As you all know we've been having trouble with Boopie. It's been a while since I've posted about it, but things have NOT gotten better. Since before Christmas we have been getting letters, calls and notes from his teachers telling us he is acting up in class, not doing his homework, failing tests, etc, etc, etc. It's to the point I'm more surprised when I get home to not have a note. As it is he failed four finals and three classes this semester.

Over the time we've had to gradually take things away from him. It started with the cellphone, went to video games, no TV, Grounded from the phone in general, grounded from friends. He has the opportunity to earn all of it back if he gets his grades up and we stop getting reports from his teachers. Now his daily life consists of going to and from school and studying.

Right after Christmas I came home after work to discover he had been playing the Wii. I had caught him playing video games a couple weeks earlier. After catching him playing the Wii, I told him that if he was caught playing video games while grounded from them again, I was going to sell his game system. Since then I know he was playing them behind our backs, and I caught him once. I just gave him another warning that time. Then yesterday happened.

The schools were closed again yesterday. They say it was because it's cold, but truth be known it's actually because the teachers and the admin really don't like working a full week. Since he was going to be home all day and I know it would just be mean to not let him do anything, I told him he could watch TV. There was no computer, no video games and no friends. He told me he understood.

When I got to work I realized I had forgotten my wallet and cell phone at home. At lunch I ran home to get those items. When I came into the house I caught him playing his Playstation 2. The controllers all out and even though he had turned off the TV, the game system was still on. He had jumped up and started pretending he was making a fort for him and his brother to play when he got home. I asked him if he was playing video games. He gets the same look on his face right before he tells a lie, and that look crossed his face. Before he had a chance to just push my anger button by lying to me, I told him I knew he was and explained how.

I took his PS2 console to work with me before I left and told him when I got home we'd gather up the rest of it. When I got home we had a long talk about his behavior and decision making. I didn't pull any punches, and asked if he honestly thought he wasn't going to get caught. Apparently, he didn't think he would. And he didn't think I'd actually take the game system from him, especially since Guitar Hero 3 and the controller for it was a gift from his Grandmother.

That left me with a decision. Either I just ripped the system out of his room and stored it away and gave it back to him later, thus letting him know that I was serious about the consequence or I take the game system and sell it. I decided that with everything else I was going to do as I had said.

So today on lunch I took his PS2 all the controllers and games for it and sold it. I got a decent amount of money for the system and controllers and no he doesn't get that either. It's now my money. I didn't feel good about doing it, but I needed him to know I was serious. When I got home, I showed him the receipt so he could see that I sold the game and the system.

To be honest, I'm not sure he cared.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:09 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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It seems that for reasons unexplainable to man, I have again spawned. Long time reader Petey has started his own blog, PeteyÂ’s Powderhorn.

IÂ’ve known Petey for four years and consider him a good friend. HeÂ’s one of my many re-enacting and drinking buddies. Well I guess technically re-enacting buddies are drinking buddies, but hey does it really matter? HeÂ’s a nice guy with a good heart and a good head on his shoulders. ItÂ’s only taken me 2 years to get him to actually start one.

So go over and give him a chance. Just a warning, he is promising to be like Graumagus in the earlier days with fire and venomÂ… after he getÂ’s his blog legs.

Posted by: Contagion at 08:25 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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We have another beer from “The History of Beer in America” collection that my father gave me for Christmas. Tonight I’ll be doing the Tejas by MDII in Rochester, NY. I still have no definite information regarding this brewery. I know that one of the subsidiary breweries for Berghoff in Monroe, WI made the same beer under this name for Sam’s club in the past. But now we are in Rochester, NY and I’m not sure.

Against we have our standard 12 oz brown bottle. It has a tan label on it with a map of Texas on it. The name of the beer is prominent across the front of the label. There is a description on it of the beer, “ A fine bock beer with a creamy texture and malty body.

It has a nice dark amber coloring to it. It is clear that light passes through easily and you canÂ’t see any cloudiness at all in it. The head was a nice inch thick made of large bubbles that lasted for a while. It faded after 15 minute3s to a film on top of the beer. There is no lacing at all.

