enough isn't enough anymore

While I was away last weekend something completely strange happened. And it pissed me off. I waited a week because I thought, "hey this will work out." Nope. Now it's time for me to step in. WTF? What is going on? WISH-TV (CBS) isn't on my TV anymore. I miss my CBS programming. No NCIS, How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Numb3rs, Flashpoint, and The Unit.

I don't trust anyone. My cable company says that it's not fair to charge subscribers for service they're not receiving from the station. The station says... well they don't say anything because the cable company isn't carrying them anymore. However, I did pull this from the Internet. How the hell does this happen? I always thought CBS was a national network. It hurts my brain to figure this out because no one is really talking about it. Everyone seems to have an agenda but I don't know what it is. It's about money, but for who? Not for the subscribers that's for sure. Both sides seem to think that the subscribers shouldn't pay more, but they want the money and where's the money come from? The subscribers. Argh! At some point I'm just going to pull them into an alley and beat the crap out of them until I get a straight answer.

Just to clarify, I'm not on any particular side. I hate my cable company. I've seen what Time Warner is capable of and it seems like Indiana got the 1990's version. I'm starting to hate CBS because it's a damn national network but the problem seems to be just the local station. 

So am I paying for this? Apparently. In more than one way too. At least it's not a damn writers' strike.

Fix this! Fix this now. The only thing keeping me sane is my TV. Do the math on what happens.

exploding steak

Again, I'd like for there to be a stupidity law; a law against stupid people. I'm not saying that they're guilty of child abuse or it's an intentional act of malice, but there's a kid in the backseat. You'd think that'd be enough to remember there's a kid in the backseat. You don't need to put your lunch back there, or a briefcase. There's a damn kid, that's enough. If that isn't bad enough don't forget the poochie. Yeah, and this isn't the way to transport babies either.

Not to say it isn't true, but that's the weirdest excuse. I need one to save my family too... uh yeah.

You think? Hmm, let's do the math. Alcohol + Speed + Texting. Yup. It all adds up to death. You know, I don't feel bad when this stuff happens. I think it sucks that emergency services have to go out there and scrap up the mess when there could be other things they could be doing like say polishing chrome. No, I'm not going to say that the family should pay the city for crap like this, but maybe they should be sterilized so they can't have more children. I do wonder what the text message was, you know, what was important enough to die over. I hope it wasn't anything like this because I don't even know if it's worth $250.

My political addition. Ah, the great democracy engine at work. Is it really a democracy when only one person votes? I dunno. I guess, because at least everyone has the option to vote but choose not to do so.

you asked

You know, some of my ideas are outside of the box when coming up with causes & effects. However, I think this one is in another zip code. Never in my life would I think that global warming would give rise to threats in national security. It's an interesting idea, but really? I don't think it directly affects terrorism. I guess that's just one more reason to drive flex-fuel cars or driving a hybrid. Up next, the global war on global warming. I gotta think of a snappy operational name.

This is BULLSHIT. What the hell is going on? I say open up the use of capital punishment. Introduce public flogging. Let the victim choose the punishment. To hell with this touchy-feely criminal justice system. Cruel & Unusual? You bet. Punishment is supposed to be cruel and unusual, otherwise it's not effective. On the 6 o'clock news tonight, a son and father are flogged together for a crime committed by the kid. Huh. Hold the parents accountable. Show the kids what happens when they commit a crime. If a victim wants the convicted to die, I say good. Sure, put a limit on it; like you can't get the death penalty for stealing a candy bar. The same punishments apply as they do today (or slightly modified) but let the victim choose what happens.
Oh no. A child rapist dies... I'm crying on the inside. I guarantee that the death penalty reduces the recidivism rate. Sorry, this stuff makes me a little angry. My contribution in remembering George Carlin.

Huh. I thought he killed himself because he got caught and was ashamed. My bad, apparently it's the tv show's fault. I say it's good, one less possible child molester out in the world. Everyone wins.

Hmm. Something about this doesn't jive with my senses. I believe the family, not the company. Yeah, I think an autistic child would be uncontrollable. Flying could be an issue. I don't think that a pilot would turn the plane around because she didn't put her bag in the overhead compartment. Granted, aviation security has increased in the last few years, but nothing to this level (I hope). Of course I'd be happy to find out that the kid wasn't autistic and she was kicked off the flight for not complying with FAA regulations.

