February 14, 2007
Am I the only one that thinks there is something wrong with a guy going tanning?
How about if he is of Mexican decent?
Does this mean he's gay?
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February 13, 2007
Physics geek linked to this test in a comment over at Harvey's. I was hoping to prove I wasn't nerdy and geeky. Fortunately I didn't score too high.
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Farking government.
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05:22 PM
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February 12, 2007
With as much malice he could muster he decided I needed to take this test so he could shatter our self-images. Sure he could say that he wanted to compare geekiness in the blogoverse, but really he wanted to bring our worlds down around us. I guess I could have not taken the test, but I wanted to prove that I am not a geek.
Apparently I was wrong
Okay, in retrospect I guess I should have known this was going bad when my lovely wife, Ktreva (whom I met online before I met her in person) was laughing and giggling at the questions. When I wanted a second opinion because I thought a question didnÂ’t apply, she would be quick to point out that they did. Such as IÂ’m a re-enactor, even though IÂ’ve technically never been in the SCA and donÂ’t really like them, IÂ’ve been at many functions that they have been to and in a SCA like group. We used real swords thank you! No rattan furniture swords for us! But it asked if IÂ’ve ever worked at a RenFair. Quickly I answered no, I have not, I may have gone dressed up and been confused as someone that worked there, but technically I didnÂ’t actually work at the RenFair. Then she pointed out that when I was with Clan Chattan we were hired to work at smaller local RenFairs. Yea, thatÂ’s my wife for me.
So there you have it, I are geek. Especially since Ktreva kept me honest.
Now excuse me while I go read my RPG books and worship my shrine to Steve Jackson and his generic universal role-playing system.
IÂ’m not technically tagging anyone, just like I technically wasnÂ’t in the SCA, but I would like to see Shadoglare of Refractional Darkness, Wes of Bodhran Roll, Please! And Littlejoe of LittlejoeÂ’s Soapbox (whom will come out of hibernation just for this) take this test.
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February 10, 2007
See you next week!
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10:27 AM
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Then I found this:
IÂ’m just wondering what statement the creators of both are trying to make.
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08:33 AM
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February 08, 2007
But not today, today IÂ’m going to bitch about it, why? Because I have some pretty big expenses coming up, things that I need to pay and I am not about to start financing. Plus some things I canÂ’t finance. IÂ’m not worried as I have been saving all year and have the money to cover these expenses. So why am I going to start bitching about money?
I received a letter in the mail today. A very important letter. Maybe even the most important letter of my life. This is the kind of letter a lot of people hope to receive. Upon opening the mailbox I saw a letter with the official logo of the Green Bay Packers. It was thick, and very official looking. I was nervous as I thought I knew what this was. It was the notification that I was eligible for Packer Season Tickets.
I about had a mild coronary
The holy grail of tickets. The waiting list for these bad boys is legendary. They span generations. Then I looked at the price I was expected to pay and the first thing I thought wasÂ…. I could max a couple of credit cards. Then I thought I could not have that work done on the house IÂ’ve been saving for. Finally I thought; I could sell one of the boys on the black market. Nope, I couldnÂ’t do any of that. Between the seat tax and the rest of the expenses that go with it, there is almost no way I can afford these this year. Hell, I have to send in my letter saying IÂ’m interested with $500.00 per seat as a deposit by the end of the month, and I may not even get the seats. But I would get the deposit back. But there is no way I would be able to pony up the money by the time the deadline was due if I got the tickets.
So I did the only thing I could think of, I called my father. HeÂ’s a bigger Packer fan then I am. IÂ’m trying to talk him into going halvsies with me.
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Police arrested city Administrator Jim Ryan shortly after 3 a.m. in the 1000 block of Luther Ave. after he was spotted asleep behind the wheel of a city-owned car with its engine running.
