February 28, 2006
For reasons IÂ’m not sure even I can comprehend, I signed up for the interviews at BasilÂ’s Blog. He has decided that my time is rapidly approaching, and he is going to be in need of questions. If you have any, you can send them to Basil at basil dot interviews AT gmail.com Subject: Questions for Contagion of Miasmatic review. Or you could just click the link. The deadline is 04/02/2006, that gives you plenty of time to think of something to ask. Ask me what ever you'd like, I'll be more then happy to lie to you.
Or if you want to see how few questions I get, donÂ’t send anything. Then you can see what kind of loser I really am!
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Plain Chocolate
Chocolate and Peanut Butter
Chocolate and Caramel
Which is better?
I will explain later when my issue is resolved.
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It also is because I turned on the olÂ’ Contagion charm. Most of you havenÂ’t seen this rumored trait in me. In fact most of you probably think this something IÂ’m making up. Those that have seen it in action know exactly what IÂ’m describing. ItÂ’s about 25% humor, 25% positive attitude and 40% friendliness and 10% subtle flirting (unless IÂ’m dealing with males and then I substitute with positive attitude). Over the years IÂ’ve relied on that charm to get three jobs, two promotions, a wife and countless other things.
Only four people, including myself, put in for the position. For three of them it would be a big promotion, and one of the others is a friend of mine. She wants this position bad, very bad. This would be a big promotion and raise for her. The last couple of times she put in for a supervisory position she was passed over, as was I. What IÂ’m wondering is what will happen if I actually get it and she is passed over again. ItÂ’s nothing but a change in duties for me, where for her it is an important promotion.
That train of thought is all for naught. They pretty much told me at the end of the interview that IÂ’m not going to get the position. Since itÂ’s not a promotion for me, itÂ’s a lateral transfer and they donÂ’t like doing lateral transfers. They would rather promote someone. Either way I should know for sure by the end of next week.
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February 27, 2006
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Two of the local politicians running in the primary for governor had booths there trying to make a push. After reading their literature, I donÂ’t know which one is going to be less incompetent. A couple of booths where selling crappy knives and swords. It was hard for me to not openly laugh at those merchants. When I say crappy knives and swords, I mean really cheap blades that probably wonÂ’t hold an edge and would break if ever actually used. Not too long ago I was a sword dealer, I know what these items are made out of and what the dealer prices are. There was also the occasional booth that was selling parts, accessories, cleaning supplies and tools.
I ended up spending less then $20.00 bucks there. $5.00 to get in, $5.00 worth of raffle tickets with one of the prizes being an AR-15 (of course). $4.00 for cleaning brushes and $3.50 for an ammo can. My blogless buddy Jay purchased a little .38 special Derringer. He had been talking about getting one for years. One of the booths had two brand new ones for $120.00. Of course he was kind of hesitant to purchase it. Thankfully Grau and I where there to help convince him that it was the right thing to do.
As Grau stated, “It’s like have the angel and devil on each shoulder, except it’s the devil and a demon. One is telling you to buy it, the other is telling you to buy it AND get an AR-15.” After much hemming and hawing, Jay finally bit the bullet and bought the little gun. Since we are in Illinois he can pick it up sometime later this week. We have a 72 hour waiting period to purchase a handgun and 24 hours for a rifle. That kind of makes the point of gun shows in Illinois pointless. If you do see a gun you want to purchase you have to go pick it up from the dealer. Some of these dealers traveled some distance to come to this show.
The show was so small; we walked through the entire place 5 times in an hour and half. Grau had to take off, and ditched Jay and I. After Jay was finished filling out the paperwork for the derringer we left and decided to get something to eat. Hooters was the destination of choice. Jay doesnÂ’t drink, but I do. Hot wings and Guinness on tap sounded good. Of course once we sat down and I started pulling on those 25oz mugs, life got a lot more fun. Although drinking two on an empty stomach may not have been a good idea. Because IÂ’m a prick, I called up Grau to rub in that we were drinking Guinness at Hooters. He ended up ditching the spawn once his wife came home to join me in depleting the supply of Guinness in Rockford.