I'm guessing that the 30-minutes-or-less delivery timetable isn't strictly observed. That's good stuff man. This is real news.

Hehe. It's an anti-redneck law.

For a hiking zebra I know.

try it again

OK. I was going to do this whole blog thing where I was going to talk about my friend bringing over an Easter keg but I nixed that idea. Instead, I decided to do a quick blurb of my life in the last few weeks.

*inhale*
Went to go spend some time with my dad up in Cleveland. He's doing better, got to meet one of his doctors, got more info about his condition, and saw the improvement.

Then I went to my Reserve training, everything was FUBAR. Taking orders from a WOC (Warrant Officer Cadet) and cadets aren't in the chain of command. Don't get me wrong, I've known the guy for over two years and respect him, but from a legal standpoint it isn't legal to follow his orders. I also had to deal with a Sgt. that likes to flip-on his authority whenever it benefits him. Afterwards, the WOC decided to do some reorganization putting E-4s' into positions of power. Unfortunately, that meant that I lost my squad. I thought I was a good squad leader, but whatever, looks like I'm getting out in a few months and my replacement I've been training has to take charge a little sooner than I planned. What sucks though is all of the training I lined up has been disrupted because of the reorganization and re-planning.

During my Reserve weekend we went to the range down at Ft. Knox. Last year it was awesome, we got to qualify at a new facility with acoustic sensors and computerized displays. We qualified 90% first time go's, where previously we were qualifying low-20's (due to crappy ranges). So we went again, but this time with one of our sister units. Instead of the high-tech range, we went low-tech. Super low-tech. Paper targets. With old cardboard, no staples, no staple guns, and a ton of rain.

We started the range 2-hours late, we had to go to the store to get staples and staple guns. Then around 9am it began to rain. Rain + Paper targets = soggy targets. Then, as if nature said, "Screw you!" it added wind. We were forced to shut down the range an hour early (4pm). I had to zero and qualify in the rain, before it got bad. Instead of going back and chillin' I stayed out to help others zero and qualify. I almost spent the entire time we were out there in the rain and cold. Of course I didn't realize how close I had gotten to hypothermia until I got back and into dry clothes. Others (the non-commissioned officers) got to stay warm and dry while I did their jobs and helped train soldiers, but then I get chewed out by one of those warm/dry NCOs about one of my soldiers, that he was in-charge-of because they were back at the barracks and I was soaked at the range.

Now I'm in the 3rd week of the quarter. Catching up on missed homework. Lots of fun. Going to classes is getting harder.

Went out drinking on St. Patrick's Day. Ended up at Wal-Mart at 2am (amazingly not that drunk) and bought almost $80 in Lego Star Wars pieces.

Life is boring, even with a keg in my living room.

just like that

Yup. I can see how one could relate the Holocaust to the smoking ban. And the government is rounding up smokers and tossing into concentration camps, I mean happy camps. Boo hoo. Cry me a river. Go smoke somewhere else.

See? Something good came from all that. I mean, snow in Baghdad. It's like a portent of things to come. Democracy = snow.

Huh. Didn't think there was that much to the business. OK, so the blacks could probably only afford it by paying less. And the discount to repeat customers is not a new idea. I was shocked though to see that having a pimp actually increased their annual income, but I guess that's what happens when you have someone to regulate and enforce prices. This I didn't believe but I guess since there's all sorts of kinky stuff out on the Internet (I've heard) that this wouldn't be far behind. I watch porn for the storylines and masterful directing, just like I read Playboy for the articles.

It's sad because she was innocent. Still, I've got to make fun of the dad because he'll be dead soon. Dude, it took you four months to beat up a baby? You're weak. And where the f*** is the mother in all of this? That b**** ought to get the death penalty too for letting this s*** happen in the first place. Four months!

by any other name

There's so much wrong with this video. OK, so the police were given a description of a serial rapist. "Hispanic" was the term used, now this radio station KMYL 1190 AM, is pissed off because the term is not very descriptive. They say that it is racial profiling, yet they claim that hispanic is an ethnicity. They didn't say it was ethnic profiling, which would make more sense, it's racial profiling... Still, my gripe isn't the whole ethnic v racial profiling. My problem is that on the show, to defend the police's stance was a former homicide detective. While he was ranting on about "...it wasn't a black male, or a Chinese male with his eyes like this..." as he says "Chinese male" he pushes his eyes back to slant them. Well if that isn't racist then I don't know what is.
I had a tough time finding the story on the web, apparently it isn't a big issue even down in Arizona. Good, because it's about finding a serial rapist, not a serial racist.

