Ensurants Foibles

Okay, so my accident is on the 15th and on the 25th they assigned someone to the case. The liabililty was established on the 19th. The agent on my case left a vm on the 26th telling me we needed to release the truck so he can assess the damage. Okay, I want him to assess the damage. So Tina takes a long lunch drives down to the Tow place. They are used to seeing insurance 'games' and hand her a list of the laws around insurance and tell her that WE are responsible for the towing and storage ($100.00 towing $40.00 a day storage). Tina and I formulate a plan to have it towed to our house to stop the daily $ding! .

Then I find out that the 'release' needed will allow the insurance company to tow my truck wherever they want and they want to do that because THEY are liable for the towing and storage fee's at this point. Further, without the $40.00 a day they can take thier damn sweet time about issuing me a check.


you get that?.... The agent implied that he could not do the assessment without us releasing the truck into his possession. When in fact he can assess the damage at anytime. This is just a loss of leverage.


Now I had THOUGHT my wife had gone down to the storage yard and granted the agent access to our vehicle. I had called the agent and left a message that she was heading down there and he would be able to inspect the vehicle. The agent arranged for his tow truck to come down 80 miles to tow my truck away. The tow truck had to turn around and go back. The agent was pissed off.

He calls me up telling me that Farmers Insurance will no longer be paying the storage and towing fees on my truck. Which is now nearing $1000.00.

Lawyer time... I called and got a free consultation found out some very interesting things. Turns out they need to send some official notification before they can remove thier liablity. That notification is only good for a certain date onward. Still, having admitted liability they can still be held to re-imburse any towing and storage depending on the 'why'.
I also got a bunch of advise on looking at the assessment of Fair Market value and things to look for. With all this knowledge in hand the next agent in line called me.

To date I have had many heated exchanges over the length of time involved, the flagrant lies, the strong arm tactics and the lack of notification of my rights required by law.

Anyways, I finally got a settlement for $2714.00 and they went out the paperwork to sign my truck over to them. When that DHL letter showed up the paperwork shows. 2174.00....


Umkay... back into the Breech!!!

Honey do.

Well it took some doing but the insurance company coughed up $2700 for my truck and about a grand in towing and storage fees. The tow truck guys said I did good, so I guess I did good.

Still I am not able to walk very far and that may take awhile to recover. I am going to make an appointment with an orthopedic doctor to see what needs doing to get back to walking and running.

The bathroom shower is my Thursday project and then just the trim needs doing and that’s done. It came out pretty nice.

Left to do is:
Shower installed
Caulk the heck out of everything
Trim around Pullman
Trim around floor and doors
Purchase and install cupboard above the john
Purchase a second towel rack and install both.
Purchase a larger faceplate for the GFCI plug.
Figure out a shelf hook holder for our electrical stuff.

Then it’s on to the next project. Getting a truck I think...

Meetings part duex (a series)

Robert and the California George Family:

About a year after I met Shoo I met Robert. In my now 40+ brain the earliest recollection was on the field at our elementary school. As I recall it was a confrontation having to do with something stupid. It's a bit of a blur with cubscouts and band (he was playing violin). Sometime in that memory mess I ended up going to his house and meeting his folks and finding he had comic books.

To the best of my recollection he was walking home and I was on my bike (my awseome schwinn two speed kick back golden bike with the mini schwinn handle bards and banana seat). We were talking and walked to where he lived and I noticed behind his house... was the most coolest exporation area ever.

The Drainage Ditch. This was PURE NATURE waiting to be explored for the first time by eight\nine year olds. And he had a tree fort that was just a drop down into it!

Over the next few weeks I was escourted past his Killer Trained German Shepard attack dog of death that wanted nothing more in life to eat me. We stretched ourM4D $k177s (mad skills) and made a barely useable rope ladder for the other side of the tree fort. Played in the dangerous raw sewage of the outback and in general were kids doing kid things.

Rob was the first person I knew who had a job and actually had dedication to that job. I never heard him complain about having to go to work. He had the first car of anyone I knew as well.