Jay had to take off, so Grau and I headed to a little bar that is three blocks from my house. I had never been in there before, and decided it was time. Nice atmosphere, decently priced drafts and it was filled with like minded individuals. IÂ’m probably going to be hitting that bar more often now, especially since I can walk there and back.
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February 26, 2006
I wasn't going to respond to a certain individuals whiney complaining that you all like me more then him. (We all know that's not true, I just don't call you drunks!) But he did accuse me of exiling poor Tammi off the African coast. Just for the record I would never exile anyone anywhere*. TammiÂ’s self imposed trip off the coast of Africa was due to her desperate need to get away from the cold weather here in Northern Illinois.
Now you all know the truth, Not only is Mr. Whiney rude but the only time you can get an honest word out of him is when he's sober. Considering he's only sober between 7 AM and 9 AM there's not a lot of truth to be had there! Now don't get me wrong, I like T1G. He's a good drinking buddy and tells great stories (mostly BS). But seriously, who believes I have the power to exile anyone?
Thus please: more...
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February 25, 2006
Captain Jack Sparrow has his own cereal.
The box describes the cereal to be “Naturally sweetened chocolate pearl shaped cereal with pirate shaped marshmallows”. Pirate shaped marshmallows, what is a pirate shaped marshmallow? Cutlass, cannon, pistols, pirate ship, a plank? Looking at the picture it’s too hard to tell. But enough, lets get to the meat and potatoes of this post. My anticipated vision for the commercial.
(Opening on the deck of the Black Pearl, Captain Jack Sparrow saunters up to the camera)
Jack, “Being stranded on a deserted island takes a lot out of a pirate. The solitude, the loneliness, drinking the secret stash of rum can wear a person down. Then there is the threat of mutiny, the British fleet and of course the walking dead. A pirate needs their strength to handle these situations.
(In walks Will Turner holding a box of cereal)
Will, “That’s why we eat Kellogg’s Pirates of the Caribbean cereal. It provides us with everything we need to be the scourge of the seas. With Pirate shaped marshmallows and little black pearl shaped cereal bits it’s fortified with vitamins and minerals that makes a body strong.
Jack, “It tastes great and is part of a complete breakfast!”
(Camera pans out to show Elizabeth Swann hopefully wearing something tight and revealing tied up on the end of the plank)
Elizabeth, “If you don’t eat it, they’ll make you walk the plank!”
(Jack and Will look at each other and nod. Fade to picture of the box sitting behind a bowl of cereal, a glass of milk, a plate with toast, and a glass of juice. In the background you see Elizabeth pushed off the plank and there is a big splash)
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Doug Rowell Carved Guitars
Even I wouldnÂ’t mind owning one of these, just for the artistic value. The guy that made these guitars has some serious wood working talent.
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Chocolate Russian Roulette.
”Seated in individual compartments, twelve chocolate bullets lay waiting to be bitten into. Although eleven of the sweet little slugs contain delicious praline centres, one conceals a seriously red hot chilli that's guaranteed to blow your head off - metaphorically, at least.”
IÂ’m tempted to purchase one of these just to try it. Since IÂ’m not a chocolate fan, I can love it or leave it. (Ladies put down the torches and pitch forks!) I think I would rather just eat the peppers.
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February 24, 2006
I would take some time to share stories with all of you, but I was the perfect child growing up. Not once did I get in trouble. Never did I get into a fight. I was never suspended from school, kicked off the bus or even sent to detention. My parents could trust me alone and not worry about anything bad happening. My only run-ins with the law, other then traffic violations, happened while I was in college and I was a victim of circumstances.
Well, there was that one thing when I was younger. IÂ’ve never admitted this before, but I feel now is the time to share. When I was 12 I once drank milk directly from the carton. There, I admitted it. IÂ’m so ashamed of myself. You can see why I never told anyone.
IÂ’m sorry, I have to go call my parents and admit to what I did. Hopefully they will forgive me.
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I leave work at 3:30 PM, so when the e-mail came I just glanced at it and figured I could set up the tracking it today when I had more time. By the time I actually received the e-mail it was about 3:15 PM. Over night I had forgotten about this new project until about 8:30 this morning. When I pulled open my email and started reading the new guidelines, I could feel my blood start to boil.