Emphasis mine
ThatÂ’s right not only was the guy stupid enough to get behind the while when he was drunk, but it was a vehicle owned by the cityÂ… His employer! I donÂ’t know if he thought he was Teflon and laws donÂ’t apply to him, or that if he was caught, the cops would just slap his wrist and escort him home. ItÂ’s stupid enough to drink and drive, we all know that, but in a government vehicle? I canÂ’t fathom that kind of idiocy. Wait, maybe he wasnÂ’t actually drunk, he did refuse a Breathalyzer. Which means heÂ’s talked to a lawyer about this before. ItÂ’s an instant DUI, but itÂ’s easier to fight in court. (Maybe this isnÂ’t his first?) Then again with these facts:
”Officers approached the vehicle and “Ryan fumbled with the vehicle keys and putting the vehicle into park,” the statement said.Officers noted that Ryan had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, slurred speech and “bloodshot, glassy eyes,” according to the statement. He also apparently told police that he had consumed several beers earlier, but declined to take field sobriety and breath tests, the statement said.”
Emphasis mine
I really hope they throw the book at this guy and the city fires him. There is no excuse for this kind of behavior. Just imagine the scandal if he had hit something, or killed someone? He is a top-ranking city official, and I hope he gets fired over this. However, with the Chicago style politics that Mayor Morrissey has brought to Rockford, I can see this getting swept under the rug.
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February 07, 2007

The label on this 12 oz brown bottle has a picture of a red bridge on a maroon background. The name of the beer is on it, and it proudly states, “Beer Made From Sorghum. Made Without Wheat Or Barley”.
There is a nice clear amber color to the beer. Light passes cleanly through and there is no sign of fogginess or impurities. There was a half-inch head the quickly disappeared to a sparse layer of large bubble floating on the top. There was no lacing.
Folks, IÂ’m going to be honest in that itÂ’s hard to describe this beers scent and taste. I really have no references for it. The scent was strange; I couldnÂ’t place it so IÂ’m assuming its sorghum. There was the familiar hint of hops, but the main scent was unusual. It was a sweet fresh scent, like a crisp winter morning. It was pleasant. The taste was very thin and unobtrusive. There is an interesting sweetness that IÂ’ve never tasted in a beer before; again IÂ’m assuming this is the sorghum. There is a slight bitterness of the hops. When I say there is sweetness, itÂ’s not too sweet or overpowering. ItÂ’s very complimentary. However, it does remind me of many light beers on the market.
This is a light bodied beer. There was a heavy carbonation to it that had a slight bite to the tongue and would cause massive bubbles on the side of the glass.
My fine readers, IÂ’m finding it hard to rate this beer. Since it is such a specially made beer, itÂ’s hard to compare it to the other beers IÂ’ve reviewed. Yet at the same time, it has many of the same characteristics. IÂ’m going to give this beer a 3.5 out of 10. I wouldnÂ’t go out of my way to buy another six-pack of it, but IÂ’m not going to turn one down.
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I rolled my eyes so dramatically at one point I almost drove off the road. Not over the freedom of speech issue, mainly because I honestly believe that most Americans only believe in Freedom of Speech if the topic isn’t controversial OR they happen to support the controversial topic. Yea, deny it. But I’ve seen enough hypocrisy over it in the last two years that you won’t change my mind. What made me roll my eyes was when one of the radio personalities made a comment along the lines of “It’s a flag of hate. It’s anti-American and it can’t legally be flown on federal property. They flag symbolizes, hate, bigotry and racism.”
First, anyone that knows anything about history and the Confederate Flag knows that what people call the Confederate flag isnÂ’t the Confederate Flag. What every one is most familiar with is the Naval Jack AKA Rebel Flag, AKA The Southern Cross. This is a battle flag, well one of them. The actual battle flags were perfectly square.
