Scrambled Neurons

The real Scrambled Neurons

2010-04-01T00:21:00.000-07:00

Dang, I totally forgot about the REAL Scrambled Neurons.
It's at www.scrambledneurons.com
and there is a brand new post there guaranteed to piss of a conservative or two. Or three. Or all of them.
Maybe even give a few of them a laugh or two. Who knows. Who cares.
The post is to put things into perspective.
Enjoy, or not. Just leave me alone. I have to go pay my taxes tomorrow before they take my house away from me, so they can build another $11.5 million dollar bus stop roof.
Sheesh.

Still out there, still lost

2010-03-24T11:02:00.001-07:00

I'm still out there, and still lost in this crazy changing world or ours.
These days I'm working as a contractor for a company that is planning on shutting down the local location. They were supposed to shut down in January, then extended it until April, then July, and now October.
Wheeee! I get to ride a virtual roller coaster!
Actually it's a great job and a great place to work. No complaints about them or the job.

Sometimes you make decisions that affect others in ways unexpected.
A few years back I was on jury duty for two and a half weeks for a murder trial. The kid was found guilty, and our only choices in his sentence were life in prison, or the death penalty. To be honest, I think his defense could have done a better job. There whole strategy seemed to be keeping him from getting the death penalty rather than proving his innocence.
We were all leaning towards life because of what he had been through as a child (drug addict and abusive parents, little education or supervision, etc.) when the decision was taken away from us because of a provision that made life without parole mandatory.
Given the circumstances of the crime (home invasion gone wrong instead of out and out murder) perhaps a lesser sentence would have been appropriate. Perhaps not.
In any case, I received an e-mail about crimes committed years ago on a bridge I used for a jigsaw puzzle I had recently published.
The conversation had me replying about my jury duty experiences, and looking up information about the case.
I learned that this young man had died in prison at age 24.
Some will say he got what he deserved. I see it more as a life wasted.
Had he had better parents, better upbringing, he could have been a productive member of society instead of a criminal. In this case, I believe he was a victim of nurture instead of nature. Seems he tried to take care of his druggie mother when she couldn't take care of herself while he was still a small kid, and actually saved a small child from drowning while still a kid himself.
This was a sad, sad waste of a life.
While I didn't have any choice in the decision to find him guilty, I still wonder if there wasn't something more I could have done.
Here are a couple of links about him and his case, if you are interested:
State record

Information about his appeal.

Stupid Government Tricks - High Point, NC

2007-03-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

Yup, our government does it again. And it's partially my fault - I'll admit it up front.
See, I own several rental properties, and pay about $5,000 a year in property taxes.
Here's the deal. I screwed up slightly, and still owe about $329.00 on my property taxes. (I had several units empty out unexpectedly, and I have one still not ready for renting due to the fact the woman's boyfriend decided to tear up the property just because I expected them to actually pay rent.)
I just paid the city government $100.00 last week on the property, and expect to have it paid off within 30 days. I'm willing to pay the late fees, too!
So what's the problem?
It seems the City Of High Point, North Carolina, wants to forclose on my home for unpaid taxes.
This is the same city that raised my electric bill 6% then gave the money to a jet manufacturer that isn't even locating in our city, as 'incentive' money.
This is the same city that built an $11.5 million dollar bus stop roof in downtown High Point in a misguided effort to keep the semi-annual furnature market from moving from here to Vegas.
They could have spent only one million dollars to build a roof that would have worked just a well, and used the remaining $10.5 million to build a few more classrooms for our over crowded schools. I doubt there will be a single market visitor that would look at it and say, "That bus stop roof isn't nearly fancy enough. Let's go to Vegas instead."
This is the same city where the city councel has spent the better part of the last six months squabbling over whether or not it's ok to say the word 'Jesus' in the opening prayer - excuse me - 'invocation' at the start of their meetings, time they could have used to actually accomplish something.
This is the same city that is so scared of offending someone who's not even in our country legaly, that city employees aren't even allowed to ask for proof of residency if the person in front of them is speaking anything but southern English.
And while I have paid out over $4,500 in property taxes, and have less than a 6% balance which will be paid off in a few weeks, they want to forclose on my house.
I have news for them: If you hadn't raised my electric rates so you can buy off a jet company, and if you spent less money on a bus stop roof, you wouldn't have to charge the 4th highest tax rate in the state and I, along with the over 9,000 other people who's names you posted in the paper, wouldn't be behind in our taxes!
Folks, I wrote a letter to a junior councel member asking her to try to avoid raising taxes, and the response I got back was 'what services do you want to do without so we don't have to raise your taxes?'
Well, I could do without an $11.5 million dollar bus stop roof. I could do without my hard earned cash being given away to a company that's not even locating as much as a broom closet in our city. And I can do without the services of junior councel members who can't seem to figure out a way to provide the same services and do the same job as 96% of the rest of the state can. (Only three other counties out of 100 have rates equal to or slightly higher than our own. What are the other 96 counties doing right that we can't seem to do?)
Here's a thought: Raise more money by charging the city councel members to park their cars.

Check out my lens and get some Free Jigsaw Puzzles!

Doing chores prevents breast cancer?

2007-01-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

Yah, it had to be written by a guy...
At least that's what my wife says.
There is a study recently released that shows that women who do chores are less likely to get breast cancer than women who don't. It even says that it protects women more than doing sports.

Husband: "Martha, go wash them dishes or you'll get breast cancer."
Wife: (Wacks husband on back of head with frying pan.)

Now, there are other studies - released by women - that tell of other things that also have health benefits for men:

Cleaning the attic - prevents an attack of excessive nagitis.

Mowing the yard - prevents hearing damage from 'repetitive nag syndrome'.

Buying her flowers - reduces sexual tension by letting him actually get some...

Taking her shopping - reduces blood pressure and cures insomnia by inducing sleep while she tries on 387 different pairs of shoes.