The first thing I noticed is that this “new” flow went into effect last week, everyone knew about it but me for a week now. Next I noticed that I’m not supposed to just track them, but I’m supposed to also review them. If there is a complaint on one, I am supposed to ensure that someone works it and responds to the member. Since this effects every inventory manager in corporation, I wasn’t as upset over that. The fact that they held it for a week before telling me pisses me off.
Those damn things spent a week building up and they all had to be out today. Every single one of them had to be touched, reviewed and assigned today. There were 304 of these things to be exact. Most of my day was spent sorting through these things and assigning them to people to work. Meanwhile my counterpart from the other office has been doing it for a week now, so hers was a daily manageable 40.
Now donÂ’t you go worrying, I did just fine. What they underestimate is my ability to deal with high-pressure situations and short deadlines. At 2:15 I finished the last one. Setting a divisional record, I cleared 304 surveys. I canÂ’t wait until Monday. In my mind I can picture the smug looks on their faces when they ask me if or why (because you know they wonÂ’t check first) all the surveys werenÂ’t done. Then I can smack them down with the hammer of Greatness that is me! The best part was that I took 40 minutes to donate blood and I still got them all done. Not only where they done, but they where done properly.
Now if youÂ’ll excuse me, IÂ’m going to go build up a mass of troops and kill me some French! Slaughtering the villagers makes me happy
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February 23, 2006
The other way I cook is the quick and easy method. The food is edible, and usually only takes about 5-15 minutes prep time, with maybe an additional 30 minutes cooking time. During the week, this is the type of cooking IÂ’m known to do. Sometimes we are pressed for time and we cheat even further and get boxed meals. Yes, you can all gasp in horror now. This is rare, and for good reasons. The meals usually taste like crap and have no nutritional value.
Tonight was planned a box meal, Tuna Helper Tuna Melt to be exact. Clone was watching on as I prepared the meal. At first he was fascinated at the mixing of water, milk, butter and noodles. Asking questions and making observations, it was fun father and son time. When I added the powdered sauce, a look of horror crossed his face. He asked me, “What’s that, dada?”
I responded, “That’s the cheese sauce, buddy.”
Clone, “Dada, I can’t like it.”
Contagion, “You can’t like it?”
Clone, “No, I can’t like that.”
That went back and forth for a while. Then I added the tuna to the pot.
Clone, “What that?”
Contagion, “Tuna, it’s a fish.”
Clone, “Dada, I can’t like it.”
Contagion, “You’ve had tuna before, you liked it. Why don’t you like it this time?”
Clone, “It sucks.”
I kid you not, my son told me for the first time something sucks. After I finished laughing, I wrapped my burnt fingers. His response made me laugh so hard I accidentally touched the stove surface. I donÂ’t know who taught him that, or where he picked it up, but it was rather amusing.
UPDATE: When I put a bowl full of the Tuna Helper in front of him, he started screaming, "I CAN'T WANT IT! I CAN'T WANT IT!" It's not, I don't want it... it just that he can't want it. There is nothing in the world that could make him want it I guess.
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To make matters worse, this lady was wearing a fluffy pink coat. Along the wrists it was fur lined, and the fur matched the color of her head. At first I thought maybe I was looking at some kind of strange poodle. After assuring myself that dogs have not taught themselves how to drive, I then thought maybe it was a Sasquatch. A really effeminate, short, albino Sasquatch thatÂ’s into the rave scene, but I donÂ’t think they would come that close to downtown. Thus it had to be a woman.
I know what your thinking, no it was not a hat. It was either real hair or a good (as in realistic, not good looking) wig. I couldnÂ’t get close enough to touch it, she was in the vehicle next to me. Trust me, if we had been standing in a line together, my hand would have floated out to touch her hair. There was no tell-tale sign of it being a hat. This lady went out of her way to make her hair look like a big fuzzy helmet.