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Rebel Flag

Battle Flag
Yes, this is a matter of semantics, but it’s important. There where three Confederate National Flags. The first being what was commonly called “The Stars and Bars.” Yes, again some people refer to the Naval Jack as that, but they would be incorrect. The original flag had nothing on it that even had the Confederate Union on it. Other then the colors, they really where completely different. It was changed because it looked too much like the American Flag. The Second National Flag, The Stainless Banner was a white field with the Battle Flag as the Union. This flag was replaced because when there was no wind it looked like a surrender flag. The Third National Flag, the bloodstained banner had a red vertical stripe on the end. This flag was adopted shortly before the end of the war and was the last national flag of the Confederacy.

The Stars and Bars

The Stainless Banner

The Bloodstained Banner
So about now you are all probably wondering why I am boring you with a history lesson? Because it pisses me off when people say historically it represents hate, bigotry and racism. WRONG! ItÂ’s a battle flag. ItÂ’s a flag that armies rallied to during a bloody war. ItÂ’s a flag that Americans fought and died under for something they believe. They rose up against a government they felt did not represent them, their interests and their rights. This flag wasnÂ’t even around at the beginning of the war. ItÂ’s not like this flag was around for years flown over houses telling anyone that passed by that this plantation had slaves. It didnÂ’t. Maybe if they said that about one of the Confederate National flags I could understand it more, but they don't.
Sure someone will say that thatÂ’s what people associate it with. You are correct, the ignorant, the un-educated and the stupid have over the years used the rebel flag as part of their idiocy. Okay, so since they use a flaming cross, crosses should be evil too. Oh, and since millions of people have been killed in the name of god, then god should be seen as evil. Yea, I know. IÂ’m going to extremes, but it just annoys me.
There is a historical and legitimate reason for the rebel flag. Some say to remember history; some to show southern pride, others because they do think it stands for hate. I have no problem with the debate over this flag. I just hate seeing it pigeon holed as something itÂ’s not.
Oh and as for it not being allowed to be flown on Federal property. IÂ’ve been to many Federal monuments and cemeteries, including Shiloh this past year. IÂ’ve seen this flag at many of these Civil War sites and IÂ’m willing to bet I will continue to, including memorials.
I really wish the media would fact check before spewing forth BS.
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February 06, 2007
Lets just say the pictures donÂ’t do the horror justice.
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06:27 PM
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Anyway I’m starting to think she may be right. When I was younger I could spend a weekend eating chips and salsa, drinking beer, and hitting some fast food joint for a middle of the night feast. I’d wake up the next morning and be just fine. This weekend I think she has her empirical evidence that she was right, unlike those Global Warming scientists. (Bastiches! It’s –15 when I left for work with a –30 windchill!).
It all started Friday night. I had Pizza and Beer for dinner, which was followed on Saturday with more pizza, pizza rolls, chips, beer and Scotch. On Sunday I had Beer, pickled herring, lilÂ’smokies in hot n spicy Bar-b-que sauce, deviled eggs, boneless hot wings, chips, and some pumpkin dipÂ… oh and beer. Monday I headed back over to help finish off the keg and the leftovers from the Super Bowl. That night on the way home I stopped and got me a baby head sized burrito.
Today I the most foul human on the face of the earth, it feels like my colon is trying to squirt all of my insides out. Fortunately, itÂ’s all the consistency of applesauce so it doesnÂ’t hurt too badly. IÂ’ve had to use the restroom at work no less then four times. Each time there was at least one other man in there. Each time I heard a statement of exclamation over the horrid scent.
I would have enjoyed it more if it werenÂ’t for the fact that my arse was on fire.
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06:12 PM
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February 05, 2007
Tempting as that was, I did not do it. Not because it would be disgusting and not because I wouldnÂ’t have enjoyed doing it. I just figured the Bear fans had suffered enough trauma and did not need nor really want to see that.