The scent was weak. A slightly sweet malt aroma mixed with a hint of roasted nuts. Nothing really stood out about the scent. Roasted malts with caramel tones made up the flavor. It was very simple and kind of weak. There really is not much taste to it at all. There is a week aftertaste that fades to nothing quickly.

The mouthfeel is very light. There is a slight creaminess you donÂ’t normally get with a light-bodied beer like this. ItÂ’s very easy to drink and goes down smoothly.

Tejas is a pretty generic beer. Nothing fancy, no frills and I really wouldnÂ’t go out of my way to grab one. However it is easy to drink and again would be a good meal beer, as the flavor wonÂ’t taint the taste of the food. IÂ’ll give it 3.5 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:34 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Huh, I didn't think I'd score that high, but hey. I'm not saying I wouldn't do it, because to be honest if push comes to shove and it was a matter of survival, I probably would. That and I've always wondered what human flesh would taste like.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:46 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 Did any of the questions specify if the friends were at least dead first?

Posted by: Roses at January 30, 2008 07:59 PM (pZ9hq)

2 Well, I only got 39%, so so far we know who to look out for if we're even in a donner party situation

Posted by: Shadoglare at January 30, 2008 11:13 PM (CsIcS)

3 Huh... I got 70.

Posted by: That 1 Guy at January 31, 2008 10:10 PM (O6lVU)

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I woke up to the news McCain won the Florida primary. He is the only "conservative" I know that would actually make me seriously consider voting for a liberal candidate. It's not that I think that Romney and Huckabee are good, or even satisfactory, it's just that they are much better than John "Amnesty for all" McCain.

After every election I get a new sense of loss and a growing sinking feeling that I'm witnessing my country die a slow painful death. GAH! I'm pretty much convinced that the U.S. is standing on the crumbling edge of the pit of ruin. It's only a matter of time before our weakened, pathetic, useless, incompetent government takes away more of our rights, takes away more of our money, or allows us to be attacked.

Actually I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if things keep going the way they are you will see another attack on American soil by either a foreign enemy or a revolt of its own citizens.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:21 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Illinois moved up its spring election to next Tuesday so that we can be more important in the primaries. Actually all it does is move is to “Super Tuesday” with a ton of other states. Besides being the primary, we have other elections going on at the same time. Of course those are all local ones. I’ve seen posters, signs, fliers and hand bills regarding the candidates and I’ve come to a conclusion.

They are trying to win on name recognition only.

There is nothing on any of their signs or handouts that tell you a damn thing about them or their position on anything. You really need to go out and do some searching on these individuals. Then to top it off, if you find their websites, some of them still donÂ’t state a whole lot of anything. Yes, there are a ton of endorsements from other people in the community for them, but nothing that really tells you what these individualsÂ’ stances are on the different platforms or issues that involve the local community.

In one election I didnÂ’t like any of the officials that IÂ’ve heard of due to past experience and tried to find if anyone else is running. I couldnÂ’t find anything. I checked the website for the county clerkÂ’s board of elections and they had nothing. IÂ’m still waiting on a phone call back from them. The only thing we have is the overly biased local media. Which is pushing one candidate over another. ItÂ’s a good thing I donÂ’t trust them either.

What really irks me is that I just now really noticed this, and it’s not just true on the local level. If I look at the presidential candidates unless you are looking at the “big two parties” you have a hard time finding anything out for third party or independent candidates wanting to run right now.

And people wonder why IÂ’m so damn surly when it comes to politics.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:42 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Miss Beatrice, the church organist, was in her eighties and had never been married. She was admired for her sweetness and kindness to all. One afternoon the pastor came to call on her and she showed him into her quaint sitting room. She invited him to have a seat while she prepared tea. As he sat facing her old Hammond organ, the young minister noticed a CUT -glass bowl sitting on top of it. The bowl was filled with water, and in the water floated, of all things, a condom!

