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20 November 2009 @ 10:58 pm
Fox caught fixing..twice in under two weeks  
Fixed, I mean Fake, er, Fox news is at it again with its patented brand of "Fair and Balanced" news production. And now they even admit to the "production" part. Well, not actually, they only admit to a "production error." "Production error" my ass.

They intentionally misrepresented the turnout at Palin's book rally by showing file footage of her compaign rallies-- as you can see from these two reports, complete with the original video:

mediamatters
thinkprogress

They have always lied about turnout. They lied about the turnout for the teabaggers, for Glenn Beck's march in Washington, and Hannity lied about turnout at a (anti-) health-care rally (doubling the actual figure) and had to apologize for his video "production error," even going so far as to admit on the air that The Daily Show and Jon Stewart had caught him red handed.

Click here to see the Daily Show pointing out the obvious discrepencies in the FOX video.
You have got to see this.

Hannity's on-air apology to Jon Stewart.
Boy, that must have hurt. How bad can it be when Hannity has to apologize to Stewart?

Jon's response to Hannity.

Here also is Huffington Post's story.

That makes two video-swapping, number-boosting busts within the space of two weeks. The surprising thing is they actually apologized. I bet if it was 3 years ago they wouldn't have.

Everybody knows that Fox is biased to the right, even the Obama administration. The White House Communications Director has said, "It's opinion journalism masquerading as news," and goes on to say later:

"The reality of it is that Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party. And it is not ideological... what I think is fair to say about Fox, and the way we view it, is that it is more of a wing of the Republican Party."

"Obviously [the President] will go on Fox because he engages with ideological opponents. He has done that before and he will do it again... when he goes on Fox he understands he is not going on it as a news network at this point. He is going on it to debate the opposition."

"[Fox is] widely viewed as a part of the Republican Party: take their talking points and put them on the air, take their opposition research and put it on the air. And that's fine. But let's not pretend they're a news organization like CNN is."

--Anita Hill on CNN

Here is the Huffington Post's story, where she says she was not going rogue when she said this.


And the right wingers themselves know all this as well, as I have mentioned before: just check click on the "fox news" tag to see all my Fixed blogs.
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18 November 2009 @ 07:34 pm
Sarah, Sarah, Sarah....  
Now Palin is squawking about the latest Newsweek cover.



She's complaining that the picture is sexist and presents her unfairly. WTF?!? She had that picture taken her own self for a piece in Runner's World magazine! She posed for that shot and blessed its publication in the first place. She approved that image as representing her! It is a Palin-approved production, not some doctored, Photo-shopped image like this one:



(Although, frankly, there really isn't much difference between the two pics: it must be frustrating being a parody of yourself)

It is not Newsweek's fault that she cannot control her own image, or consider the implications of the frame in which she intentionally puts herself (didn't she learn anything from the turkey episode?). She has absolutely no standing whatsoever to be upset about the photo.

As documentary photographer Nina Berman says, that picture is the rope she handed Newsweek to hang herself:

"The Newsweek cover is a shrewd strategic maneuver to demean Palin without having to take responsibility for it. I think it's brilliant. They take an inelegantly, even laughably propped photo where Palin is an obvious participant as opposed to being a manipulated subject, and recontextualize it to show how far out she is willing to travel on the road of self promotion. They beat her at her own game and in the process shield themselves from what would have been the inevitable criticism if they had dolled her up themselves and posed her the same way."

Palin has only herself to blame. And maybe that's why she is so angry.

She had a harsh response to her own photo, but did she say anything about the slanted headline? Does she ever say anything, really?


Added material:
My issue here is Palin's response. She calls it "sexist." But it is her own photo for which she posed. If the photo is sexist it is her own fault. It is not some paparazzi shot of her sunbathing, it is a highly structured and composed photograph taken with her full approval. As a politician on the national stage she must expect any image of her to be propagated by the media--which is precisely why the photo is so carefully composed: it is exactly the image she wanted to project in that picture. So why now is it inappropriate? No presidential hopeful should ever take a picture that they do not want to see on the cover of Newsweek or Time. Again, she has no reason to be upset about a picture which she approved for publication in the first place. What she is really upset about are the slanted, anti-Palin headlines and story that accompany the photo--but she did not address the biased editorial content, choosing instead to make a sideways charge of sexism on the part of a magazine for using a photo she herself had taken for publication in a magazine. It is utterly nonsensical.

