Things to Think About

More of Rusty

2009-05-11T17:02:00.002-05:00

Jim Reeves (Rusty's supervisor for whom he made the Superman chainmail) has posted a lot of pictures regarding Rusty here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jreevesjr/StanleyRustyPickle?feat=email#
Also, I recently received condolence from someone on Thumbertalk, who directed me to a forum Rusty started: http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=764367 regarding his belief that he should keep his brights on all the time at night when on the motorcycle. On page 9 this person informed everyone of the accident, and everyone offered sympathy.

In keeping with his legacy, I'd like to continue to update this blog regarding Amtgard. To put it simply, Amtgard is an organization that's very Renaissance-based in which people get together with foam weapons and engage in battle. It's a really great way to manage stress, because you get to hit people, and no one gets hurt! Rusty was in the process of bringing it to Des Moines, and had planned on meeting up with another Amtgard group... somewhere in Iowa the weekend after he passed, to try and get them to show us what it's like.
If you're interrested, please let Robert Poland know at RobertPoland@mchsi.com. I think right now we're just looking at a head-count.

The Aftermath

2009-05-01T05:43:00.002-05:00

I'm very happy with the visitation.
That morning his Grandma said, "Now don't be surprised if not many people show up. You know how people are; say they'll come, then they don't come." I just smiled in response.
The family later confessed that they were only expecting maybe 10 people to show up. They must have been overwhelmed with the turnout! There were only 82 signatures in the guest book, so we know not everyone signed. A group of Mediacom friends toasted him a block away, and I got a limited edition can of Jones Soda from it.
Everyone was very impressed with the slideshow I put together, saying I have such talent. I was very happy that my college roomate, Chris could make it, and I told her that everyone liked the pictures she took of me and Rusty, which I took from Facebook.
It was eirie seeing Rusty's body for the final time. Since it feels like he's always beside me, it looked like it was just an empty shell, though some of his siblings refused to go into that room. Other people said he looked like he was just sleeping, but I saw that his eyes and nose were a little sunken compared to when I last saw the body. People noticed that he was too large for the display cascet, and I explained that he won't be cremated in it.
The socializing is a blur of many people saying to me, "If you need anything, give me a call," and me taking out my phone and getting their number for the first time.
It's like he built this huge support system just for me. In the meantime, I'm burning discs for those that want a copy of the DVD.

I Love My In-Laws

2009-04-26T20:22:00.002-05:00

Just an update to let everyone know I'm still doing OK. I've only cried a few times today, so I may be able to handle working tomorrow.. assuming I still have a job. (I called in yesterday at 11, when I should have been there at 7.) I'll find out. If they fire me after this, it's not a place I ought to be anyway. Oh well.
We're not thinking about suing anyone about the helmet any more. Even the detective says no helmet can save someone at 50 miles per hour.
It's been nice getting to know my new family. I was nervous to meet his brother, Jason, because everyone says he's a spitting image of Rusty, but I can see the differences; his brow doesn't come forward as much, and his hair is much lighter and more monotone, and there's something different about the shape of his chin, I think.. like it's not as square, or it doesn't stick out as much.
Rusty's siblings (and cousin, Tracy) and I went to Pella to see the tulips. Only about half of them were blooming, but it's still pretty. Then Cathy (his mom) called and told us we were under a tornado watch, so we came back home to Cathy's house. No tornados.
We had the family viewing, to which my mom, step-dad, sister and niece was invited. I was included in the big decision-making that involved only his two biological parents and myself. We couldn't find a renaissance-themed urn. I mentioned his beer mug, which has a lid, and the woman at the funeral home said to wait until we know how many ashes. (I was excited to find an urn that's biodegradable, designed to have a tree planted in the ashes, and the tree eventually outgrowing the urn. I would want one like that, if I had to choose for myself. I've had such pleasure with paper products; books and art, it seems fitting to feed a tree.)
The Des Moines Register charges $4 PER LINE for obituaries, so we passed on that, and settled for a page on their website, in which it says the visitation will be Wednesday, but it is on Tuesday. (Also, my name is spelled Geisler, not Giesler, as it's written. I didn't even notice; my mom did. It was my mistake.)
I also designed the cards we'll be handing out Tuesday. They're gorgeous, and I'll probably post them on Deviantart. The family says the same thing I've heard from many other people; You've got talent, you can make some money doing this. Rusty always said, "Rae, if I only had half the talent and skill you have..." so I felt pressed to design them myself when we discussed these things at the funeral home. We haven't printed them yet, but I'll send one to any who request it. rmgeisler@gmail.com
Yesterday I found out I have a voicemail message from Rusty. The first thing he says is "I love you."

Visitation

2009-04-24T21:55:00.002-05:00

The visitation will be on Tuesday, April 28 from 6-8 p.m. at Williams Funeral Home in Knoxville. Please RSVP by calling/texting me at 515-822-9414 http://www.williamsfhknoxville.com/OnlineObits.htm
We found out how it happened.The detective said there was no way he could have survived a colision like this. He t-boned the deer. I haven't seen the bike yet, but he said there's fur in the tire spokes and in the middle parts of the bike. When he collided with the deer, it forced his front tire to the right and down. He flew over, flipped, and landed on the back of his head. Yes, he was wearing his helmet. Let's just say that if he wasn't, then there would be no visitation. The family considers me family, even if we weren't married yet. They said I straightened him out. So we saw his body today, before they make it presentable, and there's not a scratch on him. It's still hard to beleive. It feels more like he's sticking around for a while.

.........I ...I just saw his helmet and clothes. The paramedics told us it was just a little crack in the helmet... it's not little. If you want helmet pictures, let me know. I'm NOT posting them here.
They're discussing the possibilities of a lawsuit, but it's looking grim. Iowa is a no-helmet state, and he was going 50 mph, the posted speed limit.

Visitation Tuesday from 6-8 p.m.

2009-04-24T20:50:00.003-05:00

The visitation will be at Williams Funeral Home in Knoxville. http://www.williamsfhknoxville.com/OnlineObits.htm

We found out how it happened.The detective said there was no way he could have survived a colision like this. He t-boned the deer. I haven't seen the bike yet, but he said there's fur in the tire spokes and in the middle pieces of the bike. When he collided with the deer, it forced his front tire to the right and down. He flew over, flipped, and landed on the back of his head/neck. Yes, he was wearing his helmet, and helmets don't cover this part of the neck. He died instantaneously.
The family considers me family, even if we weren't married yet. They said I straightened him out. So we saw his body today, before they make it presentable, and there's not a scratch on him.

Goodbye to a Beloved Friend

2009-04-24T09:05:00.003-05:00

I'm sorry to inform you all of the events of April 23, 2009.

Last night Rusty took the motorcycle to work, as he often did on such beautiful days. Around 7:45 p.m., he took his usual route home from work; Highway 235, then south on 63rd St. The sun had just set, and as he passed Park Ave, he was unable to avoid a deer crossing the road.

It still doesn't seem real.

The rest of this is my testimony and some rambling. What we know so far is that he was wearing his helmet, and the paramedics say there wasn't a scratch on his body. His mom called them, and through her I know they're doing the autopsy this morning and we will hear of the result this afternoon. I will do my best to keep this blog updated. I have a list of people from Mediacom to keep updated: Zack, Brian+Stacy, Mat+Shlee, Josh, Tiki+Jim Reeves, Chris Horner, Chris Nison Bobert, Chris Gibbons, I need numbers for Bryan Myer and the guy we play World of Warcraft with, named Rob. Other than that, I have notified some of his friends in Iowa City, as well as the friend in the Air Force who introduced me to Rusty. Please, if you know anyone else who needs to stay in the loop, contact me at 515-822-9414 or rmgeisler[at]gmail[dot]com.

I assumed he was late getting home because he got held up at work when I heard a knock on the door. I thought maybe he was carrying something and couldn't open the door himself. When I looked through the peep hole and saw a man in a police officer's uniform I thought maybe he was in jail. When I opened the door and saw two police officers.... well, I suppose we all know what it means.

They asked for the family of Stan Pickle. I informed them I'm dating him and asked what happened. They asked if they could come in, (yes, of course) and if anyone else was home. Our roommate and his girlfriend were out, so they continued to tell me what happened. Though it wasn't a large deer, they still had to put it down.

They had me call Mom to come support me, and while we waited I told the remaining officer about Rusty's goal to bring Amtgard to Des Moines, and showed him the renaissance clothes he'd planned on wearing. I still don't have the heart to open the package that came in the mail that day, which I know is the skirt and corset he ordered for me. (OK, I lied, I just opened it, and I think I'll wear it to the funeral.)

I was showing him how I suppose Rusty's Renaissance pants fit together when our roommate and his girlfriend came home. "Rae.." she said in a scared tone, "What's going on?" I explained that Rusty hit a deer on the bike. We both burst into tears and we embraced, at the end of which she asked if he was in the hospital, so I informed her that he didn't make it, and the three of us held a prolonged embrace.

Mom and my step-dad arrived, and they asked the police some questions. I don't know how this process works, but I was given a card and a number to call regarding his body and the bike. I gave this number to Rusty's mom, who was also informed by the police in her area after I gave them her contact information. She tells me they can't move the body until she picks the funeral home. She's so upset, as is expected, and we don't know what he would have wanted. All I remember is him vehemently complaining about how expensive it is for someone to die. (Personally, I'd rather my surviving loved ones throw me in a dumpster than to be forced to pay thousands of dollars for services to a corpse.) His family has had some financial difficulty lately, so they certainly don't need any more expenses. Luckily, he did serve in the military, so they may pay for the funeral.

whew....

2009-04-23T15:52:00.002-05:00

Okay.. so the other day I was thinking to myself about several things including a couple "what would you do..." and a few "why would I do it?"

so now I am going to ask you some of the same questions...

What would you do...
...if you found a trashbag in your yard full if money? And why would you do that?

...if the police bashed in your door, discovered they were in the wrong house, then charge you for the repairs to your door? Why would you do that?

...if you went to the ATM and tried to withdraw $100 and ended up getting $1000? And why?

Acceptance...

2009-04-08T17:04:00.002-05:00

Quoteth the Wiki...

Acceptance usually refers to cases where a person experiences a situation or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it, protest, or exit. The term is used in spirituality, in Eastern religious concepts such as Buddhist mindfulness, and in human psychology. Religions and psychological treatments often suggest the path of acceptance when a situation is both disliked and unchangeable, or when change may be possible only at great cost or risk. Acceptance may imply only a lack of outward, behavioral attempts at possible change, but the word is also used more specifically for a felt or hypothesized cognitive or emotional state. Thus someone may decide to take no action against a situation and yet be said to have not accepted it.

Why does someone accept what is told to them as truth? Was it not a very wise scholar that stated "Do not judge a book by its cover?" Everyday I hear lies, and state lies as part of my job, as part of my social life, and as a part of my family life. Everyday people accept lies as gospel and now we are governed by liars. We even have a liar in the most powerful seat in the government, but because he is a smooth talker, we accept the words that flow from his mouth as the truth. It is liars that our sitting in the chairs of the State Capitol that have just passed a new law stating that they can now tax your tax returns. Guess what! They even kicked out the citizen that opposed that law! Yet, no one cares because they are lied to and swallow it like its sugar.

Lies about the economy are going to hurt the average joe more than the richie rich's of the world, but we joe's take what is told to us by our government for the truth, because 'We don't vote for liars.' A politian in office is the better liar of the bunch. Lets vote for gun control, it will take guns away from criminals... Um, NO, not just no, but no fucking hell no. Look at Australia, citizens in Australia voluntarily took their guns down to depots to have them destroyed. Within the first 30 days, crimes on homeowners went up 44%. How is that possible? Criminals didnt give up their guns. Texas is the butt of many jokes now that we had a bumbling idiot in office, but I tell you what. Texas in the early 90's decided to let citizens carry concealed weapons with them.. Crime in Dallas-Ft. Worth all around dropped 18% in the first week!!! Holy Shiat Georgie! Houstons crime rate dropped 25%. See the trend here folks? Gun control isnt to prevent crime, its to prevent citizens from rising against its government!

Now its been happening at work for me. Accepting the fact that management (some not all) accept the fact that people in seats wearing suits worth more than their yearly pay are making decisions to make themselves look better for someone wearing a more expensive suit than they are. As a result, instead of fixing the customers problems, we do something minor and reset the service and hope that they dont call back, and if they do, its up to some other tech to fix the next part of the problem and get them off the phone. Gone is customer service. Welcome customer disatisfaction! "Call times shorter! Don't get up from your desk, we don't care what their problem is, just send some other tech."

Accepting that people are trained from an early age to be followers, and leaders are drugged and reduced to drooling zombies, its a miracle that in todays society that we havent all succumed to the suffering of the masses. I say we need to educate the sheeples, get them to learn that they are being lied to by the government that cares more about their 401k in a failing bank than they do about getting our troops the proper gear, or even bringing them home from a war we did not want or need.

Acceptance is not tolerable, Its time to change.

A Little Gun History

2009-04-06T08:02:00.002-05:00

First of all yes im double posting this, I apologize but it needs to get out!

1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up andexterminated.

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves wererounded up and exterminated.

China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 millionpolitical dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up andexterminated.

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 MayanIndians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up andexterminated.\

Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one millioneducated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up andexterminated.

Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century becauseof gun control: 56 million.

It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by newlaw to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by their own Government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than $500million dollars.

The first year results are now in: List of items: Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent. Australia-wide, assaultsare up 8.6 percent. Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent(yes, 44 percent)!

In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300percent. Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, thecriminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns! While figuresover the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in armed robbery withfirearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, sincecriminals now are guaranteed that their prey is unarmed. There has alsobeen a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the ELDERLY.Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, aftersuch monumental effort, and expense was e xpended in successfully riddingAustralian society of guns. The Australian experience and the other historical facts above prove it. You won't see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens savelives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only thelaw-abiding citizens. Take note my fellow Americans, before it's toolate! The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson. With guns, we are 'citizens'. Without them, we are 'subjects'.

DuringWWII the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew mostAmericans were ARMED! If you value your freedom, please spread thisanti-gun control message to all of your friends. The purpose of fighting is to win. There is no possible victory in defense. The sword is more important than the shield, and skill is more important than either. The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental.

SWITZERLAND ISSUES EVERY HOUSEHOLD A GUN! SWITZERLAND 'S GOVERNMENTTRAINS EVERY ADULT THEY ISSUE A RIFLE. SWITZERLAND HAS THE LOWEST GUNRELATED CRIME RATE OF ANY CIVILIZED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!IT'S A NO BRAINER! DON'T LET OUR GOVERNMENT WASTE MILLIONS OF OUR TAXDOLLARS IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE ALL LAW ABIDING CITIZENS AN EASY TARGET.

I'm a firm believer of the 2nd Amendment! If you are too, please pass this information along!

Lights on for safety!

2009-03-30T12:19:00.003-05:00

Last night on my ride home from Indianola I followed a friends advice and had my single bright headlight on so I could see the road better, and allow drivers to see me better. Well, I was less than 2 miles from home when an oncoming SUV decided to flash his brights at me as well as honk, I did what every self respecting road rager would do, I flipped him off and continued my way home. Well, captain numbnuts decided to take it upon himself to whip around and follow me with his brights on. So I pulled into Casey's and lifted my visor, and he started yelling that it was rude to leave my brights on. I calmly stated that I had my bright on for visibility and that 99% of all car/motorcycle accidents, the driver of the car states that they didnt see the motorcyclist. He had a confused look, and I asked him if he was aware of that statistic then asked him if he saw me. He said he did, thats why he flashed his brights, I stated.. "Good, then I know that you werent going to hit me, possibly killing me." He gasped a couple times like he was searching for oxygen for his single brain cell, and I said. "Sir, I could argue with you all day about safety for cars, truck and motorcycles, but I have a girlfriend I want to get home to. Is there anything else you would like to say?" He just backed out of the spot and drove on.

Your car has at least 2 lights. some have 4, even more have 6. If my one single headlight is so bright that it upsets you, perhaps you should consider how bright your brights are to a motorcyclist. Until then, my brights stay on at night.

Stupid Streaks and other madness.

2009-03-27T10:43:00.002-05:00

I tell you what. Stupid runs in streaks. What I mean by this is as a customer service representative, I handle all kinds of phone calls 5 days a week. The ones that kill me are the idiots that cannot read what is displayed on their computer screens.

"Mommy, please hold my hand."

When setting up someone's email address for the first time in Outlook Express, it hurts my head to wrap myself around the concept that someone simply cannot read "Click next to continue."

I am by no stretch of the imagination the smartest person on Earth, but I take the time to learn how to use the equipment I am working with. How can a computer programmer not know how to do something basic with a computer? How can a racecar driver not know how to check the oil for their family car? How can a consumer not know how to use something they purchase? Thanks to nanny rules provided by our government, our children are learning that it is acceptable to be lazy, and parents are conditioned to be their childs friend not a parent.

People, I know that I dont have many followers and I know that most of them share my opinions, but seriously. Discipline your children, teach them something useful in life. Do not let them coast along following the crowd, this is what your elected officials want so that they can stay in power.

As for your computer.... its your fucking responsibility to fix your computer. do not call and bitch at me because you cant determine that the blue power light on the front of your tower is not bright, your computer is turned OFF. and the little green or orange right on your "tv" is the power light for your fucking Monitor. If it is orange, it means that your 'tower' is turned off... Get it yet?

Also while I am at it... While I do NOT want to hold your hand step by lousy step while we set up little Timmy's email so he can have a Myspace account. I still want you to follow fucking instructions. If I ask you to go to www.(fucking idiot).com, that means I want you to go to that website.. not to your fucking soap-opera journal.

Also, beat your kids or something. stuff them in a closet. You called me for help, put your little shitlings outside or something... I dont feel like listening to you yell at them when I am trying to help you. Or at least wait until they are in bed before you call.

Oh well.. you'll probably read this, ignore it, and go on eating your McFatty's with your Diet Cola, lugging your fat hips into your $60K suv, driving your kids down the block to their friends because they are too fat themselves to walk 60 feet. Hope you the best and die soon. kkthxbai

Road Rage.. Again.