Holding her purse while shopping - increases heart rate (aerobic exercise) by man's fear of being seen by his bowling buddies.

Washing the dishes - reduces the chance of blunt force trauma from her hitting you on the back of the head for telling her to do the dishes to prevent breast cancer.

That's it for this post. I have to go wash the dishes for medical reasons...

Stupid Rules and Stupid Deadbeats

2006-10-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

According to a report from the UPI volunteers at the Levy County, Florida’s local library must now take a drug test to be able to donate their time and work at the library.

Most of the volunteers are between 60 and 85 years old.

So are they afraid that grandma is smoking weed between the stacks?
Are they worried that Gramps is taking Viagra and nailing Granny in the romantic literature section?
Or are they scared that some oldster will get high on meth and start beating the youngsters with his oxygen tank?

Get real. Anyone who managed to live to be 85 years old didn't get there by shooting up five times a day!

As a result of this senseless requirement, and the fact the volunteers have to travel to another city to take the drug test - at their own expense, no less - the number of volunteers has dropped from fifty-five down to just two.

Bet the library now has to hire 'paid' employees at taxpayer expense to make up for the lack of volunteers. Yep, ya got real democracy in action here, folks.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sometimes Karma actually works for me.

I had a woman (I won't call her a lady) lease an apartment from me, and she signed a twelve-month lease. Just as the lease payment is almost past due for month number three, she leaves me a voice mail saying she's moved out and to come get the keys.

Not only did she fail to give me any advanced notice, she actually had the balls to ask for her deposit back.

When I reminded her she signed a lease that does not allow her to just up and move out without notice, and that she owed me rent for at least the next thirty days, she couldn’t seem to understand why that meant anything. After all, she wasn’t living there anymore and just because she signed a legally binding contract, why she should be obligated to anything? (I will usually allow someone out of a lease if they give me 30 days advanced notice and pay the rent for those thirty days. She gave me zero advanced notice.)

So, now I not only have a mortgage payment on the building where I won't have her rent to put towards it, thereby causing me to be late and costing me a hundred bucks for late fees, I also have to clean up her mess including candle wax on the floors and in the carpet, fix a gaping hole in the ceiling where they banged something into it coming down the stairs, clean the bathrooms and shampoo the carpets to get rid of the stench from the unfiltered mini-cigars she chain smoked all day. Plus try to repair several burns in the linoleum from these miniature cancer sticks AND clean up the almost brand new stove where she had a grease fire.
Judging from the inside of the oven and the spots all over the floors, her main culinary skills seemed to be in creating ash.

So, where does the Karma come in for me?

Seems she is getting into government housing - although on her lease application she put down an amount of income that should easily disqualify her from getting government assistance – and they have a rule requiring people to be paid up to date with their current (previous) landlord. So she now has a choice - pay me what she owes, or lose her government housing in which case we go to court and she still has to pay me what she owes plus additional for court fees.

The moral - don't lie to someone and expect to get away with it. Especially don't lie to someone who is used to dealing with liars on a regular basis.

- - - - - - - - - -

Oh, the International Time Traveler's meeting and beer-blowout bash will be held last Friday, at 8:00 PM until whenever, at Quark's Bar on DS9.

Have a great day!

Quick Digg This

Weird sense of morals

2006-08-22T05:07:00.000-07:00

Our society has a weird sense of morals.
I recently submitted a nude jigsaw puzzle from my JigsawADay blog to CNet's Download.com. This non-provocative, artistic nude of a beautiful young lady was promptly rejected as having non-desirable content.
Yet in under a minute I found over a hundred gore filled games where the object is to kill as many people, monsters, rappers, etc. as you can. The more you kill, the more you score.
Some featured realistic body parts flying off your victims, with blood dripping down walls after you blow someone's head off as they slowly crumple to the ground.
This type of material is perfectly ok for our impressionable 13-year olds to see, but a bare breast is not?
It's a proven fact: Countries that are more casual about nudity tend to have less violent crime and are less likely to go to war than countries that have severe taboos about nudity.
A perfect example is the Middle East. In many of these countries women must completely cover themselves head to toe, with no one except their husbands allowed to see more than a hand. Even husbands aren't allowed to see their wives nude, and must have sex while wearing clothes. No wonder they are so angry and always trying to blow each other up!
People in Sweden, however, often experience nudity socially even though it isn't the warmest country in the world. It's not unusual for people to get together and soak in a hot tub nude with their neighbors. When is the last time you heard of the Swedes invading another country?
Most terrorists come from countries with a severe ban on nudity, and it is so ingrained into their upbringing they consider it a sin to look at a nude woman. I heard where someone suggested the way to keep terrorists off of planes is to require everyone to fly nude. That way the terrorists would never get on the plane to begin with.
Personally, I feel it's a sad thing to not be able to enjoy the view of the single most beautiful thing in all of creation, that of the body of a beautiful nude woman.
For those that think nudity is a sin, think of this: When Adam and Eve were without sin, they were nude. It was only after they committed a sin did nudity become a bad thing. Doesn't it seem logical that being nude would therefore be a step closer to being without sin?
Many people that are uptight about nudity often equate nudity with sex. Yes, being nude does make sex better, but you don't have to be nude to have sex. As far as nudity encouraging kids to have sex, kids are curious. Try to hide something from them, and they will even eat broccoli if that's what it takes to find out what you are hiding. Kids are curious about their bodies, and the bodies of the opposite sex. They are going to investigate and find out, one way or another. If the family practiced casual nudity, the kids wouldn't be as curious because they would have already 'seen it.'
In Japan families often bathe together. There are still public baths where you can mingle with the opposite sex. Nudity is 'seen' but not 'observed' there - accepted but not gawked at. My point is that in Japan the average girl first has sex at age 18 while here in the US the average age (where we don't practice social nudity) for teenage girls is now down to 14 1/2. We also have twelve times the teen pregnancy rate of Japan.
I often said I would rather my kids watch a movie where people are having sex than watch a movie where they are trying to kill each other, because I expect them to have sex when they grow up, but I don't expect them to try to kill someone.
The whole point of this rant is that if we took the time to look at a beautiful nude woman once in a while, the time we spend looking is time we don't spend trying to kill someone or invade their country.