When she returned with tea and scones, they began to chat.The pastor tried to stifle his curiosity about the bowl of water and its strange floater, but soon it got the better of him and he could no longer resist. "Miss Beatrice", he said, "I wonder if you would tell me about this?" pointing to the bowl. "Oh, yes," she replied, "Isn't it wonderful? I was walking through the Park a few months ago and I found this little package on the ground. The directions said to place it on the organ, keep it wet and that it would prevent the spread of disease. Do you know I haven't had the flu all winter."

As sent to me by blogless buddy Smokepoles.

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It's 44 degrees this morning as I'm getting ready to go to work. We have a winter storm warning in effect. This evening it's supposed to get down to -7.

Yea... a fifty degree difference in temperature over the afternoon. It's going from unseasonably warm to ungodly cold.

I love this time of year!

Posted by: Contagion at 07:26 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Harvey, my semi-retired and only remaining Blog father has tagged me with a movie meme. Since heÂ’s semi-retired IÂ’m surprised he actually did a meme, let along tagged me with it. Then again he didnÂ’t actually tag me. Sure he did at the end of his post but he didnÂ’t send me an e-mail or comment letting me know. I had to stumble across it on my own. Sadly enough looking at this meme, I think IÂ’m going to blow a lot of people out of the water. I love movies and have watched quite a few of them.

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 movies, you have no life.
Mark the ones you've seen. Copy this list, check the movies you've seen, add them up, and include the number in your post title.

()Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x)Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
() Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
(x) KingPin
() Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
() Meet the Fockers
(x) Eight Crazy Nights
(x) Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG
Total so far: 16 (ThatÂ’s not a good start)

(x) A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
() The Lizzie McGuire Movie
() Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
() Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
(x) Final Destination 2
(x) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
(x) The Ring
() The Ring 2
() Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber
Total so far: 25 (Getting worse)

(x) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
(x) Ghost Ship
(x) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
(x) Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
(x) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 35 (Perfect section!)

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child's Play
(x) Seed of Chucky
(x) Bride of Chucky
() Ten Things I Hate About You
() Just Married
(x) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
() Coach Carter
(x) The Grudge
() The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
() Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 45 (Just doubled HarveyÂ’s score!)

(x) Bad Boys
() Bad Boys 2
() Joy Ride
(x) Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremecy
(x) Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
(x) Predator II
(x) The Fog
() Ice Age
() Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
() Curious George
Total so far: 56 (Uh oh!)

(x) Independence Day
(x) Cujo
() A Bronx Tale
(x) Darkness Falls
(x) Christine
(x) ET
(x) Children of the Corn
(x) My Bosses Daughter
() Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 66 (Almost to geek mode!)

() Best Bet
() How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
() Calendar Girls
() Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks!
(x) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 76 (9 more to go!)

(x) X-Men
(x) X2
(x) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
(x) Sky High
(x) Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
(x) Reign of Fire
(x) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
() Cruel Intentions 2
(x) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
(x) Shrek 3
Total so far: 93 (Wooo Hooo, Soy un perdedor!)

(x) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
() The Notebook
(x) K-Pax
(x) Kippendorf's Tribe
() A Walk to Remember
() Ice Castles
() Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old-virgin
Total so far: 99 (One shy of triple digits)

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 105 (Gah, it keeps going!)

() Baseketball
() Hostel
() Waiting for Guffman
() House of 1000 Corpses
() Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
(x) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
(x) American History X
() Three
Total so Far: 109 (A lot of movies I didnÂ’t want to see in this grouping)

() The Jacket
(x) Kung Fu Hustle
(x) Shaolin Soccer
(x) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(x) Shaun Of the Dead
(x) Willard
Total so far: 117 (Maybe I should quit?)

() High Tension
(x) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
(x) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicle Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 days later
(x) Orgazmo
(x) Phantasm
( x) Waterworld
Total so far: 126 (IÂ’m starting to get depressed)

(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
(x) Mortal Kombat (ItÂ’s GrauÂ’s fault for this one!)
() Wolf Creek
(x) Kingdom of Heaven
(x) The Hills Have Eyes
() I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
() The Last House on the Left
(x) Re-Animator
(x) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 133 (Gah!)