Or, what she is really upset about is the unapproved use of the photo. Newsweek, or more specifically, a vendor that supplies photos to Newsweek, violated a 1-year embargo on the use of the photo. Runner's World was to have a 1-year exclusive right to the image. As Rodale, the publisher of Runner's World, said: ''The photos from that shoot are still under a one-year embargo, and Runner's World did not provide Newsweek with its cover image. It was provided to Newsweek by the photographer's stock agency, without Runner's World's knowledge or permission."

So, her anger should be properly directed at Newsweek's unauthorized use, and the photo vendor who provided the photo to them. At issue here is the legal matter of intellectual property rights management, NOT the alleged sexism (which was simply a cheap shot to gain publicity and pander to her base).
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11 October 2009 @ 07:11 pm
The Decemberists rocked The Blue Note  
Have not posted in quite awhile because I am so crazy busy.  It's not that I don't have things to say, it's just that I simply don't have the time.

Anyway, we did take the time this past week to go see The Decemberists in concert at the Blue Note.  It was awesome.  It was only the 5th concert I've ever been to.  The last concert I went to was The Proclaimers in 1994.  Prior to that, I saw The Oak Ridge Boys at the state fair, when I was like 12.  Then between 1990 and 1993 saw The Violent Femmes and The Dead Milkmen.    The Femmes, Milkmen and Proclaimers were all at the Blue Note.  Anyway The Decemberists were totally on.  I mean they were charged and totally rocked.  They far exceeded my expectations.  It was a most excellent concert.  But don't take just my word for it, this guy totally agrees:

 </lj-embed>Here is a vid of their performance at another venue on the same tour:

Again, their performance at The Blue Note was better.  I have looked around for clips to post, and found that their performance Wednesday was better than any other concert from the tour that is posted on youtube.

Finally, I'll leave you with a really cool music video which I also linked on my facebook page:


Perhaps I will post tomorrow........or perhaps not......



 
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10 September 2009 @ 04:43 pm
right wing speech response  
"I was incredibly disappointed in the tone of his speech,” said Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).”At times, I found his tone to be overly combative and believe he behaved in a manner beneath the dignity of the office. I fear his speech tonight has made it more difficult — not less — to find common ground."

WTF!?  Did he listen to even one of Bush's speeches?  Or pay attention to Cheny and rest of that administration?  What gall to say Obama "behaved in a manner beneath the dignity of the office."  This makes me so fucking pissed.

And then Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) shouted "You lie!" as Obama claimed his plan wouldn't offer free care to illegal immigrants.  WTF!?  Bush fucking lied through his teeth on substantive, confirmable matters of fact, but I don't recall anybody shouting from the floor at him.

Damn these right wing ass-holes piss me off.  They can drag us into a war of choice that's now lasted longer than WWII, destroy international good-will, infringe on our civil rights, and crash the financial system-- but try to bring our country's health care system up to level of the rest of the western world and you're the boogy man.  These backwards, greedy, close-minded, hard-hearted, religious nut-jobs don't give a shit about anything but their personal bank accounts--except, of course, for their ability to wield as much power as they can grab.  And they won't be satisfied until all the rest of us are cowering in our Pottersville McShacks.
 
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08 September 2009 @ 05:30 pm
Obama's address to school kids  

The following is a note I got from my kids' high school last week:

Dear Parents:

On September 8, 2009 our students will take 20 minutes of class time to watch President Obama's address to the nation's youth.  President Obama will speak to students about persisting and succeeding in school.  He will challenge each student to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning.  The address will take place during 4th hour at 11:00 a.m.

We realize that not all students will want to watch this address.  We are also aware that not all parents will want their students watching this address.  Therefore students who do not want to watch the President's speech will be excused to the commons.