Hehe. Yeah, I just thought that up.

really?

OK. For like the last two months the monitor on my laptop has been getting progressively worse. At first it would only flicker once and awhile, nothing bad. Then about two weeks ago it started getting bad, I'd get huge white lines across the screen and it would white-out the entire screen and it would piss me off. It'd continue to flicker like this for awhile, then suddenly fix itself. Or vice versa, be fine and then out of nowhere it'd start crapping out.
I knew it was the monitor though, because I could plug in the 'monitor out' cable or the s-video, and it was fine on the TV or projector. So, what to do? Two days ago I went to Best Buy, where I purchased this nifty device. Luckily, when I bought it a few years ago I had the foresight to get the extended warranty of it. Well, honestly, it was a $2000+ laptop, I figure I should get the warranty too. Back to the present, I went to Best Buy with the laptop to get it fixed. The Geek Squad told me that it was a 1 month turn-around time. A month! Without my laptop? Even if I wasn't completely addicted to it there was no way that I could go a month without it. I need it for school! A month? Are they crazy?
About twenty minutes ago I was looking at my laptop and noticed that one of the hinges was slightly cracked open. Huh. Well, I figure I should pop them back together. Open laptop, and magically it's fixed. A month my ass.
Nah, I'll probably take it in later for services. You know, when I have a month to spare.

peaches

Good. A guy from my unit was one of the two killed in that attack.

Hmm. Good for the hat. See? When you're lost, just stay in one place. And that one place better be with your hat.

Women drivers. I'm surprised that she was just treated and released. I'd expect that she'd be arrested, you know, for driving INTO a hospital. Or if she had some sort of medical condition that she'd be held for observation. But nope, she got treated like a normal patient with a cold. Treated and released. I guess if you want to make it to the front of the line in a hospital you should just drive.

I'm healed! Of course they love it, I mean because they're all innocent too. You really think that a murderer is going to have a hard time lying? I'm glad they're treated with respect, because you know they did the same to their victims... you know up until the point that they killed them. Seriously, this is why I'm for just mass executions. Toss them all into a huge incinerator.

I don't understand why they're highlighting the fact that she was checking her mail. I mean, does it matter? Would the story lose meaning if they said "outside her house."? Now I'm scared to check the mail...

Duly noted. I must try this on her. I mean Jessica Biel.

I had an entirely different picture in mind. You know, when they say 'human shield' I'm thinking of the bad guys in the movies that grab the girl in the standoff with the good guy. Just instead of a bad guy it was a moose, and yes, he was holding a gun. Don't ask, it's just funny.

Items common to explosive components? Dude, a cell phone is an item common to an explosive component. A watch is an item common to an explosive component. A battery is an item common to an explosive component. Look, you're not being specific... I mean what explosive component is it similar to?

Goldilocks... Yup, if she tried that sh*t now, this is what the news story would look like. And instead of porridge it's crack cocaine.

She's lying. It's helpful to have $500 that you didn't have 3 days ago? But just awhile back you found $20,000 and nothing crossed your mind? Yeah, she's lying. I'm not saying she's a bad person but that's a bunch of bullsh*t. You can be a good person but then stumble across $20,000 and think just for a second of all the things you could do with that money. Then do the right thing and turn it in. I guess I'm just pissed that she thinks that everyone would go "Oh!!! $500 that I really didn't do anything for." But then go "Eh, $20,000. Whatever."

This piqued my interest, but then I got disappointed. He has arms, not functional but he has arms. I mean, he has armpits. You can't have armpits without... uh, let's see here. Arms!

