Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Priceless - Part 2
I OWN THE TRUCK!!!
No more riding the bus for-fucking-ever to go 11 miles for a doctor appointment.
No more getting up at 5:30 am for a 9:30 am appointment.
No more freezing my ass off waiting for the bus or on the open platform of the Metro in the middle of winter.
No more asking "is this metro accessable" when thinking about going someplace.
I can go to the woods, and commune with nature, at the drop of a hat.
I can listen to my music as loud as I want with the windows open while commuting TO WORK!!!
(really to ANYWHERE!)
She isn't much to look at but I tell ya, she is great.
Pictures to come soon.
No more riding the bus for-fucking-ever to go 11 miles for a doctor appointment.
No more getting up at 5:30 am for a 9:30 am appointment.
No more freezing my ass off waiting for the bus or on the open platform of the Metro in the middle of winter.
No more asking "is this metro accessable" when thinking about going someplace.
I can go to the woods, and commune with nature, at the drop of a hat.
I can listen to my music as loud as I want with the windows open while commuting TO WORK!!!
(really to ANYWHERE!)
She isn't much to look at but I tell ya, she is great.
Pictures to come soon.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Frogies Priceless
Used pick up truck - $1,500
Insurance - $140 a month
Gas - up to $100 a month
No longer having to get up at 4:30 in the morning to make a 7:30 MRI appointment that is only 11 miles away - Priceless
Insurance - $140 a month
Gas - up to $100 a month
No longer having to get up at 4:30 in the morning to make a 7:30 MRI appointment that is only 11 miles away - Priceless
Thursday, February 15, 2007
What my life is like
Hello all,
This is a neat slideshow about what my life and countless others lives are like.
http://news.yahoo.com/page/gay_marriage;_ylt=A0WTUewj.NNFDAIAqzes0NUE
The first couple is lucky. They can afford the legal fees entailed in getting the paperwork done.
I cannot.
The second couple is also lucky. They have custody of their children.
I do not.
If I lived in the state of Virginia it would be illegal for me to draw up the paperwork to protect property inheritance, hospital visitation and joint property ownership. In a lot of states even if I did have the paperwork I am not guaranteed simple hospital visitation.
Can you imagine what it is like to pack for a simple vacation? I, and countless others, make sure we bring the medical power of attorney paperwork with us. This is just to simply be able to sit with our partner in the treatment room if our partner gets sick, instead of being forced to wait in the waiting room with no information given to us because we are not related.
Sometimes, in the fight about what to call it, we lose sight of what it all really means...
Thanks,
Frog
This is a neat slideshow about what my life and countless others lives are like.
http://news.yahoo.com/page/gay_marriage;_ylt=A0WTUewj.NNFDAIAqzes0NUE
The first couple is lucky. They can afford the legal fees entailed in getting the paperwork done.
I cannot.
The second couple is also lucky. They have custody of their children.
I do not.
If I lived in the state of Virginia it would be illegal for me to draw up the paperwork to protect property inheritance, hospital visitation and joint property ownership. In a lot of states even if I did have the paperwork I am not guaranteed simple hospital visitation.
Can you imagine what it is like to pack for a simple vacation? I, and countless others, make sure we bring the medical power of attorney paperwork with us. This is just to simply be able to sit with our partner in the treatment room if our partner gets sick, instead of being forced to wait in the waiting room with no information given to us because we are not related.
Sometimes, in the fight about what to call it, we lose sight of what it all really means...
Thanks,
Frog
Monday, February 05, 2007
Bloody Hell!
Ok, here I am at work. We are planning to shuffle the entire 9th floor of my building around. In other words 42 office moves. Forty-Two people will be changing offices. Forty-Two. Not just moving to another floor. That would be too easy. No, we are moving them around. Just. around. from office to office.
So, myself and two of my co-workers just spent two and a half hours figuring out how we can do this, based on the (initially incomplete, didn't get the whole one till we found problems with the first one) list of who goes where. The reason is, some people are going into offices that other people need to vacate first. Only 4 instances have people moving into actual empty offices. So, doing the math... that leaves 38 moves that are in some way dependant on each other. Five of these instances actually have more than three office moves needing to take place before the last person can move in. Anyone familiar with the term Charley Foxtrot?
As far as I can tell most of these moves are not based on helping operations be more efficient or to save space. I asked, multiple times, about the need to move all of these people a lot of whom have moved offices in the last 10 MONTHS. An answer could not be given. Eventually it came down to TPTB (The Powers That Be) want to do this.
In all of my years of working for that most illogical organization, then for the organization that made a twisted sort of sense, doing so many things that I didn’t understand, I don't think I have ever said the words I said to my boss right before we got out of the planning session...