Jay Webster,
Principal
Boonville R-I High School

I was completely blind-sided by the second paragraph.  WTF?  I mean, even now after several days all I can do is shake my head and say "What!?"  I never heard of such a thing.  What parent does NOT want their kid to watch a presidential address?  No matter who it is, Obama, Bush, McCain, even Palin,  it's the president.  I mean, this isn't the first time a sitting president has addressed school children directly.  Reagan and George H.W. Bush both delivered similar speeches to students.  In 1991, President George H.W. Bush made a nationally broadcast speech from a Washington junior high school, urging students to study hard, avoid drugs and ignore peers "who think it's not cool to be smart."  Sounds an awfully lot like Obama's speech to me.  So what's the hell's the problem?  I remember watching Reagan in school.

People complain that our youth are apathetic, uninformed, and uninvolved; but then actively oppose kids' viewing a presidential address?  I thought our youth's withdrawal from public affairs and current events was the problem.  What ever happened to the schools' civic responsibility to instill the values of citizenship?   If children are our future, then apparently the right wing wants our future to be ignorant.

So you have to ask yourself why.  Why would these "true American, God and country" types do something as unpatriotic as forbid their kids to watch a presidential speech?


Text of the speech is HERE
 
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02 September 2009 @ 09:58 pm
Video shows chicks ground up alive at egg hatchery  

Yahoo news article link:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090902/ap_on_go_ot/us_egg_hatchery_investigation

Video link


"The Humane Society also says that virtually all egg farms, even those that sell cage-free eggs, get their hens from hatcheries that kill their male chicks."

To tell the truth I had never considered this.  I guess I just assumed the males were raised for meat, that the farm, er, operation, was integrated in that way.

Totally did not occur to me that there were separate, specialized, hatchery operations.

There is no vertical integration.  There are no farms anymore.  Everything is a specialized factory.  It's crazy.

See also the current issue of TIME

Between the animal crualty, the poor health and malnutrition of the animals, the genetically modified plants, the chemicals used in production/growing, the processing and bad handling generally, there is really nothing much one can consciously purchase at the grocery store.

Back to the Yahoo article:
So are all chickens raised as meat female as the story implies?  It seems to me meat producers would want to buy them, especially if they are practically free.  They could be simultaneously more humane, and more effecient (assuming one considers turning the chicks over to the meat producers as more humane than grinding them, which is a dubious assumption).

Euthanasia?  Really?  According to Webster the definition of euthanasia is :  "the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy."  Their law dictionary defines it as:  "The process of terminating the life of another by merciful or painless means, to prevent further suffering" (Webster's New World Law Dictionary, as cited at http://www.yourdictionary.com/law/euthanasia).

The article shows a bias through its misuse of that term.  Euthanasia has the connotation of a mercy killing, done to avoid continued suffering, usually applied to one with a terminal or horrific illness or injury.  They are not euthanizing the chicks they are killing them.  True, euthanasia can also mean dispatch by a quick, painless, easy death, and they are arguably using it in that sense.  BUT that is not the connotation it carries in common usage today and is therefore an attempted euphemism.  Of course "euthanasia" does imply that being ground alive is more merciful than continuing to live in the conditions of the hatchery/facility.  So what does that say about their conditions that there is no word choice that is effectively euphemistic?
 
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31 August 2009 @ 04:38 pm
Sedalia band t-shirt: the culture war revisited  

In case you hadn't heard, a public high school band here in Missouri just had its warm weather uniform t-shirts banned for religious reasons.

AP via Columbia Tribune

The Sedalia Democrat (with reader comments)

and here is another blogs comments on the issue


WTF?  This is outrageous!  Why do we have to put up with this sort of craziness?  It's maddening. 

"The district is required by law to remain neutral where religion is concerned."  Really? So what do you teach in science class?  Evolution perhaps?  So I guess you also do a chapter or two on intelligent design and creationism?  Maybe you should just drop science from the curriculum altogether.