The saddest part is that she thinks she looks good! She paid someone to make her look like that and is proud of it. IÂ’m guessing that she was in her 40Â’s, but she may have been as young as 35. Due to the size and shape of her helmet hair, I was never able to get a good look at her face. But I could tell that it was wrinkled and overly tanned. Maybe sheÂ’s trying to hold onto her youth, I donÂ’t know. What I do know is that her hair was distracting.
While I couldnÂ’t help but to stare at it, I missed that the speed limit had changed. This caused me to almost get a speeding ticket. Fortunately she did notice and when she slowed down, so did I. But only because I was staring at her hair.
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February 22, 2006
I just met the guy last weekend, he could have cut me some slack. So here we go:
1: Black and White or Color; how do you prefer your movies?
Color. Too many of the Black and White movies just donÂ’t entertain me.
2: What is the one single subject that bores you to near-death?
Math. To my math friendly friends I must apologize, it just bores me.
3: MP3s, CDs, Tapes or Records: what is your favorite medium for prerecorded music?
CDs, I donÂ’t even own an MP3 player. I like the ease in which I can find songs I like.
4: You are handed one first class trip plane ticket to anywhere in the world and ten million dollars cash. All of this is yours provided that you leave and not tell anyone where you are going ... ever. This includes family, friends, everyone. Would you take the money and ticket and run?
Not a chance in hell. How could I leave my truck family?
5: Seriously, what do you consider the world's most pressing issue now?
The serious lack of decent politicians. I havenÂ’t seen a politician that impresses me since I was in grade school. (Does it really take much to impress a grade schooler politically?)
6: How would you rectify the world's most pressing issue?
Make myself supreme ruler for life, do away with the government as it is and high-level positions with people I trust and/or like.
7: You are given the chance to go back and change one thing in your life; what would that be?
Nothing, I like my life. Although maybe I wouldnÂ’t have drank that extra beer that one night back in collegeÂ… but thatÂ’s a different story.
8: You are given the chance to go back and change one event in world history, what would that be?
Ohhh, this is such a loaded question. IÂ’m thinking IÂ’d talk Bonnie Prince Charlie into sacking London.
9: A night at the opera, or a night at the Grand Ole' Opry --Which do you choose?
I think IÂ’d rather have a date with a power drill and my nasal cavity. Since thatÂ’s not a choice IÂ’m going to say Grand OlÂ’ Opry. IÂ’m not a fan of country music, but they might serve beer there!
10: What is the one great unsolved crime of all time you'd like to solve?
What ever happened to DB Cooper.
11: One famous author can come to dinner with you. Who would that be, and what would you serve for the meal?
Tough one, there are so many I like, but IÂ’d have to go with Thomas Paine, thatÂ’s just Common Sense. As for what I'd serve, umm. I don't know, what ever the wife makes.
12: You discover that John Lennon was right, that there is no hell below us, and above us there is only sky -- what's the first immoral thing you might do to celebrate this fact?
I plead the fifth. Family, friends and people from work read this blog.
I tag no-one, just because this was probably one of the least entertaining meme's I've been tagged with.
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Since I had to watch Clone, this would not be good. I could just see it now; IÂ’m playing Age of Empires 3, absorbed by my marching ranks of musketeers, falconets and mortars against the French. Meanwhile Clone is trying to find out what happens when he sticks a fork in the light socket. IÂ’m pulled away from the game in anger when he blows a fuse right as my attack was at its peak. After fixing the fuse, I go back to playing while my poor son is lying in the middle of the living room twitching.
As soon as Ktreva walked in the house, I had her dinner ready and told her the computer was all hers. She sat down and instead of posting, she started reading blogs! Okay, she was eating while she did it, so I didnÂ’t count that time. However, 2 hours later she was still on there! I kept telling her that it was a moral imperative that she turns the computer over to me. The French were overrunning my forts along the frontier and I needed to defend them!
But did she listen to me? NOOOOooooooo! She had to sit there and continue on and on about how she wanted to see what you all wrote and still had to make her post! Did she ever consider the women that were being slaughtered, or at least rendered homeless? How about taking the time to think about how this is going to effect trade with the natives and the havoc itÂ’s bringing upon my colonies? She didnÂ’t even think about the poor innocent children that were being orphaned by her greedy need to deny me the computer! SHE DIDNÂ’T THINK ABOUT THE CHILDREN!