Hehehe. You might as well try to pass off Monopoly money as a legal tender.

tricycle

Danica McKellar was on HIMYM tonight. I had such a crush on her when I was a kid. I'm not kidding, honestly though who didn't love Winnie Cooper? What? And just because she's like super smart in Math isn't a total nerd turn-on, it's not like she's got a mathematical theorem named after her. Math doesn't suck! It's not like I'm obsessing over her. See how much I obsess? I'm not even going to point that at the end of the Pineapple Incident episode Ted said that he called her a left a voicemail, even though during tonight's episode he said he was too scared to call her after the Pineapple Incident. See? Not obsessing. I'm just glad they fit her in. How cool would it be if she turned out to be the "mother" in How I Met Your Mother?

Ah crap, now I've probably got to call my dad and talk. Uh, I mean, yay! Didn't buy it huh? Yeah, me neither.



On a serious note...
I'm touching upon this subject because I just wrote a paper in one of my criminal justice classes on what makes a cop and another on consolidation of police departments. The psych test is part of both. Still, I don't think that a psych test could've possibly prevented this. It's not like AR-15 rifles are banned in all states so it would be an easy purchase (you can get one for $600). And 30rds for 6 people? Not difficult either. I mean a pre-schooler could do the same amount of damage with a precision rifle like the AR-15. OK, maybe that's exaggerating details. My point is that you can't blame the psych test or lack thereof on this whole incident. Who would've thought that "worthless pig" would've made him snap? You can't blame police training on it either. 30rds for 6 people in a confined area? Please. That's 5 a piece. Now had he tossed in a flashbang and popped off 6 rounds for 6 people then, yeah, I'd blame the police training but that's not what happened.
I don't attribute his age as a factor either, like Steve Bocek blames either. You've never met a 20 year-old that was responsible enough to be a police officer? Tell you what Steve, go visit a military base. You've got 17 year olds shouldering that kind of responsibility, and well I might add.
Yes, it's sad, but don't blame others for the fault of one. He snapped. Nothing can change that. It was the police's fault, it wasn't even the kids that teased him. One man did this. Accept it.

hip hop hooray

So sorry. You get to pretend you're someone else? So you're pretending you're not a geek huh? Try that on. Stereotypes? Sorry fat guy, you still fit it, like that shirt you were wearing. I don't know what's wrong with me...

Seriously, I have a problem. Not the one you're thinking. I like containers. Not sexually, but for some reason when I go to Ace Hardware, Wal-Mart, or any other place I always peruse the containers and I keep thinking how I could use them in my house. I've got containers within containers. It was functional at first, got a pile of crap that needed to be grouped together, get a container. Got some small things like car fuses? Get one of those sorters container. Now it's like, what else could I put in a container, or would my smaller containers fit in that big one? Need to vent on someone!!!


Aren't they always? I mean serial and mass killers? It's not like, "Well, it was just a matter of time before he started killing people, in fact, I think that Bob won the pool." They're always normal. And I love how the media emphasizes the fact that he was an "off-duty" sheriff. I don't think it would've been OK if he was. Like we have sheriff departments that authorize the use of deadly force for no reason. The proper response for a noise complaint? Execution. Yup. I guess it's for the morons out there that think that the police would do that.

I remember the days when I had to dress up for a flight. I hated it, but now it seems that you can't wear anything a 90 year-old churchgoing lady would deem "obscene." Patently Offensive? Hehe. Master Baiter.

The only thing that would make this weirder would be if the grandmother would serve as the surrogate. Wow, I thought that was bad, but this definitely takes the cake. Or at least until next week when someone decides to go with my idea...

It was National Porn Day? Ugh, why don't I get these memos? Got to love local news.
In the spirit of local news, I was driving down Rangeline and caught a pro-life sign display. I love those people! I mean, I learned in the 5th grade that if I was going to point out all of the flaws in an idea then I should come up with a better solution. Otherwise, to sit down and shut my trap. "Don't kill babies!" OK, so what do you want me to do? I can't support a child. You want to take'em? No? How about the thousands of others? No? They shut your trap. One less baby out there means one less possibility of them growing up and robbing me later. It's win-win for me.

In the spirit of being mean. God'll take care of the kids.