The more I think about this, the angrier I get.  Not because this particular event is some sort of big deal, but because of the attitude, the knee-jerk reaction, the hostility, the close-mindedness, the school's obsequious and immediate caving to the minority (hopefully) of religious nutters.

Just what is wrong with these people?  How reactionary can you get?  Again, I find myself baffled by the vehemence of the response.  I just don't understand.  Well, actually, I think I do.  It's fear, plain and simple.  These people live in fear, in a constant state of terror.  The command and control function of the Church relies on fear as its primary motivator/manipulator.  These people would be afraid of their own shadow if that was the message from the pulpit.

"Band parent Sherry Melby, who is a teacher in the district, said, 'I don’t think evolution should be associated with our school.'"  Mission accomplished, Sherry.  If anything, Smith Cotton and Sedalia are now associated with de-evolution:  the de-evolution of education, the de-evolution of tolerance, the de-evolution of rational intellect.

Shame on you all.


I posted this on the Sedalia newspaper comment section.  Here is some of the exchange:
       
nancye wrote:
kbp1970: Lets get real. In our very small town there are almost 90 different phone numbers listed for almost 90 different churchs. Our schools are filled with teachers who attend churchs. Our school board probably is ruled by people from churchs. Our city government is ruled by people from churchs. It only stands to reason that a large majority of these people want their children taught things in school that do nor conflict with the basic tenets of their religion. This band shirt event has simply brought these truth to light. But, isn't it refreshing to finally see how the outside world views our situation. At least we found out there is something beyond the wall which surrounds us.


kbp1970 wrote:
nancye--

90 churches for a population of 21,000? Are you kidding?

I checked the stats and it looks like half of them are Southern Baptist. That explains a lot.

It sounds like you are admitting that the school does indeed try to teach Fundamentalist-friendly content. You also practically admit to living in a provincial theocracy.

So you like the idea that everyone is laughing at you?

You guys are so going to make The Daily Show.


nancye wrote:
kbp1070: You've got the picture Bubba. I only live here, I am not a fundie. But, let me make something perfectly clear...this town is for the most part made up of decent honest good people.....with religious beliefs that differ, and it is time for Sedalians to wake up and take a more active role in controling how our city government and our school system is being used by certain religious factions.


       
kbp1970 wrote:
nancye--

Agree. Maybe the mirror of national attention will provoke some self-reflection--and do the same for other similar towns.



Additionally  here is one more comment that says that Sedalia doesn't, in fact, really teach evolution in the classroom, even in high school:

stillpraying wrote:
This is an interesting debate: evolution v.s religion. It started out about the t-shirts for the band and if they should of been tossed. Also it was mentioned that some parents don't want evolution taught in Sedalia 200 schools. To the relief some and horrify others...I looked up some information on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website. Under course level expectations, strand 8, page 34, two evolution goals that are included in expections schools should teach. Evolution is mentioned again under CLEs strand 4, concept a, page 23. So then I went to the Sedalia 200 website under curriculm and read the course discriptions under science. Evolution appears to be taught only in the AP biology class which is taken for college credit. Anyone can access these sights and see if I was on track. Some have said they don't want evolution in the schools and I guess they didn't need to get all wound up because the general population doesn't get it taught to them anyway. I am not against my child being exposed to different theories involved in Science.


and one more from another forum:

I am flabbergasted that my children have to go to this district. Moving here as a military wife 4 years ago I was appalled that the curriculum was 2 years behind where we came from, no real sex education, and views highly influenced by the local churches. I wish I had the budget to higher a lawyer to help me complain about my son's rights being taken away. This is ridiculous. I will be bringing all the comments into the school district office this week to show them I am not the only person that believes evolution is not religion and they had no right to censor something that is actually part of the curriculum. Thanks for your support and spread the word. If they are joked about in the media maybe the school district and school board will be careful in future decisions.