She gave me the game! Yet she wonÂ’t let me play it. Tell me, good contaminants, is this fair to me? To toy with my mental and emotional wellbeing? She asked for a half-an hour, I made sure she had it. I think itÂ’s only fair that she turned over the computer as soon as those thirty minutes were up!
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February 21, 2006
The best thing about Age of Empires 3 is that it revolves around the exploration and colonization of the Americas. A lot of the units appear to be ones from the French and Indian war era. In case you donÂ’t remember, that is the time period I re-enact. Of course there is little to no historical accuracy in the game, but itÂ’s still interesting. I love the sound of musket lines firing into enemies and artillery barrages hitting the houses. They did a good job with the sound effects. The musket fire actually sounds like musket fire, albeit at a distance. ItÂ’s nowhere near as loud as actual musket fire.
Monday I loaded up the game and was just going to play with it a little to see what it was like. Ktreva asked to use the computer later so she could make a post and I told her as soon as my skirmish game was over she could. The next thing I know she is saying goodnight. She decided to go to bed early and wasnÂ’t going to wait the 10 minutes for the game to be over (I was pummeling the heck out of the Portuguese, the game was almost finished.) Since it was only a little after 8:00 I decided I could get another quick skirmish game in. When I looked at the clock next it was almost 11:00 PM! Damn, I have to work in the morning!
When I finally fell asleep I spent the night dreaming of raising armies and crushing other Empires. There where dreams of tactics, battle plans, troop movements and ratios. Do I want to go as heavy on the Dragoons or get more musketeers? Is it worth it to have as many falconets as I did? Would six mortars be that much more useful than five? (They are expensive and take up a lot of resources) Oh, that gives me an idea!
YouÂ’ll have to excuse me; I need to go destroy some Spaniards.
.
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February 20, 2006
Machelle, Oddy, Ktreva and I went to a restaurant next to the hotel to eat, drink and talk. Laughing Wolf showed up to join in the fun. Having never met Machelle or Oddy before, it was nice. Oddy made us jealous describing the palatial house on 476,857 acres of land. While Machelle kept trying to convince Ktreva that one should not buy a foreign car, to which Ktreva stubbornly refused to listen. LW kept teasing me about the fine Scotch Collection of his. Meanwhile, I sat back and just listened to everyone else talk. Machelle and Oddy were just too intimidating for me to break out of my shell.
After dinner we headed to LWÂ’s. Tammi, T1G, Bloodspite and Bloodspouse where supposed to arrive around 9:00PM. LW wanted to make sure he was there for them when they arrived. He invited all of us back to his house. He gave us a crudely drawn map with directions on how to get there. Everyone decided to go, and Machelle offered to drive. We all piled into her vehicle, I had the directions and off we went. Okay, at this point let me warn all of you about a couple of things. MachelleÂ’s maiden name had to be Duke. I swear she is the love child of Bo Duke and Danica Patrick.
We were able to follow the crudely drawn map relatively easily enough until we got to the end. There we were, looking around and none of us had an address. CRAP! Well fortunately I had programmed LW’s phone number into my cell phone. I call him up and say, “Yep, we’re lost!” He asks were we are, and I tell him that we are at the intersection of Oak and Harvard. He tells us that he doesn’t know where that is and to go back to the main highway. The highway is about a block behind us. Machelle’s trying to get us turned around when LW says, “I’m going to go stand on my front porch”. I’m looking out the window of the vehicle and I see a front porch light come on and LW walk out. The intersection we were at was right in front of his house! No joking people, I have three witnesses that will testify to this. The man doesn’t know where he lives!
We received a tour of the lair while waiting for the others. LW has a very nice house, and a very impressive collection of alcohol, which for some reason everyone kept running interference between it and I. Now remember, the others were to arrive around 9. They finally decided to show up around 11:30 local time. Part of it was they also forgot about that stupid time zone thing, the other part was that apparently T1G and Bloodspite had to stop every hour to work out the details of a new photoshop project they are working on.