I love it when a spokesperson uses the phrase "super easy." It just exudes a high level of education doesn't it? Hehe. Super easy...

good riddance

Like RLS or any other sleep aid I wonder about the US. Are we becoming that lazy? Yes, I believe that there's a small percentage of people out there that need the medication to help them go to sleep, but for the rest of them they are too lazy and want a quick fix which doctors are only too happy to accomodate.
"I can't get to sleep!" Oh really? Go for a run (a few miles, 10 or so) and come back then tell me you're not tired. Sweaty too, but you'll be tired and then BANG! like a sleeping pill you're fast asleep.
Ambien CR is one of the "sleep aids" people can take. Non-naroctic, but still filled with its own set of problems. One of the adverse side-effects of a sleep aid is sleepiness? Oh heavens! That's like saying a side-effect of cough medicine is the sudden disappearance of coughing! Not all side-effects are this severe though. This side-effect was also observed after the subject took the medication. MEMORY LOSS! Sweet Jesus! No! They're asleep and can't remember? Run for the hills!!!
In the fine print at the bottom of the page it says that sleepwalking, eating, or driving while not fully awake, with amnesia for the event, have been reported. I don't sleepwalk, but if I did I'm sure I wouldn't remember and I wouldn't attribute amnesia to the cause of that. I wonder if there was one case where the guy sleptwalked to the car, got in, drove to McDonald's, came back, ate it, and then woke up in bed with half an Egg McMuffin next to him and just didn't know how the hell that happened.
And the great thing too is that the withdrawl symptoms of Ambien CR are just like crack or any other illegal drug out there. Vomiting, nausea, cramps, and the shakes. Unpleasant feelings? What the hell does that mean? I guess that's better than describing it as "something."

in a manner of speaking

So, being unemployed has left me with entirely too much time on my hands. I was watching TV when I glanced down at my water bottle. It was an Aquafina product. I did the whole turn and read, now I get that there's a little synposis to promote the product and the federal mandated dietary data panel but there's something extra under the "Smart Choices Made Easy" label. - Aquafina is a smart choice because it hydrates and is sodium free plus every serving of water is naturally calorie-free visit http://www.smartspot.com/. OK, first all water hydrates. That's a fact. The fact that it's Aquafina doesn't matter. Yes, that's great that it's sodium free. What's the big deal? Oh, it's naturally calorie-free. Well, I don't know of too many waters that are choke-full of calories. Calorie-free? That's your selling point? You might as well make the selling point, it's wet! *gasp* Really? I never would've thought! Holy cow!

Out of the pan and into the fire for this kitty. Survive with four rottweilers? Good luck kitty, you're nine lives will be used up in a month.

Well, at least he didn't hit the kid. And what exactly is the law against stomping fish? It's not a federal crime is it? A four-year sentence for stomping a fish, that must be a first.

Note to self: Don't leave trumpet out.

Sweet. What does mine say? Dude. What does mine say? SWEET! What does mine say? DUDE! Nah, but it was pretty cool, 141mph huh? That's the way I want to travel. Fastest I've gone is 123mph, that was in Oklahoma.

tomato ketchup

OK, I went to go see Knocked Up with Katherine Heigl and not the 2004 film with the same name and basic plot. I saw it with Joe and Heidi, but that's not the point. The point is that before we went to see the movie we went to Chili's for lunch. Well, that's not the whole point; it's was during lunch when I looked over to the condiments and noticed the Tomato Ketchup container. Tomato Ketchup. Tomato. Ketchup. I always assumed that ketchup was synonymous with tomato. I didn't realize that you had to modify ketchup with tomato. Are they making other varieties of ketchup? Zuccini ketchup? Cucumber ketchup? It's all so confusing. And if you're thinking about bringing up the "Heinz 57" theory, don't bother.

It just irks me, just like people that say, "ATM machine." Uh, dumbass? ATM stands for Automated Teller Machine, so basically you're telling me you're going to the automated teller machine machine. Who are you? Tommy Two-Times? (Goodfellas reference).

