Happiness

I have been in a very good mood, for about the last 20 years... (Well there was a period of time where I had severe depression and went to a shrink, it turns out job stress wasnt allowing me to sleep so for about four months I had less then two hours restful sleep a night. I got a suppliment and within a week all my depression symptoms vanished. I had not put two and two together, glad I had a good shrink!)

The other day Connor informed me that in the morning he wanted to go to the Bakery. I have no idea why he wanted to go there, but he did, as we needed another bread run I figured why not. So we went to the bakery and I was curious to see what he wanted. He was very interested in the hot dog buns, I explained we did not need any and he moved on to the cheeze nips (white chedder), then the originals, I held up the two boxes and had him pick one. he stuck with the white chedder (good choice). He proceeded to get a diet coke, which was fine cuz I was of a mind to have one anyways, and we could share.

Next stop was K-Mart, I needed to check on a few items for the yard work and in general I like to browse to keep a mental inventory of what they have. I have this tendency to file stuff like that away, then when something comes up it pops into my mind where to go and the approx, price.

At the store Connor walked around in a random pattern just looking at things, I really cannot explain the joyful curiosity he has and how great it is to observe. I commented to my daughter (who was along for the excursion) I just might be the happiest person in the world... or my world at least...

I really enjoy the town I am in, I find the people friendly and open, and very honest. I really enjoy being a dad. I have to have the coolest wife in the world, we 'get' each other, which is great and we are a great balance of personalities. We make a good team.

My house is great as well, very very comfortable and with enough land to be a challange without being overwhelming.

It's good ta be me!

Insane customer day

They changed things around at work. If a sales rep is logged out of the phone or on another line it now rolls over into a queue that my team answers. This seems to be working well for the most part. We get some follow up questions.

People calling in to order get to, instead of waiting for a call back. All in all its a win win. I am NOT happy with my teams focus being centered on making money, when it used to be on customer service... but thats a rant for another day.

We have some financing in house, which requires getting a credit check etc. Also, there are some very strict guidelines that sales reps need to follow when setting one up. Asking the person directly if this is thier information, verifying the billing address and getting verbal permission to run a credit check. Forget to do this two times and you are written up, one more time and you are marched out the door.

So anyway, a lady calls in wanting to know why her order was cancelled. When I check its flagged as possible fraud. During the discourse she reveals that she gave her name and her boyfriends SSN.

Lee>: The only way you can straighten this out is by you and your boyfriend contacting the finance department. Let me give you thier toll free number.

Lady>: So am I getting the computer?

Lee>: Not until the finance issue is sorted out.

Lady>: I told that sales man that it was my boyfriends social, he made the mistake, not me.

Lee>: ma'am, I wasnt privy to the conversation, regardless of what happened, the only way to fix this problem now is to get you to the finance department. Do you have a pencil and paper handy?

Lady>: I told him it was my boyfriends social and so HE made the mistake, I do not see why I have to fix it!

Lee>: I have no way of accessing your or your boyfriends financial records. Only the finance department can. They would not even give me the basic information becuse I am not the customer of record. If you have your boyfriend contact them, I'm quite sure we can get this all worked out.

Lady>: I do not see why you are making me fix this. Why should I call anybody?

Lee>: One reason, ma'am, is that this is YOUR financial records. As it is now, it can appear that you commited fraud. So it would be in your best interest...

Lady>: I did not commit fraud!

Lee>: I never said you did ma'am, I was answering you question as to why you should call in with your boyfriend.

Lady>: Your an asshole.

Lee>: I am only finding a solution for you, calling finance is the only way to get you a computer.

Lady>: I want to speak to your supervisor.

Lee>: I am not transferring you to a supervisor. They will only repeat the same thing I just said.

Lady>: You wont let me talk to a supervisor?

Lee>: No ma'am, even if I had one available it would be a waste of time, you need to talk to financial.

Lady>: I did'nt do anything.

Lee>: regardless, our records show that you submitted another persons information to run credit for you. That can have serious credit repercussions.

Lady>: It will have repercussions for YOU! I didnt do anything wrong, the sales rep did.

