Letting Go

It's been a while since a visit to Wal-Mart has inspired a thought, well that changed Saturday. After checking out we walked into the front area of the store only to realize it was gushing rain outside. We were in no hurry and since there is no way to run through the rain with three kids and the things we bought, we decided to wait it out.

It didn't take long before the area we were standing in started filling up with other people waiting out the rain as well. As more and more people squeezed into the room it started to get uncomfortable. I finally had enough when a lady with a big cart decided she needed to occupy the same space we were standing in. As she tried to back the cart over us I decided getting wet didn't look to bad after all.

So I told the wife to be ready and I would pull the car around. I darted out of the side door into the rain but just as I was about to let the door go I noticed a woman coming for the door. Instinctively I stopped and held the door. She was in no hurry as she was under an umbrella, I on the other hand got drenched. She walked by me and gave me a little nod and a half smile. I let the door go and I started my mad dash for the car, half way there I realized I was as wet as I could get so I just walked the rest of the way.

As I drove home soaking wet I wondered if holding the door for a woman is an outdated practice. I was raised to show women a certain amount of respect. I don't intend to be sexist or belittle women, it's just something I was taught to do and to be honest, like to do. Most women don't seem to care either way. Some seem genuinely surprised and on a few occasions I have been informed that I was being insulting. One lady even stopped in front of the door and stared at me until I let the door go so that she could open it herself.

Am I stuck in some archaic practice that is out of style? Is showing respect for women by holding a door, letting them go first or pulling out their chair now considered an insult? I remember reading in someones blog or comments that they like a man to hold the door for them but is that the norm or the exception?

I guess what I'm wondering is am I making a fool of myself? Should I have played rock, paper, scissors with the wife to see who ran to get the car? Should I start treating women the same as men?

I have already started passing these manners on to my sons. Maybe I shouldn't? Maybe I'm just too old fashion. Maybe...

Life or Death? I'm confused

On most subjects I have a good idea where I stand. On moral issues... well that's even easier. So I was shocked Saturday when I was listening to a talk radio program and had absolutely no idea how I felt.

While coming home from work a weekend host that I don't usually listen to was on the radio. Mike Gallagher is a just another in a long line of conservative talk radio host. So it didn't surprise me when I heard him talking about the death penalty and a man who is scheduled to be executed in Texas very soon.

The victims brother came on the show and they were discussing how the usual anti-death penalty crowd was rallying around this man Kenneth Foster Jr. Mr. Foster was convicted in the death of Michael LaHood Jr who was twenty five at the time. I was thinking how typical, these same people can run to support these murders but never seem to care about the victim or their family. The death penalty doesn't bother me as long as justice has been served fair and complete. In this case Mr. Foster was found guilty by a jury and has not been over turned in the appeals process.

I was about to turn the channel when someone mentioned that the man who shot the victim to death has already been executed. What? Yep, it seems that Mr. Foster was the driver of the 'get away car'. He didn't actually shoot anybody. In Texas and other states the law states he is just as guilty as if he pulled the trigger.

At first I thought ok, fair enough. They were targeting women that night to rob and carjack. They had already perpetrated five crimes before the murder. They followed the victim's girlfriend to his house with the plan to rob her at gun point. Mr. Foster knew all about it. What they didn't know was the victim was in the car in front of her and went to her rescue when they all arrived at his house at the same time. Foster drove them there and he drove them away.

The problem is, the more I thought about it the more I wasn't sure he should be executed. I've always thought the death penalty was for those who directly commits murder. Did this guy know his partner in crime would shoot the victim? I doubt it. Would he have driven him had he known? More than likely, yes. They had been assaulting people all night.

So now I'm in an unfamiliar position of not knowing how I feel about an issue. So what is justice in this case? I wish I knew.

OMG! & WTF!

Original

Jen's vision

OMG, what has happened to common sense? A 13 year old boy was suspended from Payne Junior High for five days for drawing the above picture. The school officials claim this drawing is a threat to his classmates. WTF? Maybe if he balled it up and threw it at them as hard as he could or if he ran around trying to give them a paper cut.

On top of it, this drawing sucks. I thought it was a bus at first. Holy shit, there's no way you could shoot anybody with it because the damn thing isn't even straight. And wtf is on the front of it, teeth? I guess if you run out of bullets you can bite someone with it? I can't even identify what's hanging off the trigger. Maybe it's some kind of nuclear switch. The grip is out of proportion as well. Where the hell do you put the clip? This kid is 13 and drawing crap like this? He should have gotten five days suspension for drawing like a first grader.

Come on people, be serious!!!

Old, Fat and Suspicious

An interesting conversation with the wife once again opened my eyes to a world I wasn't aware existed, at least not in my realm.