Most of my early life adventures Rob was there. Even riding mopeds across Orange County to visit Shoo. Hours upon hours of building lego universes. Altering the DNA of plastic animals. Reading comics, seeing movies, he even obliquely posed as a Catholic at my youth group (well not actively).

He was the Best Man at my wedding. Simply because he was the Best Man.

Tilting the windmills

I'm getting bad advice. Well not advice as much as uninformed choices being presented for me to choose. Example: Would you like to be shot in the thigh or buttocks? The actual choice you would want is to not be shot at all, or possibly shooting the 'ask er'.

Okay, I was in a car crash. I am injured, I need to see a doctor. I called my family doctor and was told that he does not see authomobile injuries any longer. Go see the urgent care.

At the urgent care, I was told I have to pay up front and then get reimbursed by my au
to insurance. Not having $200.00 on me and wanting to make sure I can cover the mortgage, I asked for an alternative and was told to go to the ER.

The ER I was greeting by a nice enough young lady who asked me why I was there. I was then told that it was not an emergency condition (it had happened 6 days earlier and I need to go to the hospitals urgent care.

So I limped off to the other urgent care in town, the ONLY other urgent care and was told that I had to pay up front then get reimbursed...

So I limped home took some pain killers and wallowed in my misery.

The next day I was wondering about my own insurance, I am currently covered by my own and my wifes insurance. My quandry was this, I have dolled out some good cash to the car insurance and to me it was wasted if they were not doing what was agreed upon.

So I called up my auto insurance and told them my tale of woah and while she was empathic and outraged etc. there really wasnt anything they could offer as a soulution. So I called my HR department and was transferred the my insurance representative, where I was finally informed about what was supposed to happen over what did happen.

Turns out that there is some kind of agreement between the state and auto insurance that the medical people can only charge so much for doing thier jobs and not seek re-imbursement at all. In other words, lets say they take out your boompooper cuz it was damaged in a car crash. They operation costs $15.00, but the state and the insurance already agreed it costs $7.00. The medical people can only recoup $7.00 and they have to suck up the rest of the costs. THIS is why they are not interested in billing the auto insurance directly.

Next I learn that the ER is required by law to take anyone regardless of whats wrong. If I have a hair on my rear that doesnt look right to me I can go to the ER and get a highly trained professional to check out my asshair. I either mis-understood the ER nurse or I was lied too.
Now, I find out that my insurance company can set up an access file and coordinate between the healthcare people and the auto insurance people. I am further told not to let the receptionists know anything other then I need to see the doctor cuz I have an owie. (full disclosure to the doctor)

So being in customer service I wonder why the receptionist did'nt ask If I had any other means of insurance? They are probably restricted as to what they can and cannot do.

Bottom line is with a little knowledge I got into see a doctor got my diagnosis and now know how to proceed and make sure the correct parties are billed... .um.. correctly.

Between the Medical people the insurance people and the government people and the courts we have a pretty icky mess. It seems to me that in the persuit of making things easier for the various entities involved they have pushed certain burdens to other entities who have pushed it eslewhere to the point that you need to know what to say to whom to get anything accomplished.

Oh yeah, I donated blood again on Friday. Give Blood Its what all humans should do for each other.

Straight Outta Lynwood

The words Mega-galactical, awesome, omni-Quasi Godling Pop-musical Genius gets Bandied about much to often these days. In this case its just as overstepping pendantic in this case.

But, his stuff is fun. He has a new album out, check out the tunes on his myspace site
http://www.myspace.com/weirdal

Not the best day for "B"

Since I have been at Dell, "B" has always been there (I am omiting the name). She is one of those genuinely nice people, approchable and always willing to help out. She is genuinely interested in what you have to say in any given conversation. Just one of those people who you can count on to be there and do right by you.

She had some kind of seizure in the row today, she sits two desks down from me and just a bit earlier we were talking about her neededing someone to cover her shift Saturday as her Daycare fell through.

We have some first responder people here at Dell, regular employee's trained for first aid situations. Someone like "B" has alot of friends and keeping away well meaning worried people fell partially to me.

