Stupid drivers

I'm on my way to tennis...driving 72 MPH in the "fast lane" and there is some asshole riding my butt...thinking that's going to make me speed up or move over.

ATTENTION ASSHOLE DRIVERS!! If 72 MPH is not fast enough for you...which by the way is 12mph over the post LEGAL speed limit...riding on my ass will result in one of two things: 1) you end up going around me or 2) I slow down to the legal posted speed limit. Either outcome pisses your dickhead ass off where there was no pissed-offness to be had since I was already going well above the posted speed...asshole!


Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

SanDisk Compact Flash Card

1st question: Why would someone want to purchase a 256 MB compact flash card?

2nd question: Why would some business sell a 256 MB compact flash card?

3rd question: Are you fucking serious that this 256 MB compact flash card is selling at $13.99 -- a savings to the customer of $116.00?

I think this was on a page at Buy.com.

More Craigslist posting

Was perusing my old favorite web sit, Craigslist, and saw this (see the yellow "glowing" area):


I thought it was funny. Apparently it was already "flagged" and there was no actual ad to read. Still funny.

Testing emailing a pic from Outlook

Craigslist posting

So, today, I saw this listing on Craigslist:


1st question is: did this parent not teach their daughter about renter's insurance?

2nd question is: if the parent is paying the rent, have they not heard of renter's insurance?

I hate to do it too but when I don't have the expendable cash for my books, it's a beautiful thing to have a credit card!!

Credenza

I've been in the market for a credenza. I've been looking for one for a few months. I didn't want an expensive one although there are some really nice and fancy ones. I just wanted something that looked nice, matched my office desk, made of wood (not that particle board shit), had lots of storage space and decently priced. I really don't need matching but my wife does because my "office area" is at one end of our fairly long and spacious bedroom. Why it has to match I don't know since the bedroom isn't exactly a conversation area nor is it on the main level so no one is really going to easily see anything in it. I just do what the wife says...on this anyway.

I have been scoping out Craigslist to find this much needed but worth tthe wait piece of furniture. In fact, I checked daily, sometimes hourly, at the free listings with a picture and the furniture section keyword: desk, has a picture and a max of $100 - although that is even above what I want to spend. The $100 max though can include a credenza AND a desk, or a shelf, or a whatever. So, although $100 isn't what I truly want to spend, if I can get something really good and worthy along with the credenza then it might be worth it.

What you find on Craigslist and even one place I will mention further into this post is that people think highly of their shit. In fact, some people are literally selling some shitty piece of furniture for the price of something comparable for brand new or even a slightly higher price BUT brand new. Now not all of the furniture is shitty but when people spend $500 and want $250, I'm not sure Craigslist is where it's going to sell. In fact, I saw a decent but used desk and sort of modified (the middle drawer was altered to sort of be a keyboard drawer) go from $100 to $60 over a period of almost two months and it still hasn't sold. Now, I'm not stupid and I'd be the same - I'd want something in return for my buying it originally but at the same time, if it's just been sitting in storage somewhere it wasn't exactly making money for you (me) anyhow. It's a tough decision, I know. But as a buyer, I'm not paying too much for something used or very used just because the seller feels like they deserve more money than it's worth.

Anyway, I finally got a chance to run by a store that has listed items on Craigslist called The Benefit Store. I went last weekend and spent about 30-45 mins walking the place and looking at different desks and credenzas. I saw some really nice ones but they were way out of the price range I was looking to spend. Some were probably pretty worth their price or close to it but no way could I afford $700 for a really cool credenza...but it was a pretty cool piece of furniture.

I ended up getting this baby. It was decently made, all wood and CHEAP! It was heavy and I got it upstairs to my bedroom all by myself. I'm just superman, I know! I got about 3/4 of the way up the stairs and I started thinking to myself, "What the hell was I thinking trying to do this myself?" The problem was I couldn't go back down the stairs because it was further than finishing pulling it up. So, I persevered!

Anyway, I'm thinking about a cheap hutch-type addition to the credenza or my current desk. We'll see what I can find. Of course, the wife says, "That's cool but make sure it matches!"

Easy instructions to follow, right....?

Jerry Jones must think he's 'The Shit'

I just made a visit to D Magazine's blog, Frontburner, and this is the scary picture I first saw. Click on it to see a bigger view or click here for the article.