War against Wells Fargo

2006-08-16T04:02:00.000-07:00

Quick post, just to get this off my chest.
It looks like I'm going to war against Wells Fargo. After cashing my last two payment checks, and holding onto the money for a while, Wells Fargo suddenly sent me a check for the total amount of these two payments. When I called to find out what was going on, I was told the money hadn't been applied to my loan, and they were starting forclosure proceedures because I was now behind on my payments.
Huh?
Not only were the payments sent in with the required payment coupons, the loan number was written on the bottom of each check so they can't claim they didn't know where to apply them.
I wonder if the fact the property is located directly across the street from where Wal-Mart is building a new super center, and is guaranteed to go way up in value as a result, has anything with them trying to take my property away from me?
This does not in any way sound legal. I've already set up an appointment with my lawyer.
Best suggestion at this point: Don't do business with a company that thinks it can take your property at any time just by sending back a couple of payments.

I finally did it! Nude puzzles.

2006-08-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

After months of waffling, I decided it was time to create some nude jigsaw puzzles. Yup, puzzles without pictures... Wait, that's not right! Ok, puzzles you work in the nude... No, I'm kidding. Keep your clothes on.
Ok, here's the deal. I created a new blog, jigsawaday.blogspot.com where I will post occasional mystery puzzles, and yes, puzzles made from artistic nudes, from the web's premier artistic nudes web site.
In fact, I have already posted my first two puzzles - one mystery, and one artistic nude puzzle.
Note that these puzzles will NOT be published on Jigsaw A Day as some people do not want their children exposed to nudity in any shape or form, not even a bannana without the peel or a book without it's cover. (How do people like this ever manage to take a bath much less reproduce?) JigsawADay will remain completely family-friendly, the artistic nudes will only be published on the blog.
Enjoy!

Just when you think you've heard it all...

2006-07-21T06:14:00.000-07:00

Human stupidity never ceases to amaze me.
SUFFOLK, Va. (UPI) -- Two Whaleyville, Va., residents were stunned when a naked man accosted their car in their driveway and began hitting it with their pet pigeon.

The couple had just pulled into their driveway Friday night when Juan Lopez, 30, of Virginia Beach, appeared naked and began striking their car with the bird, the Virginian Pilot reported Tuesday.

They fled to a neighbor's house and called police who found the suspect in nearby woods.

A Suffolk, Va., police spokeswoman told the newspaper Lopez was "obviously having some sort of issues that night."

He had allegedly gotten into the homeowners' bird cages that held 15 chickens and four pigeons. Four of the birds were killed.

Lopez was charged with burglary, destruction of property and larceny of poultry.

(Surgeon General's Warning: Drugs will may you do incredibly stupid things.)

Study: Radiation might destroy mouse bones.

2006-07-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

I just read a headline:
Study: Radiation might destroy mouse bones.
So, now we are worried about the mice around our nuclear power plants?
I can see PETA raising an uproar over this, demanding not only that we shut down nuclear reactors until all mice within twenty miles are humanely removed and released around conventional coal fired power plants, they will also demand little tiny mouse sized wheelchairs to help those mice suffering bone loss get around. Oh, and years of government paid therapy for these mice.

Michael Jackson sued

2006-07-11T07:53:00.000-07:00

7/11/06
Michael Jackson, currently being sued by former associate F. Marc Schaffel for unpaid fees and loans, reportedly fired him after finding out he was previously an adult film producer.
Wonder if he would have given him a raise had he made kids movies instead?

F. Marc Schaffel: "Michael, I'd like you to meet the star of our new movie, little Bobby Smith."
Michael: "Oooooo. So happy to meet you! We're going to be just the best friends ever."
Bobby: 'Aaaaaaiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee!"

Wind Farms and Big Oil

2006-06-05T05:39:00.000-07:00

Ok, the following just burns my a**! Here is something that can actually reduce our dependance on foreign oil and natural gas, and not involve nuclear power. My guess is that someone somewhere is getting paid off:

"Government blocks wind farm plans
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The U.S. government has ordered work stopped on more than a dozen wind farms, saying the giant turbines might interfere with military radar.
(Yah, right. Like military radar is going do do much good sitting in Iowa.)

But supporters of wind power say the reason for the actions is political and has little to do with national security, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.

In one instance, critics say, a group of wealthy vacationers believe a proposed wind farm off the Cape Cod, Mass., coast would spoil the view of the ocean from their summer homes. (Yeah - they can afford higher costs for power.)

The attempt to stop the planting of 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound has led to a moratorium on new wind farms across Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, the Tribune reported.

Federal officials have refused to say how many stop-work orders have been issued, but developers told the newspaper at least 15 projects have been shut down by the government so far this year.

The list of halted wind power projects includes one near Bloomington, Ill., scheduled to begin this summer and start operations next year. That wind farm would be the nation's largest source of wind energy, generating enough power for 120,000 Chicago-area homes. (Hmmm, let's ignore the fact that Chicago is called 'the windy city' for a reason...)

Copyright 2006 by United Press International"

-----
So if I stick a small wind turbine on top of my house, is that going to interfere with military radar and cause a plane to drop on my head?
Think about it...

On the plus side, I finally got the upgrade completed for my other web site, JigsawADay.com. Check it out, I think you'll like it.
Wayne

Getting old

2006-05-05T06:47:00.000-07:00

I know I'm getting old, but this is bad. I scored a '24' but only because I'm getting forgetful in my old age. Now I can't even remember which one it was that I didn't remember! Sheesh.