"This is stupid."
So, myself and two of my co-workers just spent two and a half hours figuring out how we can do this, based on the (initially incomplete, didn't get the whole one till we found problems with the first one) list of who goes where. The reason is, some people are going into offices that other people need to vacate first. Only 4 instances have people moving into actual empty offices. So, doing the math... that leaves 38 moves that are in some way dependant on each other. Five of these instances actually have more than three office moves needing to take place before the last person can move in. Anyone familiar with the term Charley Foxtrot?
As far as I can tell most of these moves are not based on helping operations be more efficient or to save space. I asked, multiple times, about the need to move all of these people a lot of whom have moved offices in the last 10 MONTHS. An answer could not be given. Eventually it came down to TPTB (The Powers That Be) want to do this.
In all of my years of working for that most illogical organization, then for the organization that made a twisted sort of sense, doing so many things that I didn’t understand, I don't think I have ever said the words I said to my boss right before we got out of the planning session...
"This is stupid."
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Ahhhhh... Smell the bullshit.
This quote from the President's State of the Union speech sounds like this may be the President’s way of getting around the unbelievably stupid policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” without offending those conservatives who believe that the only good queer is in the closet, or even better, dead.
“A second task we can take on together is to design and establish a volunteer Civilian Reserve Corps. Such a corps would function much like our military reserve. It would ease the burden on the Armed Forces by allowing us to hire civilians with critical skills to serve on missions abroad when America needs them. It would give people across America who do not wear the uniform a chance to serve in the defining struggle of our time.”
I mean really, would it be that bad to let honest, hard working, dedicated, massively patriotic people serve our country? I guess it is a problem if that person happens to have a difference that is so small, so inconsequential, so not having anything to do with the ability and the quality of service, that unless you ask or they tell you… you wouldn’t even know.
The United Kingdom has had “integrated” (read Gays and Lesbians serving openly) services for a long time now. That country didn’t fall into the ocean. No rain of Holy Fire or lightning came down. In fact in a quote from The Sunday Times of London on August 28th 2005 Captain Guy Sutcliffe one of the officers working at the Army’s recruiting booth at a gay pride festival said: “We are actively recruiting anyone. We reflect society irrespective of sexuality, gender or religion.” Sutcliffe said the army had “no idea” how many gay soldiers there were within its ranks. “It’s not relevant,” he said. “It’s not something we monitor.”
Contrast that thought with what General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley said in 1998 about the court decision allowing gays to serve openly.
“The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the British Armed Forces are obliged to enlist avowed homosexuals. Wittingly or otherwise, this decision will strike at morale and discipline.
The court's assumption is that military employments are much the same as others. But they are not.
The services are recruited and trained for war fighting. In this function death or wounds are a regular outcome. Those engaged are obliged to operate in close groups for long periods; comradeship is the binding factor. Ata a time when homogeneity is essential, sexual squabbles will be disruptive. Perhaps fatally so. “
Amazing that one of our closest allies, who previously used the same arguments to ban queer personnel as we do today, is so concerned about gays in the military that seven years after the General's argument for exclusion they don’t even bother to find out how many are serving.
Course, I can’t tell the difference between the President’s suggestion above and the currently existing system of hiring government contractors.
Unless, what he really means is mercenaries…
“A second task we can take on together is to design and establish a volunteer Civilian Reserve Corps. Such a corps would function much like our military reserve. It would ease the burden on the Armed Forces by allowing us to hire civilians with critical skills to serve on missions abroad when America needs them. It would give people across America who do not wear the uniform a chance to serve in the defining struggle of our time.”
I mean really, would it be that bad to let honest, hard working, dedicated, massively patriotic people serve our country? I guess it is a problem if that person happens to have a difference that is so small, so inconsequential, so not having anything to do with the ability and the quality of service, that unless you ask or they tell you… you wouldn’t even know.
The United Kingdom has had “integrated” (read Gays and Lesbians serving openly) services for a long time now. That country didn’t fall into the ocean. No rain of Holy Fire or lightning came down. In fact in a quote from The Sunday Times of London on August 28th 2005 Captain Guy Sutcliffe one of the officers working at the Army’s recruiting booth at a gay pride festival said: “We are actively recruiting anyone. We reflect society irrespective of sexuality, gender or religion.” Sutcliffe said the army had “no idea” how many gay soldiers there were within its ranks. “It’s not relevant,” he said. “It’s not something we monitor.”
Contrast that thought with what General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley said in 1998 about the court decision allowing gays to serve openly.
“The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the British Armed Forces are obliged to enlist avowed homosexuals. Wittingly or otherwise, this decision will strike at morale and discipline.