Bear FanÂ’s, trust me; I know how it feels when your team looses the Super Bowl. Back in 98 when the PackerÂ’s lost to the BroncoÂ’s, I felt pretty crappy. Sure, I justified it by saying that John Elway deserved to winÂ… But so did the Packers! And that pain lasted for a while. But let me assure you that it does fade after time. You wonÂ’t forget, but you will start to forgive those that didnÂ’t play up to their potential. Well most of them anyway.
So Bear fans, I truly am here to help you all out in any way possible. But I must confess something to all of you. On Friday it was told to me by some very loyal Bear Fans that my rooting for the Bears could be the kiss of death, since IÂ’m a die-hard Packer fan. I think they may be right. I think that as a die-hard Packer fan, my embracing our archrivals may have caused a rift in fabric of luck and jinxed the Bears to lose. That and I havenÂ’t accurately picked a Super Bowl winner for 7 years now.
Sorry.
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10:52 AM
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Back when I was conducting a lot of interviews, I was starting to get tired of them and made a joke, “Lets just draw a circle out in the parking lot and let them fight for it. The last one standing gets the job.” I’m just glad to see that I’m not the only one that has had that thought.
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10:14 AM
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February 04, 2007
The big question is, who will win? Being in northern Illinois, the Bear fans in abundance, including the bandwagon boys, are all declaring that the Bears have already won. I want the Bears to win; IÂ’m rooting for the Bears to win. I just donÂ’t know if they will.

So my question to all of you is, who will win? Can the Bears great defense stop the Colts great offense? IÂ’m curious as to what everyoneÂ’s predictions are. IÂ’m thinking 27-24 Bears.
WhatÂ’s your prediction?
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09:56 AM
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February 03, 2007
My buddy Shadoglare sent me this song by Barleyjuice a couple of weeks ago. I finally found a good video clip of it. Nothing like a good Celtic Rock band to get you going.
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10:49 AM
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Okay IÂ’ll admit itÂ’s pretty cool, and that its neat to see all these companies pulling together to support the local team. HOWEVER, in this picture is the company I work for. If you look real close, you may even be able to see me in one of the windows. And that just took the cool factor right out of the picture.
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09:35 AM
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THESE ARE THE DRAC-COOL-IST AVAILABLE!
SINK YOUR TEETH IN THESE MONSTERS!' Filled with Bling-Bling & A Goth Etched Design'
Emphasis THEIRS!
I need to go find me some scary Goth kids to see if they would even try these things.
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09:13 AM
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I can just hear the pissed off yowling of the cat was I watch it. It made me giggle.
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09:00 AM
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February 02, 2007
ThatÂ’s what happened to me yesterday. Last night when I got home I changed into some rugged cold weather gear and headed out to change the tire on the van. People let me tell you something, changing a tire sucks, changing a tire when itÂ’s 15 degrees with a wind chill that makes it feel like 5 degrees sucks even more. The metal of the jack, the irons and the tire is almost excruciatingly cold through the heavily insulated gloves. Want to make it even worse? It had snowed the night before, it was only a couple of inches, but that meant that I had to work in the snow. We have a narrow driveway and I ended up having to shovel and dig out a section so I could get the damn jack under the farking van. Then I had the pleasure of lying in the snow to crank the beast up.
When itÂ’s that cold do you know what happens to your tires after they are flat? They freeze. It was frozen to the driveway. As I was jacking up the farking van the tire was slowing peeling off of the driveway. It only took me about 30 minutes to make the change. 15 minutes of that was trying to get he damn spare loose from the van. ItÂ’s stored under the vehicle, and hadnÂ’t been used in 3.5 years. The damn spare rusted to the farking bracket that was holding it to the van. So the farking gobshite that decided that storing the spare under the vehicle has a kick to the dinglies coming from me if I ever meet him.
After getting the wheels changed, I was able to go sink a couple of hundred dollars into getting two replacement tires. You can’t just buy one new tire, the vehicle won’t ride right. Well I guess it could be worse. It could have happened today, when it’s 7 degrees with a –7 wind chill.
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07:29 PM
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