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
(x) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage (I know it as The Ewok Adventure)
(x) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 141 (So I like Star Wars)

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
(x) Animatrix
(x) Evil Dead
(x) Evil Dead 2
() Team America: World Police
(x) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
(x) Hannibal
Final total: 150

If there was ever any additional proof needed that I donÂ’t have a life, or that I really, really, really like movies; this about does it. IÂ’m just glad it didnÂ’t ask me to list which of these IÂ’ve owned or the number of times IÂ’ve watched some of these movies. There are some movies on this list that IÂ’ve never heard of, then again IÂ’ve probably watched more unknown movies that most than most people.

So whom am I going to tag with this piece of tripe?
Well IÂ’m going to hit:
Bruce of Back to the Batcave: Dangers of being BlogSpawn.

Virtue of Rantings of an Indentured Servant: See above excuse.

Boudicca of BoudiccaÂ’s Voice: Because she spawned me with Harvey and Grau.

OddyBobo of Bobo Blogger: Because I still owe her.

Caltech Girl of Not Exactly Rocket Science: Because after her stint in Jury Duty, this should be easy.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:39 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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What the hell is wrong with people these days? When I was growing up, my father told me that if you get paid to do a job, you do your best at it no matter what. IÂ’m trying to install that sense of work ethic into my boys. It just doesnÂ’t seem to be like that for most people. Well most people in my company.

Most of the people there want to know what the company is going to do for them if they do their job. Not if they go above or beyond, but just to do what they were hired for and expected to do. They want things like special certificates for meeting standards, or prizes, or food bought for them or in one person’s words “Paid vacations to someplace exotic” Yea, I kid you not, they wanted the company to buy them an all expense paid trip to Cancun just for meeting standards… to keep their job. They demand incentives and rewards for doing the minimally required for the job.

In other words, their getting a steady paycheck isnÂ’t enough. Now to give you an idea, basic entry for our company is a data-entry position that starts at over $11.35 an hour. With that you get 18 days of Paid Time Off (PTO, which can be used as vacation or sick time), one floating Holiday. Health Insurance, dental, 401K with company match and once a year company bonus if certain goals are met. The insurance while maybe not the best, but still damn good, isnÂ’t badly priced starting at $49 a month for family coverage. Sure our coverage used to be better and prices cheaper, but with the cost of health care itÂ’s still damn good and a might bit better than most out there. As long as you perform to the standard and donÂ’t violate any company policies you will get an annual raise. After five years you get 23 days of PTO, at ten you get 28 days. After five years you have almost 5 weeks of vacation, if you include your floating holiday.

Yet all of that isnÂ’t enough. They continuously want more, Heck these are the same benefits I get. The only difference is that I have to pay more for them because IÂ’m at a higher level of pay. Which is hilarious because everyone in that company thinks that management at my level makes some insanely large amount of money, which isnÂ’t true. In fact I have employees that make more money than I do. The ones that donÂ’t have the potential to make more because they can get overtime, IÂ’m salary. Yet, they donÂ’t feel the company is compensating them enough, they want more.

And when they do get more, they don’t appreciate it. Due to business needs we’ve had a lot of overtime the last three months. We’ve had a lot of people that were coming in on weekends and staying late trying to help us keep up with our customers. The management decided that we were going to do something nice to show appreciation for the employees by cooking breakfast and serving it to them last Saturday. I ran around for two days pricing and buying stuff for breakfast. We served them at their desks Pancakes, Sausages and Orange Juice. Saturday morning I cooked 18 pounds of sausages. I also helped with cooking pancakes. Three weeks in advance we sent out a notice to the employees asking them to fill out an “order form” so we knew how much to buy.