The court's assumption is that military employments are much the same as others. But they are not.
The services are recruited and trained for war fighting. In this function death or wounds are a regular outcome. Those engaged are obliged to operate in close groups for long periods; comradeship is the binding factor. Ata a time when homogeneity is essential, sexual squabbles will be disruptive. Perhaps fatally so. “
Amazing that one of our closest allies, who previously used the same arguments to ban queer personnel as we do today, is so concerned about gays in the military that seven years after the General's argument for exclusion they don’t even bother to find out how many are serving.
Course, I can’t tell the difference between the President’s suggestion above and the currently existing system of hiring government contractors.
Unless, what he really means is mercenaries…
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Gotta See to Believe...
This is for those out there who like me prefer the non-PC, gonna piss people off flip side of religion.
http://ruachx.blogspot.com/search/label/Sorta%20almost%20makes%20Benedict%20worth%20it
http://ruachx.blogspot.com/search/label/Sorta%20almost%20makes%20Benedict%20worth%20it
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Story from the Associated Press via Yahoo!
First off here is the link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070102/ap_on_fe_st/o_hare_ufo_sighting
Second off here is the story since Yahoo tends to discontinue the links after a while...
BTW... the last line is priceless...
A UFO at O'Hare? Some pilots thought so
Mon Jan 1, 7:02 PM ET (Associated Press)
CHICAGO - Federal officials say it was probably just some weird weather phenomenon, but a group of United Airlines employees swear they saw a mysterious, saucer-shaped craft hovering over O'Hare Airport last fall.
The workers, some of them pilots, said the object didn't have lights and hovered over an airport terminal before shooting up through the clouds, according to a report in Monday's Chicago Tribune.
The Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged that a United supervisor had called the control tower at O'Hare, asking if anyone had spotted a spinning disc-shaped object. But the controllers didn't see anything, and a preliminary check of radar found nothing out of the ordinary, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said.
"Our theory on this is that it was a weather phenomenon," Cory said. "That night was a perfect atmospheric condition in terms of low (cloud) ceiling and a lot of airport lights. When the lights shine up into the clouds, sometimes you can see funny things."
The FAA is not investigating, Cory said.
United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said company officials don't recall discussing any such incident from Nov. 7.
At least one O'Hare controller, union official Craig Burzych, was amused by it all. "To fly 7 million light years to O'Hare and then have to turn around and go home because your gate was occupied is simply unacceptable," he said.
Second off here is the story since Yahoo tends to discontinue the links after a while...
BTW... the last line is priceless...
A UFO at O'Hare? Some pilots thought so
Mon Jan 1, 7:02 PM ET (Associated Press)
CHICAGO - Federal officials say it was probably just some weird weather phenomenon, but a group of United Airlines employees swear they saw a mysterious, saucer-shaped craft hovering over O'Hare Airport last fall.
The workers, some of them pilots, said the object didn't have lights and hovered over an airport terminal before shooting up through the clouds, according to a report in Monday's Chicago Tribune.
The Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged that a United supervisor had called the control tower at O'Hare, asking if anyone had spotted a spinning disc-shaped object. But the controllers didn't see anything, and a preliminary check of radar found nothing out of the ordinary, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said.
"Our theory on this is that it was a weather phenomenon," Cory said. "That night was a perfect atmospheric condition in terms of low (cloud) ceiling and a lot of airport lights. When the lights shine up into the clouds, sometimes you can see funny things."
The FAA is not investigating, Cory said.
United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said company officials don't recall discussing any such incident from Nov. 7.
At least one O'Hare controller, union official Craig Burzych, was amused by it all. "To fly 7 million light years to O'Hare and then have to turn around and go home because your gate was occupied is simply unacceptable," he said.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Interactive time...
Here are a couple of statements that should be on T-Shirts. Some I came up with, the others I have given attribution. One day I will have them printed.
"Paranoia. Not just for the mentally ill anymore."
"You would be amazed at what you can do with your mind when you have less on it."
Thanks to Rauch X for this next one. To be worn by a blind friend while riding public transportation...
"The red on the end of this cane is not paint! Do you feel lucky?"
In response to my statement of "Will work for eye-candy" the same person who will wear the previous shirt suggested…
"Will work for tactile candy"
I think she has an unfair advantage in the candy department…
Are there any others out there who would like to add a comment that should go on a t-shirt? Please post using the comments feature. :-)
"Paranoia. Not just for the mentally ill anymore."
"You would be amazed at what you can do with your mind when you have less on it."
Thanks to Rauch X for this next one. To be worn by a blind friend while riding public transportation...
"The red on the end of this cane is not paint! Do you feel lucky?"