Who and what the hell does Jerry Jones think he is? How embarrassing for a man his age and supposed caliber in the community to looks so "pimpish". Skinny or not, fairly fit or not, who really wants to see that man's wrinkly skin.

After seeing this, I don't know how or why he would expect his players to behave in a certain professional manner since technically they (and he) are representing the company...America's team...the Dallas Cowboys

Women's Professional Tennis

I don't know if I've typed about this before but I think they need to make a DECIBEL rule in tennis, especially women's tennis.

I am watching a match on television between Victoria Azarenko and Amelie Mauresmo at the Australian Open and I want Azarenko to lose just because she's annoying me with her fucking squeals after she hits every shot. Mauresmo isn't making much of a peep other than an occasional grunt while chasing down and hitting a shot.

This Azarenko chick (although somewhat of a hottie) reminds me of Maria Sharapova and her squeaks and squeals. These are avoidable audible noises but the WTA...and ATP...needs to put a stop to it. Personally, if I were playing against such a noisy opponent, I would claim that their noises masks the sound of them hitting the ball which in turn affects my strokes and timing. Valid point, I think. Besides, most people that I play tennis with or those that I know watch tennis agree that the screams and shit are annoying and take away from the overall enjoyment of a professional tennis match.

Pondering and writing...writing and pondering

I write then ponder. I ponder then write.

Too bad I've done neither the past week or so. I've just been busy. The motivation is there and then almost immediately gone.

A lot of it is because in my head everything sounds good, interesting and worthy of putting down. But then I start to put it down and everything turns to shit! I forget how I said it in my mind and it sucks when I type it out and read what I typed.

Sometimes I'll be driving and shit will come to me or something I see will give me a thought. How the hell can I jot that down while driving?! CAN'T!!

So all these wonderfully awesome thoughts, rants or raves get lost in the infinite space of my head.

No wonder I've lost my happy place!

Oh well. I don't expect things to get better as a new semester of two classes has started for me. They are a lot of reading, writing and discussing. All things I will drag my feet on along with everything else.

I'm out!

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

Email humor 01/15/2009

---

A little boy got on the bus, sat next to a man reading a book, and noticed he had his collar on backwards. The little boy asked why he wore his collar backwards.

The man, who was a priest, said, 'I am a Father'

The little boy replied, 'My Daddy doesn't wear his collar like that.'

The priest looked up from his book and answered, ''I am the Father of many.'


The boy said, ''My Dad has 4 boys, 4 girls and two grandchildren and he doesn't wear his collar that way!'

The priest, getting impatient, said. 'I am the Father of hundreds', and went back to reading his book.

The little boy sat quietly thinking for a while, then leaned over and said, 'Maybe you should wear a condom and put your pants on backwards instead of your collar.'

---

A man, while playing on the front nine of a complicated golf course became confused as to where he was on the course.

Looking around, he saw a lady playing ahead of him. He walked up to her, explained his confusion and asked her if she knew what hole he was playing.

'I'm on the 7th hole,' she replied, 'and you are a hole behind me. So you must be on the 6th hole.'

He thanked her and went back to his golf.

On the back nine, the same thing happened and he approached her again with the same request.

'I'm on number 14, and you're still a hole behind, so you must be on the 13th hole.'

Once again he thanked her and returned to his play.

He finished his round and went to the clubhouse where he saw the same lady sitting at the end of the bar.

He asked the bartender if he knew the lady. The bartender said that she was a sales lady and played the course often.

He approached her and said, 'Let me buy you a drink in appreciation for your help. I understand that you're in the sales profession. I'm in sales also. What do you sell?'

'I'll tell you, but you're going to laugh,' she replied.

'No, I won't.'

'Well, if you must know,' she answered, 'I work for Tampax.'

With that, he laughed so hard he lost his balance and fell off the bar stool.

'See,' she said. 'I knew you'd laugh!'

'That's not what I'm laughing at,' he replied,

'I'm a salesman for Preparation H, so I'm still a hole behind you.'

Beretta 92FS

I am officially packing heat!

A coworker and I made a run to B&S Guns in Garland, Texas. You can see the location on Google Maps.

I have been looking into purchasing a hand gun. Not because I need it but more out of a "just-in-case" scenario. I'm one of those persons that believes it's better to be prepared than not, especially with the economy the way it is. Desperate times leads people to do desperate aka STUPID things!