Total the number of these that you remember:

1. Blackjack chewing gum
2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
3. Candy cigarettes
4. Soda pop machines that dispensed bottles
5. Coffee shops with tableside jukeboxes
6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
7. Party lines
8. Newsreels before the movie
9. P.F. Flyers
10. Butch wax
11. Telephone numbers with a word prefix (Olive - 6933)
12. Peashooters
13. Howdy Doody
14. 45 RPM records
15. S&H Green Stamps
16. Hi-fi's
17. Metal ice trays with levers
18. Mimeograph paper
19. Blue flashbulbs
20. Beanie and Cecil
21. Roller skate keys
22. Cork popguns
23. Drive-ins
24. Studebakers
25. Wash tub wringers

If you remembered 0-5 You're still young.

If you remembered 6-10 You are getting older.

If you remembered 11-15 Don't tell your age.

If you remembered 16-25 You're older than dirt!.

Your net freedom is in danger

2006-05-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

The below is a slight departure from my ususal ramblings, but I felt it was important enough to give it some space. Please, read it and sign the petition. Your ablility to use the web the way you want is at risk.

Do you buy books online, use Google, or download to an iPod?
Everything we do online will be hurt if Congress passes a radical law next week that gives giant corporations more control over what we do and see on the Internet.
Internet providers like AT&T are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality—the Internet's First Amendment and the key to Internet freedom. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. BarnesandNoble.com doesn't have to outbid Amazon for the right to work properly on your computer.
If Net Neutrality is gutted, almost every popular site—from Google to eBay to iTunes—must either pay protection money to Internet companies like AT&T or risk having their websites process slowly. That why these high-tech pioneers and others are opposing Congress' effort to gut Internet freedom.
You can do your part today—can you sign this petition telling your member of Congress to preserve Internet freedom? Click here:
http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7448-3764053-wmzgB_Bzw3s61RsaTJr9vA&t=4
I signed this petition, along with 250,000 others so far. This petiton will be delivered to Congress before the House of Representatives votes next week. When you sign, you'll be kept informed of the next steps we can take to keep the heat on Congress.
Snopes.com, which monitors various causes that circulate on the Internet, explained:
Simply put, network neutrality means that no web site's traffic has precedence over any other's...Whether a user searches for recipes using Google, reads an article on snopes.com, or looks at a friend's MySpace profile, all of that data is treated equally and delivered from the originating web site to the user's web browser with the same priority. In recent months, however, some of the telephone and cable companies that control the telecommunications networks over which Internet data flows have floated the idea of creating the electronic equivalent of a paid carpool lane.
If companies like AT&T have their way, Web sites ranging from Google to eBay to iTunes either pay protection money to get into the "fast lane" or risk opening slowly on your computer. We can't let the Internet—this incredible medium which has been such a revolutionary force for democratic participation, economic innovation, and free speech—become captive to large corporations.
Politicians don't think we are paying attention to this issue. Together, we do care about preserving the free and open Internet.
Please sign this petition letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Internet freedom. Click here:
http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7448-3764053-wmzgB_Bzw3s61RsaTJr9vA&t=5

Taxes - the unsung rant

2006-04-15T07:23:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last few weeks trying to do my taxes, and finally figured out all the numbers I needed to file for an extention... Safe for a few more months.

Speaking of taxes, I was looking through my thumb drive, cleaning off old junk, when I came across something I wrote and had planned on sending to the Letters To The Editor, but ended up sending a letter on a different topic instead. Their 'only one letter every two weeks' rule kept me from submitting it in time.
I thought it was worth a laugh.
Remember, this was supposed to be published before January 1st, 2006, so it's a little out of date.
Hope you enjoy it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Letter To The Editor:

Welcome to North Taxolina!
As we approach the new year, the taxaholics, both the voted in ones and the ones that weren’t voted in yet get to raise our taxes anyway, have once again proved that they find common sense to be a little too taxing. For example, the rationalization that the higher the wholesale price of gas, the more we can afford to pay taxes on it taxes the imagination.
Even death itself has been taxed with a larger burden on the survivors. If you want to take advantage of the $1500 tax break on the cost of a coffin, you better die before New Year’s.

(Apologies to Clement Clarke Moore)
T’was the night before New Years, when all thru our state,
We all rushed to buy gas, before it was too late!

The taxes would rise at Midnight, I surmise,
Though it didn’t come as much of a surprise.

The politicians were snuggled in their beds;
While kickbacks from Big Oil danced in their heads;

And poor folk in their cold houses, heat just a dream,
Wondered how they all fell for this latest tax scheme;

When in Raleigh there arose just a small smatter
Of questioning on the new gas tax matter;

Away to the Hill the reporters did dash
To see who would dare question such a gas tax!

The Judges and the lawyers didn’t care to know
For they were the rich, and ran the whole tax show.

When, what to my shivering ears I did hear;
But the sound of another tax increase, oh dear!

If you are going to die, better make it quick;
For soon the tax break on coffins will go, Slick!

All the school plans will be scrapped by Terry Greer;
As fast as a redneck drinks a six pack of beer!

For though we pay more tax than all but two states;
We have only ourselves to blame for this fate.

So rather than continue as if by rote;
I can only urge you next year, get out and vote!

What The....

2006-02-02T12:30:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems that I ran across a unique variation on a scam. Some genius registered the domain name "com-userid-register.info".
Now tack the word 'www.paypal.' in front of it, and you get
www.paypal.com-userid-register.info
That's a very realistic name.
Ya gotta watch out for the phishing scams.
A little while ago I got an automated phone call from some company I have never heard of, asking me to press '1' if I was the name the recording stated. I pressed '1'. Next it asked me to verify my identity by typing in the last four of my social security number. Since I hadn't heard of that company before, I hung up. I figure any company that needs to speak with me can have a real person do it or else they don't need to be doing business with me.