Right off the bat we started getting complaints. “What, no toppings? Can’t you guys get whipped cream and fruit to go on it?” “No Bacon? Can we have bacon instead?” “Can we have French toast instead?” “I’d rather have waffles.” “Can I get eggs instead?” Okay, I can understand some of that, but seriously it’s free food. We were doing it because we wanted to do something nice to say “Thank You.” We choose what we did because it was going to be the fastest, easiest and less messy meal we could make for almost 200 people.

While we were getting ready to cook a person from another department who’s management did their gratitude breakfast the weekend before was complaining that they didn’t come in on that Saturday so he didn’t get anything. The individual then made the comment, “The supervisors should come in every Saturday and cook them breakfast. That’s why they make the big bucks” The individual was rubbing their thumb and first two fingers together in my peers face when they said it. When my peer asked if they were kidding, the response was, “No”. Fortunately I didn’t witness it because I think that would have made me come unhinged.

Then while we were cooking people were complaining on everything from portion size. Three 4-5 inch pancakes, 2 sausage links and a bottle of Sunny Delight. I know itÂ’s not the biggest breakfast but we had a budget and we couldnÂ’t go over. We ended up doing so and I fronted some money out of my own pocket to cover the difference. Some complained about the taste, there wasnÂ’t enough syrup, not enough butter, too greasy, their sausage wasnÂ’t burnt (yes, IÂ’m not kidding. Someone came in and complained that their sausage wasnÂ’t burnt.), they didnÂ’t get their breakfast as soon as they arrived, etc, etc, etc.

There was a ton more today at work of people complaining. I just started to tune it out so I wouldnÂ’t go off on any of the ingrates. Then to make it worse I was in a meeting today where they were talking about the feedback the employees had given on recognition and it was brought up again that multiple employees feel that the management should spend at least $5.00 each week to buy items for their staff. I think that was the last straw for me.

I donÂ’t think IÂ’m going to go out of my way to do anything like this again. IÂ’m done, why should I try to do something nice only to get complained at. ItÂ’s not worth it.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:04 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 You guys are privileged that they chose to work for you. Surely, you could cater to them better. Hell... your breakfast sounds like a damn good meal. Bitchin' about free food. *shaking my head*

Posted by: That 1 Guy at January 28, 2008 08:48 PM (O6lVU)

2 Dude, you're a saint. Speaking of cookouts, are you amenable to coming to Morocco, IN instead of Buffalo range?

Posted by: og at January 28, 2008 09:16 PM (ZR5N4)

3 You should hear of some of the things My wife and her fellow supervisors have heard while working at "Sam Still Lives we are not a Cult" USA and doing the whole be nice to your people thing. Personally I prefer leadership through fear, intimidation and alochol.

Posted by: BloodSpite at January 29, 2008 07:41 AM (pOo0j)

4 Sounds like they thought they were at a Denny's rather than at their desk getting a special treat from the management. Bah. I'm sure most if not all of them still ate it though even in it's non-perfect form, which I suppose in a way is a form of appreciation even if they didn't come right out and say it. Hell, it actually sounds good to me - I'm getting hungry reading your post

Posted by: Shadoglare at January 29, 2008 08:28 AM (m6q/K)

5 Tell those freaking ingrates to come work in Michigan, where the employees kiss managements ass just to keep their measlely, underpaying jobs with no benefits or extra's. When the recession hits the rest of the US maybe people will see how good they have it at their jobs.

Posted by: Quality Weenie at January 29, 2008 08:38 AM (uHRYR)

6 You sure hear the bitching and moaning on the IAFF union boys at my fire station. Us lowly part-timers get paid loads less, no benefits, cut hours and NOTHING from the district for doing the same exact job they do. Yet they complain, whine, piss and moan more than anyone I have ever heard of. You are a saint....

Posted by: P_G_S at January 29, 2008 08:42 AM (xhm5o)

7 I recently entered the office environment and i have to tell you that none of this surprises me. I work for the State of Indiana right now and it just makes my brain hurt. The staff here spends more time discussing their diets and the activities of their respective cats than they do working. Let's take right now for example. I am at work and blogging...not because i am lazy or just choosing not to do my job, but because my boss failed to tell me she wouldn't be here today so i came in and have literally no idea what i am supposed to be doing. After making several inquiries with said staff and finding them to be entirely useless i decided to edit the memo i finished last time...again, blog, and head home. Gotta love efficiency.