I've been talking with my tennis buddy about hand guns. He's a collector of sorts and is pretty familiar with the different makes and models. He owns a Beretta 92 and he likes it. In case you are not familiar with it, like I wasn't, check the pic.

As my buddy said, "You know the gun that Mel Gibson had in Lethal Weapon. That's the Beretta." My buddy had the stainless steel version while Mel had the blue steel--which is the version I got. Though not because of Mel but because it is cosmetically appealing and it was the only one they had. Mine has wood-grain...um, enhancements...on the grip too.

Anyway, I can't wait to shoot it. I'm a little nervous as the last time I shot a hand gun was about thirteen years ago and it was a simple 22 revolver. I believe that's the last time I shot a rifle too and it too was a 22. 22s have no kick and I hear the Beretta has a decent kick. Not that it's scary, but it's just been a long while for me since handling a gun, any gun, other than laser tag or airsoft ones.

I also haven't told the wife. I did mention to her in the car this morning that I had to get a gun soon as I hear Obama is wanting to make some changes and the real gun fanatics are stocking up while they can. She responded with, "I guess you'd better get one fast then since he's about to enter office." Now, I could use that as a valid excuse to go ahead and purchase but she probably still isn't going to be happy. It's not that she doesn't like the idea. She just hasn't been around guns and she's somewhat scared to have one in the house for a few reasons but the main one being the kids. I wouldn't even tell them because the oldest would freak out anyway.

The thing is, is that I saw a 22cal pistol that was really cool looking and tiny enough for her to shoot (as well as big enough for me to handle) but it wouldn't have any kick since it's just the measly 22. I think it could be some for us to do together as a couple. That sounds funny as it makes us sound like some redneck couple. Anyway, I think the 22cal I was handling at B&S was called a Walther P22. I may have to go back and get it for the wife or maybe just a little dinky gun range shooter.

Toshiba Notebook hard drive upgrade: Complete

As mentioned in a previous post, I wanted to upgrade my current 120GB hard drive in my laptop. The process seemed easy enough without actually starting it because I've done upgrades in laptops AND desktops before.

I finally got around to starting the process yesterday (Saturday) even though I purchased the drive on Thursday. I started the process early since I didn't go play tennis but it turned into almost an all-day deal.

The first problem I ran into is when I took the old drive out and put the new drive in. It wasn't recognized with the Toshiba recovery/software/driver CD. My assumption is that the factory CD was specific to the original configuration of my laptop. Weird but not totally inconceivable.

Luckily, I have a WinXP Pro Full CD. I popped that sucker into the disk drive. That's when I ran into the second problem. It only recognized up to 131GB of the 320GB. Now, I know that 320GB is never actually 320GB. In fact, I have a Western Digital 320GB Passport Portable USB Drive that only registers 298GB. So, I knew I was going to be shorted on the size recognition but not this shorted!

I put the 120GB back in and started thinking of options. I remembered seeing some backup program on the Start Menu. I think it's like Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Backup. This worked fine...at first. It takes roughly 3 1/2 hours to create a backup this way and then it ends by saying something like, "Sorry, you don't have a floppy drive so an ASR backup may not work." WTF? When is the last freaking time YOU saw a notebook with a 1.44" floppy drive? I got a backup file but I can't get the computer to boot from the floppy since there is none which then will allow me to use the backup file to recreate the image on the 320GB drive. After some intensive Googling, it seems the Internet consensus says that the ASR backup will not work without a floppy. Some did give workarounds to get the files that were created for the floppy on a network computer that does have a floppy, burn the files from that computer to a floppy and voila! The freaking problem is there is STILL no floppy drive on my notebook. That's when they say, "You can get a USB external floppy drive at any computer store for cheap." Again, WTF? Why do I want to purchase a floppy drive for a one-time in a long-time hopefully the only-time recovery? DUH!

After more Googling, I finally found some solutions for using disk copying/imaging, one-to-one copying software. Most were pay options or free-to-try but I was looking for purely free! I do have a copy of Ghost from work but after installing it, I didn't know what to do or didn't do something correctly or the interface was too confusing so I uninstalled it and tried the options found from Googling. Download.com had a few good choices but many were file syncing or file backup. I wanted full hard drive backup with boot sectors and all that shit so when I removed the old drive, the new drive will just load everything right up like the old drive was still there.