I am in the process of copying all my home movies to DVD for safe keeping. It's been a long boring process but the videos go back to 1986 and are starting to look bad. As I was copying one of the tapes the wife came into the room and we started commenting on how much certain people's appearance had changed in just 15 years.

As you may have guessed one of the people in the video is now fat. His wife has always been on the heavy side.

So the wife says " I bet she isn't upset that he's put on so much weight."

I was confused, "Why?"

Because he's big like her now.

So? Why wouldn't she want a fit husband?

Because then she would have to worry about her weight

Wouldn't that motivate her to do something about her weight?

You are so naïve! Most people don't like their partner to look a lot better than them.

Ok, I can see that...maybe, but instead of doing something about themselves they hope their partner falls out of shape?

Yes, there has been a lot of cases where a spouse has sabotaged a partner's diet to keep them fat.

And it's true! I asked around. Did anybody else know this was going on? Is this how you love someone? You wish they were fat because you're lazy. The whole thing sounds selfish to me. Thank God the wife has always supported me in my quest to stay in shape. Then again she does keep the fridge well stocked with my favorite ice cream. Curious.. and suspicious...

I don't know who started this but here's mine :)

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Second Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	High
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Moderate
Level 2 (Lustful)	High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Low
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Low
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Very Low

Take the Dante's" Divine Comedy Inferno Test

Outrageous!

I'm not trying to be unpopular these days but I keep finding myself on the dark side of popular opinion.

Since I live in Georgia, and have been an Atlanta Falcons football fan for 30 years, I have been following the Michael Vick story with great interest. Vick is accused of forcing dogs, which he owned, to fight to their deaths. If a dog failed to perform in these dog fights Michael Vick is accused of executing the dogs in the cruelest of ways.

For the record let me state, I think he's guilty. I also want to state I wanted him traded last year for different reasons. This post is not about a star struck fan wanting his favorite team to keep their best player. This is about fairness and priorities.

That being said I think to this point Vick is getting a raw deal. I'll pause so all the animal lovers of the world can catch their breath and please don't cuss if there are children around. Does Vick deserve to be punished? ABSOLUTELY! But what is a fair punishment? Financially Vick has already been penalized a million times more than the average person and he hasn't even been convicted yet. All his endorsement deals have been pulled, as they should have been in my opinion. That alone probably cost him at least 25 million dollars. I would bet it's much more. Is that enough? Maybe not. Does he deserve jail time? Yes, but wouldn't he serve society better if he were made to go into communities that promote dog fighting and advocate against this barbaric sport?

The first problem I have with this whole mess is with all the horrific events in the world people are pissed about this the most? People are mad enough to show up at the court house and boo the man. The wife has expressed an interest in seeing Vick mauled to death. I don't think she's alone in this feeling. What about the murders, rapist, pedophiles, child abusers and spouse abusers? Where is the outrage for those crimes? Where is the people lining up to boo them? Are these crimes not worse or at least equal to animal abuse? Oh, but we're here to protect the animals, right? How about the thirteen year old prostitute living on the street being forced by a pimp to sell herself? Where's the outrage there? Where is the mass of people lining up to protect her? I don't see the FBI down on 52ND Street trying to save her.

My second problem, why can't he play football? Certainly we don't all lose our jobs when we are accused of committing a crime. "It's to protect the NFL's image" I think I heard someone say. Bullshit! There are plenty of felons playing football in the NFL. Some are habitual violators of many crimes. Hasn't the precedent already been set many times? Kobe Bryant continued to play basketball even after he was accused of rape in 2003. The difference, no public outrage.

So no, I'm not defending Michael Vick or his actions, that would be crazy but I am condemning a society that has a higher regard for an animal's life than human life. I question people that can watch a news cast about a murder or a rape without batting an eye but must turn the TV off at the mention of a story about dog fighting because they're afraid the images would literally make them sick.

When it comes to crime shouldn't there be more outrage for crimes against a person than an animal? Where is it? Seriously, where is the outrage?!

Happy Birthday Harbinger!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARBINGER!!!

I hope you get the red carpet treatment today!

Rock on my Canadian Buddy!!!!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY & BEST WISHES!

Problems, Huh

Last week things were getting kind of hectic and it was getting me down. I was pouring over the bills and wondering if I was taking my families future in the right direction. Sales at work are always slow this time of year and even though I know it's the season, it had me worried. On top of that the the wife is stressing about some things and this has led to more than a few unpleasant and rather frosty evenings.

The kids also started school and I can't help but wonder if we did the right thing throwing my four year old into pre-k when it wasn't mandated. There's a bazillion choirs left undone around the house. On top of all that a damn armadillo burrowed a hole under our deck steps and is now living there. Just another problem waiting to be fixed as he will destroy the yard if left alone. The wife wants him gone.