And for some lucky girl? This is part of my marriage proposal plan. It's not an empty box but it should be unique enough.

ghostrider

I'm curious, since when have people been splitting hairs? Vitamin water? Propel? Fruit-flavored water? It's all water-based. Everything! Carbonated water with sugar/syrup flavor!!!! It's soda people! But the whole carbonated water with sugar/syrup flavor makes it sound healthy doesn't it? At least more than soda does. Get real people, don't buy into the hype.
Yeah, I buy bottle water, but mostly for the bottle. I need something to carry that water around all day.

the joker

Since mid-March I've been getting ready to deployment. The basics, getting my bills in order, buying personal items and equipment I want/need, and settling my affairs (whatever we mean when we say affairs). I've spent time writing post-mortum letters to family and friends, in case of something. In doing so I've come realize that it's really morbid to try to write those. I'm still in the drafting phase. The funny part of this whole thing is that they didn't tell us much (they can't, legally speaking) except that we should prepare to get ready to deploy. ??? - That's what I thought, but they'd tell us at the next drill date.
So I'm guessing you're wondering what happened this weekend at drill right? Well, I get there and find the tentative list to deploy. Scan, scan, scan... scan some more, re-scan the whole thing. Huh, my name's not on it. And after all this time I've been getting ready?
Yes, some of my friends and family is happy that I'm not going. Problem: I'm not happy. I'm not happy. I can't explain why, I just know that I'm, but I'm not miserable either. Caught between the two I guess.
Maybe I'm sort of war-junkie and that I need the thrill of combat to justify my life and give me meaning. I don't know, I don't think I can make an objective observation. I will, however, tell you what I do know about myself. My job doesn't hold my interest (evident by my hours of blogging at work), the only reason I stay is because it pays the bills. My life pretty much sucks because I only make enough to pay the bills. My friends that live nearby are moving up and on with their lives, leaving me exactly where I was when I met them. I feel like I'm too old to make new friends (sort of like Randall in Clerks II).
Reasons to deploy - Over the last eighteen months I have gotten to know my unit, the people in it. I know what to expect from them and they know what to expect from me. Yes, they're my friends but much more than that too. The last couple of months my section has gotten more soldiers, brand-new, fresh, young faces. I've been assigned to mentor them, teach them how to survive, what the Army is all about, and hopefully, live long enough to enjoy a long and fruitful life. That's what makes me happy. To come in one weekend every month and have a dozen or so soldiers to mentor. Most of the veterans stick to their own groups, but we've been integrating them into our groups. I float around abit. I spent two weeks training with the MPs, I spent the first six months in the supply section helping them getting squared away. I am a fully capable intel analyst with field and combat experience doing my job and several others. NCOs respect the fact that I know what I'm doing and that I'm not just a dumb private with a bad attitude. I'm motivated, dedicated, and apparently not going. Plus, there's the fact that I can re-enlist out there for six years and a $20,000 bonus (tax free).
How exactly can I train soldiers for combat when I won't even go with them? They know it's not my fault, but I can't stand it. There's still so much more that I can teach because there's only so much you can learn from stories.
The Army, in its infinite wisdom has deemed me unworthy to go. There are other soldiers that are not going and some of them have good reasons but some refuse to extend their contracts (6x2, 6 years on active reserve, 2 years on inactive reserve) even though they have the time on their contract anyway. I'm at the end of my contract, 300 days out (you need 400 days from the day of deployment) and I still want to go.

white flag

Same news. Teachers having sex with students. Seriously though, is there just something wrong with them? Has this always been a problem, just one that wasn't publicized? Like the whole Catholic priest scandal? Whew. I liked it when I was ignorantly blissful.

I think we're just regurigating news stories here. How or why would any girl abandon a baby in a truck try, let alone do this three times. Seriously, take advantage of the law. Drop the kid off at a fire station. Like the days of ol', leave baby on doorstep, ring doorbell, run like hell. Instead she opted for the parked pickups and a bench. I say find her, charge her with two attempts of pre-mediated murder, and one 1st degree murder charge, plus a whole slew of other things. Then give her the electric chair.

I understand the drama of a life sentence but in modern times can't we find a better way to say things like life plus 30 years? To me I imagine the prisoner dies in jail, then for the next 30 years they keep the corpse in the cell. I realize it's a life sentence, eligible for parole after a certain amount of time but then it's not a life sentence. *shrug* I don't understand it.

joyride

At first I thought 'Uh-oh. They're onto me' but I'm not a columnist so it doesn't apply to me. Whew. And you'd think that a proof-reading of the publication before it goes to presses would've picked it up. You know, editors and stuff. Right?