She stopped breathing for a bit but started on her own as they were about to start CPR. I have the image burned into my minds eye of her laying there shuddering with her eyes rolled back into her head. I cant help but dwell on that unless I am keeping too busy.

I hope she is okay, I hope we hear something soon. Of course we are far down the line of people who need to be notified about that kind of news.
I find great comfort in prayer.

All the, Small things..

My ankle is producing sharp pains for about the first 10 steps I take then it receeds to a dull ache until I stop walking. Then there is my lower back which does not want to move in any way shape or form. My entire body has alot of noticble stiffness and aches.
Car Crashes are not fun. On top of that I have a caffine headache. I have trouble sleeping so I thought going without caffine may improve my sleep. I stopped drinking coffee and soda on the 13th of september and still having the withdrawls.
I feel really groggy in the mornings and have a tough time focusing. Also, my sleeping is still crap. I have a good run from the time I fall asleep (around 11:00pm) till three oclock in the morning. Then every noise is amplified to the Nth degree or I have these sleep dream fits that cause me to wake up every 5min with a start. It really really sux.
I found that an herbal suppliment call Valarian Root makes me sleep deeply but gives me acid dreams, So I take some melatonin and that smooths out the night tremors. You can build up an immunity to these so its not a perm. solution.
At this point the car crash has tainted my experiment so much so I am about to flick it in....

Simple faith, its the richest kind.

I believe in God

When that life curtain finally comes down

You will know the truth

(yes its in Haiku)

Deservedly insane customer day

You have to just love new people. For instance the one person placed an order on a customers Credit card (Debit with a mastercard logo). The card was declined and so the rep tried it again and again for a total of Five attempts. (totally used the wrong procedure as well)

The customer, at this point, told the rep to forget it all together.

For some reason the sales rep did not cancel out the orders, rather the rep left them in Held status pending bank authorization. A couple of days later the customer deposited a large sum of money into the debit card account to pay his mortgage.

Yup, his five units payment was authorized and they shipped out. And his mortgage payment bounced.

He was a tad upset. So now normally the units need to be returned and inspected before the credit back can be issued.

This process can take up to three weeks...

Traffic accident

Friday I was in a traffic accident. I was heading up Oak street as it crosses Rose. Rose has a stop sign, Oak does not. A lady in a jeep pulled out infront of me and we smashed into each other. I was alone in the car and aside from my right ankle hurting and my back feeling tweeked I am physically okay.

It's just now everything is messed up. Here is what I predict will happen.

My Truck being in perfect working order is from 1993 it only had 90k miles on it. The price for a truck that old is around 1500.00. The cost of a new truck (we bought this new) is around $16,000. The insurance company is going to say the repair cost is higher then the worth of the truck and they are going to send me a check for about 1000.00.

So, Im out a vehicle and not going to get enough to buy a replacement. On top of that having two teens and two working adults is nigh unworkable with one car.

*sigh*

Running out of time

Our exchange student is going to be arriving at the end of the month. The new Bathroom has some unanswered questions. How do I secure the flooring? When does the vinyl go in? Who can do the tape and texture.

I suppose I could do the vinyl, Tape and texture, However I know its not an easy thing to do and I think I would end up making a mess of things. Not sure how else to coordinate everything that needs to be done with the time left to me.

*sigh*

MMORPGing

Ultima Online is about to get a facelift. Its considered the start of the MMORPG's.
Actually anyone who has been online for long enough can tell you the MUDs (mutual User Dungeons) started the mess.

MMORPG's are a difficult thing to explain to the novice computer user. For the acroynm you expand it to Massivly Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. To the uninitiated its like a 3D chat room with something to do. To anyone else... Just ask someone to show you...

Game Ogre trys to track the top games of this genre and the list as of this morning is:
World of Warcraft
Eve Online
Final Fantasy XI
City of Heroes \ City of Villians
Dark Age of Camelot
Everquest 2
Dungeons & Dragons Online
Rose Online
Saga of Ryzom
Auto Assult

These are the Pay to Play list, which means you have a monthly fee. After you purchase the box set. There are a goodly number of Free ones out there as well. On top of that there are many many in development to grab a piece of the pie.

