are the issues they are waiting on?

Personally, I believe Kerry could be better on the domestic front. The international front remains to be seen, but I don't think he could do worse than Bush. I never likes the US being the World Police, and don't want it to become the World Bully. I don't think we need a permission slip from anyone to defend ourselves (neither to EITHER candidate), but do believe that a clear understanding in the world community before committing people to war is needed. We don't need to alienate ourselves (more), and we don't need to be seen as a rouge superpower or unpredictable. I believe in war as a last resort, and covert operations to find and kill terrorists wherever they are. I believe in honesty, and being able to say you made a mistake or have changed your mind based on new information. I don't believe Kerry would somehow be soft of terror, or only be reactive. Sometimes you need to be, when blindsided. Of course, I don't hear about Bush going after bin Laden before 9/11, but does say he knew bin Laden was a threat.

Anywho.. I digress. I still wonder what the swing voters could possibly be waiting for, or make them ebb and flow at this point.

CNN.com - Senate approves Iraq war resolution - Oct. 11, 2002

I keep hearing from the Bush Camp about how Kerry voted "for the war in Iraq", then against "funding the war in Iraq". Actually, Kerry voted to give the President authority to go to war (H.J.Res. 114). Not for the war itself. Is a vote to give the authority to go to war the same as voting "for" the war? Maybe so. I can argue both sides. But, I mainly believe the President should have had the power to attack Iraq if Saddam didn't give up the WMDs. It actually isn't a war. I don't think there was ever an actual declaration of war. The President just had the authority to attack Iraq. And of course, we all believed as we were told and thought there were stockpiles of deadly WMD being readied to hand over to terrorists. Ironically, I think more Anthrax was mailed in the US than found in Iraq, and investigators believe it *came* from the US. So, this is the first part. Bush attacks Kerry on this.. his voting to give him (Bush) authority to attack Iraq.. followed up by something else, but precursed with "He voted for the war on Iraq". Should really be "He voted to give me, the Commander In Chief, the authority to attack Iraq."

The second part is Kerry not voting to fund the war (I forget the resolution number). He didn't want a) for the deficit to get even larger, and b) for us to end up picking up the whole bill for this. He wanted more allies on board to help pay for this. In the 1991 conflict, the world paid for about 95% of it. Now, the USA is paying for about 90% of this conflict. Suddenly, Kerry is a flip-flopper?! He voted to give the Pres authority, but didn't want us to pay for it. I don't see the flip-flop. I see someone giving the Pres power, and then being fiscally careful.

I really wish the Bushies would stop using these two things against Kerry. Or, stop spinning it. "Kerry voted to give me power to attack a country based on incorrect intelligence because I told him the intelligence was good, because I thought it was good... then he didn't want to pay for my war!!!" seems fair.

How about "Dude, sorry about the job deficit" or "Hey, really sorry the economy is so sluggish." How about "Sorry, still don't know where bin laden is. He's one slipperly guy." Notice bin laden hasn't been mentioned for a while? Notice how the phrase "turning the corner" went away real quick because soon after there were huge losses in jobs?

C'mon. If 9/11 didn't happen, we wouldn't vote Bush in for a second term. And we shouldn't vote him back in because it did happen.

Counter-rant at will.

Fuccillo Lincoln Mercury Hyundai

I think every region has at least one local business which has the most annoying commercials. Fuccillo takes the cake up here. He's a big guy who comes across (or is?) as a stereotypical "big dumb palooka". In the commercials they do the sales pitch, then he yells "IT'S HUUUUUUUUGE". Another thing that annoys the crap out of me is how he compares the Hyundai Elantra to a Jag. He seriously says there is no difference between the cars aside a hood ornament and thousands of dollars. And, somehow the Elantra is better because of the warranty that comes with Hyundai. He doesn't mention the speed, power, resalability, options or craftsmanship differences. I hope nobody actually buys a Hyundai thinking they are getting a cheap Jag, but wonder what the sales people say in person when you ask why they should get a Hyundai instead of a Jag (assuming you can afford a new Jag). Anyways, just had to rant about this guy since I see him 50 times a day on T.V.

By the looks of this guy, he'll one day have a HUUUUUUUGE heart attack, and maybe the commercials will stop.

I was reading that the president is currently at a salary rate of $400,000. In 1789, it was $25,000 and a few years ago it was voted to DOUBLE the salary from $200,000 to the $400,000 it is now.

It's in the Constitution that the president can have a salary. But, um, do he really need it? After all, it's tax payer money paying it and I don't know when the last time we had a non-rich person as president to begin with. Presidents are pretty much taken care of from the time they take office, until they die. I'm not really sure why they need a salary, let alone such a large one. To me, being the most powerful person of the free world would be salary enough. Knowing that I have a pension, and that I can command big bucks for appearances after my reign.. er.. I mean.. term was over would be good enough.

I think the presidents salary should be on a sliding scale. If you are currently worth millions, then you certainly don't need another $400,000 of taxpayer money.

Christian Children's Fund

Every day I see this charities ad. The guy basically tried to guilt you into sponsoring a child. What I really hate is the guy saying "you're not too busy right now, so pick up the phone".. while I'm working, cleaning, doing some parenting chore or doing something which pretty much makes me busy.