2009-03-23T17:37:00.002-05:00

I was on my way to the bank. It was the very beginning of rush hour. Approaching an intersection with a left-turn only lane, the car in front of me happened to be the very last who could try to fit in this left-turn only lane. It's tail still stuck out on my lane, so, having common sense, I slowed to a stop and waited for the line to move, as the left arrow had just turned green. Someone honked as he passed me, looking at me. I didn't know why. I guess in this guy's little world everyone did things just to inconvenience him. Sure, I wasn't in a hurry, but why would I just stop dead in the middle of the road, if not for a good reason (i.e. avoiding an obvious collision.. that he could see, had he looked past the end of his nose). It was my time wasted too! (oh no! two whole seconds that I had to stand still and listen to my audiobook instead) Why do people need to be reminded of this?? I just raised my eyebrows at him, questioning expression, since I had no idea what I did wrong.
I got to where I needed to turn onto the interstate. I had to yield to oncoming traffic, since it was a left turn. I considered trying for a small window between cars, reasoning that I should be courteous to the people waiting behind me. I began to accelerate.. but then I heard a honk from behind.
Instantaneously, (yes, women thoughts do run this fast at times) I realized that in being courteous to those behind me, I would be rude to those I would be driving in front of. Thus, if I had to choose which group of people to be rude to, it would plainly be those that have not been rude to me first, so... having moved a whole of 3 inches into my acceleration, I stopped again.
And gave him the bird. I made sure it was against my windshield so he could see the silhouette clearly.
His hands began moving.. not just flipping me off back.. but more of some enraged form that I can only imagine the deaf would interpret as irate baby-talk. When he noticed I was looking in my rear-view mirror, he dramatically pointed to his phone.
That would be an interesting conversation. "Do you know why I pulled you over?" "No, officer." "Well, we got a complaint about someone breaking too much." "Yup, I've been avoiding accidents all day. Should I stop?"
So when we got on the interstate, he got up along side of me so he could lean way over into the passenger seat (would have been out the window, had his window been rolled down) with the most emphasis I've ever seen given to a hand gesture. I raised my eyebrows, smiled slightly and nodded, as I was humoring a very young child. I was thinking, "Yea, you think you're right. The world will end before you question this, which is what causes you to continue to be ignorant. Your mother must be so proud."
As I glanced at him, out of the corner of my eye I noticed the slumped-over figure of a youth, hiding his face. And in that youth, I saw myself wallowing in shame in my dad's car. I hope that youth sees the man for the ass I always saw my dad to be. I hope that youth grows up to be intolerant of road rage as I am, reacting to frustrating situations on the road with pity for those who will learn the meaning of darwinism soon enough.

Tough....... (insert word)

2009-03-23T12:00:00.002-05:00

Tough... Times.

Yes, we are in the middle of a recession. No it wasnt W.'s fault. People are quick to point the finger at the other guy, but lets face facts.
Greedy bastards are why you cannot buy a gallon of milk for less than a gallon of gas. Greedy bastards are why farmers are told not to grow grain and why a loaf of bread costs $3.00. Greedy bastards are the reason why our gas prices are so high, they feel that the greedy Americans should finance their $60B luxury yacht. Greedy bastards would rather bail out a bank, than bail out a school district.

Tough.... Shit.

Its high time we stop using our voices to complain, and start using our votes. We need to let congress know that there should be term limits for the House and Senate. No more life terms. No more pork barrels. No more earmarks. No more bullshit. We need to tell our representatives to start putting out, or get out!

Tough..... Cookies.

Now hows this for bull. A girlscout in North Carolina is being told she cannot sell her cookies. The reason? She has an unfair advantage because her father is a web developer and made her a website where local people can order the cookies. Some schmuck who's daughters stopped being girlscouts some 10 years ago complained that this was unfair. I thought that selling girlscout cookies was supposed to teach the girls about economics and marketing? If e-commerce isnt 'fair' then maybe the hasbeen dad needs to learn HTML.

Tough.... Love.

My nephew was sent to my mom's for a few stunts he pulled in Texas. Sadly after promising not to do the things he did down there, he started getting involved with a few kids around here that are guiding him to do the very things he got in trouble down there. My mom, in an effort to provide a good home to the kid got him a cell phone, against my recommendation. When he came to Iowa, and I got to talk to him. I told him that as long as his grades were good and he did what he was told, and didnt have any bad marks against him he could hang out. He screwed up. BAD.. then had the audacity to tell mom that I was going to come get him to take him to see a movie. Bullshit I said. So it looks like this weekend I go down to moms and have a few words with my nephew. Hopefully I can control myself and not beat the living tar out of him. wish me luck.

Well... A mighty deep subject...

2009-03-02T09:19:00.002-06:00

This particular thread is all about nothing in particular. When was the last time you called in for help, and was reluctant to actually help the person you called help you?

Last night I was having an issue with my phone, and I called support and we went thru the motions of getting my G1 fixed. At then end of the call, I thanked her for being there when I needed her. I think it threw her off. I honestly think that in the world of fast paced communications and tele-support, no one stops to think that we are humans just like you.

This is a copy of what I wanted to send to the Des Moines Register, they wouldnt print it because they wanted to include my name. Due to security reasons at work, I didnt want to get fired. so here is what I wrote.

Dear Des Moines,

From the bottom of my heart, I beg of you all to consider the following when you are attempting to contact customer support for your services. Whether its for your Internet provider, your mobile phone company, even your bank. The live person you are speaking to is just that, another living breathing human just like you that has a job, house notes, car payments, and screaming kids just like you. Yet, that impersonal device on your hand glued to your ear, your phone, grants you some unwritten permission that gives you authoriity to treat your customer service provider with the foulest attitudes, venomous words, and threats that you yourself wouldnt put up with from someone face to face, yet everyday you call us and sling these at us like they were beads at mardi gras. It truly bothers me that my polite bank teller is a raving lunatic on the phone when she calls me for support. I am not trash, I am your customer service provider. Remember, you called me for help, I didn't call you.

Now, mind you, I know lots of people in the customer service industry that feel like I do, why then cannot the paper publish it under an 'pen name?' I am pretty sure that other papers would be more than willing to alter the names to protect the innocent... Oh well. yet another attempt to educate these rotten brained foul mouth, lazy people shot down by a rotten brained foul mouth customer.

(insert something here) Anonymous meeting.

2009-02-27T09:42:00.002-06:00

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I would like to bring your attention to bear on the supposed witness to my horible actions against the defendant. Supposedly at or on the date in question I was accused by the witness of not caring about the issue or the feelings of the defendant. Now, members of the jury, I ask you to ask yourselves this very fundamental question. Have I ever stopped caring about someone elses problem? If you can answer yes to this question, how can you honestly convict me of the crime of not caring. You see, day in and day out I talk to people who's problems are more important than the next guys problem, yet day in and day out I am supposed to treat their problem as if it were my own.

Please, everyone, don't punish me for not caring about your problem, its my job to correct the issue, not care about it.

**some time later**

Judge: Mr. Shadowhunter, you have been accused of not caring about peoples problems. You have been found guilty by your peers because they dont care about your problem. They just want to see someone hanged. Therefore it is the judgement of this court to not care either, but bloodshed would be nice. You are to be hanged by the neck until dead, dead, dead...

Me: thanks alot asshat.

wtf m8, omg, rofl, pewpewpew... huh?

2009-02-23T10:39:00.004-06:00

The aimless ramblings of a medicated man.

"Do not stop to smell the kitties, they may spill the milk."

"Don't count your beans until you have checked the mail."

"Life is but a dream, until it sinks, then it feels like a garbage disposal."

"A 3000 pound car with a drunk driver is more likely to kill you dead as a rifle fired with a 1.5 oz bullet, why arent the democrats screaming for more car control?"

"God bless, cause no one else will."

"God doesnt believe in atheists."

Crazy things are a foot, and the last time anyone checked, only the educated understood what was happening, yet no one cared enough to do anything about it.

What does the new economic bailout mean to me. it means that I will be paying $13 less in taxes than I did. OMG... that means I can have chinese takeout at least.... twice a month!! Good god. With the money that the government is counterfeiting, each man and woman and child in the good ole US of A could put $13,000 into the bank, or spend it where its needed.. instead some a-hole thought it would be a grand idea to give it to the States and let them decide what to do with it. Meaning that healthcare is suppose to get a boost, roads are supposed to get boosts, other infrastructure is supposed to get a boost. What does that mean to the common tax payer? Someone else is going to get to take a nice long government paid vacation... The rest of us 'hard' working SOB's are stuck paying taxes on tax returns, taxes for gas, taxes for food, taxes for breathing, taxes for getting married, taxes for getting divorced, taxes for healthcare, taxes for the sake of taxing the hell out of us.

Our forefathers fought over a 3% increase in taxes... 3 cents on the dollar, now we are getting taxed $.50 on the dollar, why are we not fighting back?

The IRS is illegal, the federal reserve bank is illegal, and our government is using is power to keep us uneducated, unhealthy, and unable to do anything about it.

The names have been changed to protect the idiots....

2009-02-19T10:55:00.002-06:00

Firstly, I would like to laugh as I heard an interview from the idiot that created Girls gone wild that the pr0n industry needs a bailout... I dont see how as it helps generate more PC repair jobs than any other industry.. Now on to the main part of this topic.

As March rapidly approaches, I will be working on the details of an online Customer Service Bingo... If I do this right and people play thru the day, I may award prizes to the winner. Prizes may be small, and I may end up advertising with sponsors, but I think it should produce fun times.

So here goes. My first winner of the stupid customer lottery. A daily drawing where the most dumbass or asinine caller gets to have parts of our conversation re-broadcast in a fashion that my bosses, who may be monitoring my activites will not get me in trouble.

45minutes into a call from a customer in an area affected by mother nature.
" I want my services working now."
"Ma'am, as I have explained for the last 30 minutes, I cannot get any technicians out with a schedule I can give at this time. I can set a tech, but I cannot even come close to telling you when they will get there."
"I don't like your attitude, I want to talk to your ****ing supervisor right *****mn now!"
"Ma'am, regardless of my attitude, my supervisor is going to tell you the exact same information I just gave you. You are going to get credit when you services are restored, and rest assured that the techs will be out to restore your service once the feeder cables in your neighborhood are repaired."
"I want to talk - TO - YOUR - SUPERVISOR!"
"Right now Mrs. Customer, you are starting to play the Mommy/Daddy trick. You do not like the answer you are getting and want something different from daddy. I am not going to let you talk to my supervisor because I dont want to trouble you with the same issue I have spent 30 minutes explaining to you."

*customer hung up*

Got a better story, please follow up with a comment.

See ya!

Post-Traumatic Call Disorder (PTCD)

2009-02-16T17:36:00.002-06:00

What is Post-Traumatic Call Disorder?
Post-Traumatic Call Disorder (PTCD) is an anxiety disorder that can develop after long or repeated exposure to terrifying calls or ordeals in which grave intellectual harm has occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may trigger PTCD include voilent verbal assaults, natural or artifically caused lack of intelligence, stupidity, and/or a reluctance to solve problems.

Signs & Symptoms
People with PTCD have persistent thoughts of dispair and memories of their ordeal that leave them emotionally numb and/or intellectually incapable to solve basic problems, especially with callers who have problems that the sufferer once cared about. The sufferer may experience sleeping problems, reluctance to return to work, feel detached, become easily distracted or startled, or angered easily.

Treatments
Effective treatments for PTCD are still be researched and improved therapies that can help most people with PTCD are still few and far between. However, scientists and therapists agree that the solutions that seem to work best is the removal and extinction of ignorant, selfish, whining, demanding, in-your-face, got-to-have-it-now customers. This must be accomplished before other anxiety disorders develop withing the individuals suffering from PTCD that will lead them to unproductive, unfulfilled lives, or removing the individual from the source of the repeated trauma before they go postal.

Things to consider.... (repost)

2009-02-16T16:09:00.002-06:00

Thank you for calling technical support, my name is Inkil. I have a considerable amount of control over one or more very important aspects of your daily life. Your cable TV, Telephone and Internet, sometimes one of these, sometimes all three. Before we interact, I would like to share some thoughts with you.

I am here, quite simply, to fix your shit. My job is not complete until said shit is fixed. So, please, just help me fix your shit. With that out of the way, know that I hate you exactly as much as you hate me, no more, no less. If you are at least relatively pleasant, I will be more than happy to assist you with all your needs, even small talk with you about the weather. Conversely, if you are a total tool, I will make this the worse 10 minutes of your life.

Neither I, nor any of my co-workers our out to screw you over. We are not idiots, we are college graduates in technical disciplines, the vast majority of whom are here to work their way up the Information Technology ladder to more fulfilling positions. Sometimes we have off days, sure, who doesn't, but we know EXACTLY what we are doing. Note: This does not apply to anyone outside of our department, they are, in all reality, idiots who are out to screw you.

Now, you say that you have already unplugged the 'internet box.' Guess what genius, your going to do it again. Most of the time we have a very good reason for this... unless your a dick, then we are going to do it just to piss you off more. Also, reset that damn router of yours and don't lie to me about it, we don't care that you have it, its not illegal to own and use one.

To the little sweet old "computer illiterate" customer, you are by far some of the most enjoyable people we get the chance to talk to, your patient, willing to learn, and most importantly willing to listen, Thank you! You Computer Science PhD's? Understand this... YOU ARE RETARDED! If you have already 'cycled' the equipment and it didnt work, why did it work when I made you do it again? If you are so well educated, better than me, smarter than the average 5th grader, why the hell are you calling me? Get the hell out of my queue, I have nicer people to talk to that have ligitimate problems to solve.

Do not try to intimidate me by demanding to speak with my supervisor without telling me what the problem is. My supervisor isn't Merlin, he doesn't have some magic wand that he can wave around and make everything better. Infact they are governed by the same protocolc and use the same tools that I do. And, to top it all off, they are more likely to tell you straight up where you can put your demands because, get this!!! They have other shit to do like help fix the 120,000 other customers that are offline because some reject with a back-hoe cut the fiber optic line that killed the entire southeastern US's services.

Also, threatening to quit our services does not do anything for me. We have an entire department dedicated to crying about your wanting to quit our service, so that means I don't have to give half a shit about your threats. Harsh, sure, but I have more than enough work do to fixing shit, yelling at field techs, following up on cases and explaining the concept of web-based email to your country-bumpkin cousin Henry. Cry to someone else if you plan on threatening to quit.

"It worked fine yesterday!" I know all about it, but let me explain something... Shit breaks. Lets consider that I spent the last 45 minutes going over the same thing repeatedly, the best answer is, stop crying, don't threaten me, let me do the other part of my job, which is getting a field technician out to your house and fix our equipment. And if we did determine that your PC is a 14 year old piece of crap, quit being a tightwad and get a new pc. Your Windows 98 box isnt even supported by Microsoft anymore. And get this through that thick skull of yours... Computers do not get better with age, they are not a fine wine or a collectors automobile.

Speakerphone? Turn it the fuck off. Kids, dogs, swearing spouse/significant other, driving, at work, or any other thing that I don't like, I can and will terminiate your call. I am a professional in my field of work. You are a professional in your field of work. Act like it.

Please, do not try to call back and speak with another technical support representative and have them troubleshoot the same problem I spent an hour on the phone with you just because you didn't like my answer. Here is a secret, we keep detailed notes on your account. He too can read that you spilled coffee on the "internet box", and even if he didn't read what I wrote he would come to the exact same conclusion. All you are doing is tying up a representative with your stupidity and stubbornness and keeping someone that has a real problem on hold, listening to that god-awful music.

I am not blowing smoke up your ass when I say that I understand just how frustrating it is to wait on hold for hours, get transfered to the wrong department, disconnected, and have had to deal with bad agents. The difference is I do care about your problem, now lets calm down so I can fix your shit.

My company deals with over 30,000 trouble calls per day. There is about 400 of us here answering these calls. We have time constraints, sales quotas, and specific things we need to do in a set way. To this day, in the two years I have worked here, I have not once ever gotten a call from a customer that said "Thank you, my shit works great!" Maybe that will happen some day, probably not today.

So, what can I help you with today?

Speech: The Art of Generally Specific Attacks.

2009-02-04T09:17:00.002-06:00

Okay. So, I started writing this blog in 2007 to vent my frustrations in a way that could be constructive and informative without resorting to circular speech and/or yelling. Whether it was about customer (dis)service, poor customers, road rage, or other general malaise of societal problem, this blog was created to help me communicate my feelings better. Thank you all for sharing my feelings with me.

Now, I bring up a very sensitive subject regarding equality among the sexes, and my analogy from my last post, which was intended to be very general, and many couples in this world can completely relate to, was taken as a specific attack against one person who takes offense because I didn't make clear that I am not attacking the entire woman race. I am sorry for the misunderstanding and the miscommunication.

Plenty of women in the world have gone completely nuts on their significant other for various things and what I have learned is quite simple.

Women do not think logically. They think emotionally.
Example. A woman does not express her feelings to her mate because he should know her well enough to read her mind and if he cant she is going to get upset because he should be more in tune with her.
Men think logically, they do not always think emotionally.
Example. A man will choose to get upset and express his anger or dissatisfaction about a current condition completely oblivious of the emotional impact it may have on those near him, then completely forget the fact of what he got angry with in the first place, then wonder why his mate won't talk to him...

Liken Men to dogs, and women to cats. A cat won't tell you she doesnt want to be pet until after you have done it long enough for her to rake you with its claws drawing blood. A dog will look at you with sorrow and grief after you rub his nose in the poo he left on the carpet 5 minutes ago and completely forgot it was his but still love you because he is a loyal and faithful companion.

Now, does this opinion of mine blanket all women or men? NO, how can it possibly mean that everyone acts this way? This mearly is my interpretations of my life events that have led up to this conclusion.

My point on my previous post was the expressing of my feelings towards books and self-help guides that promote the demasculinization(sp) of men and promote the unfair and unethical treatment of men due to fem-nazi's deciding that men are only to serve the 'better' sex.

My point was to express my views on how women 'in general' demand equal rights, but will stand there and wait for the boyfriend to open the door. Or wait there in the car while its pouring down cats and dogs as her man fumbles his keys instead of unlocking the door for him, then complain that she is getting wet from the water dripping off of him when he finally gets in the car. Has my girlfriend, who is wonderful and supportive done this to me? No, and I don't think she would... but that doesnt mean some woman somewhere past or present or future hasn't done it or won't do it.

Rachel: Please understand that I love you with all my heart and soul... this post and the previous post was not intending to put you into a category of women from my past. i <3 u

Insightfulness, uselessness, pointlessness...

2009-02-03T09:56:00.003-06:00

"Women are from Venus..."

Everyone that has watched TV knows this quote, but I don't know where it came from.. but honestly, after reading what my g/f wrote one day...

The difference between men and women is, men like movies where a lot of people die quickly... Women like movies where one person dies slowly and painfully...

My response.. "Womenz is sadistic."

Equality

Now I love my girlfriend with all my heart. (I know I sound like a teenager, but she makes me very happy) but generally speaking. There is no such thing as equality among the sexes... Let me explain.

Man: "Hunnie, I am hungry, lets go out for dinner."
Woman: "Sounds good, but I am not really that hungry."
Man: "Okay, what are you in the mood for?"
Woman: "I don't care, I am not really that hungry."
(guy takes it upon himself to pick a restaurant, and chooses a gourmet burger joint)
Woman: (sighs)
Man: (Listens to radio as they drive to the restaurant)
Woman: (sighs louder)
Man: "Whats wrong hunnie?"
Woman: "Nothing...."
Man: (shrugs and continues to listen to the radio and navigate thru traffic)
(They arrive at the restaurant, and the woman stands there impatiently, her body language screams 'I don't want to be here.')
Man: "Hunnie, whats wrong?"
Woman: "(sighs) Nothing..."
(they are seated and he orders a meal fit for a king, she barely glances at the menu and orders a small salad and a glass of water.)
(they eat in silence, he finishes his burger and fries and downs a couple drinks. the ice in her water as all but melted completely away and she has barely touched her salad)
Man: "Darling, love of my life, what is bothering you?"
(the third of a string of inquiries to determine the nature of her problems, and for some reason this is the catalyst to cause an acidic reaction that explodes into atomic proportions that she miraculously contains and clearly states) "Nothing..."
(the couple stands up and leaves the restaurant, she leans against the car door avidly avoiding his gaze and questions until they get home, and suddenly without explanation or warning, she releases a torrent of fury and wrath that catches him so off guard he stumbles with his words and his thoughts are in a complete jumble...)
Man: (angrily) "What the fuck did I do wrong this time?"
Woman: "I didn't want to eat at 'some' burger joint!"