Lee>: Ma'am if you accidently shoot someone, and they are now dying. Do you send the gunshot victim to the hospital, or the gunman?

Lady>: This is your fault, not mine.

Lee>: I never said it was, unfortunatly you and your boyfriend are the only ones that can fix this problem, that Dell may have created. I apologize for that but its the only avenue available

Lady>: ...click...

Three things about OR

In Oregon you pay no sales tax, you cannot pump your own gas and every two years the state government gives the people back any monies over collected. Each of these things is under constant fire from the governments.

The sales tax keeps rearing its head and we the people are being told that it would lower other forms of taxation making it a 'good thing' If they ever bundled it with the elimination of payroll tax and property tax I would take a strong look. I know that the government, any government will swell to the size of the monies it has. No matter how much is put into any program we taxpayers are told that they need more and there is always some scare tactics involved as well.

Self Service gas stations are supposed to lower the cost per gallon dramatically. This is a hard sell when we are paying thirty cents less a gallon then california to the south. Earlier this year there was a story in the newspaper that CA gas has all these emission standards on them that makes it cost so much more. One of our radio talk show guys then found out that around 80% of Oregon gas is the same gas California uses. They just do not charge for the emission addititves becuase um.. we dont use that??? My mom is in her eighties, everytime they try to get self service gas going I think of her in mid winter at night trying to fill up the gas while some punk sits in a little booth reading.

The kicker check is simply this, the state govt sets a budget, if they collect more money then they need they return the money back to the taxpayers in a kicker check. Whenever it comes time to return the money the polotikians up in Salem debate and try to put the money to 'better use'. Some have even called the taxpayers 'greedy' for wanting our own money back. I am very unconvinced that I can not make better use of my own money then the government can.

My brand new monitor

I purchased me a Viewsonic VX924 19" flat panel display. This is my first flat panel and its awesome! Not only have I maxed out my graphic card for the first time ever (1280 x 1024) but its got a great response rate, good enough for gaming!

You may or may know this, but the CRT (Cathod Ray Tube) has long been a superior monitor for games, only very very recently have the LCD reached this height.

There are alot of different criteria to be sure but the refresh\response rate is really key to a smooth image with the modern 3D games.

The magic number being 8ms average. The refresh rate or "vertical refresh rate" is the number of times in a second that a display is illuminated. Much of the discussion of refresh rate does not apply to LCD monitors. This is because while a phosphor on a CRT will begin to dim as soon as the electron beam passes it, LCD cells open to pass a continuous stream of light, and do not dim until instructed to produce a darker color. So instead we look at response time.

This means in the heat of a battle with polygons all over the place I get a smooth scrolling image (a lot like real life) instead of a stuttering one. Older monitors with long response times would create a smear or blur pattern around moving objects

Response time is the amount of time a pixel in an LCD monitor takes to go from active (black) to inactive (white) and back to active (black) again. It is measured in milliseconds (ms). Now my monitor is advertised as a 3ms monitor, this is due to a lack of standards in testing. the 2ms and 3ms advertised are for grey to grey times. or changing from one color to another. While thats important, I think its more advertising then something to base your decision on.

Oh and if you are thinking of older flat panel monitors and how the image winks out if you get past a 45 degree angle. Those days are long behind us. 160 degree viewing angle on mine!

I am loving this!

Meetings (a series)

I am trying recall a time when I did not know Shoo. It's difficult to pin-point. I do not remember him in kindergarten. By third grade I definitely knew him. So either first grade or more likely second grade that would be 1968.

Mostly scouting memories, Cub Scouts (his mom was Den leader) and later Webelos (His dad was pack leader). Lots of running around playing 'war' his rather large back yard, swimming in mine. Elementry and middle school band. in his back yard. That fish pond that was always empty. Chemistry set in the garage that they oddly never seemed to use for parking cars. Recalling that house I remember lots of dark green and plants.

He was one of the first people I ever met who's parents had divorced. I remember his brother John tagging along and Darren being the age of my neice and nephew. Boy Scouts, Jamboree, being nigh unstoppable in British Bulldog and Capture the flag. My eventual being ousted from the troop and his support at the time.