He also says that 27,000 children "died last night". I see this commercial every weekday, for the last 8 or so months. This means they are saying 4,320,000 children have dies (at least, since this is just considering 5 days a week) in the last 8 months. OVER 4 MILLION!! I couldn't find any numbers like this on the website, though. But, it does say they help "more than 7.6 million" children. If 27,000 die every night, then they aren't doing too well.

I went to the website and asked them to break-down these numbers. I'm not sure if my submission made it or not. Once you click you want to submit the question, it takes you to an account creation form and doesn't say if it was submitted or not. I'm certainly not creating an account! We'll see if they answer... if it went through.

CNN.com - Iraqis express outrage at Hamas leader's killing  - Mar 23, 2004

I don't know, but I think the Shiite leaders in Iraq should worry about their own country and keep quiet about others plights for now. They were too weak to overthrow Saddam for 30 years and now they need to have an opinion on everything. And, frankly, I don't trust this al-Sistani guy. He seems like the kind of guy who can go "Start killing the Americans wherever they are" and people would. These people are dangerous, and is exactly the type of person Israel just killed. I'd wager that al-Sistani will be dead within 2 years because someone will see him as a threat (a Sunni, Israel, the U.S., another Arab state) and take him out. But, I also think that that whole region will be a radioactive dust bowl within 5 to 7 years.

They demonstrate against the Israeli attack now in Iraq, but probably don't thank the Americans for giving them the opportunity to do so. A year and a few days ago they couldn't demonstrate unless Saddam said they could.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a big pro-Israel guy either. I just think it's time both sides finally stop killing eachother, split up that high-quality sand they have out there, and deal with eachother. But, Hamas wan't genocide against Israelis, and with Israel stepping up their raids, it will eventually be a gradual genocide against Palastinians (after all, they are all guilty of direct or indirectly). Once Israel adopts a "if you know a terrorist and don't turn him in to us, then you are also guilty of terrorism" policy, then there will be less "targeted" bombs needed and carpet bombing would be easier. I give this about 18 months until this happens.

I hope my predictions are wrong!! I don't really care who is "right" or who is "wrong" anymore around the world. People just need to learn to live together. Dying for a cause is easy, living for one worthy of respect.

It's annoying when you have people who get Joe Job emails "from" you, and reply to them yelling at you. This is what the idiot Mrlawnn@aol.com did. Replies to some SPAM he got, saying "take me off your list ass hole". Of course, I responded calling him an idiot. First, you never reply to a SPAM. It only verifies your address if the spammer was stupid enough to include their real email address as the reply-to or from. Of course, this doesn't happen, so when you do this you just end up yelling at someone who has nothing to do with the SPAM, and have done nothing useful whatsoever. As well, you can look at the headers to get an idea of where the email actually came from, and contact the ISP if you wish. This guy obviously has no clue how spammers SPAM, or he wouldn't have yelled at me. Then again, he is an AOL user... which explains a lot.

The news is that the new gov't there will pull their troops out of Iraq. The majority of the populace there disagreed with the war, so this is a popular thing to do there. However, the war is over! Pulling out now will not reverse the war. Two main reasons I think them pulling out is a bad idea:

1) The war is done, Saddam is gone. Troops are there now to provide security, aid, and help with reconstruction. By taking the troops out they are basically turning their backs on the Iraqis and the help which is needed to rebuild a safe and productive Iraq. It won't hurt the "war effort", it will hurt the "rebuilding effort". I'm not sure how that is a good thing.

2) It puts a "win" into the terrorism column. If I were a terrorist, I would certainly take this as a win. I'd figure I can go into a country, blow things up, kill people and possibly change their policy. If anything, they (the new gov't) should be defiant and say "You can't scare us!" instead, it is saying "no mas! no mas!"

In my eyes, it will do nothing to help the Iraqi people, and give a message to terrorists that they actually can win and get the infidels out of Islamic land.

I was just watching some of a speech Bush is giving at the moment. He said:

The world is more peaceful and America is safer...

I'm not sure what "world" he was referring to, but in this one there were more Palestinians killed today, some US civilians in Iraq, and we have now killed two in Haiti let alone all the killing that's been going on there. And, of course we are still in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Let's not forget Turkey. There is killing almost daily between Israel and Palistine, people killing our troops and Iraqis daily, issues still with North Korea as well as all the other 3rd world countries which always have problems (Columbia, Peru, etc...) So, how exactly are we more peaceful? I hate it when politicians (especially a president) says something like that, cronies applaud, and nobody gets any clarification on it. What exactly is he referring to as being more peaceful?

Also, is America more safe? I guess we are safe until someone blows up another building or randomly mails ricin/anthrax/smallpox to people. Our borders aren't any more secure with Canada and Mexico. We have been told that all the intel for Iraq was basically wrong on WMD. Intel agencies are just learning how to communicate with eachother. And, agencies have said they believe there are sleeper cells in the US. So, how are we more safe? Because we have more baggage screeners and a color coded threat system? Do you feel safer? I don't. I feel like at any time someone can set off a dirty bomb. Waltz in from Canada or Mexico with chemical agents. I think the "safe" feeling is complacency since nothing has happened on our soil since 9/11 (aside mailing Anthrax and ricin.. but that's no big deal, right? The FBI will figure out who did that when OJ catches the 'real' killer). So, how are we more safe Mr. Bush? Because Saddam, a non-immediate threat, is in custody? Should we expect Bin Laden to be captured in late October before elections?