Alena Hoeffling

Posted by: Alena Hoeffling | August 30, 2009 11:37 AM



 
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30 August 2009 @ 10:54 pm
1980 KV Mini 1 took top Worst of Show honors at the first annual Concours d’LeMons show in Monterey  
Mike Harrell from Shoreline, WA stunned the crowd and judges with his 1980 KV Mini 1 and took home Worst of Show honors. The KV is a horrible little car powered by a 125cc one cylinder 2 stroke motor that drives the rear wheels through a constantly variable ration belt drive system and friction rollers on the rear tires ensuring that little of the meager power available actually results in forward motion. The features don't stop there, to put the car in reverse, one must shut off the engine and re-start it so that it runs backwards. Combine this with the tin bumpers, solid steering shaft aimed at the drivers chest, the lack of a roof and any other safety features and it was a shoe-in for the Worst of Show title. As if to convince the judges that he truly does have a screw loose, Mike towed the little French death trap behind his MGB the 1000 miles from Washington to Monterey. Well done.



See another write up here:
http://clunkbucket.com/victoire-de-citrons/

These people have two:
http://www.microcarmuseum.com/tour/kv.html


 
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30 August 2009 @ 10:45 pm
MINI Coupe  
OK, I think I would really like one of these!!



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25 July 2009 @ 01:27 pm
proper driving  
I'm just about fucking tired of people flipping me off every time I drive.  They just don't seem to appreciate efficiency.  Well, ok.  I have observed the driving habits of these people and have decided to try to drive as they do.  I shall endeavor to model the apparent proper motoring behavior:

1.  Never ever under any circumstances exceed the posted speed limit or recommended speed.

2.  merge onto the interstate at 10 mph under the speed limit

3.  when merging, always, always use the brake, rather then the accelerator, for speed adjustment

4.  when on the interstate and approaching an on-ramp, automatically move to the left lane if I observe any vehicles on the on-ramp, regardless of their position or speed.

5.  never use the accelerator as a positioning tool, always use the brake pedal instead

6.  randomly apply my brakes in the middle of a turn for no reason whatsoever

7.  slow to a near stop when making a turn at an intersection, even if the way is clear

8.  come to a full and complete stop and wait for the light to change when making a right turn at a stoplight

9.  position my car in the very middle of the lane at intersections, even if the road is clearly wide enough to allow for a right-turn lane

10.  maintain a following distance of at least 2 full car lengths, to be reduced to 1 full car length when stopped at an intersection

11.  when making a right hand turn on a road with a full-width paved shoulder available, nevertheless execute my turn from the main driving lane

12.  when behind a vehicle making a left turn on a road with a full-width paved shoulder available, nevertheless stop and wait for them to execute their turn

13.  apply turn signals after moving into the appropriate turn lane

14.  when approaching my turn-off in rural environs, begin my deceleration at least three-quarters of a mile before my turn

15.  and, most importantly, completely ignore any and all vehicles behind me


Surely driving in this socially acceptable manner will result in my no longer being flipping off.
 
 
Current Mood: mischievous
 
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23 July 2009 @ 11:03 pm
a dufus butchered our tree  


WTF? Look what happened to our beautiful magnolia tree.  The tree that get compliments from passers-by when it's in bloom.



Never, ever, ever, never, hire a local yolkel rube hick so-called handyman to trim a tree.  All he was supposed to do was cut it back off the red house, no farther than the property line.  Instead he fucking cut the tree in half.  He removed low limbs, interior limbs, limbs on the wrong side of the property line, limbs which did not even grow towards the red house.  For the record, we did not hire him, the neighbor did.  The tree was on his house and he wanted it cut back.  I talked to the neighbor and we had agreed on what was to be done, and he agreed to use a reputable tree trimmer.  We had even both met with the agreed-upon trimmer dude and communicated the vision to him.  But then, for some reason, the neighbor instead gets this bozo to hack at my tree.  We had no idea about the personnel change.  After the guy had been working for what seemed like a long time, my wife went out to see what was up.  Of course she flipped out.  She had to run the dufus off.  He didn't think he was done yet, if you can believe that.  Good thing she stopped him when she did or we wouldn't have a tree at all.