Saturday it was a balmy 5 degrees when we left the hotel, and the high was around 17 degrees. There was a good wind too; IÂ’d say the wind chill was probably around 2 degrees. The average high for Lafayette for this time of year is 19 degrees. It was cold!
We were all supposed to meet at the Tippecanoe battlefield at 11:00 AM. When Ktreva and I arrived, Machelle and Oddy were waiting. Shortly after Wes and his wife showed up. We started to worry that we were at the wrong place, so I called LW. Nope, they are running late. Apparently the boys got into a heated discussion on their next photoshop project and couldnÂ’t proceed until it was done and Tammi was having trouble getting on her winter survival gear. The rest of us got to stand around for 45 minutes in the cold waiting for them.
The Battleground was neat; Ktreva and I even went through the museum. The museum had some interesting items in it. Even though it was about 55 years after the period we portray, a lot of the items they had where ones we use in our re-enacting. Fashion and technology didnÂ’t change as fast back then. Harvey and TNT caught up with us there as well. TNT apologized for running late, they forgot about the time change as well. Harvey also spent extra time grooming his beard this morning. He wanted to make sure it was just perfect!
After that we headed to the Wolf Park. LW gave us a guided tour of all the wolves and the park. It was interesting to learn about them and to see how they interacted. The wolves didnÂ’t seem to mind the cold unlike the majority of the bloggers. The bloggers, especially those of the farer gender, seemed to be rather painfully cold. IÂ’ll give Tammi credit, she didnÂ’t complain. Then again she looked like an over stuffed tick with all the layers she had on.
Some of the wolves where very curious about us and would come right up to the fence. They wanted to see what kind of hairless idiots would come out on that cold of a day just to look at them. Either that or they where wondering what kind of tasty treat we were. It was really neat to see how they interacted with each other and to hear stories about each wolf. Part of me wished I had the boys with so they could see all of the wolves. IÂ’ll have to head back that way with the boys when it is warmer. Trust me, if youÂ’re in the area itÂ’s worth stopping by to see. At night we saw the Howl Night program. Most of the information that was presented sounded familiar. It was the same information that LW told us while we took the tour earlier. Just for the record, this is not a bad thing. It just impressed me a lot more about LWÂ’s knowledge of the wolves and his work at the park.
After Howl Night we went to the Lafayette Brewing Company. I consumed many of their different beers. Quick review. Oatmeal Stout: Decent, IÂ’ve had much better. Scottish Ale/Pipers Pride: One of the better Scottish Ales IÂ’ve had. ProphetÂ’s Rock Pale Ale: Horrible taste that sticks with you for hours. Doppelbock: Excellent beer, too bad they only sell it in the half-pint.
A lot of time was spent getting to know the various bloggers. I would have liked to talk to Bloodspite more, but heÂ’s even shier then I am. Through out the evening he would just sit there and not say a word. Thankfully T1G and Machelle kept the conversations going. At one point Tammi and Bloodspite got into an argument. I donÂ’t know what started it, but it was so heated that no sounds came out of their mouths. It looked like two beavers fighting trying to gnaw on each other.
Now for the part youÂ’ve all been waiting for, my view of the bloggers: (In the order I encountered them)
Ktreva: IÂ’m married to her. Been there, done that.
Machelle: Intelligent woman that likes to dominate a conversation. She still holds a grudge that I bought a Chevy instead of a Ford. She does heart my meat stick.
Oddybobo: What can I say about a woman that canÂ’t keep her hands off of me? Every time I turned around she was touching me. DonÂ’t get me wrong, thatÂ’s not a bad thing! She even brought me some crack strips. However, she did forget to bring a bottle of Scotch for me. My favorite Scotch too!
Laughing Wolf: If this man gives you directions anywhere, get a second opinion. CÂ’mon he didnÂ’t even know the intersection in front of his house! He also has good taste in Scotch.
T1G: HeÂ’s fun to talk to, if you can get a word in edgeways. Saturday night he kept trying to hug me, which really creeped me out. He really needs to learn to hold is alcohol. That and he has some Jebus complex. He has the manners of a 2 year old if you feed him something he doesnÂ’t like.