As a fan of the genre I have been in the beta tests for quite a few of them. Namely UO, AC, AC2, DAoC, AO, MxO, D&DO, Ryzoms, CoH\CoV

Of the beta's I have actually subscribed to AC, AC2 CoH\CoV, Currently I am futzing around with World of Warcraft.

WoW climbed up to the top of the heap so they must have done alot of things right.

On the Floor

They had early release at work (The opposite of Overtime). I jumped at the chance to get more Bathroom work done.

First up was the ductwork under the house for the furnace we plan on installing someday. We ran the master bedroom furnace venting when it was open to the sky. This was much easier then this project. First off I have to install a Y for the bathroom and have a vent in the floor. Due to the 8inch floor joist there was only one place that made sense for it to go. I started by carefully measuring the rectangle hole and once I was sure of the geometrics I took out my good ol jigsaw and started cutting.

I noticed the wood was looking damp and while I continued to cut puzzled on this, about one nanosecond before the water started spraying upwards my mind recalled that was at the exact point that the water pipe goes under the floor. I was out the front door and to the cut off valve in under three seconds, Total elapsed time for this paragraph in real life, five seconds. So now I had to mop up the bucket of water under the house, fix the pipe in such a way as to allow the vent to go up in the hole.

As luck would have it, Our plumbing is circa 1949 and has steel running for the water instead of Copper. This is slowly being replaced by this special poly-plastic pipe that uses no glues or welding or soldering. Its very cool and my Pop swears by it, so its the real deal. This section had already been replaced, which is why I should have known better then to cut without looking.

The main thing is you need this special tool that evenly spreads the pipe so you can put in the connectors. I bought one figuring on replacing the plumbing as said above. It paid for itself Saturday. Without my spare pipe, fittings and tool this would have been a saturday housecall for a plumber, or my purchasing the same gear retail. So bad and good...

Next I had to pay homage to the Croc hunter and wrestle the ducting into place. This means crawling under the house, cutting a ten inch flexable duct, taping the inner duct to the Y and the outer insulation to the Y as well as building a fancy two elbow rig up the to floor of the Bathroom.

Tina assisted and made the job sooo much easier. While I would try to plan everything I needed keeping track of that stuff under the floor would have been a pain in the tukus.

Water fixed, tested. no Leaks.

Ductwork, installed and strapped up to the floor.

Next the jigsaw puzzle of boards to replace the water damaged ones. I put down some contruction adhesive and used Stainless steel screws to secure the boards. I'm really happy with how it came out.

The picture up top is Connor looking at the carnage.

The depths of the Bathroom

One thing leads to another. As recounted by Shoo and Ronn in various oblique empathic bloggings.

The bathroom in question used to have a tub. This is a good thing

The drain pipes are black steel. This is a bad thing

We wanted a shower and sink added. Good Idea

We had to re-do all the black steel and creativly add a 1-1/2 drain for the sink. Hard idea to accomplish.

With luck my Pop is a Plumbing Guru beyond all mortal kin. It was easy to accomplish.

The old toilet was a replacement for a broken one bought at low low pricing. This was a bad thing.

It did not flush totally and its clever design allowed for um... bodily leakage on the floor. Bad thing

When I yanked it out I found that the reason it was not unlike a rocking horse was the water damage of the boards under the back.. A bad thing.

I spent today crushing boards into dust with my hands and cutting out water damaged wood, then reinforcing the floor and cutting new boards into clever patterns to replace the old damaged ones. A good thing.

The electrial system in the room sucked. It was tied into the north side of the house as far as lights and plugs go. Meaning plugging a hair dryer in would blow a circut. A Bad thing.

We had to unwire the old stuff, rewire it back again. Then run wire to its own circuit for the new batroom. A good thing.

Again, the way I wanted to do the wiring was very tricky and luckily my Pops knowledge of electrical workings came through again.

The only thing now is to run the venting into the room and I can finally seal up the floorboards and stop having to crawl under the house again and again... I hope.

So now I just need to...