The plan was for the neighbor to hire the local tree trimmer to cut the tree back off his house and then for me to have the guy back out later to finish the job properly (getting it off my house, shaping it, etc.).  Well, that's all gone to shit now that this rube has hacked my tree to pieces.  Now I'm going to have to pay out the ass to have an arborist out to take care of the tree.  It doesn't even look like I can have it cut back off my house now since those are the only limbs left on the tree. 

Why would somebody do that to a tree?  Oh yeah, cause he is a stupid hick with no regard for living things.  Why would somebody exhibit such poor quality of work?  Oh yeah, cause he is a stupid hick with absolutely no tree trimming competence whatsoever.  Why would somebody not turn down a job for which they are totally incompetent?  Oh yeah, cause he is a stupid greedy hick with no sense of professionalism.

I mean, damn, I could have gone to Lowes and picked up a couple of Mexicans if I wanted that level of performance.  No, wait, I'm sorry, my sincerist apologies to the Mexicans.  They would have actually followed instructions and made sure I was happy with their work.

It just seems like every time I relax and let people do their thing I discover that they are either stupid, crazy, or usually both. 

I try not to be classist or prejudiced, but incidents like this make it difficult.

Maybe I should sue.  In the interest of living peacably I will not sue the neighbors, but I see no reason not to go after that saw-wielding moron.
 
 
Current Mood: pissed off
 
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23 July 2009 @ 11:01 pm
Bluetooth sucks  
Bluetooth is the most overrated bit of technology ever.  I am really not a fan.  I have had only very limited success with the few bluetooth devices I have (2 phones, 2 computers).  I have spent more time trying to get it to work than I have actually using it.  I would never ever use bluetooth by choice.  And I really hate those bluetooth earpieces for phones.  I'm always thinking people are talking to me, or else they are just crazy.  Look, if you're going to use the phone, then take it out and fucking use it.  If you are too busy to manipulate your phone, then you are too busy to be on the phone in the first place.  Bluetooth headsets are not cool; they are stupid, and you look like a dork using them.  But what really riles me is not that it sucks, but that it doesn't even begin to live up to its promise.  In commercials all you hear is bluetooth this and bluetooth that, and how awesome all these bluetooth enabled products are and how convenient  life is with bluetooth.  NOT.  So totally NOT.  Bluetooth is the most frustrating, inconvenient, time-consuming file transfer protocol I have ever used.

But the all-time worst device ever invented is the leaf blower.  I absolutely hate leaf blowers.  Leaf blowers are the analog for all that is wrong with America.  Another way for fat lazy people to spend lots of money wasting resources on a pointless activity while polluting the environment and disturbing their neighbors.
 
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18 July 2009 @ 07:35 pm
i am the worst golfer ever  
Went golfing today and boy did I suck.  Sucked so bad I didn't even enjoy being out there.  What gives?  But at least the few (very few) good hits I had were pretty good.  I wrote them down; there were only 5 of them:   I hit my 7-iron 165 yards and my 5-iron 200 yards, but the 3-iron only went 145 yards, cavity back pitching wedge 130 yards and muscle back pitching wedge 100 yards.  I've just about got the distances on my clubs dialed in so I am choosing the correct club every time.  Now I've just got to strike the ball properly.  My short game is back, though, finally.  Once I am within pitching wedge distance I can get on the green no problem.  It's my driving.  I cannot hit with my driver, or my fairway woods either, for that matter.  The longest good drive I had was like 100 yards:  I might as well tee off with my pitching wedge.  Seriously, that 200 yard hit with my 5-iron was about as far as I was hitting my driver last year.  I guess I just need to step up the practice.  But I am so discouraged maybe I will just focus on my irons.  I dunno.
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10 June 2009 @ 07:53 pm
busy week, as predicted  
Well, got all the parts in at  work.  Pics on flickr   or on my facebook.  It is worth a look.  Holy crap!  I am so tired.  Yes I was involved in unloading two semis.  Now we get to inventory it all, hurray!

Penny just got word that she has got four classes for fall.  Yippie!  And one of them is a lit class!!!!  So she is fully employed.