Tammi: This girl will hug you for any reason. She meets you; she needs a hug. You talk to her; she needs a hug. She successfully put on a coat; she needs a hug. ItÂ’s cold out; she needs a hug.
Bloodspite: This boy is just too damn shy for his own good. I thought I was shy; I have nothing on him. I think he said two sentences all weekend. One of them was, “No thank you, I don’t like beer.” The other was, “That’s it, I’m photoshopping your head onto the body of a geriatric pr0n star.”
Bloodspouse: Very nice and sweet. She needs to keep better control over Bloodspite. She also needs to stop letting him get away with stuff and not expecting him to buy her jewelry. SheÂ’s going to get his butt kicked by other married men.
Wes: IÂ’ve known him for years. Hell he lives two houses away from me. Every time I turned around he kept trying to pick up round objects and play it like a drum. The boy has issues.
Spouse oÂ’ Wes: IÂ’ve known her for years as well, obviously. SheÂ’s way too well behaved for this group.
TNT: Discovered she wants to go camping, unfortunately her husband has a fear of nature. She made a deal with me that sheÂ’d let him go out drinking with us one night if I drag him along camping with her one weekend. Forcible kidnapping, consuming alcohol, hearing Harvey scream like a girlÂ… Yea, itÂ’s a deal.
Harvey: Good guy, will take a lot of abuse, but if you question his blogging authority he gets damn huffy. IÂ’ve never seen a grown man cross his arms and pout before this weekend.
I think thatÂ’s everyone, if I missed someone IÂ’m sorry, you just werenÂ’t memorable! Kidding, I just have a bad memory. If you missed it, you suck! Next time try getting a life and being a bit more sociable. Everyone seemed to have a great time, I just wish it would have lasted longer, oh and maybe that the temps where a little warmer for those that donÂ’t like the cold.
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February 17, 2006
Some of you have signed up already, others of you haven't. I'm sure it's just because you, like me, are procrastinating. Well, get off your but, go over and sign it! It doesn't take long, hell even I can do it!
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Damned anti-australian map!!!Blackfive has a post regarding a University of Illinois editor being suspended. The student published the Danish cartoons that caused such uproar over the last couple of weeks. Many have voiced their opinions that what was done to this editor is wrong. Maybe IÂ’m mistaken, but I think that the majority of my readers would agree that this is wrong. The student, Acton Gordon, is being punished for exercising his first amendment rights. I have strong issues with that.
Now, lets turn the table. Barb at Righty in a Lefty State has a post regarding the University of Washington student Senator Jill Edwards. For those of you that havenÂ’t heard about this, it is where the Ms. Edwards made a statement along the lines
”…Whether it is appropriate to honor a person who killed other people. (I) don’t believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce.”
This has angered many people, and I think she was wrong is saying such things. But then in BarbÂ’s post she states that Ms. Edwards is going to be forced to make an apology. She has the following excerpt from the mandate:
WHEREAS Student Senator Jill Edwards offended all members of the United States Marine Corps, past or present, dead or alive; especially those who were, are, or will be students at the University of Washington with her comment that she "didn't believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce." This commented brought shame and dishonor to not only the UW Student Senate, but also the University as a whole, all its members who have served in the Marine Corps and all Marines past and present.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON:THAT
Student Senator Jill Edwards will submit, in writing, a signed apology letter seeking forgiveness to all students, staff, and alumni who are now or ever have served in the United States Marine Corps. In said letter it will contain a formal apology and a recognition that her very rights and freedoms are guaranteed by such members of the armed services, to include the Marine Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, past or present, living or dead. Additionally, said letter will be printed in all its form and substance in that day's edition of the UW Daily newspaper as well as being recited on the UW Radio station. To realize her mistake, she must acquaint herself with the history of the person she is so keen to dismiss, by reading Col. Boyington's book, Baa, Baa, Black Sheep. All of these requirements are mandatory, under pain of losing her seat on the Student Senate.