1. Run the vent line and cut the vent into the floor
2. Screw down the floor boards
3. Roll out the moisture barrier on the floor and lower walls
4. Cut and fit the underflooring
5. Install the bathroom out vent into the side of the house for the moisture
6. cut and fit the unterlayment
7. Put up the insulation
8. Roll the moisture barrier up the walls
9. Install the roof insulation
10. put up the roof sheetrock
11. Put up the walls sheetrock
12. Install the shower
13. Install the vanity
14. Have the walls and roof taped and textured (I have no skill in this)
15. Primer the walls
16. Paint the walls
17. Install the vinyl
18. Install the toilet

And then we are all finished!

Wheee!!!!!!!!!

B-room picts again

My pop and I redoing all the b-room plumbing in a 5 hour session.

B-room picts

Hallway goes bye bye

Masterful Bathrooming

My Pop was born in the 20's. He is one of the most hard working individuals you would ever want to meet. Last thursday he came over to help with the plumbing for our remodel. He designed a complex drainage venting system in his head as we went along and quickly worked to get it inplace. During this venture he climed in and out of a narrow hole he cut in the floor and wrestled pipes into position. Not something you picture when dealing with someone in thier advancing years. We saved so much time and money on that portion of this project just saying 'Thanks' seems paltry.

Friday morning, I found my normal office bound body screaming in protest as I did things like... Move... That old man still kicks my ass at damn near twice my age.

I love my Mom and Pop. They give me alot to aspire too. Working class heroes.

Black Holes: Deadliest force in universe

Okay, read this and tell me what the freeking point of this 'News-item'?

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=nation_world&id=4507245


This is listed under News... I just know now I will hear someone in the lunchroom verbally worrying about this happening.

OMG I just cant believe this one.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=71395

Obesity is the Governments problem???

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- According to a new report from Trust for America's Health (TFAH), adult obesity rates continued to rise in 31 states over the past year while government policy efforts have consistently failed to provide viable solutions to the growing obesity crisis.

Life = Death

The sky was appropriatly overcast and dark this AM when I walked to work. My mind drifted back and forth to various memories and thoughts, mostly about this young life all too soon snuffed out. I am keeping close tabs on my kids today, calling on breaks and listening carefully to what they say. This is one of those lessons that is very important to learn and understand. Death is a part of life if you look around everyone you see headed there, dont forget to look in the mirror as well.

Accept it.

Loss sux. Right now there is a void in future events that Jack would have participated in and its very palpable at the moment. I know from experience those voids will shrink over time, metaphorically.

The sun was bright and the sky was clear and blue during my lunch. My kids sounded more chipper.

It is still going to be a long process, good thing we are here for each other.

Jack

Jack died over the weekend, he drowned. He shouldn’t have. I guess its one of the ‘life isn’t fair’ things. If you ever needed proof, there it is.

We met him through our kid’s elementary school. He was very personable and friendly from the start. When he was over he would take the time to say hello to me and my wife and often would engage in conversation. You don’t usually see that in kids. He had a sense of Honor as well, the kind of person who would choose to do what’s right and it would never suprise you.

He was destined to be a great man, you could sense it when you spoke to him. He cared and had a curiosity about who someone was, not just what they did.

I feel a sense of loss that is compounded by empathy for my kids. Of course it pales to what his family is going through.

I am going to miss Jack, we all should…

Robin to the Bathroom!

We got rid of our parking area and now have a masterbedroom. My daughters old room is now a walk in closet (it was a very tiny bedroom and now a decent closet). The second bathroom has now been officially started. We had a toilet and there used to be a tub. The tub was let go for contractual reasons, in its place a rather poorly built set of shelves was installed.

My pop was over on my weekend (read Thursday) and assessed what would be needed to put in a shower. My father is the best construction plumber alive today. I have never met a journeyman plumber who was not impressed with his skills and knowledge. His expertise also goes into housing construction and electrical wiring. He is a very handy guy to have around.

My wife and I had already picked out a shower that is good for a tight space and with our lowes gift cards my youngest and I went out and secured the showers employment and then I had to pick out the shower valve and head and a matching one for the vanity.