Now lets pause a second.... At what point did she say where she wanted to go? And why is it his fault she didn't speak up?

Wake up and smell the pile of shit your making girls... Your man, as much of in love you are with him cannot read your mind... Open your mouth for something other than complaining and you wont have to experience these kinds of issues.

AMENDMENT: My beautiful and wonderful and supportive girlfriend made perfectly clear in her comment that she was offended by this post. Honestly with all my love and support, I can say... "Good!" This post was meant to stir feelings of anger, awaken thoughts of wrong doing, and create a general state of shock that, in my hopes, would change the way women treat men in general. If I had wanted to attack specific women in my life for this, I could start the list and still not have ended it in the time it took me to write the damn post. Women want equality, but in the end they think that the world revolves around them and their whims.. **okay, most, but not all women think this**

So important, its got 2 completely unrelated parts.

2009-01-27T08:51:00.005-06:00

Part 1.

"It's a motorized ballet, except no one knows the damn dance moves..."

Last night on my way home from work, I watched something akin to a ballet, nascar, and granny blue hair all striving to get where they are going and pissing off as many people as they can. Now, I suffer from road rage, it has been building up for many many years. But, I have a wonderful and supportive girlfriend and my road rage has slowly been converted to road humor. I actually find things funny with what used to piss me off. But what I saw yesterday convinced me that owning a handgun is not a good idea for everyone. There were people forcefully cutting off others, all in the name of getting home faster than the next guy... So I ask you, what happens when you get home faster than everyone else? Do you get to sit on your throne and claim superiority over everyone else while you defaecate upon the holy water? Do you get to sit in the other throne and fill your guts with a microwave dinner that your wife/husband left you to eat because they had to take your one child that you could care less about to their doctors appointment?

Now, I understand the importance of wanting to get home after a long day at work, but seriously, does it require you kill someone on your way home?

Part 2.

"I love you so much..."

First, apologies to my wonderful and supportive girlfriend. I love you very much. Okay. "I love you so much..." What does this exactly mean? Is it positive or negative? Finite or infinite... This statement that I made to my wonderful and supportive girlfriend started me thinking.. What is "so much?" I then thought of other phrases or statements that use the term so much. Like, There is only so much to go around. Or, There is only so much I can do. Both of these statements are of the finite variety, but add one word.. more. then does it become infinite? I love you so much more than you know.. that seems to sound better, but still it can be construed as a negative by indicating that your significant other doesnt have a clue. Maybe we should just tell our others the truth.

I love you, but there are things in this world that I love more than you on a particular day, or on a particular moment. "I love you so much, but I really love these pancakes more."

Dream, Nightmare... you decide, you interpret.

2009-01-21T09:27:00.002-06:00

Okay. today is less about others and more about me. Time for me to be slightly selfish... okay a lot selfish.

In a haze, I wake up to find out the lottery ticket I bought won me $250,000.. now this was nice.. In my dream I paid off my bills, paid off most of Rachel's bills, then decided in the interest of brevity help my mom get some much needed repairs to her house. However, the next day at work, a few managers escorted me to a secluded office and a couple employees began a process of accusing me of embezzling money from the company and a trial was scheduled. No police, no arrest, no go to jail, no passing Go.

During this 'trial' one of the jurors sat there motionless and glared at me, I asked to speak with the judge and question the juror staring at me and it turns out he was a racist and thought that all white people needed to die. How he got past the selection process is beyond me. But it didnt end there. I end up getting into a fist fight with a friend cause I wouldnt loan him money, and someone burns down my moms house, and after the trial, the expense of the lawyer and everything my $250,000 ended up costing me a whopping $1mil.

God I hate dreams.

hot as hell in January...

2009-01-20T14:55:00.003-06:00

First off... I need a Roto-Rooter for my sinuses. I just want to breathe!!!!

Secondly...

Now, everyone knows that people, in general, can be very educated in their field of expertise. Doctors are very brilliant people. Police Officers are very skilled. And Tech support representatives are not only very brilliant, the are also very skilled. Many of us have expertise in several fields, such as PC repair, website development, Network administration. But by no means are we stupid when it comes to matters such as finances or personal communication.

What does all this mean? It means that when you call in to speak with your support representative, its like calling your Doctor, except we can diagnose your problems over the phone, unlike your Doctor. We don't charge you for talking to us, and 9 times out of 10 we can fix your problem.

Here is a perfect example of someone that knows exactly what she is doing, yet doesn't get it when explained to her. Student goes home for the Xmas holidays, her service goes in to past due status and gets cut off. She calls in in the middle of January upset that she is getting billed for the service she wasn't home to use. She demanded a credit to her account. I politely proceeded to to tell her I could not credit her account because she 1. did not call in with any issues. 2. the acct was past due and disconnected, and 3. she didn't downgrade to vacation settings while she was gone. She got upset and thought this was unfair and demanded to speak with a supervisor. I then asked her this question. If you parked your car in the long term parking at the airport, then flew on a 1 month trip to Europe, then came back and found a notice in the mail that your payment is past due for your car payment and they were going to repossess your car, are you going to demand credit cause you couldn't drive it? She said No, I asked her then why ask us for credit.. she refused to answer and wanted to speak with someone else. I transfered her to customer service and told him exactly what she was trying to do. Funny part is she was sent to collections for being really past due. mwuahahaha!

Moral of her story, while she was smart enough to try to find the loop-holes, she tried opening the wrong one and got what she deserved.

My friendly reminder to all of you readers. While you are smart at what you do, you are not as smart as the guy/gal that is helping you... thats why you called them for help.

"Living the Dream."

2009-01-16T11:17:00.002-06:00

Everyone that I hang around with knows that I am outgoing enough to ask how someone is doing and genuinely mean it. Well, the other day I was at the stop and rob store and I asked the gal "How are you doing?" she responded "Living the dream."

Now, I asked myself later, did I ask "What", or "How", I deduced "How", so then I started thinking. "Living the dream" does that mean..

I am doing okay despite the fact that I live with a deadbeat who takes my paychecks and cashes it for booze and dope, and beats me up in front of my three kids who's different fathers are all deadbeats too.. and thank God himself that this deadbeat isnt beating my kids, although I cant afford to buy diapers, let alone clothing or food for my babies....

So, when someone askes you "How you are doing..." try to respond with the appropriate answer. I am fine, Just shitty thanks. Whats it to ya? Go to hell dude!

Finding ... something...

2009-01-13T09:07:00.002-06:00

How can you find something you're not even sure you lost? How can you feel like you lost something if you don't know it's missing?

Am I going thru a mid-week crisis? I do not desire to be at work, I do not desire to stay at home. Not that there are any problems at either location, I just feel cooped up and need to escape. But, I have no where to go...

Maybe its a winter funk.. I don't know.

That lost something... maybe it's my creativity that's missing. Maybe it's not lost but being overshadowed by the sense of being burned out. Maybe I am getting tired of dealing with the severe case of stupid that humanity has to offer. All walks of life all maner of humanity, for 8 hours I have to listen to sob stories, people with anger management issue, people that seem to have Tourette's syndrome, and a myriad of other reasons that can be assigned to one stupid person treating someone else like a piece of shit.

Maybe I just need more sleep.

**sighs**

The good... The bad... and the down right stupid.....

2009-01-12T09:12:00.002-06:00

The Good...

Have you ever been stopped for no reason in particular, or even for something as major as a flat tire and had someone stop and ask if you need help? I have had that happen, while not recently, it has happened. Today on my way to work in a light snow, I saw someone pull over and offer assistance to a motorist in need. I wish I had had more time to assist someone, but its me or my job, and since I cant pay myself, I choose work. Sorry, Mr or Mrs Stranded-Motorist. Maybe next time.

The Bad...

I want to say thank you to all in the service industry on behalf of the rest of humanity. We are rude, insensitive, demanding and damn right foul. You put up with more stress in one day than many of us will ever encounter in our meager pathetic lives. So, I say thank you for dealing with our insecurities, thank you for taking the brunt of our frustration for leading such miserable lives. Thank you for being the rock of Gibralter...

And now...

The down right stupid... (this section brought to you by the letters B,M,W as well as M,E,R,C,E,D,E,S and S,U,V.)

Okay, the part you have all been waiting for... The RANT section of the blog...
Now, mind you I like to think I drive safe. I know I probably dont drive as safe as I should, but I can tell you that driving 40 mph in a 65 mph is retarded... Add to that fact that the offending vehicle is being opperating by a woman, and multiply that by the cost of the SUV in thousands, your result is the stupidity factor of said driver. If you have the balls to spend more on your suv than 75% of America's service industry workers yearly wage, then have the balls to drive the damn thing the way the designers intended.

And another thing, I know why women go to the bathroom all at the same time... Support should one of them fall in the toilet.. but does that mean you ALL have to clump together in two lanes and go 25 mph under the speed limit together?!??

pewpewpew

2009-01-08T14:58:00.002-06:00

Have you ever thought back to a funny moment during a serious time and had a very difficult time keeping a straight face?

I had one of those moments today. I was in a meeting for my reviews at work, then during a serious moment I started thinking about a day when I worked at McD's when I had a really bad case of gas, well I dropped a trainwreck of a fart just as a supervisor bent over to get something out of the cabinet behind me. Now, in my defense I did warn others around me, but it cleared the kitchen... and some of the lobby. Well needless to day I was not allowed to have chili at work ever again.

anyway, this moment, like many other moments I have had in my life, brought me great mirth and smiles. Something else that brings smiles to my face are when I remember the first time my girlfriend let me kiss her. While its definately in the top 10 things I "want" to remember it still doesnt beat the look she gave me when her parents said they wouldnt have any issue with me dating her. I will always cherish that look.

Things I wish I could forget... and never repeat....

Getting angry over sugar. Getting angry over a speeder. Getting angry..

I don't want to hurt my friends and loved ones anymore.

Things that...

2009-01-07T14:21:00.002-06:00

No rant today...

Just the following public service announcement.

Anger is a bad thing, it hurts everyone around you. It hurts those you do not know, and those that you love. It causes you to lose focus of reality and can damage your reputation and good intentions.

Getting angry is natural. How you display that anger is the bad thing.

There is no spoon....

2009-01-06T10:54:00.003-06:00

Okay, ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, and the spare zombie or two in the crowd...

I have something wonderful and amazing to tell you! So lean close and pay attention...

YOUR 8 YEAR OLD PIECE OF SHIT COMPUTER... GET RID OF IT AND GET A NEW ONE.

Reflections...

2009-01-01T07:03:00.002-06:00

I decided to go back to the begining of this blog and re-read everything I wrote, and I have to tell you something... I am so glad I am not that same guy anymore..

Let me tell you what I plan for this new year.

1. Lose at least 50 lbs. if not more.
2. Continue to improve my relationship with myself and rachel.
3. Enhance my status and position within my company and become a more valueable asset.
4. Attempt to complete my degree so that I can finally say I have a damn AAS.
5. Make at least one trip to one or more of the following cities: Kansas City, Chicago, Austin, Portland, Orlando, Houston, and/or Tulsa.
6. For the following reasons: Friends, family, waffle house, whataburger, sunrise, sunset, rennaisance, and/or just because.
7. Get promoted out of Tier 1.
8. Practice becoming a better marksman and teach at least two people how to be come better marksmen.
9. Aquire another firearm, either semi-auto pistol, .40 S&W, or another, larger, rifle of military design or hunting specs.
10. Pay off and upgrade my DRZ-400 SE to a DL1000. And go on a few road trips. (see #5)

As you can see I have a small list of things to do this year, and there are going to be more. But rest assured, I will be posting the things that make me think.

Happy New Year 2009.

Post Xmas excitement and blues.

2008-12-29T06:33:00.002-06:00

Greetings everyone for the latest installment of Rusty's amazing, fantastical, eye-opening, jaw dropping goodness from the incredible insight of my mind. In today's installment I would like to point out the feature to your right, the image gallery. As time progresses and I find things that I would like to share with you visually, I will be posting those images in that rotating gallery. The first image I would like to bring to your attention is my Xmas present to me. A WWII Military Rifle, the M1 Carbine. This handy little weapon served in the military from 1944, until early parts of Vietnam. Now the weapon I currently own, I do not know what action it saw, and I am not going to speculate, but I am searching for its records. I can tell you that it shoots very accurately out to 100 yards, and that I am, IMHO, a pretty good shot. Even Rachel likes it! still have to see about getting Rachel something very nice for her Xmas present. I feel pretty guilty about not getting her anything :( I hope she can forgive me that hers might be a bit late.

So that was pretty exciting for me.

Now for the blues...

What is love? What is the difference between being 'in love' and 'loving' someone? What does love mean to you? If I were to ask you the following question, and mind you, you do not have to answer this except to yourself, 'When it comes to your relationship with your (boyfriend,husband,girlfriend,wife), what does it mean to you to love them?'

I guess I am still trying to learn what it means to love someone, specifically someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. Does it mean changing who you are to fit their mold? Or does it mean changing you habits, ideals, morals, to become better than you have been?

I know that deep down in my heart I love Rachel because she makes me feel that together we are greater than we are individually. But we have had some very scary moments in our last 15 months, still I have worked on my behavior not only for her, but for me. I don't want to stress myself into a heart attack... In fact I have changed my behavior when it comes to several things, the most serious offender was my road rage. I have realized that I cannot change the way other people drive, just the way I drive. I am continually learning how to further better myself to the point where I don't even get bothered when someone else cuts me off. I am not getting as upset that I seem to be the only one doing the majority of the household maintenance in the apartment that I share with my beloved Rachel and roommate Crispy, but sadly that came with a price... I recognized that if I don't do it, it seems that no one else does it until I let someone know that its bothering me. So, originally I thought that I shouldn't be the only one with a sense of responsibility and can do these chores without being asked, but like other drivers, I cannot rely on this though. So I have resigned myself to knowing that if it needs to be done, just do it and be done with it.

I am really trying hard to be a better person for Rachel, but I am starting to feel like the changes I have made aren't enough, or will not be enough. She loves me because I give her 'warm fuzzy' feelings, but whats going to happen when I cant keep her warm anymore? I love her, and I desire to marry her... but does she feel the same way anymore? Did she ever feel that way at all?

Three more days...

2008-12-22T05:12:00.002-06:00

Commercial Terrorism....

While I firmly believe in the holiday spirit, christmas, or Yule to those of us of pagan beliefs, I am starting to get very bothered by the tactical attacks by those that claim they are good Christians compounded by the commercial strikes against our pocketbooks for things that no one needs.

The other day I saw a commercial on TV for a childs toy (ages 18+ months and older), and in my quest to satisfy my curiosity, I checked the MSRP on this thing, and it was in excess of $300. I asked myself this very important question... When does it become 'necessary' that an eating and pooping machine need to have $300 spent on it when in 3 hours it wont remember that thing exists when a $3 rattle captures its attention?

Technological Terrorism....

I am not going to lie, I work for an isp as a tech support rep, and as a rep for said company, it is my duty to fix peoples computer connection. Now normally this isnt an issue, but when I get a call from some customer in BFE with a 'new' pc they bought, and that new pc turns out to be a win98se from some pawn shop. I want to reach thru the phone and slap them around. But I cant, and I have to do some limited support, and they get upset that they cannot connect, and then I get to tell them the wonderful news. We do not support win98 and the $1000 they spent on their pc could have been spent buying an edumakashun. It is usually then that they threaten to contact everyone from the ACLU to FBI and Interpol... Frankly I dont give a shit. Just dont yell at me for your ignorance.

Biological Terrorism....

You know... fruitcake just wont go away. Why does it exists, and I read somewhere that someone attempted to eat a 200 year old fruitcake... WTF?!??

Steps to deal with...

2008-12-17T06:08:00.002-06:00

This is my self-help guide to you on how to deal with several of lifes major issues.

1. TSFTOG. Too smart for their own good. These people are generally indicated by the confident useage of technical terms, jargon and a general knowledge of systems. However this has a dark side. In your efforts to communicate with said individual, they generally respond with "Huh?!" "What?"

Solution: Reset equipment and get off the call as fast as possible. If you stay on the call any longer than absolutely necessary ^{(formula: (((time/2)*stupid factor)*0)=Time to hang up!} {stupid factor is equal to the number of technical words used in the opening description of the problem} Warning. DO NOT stay on this call any longer than it takes to solve the issue, probable issues that arise from such calls are, high blood pressure, frequent need to scream, and general feeling of stupidity.

2. Believes everything is someone elses fault. These people you just cannot reason with. They are stubborn and refuse to do anything you ask of them because they have done it all 10 billion times before and regardless of what you ask them to do, they think that its all your fault and want credit for it.

Solution: If they are calling from a VOIP, reset the thing and go on to the next call. Obviously its someone elses problem to them, so make it someone elses problem for you.

3. Smart enough to be dangerous. These individuals should be handled with care. They are prone to explosive outbursts including swearing, demanding supervisor, and combinations of both. Most calls are just fine until you request something of them, then they just go off.

Solution: Treat the explosion with sugar, remain calm and do not give in to their demands. The issue is under all probablilites something as simple as resetting their router. So, bear the brunt of this attack and then ask if they still want to speak to a supervisor.

4. Techies. We all know who they are, a specialized individual who knows alot about one thing and absolutely nothing about anything else. These individuals will speak to you in terms you understand, but they do not know what you are talking about. They, generally, are pretty easy to get along with and are willing to learn what you want to teach them, however, DO NOT spend more time than necessary on the phone with them and do not divulge any information that they may latch on to and use against the next tech they talk to.

Solution: use the Walter principle (Jeff Dunham) "Get yur shit and get out!" These guys will waste your time like no other.

I hope these tips help you.

Superman Project, Birthdays, and xxx-mas.

2008-12-15T08:53:00.003-06:00

Here in contains the following, sensitive viewers may wish to look away or go to this website, I like you!

Now on to the goodies. I started a new chainmail project for a xmas gift to my supervisor, Its a chainmail logo of Supermans "S". (pictures will follow)

Disclaimer for Chainmail Superhero Logo by Rusty.
(funded a little by Josh and mostly by Rusty)

I hope you enjoy your new chainmail superhero logo from Rusty.

This chainmail product does NOT protect against bullets, baseball bats, kryptonite, angry wives, superhero fan boy's, weather related injuries such as lightning strikes, high winds, rain, or other supernatural or superhero created weather. It also does not covered for injury from natural accidents such as damage or death due to falling from tall buildings, or not being able to out running a train.

This product is not to be worn as a cape, cap, face mask, glove, shoe, or any other clothing product not covered, or covering skin. Besides, everyone knows what happens to superheros that wear capes, right? It will not help you fly, unless you count falling from tall buildings, and please see the provision in the previous paragraph on accidental deaths due to falling from tall buildings.