Bush also said how the economy is doing better because of investing. Too bad he didn't see that the Dow and NASDAQ were both down, again, while he was speaking. I believe the NASDAQ is at a yearly low, below 2000 points.

He said that most new jobs being created are small businesses. That's not a job. I am a small business. Many people are a business because there are no jobs for them. I'm not sure that because you get a d.b.a. or Inc or LLC for yourself that you are suddenly employed. Then again, he didn't say "gainfully employed". Is he forgetting all the millions of people who have become, and remain, unemployed since he took office? He added in some spin about last weeks sour employment reports.

I hope people don't actually buy in to this spin and BSing. Saying things doesn't make them true. You need to qualify these statements with facts. How he could say the world is more peaceful and we are safer is beyond me.

Anyone been able to use being on the National DNC list to their advantage? I registered as soon as I moved into this house and had my new number. I know I registered because I went online to make a complaint, and it said I was a week away from being in there 3 months so couldn't make a complaint yet. Ok, no problem. So, last week I went to register another complaint since I was called again. The damn site said my number wasn't registered!!! And, there is NO PLACE on the site to email issues to. Piece of government shit. I sent an email to the usual webmaster, info, abuse, etc... email addresses saying "WTF!?" but have had no response.

So, I had to reregister. We'll see what happens in 3 months.

Yesterday Suzy took my car to work. Snow tires for the truck were supposed to come in, so she took the car so I could take the truck to get the tires on. For some reason, she decided to get off the safe highway and take the backroads on the way home. She hit a large pothole and totally screwed up my alignment. I was going to take the car in this morning, but the roads are icy. Between the ice and whacked alignment, I felt it was safer to do it another day. Sort of also sucks since I can't get to see Return of the King today.

I'm pretty pissed this happened. Suzy shouldn't have to be driving 40 miles to Schenectady to work, since she was promised to work in the store which is 5 miles away. The corporate bullshit, lying and typical things which happen in the corporate environment (and unions) have kept her where she is. That's what really pissed me off. She could have been hurt, the car could have been damaged, or someone else could have been hurt. There is simply no reason for it.

This morning she took the truck to get the tires on it (since they came in late yesterday and they didn't have time to put them on). And, we have very icy roads. So, I called her office to tell them she won't be coming down. I called since her cell phone was dying. The guy had a tone in his voice like "Why can't she come down? The roads are fine here". Well pal, those roads are 40 MILES AWAY! Hey! The weather is fine in Dallas also, so she could surely make it in safely! The right response from him would have been "No problem, NO NEED TO RISK HER LIFE DRIVING ON ICE. Maybe she could go to the store 5 MILES FROM YOUR HOME TODAY." Nah, that would be too understanding.

Sometimes, I don't understand people. Unless you are a cop, doctor or fireman there isn't much of a reason why you should risk your life or limb to get to a job. When the news keeps saying "treacherous driving" then you have no reason to drive.

I watch The O'Reilly Factor every night. I agree with Bill on just about everything. Some things I don't, but I share the majority of his opinions. I agree with a point he made tonight:

What does it say when Newsweek magazine can find Al Qaeda big-shots for sit-down interviews - and our CIA can't find them? Why won't President Bush fire CIA Director George Tenet?

Basically, a Newsweek reporter found a guy who runs messages between UBL and Mullah Omar. But, the CIA can't seem to fine UBL or Omar. How is it that a reporter can find someone like this, but the CIA can't? If they could, they would probably know where UBL is. Where is the outrage at the CIA, and Tenet, for not being able to find these guys? Are we too wrapped up with thinking about Iraq right now? And, why hasn't Bush gotten rid of Tenet?

: R. Kelly is wanted on kiddie-porn charges in two states, but that didn't stop the R&B singer-producer from attending the Billboard Music Awards Tuesday. Incredibly, he won six Billboard awards in the R&B/Hip-hop category, including Artist of the Year and Album of the Year. What a wonderful message to send to America's children.

Totally agree. Why R. Kelly is walking the streets is beyond me. And, why he is being honored... well, I just don't get it. The Billboard awards are chosen from the public. So, does this mean that the public doesn't care when a 'role model' or 'artist' has sex with a minor (on tape, for that matter)? Where is the morality of the public these days? What kind of message do you send when actions like this are ignored and you then give this person awards?

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch releases a new Christmas CD, "Orrin Hatch's Christmas Eve."

Er.. that will go next to the Nimoy singing about Bilbo Baggins single.

Also, the news that Bush isn't allowing countries which are not part of the coalition to bid on reconstruction projects (over 18 billion worth of projects). I also agree with Bill on this one. I believe Russia and France should be left out. They have made it clear they will give no help in Iraq, and should not be allowed to profit off of the rebuilding of the country. However, I think that Canada and Germany should be able to. Germany is helping in Afghanistan and I believe Canada is as well. But, although I agree with keeping the two countries out, I think Bush went about this in the wrong way. Instead of publicly embarrassing these countries, their bids could have just been ignored. Most of the world hates us enough as it is (Bush has made us less popular than ever), and his foreign policy isn't helping.

It's too bad that Bush will probably win another term. The Dems will likely put Dean up as the candidate. Dean will likely lose to Bush. Lieberman would be a better candidate, and could probably give Bush a run for his money. Lieberman is more of a moderate Democrat. But, he will lose the primary because most of the moderate Democrats are now more republican, and many of the Democrats are more leftist.