Well, my daughter called and announced she and her boyfriend would be getting married on the 10th of this month. Sheesh. Time flies. She also asked if we had any spare furniture as she and Mike (glad she only dated boys named 'Mike.' It made it easier for me to remember their names...) wouldn't have any of their own once he transferred to Florida. Seems I remember the big cable spool being used as our first kitchen table back when my wife and I first got married, back almost thirty years ago. I thought that was a rite of passage for newlyweds.
Anyway, that's the update for now. This is a blog of ramblings, after all.

Landscaping

2006-01-19T20:10:00.000-08:00

Whew! A marathon programming session, and I have a new website:
http://www.expertlandscaping.info
Get it? Expert Landscaping DOT info?
Yah, I'm so fried I actually laughed about the name like an idiot for five minutes, so I thought I would babble about it here in the blog.
Ever get that way? You're so tired you can't think straight, and the slightest thing sets off the giggles like a nine-year old hearing a fart joke for the first time.
Man, I just started again, after I ran the spell checker. That's because BLOGGER.COM's spell checker thinks the word 'blog' is mispelled!
Ok, that's enough. I've got to get some sleep.
'night.

Another day in paradise...

2006-01-17T17:15:00.000-08:00

It's another day in Paradise. Which I can't spell, obviously.
My daughter, the one who was in college, has dropped out to be with her 22-year old boyfriend.
It gets even better.
This weekend she called to announce they are getting married next month.
So much for her dreams of completing college and getting her Masters degree.
Ya want fries with that?
Hey, I'll support her decision. It's her life and she's eighteen.
I just believe it's the wrong one at this time.
Her mother and I dated for two years before we got married, and we were twenty-one.
Sheesh.
Well, he can start paying for her car insurance and cell phone bill. He gets the whole package.
Anyway, here's a joke that belongs on my other blog, but since I haven't posted here in a while, I thought I'd share it here:
A preacher's little boy inquired, "Daddy, I notice every Sunday morning when you first come out to preach, you sit up on the platform and bow your head. What are you doing?"
The father explained, "I'm asking the Lord to give me a good sermon."
The little boy said, "Then why don't he?"
Ya'll have fun, heah'?

I need sleep

2006-01-14T22:09:00.000-08:00

Man, I need sleep. I've been on a marathon web publishing binge the last day and a half. I posted my new Vegetarian Information web site, and finally broke down and got the first sixty-one old jigsaw puzzles posted in an archive at my Jigsaw Puzzle page.
This while spending half the day at my apartment building working on an empty unit, trying to get it ready to rent. Sheesh. I haven't been this busy since I got stuck at home with all three kids when they were in diapers, and all had the runs at the same time and my wife was out of town! I had no clue how much runny poop little kids produce when Mom's not around.
No, I'm not a vegetarian, but my youngest daughter was - she finally had a craving for something that went 'Moo'. I am, however, trying to eat healther and cut back on the prime rib... - Gotcha! Man, I'm so broke I can't even afford to dream about prime rib, much less buy it! The last steak I had was leftovers from a Buffy convention. (You go figure it out.)
Ok, all the programming was both something I've planned on for a long time, and a knee-jerk reaction to a depressing event from work, which I can't describe because my boss might read this and, oh hell, I'll tell about it anyway.
Ok, I was at work Friday when... Hang on, got to get the phone...
(muffled)Yes, boss. I understand. No, boss, I won't do it again... (sound of phone hanging up...)
Anyway, anyone see the big game on tv?

Patent Place USA - Very Interesting

2006-01-04T04:03:00.000-08:00

Now this is interesting. I found a place that sells printed art copies of old patents for some really unusual inventions. 'Honest Abe' never told me that he ever invented anything! (Ok, just kidding. I'm not that old, but my kids would disagree with that.)
From their blog: "home of Abraham Lincoln, Houdini, Edison, Wright, Bell, Ford, and many other famous American inventors!"
http://patentplaceusa.blogspot.com
Looking at all the stuff is a great way to kill some time while learning about some unusual aspects of our history. Highly recomended!

My Latest Website

2006-01-01T23:09:00.000-08:00

Like Sudoku? Then you'll like my new website, Hexdoku.com!

It uses Hexadecimal (1-9 and A-F) for an extra challenge! Check it out!
Enjoy!

The High Cost Of Loving!

2006-01-01T11:46:00.000-08:00

I heard an old joke, but a good one today, that reminded me of my friend Sam, so I thought I would share it with both of the people who actually read this thing.

There is also a ton of jokes you can read at The Humor Hut!.

Here goes:
This guy was a real workaholic, and he was trying to appease his wife, who was infuriated by how little time he spent at home.
"Tell me what you want, Jean," he begged. "Nothing's too good for you. How about a new Cuisinart?"
She shook her head.
"A new mink coat? Floor length, this time?"
Her pout deepened.
"A two week Caribbean cruise?"
She shook her head more vehemently.
"A ski chalet? Or maybe a place at the beach?"
Still no...
"So what do you want, Jean?" asked her frustrated husband.
"A divorce," she replied.
"Gee, I wasn't planning to spend that much money," he admitted.

Good luck, Sam.

Oh, I'm giving away a bunch of my old junk, free. You can get it
here.

Have a great New Years Day!

2005-12-27T10:28:00.000-08:00

'Can-Spam' Can Make You Cry

I just read the most ridiculous statement since last year's tax return.
The Federal Trade Commission said that the incidence of spam has decreased in the two years since the passage of the CAN-SPAM Act...

(Sounds of me falling out of my chair and rolling around the floor, gasping for breath from laughing too hard...)

Yeah, right. In the past two years I went from maybe a dozen a day to over 1200 a day. Yup, you heard right. I get over 1200 spams a day. That's the price you pay for running a dozen web sites as a hobby and for a few bucks extra income.

Now, while I filter out quite a few, simply by keying off of non-existent user names that these idiots send to hoping that someone actually exists with that name, I still get tons at my legitimate addresses. Many of these I have to manually delete as it might be one from a customer that just happened to contain a trigger that sent it to my spam box.