This kid takes the cake on childhood obesity and then eats it. Then he goes around and eats the other kids' cakes too. There's other factors to consider. The mother suffers from depression and I don't know if that has anything to do with it but it could be a form of binge eating. Instead of feeding her own face, she feeds her kid's and that makes her happy.
Now I'm going to tease the fat kid, because when I was younger (and I was the skinny kid) I got picked on a lot by the fat kid. He's a bit of a wuss too, getting picked on? He's a 5-foot tall 8 year old that weighs 200lbs. He could pretty plow through anything at that point. Although I guess to be a bully one has to be active and this kid is anything but. Unless you count the repetitive motion of raising food to his mouth. Oh, and this:
"People pick on us because of my weight. They call us fat. It makes us feel sick of the nutters always shouting at us," Connor told ITV.
OK kid, you know you're fat when you refer to yourself as "us."

Now I've got to say something about this because, well, I went to DePauw. Delta Zeta sorority on DePauw got a visit from their nationals, which is a big thing because if nationals have to step in you've got problems. Well, DZ has been falling short on their recruitment numbers. So what did nationals do? What any sorority national chapter do, kicked out the cows. Now, I love DZ, some good friends were DZ's. They were an interesting bunch. I don't think it's right that they selected people by their physical appearances and made them alumna just to get them out of the house. I understand that they weren't what nationals expected of members physically, but to cover that up by saying that they didn't meet recruitment standards? What the heck does that mean? So only the pretty recruit the pretty, right? It's all vanity, yes, I'm jealous but I can see its benefits. Of course there's its disadvantages too but a small plight to pay to be beautiful.
I support the outcasted DZ's. And I give them their props too, because I'm sure that the news stories about the whole incident haven't helped recruiting. Unless, there's no such thing as bad PR.

snow day

Well, it's official. I hate snow. Not for the conventional purposes but rather because I'm stupid so I'm blaming the snow.
There's some positive stuff from all of this, so I'll start with that. I tested out my new Army uniforms, the ACUs, in the snow. The cold weather gear worked pretty good. Spent extended time out in the snow and the cold, didn't really affect me too much. The boots were nice, they were heavy so my feet punched through the snow to find the ground below.
Now how do I know that the uniforms can withstand the cold for long periods of time? Well, Wes, his brother, and Bill and I all went out tonight. Made an appearance at The Fox and Hound, but afterwards decided to hit some country roads in his Explorer. Good idea right? Yeah, not so much. Worse though is Indiana's snow response. In Ohio and Illinois (states that border Indiana) they all have dump trucks with snow plows on them. But in addition to that they have the salt sprayers on the back. Makes sense right? Plow snow in front, salt behind. Makes for good times on the road. Indiana on the other hand, is a complete back-birth. Here's why. In Indiana, the law states that if someone slips and falls down it's their fault. Conversely, if it's salted, the moron can sue the state or the company, whoever owns that piece of property. Result? No salt. Brilliant strategy.
Back to why I hate snow. So we're on the country roads where the plows haven't touched the roads, and it's been snowing since 11pm Monday. There's a lot of snow, but also there's lots of wind so the snow doesn't stay in one place, it just pushes it down further. Now since the roads haven't been touched by the plows there's a lot. Eventually we get stuck, the snow is up to the doors of the Explorer and we're not actually touching the asphalt below, but we're on the road so that gives you some measure of how high the snow is. Wes and I jump out, we've got to dig out the truck and give it a little push.
There's a lot of heaving, lots of hoing and we break the truck free a little. As I stated before, the wind is covering up anything that we dig, so we're doing it in small steps. We're moving maybe about 100ft at a time, not a lot but enough to tire out anyone digging and pushing. After getting about halfway done (I didn't know it at the time) I collapse on some snow. I didn't realize it at the time but one of my jacket pockets was unzipped. Contained in said pocket was my keys and my camera. I got back up and we pushed some more, got free, and then I went to take a picture of our mess. Yup. Pocket open and empty. We tried to go back and look for them but the wind had pretty much covered up all of our tracks. I couldn't find where I fell down (and I did fall down alot) but I searched for awhile. Wes helped, Bill and Wes' brother were no help in that department, staying in the truck. So it's a lost until springtime. We're going to go back after everything thaws, might as well hope.
Well, obviously this was all my fault. I accept the blame, hell, I expected it. Thus, Bill had spare keys to my apartment and my car. Granted I lost my apartment key, mailbox key, Bill's place, Darius' place, my work key, my car key, and my spare car key. Oh, also the grenade pin (no grenade).
The snow is drifting everywhere, it is literally up halfway on my window ledges and was about a foot and a half on my patio (porch, or lanai, whatever). I also got my heat gun from Bill, so I'm going to freeze in my neighbor below me. Thaw out my entire patio with my heat gun. Heck, I can't get into work tomorrow, might as well do something productive.
I hate Indiana, the back-birth state.