The tower fort his dad built, that nieghbor guy who either was from or headed to Alaska... Being invited over for Baked Alaska when too much was made. Getting invited to the neighborhood christain club. Shoo liked it for the Cookies.

Paper and dice games, Risk, Cosimic encounters, a host of oriental style home made AD&D characters.

Moving to Lake Forest... Even though he moved he still went to our high school for awhile, until I guess it was just too much of a pain to do. It couldnt have been more then a two or three year period where there was little interaction between us, seems a lot longer.

Computers dawned, Cal Tech and any excuse to get together for a Game. It was more for social interation then anything. But, we had enough fun that we kept going.

Now the Net is what keeps us connected. Nice to know that after 38 years we can still get together 'virtually' and have a laugh or three.

Our Forefathers

I read this quite some time ago, It was written by the father of Rush Limbaugh. I thought it fitting for Independence day.

(warning its a lengthy one)

It was a glorious morning. The sun was shining and the wind was from the southeast. Up especially early, a tall bony, redheaded young Virginian found time to buy a new thermometer, for which he paid three pounds, fifteen shillings. He also bought gloves for Martha, his wife, who was ill at home.

Thomas Jefferson arrived early at the statehouse. The temperature was 72.5 degrees and the horseflies weren't nearly so bad at that hour. It was a lovely room, very large, with gleaming white walls. The chairs were comfortable. Facing the single door were two brass fireplaces, but they would not be used today.

The moment the door was shut, and it was always kept locked, the room became an oven. The tall windows were shut, so that loud quarreling voices could not be heard by passersby. Small openings atop the windows allowed a slight stir of air, and also a large number of horseflies. Jefferson records that "the horseflies were dexterous in finding necks, and the silk of stockings was nothing to them." All discussing was punctuated by the slap of hands on necks.

On the wall at the back, facing the President's desk, was a panoply - consisting of a drum, swords, and banners seized from Fort Ticonderoga the previous year. Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold had captured the place, shouting that they were taking it "in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!"

Now Congress got to work, promptly taking up an emergency measure about which there was discussion but no dissention. "Resolved: That an application be made to the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania for a
supply of flints for the troops at New York."

Then Congress transformed itself into a committee of the whole. The Declaration of Independence was read aloud once more, and debate resumed. Though Jefferson was the best writer of all of them, he had been somewhat verbose. Congress hacked the excess away. They did a good job, as a side-by-side comparison of the rough draft and the final text shows. They cut the phrase "by a self-assumed power." "Climb" was replaced by "must read," then must was eliminated, then the whole sentence, and soon the whole paragraph was cut. Jefferson groaned as they continued, what he later called "their depredations." "Inherent and inalienable rights" came out "certain unalienable rights," and to this day no one knows who suggested the elegant change.

A total of 86 alterations were made. Almost 500 words were eliminated, leaving 1,337. At last, after three days of wrangling, the document was put to a vote.

Here in this hall Patrick Henry had once thundered: "I am no longer a Virginian, Sir, but an American." But today the loud, sometimes bitter argument stilled, and without fanfare the vote was taken from north to south by colonies, as was the custom. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

There were no trumpets blown. No one stood on his chair and cheered. The afternoon was waning and Congress had no thought of delaying the full calendar of routine business on its hands. For several hours they worked on many other problems before adjourning for the day.

What kind of men were the 56 signers who adopted the Declaration of Independence and who, by their signing, committed an act of treason against the crown? To each of you, the names Franklin, Adams, Hancock, and Jefferson are almost as familiar as household words. Most of us, however, know nothing of the other signers. Who were they? What happened to them?

I imagine that many of you are somewhat surprised at the names not there: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry. All were elsewhere.

Ben Franklin was the only really old man. Eighteen were under 40; three were in their 20s. Of the 56 almost half - 24 - were judges and lawyers. Eleven were merchants, 9 were landowners and farmers, and the remaining 12 were doctors, ministers, and politicians.

With only a few exceptions, such as Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, these were men of substantial property. All but two had families. The vast majority were men of education and standing in their communities. They had economic security as few men had in the 18th century.