Recipient assumes any and all responsibility for medical expenses incurred while wearing this logo and should such a time arise that this logo pulls hair, grabs skin, or garners you any attention that you think is unjust or unwarrented, please feel free to smack the nearest offender or non-offender and then prance around shouting "I'm invincible!"

This product is 100% lifetime guaranteed to probably be defective in some way or another, and does not at all have any kind of guarantee for defects in craftsmanship, labour rights in Australia, or whether or not a lemming will survive a fall from a 100 story cliff. Although if a lemming was wearing this chainmail logo, it might survive. Maybe...

Birthdays!!!

Tomorrow is Rachel's birthday! She'll be 22, and I still am as much in love with her now as I was 1 year ago!!!

xxx-mas...

No this isnt about pr0n... get your mind out of the gutter... this is about the act of getting and recieving gifts that you just dont want, or shouldnt have gotten.

Some things I wish I had never gotten for xmas...
1. Underwear from my grandmother.... just... ew.
2. soft squishy fake boob from a friend as a prank.
3. various other sundry items that I cannot use.

let me know what you wish you didnt get.

The times? They are a changin'!

2008-12-10T05:12:00.004-06:00

Tell you what people, things are going to get worse before they get better. And with that said, I have to also tell you that I for one almost don't care anymore. Think of it this way. In World politics, there are great people, then there are retarded people with great ideas, then there are just retarded people. I deal with these kinds of people everyday and here is a result. "Your company sucks." Now with a dummycratic government, we are going to have more rules reguarding our lives than we ever did. You think gas prices were bad under the Bush administration? Just wait. I predict say... $5/gal by April... And don't bother scheduling that vacation, you wont be able to afford to even drive to the local themepark and spend half a day there...

Recently I put just over $200 on a WWII rifle, a piece of history. This is something I felt I not only needed as a WWII history buff, but for my survival in the coming years. Yet, it, along with many other Curio's and Relics, may be destined to be banned by the government due to its capability. Now Democrats are all about gun control. "Take away the guns, and you will have a safer place to live." I call BULLS**T! I use an example here, and my numbers may be off, but bear with me because the point is still true. The State of Texas decided in the late 90's to allow gun owners to purchase "Carry and Conceal" permits for their handguns. Within weeks of that making the news, car jackings in the city of Houston dropped by 25%. Muggings fell at or near the same rate. You tell me that guns are bad? Gun control cannot be done because badguys will still find ways to get the guns, its called a "Black Market." So, ladies and gents, I would highly recommend if you do not own a gun, invest in one, protect your rights, your family, and our future. And now my favorite quote about gun control..

"Guns dont kill people, people kill people."

And another favorite quote,

"Gun control means hitting what you aim for."

Now I introduce to you the first ever graph that has made me laugh:

Okay.. I am done for now.

Cowboy Rules (Amended)

2008-12-03T14:32:00.003-06:00

The following rules for the Great States of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Idaho, Oregon (that's pronounced Oreegun) and the rest of the Wild West are as follows, without exception:

Pull your pants up. You look like an idiot.

Turn your cap right, your head ain't crooked.

Let's get something straight: it's called a 'gravel road.' I drive a pickup truck because I want to. No matter how slow you drive, you're gonna get dust on your Lexus when you follow me, your in front of me, or I pass you. Drive it or get the hell out of the way.

They are live stock. That's why they smell like live stock. They smell like money to us. Get over it. Don't like it? I-80 & I-90 go east and west, I-5, I-15, I-25 and I-35 goes north and south. Pick one and go.

So you have a $60,000 car. We're impressed. We have $250,000 combines that are driven only 3 weeks a year.

Every person in the "Wild West" waves and/or smiles. It's called being friendly. Try to understand the concept.

If that cell phone rings while a bunch of geese/pheasants/ducks/doves are comin' in during the hunts, we WILL shoot it outa your hand. You better hope you don't have it up to your ear at the time.

Since we are on the subject of cell phones, do you think that cell phone will work better when I shove it up your ass when you're drivin and talkin at the same time?

Yeah. We eat trout, salmon, deer and elk. You really want sushi and caviar? It's available at the corner bait shop.

The'Opener' refers to the first day of deer season. It's a religious holiday held the closest Saturday to the first of November.
We open doors for women. That's applied to all women, regardless of age.

No, there's no 'vegetarian special' on the menu. Order steak, or you can order the Chef's Salad and pick off the 2 pounds of ham and turkey.

When we fill out a table, there are three main dishes: meats, vegetables, and breads. We use three spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup! Oh, yeah... We don't care what you folks in Cincinnati call that stuff you eat... IT AIN'T REAL CHILI!!

If you bring 'Coke' into my house, it better be brown, wet and served over ice. You bring 'Mary Jane' into my house, she better be cute, know how to shoot, drive a truck, and have long hair.

College and High School Football is as important here as the Giants, the Yankees, the Mets, the Lakers and the Knicks, and a dang site more fun to watch, AND dont cost no $400 a seat.

Yeah, we have golf courses. But don't hit the water hazards - it spooks the fish.

Turn down that blasted car stereo! That thumpity-thump crap ain't music, anyway. We don't want to hear it anymore than we want to see your boxers! Refer back to #1!

A true Westerner will send this to at least 10 others and a few new friends that probably won't get it, but we're friendly so we share in hopes you can begin to understand what a real life is all about!!!

The Story of Aog da Wize.

2008-11-27T04:12:00.002-06:00

The Story of Aog da Wise

As told in third person by Aog.

Chapter 1 - Da Begining.

"Da story of Aog da Wize begins in a small billage in a shady forest. Aog's early life was one of pain and misery. Aog, you see, was a small ogre and because he was a small ogre, only 1 hand shorter than other ogres, and quite a bit not as smart as them, Aog was picked on alot. Aog tried bery hard to fit in with da beatum ups, a gang of mean ogres, only to get beat up. Aog started hanging around da shaman, and one day Shaman tell Aog to go get water. Aog was bery excited to fetch water and ran down to da riber, when Aog get to da riber, he see a strange light in da woods. Aog inbestigated the strange light and found a tree dat was glowing and warm. Aog think to himself, "dis must be important," and he bring a piece of da burning tree back to billage. Aog happily forgot all about getting da water as he ran back to da billage. Once Aog got back to da billage, Aog ran to his house first and rushed in to show his mom what he got. As he entered da house, some of the embers from the burning stick caught da roof on fire, Aog not know what going on and ran out of da house to da shaman's house and when he entered, he caught da roof of da shaman's house on fire too. Pretty soon roofs every where were on fire and all da other ogres were running around crazy not knowing what to do. Aog den remembered to get da water from da riber and dropped da stick on da ground, which happened to be run off from da place where everyone goes poo and flames start running up da trail and cause a great confleg.. conflagur... great splosion which practically lebels the whole billage. Those dat were not killed by the sploding poo were running around on fire. Meanwhile, Aog gets a pail of water and rushes back to da billage and see's the horrible devestation.. Pieces of Aogs billage begin falling from da sky and burn Aogs arms and hair, Aog then dumps da water on himself, but dat only do so much for the other spots da burn him so he run back to riber and jump in. Soon, whole forest goes up in flames and Aog, stunned by his magical discover floats down stream and into a new life.

Chapter 2 - Between Rok and Hardplace.

Aog floated down riber for a long time. Pretty soon Aog decide to get out of riber and he swim to shore. Aog crawl on sandy beach and wait to dry off. Aog know dat wet cloths make for bad rash, so Aog rest then fell asleep. When Aog wakes up, he hears boices of 2 other ogres, and Aog say "Hey!" The boices both say "WHUT!?" Aog den say "I donno." Then from the trees come two ogres one shorter than other and both shorter than Aog. Aog den say "Who you two?" Da shorter one say "My name Rok, and dis is Hardplace." "Hardplace, dat strange name for ogre," Says Aog. Hardplace den say "My name comes from several generations of very powerful ogres, and I recieved my name at a coronation in my village after one of the elders tried to hit me on my head, and it broke his hand. From then on, I was named Hardplace." Aog think about this for a while and knocked himself on his own head and said "yup, is hardplace." So began da adbentures of Rok, Aog and Hardplace.

(To Be Continued)

Volunteer (UPDATE)

2008-11-22T07:58:00.003-06:00

well, it turns out that I did not get in trouble after all.. more of a slap on the hand stating "Don't do that anymore and you'll be just fine." But before that was clarified to me, two supervisors and one lead, their names are withheld because it makes it more dramatic, strongly encouraged me to file an application for the Lead spot. So, today I am going to spend time between hanging out with my girlfriend at her step-neices birthday party and the the hockey game I am going to tonight to have one of the supervisors help me make my application an award winning application. Now I understand that if someone else without any disciplinary actions apply they might get the job before me, but this is the job I have been wanting since the day I got hired. Besides I am willing to break out my bionic kneepads and even fore go the pay raise in order to prove to them I really want the job.

Please, if you can, or want, wish me luck. I really need the boost in my moral.. and Tier 1 really needs some leads that know what they are doing.

Volunteer...

2008-11-18T13:47:00.003-06:00

What is a volunteer?

1. a person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for a service or undertaking.
2. a person who performs a service willingly and without pay.

Recently I volunteered my expertise to my supervisors to create a seating chart. My reward for this endevour? A six month extention on my services in Tier 1. Basically I got a write-up for being late from returning from my breaks while I worked on the seating charts. Now it is mostly my fault for not sending up exceptions, but I had to beg a supervisor to give me a day to work on the damn chart. So, at this time, I am officially telling management that if they want seating charts they can do the damn things themselves. I am getting punished for doing work related things during work related times and getting in trouble for it.

No more. I want away from Tier 1, away from the angry customers, away from the supervisors and leads that look at me with distain.

So, we'll see what happens over the next 6 months.

Strange titles, random crap... and FYI.

2008-11-14T06:49:00.002-06:00

Strange Titles:

"The Monkey in the Tree" by Hu Fling Poo

"Under the Grandstands" by Seymor Butts

"Down the Yellow River" by I. P. Freely

"Dealing with STD's" by Dick Burns

"100 Yard to the Outhouse" by Willie Makit - Forward by Betty Doant

"A Cat's Revenge" by Claude D. Balls

Random Crap and questions:

Why do kids ask dumb questions?

Why do adults ask dumb questions?

Whats the difference between a kid on a big-wheel, and an adult behind a steering wheel?

Purple.

A lost cause is only worthless when you give it to your friend.

Blue shirts hurt.

Before you jump in the gene pool, make sure its more than ankle deep.

Don't call for phone support from the phone your having problems with.

When the teacher told you to stay within the lines, she meant it so you dont kill someone later.

What is the difference/similarity between a car and a handgun?

For Your Information:

3000lb of plastic and steel will kill you just the same as 1.5oz of lead and copper

Comedians are only as funny as the people that laugh at their jokes.

The average city in the United States spends $30,000 - $100,000+ to paint yellow, white lines on the road to help keep you and your passengers safe. It takes only half of a second to lose enough concentration to cause you to cross one of those lines and kill someone.

A 60mph head on collision causes your body to feel 50 times heavier than it is for a very short time. It only takes 25lbs of pressure to break a rib, and another 5lbs of pressure for that rib to rupture your heart and kill you.

Water that is still steaming is hotter than the air around it. If it is 90F outside and you see steam on the top of you cup of coffee, do not put it between your legs.

There is no such thing as an accident. It is impossible for something to be an accident in a cause/effect reality.

You, Your computer, and Me....

2008-11-11T06:01:00.002-06:00

Okie-day kiddeo's, its time for Creepy Uncle Rusty's guide to your computer.

1. If you are reading this, its probably cause you know how to use your computer. So I will skip to #2.

2. Okay, so you are reading on, perhaps to find something funny or entertaining, but most likely you are trying to see if I actually know something. Okay, here goes.

You DON'T need an anti-virus if you do the following; DON'T DOWNLOAD CRAP. Lets say you are looking for updates to your favorite game, you do a google search and decide to grab what ever one is the top in the list. This takes you to some website that claims they have the update to your game and tappity-tap-tap you have yourself a download in progress. You run it when its done, and it asks you to restart your PC. Guess what monkey, you just installed a virus. Your lazy dumb ass was too retarded to go to the games website, or the publishers website and now you are infected. Great job genius, now what are you going to do? I know, lets call your Internet service provider and complain vehemently that it is all the fault of the Internet Provider that you got infected. Thats like blaming the nurse that took your temperature for your last orgy where you took it in the butt and got HIV.

Now, many of you also open up emails like they are the next $100 million dollar prize winner, infact that was a scam that went around for a while, anyway, the instructions in this email are to go to this 'special' website and download a small program so we can identify you for the purposes of delivering this HUGE sum of money. Cept, guess what! YOU got infected, faster than a horny sailor in a port whore house. Don't be stupid, don't open email from locations or emails that you cannot identify.

Lastly, if your computer happens to be running slow, or takes forever to start, or you get dookie-tons of pop-ups, don't come whining to me to fix your crap. Talk to a PC technician, I don't get paid enough to troubleshoot stupid.

Here is a simple test to determine if you deserve to have a computer:

1. Can you type with more than 2 fingers? If yes, proceed to step 2, otherwise, take your computer back to where you got it and dont ever buy a computer ever.
2. If you can type with at least 4 fingers per hand, can you type at least 20 words per minutes, proceed to step 3, otherwise, you might want to take some classes at your local college to increase your words per minute.
3. Can you identify the major components of your computer? Can you tell the difference between the power button on your monitor and the power button on your pc? If so, proceed to step 4, otherwise you may want to look into PC's for Dummies and read it.
4. Do you know the difference between your email program and your browser program? If so, proceed to step 5, otherwise, You need to look into classes at your local college for Computer Literacy 101.
5. Do you know where to find programs that you do not frequently use? If so, proceed to step 6, otherwise, poke around the start menu and identify the following programs, Command Prompt, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, Mac Mail, Safari, Network Configuration and Control Panel, System Preferences. This will help your Telephone Support Representative fix your issue.
6. You are qualified to use your computer, and should not have any problems with dealing with the internet, however, this does not entitle you to treat your support representatives like shit, you are still stupid compared to many of the representatives you call. And If you "know" everything, why are you calling us?

That sour taste in your mouth? It isnt bile.

2008-11-07T06:19:00.001-06:00

Lately, things havent been going so well for me. My knee has caused me to not be able to continue bowling, wakes me up at night, and has helped reduce the amount of physical affections I have had with Rachel. Thankfully I have a good support system, but the one that I know I can depend on is the VA(Veterans Affairs) cept when I went to them yesterday, I got fed the same crap I have heard from them for ages. "We don't feel that..." Now, I dont mind getting told that an option is not something that the VA recommends, but here is a major catch in the whole process. The VA does clinical studies on patients with knee issues for new proceedures, however the age group they focus on are the 60+ year old veterans, many of which are in generally poor physical condition and/or mental condition and are unable to change their lifestyle to make clinical trials work. Here I am a 38 year old with the knees of a 70 year old, and the last procedure that was offered was a shot of Cortizone.

I dont know. Lets give some 70 year old who has been dependant on a scooter or wheel chair the option of knee surgery so that he might be able to get to walk again before he dies, or let a 40 year old never have an opportunity to play catch with his kid in the backyard.

Anyway, I digress. I spoke with a mental health representative with the VA and I am now scheduled to meet with one of the Dr's to determine what can be done with my anger management and communication issues. I hope this works, anything to help me make myself better for Rachel. Besides I dont want to have a heart attack...

So, that foul taste in your mouth... its not happiness.

Redistribution... Pt. 2

2008-11-02T09:41:00.003-06:00

Now mind you I didn't intend for Redistribution... article to become a 2-parter. However when a co-worker stated she was going to vote for Obama/Liden, I asked her what her thoughts were on Redistribution of Wealth, and she expressed it was a great idea. Make the rich pay more because they can afford it. However, there is one small problem that she didn't think of, or maybe she was just too lazy to learn about it.

Redistribution of wealth, definition for those of you who do not know what it means.

The redistribution of wealth is the transfer of wealth from some persons to others.

This can occur in three ways:

Method 1. Charity. The voluntary act of giving a sum of money to an organization who then gives the money to one or more persons in need.

Method 2. Capitalism. The basics of economics, buying and selling of products that generates a redistribution from consumer to producer to employees.

Method 3. Government. The forceable act of using taxation rates to increase the tax on those at a certain tax bracket and easing the tax rates on those below.

How does Obama's plan effect you? For more than 1/3rd the population of America, it won't. They don't pay taxes, or earn just enough money to receive money from the government at tax time. The top 5% of money earners in the US will be taxed heavily and the bottom percent will get checks for not even working.

Still sound fair? Try on this. Redistribution of Wealth can also be compared to the Trickle-down effect. The more money you make, the more you get taxed, and that money is suppose to work its way down to those below you. Good idea right? Wrong, many Americans think that they are the bottom rung on the ladder and they think that its not going to effect them. How wrong they are. The only group to benefit from this idea are those that truly are at the bottom, those that have no source of income, or such a small source that it is insignificant.

Wrap yourself around this novel concept. I work in an IT field, I make about $25k a year, which for me is pretty good, if I stay at my job, my tax rate will probably remain the same, but someone that is making considerably less than I am is going to receive a bigger chunk of the new "pie" than I am. I decide to up and quit and start a new job that is just barely minimum wage. I can then earn more because I am doing less or hardly anything at all. Does that seem fair?

Call it what you want, but to me the idea of Redistribution of Wealth is just another crutch for welfare recipients to get more and do less.

Congratulations Obama, you have become like the pied piper, and gathered millions of welfare children to your doorstep just to get the seat of President. Great job. Now, where's my check?

Vote Nationalist, Vote Green Party, Vote for yourself. Show the Government that we are NOT a two party system. We will not continue to be preyed upon by those who only care about themselves.

Redistribution...

2008-10-31T05:18:00.002-05:00

Only 4 more days until all hell breaks loose, so I ask, Are you ready?

Wealth:

A guy is walking to his favorite diner and as he walked in he passed a homeless guy standing on the corner holding up a "Vote for Obama" sign. The guy smiles and he walks into the diner and as the waiter approaches he notices the waiter is wearing an "Obama" button.

When the meal was completed, the waiter delivered the check and the guy left $0 for the tip. the waiter then asked why he didnt tip, and the guy states "I am going to put this Redistribution of Wealth idea into practice, and the waiter followed the guy outside and the guy gave the homeless guy $10.

Now the waiter earned that tip, and was pissed that the homeless guy didnt do squat and got paid $10.

I ask you, do you want someone to earn your hard earned money for doing nothing?

Health Care:

Now, let me ask you this... What would you say to the idea that you only have to pay $1000 for open heart surgery? Now what would you say to the idea that you only have to pay $1000 for a hang-nail? sound fair? Socialized medicine is such a waste of breath. You want cheap healthcare? join the military.

So, are you ready?

Personal Responsibility: Crime and Punishment

2008-10-30T06:52:00.002-05:00

So, this may or may not be a long rant, but here goes.