up on the roof

OK, because this turned out the way it did, it's funny. Plus I was watching Adult Swim last night (Futurama and Family Guy) and saw the apology, not exactly sure what to make of it. How exactly did Bostonians get this paranoid? Bomb scares? Really? Oh, there's electronics equipment with wires! It's a bomb!!!!!!!! Run away!!!!! Yeah it was flipping the bird but so? Not really telltale signs of a bomb. Unless the bomber's got a great sense of humor.

Here's some local Indiana news. You may not of heard of Eli Lily Co. but you've probably heard of some of their products. Altima, Cialis, or Cymbalta? Well, anyway, making it sound like a bad thing, Lily's profits for the fourth quarter dropped 81 percent. *gasp* To a measly $132.3 million. This was after paying a $500 million in a class-action lawsuit. Don't worry though, overall profits for 2006 was up from 2005, to $2.7 billion. Wait. Wait. Nope, sorry, not really feeling sad about it. Like Eli Lily making only 2.7 BILLION DOLLARS is going to make feel bad. Good for them, paying out half a billion dollars. They can afford it. Me, if I saw a 81 percent drop, well, I'd get paid about $81.

Just like when the price of oil was dropping because of the unusually warm winter. *gasp* And CNN Money was reporting like that it was a bad thing??? Wait, what? Gas prices go down, people have more to spend, do more things with said money saved, and stimulates the economy. So what's the bad thing? Oh, the oil industry doesn't make as much as they did yesterday. Instead of making $2 billion like they did yesterday they only made $1.8 billion. CRY ME A RIVER. I guess you can't fuel up your private jet today. Life sucks doesn't it? Go kill yourself rich guy. No, seriously. Kill yourself.

bandwagon

"Hounddog" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Now it starred 12-year old Dakota Fanning, but what's getting all the attention is one scene in particular. There is a scene where Fanning's character, Lewellen, is raped by a teenage boy. If I read the description correctly it was done tastfully and suspenseful. What gets me up in arms is groups like the Catholic League that get all huffy and puffy without ever seeing the film. Yeah, rape is bad. Rape is really, really bad. Should it in a film? Depends, what's the film about? Oh, a rape victim? Yeah, that's kind of important to the storyline. Dumbasses. "Oh, we think Ms. Fanning may have been exploited just like her character." To which I say, "Oh really? So you think it got past her publicist, agent, assistant, and her parents?" Now sure she's probably the most powerful 12-year old but the keyword is 12-year old. Don't tell me no one in that list I named off couldn't kick a 12-year old girl's ass.

OK, while I'm on the subject of people that should shot on sight. Just look at the psycho. It gives me chills.

On the dumber side of news this morning...amputee wants to become a firefighter. City says no, because he's got no left leg. While, yes, it is admirable for anyone that wants to be a civil servant, the pay is crappy, the hours are long, and the benefits suck. Still, there are things called limitations. Yeah they suck, but they exist nonetheless. Sure he's run marathons, he played football, but it's always just been his life on the line. As a fireman it would be other people's lives on the line, it introduces a variable into an already unstable environment. Now you'd think it would've been caught before the final medical exam, but the fire department doesn't screen for amputees just like it doesn't screen for mental retardation. There are limits that are inherent to all jobs. Don't bitch about it.
Hehehe, here's what I imagine the screening process for retards is. "Are you mentally retarded? Check 'yes' or 'no.' If you don't know, check yes."