With all this going on I got a call from a friend of mine. He wanted to go to lunch and catch up on things. I was only to happy to accept his offer as he has always been the one person I could count on to listen to my problems and confirm that I indeed have it tough. Since he knows my family, he can confirm that I'm right and deserving of sympathy and understanding. An added bonus is the fact that my friend lives a fairly simple life so I get to vent and he likes to listen. Win win for me and him.

So we sat down for lunch, I asked how he was doing as I got ready to unload my problems into his willing ear. I was a little slow though as he beat me to the punch. It turns out his mother was not doing very well, neither is his dad. Both are elderly and in poor health. His brother, with three kids, is about to lose his job. He himself is having some financial problems and some serious relationship problems. I sat there listening to him spill his guts about all his problems. Real problems, problems that can't be put off or over looked. I had no idea he was going through such bad times.

When he finished talking there was a long silence. There was nothing I could think to say that might help. After a minute he asked "So what's going on with you?" Still a bit stunned by his enormous load of misery I heard myself say "an armadillo is living under my deck." He replied "Oh, do you want me to help you get him?" I was a little embarrassed. "no" I said, "he's not a problem, not a problem at all."

Something smells funny

Maybe I shouldn't say this, but I'm going to. Maybe I should have more compassion for my fellow man, but I don't. I saw this article in our local paper and it really pissed me off!


More than 500 hurricane survivors living in government-issued trailers and mobile homes are taking the manufacturers of the structures to court.They're accusing the makers of using inferior construction materials in a profit-driven rush to build the temporary homes for the federal government.


A federal lawsuit contends that thousands of Louisiana residents displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 were exposed to dangerous levels of formaldehyde by living in the government-issued trailers and mobile homes.The lawsuit accuses 14 manufacturers that supplied FEMA with trailers of cutting corners in order to quickly fill the shortage after the storms.FEMA isn't named as a defendant in this latest suit, but has agreed to have the air quality tested in some of the trailers.

What is wrong with these people? They're in trouble and they need help, I get that. I will be the first to say help them but WTF do they want? They complained that nobody was helping them fast enough and then when the process is sped up they sue?

Talking about biting the hand that feeds you! While they are not suing FEMA, yet, they are suing the very people who stuck their necks out trying to help them. Yes! Yes! Yes! The trailer manufactures are making money, piles of it probably but they were asked to speed things up to help the victims of the hurricane.

I'm not saying people aren't getting sick. I'll even admit that it may have caused some long term health problems. Hell, there are people who can die from eating peanuts so it's no big stretch to believe that inhaling formaldehyde can hurt some people. Being in the trailer business for 18 years I have inhaled the stuff plenty of times. I can tell you I didn't like it. I never sued anyone but I didn't like it.

None of this changes the facts that these people needed shelter and the only way to do it fast was to send out trailers that were still drying (for lack of a better term). You can only make things dry so fast. By the way, that wonderful new car smell is actually chemicals being released by the new materials used to make the car and yep, they may be harmful to you.

These people may not have many options but I damn sure wouldn't stay in a trailer I thought was harming my health. Nobody is forcing them to stay in these trailers. Help was requested and help was offered. What else could be done? Put them up in five star hotels? I bet these same people would sue because room service is to slow or the pool had to much chlorine?

If the trailer manufacturers failed to deliver what they were paid for or built a hazardous product then by all means FEMA should hold them accountable but if it was all caused in an effort to help people faster then I say there is no one to point the finger at. Yes, sometimes nobody is to blame. I guess what burns me up is these people are trying to profit from a horrible situation. They want to make money because they weren't prepared in the event of an emergency. Grrrrr!!!!!!!!

Sometimes I do win

Just like the rest of the business world we are constantly getting bombarded with unwelcome junk faxes. These unwanted faxes cost me time and money as I have to look though them to identify the junk from the important ones. Worse than that, these bastards that send them are using up my ink and paper with out my permission. Fax cartridges are quite expensive.

So a few months ago our fax machine was acting up and I decided to buy a new one. I wasn't all that excited about the purchase because email has all but put an end to the important faxes. However there are times when a fax is required so we must have one, it must be on, and those bastards can still misuse it.

As I was perusing the numerous choices of fax machines I came across the Sharp UX -B80. With this machine you could send faxes and emails for the small price of $99.00. The catch was simple, the ink cartridges were small but each one cost half the price of the machine. I must admit the email option on the machine sold me and even though I knew it would cost me in the long run I bought it.

We ran out of ink the first week. At $50.00 a pop my mistake was front and center. Then I realized if it could send a fax as an email maybe it could receive one as an email as well. I checked, It could! Much to my delight I directed the fax machine to email all received faxes directly to our server. Now we can check the email on the server and view the faxes as they come in. More importantly we only have to print the ones we need on our printer. A huge bonus to our new system is that we can keep each fax on the server and reprint it if needed. Something that has saved us on more than one occasion.