Employee Smith is a high ranking official in the security division of the company's IT department. One day Smith goes off and makes a few wagers on a sporting event and loses his shirt, as well as his car, house, 401k, and family pet. He knows he cant fork over the kind of money he bet on a sure-win. He finds out he has access to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of private information that his company has stored for its clients. He decides to make money and 'borrow' the information and accidently lose it and mysteriously find a couple hundred grand in his bank account. He gets caught. Should he A) be fired on the spot and black listed from future jobs in that field, B) fired and sent to jail for XX number of years, or C) get a reprimand from his bosses and told not to do it again?

Employee Jones, has a pretty high level of permissions from the company. In an innocent attempt to make his life easier, he breaches security and posts something not to be designated for public view. Information that could lead to 10's of thousands of clients from being able to access vital resourses that the company provides. He gets caught. Should he A) be fired on the spot, B) get a disciplinary action against him C) slap on his hand from his bosses and told not to do it again?

Both instances can be potentially hazardous to the continued well being of the company, but do the crimes match? and should the punishments be what they are?

Both are victims of thier own circumstance, yet both will blame other things than themselves in hopes that they wont get punished as bad. Sadly, this lack of personal responsibility is not a natural trait, its very much a learned condition and as such will never go away if superior employees do not take it upon themselves to rid their company of such harmful responses to harmful actions.

Personal Accountability.

If I am pulling into a parking space and I miss judge the space and scrape the car, I would probably 1. feel really horrible that I messed up someones car, but I would also leave my information with that car so that the owner can contact me and we can exchange information... Too many times has this happened and the guy/gal has pulled out of the spot (usually doing double damage) only to go park some where else further away...

Only in America can you be ignorant and get awarded $millions for burning your 80-year old cooch with hot coffee from McDonalds. Only in America can you blindly change lanes into an 18-wheeler and have your brand new lexus totalled, then sue the trucking company $millions for not being able to have 'intimate relations' with your spouse. Only in America can you threaten to sue to get your way. "My lawyer can beat up your lawyer."

Welcome to the litigation nation!

Ladies and gentlemen, its is with heavy heart and mind that I tell you that it is okay to sue a school district and make them pay you to have your kid not go to school due to some 'affliction' to learning.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is okay to sue your neighbor because his apple tree liters in your yard.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is okay to sue a retailer because their advertising of half naked bodies gives you a tingle in the place where your priest used to touch you.

Ladies and gentlemen, its time that I, no, WE file a class action lawsuit against lawyers everywhere for the injustice they have helped create, and for the countless millions of people they have taken advantage of and for all the people who have had their most basic level of logic and common sense taken away all in the name of 'justice.'

The following message is...

2008-10-28T04:52:00.003-05:00

Greetings and salutations fellow readers of Chainmail Madness. Todays episode is brought to you by the letters "m" "l" "n".

As you have read, the letters m l and n in the right order looks vaguely like flipping someone off. mln, depending on which font you use, but the symbolism is there. Anyway, I am sitting here at work trying to determine what I wanted to write about and this idea pops into my head after I smile at a coworker and give him the universal salute.

'The Finger', or 'The Bird', can date its history all the way back to roman times. It was then, as it is now, an insult, with a wide variety of uses. Many cultures use different versions of the bird, but all mean pretty much the same, "Buddy, your #1."

Now, I asked myself this morning, why is it that I grin like an idiot and flip off some of my co-workers. Honestly, I have no idea, but it is fun to have a cheesy grin plastered on my face and drop the subtle hint to my friends that they are #1 in my book. So, if you get the random finger, dont feel insulted, its just my way of saying... bugger off!

Now on to more important issues:

Important issue #1: Technology failure. My Xbox 360 died last night at 4:30pm. Funeral services will be held tomorrow at the United Postal Service annex in Norwalk. Shipping has been paid by Microsoft for the known issue that the Xbox has with graphics cards failing. Please offer any support and condolances to Rusty in his time of grief.

Important issue #2: Technology failure. My PC died a week prior, the motherboard and or processor committed ritual suicide. There was a note left on the screen, "No keyboard present or found." The keyboard was questioned in the suicide being a primary suspect for foul play, however keyboards alabi was verified by the mouse and a laptop. Plans on replacing the motherboard and cpu are in the works, but no eta at this time.

Important issue #3: Relationship report. Due to the overwhelming need to vent frustrations towards anyone and everyone that would listen, my girlfriend of just over a year has been the target recipient of many of my rants, which caused untold pain and mental anguish for her. All is not good at this time, but with my resolution to find adequate counseling services for my needs (anger management, relationship, etc) If I start acting wierd, please bear with me, this is a work in progress.

Important issue #4: Entertainment report. Today I get to pick up my copy of Fallout 3. But due to issue number #2 I cannot play until new motherboard is aquired. So, the sadness will begin today when I get the game.

Wish me luck.. Wish Rachel luck.. Wish us both luck.

Stupid jokes and other crap.

2008-10-21T06:57:00.003-05:00

A school trip to the museaum took the children thru the statue section. One child kind of hung back and contemplated the 4 statues in front of him. The teacher approached him and asked, "Timmy, whats wrong?"
"Well, Mr. Smith, I am puzzled about these for statues," stated Timmy.
"Thats easy Timmy, the first one is the 'Great Smeller', see how he is pinching his nose? The second statue is the 'Great Pointer', the third is the 'Great Guesser', and the fourth one is the 'Great Thinker." announced the teacher proudly.
Timmy let out a sigh of relief and said, "I thought it was 'Who let a fart?', 'He did!', 'Who did?', 'I did.'"

This duck walks in to a bar, then hops on the bar and looks at the bartender and asks "Got any fish?"
"No." replied the bartender.
The duck hops down and waddles out.

The very next day, the duck waddles in, hops on the bar, and asks "Got any fish?"
"Um... No"
The duck leaves.

This goes on for several days, and it starts to wear on the bartender, and one morning the duck waddles in, hops on the counter and asks "Got any fish?" The bartender snaps and states with anger "Look duck, you have been coming in here for days asking me for fish and every time I state NO. If you come in here again, I am going to nail your feet to the bar and let people pull your feathers out one at a time!"
The duck was shocked and left in a quick hurry.

Three days later the duck poked his head around the corner and peered inside, slowly waddled his way to the bar, jumped up on the bar and looked the bartender square in the eye, and asked... "Got any nails?" "No!" "So, got any fish?"

Three guys walk into a bar. The fourth guy ducks.

Wide Awake, Bored as Hell

2008-10-20T05:14:00.003-05:00

So, here it is, boiled down to two basic concepts. Figure out a way to go home early, probably at the cost of a write-up(6 months probation), knowing that I am going to have to come back and do it all over again the next day, or bite my tongue and let these self-serving wastes of fresh air spew their hatred for the company that provides them a service that they requested and frankly dont need and therefore is considered a luxury, give in to their demands of credit, satisfaction and give them a general sense of well-being and the knowledge that they can successfully bully the luxury company in to giving them what they want.

Now, I dont need my bank, I am perfectly capable of storing my money at home in a safe, and using cash as necessary, but I dont call them up getting pissy with them demanding tons of personal satisfaction when a check bounces, or their drive-up is closed, or a teller cant help me resolve an issue. Then again, I am not one of these types of people that grew up being the bully at school, knocking down the smaller kids and taking their lunch money either.

So, from now on, the next time I hear any of the following phrases from a customer I am going to help them in the corosponding manner.

"I think I will call someone else if I cant get better service" - "Okay Mrs. Jones, let me transfer you to the correct department so that we may facilitate that request."

"I think I deserve credit for 2 months for my services being down!" - "Okay Mr. Smith, I can certainly help you feel that you are getting the satisfaction you deserve, but your account shows that you are 45 days past due, would you like to make a payment to bring your account to current so that I may apply that credit?"

"You people should get out here right now and fix this, I run a business from my home and I am losing thousands of dollars every day. I need my internet right now!!!" - "I am sorry Mrs. Choi, I am unable to facilitate that request, I can schedule a technician to come out, but I have to let you know that the turn around time is 24-72 hours." (then I schedule it for the longest period possible)

"You people just have a problem serving black people is that it?" - "Ma'am, I am black."

So, there you have it. From now on that is all I am going to be doing. As much as I can for as little stress as I can. No more are these people going to harass me and bully me and cuss at me.

And Mr. Customer, you dont like it, you can kiss my pale, cratered, white ass.

Joe the Plumber?!??

2008-10-17T07:19:00.003-05:00

Okay, now I have to be honest here, I don't care at all for the current level of politics in the United States. But this media attack on the guy who is supposed to represent the average 'Joe', who is getting investigated and probed and poked and proded by the media is utter bull crap. Here is a guy that caught media attention by asking one of the presidential candidates a valid question about how the government is going to ass-rape him and his company if he exceeds $250,000 in earnings.

Now they (the media) drag this average Joe thru the grinder and find out that he owes $xxxx in back taxes... Okay. so now Joe is a bad guy and his question is no longer valid? Does that mean if I owe $XX,000 in education loans that I am a bad guy, and that my needs are not valid as well?

I am glad that we have an impartial media who respects the rights and opinions of its reader base by not being bias and by not using someone elses history against political candidates.

No matter your political views, I beg you, implore you, educate yourself on all sides of the political dice. I use dice because there are more than just 2 people competing for the position of President of these United States. Vote your heart, not your fathers affiliation.

Fallout 3 Release

2008-10-17T06:03:00.002-05:00

Planet Fallout

As you can see, there is a timer for Fallout 3. This game releases soon, and I have been looking forward to it for quite some time. Now here comes the hard part... I dont know if I will be 'involved' after I get this game. I know its going to occupy 90% of my waking life (except work)... My Rachel have mercy on my soul!

Hey Bubba Joe! I wonder that this thing does? CLICK

2008-10-16T11:20:00.002-05:00

I am bored. I am manic. I am going to do what ever I can to either piss you off, make you smile, or elicit any other emotion from your tired, worn down, dragged thru the mud, stepped on, crapped on, emotionally void butt and get you to show us some feelings.

As you can read in the title, my rant today is about the stupid shit we do every day that confirms that Darwin was actually right. Good God!

A 19 year old male fell to his death in Harlem, NY the other day. He and a friend were on the top of a 6 story building, dropping eggs from the roof as a prank. They were spotted and the 19 year old decided to run for it and instead of coming down the stairs, he lept a retaining wall thinking that there was another roof on the other side, only to discover that there wasnt. Imagine the look of shock when gravity took over from there. O.O = x.x

Now, I have done more than my fair share of hooligan things in the past, but I almost always ALWAYS had an exit stragedy. No suprises for ol Mrs Shadowhunters son!

On a lighter note, the stocks are down, and our government decided it would be a great idea to bail out our financial system in order to save the system from failure... stocks are still down. I wonder what the BTU(British Thermal Unit) of a bundle of $100 bills is. Think it will be warm enough for me to make sure Rachel doesnt freeze?

"Stupid is as Stupid does" - Forrest Gump

DUMBASS MOVE ON YOUR PART!

2008-10-15T11:25:00.002-05:00

For those of you that dont know i do have my own blog spot but put more of my randomness on there where this is more of a rant or HA type blog so i may double post and i apologize to those of you who follow both and for those that dont http://schwasrandomness.blogspot.com is my addy to my Randomness blog.

So i really didnt want to do this but i think its soo funny and classic like something you would see in a movie type thing so here is my conversation with my ex roomate. things started on sat when i had my best friend, who now lives in vegas, show up to hang out, well roomate was fully moved out so i decided to move my couch and two chairs upstairs becuase we would be drinking and that way we would be closer to the beer and b-room. all is well right :D i get an email on 10/14 from the ex-roomate stating: Normally in a situation like this i would be bitchy and say WHAT THE FUK IS GOING ON. BUT in not going to. Mainly because i forsaw this happening. i wasnt completely positive you were going to screw me over till you asked for your dishes the other night. Then came you ignoring me ect. Well im not pissed. maybe its for the best. I think we were better friends when we didnt live together. I know you planned this. Not like all of a sudden the night before you can just come up with 2 people to live with you. But hey Im glad you found someone at least. Like i said before im not mad pissed ect. Gotta find anotehr roomie for a lil bit but thats ok. We will manage. If you still wanna be friends mail or text me some time. If not then dont lol. TTUL BUD well if you choose. now for the funny part here are the texts as follows:Me: Just got your email what is that supposed to mean?Him: What u think?Me: well i dont have anyone moving in with me ive been packing so you have assume thingsHim: Not wat we was told.Me: who you getting your information thru cause i dont know what the hell your talking aboutHim: Ur neighbors said u had 2 guys movn in sat night.Me: Ha thats funny i moved my couch and two chairs upstairs so i guess that means i have a new roomate who visits occasionally from las vegas where he is in the air force and just got back from iraqHim: Oh. evalyn said u had ppl movn in.Me: nope but i guess i m now moving in with my parentsHim: Sorry. We askd stinky 2 move in till jan cuz we was told u had roomiesMe: well your loss next time ask me instead of getting false information from someone who has no clue what the hell they are talking aboutHim: Yeah def my loss. Wuld rathr it b u. sorry man. makes me feel like an ass now.Me: that and im not too happy eitherHim: Dnt blame u. Im so snrry dude.This is all word for word no lies i will show you the proof!! :D moral of the story: Dont assume what someone tells u is what really is going on. go to the person and face to face ask them. I dont know where i will go from here with the ex-roomate. We were really good friends, even living together we got along, it was his g/f that would cause our issues. I guess i should not be mad at him since i didnt want to tell him i was actually moving in with my parents over him to save money and to pay off my debts. So in the long run it did work out on my half but im in a pickle, since it wont hurt him not to know i was really moving in with my parents and not him do i ethically tell him or leave it to myself? Either way i still wanna be friends so i think i might just keep that to myself and let him be the dumbass for once since they pretty well screwed me in the long run. Well thats it for now, untill next time....

Hey! Buddy! Yeah, you in the front row!

2008-10-14T05:01:00.003-05:00

How many of you can remember the following:

1. What you wanted to be when you grew up?
2. The name of your favorite toy?
3. Your best friend in the whole world?
4. Your first day at school or a new school?
5. The first time you realized that the opposite sex wasnt a cootie-coated monstrosity?
6. Your first kiss?
7. Your first real kiss?
8. The first time you realized that you were happy, no matter what?
9. The first time you realized what it means to be in love with someone?
10. The worse time you and a loved one fought? (not related to you)
11. The first time you threw up after an arguement of any kind?

Let me tell you my answers. I wanted to be an astronaught when I was a kid, I can remember bits and pieces of the Apollo space missions being televised, but I couldnt tell you which missions they were. But I knew in my heart I wanted to go into space.
My favoritist toy I ever had was anything I got my hands on that I could imagine was something else. A stick was a rifle/sword/lightsaber... A rock was a car/grenade/rock... My best friend was a kid named Stoney, we did pretty much everything together, put pennies on the railroad track, rode our bikes all over our neighborhood, explored everything that was not fenced to keep us out. My first day at school is not much more than a faded memory, not even a flicker of where I was at the time, but I can remember the first school play I watched. The Wizard of Oz, and to this day I still dont know how they made the wicked witch melt into the gym floor.
I remember my first crush, Kerri Ashley, she was brown haired girl in the 3rd grade with me. A couple years later I was getting my vaccine updated when I met her mom. Kerri didnt even know I existed.

I remember my first kiss, Christina Pinkerton, she lived in my neighborhood but went to a different elementary school. All of us kids in the group would run around from dawn to dusk(or later), and I think it was kind on natural that we were our first kiss. Granted my cousin kinda helped me see the light. My first real kiss came from a gal that my high school friend set me up with. We decided to walk home from school, and we were over 4 hours late getting her home.

The first time I really, truely and completely felt happy was the day I asked Rachel to be my girlfriend. I was happy before that day when Rachel and I would go roller blading, biking, walking or just sit together and talk. But I was happy, more than any other time in my life. My first time with thinking I was truely in love with someone also came with Rachel, in the past I always thought I was in love with my girlfriend, but I always 'knew' it would end up bad, maybe self prophesy occurred, and most of those relationships ended poorly. But with Rachel, its very much different, she is always first and formost on my mind, and I think about her needs before mine. That is what I think true love is.

Mind you, I have had several bad arguements(fights) with my significant others, but the one that I let boil over the last 5 months just completely blew up in my face last night. You see, Rachel is not only the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, she is also one of my best friends, one of the guys so to speak. And because she is always there for me, I tend to vent my frustrations for things at her, and she cant handle the stress that I have added to her life. So, last night I exploded, I was upset that Roommate doesnt put forth an effort to help keep the kitchen area clean, trash will just sit, until I get frustrated and take it out myself, dishes will pile up and at one point, there was not a single clean dish in the whole kitchen, I finally got upset and did the damn things myself, and I all got from anyone else, was a thank you from Rachel with the crevat of 'I was going to do it today.' That stirred the simmering pot and festered, then last night the comment that was made that an annoyance of mine might not be someone elses annoyance just pushed me over the edge and I lost it. Any of you have an elder member of your family that canned foods? Ever seen when a pressure cooker goes postal, and shoots greenbeans and bacon all over the ceiling? not pretty! I was within a hairs breadth of losing the only woman in my life that means more to me than even myself. After the whole arguement, I ended up throwing up, and that was a first as well.

I prayed last night as I drifted into a restless sleep that I find the right ways to communicate more effectively with everyone around me. And that I can find the way to repair my relationship.

Please forgive me.

Please.

Weekend with the Kids

2008-10-13T07:32:00.003-05:00

Guys? Remind me to never ever never ever never ever never ever never ever never ever invite a two-year-old over for more than a couple of hours without first having some two-year-old toys.

On the up-side, said two-year-old found four of our lost scissors and prompted us to clean up a lot of the clutter in the dining/living room. Especially the acrylic and spray paints.

Wow, a game company's greed!

2008-10-13T07:04:00.002-05:00

Blizzard has announced recently that they are not releasing StarCraft 2 as they had released StarCraft 1. Instead, they will be releasing it as 3 seperate games. Ladies and gentlemen gamers, you are about to be screwed by Blizzard for the game you have wanted for 11 years. Now if you are like me and want to play all three races, you will have to shell out $50-$65 per title, thats $150-195 over the course of a year to play the same damn game.

I guess that the Designers at Blizzard need to buy a new Lamborgini this year. Hell after their ongoing success of WoW, they need thier 3rd Lambo...

Frankly, I dont know what I will do, but I might end up getting in trouble and 'borrowing' the other two versions after paying for the first.

At least Half-Life 2 Episodes were $25 each, and included extra stuff like Team Fortress and Portal.

Greedy bastards.