Posted by: Sari at January 29, 2008 10:07 AM (YMTtc)

8 You are a SAINT!!! I would've taken the food away from them if they bitched like that. (act like a 3 year old - be treated like a 3 year old!) Good grief I can't believe people. Well, I can, I just don't want to... *sigh*

Posted by: Teresa at January 29, 2008 03:04 PM (rVIv9)

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I've noticed for about a week now that when I update a post my pings don't seem to work. None of the readers or blogrolling picks up when I update. I've checked my list of blogs to ping and it seems to be up to date. Does anyone have any ideas?

I want to make sure all of you know when I update with words of wisdom and insight.

Posted by: Contagion at 01:07 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Okay we've been in a cold snap here for a while. I woke up most days this week to negative temperatures and on Thursday there was a -33 wind chill. Yet I shudder to think what the temps are for this video labeled Newfoundland Frozen Waves.

The text with it states:

"This strange weather phenomenon happened in Newfoundland where the waves were actually frozen as they crashed on the beach."

Well I'm not scientist, but to me it looks like the waves are moving ice pack to shore where it's piling up. I'm sure the wave action is freezing on the rocks adding to the build up, but I don't think it's so cold that the water is flash freezing. If it was, you'd think those people watching would have frost bite on their exposed skin in a matter of seconds as well. Especially since some of them don't seem to be bundled all that warmly. But as I said, I'm not a scientist and maybe the waves are actually freezing as they hit shore. Either way, I don't think I'd want to be sitting there watching it too long.

Posted by: Contagion at 12:39 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Here is a fun little time waster for you. The whole purpose of this game is to slap the ever loving snot out of the other females in the house to take control. It takes a little bit of getting used to the controls. When you can slap, when you can evade and when you can retaliate. I haven't beaten it yet, as the last lady is a pain the arse!

Give Rose & Camellia a try, just don't get too wrapped up in the game and actually start smacking the women in your house around for real! (Grin)

Posted by: Contagion at 12:33 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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And now for something I think all of you board game lovers out there might appreciate. (Looks at Shadoglare). How about The Worlds Most Controversial Board Games. That's right, controversial board games. There's a couple on here that I find hilarious and wouldn't mind trying to play, just to see what it's like. Ones like Public Assistance, Why work for a living and Capital Punishment.

However, they probably are a pain in the arse to play and not very fun.

Posted by: Contagion at 12:27 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 Ahhh yes - I've actually had Public Assistance on my wish list for a while Of course, one of my personal favorites didn't make their list - The Great Alaskan Clean-Up, that game I have that pokes fun at the Valdez oil spill

Posted by: Shadoglare at January 26, 2008 02:09 PM (m6q/K)

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I love grilling. Hell I even think I'm fairly decent at it. Nothing that I would brag about, but I do take a certain amount of pride in the fact that friends and family ask me to do the grilling for special occasions. Yet, I just can't get past this. little invention.

The Exhaust Burger

That's right, the exhaust burger.

Your car exhaust is a barbeque now.. Stop the car when you are hungry, install the device to the exhaust and back to drive,, You'll have a hamburger in no time. This way you don't need fuel for cooking while commuting and a large amount of energy would be saved.

Seriously, have we gotten so lazy that we need to cook meat while we are driving? What if you get stuck in heavy traffic, will you have a chunk of charcoal? Would anyone ever use something like this.

I know that the exhaust doesn't directly heat the burger, it's just used to heat the metal, but still. I can't picture this as tasting very good. Plus the clean up seems like it would be a pain the butt.