Now, believe it or not, MY filters have only dumped two e-mails in the last six months into the spam box that weren't spam. In fact, they were both e-mails from a humor list I subscribe to.

My ISP, however...

Northstate.net aka the local Phone Company recently 'upgraded' their e-mail to a less efficient, slower, more error-prone system so they can increase my online storage from 10Mb to 25Mb. The problem is, my storage seldom exceeds 1Mb as my mail server pings my ISP account every two minutes and downloads everything it finds...

...except that which my ISP has deemed 'spam' and they dump it into it's spam box.

So, several times a day, I go online and look at that spam box, looking for the several e-mails that weren't spam but actual orders from customers. On a spam page that only displays 50 messages at a time... And takes from two to five minutes to refresh each time... While I'm sitting on top of five T-1 connections...

Already, I have had several customers ask for refunds because they didn't get their 'instant download' of a product because their order didn't make it past Northstate.net's insane filters. Filters, which I, the PAYING CUSTOMER can't turn off.

Yes, the filters are good for average Joe User, but at least give me some control over them. My customer orders are auto-generated when they buy, and have specific code embedded in the e-mail. Code which I use to filter and generate the response telling the user their unique, created on the fly, download page.

Yes, the Can-Spam act means just that: Spammers Can Spam you out of business.

Thanks a lot, FTC.

And thanks a lot to the idiots who send me ten copies of the same message sixteen times a day. It makes me want to take severe action against them.

Ok, I'm done ranting for now, so I will leave you with a happy thought:

Whenever things look bad and bleak, always remember there is someone out there who is so bad off they would actually be greatful to have the job that you think sucks...

2005-12-17T18:41:00.000-08:00

I found a new cool toy to play with - and it's on Google.com!
They have a new music feature. If you type in the name of an artist or group, it will return a special link that will take you to a page full of info about that group.

Try this link, which is what you get when you type in 'Sting'.

Hey, I run an online 70's station (link to the right of this column) and it found info on most of the groups I looked up. Geeze, Google is getting so good, I'm starting to think the Google Guys should run for President (and vice president, of course.) Think what could be done if you applied the ingenuity Google shows to government!

Uhem. Sorry. I was getting a little carried away.

Anyway, my youngest is on the phone begging her mom for money again. I found her copy of an old Eddie Money LP (that's one of those large black vinal disks your parents used to listen to, back before fire was invented, and I have no clue where she got it from,) and thought about sending it to her as a joke. Hey, she want's money, right? If that were on a schedule somewhere it would be classified as "D-1." That's 'Daily - One' for those who don't speak ex-Navy.

Ok, new website: Win My Junk!

I decided to get rid of a bunch of the junk that's piling up around here, and thought I would simply give it away. No, it's not a commercial site giving away coupons or discounts, it's me, giving away stuff that I would otherwise throw out or sell at a yard sale, except I hate doing yard sales. I've already given away three CD-ROM games, and currently have a 6-tape self-help course called 'How To Manage Your Boss'. I've got a biggie I'm going to give away in a couple of weeks.

Well, my parting shot of the day is this:

I don't worry about my kids running with the wrong crowd. They would have to get off the couch first.

2005-12-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's been a while. Too much bad, sad stuff going on, so rather than bring you down, I want to report on an upcoming event with Fearless Leader, AKA George Bush.
George Bush is coming to Kernersville, NC on Monday, December 5th.
So far, no reason for this event has been given out, and it's all very hush-hush.

However...

Using the secret resources found here we figured out what is going to happen.

Here goes:

George Bush comes to Kernersville, NC, to meet with school leaders and for a photo-op with some sixth graders.

All the sixth graders get called into the auditorium, where he gives a short speech about the importance of getting a good education.

When his speech is done, he offers some question time.

The questions go like this:

One little boy puts up his hand, and George asks him what his name is.

"Bob," says the boy.

"And what is your question, Bob?"

"I have 3 questions:

First, why did the USA invade Iraq without the support of the UN?

Second, why are you President when Al Gore got more votes?

And third, whatever happened to Osama Bin Laden?"

Just then the bell rings for recess. George Bush informs the kiddies that they will continue after recess.

When they resume, George says, "OK, where were we? Oh that's right - question time. Who has a question?"

A different little boy puts up his hand. George points him out and asks him what his name is.

"Steve," says the boy.

"And what is your question, Steve?"

"I have 5 questions:

First, why did the USA invade Iraq without the support of the UN?

Second, why are you President when Al Gore got more votes?

Third, whatever happened to Osama Bin Laden?

Fourth, why did the recess bell go 20 minutes early?

And fifth, where is Bob?"

Have a great weekend, and keep those teenagers out of trouble!

2005-11-15T08:20:00.000-08:00

Now this I like.
It's a car that turns into a driving simulator. If the student is scaring the bejesus out of the instructor, they can pull over, push a button, and up pops a big screen TV and they can practice not running off the road, until the instructor's heart rate comes down. I'll bet that could have cut down on all the Valium my kid's driving instructor charged me for.

The possibilities for this toy are fantastic.

Imagine, your own drive in theatre without going to the drive in, or you can play video games in your driveway while your wife is watching Oprah and hogging the big screen.

Um, on second thought:
Daughter: Mike (22-year old military guy that she tried to pawn off as being 18) is taking me to the movies.
Me: What theatre is he taking you to?
Daughter: Oh, it's built into his car. We're just going to find a dark street somewhere and park.
Me:Uhhhh...

Does anyone else see a plot for a slasher movie here? Or uncontrolled teenage hormones without a hundred other people in the audience whose presence will at least rein in things a little bit?

Great... On top of everything else I also have to worry about some idiot popping up the screen and hooking up his X-Box while doing 80 down the highway.

Maybe I can score some Valium from the old driving instructor...

Well, I guess this is the price of progress. Wonder where they will mount the satellite dish?