So it looks like we will be OK for another year.  Will be pretty lean for the rest of the summer since are strapped paying for the private school.  But, hell, it's private fucking school!!!!  Awesome.

And it's only the second week of June.  Busy summer.

Did I mention Penny is writing a paper for a conference in Sept.?  So she doesn't really have the summer off either.  Hannah is going to summer school this month.  She is excited about going to high school.
 
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01 June 2009 @ 08:14 pm
stressful week  
Kind of stressed out this week.  On the home front, the dog is sick and has to go to the vet; and we have to come up with a deposit and tuition for the private school.  Then at work, GM declares bankruptcy, we are doing our yearly powertrain clinic, and we are going to be receiving two 53' trailers of assorted parts.  To top it all off it's my birthday.

Worried about the dog.  She seemed really bad off over the weekjend.  But took her to the vet and are assured that she is probably ok.  Just have to put her on a special diet this week and see if she gets better. 

Nick got accepted to the private school (CIS).  He got financial aid/scholarships, but it's still pretty expensive for us.  We will have to figure out how to make it possible for him to go.  In the meantime we have to give them a deposit.  So it's a roller coaster:  really happy that he got in but worried we won't be able to afford it.  Heck, we can barely afford the deposit, and then right when we are trying to do that the dog has to go and make herself sick and incur a vet bill.  We didn't know about the deposit, so this is two unexpected expenses.  I thought maybe I could finally get the tree trimmed this month so my neighbor doesn't get pissed off and sue me or something.  But no, it seems that is never going to happen.  So obviously I'm not really getting anything substantial for my birthday.  I've got a little bit of birthday money I'm trying to hang on to and hope to get a set of irons or something, but I'm only halfway there and might have to end up using the money for something else (like food) anyway.  But we are really excited about Nick getting into the school, and it does look like we will be able to swing it, but it's going to be difficult.

Then at work we are getting a gazillion parts in all at once.  Something like 5,000 SKUs, which is like a 50% increase in our inventory overnight.  How is that supposed to work?  Two 53' trailers loaded to the brim (floor-loaded).  And our contract apparently says we only have 2 days to unload them -- with no Tommy Lift and no loading dock.  At least we have a forklift.  Thing is, we only really have room for maybe half of it!  Where are we going to put all this stuff?  How the hell are we going to organize it?  Who is going to enter it all into the computer?  How many weeks will it take to sort through it all?  I see some long days coming.  My boss has been pretty stressed about it for a whole week now.  And on Thursday we have the powertrain clinic which will run until like 7pm, and most of the afternoon will be spent setting up for that.  So when exactly are the trailers going to get unloaded?  But, buying of all these parts is really shrewd in light of GM's bankruptcy.  Should parts supplies be disrupted we will still have parts -- and be one of the few dealers around with such an extensive inventory.

It's shaping up to be quite a week.
 
 
Current Mood: stressed
 
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26 May 2009 @ 10:42 pm
bluetooth is NOT a file transfer medium  
I have not had very good luck with bluetooth.  As you may remember I recently installed bluetooth on my old pc and was pretty happy about it.  Since then I have had a couple of bad experiences.  First, the bluetooth on Penny's netbook is non-functional.  It was working (I think) when we got it, but I turned it off to save battery life since she/we never use it.  The other day I was going to transfer pics from Sarah's phone so I tried to turn the bluetooth on and it acts like it's not installed.  Very frustrating.  I ended up tracking down the camera and retaking all the pics and then just using the SD card to transfer them.  And now tonite I again used Sarah's phone to take some pics and went up to use the old pc to transfer them,  and guess what?  Sarah's phone will not connect to the old pc via bluetooth.  How fucking useless is that?  I ended up having to email them to myself!  The whole reason I got the damned bluetooth is so I wouldn't have to fucking email pics from cell phones to myself anymore.  I am so pissed!  I am so going to buy a micro SD card for that phone so I never have to deal with bluetooth again.  I was able to get MY phone to talk to the pc.  You see, Sarah's phone is all fancy and wants me to enter a security code for the pc.  But, you see, there is no security code for the pc.  I have the security set to zero.  But her phone will not allow me to not enter a code.  My phone hooks up no problem.