Moving issues

2008-10-10T10:41:00.000-05:00

So i am moving here in the next few days. I am supposed to be moving in with my current roomate of whom i get along with great. the bad thing is his good for nothing worthless g/f, fiance, ugly bumping friend, or whatever they call there off again on again relationship. She gets pissy for no damn reason, bitches at him then he relays the message on to me. Well our internet got turned off, i dont have all the money in the world right now so that bill was not as important to me to pay cause its not a necessity, yes i m gonna go insane without my online gaming but i will get over it. Well the main issue at hand here is that i get a text message from the ass hat saying you have no idea how BOREING it is with no f*k*ng internet or cable. exact words but no censor (for the young readers). so i respond well u cant complain because you havnt ever payed for any of this bill. he comes back well ive offered blah blah blah bitch bitch moan moan, i laughed him off no big deal. What im coming to realise is that i let him and the bitch move into my duplex with there son knowing they did not have a lot of money and cut them a break. Well they ended up buying a house thru the usda and are moving out this weekend. At first they were like its gonna be just us all is good i start looking for my own place. i find its hard as shit to get the money saved up for a security deposit and first months rent because i m paying out my ass already. so i ask and they agree to let me move in with them to get the money saved up. as it gets closer and closer to move day i keep asking myself do i really want to keep putting up with this? So i called my mom on a whim last night saying i needed to speak with her and my dad about moving back home to get bills paid and money saved and vehicles fixed. she said thats fine so now i wait and keep thinking man do i really want to do this. I mean i dont want to put up with an ass hat of a roomate and the bitch but i dont want to not have a personal life... and since they live in the country that means no highspeed internet for my gaming, ima have withdrawals. so i need some advice i wanna save the money but i wanna have a personal life. what should i do? feel free to speak to me in person or leave a message on here saying HEY DUMBASS DONT BE SO R TARDED AND DO THIS!!! my mind is all over the place right now so i do apologize to those of you i snap at, its nothing personal so please dont take it like it is.....so..untill next time...

Caffiene addiction: Day 3

2008-10-10T09:53:00.003-05:00

Okay, so, here is an update to my breaking the chains of my addiction... I am in a state where I am cranky, if I take it out on you, dont take it personal. I am also suffering from the yawns. I cant seem to stay awake when I should be wide awake. I am getting plenty of sleep, so this shouldnt be a problem but it is. I hope I can kick this freaking addiction.

On a lighter note. Fire is hot, ice is cold, roses are mostly red, some violets are blue. I know not what I write, but I know what to do. Find a new addiction, one that doesnt hurt. Find a new outlet, vent my frustration on things that no one else cares about. I am sorry..

I am sorry.

More Funniest Drivers after these messages from our sponsors.

2008-10-10T05:04:00.002-05:00

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Now on to the funnies!

Okay, now I am famous for calling 911 and reporting dumbass drivers, but the gentleman this morning takes the cake for October!

On my way to work, I stopped by Kum&Go and got a Gatoraid, upon leaving, I waited at a light and a car in opposite lane made a right turn, once the light turned green I made my left turn, just about to the onramp for the highway I take to get to work, I get caught up to this pristine looking 2008 Mustang. This car looked good! Anyway, on the ramp we are not overly close to each other, and once the ramp straightens out, the guy puts the hammer down and takes off away from me. No big deal to me, I start following at a good 5 second lag and soon I am doing 90mph and the guy in the 'stang is comfortably ahead of me. Soon we approach the interchange and dingdong decides to brake hard then get behind me. 'Piss on it' I think and I keep going. Just before my exit, a fast moving car gets in behind me and then pops the bubblegums and I get pulled over. During my short chat with one of Iowas best (no insult, this officer was very professional and completely understanding) we determine that someone had reported me for excessive speed. No sweat, I have done that many times myself. But whats interesting is I ask if the guy that reported me told the 911 dispatch that he too was going in excess of 90mph, the officer then gets the ph# for dipshit and calls him, and he admits that he was speeding and wanted to report me for tailgating, officer already knew that I was giving a good 5-7 second lead on the first car and the way I explained it, was I was only going as fast as the guy in front of me. I was still wrong and I fully expected to get in trouble for my actions, but the officer decided that if he punished me, he would have to find the guy and punish him as well. All said and done, I was only 10 minutes delayed from work and got released by the officer with a verbal warning.

My lesson from all of this, if a douche bag wants to go fast, let him. If he wants to report you for going fast, let him. But dont be an offender then expect someone to get in trouble for what your doing wrong too.

"Do you have unsightly nose hair? Big bushy dust catching nose hair? You need hair-b-gone! *caution, use of hair-b-gone may cause excessive hair loss in the genital area, sudden death syndrome, and/or nausea. If you experience any of these symptoms, call a doctor immediately."

Mohavista: Technology Review

2008-10-09T06:39:00.003-05:00

This is my first techie review, and I am medicated on Vicodin. If you dont like it, here is some bricks, morter and some scaffolding. Build a bridge and get over it.

Ever wonder why your brand new Microsoft Vista PC from Wal-mart is so freaking slow? Or why your new laptop doesnt seem to perform the way it was advertised? Let me see if I can answer these strange mystical technological anomalies for you.

1. My computer is slow my old Windows 95 wasnt this slow, why? Your cheap ass bought a PC from walmart and got an increadible savings of $400 for your new system. Here is what your cheap, tightwad ass got for you, a life time of headaches and instant hatred for your computer and windows vista. Here is why, Vista is an operating system that requires alot of resources, resources that your POS pc doesnt have, like RAM (random access memory) the space where all your applications go when you open them, CPU (Central Processing Unit) the brains of your PC, this is the number cruncher part of your pc, hard drive, the storage location that saves all your files.

If these things do not meet, or just barely exceed the recommended minimum requirements of Vista, your computer will run like crap thru a constipated monkey. Its gonna piss you off, and your gonna call everyone from your best friend to your internet provider and complain about it. Guess what tightass, its your own freaking fault. Next time talk to a consultant and help them get an idea of what you need for a PC and they will recommend what works best for you. Sure you might spend $1000 for a new computer, but if you follow this simple rule you get further in life.

Rule #1. For every $100-200 you spend on a desktop system, monitor not included, you can expect 1 year of service life for the computer. Spend $1000 and you can expect your pc to last for at least 5-7 years.
Rule #2. For every $200-400 you spend on a laptop system, you can expect 1 year of service life for the laptop. Spend the same $1000 and you can expect the laptop to last 3-5 years.

Next thing you need to do once you get your new PC home is call the freaking manufacturer, talk to technical support, and have them step by step remove the craptacular 'trial' software they installed on your computer, that is a good 50% of all problems with store bought pc's. Then after all that is said and done, learning how to do your own basic maintanence like clearing the browser history, scanning for malware and getting rid of programs you dont need will do absolute wonders for your "I am NOT going to spend a lot of money on a glorified calculator" computer system.

So, lets recap.

Minimum Requirements for Windows Vista Home Premium Edition:
Certain product features are not available with minimum supported requirements

800 MHz processor and 512 MB of system memory.

20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space.

Support for Super VGA graphics.

CD-ROM drive.

Most inexpensive computer system from a retailer.

1.5GHz VIA C7-D processor - This high-performing processor works at maximum efficiency to increase your productivity.

512MB DDR2 memory - Allows you to use several applications without a decrease in performance

80GB Hard Drive - Store all your important documents and files on this large hard drive

DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo Drive - Burn CDs and watch your favorite DVDs on this versatile drive

Compare the red listed item above. If Vista requires 512 MHB of ram, and the computer only has 512 MB of ram, how do you expect it to perform when trying to run an application like say, World of Warcraft which also requires as a minimum 512 MB or more of RAM? Can you comprehend trying to run 1024 gallons of water thru a garden hose? how long do you think it will take to process all 1024 gallons of water?

Next time you start to bitch about your PC being slow, grab the recipt and blame the person who paid for it.

Addictions: The price we pay..

2008-10-08T05:21:00.003-05:00

Is it possible to be addicted to sleep? Maybe I just dont get enough, who knows. What I do know is that my addiction to the wonderful carbonated-caffienated-fizzy-bubbly-tickle-you-nose elixer that many call soda and just as many others call it pop is trying to kill me. You see, I decided to quit drinking that killer of kidneys, the baron of burps, the facilitator of flatulence, my beloved cola. Its going well so far, only have a mild headache, which I am pretty sure will reach full blown crankiness in a couple hours. Just please, stand back and let the shakes begin.

Also, on a lighter note. It is day 330 of my captivity here in the IT jungle. For many of you this is just a short time being held captive by my wallet and basic needs. I gotta tell you, I really am tired of getting yelled at, threatened, whined to, bitched at, and best of all, being told its not my fault, yet they still yell at me because their computer is borked. Of course its not my fault your pc is trash because you let your kid download crap from myspace, and if you recognize this, why are you yelling at your internet provider and not your pc repair guy? But on the light side of my captivity, I have become pretty good at what I do, and its being noticed by the head chief high muckety-mucks.

God I need a Mt. Dew... my body is rejecting me. need caffiene... **drools**

Well, this is unexpected. one of the guys decided to run off and buy me a dew! but I am going to do my best to drink only this one today. We'll see how that goes.

Dammit... I havent even opened it and my body is feeling like suckling the cap like a newborn to a teet. Damn, I am addicted.

Monday: Good or bad, you decide.

2008-10-06T09:19:00.002-05:00

Its Monday morning, and I am at work. I am having probably one of the hardest times trying to stay awake. Infact I have drank over 1 ltr of Mt Dew since 4:30am and its 9:20a now. Ever have an epiphany? I think I just did... i am addicted to pop. Now I need to work on kicking my evil chain to that sweet substance. I wouldnt mind help, a good support system is a good place to start.

To start, I am going to try for the next week to only drink 1 bottle (20oz) per day and the rest of the day only water or flavored water. The following week, only 1 (20oz) per week. then no more pop. Hardest part of this is kicking the caffiene addiction that is associated with the pop and sugar.

I am so freaking tired... Is it because of the addiction.

So, yesterday I posted a comment about the loss of common sense, this is especially a problem for those that use/abuse alcohol. People really need to think before they perform any action. Think before you speak, isnt that one common phrase?

Oh God. I am rambling. please help me!

Comedy or Tragedy? You decide.

2008-10-05T08:09:00.003-05:00

So, last night Rachel, Schwah, Myself and 3 other friends worth mentioning, but wont say names to protect the not-so-innocent decided to go to the Funny Bone to see The Untamed Shrews. Now if you havent heard of the Shrews, let me give you some insight, they are 2 women who spend the night being as vulgar as men at the bar talking about everything from buttplugs to vagina's. This show is definatly not for the faint of heart. So, at one point in the routine the gals had us in stitches and they start their next skit, the dating game. They picked three guys out of the audience mostly randomly I think, and asked each of them a question. Question 1. What would you name your penis if you could give it a name? Guy #1's answer: Billy Bob. An Angelina Jolie joke was popped up and a few other redneck type slams where thrown. All proceding nicely with a good laugh. Question #2. If you penis was a car, what kind of car would it be? Guy #2: What day of the week is it? This answer prompted a few jokes about Transformers and such, then one random guy in the audience blurted out "Dodge Ram", of course the gals decided to run with this one and ask how Guy A knew about Guy #2's dick. So they get back on track after turning this jackass inside out and Guy #2 said 4x4 Ford F150. Then some moron on the other side of the seating area yelled out and I quote "It has to be 4x4, cause its gonna get muddy!" Personally, after watching and listening to two very quick witted women shred the last vestige of a mans manlyness about knowing about another mans dick, I would not have made any kind of comment that would refer to penis, gaydom, and getting it 'muddy'. That made me sad to know that there are complete morons running around Iowa tarnishing our reputation for being good in school. Lastly, and this too is sad, what kind of moron would compare his dick to cheese?

Anyway, the moral of this story, if there really is one is this. At a comedy club, you can generally expect some kind of audience participation, but ladies and gentlemen, do us all a favor, think about your answer when asked questions about your private parts.

Until next time, this is Rusty Pickle from Comedy or Tragedy wishing you a good evening, and please dont forget to spay or neuter your children before they grow up to spread your stupidity in the gene pool. Have a good night.

Its a brand new day.

2008-10-03T06:55:00.002-05:00

Well, we are rapidly approaching 1 year in circulation. The greatest news about this is our readership has increased 600%!!!! w00t!

So, its Friday, I am thinking about going bowling tonight with a couple friends and my girlfriend, hope things go well, and tomorrow, weather permitting, I may go in a bike ride to somewhere, not sure where yet though. probably a solo run, but who knows. Any ideas where I should go? keep in mind three things. I can ride for about an hour before I need gas, need to rest my ass, need to stretch. So, three hour drives are good, but only as long as I stay in Iowa.

Anyway on to other landmarks for the 1st anniversary of the blog!
1 year ago, I was working for Mediacom. (still am)
1 year ago, Rachel and I were just starting our relationship. (still feels like it just started... I love it!)
1 year ago, road rage was going to kill me, or some dipshit driving like a moron. Today I just sit back and relax and think to myself that they just have to poop. No more road rage for me. (cept in small manageable fits when dingdong highschooler in daddy's car, chatting on her cell with the stereo blaring hop-rap-pop-crap music decides to dive across the double solid white lines and cut me off.)
1 year ago, I was happy then and I am happy now!

Well, off to take my 100,000th call since July 07. Thank you for calling.... oh great, your service is down and you want credit? okay, have a good day.

Women.

2008-10-02T09:55:00.003-05:00

Why is it that you can be single, have so many gal friends who love to talk/text to you about there problems and then sit there and say oh im so bored. But yet when u say hey let me buy you dinner just as a friend that way you have something to do and the excuses fly? I feel used, this happens more often then not, so my general response is "oh thats fine im used to that response." Then i get the general response back "oh your being stupid shut up!" as in a playful manner... Yes i love being single, but damn, i like to hang out with friends and dont always enjoy it being a sausage fest. No offense guys but comon u have to know where i m coming from. Its just nice to see/hang out with the opposite sex once and a while. Anymore i dont expect to hang out with anyone, i dont invite myself anywhere for the simple reason of hey im sure there will be an excuse made and the "plans" wont happen anyway. Again it happens more often then not and im starting to realise what a "real friend" is over a fake just need someone to gripe at/keep me busy till my "real" friends are there.

YOU: crunchmunch hackwheezecough ME:cringes

2008-10-02T07:20:00.003-05:00

Okay, today is the day that I finally take a few minutes of your life away from your busy schedule to explain a few things that really really really annoy the rat piss out of me.

1. When you call for technical support, dont hold the phone in such a way that the mic is next to your nose. I dont like hearing the rythmic rattle of your nasel congestion in a hurricane. Please, I would rather be on speaker phone than listen to you breathe.

2. Speaking of speaker phone. I have several issues with that, 1, turn your damn tv off or the volume down. I really dont want to try to fight listening to you talk while some talk show host is in the background with music blaring. Turn off your cell while your at it.

3. Instead of calling in from your home phone and describing that you are having phone issues and cannot place or recieve calls, don't get pissy when the tech you call and speak to suddenly disappears when (s)he resets your modem. We reset them to fix issues and if your on it, its gonna cause it to not work.

4. (insert service here) not working? Don't wait until the last minute before you are supposed to leave for your vacation and expect us to have your service work the moment you need it. Get a freaking clue and call when the problem happens so we can fix it then, not later.

5. Chewing things, snot bubbles, gas bubbles. Let me explain something here. If you wouldnt want someone doing those things right in front of your face, why do you think its okay to do it in our ears? Call us after you have had breakfast, spit out the gum, blow you freaking nose, and take some Gas-X.

Get it? I doubt it, but I hope you do get it.

Games.

2008-10-01T15:09:00.000-05:00

Game - noun, adjective, gam·er, gam·est, verb, gamed, gam·ing. –noun a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators.

Why is there such a big deal about games? Where I work we are not allowed to play games. That is very well understood. What gets me is they want us to browse other information, well after being on the tech floor for almost 8 months you run out of stuff to browse. So in result i started playing a lil thing called dots, simple click here and play against the AI and get more boxes. Yes under the definition this is a game, what I dont get is that its soo simple and easy but yet we get in trouble for playing. What I understand when no games allowed means no full screen full force online games that take up a lot of space on the computer require certain system requirements, something that has to be downloaded to the pc or require lots of use from the pc itself. Why is something so harmless as in clicking somewhere to make a certain "square" for a point a big deal? Something else I dont get is that one management position says its fine, another no you cant play that. Something needs to be done to come up with a standard that is constanly used for every management position... When this happens I will be happy. Untill then, I guess I just will have to be bored outta my mind and sit here and stare at a blank screen while waiting to do my job.

"You're Welcome."

2008-10-01T11:17:00.002-05:00

Have you ever wondered why a customer service representative asks you if there is anything else they can help you with? Its an invitation to continue to seek support for what ever it is you need help with. It is not an opportunity to bash the company or its representatives.

Now on to something more homey. I want to welcome all of the readers (4 or 5 of you) to Schwah! I hope he has good stuff to contribute to your reading pleasure.

BTW, this month, (Oct 27) is the release of Fallout 3. How this may mean absolutely nothing to many of you, but if you play RPG games, you really need to get this game. I will be writing a review of sorts when I start playing. Probably a running commentary.

Well, back to the grind.

My First Totally Off the Wall Blog...

2008-10-01T10:32:00.004-05:00

Well this be my first blog post eva. First i wanna thank rusty for the access privelages. if it wasnt for you none of this would be possible, now to the serious part.

Why do people think that when they call in they can say "oh I was transferred and it was supposed to be to a sup!" hey moron i can look at your call history for this current call and see this is the first time you called in and when i point out i m showing u just called in you get all pissy and say "oh well ive been transferred about eight times this morning and dont want to tell you whats going on." well guess what, im not going to get you to a sup without knowing whats going on so you go ahead and hang up and try your games with someone else. not going to work with me. and if you dont like it go ahead and complaing to my upper management, they are going to tell you the same thing.

Why is it that people are so ignorant these days that they try every trick they can think of to get past the one person trying to help them? Its pretty sad anymore with some of the excuses i hear. Funny part is after i talk to them i get the issue resolved and all i feel like saying is HA YOU IGNORANT FOOL NOW WHAT but do i? no because im not going to drop to there level of education. so yes, you go ahead and be pissy and bitchy with me, i dont care, your not going to get a rise out of me on the phone, my job is to help you to the best of my ability, not transfer you to the first available sup because you dont want to wait.

On a side note, we had an excellent night bowling last night, BIG improvement over the last two weeks, everything went smooth as butter. we totally obliterated the other teams score. best part is the last game our least experiance bowler bowled the high game for that round WAY TO GO!! :D and we are all starting to get into sync with each other and have a good time.

a good friend once told me he was addicted to video games, at the time i asked myself how is this possible? well i now realise that it is possible and am coming to the realisation that i am to addicted to video games, i find myself at any chance trying to play, when i get bored my first thought is to play video games, this is the only thing that keeps me from being bored. call me what you want but for somereason i am able to sit down and play a game, lose track of time and play for hours on end. My dream job would be to get a job as a video game tester. i dont know why this is but no one else in my family is like this, dont get me wrong i love doing other things i.e. camping, bowling, playing softball, being outdoors, riding my motorcycle EVERYWHERE and many many others but i have the need to play a video game for at least 20 minutes a day. when im at work and bored i look for the non-gamey type games to play, for whatever the reason this is the case. maybe its because im single and not tyed to having to do anything who knows.

well i know i could go on and on and on about random things but i have taken enough space and its been a totally at random blog, if i get bored maybe i will go on with another, who knows only time will tell,
untill next time....

Yawns, stretches, moans and groans.