Growing up with the worlds greatest plumber I picked up a few things about being a craftsman and how to wrestle various home improvement projects. I also grew up with the Reeves Journal and the UA magazine which had various write ups and ads for plumbing supplies.

This puts me in a quandry for what brand to get. My pop likes Moen, however, thats because they have better discounts and are easiest to install. I had a Delta faucet but the handle snapped off one day when my daughter was using it, likewise the price fister just wasnt secure enough into the sink and the knobs would bang your knuckles if you were not dilligent.

I got a peerless for the kitchen sink and our other bathroom and so far I have liked the solid construction and the copper innards. So after viewing the displays for a good 15 min I got what I think will be a good setup for us. Next I need to get all the prep work done so when my pop comes back up thursday I can run the plumbing and electrical.

fun...

Wireless

During my vacation I set up two wirless networks up in Canada. One at my Father-in-Laws and one at my sis-in laws.

My Sister had plunged into DSL after getting a laptop. She would have to set up the DSL modem and the system every time she wanted to go online and then put that tangle of wires away afterwards.

Aside from putting a nick in her flooring the install went fairly well. There was a little oddness with her ISP but that too ironed itself out. Now she can IM with my wife, tech is a good thing.

My Father-in-Laws setup had one major stumbling block. His password was not correct and the hold times for his ISP was 40-minutes. Knowing that most people bail after 10 min, I actually hung in there for 20-min and spoke to a tech.

I really get a kick out of phone tech's, mostly cuz they have to deal with the bottom rung of tech savvy people out there. Usually it takes a good five minutes before they realize I know what I'm doing.

Anyways, we have connectivity!!!

The really odd thing to me was the number of wireless networks out there that have zero protection going on. I was reminded of a customer who had signed up through broadband and set up a wireless network and was disgusted at the slow speed.

His ISP tech went out and found out his neighborhood was surfing on his dime :)

Its nice being in Love

And being married for 18 years today!

Having someone that makes the bad days great and the great days amazing!


Double bonus, my daughter turns 16 today...

Entertainment news

Reading about the new joker and a thought occured.


"I wish I knew how to quit you, Batman "


heh

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.

Superhero (Final Fantasy)

This is a fan video of Final Fantasy VII to X. The music is a performance of Stephen Lynch. This is primarily a video for irony, since [spoiler] Cloud is infused with mako (drug-free boy) and Tidus is an outsider to Spira (immigration dude). Not to mention Zidane the bandit as (Justice guy). **The above was written by the author of the piece, I personally do not have a clue about FF but I enjoyed the song.

Weight Loss

Technically its 'Mass Loss' right? I mean if I moved to the moon I would weight much less (0.166 Earth Standard). Anyways, I got married and gained weight, I attribute this to being happy. Unfortunately my 'happiness' has come with more wear and tear on the body and borderline diabetes.

During Collage I was in the best shape and weighed 185 lbs. For quite awhile after that I was around the 195 mark and then started going up. My personal 'best' was 281. Mostly I have hung comfortably around the 275 mark.

Well over a year ago, Tina starting pestering me to join her TOPs club and I said no. She said something about loosing the weight and if after a year I had'nt I would join. I did not agree to that either.

Well a year came and went and low and behold I was around the same weight. I thought about my options and came to the conclusions that I was tired of carrying the extra weight, so I joined and so far so good.

I have this mental image of myself and it must have been locked in back when I was around 190 cuz I continually am suprised by how I look in pictures.....

Anyway, I quickly found out that loosing mass isnt simply a matter of eating less and exercising more. I dropped quickly then stopped. I decided to look into what happened (I was very dissapointed I wasnt loosing) and figured out I was eating around 1500 calories a day.

I further found out that my body would adapt to the lack of food by slowing down. It's some stupid survival thing... If evolution existed wouldnt our bodies also speed up to burn any calories over what we eat?? Anyway.

I started looking up the daily calories needed to sustain a man of 200 lbs. I found out that like Republicans and Democrates, there is no agreement on this. I found listings that said 1800 calories a day to 3400 calories a day. I used the exact same criteria each time.

After going through about 15 websites I took the average and it was around 2100 calories a day. So I now eat 500 for B-fast and 500 for lunch with 1000 for dinner, leaving 100 slop room.