Anyways, I'm not a Bush fan. I don't care much about what party wins, I care about the actions of the President. I thought Bush was a bad choice 3 years ago, and still think he is the bad choice. Hopefully, the majority will feel the same next November (of course, the majority felt the same in '00 but it didn't matter).

Blah. Bedtime.

We went by to see the house today. We had to see Claire, the realtor for the builder, to get the key. She has been pretty bitchy, and very unprofessional in the past and today was no different. When we were leaving, she told me to get the bank inspection for Wednesday. I guess she must have just learned I should have it Wednesday this morning, since all things are decided on Sunday mornings. Or, when she did have that date she couldn't find my contact information to call me, my realtor, or my mortgage broker. Thanks for the short notice!

So, I mentioned to her that I spoke with my attorneys office and they said they requested the survey and whatnot from the builders attorney last month, and have not gotten them. They need this to get the title (or whatever.. bunch of paper stuff). She actually said to me "You should tell your attorney to grow up and call more than once to get these things." I was take aback. So, I said "You should tell your attorneys to grow up and not have to be called more than once to do their job." I got very pissed and just walked away. Now I have more people to chase down to tell to do their jobs because realtors and attorneys can't seem to do it themselves.

I can't wait for the closing (which is *supposed* to be Friday). If Claire is there, I will be giving her a piece of my mind as soon as the deal is done. She's unaware that I am a "letter writer". I write letters to praise peoples good work (like my mortgage broker, who is kick ass) and people who are terrible, like her. Her bosses, and whomever oversees real estate licenses will be getting a letter about her being so unprofessional. She has gotten snippy with me in the past, my wife, told my mortgage broker never to call her again, and now tells me to tell my lawyer to "grow up". I'll be passing that message along tomorrow when I call his office (yes, his office, since he is in Italy with my realtor at the moment.. convenient isn't it?)

I don't think I'll ever build a house again. I may also get a real estate license so whenever I move again, I can handle it myself. All these people want are your money. They are just car salesmen with a different product.

Kyla got some Barbie Detective game for the computer for her birthday. It allows you to choose your name from a list of names, and hers happens to be on it. But, it doesn't pronounce it correctly! Stupid Barbie keeps calling her KAYLA, not Kyla! Mattel, you suck.. get the kids names right. Do you know how upsetting it can be to a 5 year old to have someone (like Barbie) keep calling her the WRONG NAME??

I'm really not much of an apartment guy. Of course, I'm not living in an apartment until the house is ready to move into. The apartment itself is decent. Large rooms, balcony and a large back yard area for the dogs and Kyla to run around.

In all, it's probably the best apartment experience I've had so far. Here's the apartment history:

#1 in New Haven. Was on the 3rd floor of a house. I got into a fight with a relative of the people on the first floor because she always parked in the driveway (which was prohibited). So, after asking her nicely 3 times to not do it again, and speaking with the landlord... I blocked her in the driveway with my truck the next time she did it. Man, did she yell at me! Of course, since she was black she said I did it because she was black. Typical ghetto attitude. She couldn't seem to understand it was because she was blocking me AGAIN, and I spoke to her about this already 3 times. They eventually moved, and a cool couple moved in. He's the one who got me into bonsai trees. On the second floor there were Orthodox Jews. I liked them, and had some good conversations with the guy. He was a divinity Phd student at Yale. However, god forbid it snowed on the weekend! Since it was Sabbath, he couldn't help shovel. That irritated me, since it seemed to snow every weekend after sundown on Friday! I told him I didn't understand why Sabbath prevented him from doing his communal responsibility. Never got a good answer to that.

#2 New Haven. This was duplex, and we were the only white folks in a black neighborhood. Second night there, Suzy's car was broken into. My landlord would repeatedly come into the apartment without notice (to close windows). That ended one time when I was home sick, and she came in. I ran down the stairs in my underwear, grabbed her by the arm and threw her out the door. I told her if she did that again I would knock her out. I mailed her a lot of legal things on how she couldn't do that, and she didn't do it again.

The first people in the other side of the duplex had a yippy little dog. Like many small dog owners, they felt they didn't have to keep it on a leash in the back... or watch it. So, it would sit under my window and YIP YIP YIP. This would get my dog all excited and annoy the hell out of us. I asked them repeatedly to tie their dog up, and keep it away from my window. They didn't. One day when I had a headache (I get frequent ones) it was outside the window.. YIP YIP YIP. So, I filled up a pot with cold water, opened the window, and threw the water on the dog. My neighbor saw me do this, and came over. I said I asked them to make it stop, they didn't.. so I did. The dog wasn't ever at my window again.

The next lady who lived there seemed to have a lot of male friends, who would come by at all times of the night and bang on her door. OVER AND OVER. They would yell her name, and bang on the door. Sort of like living in a ghetto, I assume. Finally, we moved.

#3 Rockville. The apartment was awesome. It was a converted mill, and the apartments were fabulous. Except, mine had no insulation between my bedroom (which was a large loft) and my neighbors. She was basically slut who liked to talk loud and swear a lot. So, until the wee hours of the morning we would hear her on the phone cussing up a storm. And, we would hear her screwing various men. I started just making "sex noises" through the wall and yelling "FUCK HER ALREADY!!! SHUT THE SLUT UP!!!" She knew we could hear her since management had spoken with her already. Finally, they put insulation into our wall and evicted her. I once got a look at her. I thought maybe she would be a hottie since she seemed, er, popular with the men. She looked like an East German Soccer player... and not a female one! Some guys have no taste in what they stick their willies into.