Each had more to lose from revolution than he had to gain by it. John Hancock, one of the richest men in America, already had a price of 500 pounds on his head. He signed in enormous letters so that his Majesty could now read his name without glasses and could now double the reward. Ben Franklin wryly noted: "Indeed we must all hang together, otherwise we shall most assuredly hang separately." Fat Benjamin Harrison of Virginia told tiny Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts: "With me it will all be over in a minute, but you, you will be dancing on air an hour after I am gone."

These men knew what they risked. The penalty for treason was death by hanging. And remember, a great British fleet was already at anchor in New York Harbor.

They were sober men. There were no dreamy-eyed intellectuals or draft card burners here. They were far from hot-eyed fanatics, yammering for an explosion. They simply asked for the status quo. It was change they resisted. It was equality with the mother country they desired. It was taxation with representation they sought. They were all conservatives, yet they rebelled.

It was principle, not property, that had brought these men to Philadelphia. Two of them became presidents of the United States. Seven of them became state governors. One died in office as vice president of the United States. Several would go on to be U.S. Senators. One, the richest man in America, in 1828 founded the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. One, a delegate from Philadelphia, was the only real poet, musician and philosopher of the signers (it was he, Francis Hopkinson not Betsy Ross who designed the United States flag).

Richard Henry Lee, a delegate from Virginia, had introduced the resolution to adopt the Declaration of Independence in June of 1776. He was prophetic in his concluding remarks: "Why then sir, why do we longer delay? Why still deliberate? Let this happy day give birth to an American Republic. Let her arise not to devastate and to conquer but to reestablish the reign of peace and law.

"The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us. She demands of us a living example of freedom that may exhibit a contrast in the felicity of the citizen to the ever increasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may find solace, and the persecuted repost.

"If we are not this day wanting in our duty, the names of the American Legislatures of 1776 will be placed by posterity at the side of all of those whose memory has been and ever will be dear to virtuous men and good citizens."

Though the resolution was formally adopted July 4, it was not until July 8 that two of the states authorized their delegates to sign, and it was not until August 2 that the signers met at Philadelphia to actually put their names to the Declaration.

William Ellery, delegate from Rhode Island, was curious to see the signers' faces as they committed this supreme act of personal courage. He saw some men sign quickly, "but in no face was he able to discern real fear." Stephan Hopkins, Ellery's colleague from Rhode Island, was a man past 60. As he signed with a shaking pen, he declared: "My hand trembles, but my heart does not."

Even before the list was published, the British marked down every member of Congress suspected of having put his name to treason. All of them became the objects of vicious manhunts. Some were taken. Some, like Jefferson, had narrow escapes. All who had property or families near British strongholds suffered.

· Francis Lewis, New York delegate saw his home plundered and his estates in what is now Harlem, completely destroyed by British Soldiers. Mrs. Lewis was captured and treated with great brutality. Though she was later exchanged for two British prisoners through the efforts of Congress, she died from the effects of her abuse.

· William Floyd, another New York delegate, was able to escape with his wife and children across Long Island Sound to Connecticut, where they lived as refugees without income for seven years. When they came home they found a devastated ruin.

· Philips Livingstone had all his great holdings in New York confiscated and his family driven out of their home. Livingstone died in 1778 still working in Congress for the cause.

· Louis Morris, the fourth New York delegate, saw all his timber, crops, and livestock taken. For seven years he was barred from his home and family.

· John Hart of Trenton, New Jersey, risked his life to return home to see his dying wife. Hessian soldiers rode after him, and he escaped in the woods. While his wife lay on her deathbed, the soldiers ruined his farm and wrecked his homestead. Hart, 65, slept in caves and woods as he was hunted across the countryside. When at long last, emaciated by hardship, he was able to sneak home, he found his wife had already been buried, and his 13 children taken away. He never saw them again. He died a broken man in 1779, without ever finding his family.

· Dr. John Witherspoon, signer, was president of the College of New Jersey, later called Princeton. The British occupied the town of Princeton, and billeted troops in the college. They trampled and burned the finest college library in the country.