In response to my statement of "Will work for eye-candy" the same person who will wear the previous shirt suggested…
"Will work for tactile candy"
I think she has an unfair advantage in the candy department…
Are there any others out there who would like to add a comment that should go on a t-shirt? Please post using the comments feature. :-)
Work work work
I have a lot going on in my life... so why have the last two blog entries been about work? Perhaps I am doing too much of it? Na... just haven't felt like chatting up a storm about the other stuff. Perhaps soon...
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Get'n screwed
This is from the tech support page of a company that sells an OCR software that costs over $450.
Contact Technical Support
Individual users can interact with [deleted company name because I sure don't want to get sued] through a pay per-incident email process. Incidents can be reported by completing the Problem Report Form at a cost of $9.95 per incident.
It gets even better if you want to call...
$19.95 per incident
And God help you if you got their software as part of a hardware purchase...
$39.95 per incident
If it costs 10 bucks per email, 20 bucks per phone call and 40 BUCKS for a bundled thing, then shit, I am in the wrong kind of software support. Even the giant Microsoft doesn't do that to ya.
Not even a kiss first...
Contact Technical Support
Individual users can interact with [deleted company name because I sure don't want to get sued] through a pay per-incident email process. Incidents can be reported by completing the Problem Report Form at a cost of $9.95 per incident.
It gets even better if you want to call...
$19.95 per incident
And God help you if you got their software as part of a hardware purchase...
$39.95 per incident
If it costs 10 bucks per email, 20 bucks per phone call and 40 BUCKS for a bundled thing, then shit, I am in the wrong kind of software support. Even the giant Microsoft doesn't do that to ya.
Not even a kiss first...
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Laptop from hell
This is my statement after spending all day yesterday (a Friday) and today (a Saturday) trying to find the correct driver for the "Unknown Device" that keeps generating a Hardware Found message.
None of the drivers from the manufacturer are working. None of the drivers from the chip maker are working. Drivers from overseas are not working. Nothing is working.
So...
I uninstalled the "Unknown Device"
and
now I can't use the laptop without going into VGA mode because as soon as WinXP starts the screen stops.
Ah HA! you say. It must be a video driver!
Nope... got all of those.
fuckityfuckdamshittypieceofshitlaptopmadebyabadmanufacturerefuckityfuck.
None of the drivers from the manufacturer are working. None of the drivers from the chip maker are working. Drivers from overseas are not working. Nothing is working.
So...
I uninstalled the "Unknown Device"
and
now I can't use the laptop without going into VGA mode because as soon as WinXP starts the screen stops.
Ah HA! you say. It must be a video driver!
Nope... got all of those.
fuckityfuckdamshittypieceofshitlaptopmadebyabadmanufacturerefuckityfuck.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Monday, August 14, 2006
More Bad Milk
Ok, this one wins the dumas award for this week. I got this email in the IT Support inbox at work...
"Hi,
Work #27229 is for off network, #26525 is for messy subdirectories I sent out on July 24 (see the email below).
Thanks [deleted] for working hard on this problem. However, the problem is still here. The folder "[deleted]" created on Aug. 9 contains 117 sub-folders, 609 files, 57.6 MB.
Is it ok if I delete the "All Users," "[deleted]", "[deleted]" and "[deleted]" folders from here?
I hope you can fix the problem. "
The folder "All Users" contains the shortcuts, data, and application information to most of the software installed on every Window's based PC out there.
This is part of the answer my boss gave this person... "The All Users Folder is where most of the Program settings are, including most of the ones you use. If you look under your profile, you'll see very few settings under the Start menu. Kill the All Users folder, and most of your programs will be inaccessible." Just this folder alone being deleted would basically blow up the Windows operating system.
The reason this question wins the award??
The person who sent this email is a software developer.
"Hi,
Work #27229 is for off network, #26525 is for messy subdirectories I sent out on July 24 (see the email below).
Thanks [deleted] for working hard on this problem. However, the problem is still here. The folder "[deleted]" created on Aug. 9 contains 117 sub-folders, 609 files, 57.6 MB.
Is it ok if I delete the "All Users," "[deleted]", "[deleted]" and "[deleted]" folders from here?
I hope you can fix the problem. "
The folder "All Users" contains the shortcuts, data, and application information to most of the software installed on every Window's based PC out there.
This is part of the answer my boss gave this person... "The All Users Folder is where most of the Program settings are, including most of the ones you use. If you look under your profile, you'll see very few settings under the Start menu. Kill the All Users folder, and most of your programs will be inaccessible." Just this folder alone being deleted would basically blow up the Windows operating system.
The reason this question wins the award??
The person who sent this email is a software developer.
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