Posted by: Contagion at 12:18 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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By now everyone has heard of the rebate that the government is going to be giving all of us. Does this move strike anyone else besides me as not just a bad idea, but also as kind of fishy? ItÂ’s almost like the government is trying to buy happiness from the public by throwing money at the huddled masses. Actually itÂ’s more like they are trying to distract us like a laser pointer does a cat. I just canÂ’t help to thing they are trying to soften us up for something horrible coming down the road, besides the election, or if they are trying to draw our attention away from something they donÂ’t want us scrutinizing too muchÂ… like the upcoming election.

With that being said, really do any of you think this is a good idea? Do you really think this is going to solve our economic problems? Does throwing money at a faltering economy with rising inflation really solve the problem? Now of course I like the idea of getting some of my hard earned money back from an overspending government. IÂ’m not going to lie and say IÂ’m going to turn it down. I just donÂ’t think this is going to have the effects they want.

Sure at first it will. People will use that money by impulse spending it away, kind of like our government. Then they will be back in the same boat. The ones that could use it to help get out of debt, probably wonÂ’t. Want to bet youÂ’ll see a large jump in the HDTVs sales to the lower class by June? Especially since in 2008 High Definition is going to be the government mandated standard. (IÂ’d go off on this, but it deserves a post of itÂ’s own.) Either that or they will use the money to buy a Wii, Xbox or Playstation 3. To be honest I donÂ’t know how they will use the money. I do know from first hand experience that most individuals in the lower cast tend to view this money as a windfall that they can blow instead of using to better their situation.

If they really wanted to help our economy they would bring it back to an industrial base instead of a service base. When our economy was the strongest we had a strong manufacturing backbone to our society. Most of the jobs worked in a field that the parent company actually made something. Today we are in a service base economy. Most of the jobs in the U.S. are now with companies that donÂ’t make anything, but provide a service to get the items you want or services you need. The company I work for is a fortune 500 company and there is not one factory anywhere that we own. We sell a complete service for billions of dollars a year. ThatÂ’s all we do. I can actually count on my fingers the number of friends I have that do work for a manufacturing base company. Two of them actually work for a company that all the manufacturing is done in other countries. Another two work for a company that has some manufacturing here in the States, but are owned overseas.

Because of this we are exporting our wealth to other countries. We are dependant on other countries making the items we need and want. If we can transfer it so that we are making more of our own products and not as dependant on foreign countries to do it, I think you would see a turn around in the economy.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:57 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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ItÂ’s been two days since Thompson has pulled out of the presidential race and since then IÂ’ve done a lot of thinking. ItÂ’s not that I thought Thompson was perfect or that I agreed with him on everything, quite to the contrary. I only agreed with him on about 65-70% of the things. I know IÂ’ll never find a politician that I agree with 100%, but the major issues are ones that I did agree with him on. ItÂ’s just that he has been the first candidate in a long time that I actually felt that I was voting for, not against another.

Now IÂ’ve been sitting here in a funk. IÂ’m scared, IÂ’m scared for my country, IÂ’m scared for my job and IÂ’m scared for my family. I look at the list of candidates and the current front-runners and I shudder. Romney, Huckabee and McCain for the Republicans and Clinton, Obama and Edwards for the Democrats, just thinking of any of those names with the term President in front if it almost makes me cry in frustration and anger. To think that out of the 300 million Americans, these were the best we could come up with is just down right frightening.

And the American sheeple is going to vote one of these mentally myopic individuals into the top office of the land. Well the 65% of the public that votes during an election year will at least. The other 35% will just complain about who is in office. Why are we going to elect these pieces of living bio-waste? Because of that 65% that actually vote, most of them are too narrow minded to think about voting outside of the way the government wants them to. Meaning they will only vote Democrat or Republican. They wonÂ’t even look at a third party candidate. The government (I.e. Republicans and Democrats) wants it that way. Face it folks, the two parties are in bed with each other. As long as they stick together, they wonÂ’t lose power. And thatÂ’s what itÂ’s really all about. They want power.

Me, I donÂ’t know. IÂ’m going to look at third party and independent candidates to see if there is anyone there that might be better then the laughable six. If enough Americans do the same thing, maybe just maybe we can send a message to the parties that we want, nay we demand better candidates then what they throw at us.