2008-09-29T05:50:00.002-05:00

Could someone answer me a question? What business is it of ours to investigate, harass, follow, probe and annoy celebrities? What business is it of ours to care who is sleeping with who? What business is it of ours to pay someone else to make it their business to put on public display someone elses lives?

Now how many of you would be fighting up a storm with law enforcement if some jackass with a high power camera decided to take pictures of you and your family in candid situations, or hovered around your car as you were trying to get in and out of Wal-Mart or Starbucks, or even at your place of work?

WE, as a nation, have become so lazy that we have to live vicariously through the lives of people we only know from a flickering screen, people who are paid to act like different people. People who have private lives, and that life should remain private. If you buy tabloids, you are pathetic, you should make the ultimate sacrifice and let someone else breathe the air you consume. So, do the world, and me a favor and run down to your local McD's and gorge your fat guts with triple bacon cheese burgers and your diet cola until the cholestrol oozes out of your pores and makes your skin feel like the greased porkling that you are.

Eliminating the middle man.

2008-09-26T06:34:00.003-05:00

The other day I was confronted with a situation I really did not want to be in. I spent the better part of 2 hours listening to how bad things were with a friend, and when I expressed that I was taking a few days off from work because a relative died, it didnt phase them in the least. Then I have to be the 'liason' between another friend and my gf, and the hunters education guy, and all while I am supposed to be taking care of other issues that arrose this week. Frankly, I dont have the willpower to deal with my very own problems, and I get dragged into someone elses problems, its just a tad bit overwhelming. Last night I turned off my phone. I turned it off because I was dealing with an issue with my girlfriend and our bowling league. I have tried very hard to make bowling fun for her, but she gets frustrated with herself, and her desire to not be there grows constantly. So the team captain decides to take it upon himself to tell me that I need to talk to her about this issue. Admittedly that was a good suggestion on his part, so I spent close to 3 hours talking to her about what we could do to improve her game and her fun factor, but 30min past the time that we (team captain, gf and myself) are supposed to be in Hartford for hunters education, he calls me and asks me to contact the instructor to see if we can still make it... um, he had the number, he could have called himself, but he decided that since I was the one that spoke to the guy I should have called. I explained that I was busy with stuff and he should call since I wasnt going to make it. Talk about overwhelming. I turned off my phone.

Today, I am now at work, on break, and dreading when the calls start coming in. I have so much apathy towards these issues that I have to deal with at work, that I am pretty sure I am going to tell someone where they can put their ideas about how my company should be run. I dont care why you need your internet, your still going to have to wait X number of days.

We just had a winner!!! Ladies and Gentlemen, I just got told that our service is horrible because I had to transfer a TV only customer to Customer Service. I told her that she dialed the wrong ph# for support and I had to transfer her because I am not trained for tv issues just as they are not trained for internet and phone issues. Here ya go lady, have a free clue.

Monopoly: Myth or Fact?

2008-09-22T05:46:00.005-05:00

What is a monopoly? Lets ask the expert:

Imgragael: Excuse me, Mr. High School Economics Teacher, can you tell me what a monopoly is?

Mr. H.S.E.T.: That is a good question Imgragael, quite simply there are two types of monopoly, one is where the situation exists where there are no close substitutes: A monopoly is not merely the state of having control over a product; it also means that there is no real alternative to the monopolised product.

The other type is the integration monopoly, where a company aquires not only all pre-existing companies that produce the same product(s) but control the distribution and manufacture of said product(s).

Imgragael: How can that affect telecommuncations?

Mr. H.S.E.T.: Another good question, quite simply it is virtually impossible for a company to aquire or own a monopoly in any market where tv, phone or internet services are offered. Again, for a company to exist as a monopoly, no other forms of competition can exist. In any market such as a major city, you have an infrastructure that already exists, the phone company owns the phone lines, the Tv stations can broadcast over the air, and internet can be provided in several fashions including standard dial-up, Digital Subscriber Line, or Broadband(cable). So, you see, in any market, monopoly cannot exist in the case of telecommunications.

Anyway, when I listen to callers claim 'monopoly, whine boohoo' I feel no sympathy for their issue, but I feel sorry for them because they are ignorant of facts and probably dont care to learn the truth.

"If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?"

Cast of Characters
Imgragael - Rusty
Mr. High School Economics Teacher - Rusty

Information gathered from the following sources:
wikipedia - definition of monopoly.

mild musings.

2008-09-18T07:15:00.002-05:00

Greetings and salutations from la-la land. I am visiting la-la land because I am on that edge of being awake and asleep, you know, that point when your body gets the tremors, you yawn 2 to 3 times a minute. You might stare blankly at the wall and start to develop that little bit of drool, but your eyes are wide open. Well, let me say this.. the view from here is amazing! but dont ask me what it is I am looking at.

Here in la-la land, the people are annoying, even in their friendliest tone, but alas I am stuck here until the plane departs at 2pm. problem is I have no idea what I am going to do when I leave. oh well. I guess I will just sit here and be a good leiason between these citizens of la-la land and my home.

btw, did you know that when a stupid person makes a stupid phone call, a kitten in a foreign land is killed and eaten? neither did I until I akshoelley saw it.

/me sighs. I am tired.

Be Prepared.

2008-09-15T10:37:00.002-05:00

This is the motto of the Boy Scouts.. and guess what, it should be everyones motto. There is truely no excuse to be unprepared for weather conditions such as extremely hot & dry summer, cold and damp winter, hurricanes. These are a regular occurrance and are not going anywhere any time soon. I live in the upper edge of tornado alley, even I dont have an excuse to not be prepared, but I was cautious enough to get a weather radio. so far its probably the best single adverse weather item I have ever spent money on. Now back to those of you living on the Gulf coast. um... its hurricane season. you have DAYS to get the necessary items gathered, packed, stored and stashed, yet you dont. why?

Get a clue people. High winds, High water, and High blood pressure kill. dont be stupid, if you die, we have to pay more in taxes.

First Annual "I don't give a shit" day.

2008-09-10T05:04:00.002-05:00

Today marks the first day in the annual "I don't give a shit" day. I declare this day from here on forward to be earmarked where anyone and everyone can clearly and precicely state, I dont give a shit, to anyone or anything that they want. So, please join me in celebrating this joyous occasion, but if you dont, frankly, I dont give a shit.

So, I get turned down for a promotion at work, because my 'supervisor' thinks that I am too melodramatic and I get upset easily. Honestly if my 'supervisor' would not have used the terms "Don't be a douche,..." or "Whatever, just don't do it." and actually cared about the problems that his underlings bring him, I wouldnt have to get frustrated and throw a 'mini-tantrum' which since I am damn near 7ft tall seems like a mega-hyper-sunami-tantrum. Now, I am working on eligibility to getting a promotion to becoming a Lead, which is 1 step below supervisor, but I have to work on changing my image with my higher ups. Problem with that is, I strive to maintain a level of excellence and esprit d'cour that my higher ups have forgotten about and/or just dont care about, and my attention to detail only causes them to have to do more work. Um, question, isnt that a part of getting promoted to a supervisory position? Having to do more work?!??

Now, I am honestly working on curbing my tantrums, but the root of those tantrums is this. Why should I start not caring about issues that need to be addressed that bring the name of my company down? Why should I become just another tech on the floor and just not care that x number of people are without service, and field techs just cant seem to get it thru their hardhats that their laziness is causing customers to get pissy and call in 2 - 3 - 4 times a day to get told that they are going to have to wait 2 - 3 - 4 weeks before service is done. And when I present a specific location to where said issue exists, I am threatened with supervisory action (write-up) for using the tools available to find said issue. Oh well, today is "IDGAS"

Funny part of all of this... We are graded on our calls for having empathy for the problem, but we arent supposed to care about it enough to get it fixed right.

Motorcycle friendly Des Moines.

2008-08-27T18:48:00.002-05:00

This needs to become a movement. We need more motorcycle awareness programs in Iowa, particuarly in Des Moines. Today I decided to do a few errands and since it was nice enough (stopped raining about 2 hours prior, was cool and overcast.) I decided to ride my DRZ400 to the mall. exactly 14.2 miles from my home. Since I was kinda looking for my lost cell phone along the way I decided to use the bypass to get to the interstate and head north. I was cut off no less than 4 times by vehicles that felt I was going too slowly (75mph) in the fast lane in the first 4 miles of getting on the 5/69 bypass. No big deal, I know that these people have to do something special like poop, but what happened on the interstate almost made me get off my bike and sit on the side of the road and wait for someone to stop. This little girl, 17-21 years old decided that she didnt want to wait for the end of the ramp to get on the highway and cut it close enough to my bike that I had to swerve in front of a semi. There wasnt much room between me and the front of that semi.. the sweet faced little cunt flipped me off when I got along side her. Someone must have seen what happened and called the cops cause a state trooper pulled her over at the I235 cut. but it doesnt end there... leaving the mall some old bastard decided to go wide, cutting me off, causing me to stall my bike, in traffic. then some other retard later down the road decides to split the middle between me and a car and he had the audacity to chase me after I got his plates and gave him the bird. Hope des moines pd gets ahold of him before I see him again.

Motorcycle Awareness Programs need to be mandatory for ALL drivers.

Imagination v. Reality

2008-08-24T20:57:00.003-05:00

Ladies and Gentleman, Children of all ages!!!

Welcome to the greatest show on earth.

In the red corner, Imagination weighing in at an infinite size shape and color of trucks. And in the blue corner, Reality, hard vicious ruthless killer of imaginations everywhere.

I have to apologize to all 4 of my readers... My last post was mostly of pure fiction. The reality side of the story. The Guy in the Prius was attempting to merge left, the guy in the SUV was in the lane the prius wanted. there was a string of cars in the next lane to the left so the SUV could not move over. The prius ended up braking hard to avoid going over the solid white line into the shoulder, which made me brake hard, and the cars behind me. well, this pri-ck-us whipped around the SUV, pulled along side and started flipping the suv off.. This is where imagination decided to have a turn. I was already laughing by watching some "green" a-hole flip his lid, and the SUV just calmly turn his signal and merged right to take the next exit. But what I saw was the window slowly rolling down and the large fountain drink tumble across the gap and into the prius window. Sadly I attempted to pass off my over active imagination as factual when it was fantasy. Sue me. it was funny though both ways. Just wish the Greener would have gotten what he deserved.

**pewpewpwe** Fear my 733t pewpew!

Funny...

2008-08-21T02:33:00.000-05:00

Today I saw the funniest thing in the world... well at least in Des Moines. On I-235, a jackass in a silver Prius hybrid decided to catch up to and procede to flip off a SUV for not moving right to let this little turdling in. I almost fell off my bike when I saw the response from the SUV... He calmly decided to throw his McD's supersize cola out his window and into the Prius!!! it was like watching slow motion film. prius freaking out finger wagging, SUV slowly rolled down his window and chucked the drink cup out of his window and into the prius. funny ass shit!

in XX number of days.....

2008-08-14T22:45:00.002-05:00

In two days, I get to go to the first Rennaisance Faire I have been to in 4 years. Its the first time I have been to the Minnisota Rennaisance Faire ever. I have already been invited to see demonstrations from customers that are going to be there. That is awesome.

In four days, I will have successfully reached my 38th year of existance. Successfully telling my prophesy that I stated when I was nine to fuck off. I am going to be 8 years older than my death year.

In 22 days, I will have been at my job for one full year. Whoo... 1 year of getting yelled at by assholes who have no life.

In 36 days, I will have been with my girlfriend Rachel for 1 full year. She is my best friend and I am so happy to be with her. Subsequently 180 days from this date, I can ask her to marry me.

In XX number of days maybe I will have figured out something important that will save the world from the mass stupidity that has caused it to drive me to writing rants.

faith in humanity.

2008-08-12T14:28:00.003-05:00

What we've got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach, so you get what we had here last week which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. And I don't like it any more than you men.

No truer words have ever been spoken, in fiction and in non-fiction. Since I work in a call center where my purpose in life is to help fix problems with peoples service, I have observed several aspects of humanity, and I got to tell you, I dont like it any more.

You are who you are when no one is looking.

Everyone lets their belly droop and their jaw go slack when they think no one is looking. How about when they are talking on the phone to some anonymous person? If they yell and scream and act selfish and demeaning while talking to someone they need help from, how do they act in the presence of someone when that someone is standing right there offering them help? Someone superior to them? I firmly believe that regardless of a persons external appearance, their true nature jumps right out and will attack anyone that cannot satisfy the learned reasoning of "I want it NOW!"

When you call tech support for anything, you have to keep in mind three things..

1. I am a support technician, I get paid to help you fix your equipment, or schedule a technician to come out and fix what you cannot fix for your self.
2. I am a specialist in my field, just as much as you are.
3. I take more abuse from you than you have ever taken from anyone else, I will continue to take abuse because I get paid to do what I enjoy most. Which incidently is helping people.

Next time you decide to call your support representative because you cannot get online, try to remember something. You wouldnt yell at your butcher and call him and his company nasty names and swear you are going to go somewhere else for business just because the steaks you wanted are no longer on sale would you? Probably not because you know that the next time you went in there you would get slabs of meat not worthy of feeding to a dog.

Now, to the old lady in the silver car that decided to make a right turn from the left turn lane just to go to McDonalds, I would like to say thanks, your comic relief at the second drive-up window was classic. Just because you grip the steering wheel with both hands and stare straight ahead doesnt make the problem go away. Next time look out for other motorists. Thank god my brakes worked. And I would like to thank the McDonalds crew for delaying the old lady while I ordered my food and was able to leave without fear of her running my ass over.

Hey! Fucking Moron!!!

2008-07-24T21:50:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I am talking to you, you self centered boil. I am not paid to give two shits about why you need your (internet,phone,tv)... I dont fucking care that you are losing thousands of dollars because you are too fucking stupid to watch the news, or remember the 100+mph winds that knocked down the tree in your own fucking front yard. I dont give a rats ass that you need it now. You are going to take what I give you and you are going to fucking like it... and frankly, you threatening me with leaving our company because you are too stupid to understand that nature cannot be controlled does not bother me one fucking bit... infact here is the phone number for Qwest (800)244-1111... Fucking call them and ask them when they can get you service when the power company still hasnt gotten the lines repaired.

FUCK OFF.

Follow up: Black hole...?

2008-07-10T00:50:00.003-05:00

well. My mom spoke with a representative of FEMA about 2 weeks ago now, and guess what. They determined that they can not (read will not) help her or any other affected families in Attica. So recently I was surfing around the net looking for strange things and I came across a site that promotes community. I decided to see what this site might be able to help me accomplish so I created a campaign to help my mom get her house fixed and re-build her garage.

Help my mom when FEMA wouldnt.

I know that I dont have many readers, but maybe if I can get the word out I can get something done to help her with her finances.

Please, just visit that site, donate if you want comment if you can.

Wishful thinking.

2008-07-01T03:30:00.002-05:00

Today was perhaps one of the worse days so far this year. Ranked right up there with the daily, "I dont want to go to work." day and the "Could things get any worse" day.

"Today would be a good day for all the stupid people in the world to spontaneously combust. With my luck, however, I would be the first one to burst into flames, and the rest of you poor sods would be out of a job."

I had to go into deep stupid mode today to explain the distinct difference between a modem, a router, an ethernet cable, and a usb cable and where each one of them plug in. Honestly, when I use terms such as "The ethernet cable has a large phone like plug on one end, with a cable color that is usually grey, but can be blue, black, yellow, while and even green." I usually expect the person I am speaking to to understand that 'Oh, this cable is the ethernet cable.' Guess what, this gal just didnt get it. Then I explained the finer difference between her modem, the box with 5 lights, three cables in the back and is clearly marked RCA. she kept farting around with her d-link router. At this time, I was close to giving up when she had a sudden flash of insight and she realized that she was monkeying around with her stuff and plugged it all back in wrong. Problem solved right? wrong. she then demanded credit for the fact that she was without service for 2 days, and she had to wait 1 hour to talk to someone. I happily told her that I could not give credit to her services because everything was working according to our tools and it was not our fault that things were not reconnected right.

Hope you bring marshmallows and chocolate and graham crackers.

following instructions.

2008-06-29T22:09:00.003-05:00

Greetings fellow smart, intelligent, yet sometimes retarded friends.

I would like to take a moment of your time to go back in time to grade school.
What would have happened to you if a teacher had asked you to do the following:

1. Put away your current project.
2. Take out your crayons.
3. Read the instructions on the paper and color the picture according to those instructions.
4. Put away your crayons when you are finished.
5. Bring your completed assignment to me to be graded.

And you decided to skip Step 1, 3, and 4 and just colored the picture and turned it in? Would you have received a good grade?

Step-by-step instructions are a fact of life. They govern how we live in this society, so why is it that we forgot this basic fact? Is it due to the 'I think I know what I am doing when I dont' syndrome, where we cannot follow even the simplest instructions even when we are told step-by-step what to do?

I can understand that you are frustrated, and that you have 'tried' everything to get your service to work again, but there are several great reasons why we ask you do to it again.

1. You cant follow instructions. You need to have your hand held each time you call for support cause you dont care enough about your services, but you sure care that you are spending $XXX dollars on it.
2. You cant tell a router from a modem from Immodeum. Here is a hint, you have more than 1 device that connects to the internet? two or more computers? computer and xbox/ps3? Have bubble guts?
3. 99/100 times, you forgot to unplug/plug something in the right order, and it needs to be done by 'professionals' even though you are the one actually unplugging/plugging the device.

Ladies, Gentlemen, and college students,

Here is $200 (fake) buy a clue.

Iowa, black hole, shroud of mystery?

2008-06-26T20:22:00.002-05:00

From an email that was sent to by my sister in Texas.

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

Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 9:23 AM

Where are all of the Hollywood celebrities holding
telethons asking for help in restoring Iowa and
helping the folks affected by the floods?

Where is all the media asking the tough questions
about why the federal government hasn't solved the
problem? And asking where the FEMA trucks (and trailers)
are?

Why isn't the Federal Government relocating Iowa storm
victims to free hotels in Chicago?

When will Spike Lee say that the Federal Government
blew up the levees that failed in Des Moines?

Where are Sean Penn and the Dixie Chicks?

Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis
shoes and big screen television sets?

When will we hear Governor Chet Culver say that he
wants to rebuild a "vanilla" Iowa, because that's
the way God wants it?

Where is the hysterical 24/7 media coverage complete
with reports of cannibalism?

Where are the people declaring that George Bush
hates white, rural people?

How come in 2 weeks, you will never hear about the
Iowa flooding ever again?

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

My mothers house was damaged and she lost her garage and all the personal, irreplaceable things by an F2 tornado, just 2 weeks after an F5 tornado
destroyed half of Parkersburg, IA. Parkersburg was in the news for a grand total
of 8 days. I suppose that 1 day for each person killed in Parkersburg is good
enough for our news broadcasters. The news broadcast of the flooding that affected Des Moines was paltry compared to the 24/7 footage of wildfires in California that we get bombarded with now. "Oh No! some rich retard in California lost his $$$million dollar home to a wildfire!" Big deal, rich retard probably has three or four homes and only lives in that one 1 time a year. How about those here who lost everything because of 6 ft of water, that dont have two or three houses they can live in.