#4 here.. Clifton Park, NY. No big complaints aside hearing people in the hallways, and people not watching their dogs when they let them outside. I always watch Zeke and Jazz. But, that's basically it. So, not too bad... although I couldn't do it long term. Mainly because it is claustrophobic with me, Suzy, Kyla, 2 dogs and a cat in a 2 bedroom apartment. Overall the neighbors are ok, and fairly quiet. The front door to the building (there are 4 apartments in it) slams shut unless you hold it and some let it slam. That can be annoying, but at least it isn't a potty mouth whore yapping away all night!

Today is usually one of my favorite days of the year. Usually a BBQ to go to, and hang out with friends. But, none of my so called friends even called me this year to do anything. Seems like once they knew I was moving, they just wrote me off. Really nice, eh? Just goes to show you, in these situations, who is really a friend and who is a fair-weather friend. Kinda pisses me off... but I guess I should have expected this. People call you a friend until you can be replaced.

6 more days until I drive away from this hell hole.. I can't wait!

Ugh.. I'm looking at prices of portable DVD players on bestbuy.com in case I want to get one for my drive up North. Apparently, some of their prices are soooo good that they can't tell you until you add the item to your cart!! So, after adding one, looking at the price, removing it from my cart, then finding my place in my search again 3 times.. I figure it isn't worth the trouble. Great user interface Best Buy!

Just went to the Post Office to pick up a change of address package. Out of the hundreds they had, 4 were in English and the rest in Spanish. I'm assuming upstate NY will be like CT and not have so many Spanish things. I LIVE IN THE U.S.A.!! WE SPEAK ENGLISH!! ENGLISH!!!

Been sort of a journaling draught lately. I've been busy at work, after work, and all point in between. There are lots of things I'd like to share, and write about right now. This journal is mainly a thing to look back at in the future and remember what was going on, and what I was thinking or feeling at the time. Laugh at myself, scratch my head at things I said, and just remember. But, I haven't had a lot of time to write things, and some things I simply can't write about at this time. There are people who read this journal, although I'd prefer they don't, who I simply don't want to know about things happening in my life right now. Pretty damn sad, isn't it? You can't even write about your life on your own personal journal without the worry of some people. Oh well, one day.

Yay! I'm so happy it is to the Final Four. This means it is almost over and I can stop hearing people talk about it all over the place. I'm not sure why people get so excited about college sports, unless they attended one of the colleges. Pro sports I can sort of understand, but college I don't. And, I don't really want to.

So, yesterday my uber-left-wing friend sent me an email on some fax campaign to impeach Bush. I just deleted it, as I do all of his leftist emails. Impeach him? For what? Listen, I don't like Bush in office but I don't see a reason to impeach him. Next election, he won't get my vote (as he didn't the last election). Instead of sending out 'Impeach Bush' emails, maybe people should be sending out "Support Our Troops" emails, or even give some intelligent reasons behind why Bush should be impeached.

I love my buddy Chris, but he does seem to blindy follow leftist ideals at times. We have had many debates where he couldn't back up what he was saying. He calls the 'mainstream' media biased, but then reads biased leftist media and says it isn't biased or propaganda. There are many people like that.

Anyways.. I support our troops, I don't support Bush, but do support the idea of a liberated Iraq.

Payed $2.06 per gallon for Super+ gas today. Of course, this was in Boca, where it is more expensive, but still. Last I heard oil prices were stable, or low. Not sure why people need to raise prices like that. I usually try to go by my house where it is usually $.10+ less a gallon. Stupid me, went to a Boca gas station!

Reference to this article...

The Brits are coming up with some 'benchmarks', and deadlines for them, for Iraq to adhere to. This seems like it may be a good compromise to the lunacy going on now. "You need to do X by this date, Y by this date and Z by this date." Pretty clear cut, and Iraq couldn't say they don't know what else they should be doing. But, would it help in the end? If a 'benchmark' was "Prove you destroyed the missing 1000 liters of anthrax by this date" and they don't prove it.. then what happens? ElBaredei said "It's a deadline to evaluate, to take stock, not a deadline to automatically say I'm going to war." So, when would you use force? If Iraq can't show prove of destruction of the anthrax, for example, by a certain date... what is to be done if not war? ANOTHER extension in time (been over 12 years now, remember)? Another drawn out debate in the UN? What is the threshold where the UN will say "Ok, enough is enough.. we're going in!"?

Of course, France will veto anything which mentions force. But, I haven't seen France draft any resolutions so, in my opinion, if they aren't a part of the solution, they are a part of the problem. Let's see what they want done, and the consequences for when those things don't occur. We need consequences in these things or there would be no compelling reason for Saddam to do anything. And, of course, I think Bush should calm down a bit. He's dug a hole and better start climbing out before he buries all of us in it.