But folks mark my words, if things keep going down the grim path we are headed; there is trouble for America. Be it another attack on our soil, another civil war or even a long overdue revolution. Maybe not in the next four years, but it is coming. It is coming.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:57 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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My father sponsored tonight’s beer review. For Christmas he bought me a case of beer labeled, “The History of Beer in America”. It came with a book and 8 different kinds of beers. When given a gift like that, it’s hard not to crack into it right away. After drinking the backlog of beer given to me by readers, I decided it was time to crack it open. The first one Berkshire Springs Stock Ale by MDII in Rochester, NY. I can’t find anything on them, so I think it’s a cover name for a larger brewery that seems to have made this beer for Sam’s Club.

The standard 12oz brown bottle once again makes it’s appearance. There is a maroon label with an oval logo on it. The name of the beer is on the top of the oval and the type cuts the oval in the middle. The bottom of the oval claims “Made from best malt & hops” There is a brief description of the beer in the middle.

The color is a clear golden yellow. It poured a finger width white head with large bubbles that faded quickly to a film and then nothing. There is no lacing on the side of the glass.

A very simple mix of hops and citrus is the first thing I noticed when smelling it. There is a hint of malts to it, but itÂ’s barely detectable. As you sip this beer you get a balanced mix of hops and malts. ItÂ’s not very complex, but a good taste. There is a slight bitterness that fades away quickly. After a couple of drinks you can get a hint of butterscotch on the tongue.

This is a medium bodied beer. It is pleasant and easy to drink.

This isnÂ’t the fanciest beer IÂ’ve ever drank and it definitely isnÂ’t the plainest. ItÂ’s a good drink and would probably go well with a sandwich or a pizza. IÂ’ll give it 4.5 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:43 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I found this over at Technicalities. She found it over at One for the Road.

Your Superpower Should Be Manipulating Fire

You are intense, internally driven, and passionate. Your emotions are unpredictable - and they often get the better of you. Both radiant and terrifying, people are drawn to you. At your most powerful, you feel like the world belongs to you. Why you would be a good superhero: You are obsessive enough to give it your all Your biggest problem as a superhero: Your moodiness would make it difficult to control your powers

What Should Your Superpower Be?

I'm not sure about the moody part, but I will admit that on occasion I do try to throw a fireball at someone that has pissed me off.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:08 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Boopie had the day off of school today. Not for a holiday, not because he was sick, it was because the Rockford Public Schools decided to close today. Was it because of cold weather? Was it because of the snow? We don't know. When I woke up this morning, it wasn't that cold and the snow had stopped. Hell even the side roads were being plowed. His school doesn't start until 9:30 so it's not like they wouldn't have the main roads plowed.

The only reason I can think that the schools would close is the administrators wanted to make it a five day weekend. That's right, they haven't had school since last Thursday. Friday was an institute day, Monday was Martin Luther King Jr Holiday and today was a snow day.

The local rag newspaper, The Rockford Register star states that:

"The decision to close Rockford schools wasnÂ’t made until 5:45 a.m. today, interim Superintendent Linda Hernandez said.

She first talked with Transportation Director Gregg Wilson at 4:15 a.m. At that time, she said, both thought it might be possible to have a normal day. By 5:45 a.m., it was clear there were too many streets still full of snow to send out the buses, Hernandez said.

“It was a late decision, and I felt bad about that,” she said. “But it was the right decision. There were too many streets that were not cleared.”

Normally, the decision to close schools is made by 4:30 or 5 a.m., she said.
The missed day of school will be made up June 4."

I live on a street that seems to be one of the last ones plowed in the city. Yet we were able to make it out of our driveway and to work with no problems. Hell no one at work even called off for severe weather or being stuck in the snow. Sure, we got 8.7 inches of snow since yesterday afternoon, but it really wasn't that bad. Many of the school districts around us didn't close, even the rural ones.

Honestly, why do I even bother trying to send my kids to the local schools. I really need to move to a better district.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:31 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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