· Judge Richard Stockton, another New Jersey delegate signer, had rushed back to his estate in an effort to evacuate his wife and children. The family found refuge with friends, but a Tory sympathizer betrayed them. Judge Stockton was pulled from bed in the night and brutally beaten by the arresting soldiers. Thrown into a common jail, he was deliberately starved. Congress finally arranged for Stockton's parole, but his health was ruined. The judge was released as an invalid, when he could no longer harm the British cause. He returned home to find his estate looted and did not live to see the triumph of the revolution. His family was forced to live off charity.

· Robert Morris, merchant prince of Philadelphia, delegate and signer, met Washington's appeals and pleas for money year after year. He made and raised arms and provisions which made it possible for Washington to cross the Delaware at Trenton. In the process he lost 150 ships at sea, bleeding his own fortune and credit almost dry.

· George Clymer, Pennsylvania signer, escaped with his family from their home, but their property was completely destroyed by the British in the Germantown and Brandywine campaigns.

· Dr. Benjamin Rush, also from Pennsylvania, was forced to flee to Maryland. As a heroic surgeon with the army, Rush had several narrow escapes.

· John Martin, a Tory in his views previous to the debate, lived in a strongly loyalist area of Pennsylvania. When he came out for independence, most of his neighbors and even some of his relatives ostracized him. He was a sensitive and troubled man, and many believed this action killed him. When he died in 1777, his last words to his tormentors were: "Tell them that they will live to see the hour when they shall acknowledge it [the signing] to have been the most glorious service that I have ever rendered to my country."

· William Ellery, Rhode Island delegate, saw his property and home burned to the ground.

· Thomas Lynch, Jr., South Carolina delegate, had his health broken from privation and exposures while serving as a company commander in the military. His doctors ordered him to seek a cure in the West Indies and on the voyage he and his young bride were drowned at sea.

· Edward Rutledge, Arthur Middleton, and Thomas Heyward, Jr., the other three South Carolina signers, were taken by the British in the siege of Charleston. They were carried as prisoners of war to St. Augustine, Florida, where they were singled out for indignities. They were exchanged at the end of the war, the British in the meantime having completely devastated their large landholdings and estates.

· Thomas Nelson, signer of Virginia, was at the front in command of the Virginia military forces. With British General Charles Cornwallis in Yorktown, fire from 70 heavy American guns began to destroy Yorktown piece by piece. Lord Cornwallis and his staff moved their headquarters into Nelson's palatial home. While American cannonballs were making a shambles of the town, the house of Governor Nelson remained untouched. Nelson turned in rage to the American gunners and asked, "Why do you spare my home?" They replied, "Sir, out of respect to you." Nelson cried, "Give me the cannon!" and fired on his magnificent home himself, smashing it to bits. But Nelson's sacrifice was not quite over. He had raised $2 million for the Revolutionary cause by pledging his own estates. When the loans came due, a newer peacetime Congress refused to honor them, and Nelson's property was forfeited. He was never reimbursed. He died, impoverished, a few years later at the age of 50.

Of those 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured and imprisoned, in each case with brutal treatment. Several lost wives, sons or entire families. One lost his 13 children. Two wives were brutally treated. All were at one time or another the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned. Yet not one defected or went back on his pledged word. Their honor, and the nation they sacrificed so much to create is still intact.

And, finally, there is the New Jersey signer, Abraham Clark.

He gave two sons to the officer corps in the Revolutionary Army. They were captured and sent to that infamous British prison hulk afloat in New York Harbor known as the hell ship Jersey, where 11,000 American captives were to die. The younger Clarks were treated with a special brutality because of their father. One was put in solitary and given no food. With the end almost in sight, with the war almost won, no one could have blamed Abraham Clark for acceding to the British request when they offered him his sons' lives if he would recant and come out for the King and parliament. The utter despair in this man's heart, the anguish in his very soul, must reach out to each one of us down through 200 years with his answer: "No."

The 56 signers of the Declaration Of Independence proved by their every deed that they made no idle boast when they composed the most magnificent curtain line in history. "And for the support of this Declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

Dancing Matt

This is the 2006 version of Matt dancing around the world. He doesnt dance well but its WHERE he is dancing that is amazing!! ?Sweet Lullaby Dancing Remix? by Deep Forest.