Moral of the story:  if you want to transfer files, use a wired connection or removable storage media.

 
 
Current Mood: pissed off
 
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23 May 2009 @ 03:24 pm
first golf outing of the year  

Well I went and played some golf one evening this week.  Only got in 6 holes before I had to go.  I did better than double par.  Would have been at least 6 strokes better but had trouble on the first 2 holes.  But then my game picked up. I even drilled a couple of drives.  Of course I was following Kevin's rules.  Anyway I had a great time and am happy with how I did.  Going to the driving range earlier in the week paid off.

I'm sorta thinking about getting new irons.  So I did some research and found that Wilson Ci6 are just about perfect for me.  Those are the ones I really want.  Although they are cavity-back game-improvement clubs, they have a lot of design aspects of a tour-type club:  they are the best of both worlds and won't be too dissimilar to what I am playing now.   You see, in my reading I found that tour-type clubs and blades are intended for good golfers and nobody recommends blades to a novice.  What am I playing?  Forged blades.  With tiny little heads.  Funny thing is, I am pretty happy with my iron play.  I practiced all last summer and got to where I was passably good with my irons (it's my driving off the tee that really sucks).  So what would happen if I got some modern, forgiving irons designed for my skill level?  Which is why I'm very happy with how I am doing considering the clubs I have.  Using these older clubs forces me to develop skills.  Which is why I do not want a max-game-improvement club such as the Wilson Di7--it's almost cheating.  I feel the same way about hybrids, oh and those huge oversize drivers too, and golf carts too, btw.  Practically cheating.  I'm kind of a traditionalist.  I walk with a pull-cart and swing blades and woods.  Of course my woods are really metal and I am considering those cavity-back mid-size irons.  But, still, I don't like fat oversize irons, hybrids, crazy big drivers, or graphite shafted irons.  But anyway, the Ci6 seem like a good compromise.  If I got those and a new lightweight bag, I wouldn't need the pull-cart anymore.  I don't even want to know how much my old clubs and bag and pull cart weigh.  Wait, yes I do!  I'm going to weigh them right now.  Wow 47 pounds!  Damn that's heavy!  ......maybe those graphite shafts aren't such a bad idea after all........

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23 May 2009 @ 03:04 pm
GM bankruptcy?  

It seems as though GM is headed for bankruptcy at the end of the month.  Although it looks like the unions are willing to negotiate, the bondholders are not.  I guess they figure they would get a better deal under bankruptcy.  If GM does go bankrupt then the dealer closings will have a lot more bite to them.  I'm not sure how worried I should be.  At this point I'm just numb.

 
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21 May 2009 @ 09:36 pm
Electronic police state study ranks US as 6th worst in the world  
It would be most expeditious to simply send you to the original blog post on this, so click HERE.
 
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21 May 2009 @ 09:19 pm
WTF? Just can't help but mention these crazies from the AP wire  
A Calif. man is accused of biting out his son's eye.

Four-year-old Angelo Mendoza Jr. told police, "my daddy ate my eyes."  He may be permanently blinded after his father bit out one of his eyes and mutilated the other.

Bakersfield police say 34-year-old Angel Vidal Mendoza appeared to be under the influence of PCP when he attacked the boy April 28 and then rolled his wheelchair outside and began hacking at his own legs with an ax.

Doctors say it's unclear whether Angelo will regain vision in his right eye.

Charges include mayhem, torture and child cruelty.

HOLT SHIT!!!!!!!


And then there's this dumbass:

A Mass. man who was stopped for erratic driving last week was eating a bowl of cereal and milk while he drove. He told officers he was hungry.

Lt. John Schlittler told The Boston Globe that the 48-year-old man, whose name was not released, was also driving with an expired license. The man has been cited for unlicensed operation, failure to stay in lanes and operating to endanger.

A bowl of cereal and milk?  WTF?
 
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