So, where is our government in our time of need? Or is Iowa so insignificant to the politicians after the caucuses that they dont give two shits about the people that voted for them?

The church in Attica, IA (map) has done more for the community than anyone. They cut a check for $300 for my mom to get her roof rebuilt. Praise in God and many blessings on the congregation of that church.

Now if only FEMA and the great state of Iowa would take care of its own like that.

So, is Iowa a black hole, shrouded in mystery?

red bull, smarties, mt dew, 2am.

2008-06-23T02:17:00.002-05:00

No I am not drunk or on drugs. I have a new shift!! yea!. So, here goes. After my Friday the 13th post, I get a message from my wonderful girlfriend that she wants to find her own place. That guy not only caused me grief due to his driving, he had upset me enough that it upset her. So, as a solution she and I spoke at length that I would start going to anger management. Well, I did some research and I looked up ways to curb road rage, my #1 biggest cause of my stress and anger I read where someone now uses the excuse for someone elses poor driving that "they must have to poop." Now instead of getting upset at the other guy, I look at thier constipated expression and think, they must have to poop, and let them in. I have to tell you.. IT WORKS...

I am tired... I am done.

Friday the 13th!

2008-06-14T05:39:00.003-05:00

No, this isnt going to be about Jason, unless the guy that decided to use his Red Town&Country mini-van with the license 871 EBP (iowa) as an intimidation tool is named Jason. My girlfriend and I were on our way to get my motorcycle from the shop when this jackass and his wife decided to whip their vehicle out from behind our car and cut off the flow of freeway traffic. At that time I did what any self respecting road rager would do. I flipped him off. At which time his fat fucking wife damn near throws herself out the window with her finger extended then he decided to encroch in our lane forcing us onto the shoulder. This went on for a mile when I grabbed my girlfriends cellphone and call 911 and report this fucker. Now this wasnt an isolated incident cause just down the road another FUCKTARD decides to cut the double white lines and damn near hits us. then decides to laugh at us for me getting pissed off at them.

You know what the sickest part of this whole thing was.. These exceptional examples of human nature ARE going to kill someone, and in their head its going to be the other guys fault. Against my karmic nature, I almost wish that these 4 beautiful examples of living, breathing inbred monkey fuckers would have a painful pulmunary aedema, and thrash about wildly while their loved ones watch in horror. And hopefully this will happen before they kill someone elses loved one.

Rudeness, bulk foods, rich people, What do these have in common?

2008-06-08T07:45:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, my Girlfriend and I made a terrible mistake. We went grocery shopping. So we went to Costco. Costco is not necessarily a bad thing if you A) own a restraunt, B) Have a large family, and C) dont mind stocking up on food for the turn of the century.

At it happens, I like big potatoes, huge ones. great for baked potatoes and potato salad, and mashed potatoes. I also happen to like dried fruit, and its a good place to get lots of paper products. Anyway instead of continuing to toot the horn of bulk warehouse places, I am going to do something suprising.... SUPRISE!!!

Haha. Now on to the answer.

Rudeness,
Is it me, or are people just so narcissistic that they cant see the 400lb. 7ft tall guy wearing a bright yellow racing jacket pushing a cart fully laden with groceries? I had to stop my cart, which was so loaded down with crap that it was like trying to stop a freight train and this broad just walks right in front of me, our carts dont collide but they come close, and she just keeps right on walking. So I say "Escuse the fuck out of me!" and get this... everyone looks at the commotion, and I am turned into the bad guy cause I am 7ft tall and 400lb. Fucking hate people. so I glared back at the one person glaring at me, and my girlfriend took my hand and we continued shopping. I have two words for rude people... FUCK OFF.

Bulk Foods,
Bulk food warehouses are a haven for rich, snotty people to buy lots of crap for less than they would pay at a regular store. They think they need 12 huge squirt bottles of mustard to last them a year and a half. And guess what. Rich snotty people are rude.

Rich People,
Enough said. FUCK OFF rich rude people that shop at warehouses for shit you dont need.

peace... at least until the next time I go shopping... I may freight train the bastards and then fall down gripping my knee or groin and bump my head on the way down and see exactly how fast they decide to react... then sue the piss out of them and take their H2 and burn it in front of their house for them being stupid.

hrm. too much pent up rage... I need a beer or three.

Mud-butt shouldn't smell like pancakes....

2008-06-07T11:25:00.003-05:00

Okay, now that I have to saying to yourself... ew. This post is all about questions that make you wonder "What the....?"

The other day I was doing some light cleaning, aka looking for my keys, when I discovered a journal entry that my girlfriend wrote that stated some of her thoughts on ADD or ADHD. Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyper-activity Disorder, is a 'supposed' disease that affects millions of Americans. However, I have a major issue with this 'diagnosis.' In my elementary school, in the 4th grade, a select number of students, myself, included were assigned to a special class where students were allowed to learn at their pace. What this study showed later was that children learn better when they are almost tired, not quite sleeping, but tired. Less than 3 years later a drug was introduced to child psychologists and shortly to teachers. Within a year a teaching revolution began, any student between first and 6th grade that just cannot seem to 'concentrate' on the task at hand, automatically had ADD or ADHD. Teachers began utilizing this drug as a teaching aid, parents began using it like a crutch to poor parenting skills. Now we have a generation of kids 18-25 that are taught that drugs are good, and ADD, ADHD is an excuse to remain acting like a child.

I, in my own opinion, think that before a teacher suggests pharmcuticals for any child, the teacher should have an evaluation based on several criteria on competency. Any parent that follows the recommendation of a teacher should have an evaluation that tests several criteria on good parenting skills.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Parents of all kinds, your children are amazingly, get this.... CHILDREN, children behave in a manner befitting children they run, they play, they scream, they kick, and bite.

Consider this, did you learn right from wrong, or did you get a few swats from your parents along the way. Stole some candy from the store and got caught, got spanked or grounded and never did it again? You have to teach your children the difference from right and wrong and be willing to disipline the child appropriately. Blaming ADD or ADHD on the reason why your kid escaped from you at wal-mart and decided to run down the beer aisle knocking $25 whiskey bottles on the floor is a piss-poor excuse for your lack of giving a two shits about your life or that of your childs.

Adults with ADHD, there is a good excuse for taking medication when all you need is a good emotional enema... GO ON VACATION! Can't concentrate on your work, guess what 90% of us cant stand our job and need a break. GO ON VACATION.

Now get off your lazy, welfare paycheck, wal-mart shopping, booze hounding, asses and teach your kids right from wrong, instead of teaching them that they can grow up just like you and blame ADHD instead of you for their problems.

OMG, its an interwebs emergencies.

2008-05-10T10:01:00.002-05:00

What is an internet emergency? Lets explore the words internet and emergency.
e·mer·gen·cy - plural -cies, adjective –noun
1. a sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence or occasion requiring immediate action.
2. a state, esp. of need for help or relief, created by some unexpected event: a weather emergency; a financial emergency.
–adjective
3. granted, used, or for use in an emergency: an emergency leave; emergency lights.

In·ter·net –noun
a vast computer network linking smaller computer networks worldwide (usually prec. by the). The Internet includes commercial, educational, governmental, and other networks, all of which use the same set of communications protocols.

While our dependence upon the internet has changed from a luxury item to a necessity for many users, there are a few guidelines that one should follow.

1. When calling your ISP to get your "Blankety-blank" internet to work, please keep in mind that we dont care if your (insert poor relative here) is dying and needs to send you email. Get off your butt and drive to her place and check on her.

2. If you have not been able to get online for the last ## number of days, dont call us expecting us to jump right on that. You're going to have to wait in line just like everyone else. And if your internet is so damn important, why didnt you call ## number of days ago?

3. If you arent going to take the time to establish a series of security questions for our CSR's to verify your identity, dont complain to us when someone calls in saying they are you and change your services. And definately dont complain when we tell you we cant help you because you cant verify anything.

4. If you think that you can run a home based business with your residential account, and expect to get business quality service, you can expect three things. A. You will be told you are in violation of the Acceptable Use Policy, B. You can get your services terminated, and C. You ARE NOT going to get service any faster.

5. We do not service or troubleshoot software or hardware related issues unless they directly affect you not getting to the internet. If you are getting a Blue Screen when you open IE, contact a PC tech, dont yell at us when you waited 45 minutes for us to tell you to call a PC tech.

6. Equipment familiarization. People take for granted things like breathing clean air, drinking clean water, but no where in any laws does it say you have a right to yell because you are asked to reset your modem. This isnt rocket science, you unplug a cord, you plug it back in. Simple. Except for you simpletons that couldnt find your butt with both hands an a map in a well lit room full of cameras with 1000 different angles for you to reference.

So, now I ask you, is your problem truely an emergency?

Its the most _(insert verb here)_ time of the year.

2007-12-24T15:37:00.000-06:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to the best, worst, happiest, saddest, wonderful, revulsive time of the year. Today is Christmas Eve, and you know what? The only people who seem to have Christmas spirit are those that are rich enough to pay the exhorbatant fees that retailers charge for hundreds of items that no one truely needs. Bah humbug on you fat, lazy bastards and your iPods and your Hummer H3's. Infact I say bah humbug on anyone contributing to the commercialization of Christmas and I will see you in that special corner of hell dedicated to you.

History Lesson: Christmas 101**.
1. Christmas is a holiday that is celebrated by many religions and affects every section of the world.
2. The date of December 25th comes from Rome and was a celebration of the Italic god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god. This was done long before the birth of Jesus.
3. A simple study of the tactics of the Romish Church reveals that in every case, the church absorbed the customs, traditions and general paganism of every tribe, culture and nation in their efforts to increase the number of people under their control. In short, the Romish church told all of these pagan cultures, "Bring your gods, goddesses, rituals and rites, and we will assign Christian sounding titles and names to them.

So, whats wrong with Christmas?
1. It is assumed that Jesus was born in December. This is a false belief, according to scripture, he was born some time in September.
2. Trees, wreaths, holly, mistletoe and the like are strictly forbidden, as they are pagan and heathen symbols and idols! Yet Christians every year put up a tree and hang wreaths from thier doorways.
3. No where in the Bible does the The Lord ever speak of commemorating his birth but rather He commanded us to remember the sacrifice of His suffering and death, which purchased our salvation.

So, bah humbug.

**History Lesson information from http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract3.html

Crazy People...

2007-11-25T18:13:00.000-06:00

Some people are just plain crazy.. I am not talking the crazy lady pushing the bascart full of dirty blankets and dead cats, I am talking those people that psychologists would classify as sane that do things that just absolutely blow me away. I am talking about that jackass in the new sports car that flies up on your bumper while your doing 75mph down the freeway, barely giving you time to move right before they decide to do that for you, then flip you off as they pass you like your grandpa grapenuts in his old buick century that is going 15 mph below the speed limit.

I am also talking about those smart morons that drive lexus/bmw/mercedes suv's that think they own the road/parking lot/middle of the isle. These people think that because they can afford a $35,000 luxury vehicle that they are more important than the guy driving down the road in his hard earned $15,000 truck.

People.. get a clue... Your world does not repeat NOT revolve around you... pay attention to others and get your head out of your ass.

The Disguise of Misunderstanding.

2007-11-19T16:11:00.000-06:00

How do you misunderstand a question that asks a favor and you say okay, then within an hour you change your mind and have a complete panic attack and suddenly forget you gave permission and granted the favor?

This happened to me today, and you know what.. It was the straw that broke the camels back. I have tried to be patient for the sake of my relationship and for the sake of my apartment arrangements, but I cant do it anymore. I couldnt do it anymore and I exploded. I popped my top like I have not done since I was a kid at my siblings, I did the one thing I swore to myself, God, and anyone who I thought would support me that I would never again get that angry at someone. And I lost it.

And now to top it all off, I feel bad because the guy might lose his job because he didnt know when to leave well enough alone. Victimizer becomes the victim and we should feel sorry for him. I am done feeling sorry for him. Somehow I have managed to not only 'steal' his girlfriend, but ruin his life. The sad part is I have footed the bill, and encouraged him to work on making his way thru life easier, yet I have got nothing but lied to, and told "I'm sorry" so many times that I exploded. I can't do it anymore. I am going to pray for the next few days and see what God tells me, and in the mean time, I am going to try to stay away from the problem as best I can. Please pray for me and for him.

I promise I wont do it again....

2007-10-28T17:33:00.000-05:00

So, here it is another day, and you wouldnt believe what I have to bitch about today... My roommate. Since I have two roommates, let me try to clarify a bit here... i am complaining about the one that does not sleep in my room. Now with that said here comes the good stuff.

I am a procrastinator, i dont mind putting some things off until later, stuff like laundry, dishes, etc. But my roommate just hit an increadible new low.. He asked my girlfriend(aka roommate that sleeps in my room) to do the dishes he left in the sink from last night.. then proceeded to go into his room and watch anime and eat breakfast. granted there is some lee-way with him eating and all, but asking our roommate to clean his mess that he should have cleaned is just plain wrong. However, he did attempt to redeem himself by taking out the trash, but at least he could have worked on the pile in the hallway that leads to the living room from the front door, that stuff has been there since July!!! cept, appearantly its not 'all' his so he shouldnt have to. **sighs**

What is beyond procrastination? Can someone turn it into an artform? if so, I want to take classes on how to be a better procrastinator. Not really to be honest.. It just amazes me that I have to get upset beyond upset and blow up at him to get him to do anything that resembles cleaning in our apartment. Last night he left food out. This is one of my biggest pet peeves, you dont leave out food.

Well, enough tonight. have fun and happy hunting.

Traffic, relationships, and trainwrecks.

2007-10-27T12:49:00.000-05:00

Traffic:

Why is it when your not in a hurry to get some where, everyone is willing to run you into the wall to get where they are going? Are we so preoccupied with our lives outside the car that we forget to pay attention to the lives of those in the car next to us? This phenomenon seems to occur quite frequently during the hours of 3p and 7p. Rush hour(s). Now mind you this is Des Moines, IA. population 500k give or take, and its not like there is a whole lot to do at home once they get home other than watch corn grow, or yell at their kids, or even maintain their meth lab, but still that shouldnt prevent them from driving properly... should it?

Infraction #1: Going the speed limit or slower in the left lane. There is a reason 4 lane roads have an inside lane. Its for the people who want to speed to go around the people who don't want to speed. If you are getting tailgated in the left lane, there is a reason for this.. YOU ARE DRIVING TOO SLOW!

Infraction #2: Wide turns. If I remember correctly and since I have access to the internet, I can look up the instructions for the State of Iowa's recommendation for making turns from one road to another. Here goes! When you make a change of direction from one road to another stay in the lane closest to you as you make the turn... EXAMPLES: When in the left turn lane on a two lane road onto a 4-lane road stay in the left lane until you have reached the speed limit then merge right.. this means DO NOT SWING IMMEDIATELY INTO THE RIGHT LANE WHEN TURNING, you could cut someone off, or actually cause an accident with someone turning from the right lane into the right lane.. Which brings me to the whole Right lane to Right lane turn.. dont swing into the left lane, you could again cause an accident or some other stupid that costs someone a lot of time and money.

Infraction #3: (I am guilty of this one) Turn signals are not OPTIONAL equipment on cars. Use them when making turns, or changing lanes. Turn signals let other motorists know you are doing something other than staying in your lane of travel.

Infraction #4: What exactly is the purpose of slowing down to 20 mph 2 and 1/2 miles away from your turn? then not even use your turn signal?!?? (see infraction #3)

Infraction #5: Rude gestures towards motorists because they honked at you for violating the above rules. Wow buddy, your mom must really be proud of you! You just cut off a guy in a full-size pickup with a gun rack in the back window in your little beat up VW to make a right turn from the far left lane into the quicky-mart to get your cigarettes and beer, and you have the balls to flip off the guy off because he had to slam on his brakes to keep from turning your little VW into yet another bug on his cattle-guard. If you can't plan ahead, get off the road.

And since we have broached the topic of planning ahead, here is a tip for motorists; because people are blind to the world outside once they shut the door to their little rolling section of their world, accidents happen. In order to prevent any delays from being added to your already important schedule (see corn, meth and kids) it is a good idea to learn alternate routes around the city. These alternate routes will get you home and help prevent everyone from having to wait for hours in a hot/cold truck/car with cranky kids/dogs/spouse because you don't want to get off on the side streets or want to check out the carnage. If you're one that likes to watch the carnage, why dont you get a life and look at something else, or run your little VW into a concrete barrier and get your very own front row seat.

Relationships:
I had a friend ask me where all the good guys are, "Guys like you," she said. I didnt know how to respond to that question. I mean, I only recently found out I was a 'good' guy, kind, caring, loving, attentive, responsive, etc. So, I asked her where she had been looking for these 'good' guys.. well her description of the places she goes reminded me of the Trojan commercial where beautiful women are surrounded by a bunch of pigs cept the one that gets a condom. Guess what ladies, any guy you pick up in a bar is still going to be a pig even if he has a condom. The so called 'good' guys that are like me are usually going to be found playing videogames, or hanging around with friends. They are not looking for an easy lay at the local bar, not driving expensive cars, they drive beat up things that get them from point-a to point-b with probably a good $10 worth of pop-cans in it. These good guys, like me, arent about the flash and bling, they usually wear jeans and a t-shirt, they probably use computers on a regular basis, infact they probably have several chat programs so they can talk to their friends. If you really want to meet one of these 'good' guys, they are there, just have to recognize them for who they are, not what they (choose one: wear, drive).

Trainwreck:
Now for the trainwreck. This one isnt so much about trains, or wrecks for that matter, just simple things that go terribly wrong. My sister is the focus of this one, so sit back, relax and read to your hearts content, and by all means, please offer suggestions, prayers, etc. My sister is a good person who like many cant tell the difference between a good guy, and a bad guy in good guy clothing. She lets herself fall into these traps where she falls in love with a guy and wants to spend the rest of her life with the guy, only to get told by her friends that the guy is a loser.. In this event, this guy helps my sister lose a pretty good job, and even her home. He is the master manipulator, even though this guy and my sister aren't seeing each other, he still makes her feel responsible for his two kids instead of placing the responsibility on his own shoulders, and the funny part is they live more than 5 states apart from each other. My sister is trying to build herself a new life, and I hope she succeeds because I hate seeing her in pain. Please if you want, help me figure out how to reach my sister and give her hope in this time of need. Maybe in the process I can rebuild the bond that siblings are suppose to have and let her know that I still love her and hope the best for her.

Well, this ends my first official rant/blog/whatever. Thanks for reading it.

Introductions are in order

2007-10-27T09:24:00.000-05:00

It is time to put my thoughts and insight to words to let others feel free to browse them in no particular order, since they are going to come out of my head in no particular order.

First a bit about myself. I have been called Lazy, cynical, delusional, violent, disruptive, even dee-dee-dee. But one thing remains true, I am who I am because of my world around me.

Now, I am 38 years old, I am white, I am male. I have been several things in my life including goth, rebel, conformist, and anarchist. I have thought that socialism was a good idea, and I once thought democracy was a good idea.

I am in love with a beautiful woman who has a great family. I hope to some day marry her and start a family of my own. In the mean time I am going to work on building our relationship and friendship and continue to make my way through the world that I did not create, but may have some small impact upon it.