So now we use ZERO ink from the fax, sorry Sharpe UXB80... NOT! We have cut our paper use down by 75% regarding faxes and we never lose one. WE WIN!!!! Finally.

As of today the score stands 1,323 worthless faxes to 263 real ones. Now if I could just do something about junk email...

I'm about to brag, again

The video below is a home movie I made for my parents when they celebrated their 50TH wedding anniversary 2 years ago. The video is long, just over five minutes. It's only some pictures of my parents life from the time they met, had three kids and celebrated their 50Th. Nothing exciting but this video is what made me think about this post.




I was looking for a movie I had made after the wife and I were married when I stumbled upon this one. The memories of making it came flooding back . Lets just say it was an eye opening experience.

I grew up in a typical house. I always thought my parents were your average Joe and Jane. It wasn't until I made this video did it hit me, I mean really hit me, that they are real people. As I viewed the pictures I realized our family was only part of their life, not the whole thing. Before there was a me there was a them and before that there were two individual people.

50 Years is quite an accomplishment. They married young, not considered the end of the world back then. My mom was 15 years old. They didn't have it easy either. They started off with nothing and no one to help them out. My dad broke his back early in their marriage, in a race car accident, and was told he would never walk again. He was walking in three weeks, that's the type people they are. Not to many years later they had their first child and lost it to cystic fibrosis three months later. As if that wasn't enough to test a marriage they lost a second child, also three months old, to the same disease a few years after that. Mom has also had a serious case of skin cancer. They just push on, together.

Despite it all they are two of the most out going people you could meet. Once when I was sitting at popular steak house, Outback Steakhouse, I noticed a boomerang hanging over the bar. It caught my eye because it had my parents first names on it. I asked our waitress what the boomerang meant and who's names were on it. She said they only did that for their special customers that had become part of the Outback family. Then she went on to describe my parents to a tee. Pretty much typical of everyone they meet and everywhere they go, they make friends and leave an impression.

As I made this video I was left wondering, were they able to accomplish 50 years of marriage because of a strong love that bound them together for life or was it just two people who both share a love of life? I may never know the answer but I'm sure glad I've been able to be part of it.

PSST! what's my password? A stupid, pissed off, rant!

Does anybody out there want to know my password? Well I sure do.

Keeping up with all these passwords has become a full time job and I hate it. Some of my passwords are forever, some are too important to be like the rest and some expire in six months. When they do expire I have to think up a new one immediately and it can not be like the one I have nor any I've had before. They must be easy enough for me to remember, yet hard enough to be effective. Sometimes I sit at my desk staring at my screen, stumped by which password to use. It shouldn't be this hard!

So I use the word 'apple' great just type it in and I'm done for six months. beep! No, you must use at least one numerical character in the password. Damn! forgot about that, easy enough 'apple1' Beep! No! password must have at least eight characters. DAMN! all right, 'apples11' BEEP! New password is similar to last password. DAMN IT! DAMN IT!!! 'APPLES88' cool it worked.

The next day I go to log in... first I try the old password beep! Then I rack my brain trying to remember what fruit I used... oh yeah 'apple' beep! Oh right, 'apples8', Beep! damn! 'apple88' BEEP! DAMMMMMMN ITTTTTTTT! apple18, Apple11, APPLE1, APPLE8, Apple1,... apple81, ;KJEDJKED;LKSDJD, banana12345 Beeeep!!!!! By now I have either exceeded my allotment of attempts or I give up and press the "I forgot my password link" either way they send me an email giving me a new password, if I'm lucky. If I'm not I get a phone number to call to reset my password. Great, but I'll never remember "rdexc3472" who the hell thought that up? I better change it, hum... what to use? 'Peach' beep!...

Some days I might remember to type the new password into a spreadsheet I have hidden in my computer to keep track of all my passwords. On a good day I may even be at the computer that holds the spread sheet when I need it. On a great day I might even remember where I hid said spreadsheet. On an awesome day I'll find it and remember the password that's required to get into it. On that sheet is a list of 37 different programs and sites that require a password and user name and that's only the ones I remembered to write down.

They do have that little button "remember my password" whatever you do DON"T CHECK THAT BOX! It had to be invented by satan himself. I use to click it every time until A) I had to change my password and need the old one to confirm it or B) The kids unchecked the box. In both cases I couldn't remember the password because I never had to type it in. Of course they make some devices that will remember all your passwords for you. I can't say their coolness factor isn't attractive but the only thing I'm worse at than remembering passwords is remembering to carry something around. Grrr!

The part I hate the most is that some of the passwords aren't even necessary. I mean who wants to see my electric bill anyway? All these passwords are driving me out of my mind. Couldn't we just do something easier like sticking a needle in our eye? There has to be a better way. Maybe if we could just trust people to mind their own business. I know, dream on.

Oh yeah, if you want to leave a comment regarding this rant please don't forget to type in your user name and password under the comment box. Damn it!