I finally decided on Macrium Reflect Free because it got good user reviews on Download.com and a lot of people recommended it on Lifehacker.com.

Another 3-4 hours and I had an image on an external USB hard drive. I then used Macrium Reflect Free to load the image onto the 320GB hard drive which I had connected via another USB connection. After another 2-3 hours, the image was successfully loaded.

Now, it was go time! Fingers crossed I removed the 120 and replaced it with the 320, turned on the computer and we had boot up. For a second, I didn't know if it worked because the boot up wallpaper and process seemed different than I remembered with the 120 but I waited. Just a little while longer, I had the Windows login screen for my username. I used my fingerprint on my fingerprint reader to log in and voila! I was logged on.

The computer went through some recognizing the new hard drive process after it booted into Windows and said that my computer needed to reboot to complete the installation process of my new hard drive. So, I rebooted and, so far, everything is running good as gravy! I have a hard drive recognized space of 298GB with 200GB available. Booyah!

Other than running to the park with the kids and dog, my Sunday consisted of this and watching the marathon of all the Karate Kid movies. Yep, my Sunday was awesomely entertaining!

Upgrade: Notebook Hard Drive

So, I went to Fry's Electronics today to pickup a hard drive upgrade for my Toshiba laptop before the sale ended today. I currently only have a 120GB hard drive but have been wanting a larger capacity one. I have been reluctant because I don't know if I want to go through the process of restoring all my shit on the new drive, if I am going to give my laptop to one of my kids, or if I even want to spend the money.

Well, the local Fry's ad for 1/7/2009 had a pretty decent deal. It was for a Toshiba 320GB Notebook Hard Drive for $79.99. It's been very rare to find a capacity of this size for this price. I pondered all day yesterday and today. I finally decided to take a chance and go get it.

I've been watching Bangkok Dangerous so I haven't had a chance to mess with it yet, but since tomorrow (or today) is Friday, I will get right on it after work Friday.

Email humor 01/08/2009

Texas Judge gives 7 year old right to decide custody.
--Dallas, TX, December 31, 2008

A seven year old boy was at the center of a county courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy had a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and
regulation requiring that family unity be maintained to the highest degree possible.

The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried and said that they also beat him. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him.

After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Dallas Cowboys, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.

---

MONKEY BUSINESS

Once upon a time, a man appeared in a village and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.

The villagers, knowing there were many monkeys, went to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 and, as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort.

He then announced that he would buy monkeys at $20 each. This renewed the villagers efforts and they started catching monkeys again.

Soon the supply diminished and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so scarce it was an effort to even find a monkey, let alone catch it!

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 each! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would buy on his behalf.

The assistant told the villagers, "Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that my boss has already collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when my boss returns, you can sell them to him for $50."

The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys for 700 billion dollars.

They never saw the man or his assistant again, only lots and lots of monkeys!

Now you have a better understanding of how the WALL STREET BAILOUT PLAN WORKS!!!

In the news 01/08/2009

HEADLINE: Downtown Dallas to experience 'zero tolerance' policy on panhandling.
Click here for the article as long as it lasts.

It's funny how I just complained about this the other day, here. But like some of the comments say and I think the article did, they already tried to "ticket" these people and it didn't work.

It's sad that the city government can't come up with better ideas to correct or handle this problem. I'm just sick of them approaching me. As Master Swayze said in Dirty Dancing:

This is my dance space. This is your dance space. I don't go into yours, you don't go into mine.

A bullet to the head or a remote island in the Gulf of Mexico. At least, I gave them a choice.

In the news 01/06/2009

HEADLINE READS: AP Source: Bradley, Cubs agree to $30M, 3-yr deal

IMHO, this is what is wrong with the world.

When a guy that plays a sport in which he basically does nothing (it says so in the article here) can make $10mil a year for 3 years, to me it says, "WHAT THE FUCK!?"

Now granted, kudos to the guy for getting the dough for doing nothing but come on people (MLB team owners), have you not realized that in the end you get screwed on these kinds of deals? Look at the A-Rod deal that brought him to the Texas Rangers. I believe the Rangers are still paying part of his gajillion dollar salary and he now plays for the New York Yankees.

Anyway, as a fan, I would think they would do better at pleasing the fans like taking some of the $30mil and give free jerseys to kids/adults or have a major discount ticket night or something. I really don't think that there are a lot of people knocking down the ballpark gates to get in to see this ONE particular player. Know what I mean?