2005-11-01T05:13:00.000-08:00

I was reading that researchers at the university of North Carolina are trying to genetically modify plants to grow in outer space. One specific plant they are working on is the tobacco plant...
Great. We meet some alien in space and first thing we do is offer them a cigarette.
"Hi. We come in peace. Wanna get cancer?"

Here's something new. Quantum dots. This is cool. These microscopic crystals have only 33 or 34 pairs of electrons each. When they are hit with a laser, they give off a bright white light. Researchers mixed these crystals into some goo and painted it onto a blue LED. It gave off twice the light of a 60-watt light bulb.
They say they can paint this stuff on just about anything. Already there is a blog about using this stuff in, of all things, condoms. Great... Just frigging great... A father's nightmare.
8pm Friday night: "Hey, dad. I'm going out on a date."
"That's nice. Don't forget to wear your sunglasses."

2005-10-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

Trashy People
(Note: If you are looking for the Best Buy rant, it's below. Read it before they Patriot Act it into oblivion or something.)
Normally, I avoid anything political and stick to the problems of teenagers and technology for old farts like myself, however -- Some people are scum.
I read online somewhere that some idiot thinks tonight's nation-wide candlelight vigil commerating the 2000+ US Military people who have died in Iraq is a plot by Liberals to overthrow the government, and that anyone who burns a candle tonight is a godless communist who's out to get Gee-Dubya.
Horsehocky!
People on both sides of the "should we be in Iraq" debate are going to participate. This event is about honoring those who died, not an opportunity for some publicity seeking moron to score some points with the media. If people want to either support or oppose the war, this isn't the time or place to do it.
If you want to attend, here is the link to find where in your area a vigil is being held. You have the right to attend if you so desire.
Not attending is your right, too. Either way, you have the freedom to choose. No one should ever take the ability to make these choices away from you, especially just because you believe differently than they do.

Final Thought:

Folks, let's avoid any fights or arguments over who's right or wrong about the war. This ain't the KKK vs the American Nazi Party, and it ain't 1979 in Greensboro NC, either.

(P.S. - What happens when you put the battery in backwards in a set of noise-canceling headphones?)
W.

2005-10-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

Before you buy an extended warranty at 'Best Buy', Read this!

Today this techno geek learned a hard, expensive lesson about the way big corporations such as 'Best Buy' can screw you. My $100.00 four year extended warranty turned out to be near worthless. I could have done just as well with their cheaper two year warranty. Actually I would have been better off as I would have spent a lot less for the two year warranty.

If you buy an extended warranty on an item from Best Buy, you should know they can cancel it at any time after the original manufacturer's warranty simply by telling you it is not cost effective to repair what you bought, and replacing it with an inferior or less expensive product. If the original item had a ninety day warranty and you bought a four year extended warranty, they can cancel it out without giving any kind of a refund at ninety one days. Then you have to buy another extended warranty at full cost.

Here is what happened: A little over a year ago I bought a JVC DR-MV1S DVD Video Recorder / Video Cassette Recorder. It came with a one year manufacturer's warranty. I bought the four year extended warranty, expecting it would insure I had a working machine for at least four years. In three months, it died. They fixed it (after keeping it for most of a month) then it died again a few months later. After a while they replaced it with another identical unit. Now this unit died, and since it was a couple of weeks past the original one year warranty, I expected it to be repaired or replaced again. After all I had wisely paid a hundred bucks for a four year extended warranty, right?

Wrong answer!

I received a message that Best Buy had called, and to call them back, so I did, spending 49 minutes on the phone before getting to speak to a real person. (They had written down the wrong extension number on my receipt when I dropped it off for repair.) After another ten minutes on hold, the person came back and said they were swapping it out, and to bring in whatever I had in parts, such as the remote control.
So I did.

I was told to pick another one out and they would swap it, so after 20 minutes of looking at the different models before someone showed up who worked in that department, I found out there were none that had all the features my original one did. None of the ones they have had dual antenna inputs with dual tuners, so I could record only one channel at a time. My original had two tuners, and I could record different channels to both the DVD and the VCR at the same time. Fine. I finally accepted one with reduced capability. I could always bring out my old VCR and use a splitter to record two things at once.

Then reality hit!

I was informed the one I had picked out had 90 days labor, 1 year parts, and that I would have to purchase the extended warranty again if I wanted it. What???

What about my four year one hundred dollar extended warranty? The one the salesperson said would insure I had a working unit for at least four years?

Worthless.

It seems there is one line buried in the warranty sheet they give you (after you pay for it, not before) that states: This Plan is fulfilled when a product is replaced after the expiration of the manufacturer's warranty.

That's the 'Gotcha.'

So now I have to spend hours and hours on the phone trying to track down a unit with equal features, that I won't get the rest of my four years warranty on, just to hope it doesn't die one day after the original warranty unless I pay a ridiculous amount for an extended warranty they can cancel at their whim one day after it technically goes into effect.

Wish me luck, and I'll keep you posted.

Update. I just got off the phone with their corporate headquarters. After an hour on the phone, they decided they will refund me (in the form of a gift card) the value of the box they were going to give me as a replacement - much less than I paid to begin with. I get nothing for the remaining three years of my extended warranty.
Now I have to jump through hoops to get the money. First, I have to drive back to Best Buy, which is in another city as there isn't one here, and get them to issue me a gift card. Then I have to call American Express and have a funds hold put on it, and mail it to them. In three to six weeks I will get a check. Meanwhile, I'm without a recorder, and I've made multiple trips to their store.
What it comes down to is that I'm being financially penalized because they decided it would cost them too much money to fix my old machine, which would still be under the extended warranty had they fixed it to begin with.
Look at it this way: You buy a brand new car - a Lincoln, and pay for an extended warranty. One month into the extended phase, something breaks. You take it in, and they tell you it will cost too much to repair so they are going to give you a new car but you will have to pay extra to get an extended warranty with it. Then they give you a Kia.
Hope you don't have to do it again. You might end up with a bicycle.