It's a tough situation. I don't think the U.S. should do anything unless there is a resolution saying something should be done with at least the 9 needed votes (who cares if it is vetoed? I don't). I don't really think we should do it even if it is us and the Brits... although the Brits going and destroying the chemical plant they helped Iraq build would be nice. Hopefully, this all ends well when the end comes. But, you never know... I may change my mind on all this tomorrow :-)

NP: (streaming) Dr. Horner's Classic Jazz Corner

CNN.com - Ridge to announce terrorism 'Ready Campaign' - Feb. 19, 2003

I'm sorry, but I really don't know what Tom Ridge, the Homeland Security Secretary, does. He tells people to buy duct tape and plastic.. as if people can (or would) seal up every way for outside infected air to get into a house. Have a fireplace? Have air conditioning? Good luck with that duct tape idea.

He came up with the silly "color coding" alert system. Of course, whenever you hear the color you also hear the 'level', like "We are in an orange (or high) alert." Just drop the stupid colors and the the 'level'. We're smart folks, but tell me we are in 'orange' alert and I will be more confused than just saying "high alert."

Now, referring to the article linked above, they are developing a "Ready Campaign", which will be PSAs telling people to get flashlight, water, batteries, etc... So, basically they will be telling us to do the same things we would to prepare for a hurricane or blizzard. The National Weather Service could do this (and they do). Original thinking there Mr. Ridge. Glad my tax money is paying for this position. Get busy on keeping bad guys out, and getting them out. Get training programs for all police/fire/emergency crews in the country. I also like this quote:

"The war on terrorism will be won by the professionals," Ridge told reporters on Friday. "But there are things that individual citizens and families can do to help protect themselves."

So, we the people won't win this war? Thanks for excluding us. I think we the "unprofessionals" can win it in our homeland with alertness and diligence in conjunction with these "professionals" which didn't stop 9/11.

Excuse me while I wrap myself up in some duct tape before we are at alert level fuscia.

We've probably all seen the TV ads by the folks at Truth about smoking and the Big Tobacco companies. I sent them an email saying:

I do like your commercials and what you are trying to do. But, it
would also be nice if you put some of your ad dollars into telling people proven
ways to quite. Support groups, patches, pills, whatever. Getting people angry
at tobacco companies is one thing, but quitting isn't easy, even when
you really want to (like myself). Maybe get people from your staff (I assume they don't smoke) who quit smoking, and others and ask "So, how did you quit?" I'd like to see those ads on TV.

Cheers,
Kevin

Their response:

Check out our "Information" section on quitting at
http://www.thetruth.com/html/index.cfm?id=35 Hope all this stuff
helps.
truth

Well, no. That stuff doesn't help, and wasn't the point of my comment to them. Getting angry at the tobacco companies doesn't help someone quit. I'm not even sure it would help someone not start. The "bubble boy" commercials are amusing, but won't help anyone quit, and may not get people to never start. So, if you are going to give propaganda on why smoking is bad, and why tobacco companies are evil... give some ways for people to quit! You already have our attention with the ads, so use them to HELP people. I don't watch the ads and think "Wow, the tobacco companies had a "project SCUM", I really need to quit smoking now." It's more like "Wow, I should grow my own tobacco so I don't have to buy theirs!"

They seem like a no-nonsense organization (since they spread "the truth"), I bet many people watch their ads (since they aren't being "sold" anything), and they obviously have advertising dollars. So, if they have my attention and I expect them to provide me with truthful information, I may listen to an ad campaign which includes "How I quit" spots. But, I may be completely missing the point of the organization. Their website states that the main goal is to alert people to the hidden practices of tobacco companies. Yeah? And? They could be clubbing baby seals at their staff meetings, but that doesn't mean anyone will stop smoking. It's the addiction that kills people, not the practices of a company. So, an exec said when a baby can crawl it can choose to leave a smokey room. They guy is a moron, but I still can't kick the habit.

Mike Moore vs. Car companies, they are not. Maybe I'm thinking too much into this, but I do think they should use their money and power to add in some ways to help people stop smoking.

... The Enconomy ...

"We will oust Saddam and liberate Iraq!"

... North Korea ...

"We will oust Saddam and liberate Iraq!"

... Unemployment ...

"We will oust Saddam and liberate Iraq!"

... Cloning ...

"We will oust Saddam and liberate Iraq!"

... Osama bin Laden ...

"We will oust Saddam and liberate Iraq!"

... Israel/Palestine ...

"We will oust Saddam and liberate Iraq!"

... Homeland Security ...

"We will oust Saddam and liberate Iraq!"

... Terrorism ...

"We will oust Saddam and liberate Iraq!"

... (insert topic here) ...

"We will oust Saddam and liberate Iraq!"

So, it's the start of a new year, and hopefully the start of Bush's final two years. Although, I haven't seen anyone in any other political camp who looks too good, yet. Anyways, has Bush done anything good for us over the last couple years? Let's see...