Look at Michael Jordan. Undoubtedly one of the best basketball players ever and he made more money from outside the Bulls' organization with endorsements. I believe that's the same with Tiger Woods. And on the flip side, wasn't it Scottie Pippen that said he'd take a pay cut to get/keep people if it help the TEAM win another championship? I think some other team sport player just recently made the same gesture.

Anyway, I just thought I'd rant a bit when I saw this news article heading.

Beggar, Vangrant...Bum

People will say that most of the homeless people begging on the street corners typically have some type of mental illness. I say, "So the fuck what!?"

It pisses me off when I pull up to a traffic light that is red and seeing some beggar walking, hobbling or whatever gimmick they have down the curb of the street or even in between the cars in the middle of the road looking for a handout. I don't give a shit what has placed them on the streets. It's unsafe to allow these bums to remain on the corner and approach vehicles at will. The person in the vehicle has no idea what this beggar is going to do or is capable of doing, especially for those that believe the bums are on the street with a mental illness. The worst is when I used to have my Jeep Wrangler. I only had a bikini top and metal half doors. So, when these begging fuckers came near my Jeep, I was fully exposed to any kind of danger they might pose. Luckily, I would anticipate them approaching me and I would stick my hand out, basically saying, "Back the fuck up and stay the hell away from me!" I kept a Mag-lite next to my seat just for the "in-case" moments.

I know that Dallas has passed some vagrant/bum law but it's not like they can lock up every bum ass bastard on the street because they will just hang out for the night and be right back out on the corner the next evening. And no matter how many time they get arrested and fined, it's not like they have money for payment. So, they don't pay the fines and maybe they go to prison. Now, I'm paying as a tax payer to house and feed these fuckers! What a fucking racket!

The other defense for these bums is that they can't get hired anywhere. Maybe but I do know Kroger hires just about anyone to be a courtesy clerk aka sacker. I've often wondered what corner they found a few of their sackers but at least they are working and not bumming on the street.

Anyway, after sharing my disgust of the city's leeches, there are others out there that I think may be just as bad.

Saturday, I was on my way home from playing tennis in Hurst. I was on Hwy 114 at Freeport Parkway just north of DFW Airport. I needed to get gas. There is a Shell/Whataburger combo-station on the corner. I pull to an open fuel pump behind another vehicle at the pump in front of it. As I'm slowing to a stop, I see an older, white male approach a much older, white man pumping gas in his vehicle. My windows are down because it was like 80 degrees on Saturday and I hear the older man say something to the much older man about how he's been at the gas station for a couple of hours and wanted to know if he could spare a couple of dollars for him to put gas in his vehicle. The much older man says no in not-so-many words. At this time, I'm at a complete stop, turning off my vehicle when the older man looks my way and I think to myself, "That fucker is going to come ask me for money!"

Sure enough, I get out, head to the back of my vehicle to remove the gas cap and slide my debit card for payment as he comes around the back of my vehicle and says, "Sir?" I let him speak and he continues with, "Could you spare a few dollars for me to get gas in my vehicle so I can go pick up my check?" I was like, "What?" I flashed my debit card and said, "I only have plastic!" I wanted to beat the wholly hell out of him for even approaching me but I watch him walk off to make sure he didn't stay near me. As I locked the handle to pump the gas, I leaned on my driver-side door to peer through and see if I could tell what the man was doing now. I saw him come out from behind a gas pump and I watched to see what he was going. It turns out the pump he was at just happened to be where his vehicle was. I know this because I saw him look into the vehicle and grab on the door handle. I figured he wouldn't be stupid enough to do this on a stranger's vehicle. Anyway, I further was pissed off that he had the audacity to approach me, much less anyone, when his vehicle was a fairly new Ford F150. I was like "WHAT THE FUCK!?"

I finish with my fueling and as I get into my vehicle to drive off, I look to see where "Mr. Bum" is. I see him standing on the curb/sidewalk in front of the gas station door waiting and looking for his next "victim."

So, you tell me why I should give a shit about this type of bum or any type of bum. I bust my ass for my income and if I got laid off or fired, I'd be damned sure to find a job as quick as possible no matter what I got paid because if I didn't get the same or more money, some money is better than no money!

Oh well, I just thought I'd share my "pissed-offness."