Ok, I'm going back over there tonight. Wish me luck.

10/24/05 - Conclusion. A semi-happy ending.

Rather than take the refund, I ended up with a DVD recorder with a 40Gb hard drive. And a 4-year warranty (no 2-year available), good for at least 90 days. No VCR capabilities. And a Gift Card worth $3.51. But I'm still out a hundred bucks as that part went out the window. The new unit was much less than the original.

It took four hours to rearrange the furniture and shelves to hold all this. Which I was going to have to rearrange anyway as I was going to build a media center PC (Linux based, of course) but with the new recorder with hard drive it's a moot point. Of course, I could go ahead and finish it so I can record multiple channels at once, except there is nowhere left for me to put it, even with rearranging everything. Dang small house!

Lessons learned:
1. ALWAYS read the fine print. Ask for a copy BEFORE you pay.

2. Sometimes you have to be the squeaky wheel to get your grease. (Now that didn't sound the way I meant it.)

3. There is a class action lawsuit somewhere in here, as it's their decision as to when your item is not economically repairable and the warranty goes out the window. That just doesn't seem right.

4. I can expect to spend 40 hours training my family how to use this newfangled box. The MythTV setup I was installing on my media center PC is a heck of a lot easier to use than the setup on this thing.

5. Being able to pause live TV is cool. Now when one of my kids start talking to me three seconds after ten straight minutes of commercials end, I can pause the show and pick it up where it left off after I've handed them the money they asked for to buy something else for me to pick up off the floor in a week.

Ya'll be careful shopping out there!

2005-10-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

Service
I spent sixteen years in the service. The Navy, to be exact. (FYI: NAVY stands for 'Never Again Volunteer Yourself.' Just ask any enlisted sailor.)
Because of my time in the military, I thought I had a handle on the meaning of the word "service."
I thought it meant "The act of doing things for other people."

Then I heard these terms:

Internal Revenue Service
Postal Service
Telephone Service
Utility Service
Civil Service
City/County Public Service
Customer Service
Service Stations

I became confused about the word "service." This is not what I thought "service" meant.

Then today, I overheard two farmers talking and one of them mentioned that he was having a bull over to "service" a few of his cows.

Bam! All at once it popped into perspective.

Now I understand what all those "service" agencies are really doing to us!

(Ok, this is old and probably lame, but after waiting ten minutes for service at McNuggetts with only one person in line in front of me, I thought it was appropriate.)

2005-10-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

Peeves

Why is it that whenever there are leftover donuts after a meeting everyone assumes the fat guy is going to take them home?

My daughter (the one away at college) called tonight to tell me she didn't have money for gas, so she was borrowing money from a friend so she could drive home to get gas money from me. Huh?

I was at McNugget's last week, and I swear the goldfish working the register had to walk back to it FOUR times to read it before she got my order complete. I had ordered only a side salad and a medium diet coke! What planet do they hire these people from?

Great.... Video and TV on your cell phone. As if bad drivers didn't have enough to distract them...

I hate it when the paper publishes the same Dilbert cartoon two days in a row. They never publish the missing one.

Yah, I have to rant once in a while. This is a great place to do it. My wife is a technophobe so she won't read this and tell me I'm whining.
I was going to allow comments, but within twelve seconds of making my first post, some stupid spammer posted a comment saying "Great blog, come get a new credit card at my site..." Sheesh. While I do usually oppose the death penalty, I think I am willing to make an exception for spammers.

Major peeve: idiots who throw their cigarette butts in my yard, or who flick them out their car windows without looking to see if someone is beside them. Now I have to drive either with my windows up or while wearing fire-proof underwear.

Peeve: a kid's pet rabbit that leaves little surprises all over the house, especially since I like to take my shoes off once I come home. Yuk! I guess I should be glad he didn't get a pet camel.

Why is it that the spell checker at blogger.com thinks that the word 'blog' is misspelled? Or that MS Word doesn't understand the word 'Centrino'. Is it because my computer uses an AMD processor instead of an Intel?

Final peeve of the day: Even though my daughter is off at college, and has been for over a month, there are still idiot friends of hers that still call here wanting to talk to her... at two o'clock in the freakin' morning!

2005-10-06T14:46:00.000-07:00

Opening Salvo

My name is Wayne, and I am a fifty year old male lifelong techno geek. One of the problems with being an old fart like me is trying to keep up in a society where the younger generation thinks we have always had 200+ channels, CD's, DVD's, iPods, computers, and that everyone drives 15 miles or more over the limit, in tight packs that would make a Nascar driver nervous.

Another problem is being the father of several teenagers. When you have a child in your thirties, (ok, at least two of them were born while in my thirties) they see you as this ancient fossil who probably remembers the invention of fire, and therefore couldn't possibly understand their generation, or any of their electronic toys. Strange, however, that it's always me they come to when one of their high-tech toys doesn't work.

One day I was reminded of my age when one of my daughter's friends was over, and her CD player quit working. Right in front of me she asks my daughter, "Can your grandpa fix this for me?" Ouch.

Of course, I'm the one that actually understands all the buttons on the fifteen different remotes (when I can actually find them,) but do I get any credit for it? Noooooo! I get angry children bouncing the stupid things off the front of my big-screen TV when they can't get it to record another episode of 'The Simpsons' even though it comes on sixteen times a day, seven days a week.

I also have the privilege of driving my daughter over to the mall (I'm not allowed to come inside with her) and dropping her off at the farthest entrance from where her friends might be so they don't see her with me. Guess it goes back to the time my wife and I were walking around the mall, and saw her kissing her boyfriend on the monitor outside of the photo booth. Fifteen year old girls don't like being caught by their parents while kissing a boy. The child didn't speak to us for a month. The silence was golden!

Ok, more to come later. Got to go earn a buck to feed this crew.