History of Legislation
02/15/2006: Submitted for consideration
Emphasis mine
The problem I have with this is not that Ms. Edwards is being asked to issue an apology. ThatÂ’s fine, if someone actually managed to offend me IÂ’d demand an apology too. Where I have an issue is that Ms. Edwards is going to lose her student elected seat on the student senate if she doesnÂ’t. Apparently IÂ’m one of the few people that see this as wrong. IÂ’m not seeing too many of the blogs I read shouting out how this is wrong, even the ones saying that what is happening to Mr. Gorton is wrong arenÂ’t touching this? Are the blogs I read that bigoted? Are they not saying something because they donÂ’t feel this is wrong, or are they not saying something because they didnÂ’t catch that part? Maybe IÂ’ve been wrong and they arenÂ’t as freedom minded as I had thought, only comments they agree with are allowed protection under freedom of speech. Personally, IÂ’m hoping itÂ’s just and over site.
Sure I may not like her statements, I may feel what she said was completely wrong. Ms. Edwards may not appreciate the fine men and women that served and fought to give and protect her freedom of speech, but she is still entitled to it. In this case if she feels strongly about her statement and decides not to apologize, she will be punished. Now in BarbÂ’s comments she states:
I haven't followed the U of I story, and don't know anything about the circumstances there. However - I think that the resolution made by Ms. Edwards' fellow senators and peers, if approved as-is (highly unlikely) or even in a toned down form (still unlikely) is valid. They are a self-governing group, and should be permitted to censure their own - you and I have no right to interfere with whatever process they choose.If she is forced to apologize, I believe that she will learn something - or she is lost already. If the senate backs down and nothing really happens - she will have learned that negative feedback is just fluff she can ignore. At worst (from her perspective) she will be forced to be more introspective in her manner of discourse, at best it will all quietly go away.
emphasis mine
DonÂ’t get me wrong; I like Barb and her blog. Maybe IÂ’m misunderstanding what she is saying there, but by her statement IÂ’m under the impression that as long as itÂ’s a self-governing group in the United States, they can do what ever they want. Well the U of I is self-governing, wait most corporations are self-governing. Hell, the mainstream media is self-governing. I guess itÂ’s okay what happened to Mr. Gorton. Hey, for that fact any newspaper should be able to censor any story they want. States, cities and municipalities should be able to censor their senators, aldermen, council members maybe even their citizens. No, I donÂ’t think so.
I think that the UW is just as wrong for threatening to take Ms. Edwards student elected seat away from her if she doesnÂ’t follow their demands as much as it was wrong for the U of I to suspend Mr. Gordon. Wrong is wrong people; a violation of rights cannot be taken as a shade of gray just because you donÂ’t agree with the message.
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February 16, 2006
Based on this, I put in for a promotion. Well, itÂ’s not really a promotion; itÂ’s a lateral transfer. IÂ’m putting in for a supervisory position. Yes, people will actually directly report to me if I get it. There will be no raise or even a tangible benefit to this. Why would I put in for it then? Because right now my current position is in a dead-end track, there are only 2 more positions I can promote to in it. Those positions open up rarely. The last time was 5 years ago, and the people in them donÂ’t appear to be going anyplace soon.
If I spend some time as a supervisor it opens up a lot more opportunities for me. IÂ’m all about the opportunities. Anything that makes me more marketable is a good thing. Sure, maybe itÂ’s wrong for me to work hard to make a better life for my family and myself. (At least that seems to be the message the government is sending me.) IÂ’m still going to do it. Maybe this will be the move that leads to my total world domination.
There is a very good chance I wonÂ’t get the position, not because IÂ’m not qualified, but because they donÂ’t like doing lateral transfers. They would rather promote someone into a position then transfer someone. ItÂ’s rare that they actually do a lateral. ThereÂ’s also the fact that IÂ’m not the most well liked person on the management staff, maybe thatÂ’s because I have a penis. Yes, you read that right.
The total management staff in our office is around 85% female. They are a very tight group and tend not like adding y-chromosomes to their numbers. Now, to be fair the office itself is about 75% female, so it could be the ratio of applicants to positions. Then again I know of 3 male management position individuals that were fired or demoted for trumped up harassment charges. I know personally two of them and the remaing one the other management admit it was BS.
Either way I guess IÂ’ll wait and see what happens. We just have to see what is mightier, sucking or the penis
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