• He withdrew from a 30 year Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty with Russia. Even Putin called Bush's decision a "mistake". Instead of doing something to ratify the agreement, he just withdrew. This leaves the doors open for another arms race
• Since we are already killing away all our natural resources, Bush decided it was a good idea to ease restrictions on logging" in national forests. Who really needs oxygen anyways.
• Since we can chop down all the trees, may as well allow oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. I mean, who needs all that pristine land anyways?!
• Started a "war on terror", but has yet to capture Usama bin Laden, Mullah Omar or Ayman Al-Zawahiri. Also, sort of interesting that we don't hear much about them anymore. Iraq is the news and taking media time away from the fact that these killers are still around. As far as I can tell, no one is even looking for them anymore.
• He has yet to sit with Arafat, which he has never met. He also indefinitely postponed any mediations by the U.S. in the Israel/Palestine conflict. He can throw away a 30 year old ABM treaty, but can't piss of Israel.
• Continuously warmongers against Iraq. Thus far, it seems to only be speculation that Iraq has any weapons of mass destruction. Yet, Bush keep spouting that we will go to war. If the U.N. doesn't approve it, he says we can just do it ourselves. He seems to have no proof of anything Iraq is doing wrong, and will de-ligitimize the U.N. if he starts a war when the U.N. deems it unneeded. So, it seems that he is willing to have an unprovoked attacked against a Sovereign Nation which no one has proven to be a viable threat to any of its neighbors, let alone the U.S. Oh yeah, Iraq may help Al Quaeda.. head by Usama bin Laden... which we can't seem to find. He needs to stop the warmongering, as well as the "we'll go it alone" crap.
• Meanwhile, North Korea, which has nuclear weapons (a tad more dangerous than chemical or biological weapons, one might point out), is being courted via diplomatic channels.
• He politicized Iraq issue by criticizing the Senate by saying the members are “not interested in the security of the American people”.
• Ever read Animal Farm? He is trying to change the language of facts in true Animal Farm fashion. We are not wanting to be "conquerors" of Iraq, but "liberators". He didn't want to "attack" or "invade" Iraq, rather it would be a "pre-emptive strike". You can either be "with us, or against us". You really don't want to be part of the "axis of evil".
• He said North Korea was in this "axis of evil", which didn't do anyone any good, and I think prompted what North Korea is doing today.
• Continues to say the economy is good, even though unemployment is still rising, consumer confidence is down and more layoff occur every day. Maybe the economy is good in that White House, or his Texas Ranch... but not for the rest of us or what the facts show.
• Gave the Attorney General the empowerment of federal agents to wire tap, obtain library records, and detain people if there is any suspicion of terrorism or terrorism-related activities. The agents are allowed full discretion as to what they consider “suspect” actions. Also knows as a loss of civil liberties.
• Launched the "Total Information Awareness" (TIA) system. This system essentially spies on citizens and violated their privacy.

That's just a few things. So, aside from making good sound bites when he fumbles the English language in public... what real good has he done? Does it somehow outweigh what he *isn't* doing? I really hope someone else steps up near election time.

NP: 12 - Waves from the album "Round Room" by Phish

I was reading this article and got a ball of fire in my stomach from it. Ugh, I can't even rant on it because it is so stupid. Basically, the raging moron who wrote it says the US, France, and everyone else is planning a war with Pakistan. Read it for yourself, some pretty dumb shit in there.

Well, Captain Obvious, our dear Vice President said:

"In my opinion, prospect of a future attack against the United States is almost certain," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "We don't know if it's going to be tomorrow or next week or next year." He added that it was "not a matter of if, but when."

I predict it will get dark tonight, then the large glowing orb in the sky will return tomorrow. I also predict it will rain sometime this year, and the wind will possibly blow and move leaves on a tree. Shit Cheney, even Miss Cleo could have told us this.

Can these people in the gov't actually figure out anything? I mean, the IRS can find out of you owe them $5 and audit you, but the CIA, FBI and military having all this high-tech equipment can't seem to get any actual details on ANYTHING. So, there is now more Al Qaeda 'chatter'. What chatter? You can hear the chatter, but don't know what it means? They also say this chatter is similar to what was heard in the months before 9/11. So does this mean that before 9/11 they heard chatter which could have helped prevent it? If not, what good is hearning this 'chatter' going to do now? Is saying you are hearing 'chatter' to the media going to help you hear more chatter?

I wish these bozos in Washington could figure something out. The largest thing that has been done is Tom "I'm currently a waste of tax dollars" Ridge coming up with the oh-so-snazy color coding system... which noone I know can even name the colors, or what they mean! Are we yellow? Is yellow good? If we are red does that mean we should stop? Is green good? If we are on alert White after Labor Day, is it a bad thing?

We all know the Defcon system (didn't we learn about that from War Games?), why couldn't we use that? Tercon 1... no terrorist threats, Tercon 4... don't leave your house.. Tercon 5.. boom! That's so much easier.

Hopefully in 2004 we will elect a new President, and new gov't which will have some balls and common sense. They aren't impressing me very much right now.

I'm a programmer, a grunt, a hard worker. As a programmer, I generally know what is possible and what is best for the products I work on. But, the people with "Manager" next to their name (aside from my direct managers, which are cool) get involved and all logic and reason fly out the window. Yesterday was a particularly bad day for me, read on to find out more...

So, I at work I work on a product which is a revenue generator. I have been working for the past few months on making it globalized, as well as adding a new UI. It has been coming along quite nice.. about 90% done. Well, suddenly, this project is noones priority (but mine). But, instead of having this 90% done product upgrade sitting doing nothing until Q4 (or later) I have been trying to push for the other 10% to get done, tested, and released. I mean really, the upgrade is 50% better than what it is now, and it would a) make customers happy, b) make the company look better, and c) be able to bring more cash to the company (which is what the company keeps telling us they want to do).

So, we have a meeting yesterday about this. What should have been a 5 person meeting, turned into an 11 person meeting. First thing I said was "There are too many cooks in this kitchen." Everyone but the Swedish Chef was there. So anyways, things are going along ok. People are agreeing, for the most part, with my suggestions on what we can defer from release 2 to release 3 (or release 2.1, 2.2, etc...).

What it comes down to is where to place certain options. As an end user, it doesn't matter, because you will get the options in the same place. But, for dealers and partners, there is currently nowhere to put these options (which would end up being the default ones for end users). Currently, where the end user gets these options doesn't matter (I can set them in the code, for now), just as long as they HAVE the options.

Enter the UI group. This is a group of people who sit around and do HTML all day. Now, somehow, they seem to get to dictate what we (the development group) do based on when they can get around to doing some HTML for a project. HTML!! I mean, we could get a few monkeys, put them in front of Dreamweaver, and have a UI in a shorter amount of time, and much less bitching and whinning.

Bitching and whinning are the key words here. See, the manager of the UI group is extremely hard to work with. I'm not alone on this. I have yet to speak with ANYONE here who feels (let's call the person B) B is easy to deal with. B wants all or nothing. B would rather hold up 100 changes, improvements, and revenue possibilities until a button is placed in the correct spot on a page where people would go to once. It is really un-fucking believable. Technically, we don't have to do what UI says, and other groups have taken the smart road in completely ignoring B, and letting B bitch and whine later on. See, B bitches and whines during the whole process. B will whine about current design, B will whine about the time needed to do a design, B will whine when you disagree with ANYTHING in the design (because obviously NOONE else has used web based apps and may have opinions, right?), B will whine if you disregard anything in the design, and B seems to whine for the sake of whining.

Again, let me say that I am not tainted towards B because of what happened yesterday. This is now the next day, I am less upset, and this has happened before. And, others opinions are the same (why B still works here I don't know).

Ok, so back to the meeting. B whines. Suddenly, the people who can make the decision of "Fuck you, we are getting this done now, deal with it" don't. Being a lowly programmer, I can't make these decisions. And, the people who can, obviously will not. VERY frustrating situation. So, the UI group has yet again driven development... hope you are happy B.

In the meantime, the VP (a great guy) keeps asking me how the project is going. Obviously, he has no idea what's going on. Our parent company (which wants this product globalized yesterday) doesn't know what's going on. I just hope someone gets pissed as shit that this isn't done yet and all fingers can point at B. Basically, B is the reason why we will keep getting support calls. B is costing us money. Ugh, I could go on and on.

I think I will go nutty if I hear B, or anyone in B's group, talk about how they don't have any time for things. You know what assholes, I work at night, I work from home, I work on weekends, I work through lunch. I have a work ethic which says work doesn't end in 8 hours. So when I hear you whine about time, cry to someone who cares you lazy fucks. "Oh, but I have been working 12 hours a day.. blah blah".. so? That's what you do.. you work until the work is done. Company happy brings job security brings paycheck etc... If you don't like it, then go get a 9 to 5 job.

I'm sure many of you have a B where you work. I have had B's before, but usually they are actually in some direct power of development, not an HTML monkey. I think the UI people should be replaced with college interns, monkeys, or even three toed sloths. I don't care, as long as they are easier to deal with than B (like Arafat or Sharon).

Thanks for reading this rant, it helps to get it out.

I'm a vegetarian.. a real vegetarian. Not some "I just want to label myself and be a hippie" type of vegetarian. I eat no meat at all. I am not, however, a vegan.. which is someone who takes it a step further and eats no animal byproducts (eggs, dairy).

I do still eat these byproducts because an animal ISN'T FUCKING MURDERED to get me some milk to put on my Cap'n Crunch. Don't worry, I'm not someone who preaches vegetarianism, or yells at people in front of Murder King.. I mean Burger King. I try to live by example, and leave it at that. However...

I really really dislike these assholes who think that because they don't eat red meat, or only eat fish "once in a while" they are vegetarians. It is these types of wankers who cause problems for the rest of us. Why? Well, when you ask for a vegetarian meal on a plane and they serve it with tuna, IT IS NOT A VEGETARIAN MEAL (I don't recall if it was Delta or United that did this). When you go to a conference and request a vegan meal (sometimes I just ask for vegan hoping there is simply no question about it) and you get fish and milk chocolate in the meal.. it is NOT A VEGAN MEAL. Apparantly, these dolts can't figure it out.

Now, I don't completely blame the dolts. I blame the assholes.. those who label themselves something which they aren't (maybe I should call myself African American, just to be cool). These people (who usually seem to be more preachy than real vegetarians) confuse the issue for others, who in turn become the dolts. I seem to have to explain what a vegetarian is over and over again because the assholes confuse the dolts.

So, why am I writing this today? Well, I work with one of these people. Today we had a pizza party for someone who is leaving. My boss said there were 2 'vegetarian pizzas', and jokingly said you could only get a piece if you were a 'card carrying vegetarian'. So, this person say "I have my card", or something to that effect. I said "Um, you eat fish, you aren't a vegetarian".. asshole says "Only sometimes". Well, you know what asshole.. a vegetarian NEVER eats fish. For Christs sake people, cut the shit and say it like it is... you are someone who "on occasion eats fish, but generally eats a vegetarian diet"... but you are certainly not a vegetarian. I don't mean to pick on this particular asshole, but this same scenario occurs over and over again. This asshole isn't unique.

So please people... don't tell people you are something which you aren't. You make it harder for those of us who are.

I'll probably have more rants on this, since assholes seem to be abundant.