So far this has worked out okay. I have lost around 20 lbs. And the Tops club has been fun, I am the token mail person, and the first spouse to join our particular chapter.

Confession is supposed to be good for the soul.

Connor on the phone

Connor is one of the biggest joys in my life. He rarely fails to make me smile. He is too clever and funny with a happiness about him that is infectious.

He definatly knows what he likes and very expressive in that regard. He loves being outside, car trips are great even if its just to the store and back.

Recently he likes talking on the phone. His being Autistic makes this an interesting event.

[GM]Dave

This is a pretty funny blog. I do not know who he is or anything. It's Title is Bannable Offenses and its centerpiece is [GM]Dave who is a supposed MMORPG Op for FF XI. Here is a sample

[GM]Dave>> Hello, Adventurer.
[GM]Dave>> I understand your intelligence is very low.
Player>> Uhh... no, my stats are fine.
[GM]Dave>> Who said anything about a stat?


Read the DMV bit...

Oh you Can find it to the right under my links!

Whats in a name?

I was given the name Lee. I have been bestowed the names Dad, Daddy, leebert, el-hombre arana (long story). Red, and probably more that a therapist could bring out at $150.00 a session.

In high school I was introduced into the powerful world of the PDP-8! A computer so powerful and awesome it took up an environementally protected room. With it we could converse with other schools in our area. For some reason I took the gender challenged name Sheila.

Along comes the Internet and chat and you get that ability to choose a non-de-plume. I started out cautiously wanting to be non-descript and go with a gender neutral name. So I went with Bobbie, unfortunatly my finger slipped and I started my E-life as Bobbir.

I dropped that one in favor of Puck. Taking my queue from Midsummers Night Dream by Billy S. and my love for the NHL.

This was a good fitting persona until Mtv had thier reality show and the guy named Puck in it was an @$$-hole.

During this time I got involved in some IRC wars and taking over channels and other stupid activites. I went with Shiva for that stuff. or -=$hi\/@=- to strike fear in the hearts of mortals!! Pissing people off looses its luster after awhile.

So I dropped Puck and Shiva into the dust bin with Bobbir and Sheila... I opted for something more unique and from out of my Pencil and Paper RPG days I yanked the name Grasp. It was not commonly used and worked well enough to keep until this day and beyond.

Several online RPG have either active or inactive characters of mine with that name. I do have an alt as well that I discovered while doing anagrams. Eeriest Elk.

I like that one alot and I have saddled my fair share of characters with that one as well.

My wifes online names was much easier she used Suella and has pretty much stuck with that one.

So here is a shout out to all those alter-ego's! (Keeka, Suella, Llama Hunter, Thrain, Tall Fire, Kitten of Death, Jad then Pilot, Kage, Trozan, Rook, Cyricx, Lazerman, Hellfury, and all those my fevered mind cannot recall!)

Elk says Hey!

choosing choice deciding decisions.

My kids have a constant wail about things not being fair. As anyone who has been out in the real world for any length of time can tell you, life isn’t fair. Good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. In and of itself fairness and life do not walk hand in hand.

I prefer to look at choice. Choice is a very powerful thing, its control over your life. It is the ultimate freedom. Its also the ultimate tyranny.

Why I enjoy the heck outta Toby Keith.

I Wanna Talk about me!

Batwoman a Gay Superhero?

It's hit the internet. DC comics is reviving a 50's character and the big news is she is a lesbian.

Now my main question is why? Would we get the same headlines if Batwoman was Asian? How about if she was a Rush Limbaugh fan? I'm sure DC comics broke the story to get sales. Controversy sells. It doesn't have sustained sales though. That takes a good writer and artist and a good concept to work with.

Maybe DC is trying to expand sales among the lesbian market? If they are going to go this route why not go all the way? Why fall into the olympian\supermodel figure with the long flowing tresses that have become the staple of comics?

Or maybe they are going to explore the sexuality angle. Some girl on girl action to cater to the pervert crowd out there? I am still not sure why this is such a big story out there. Personally, if a characters personality is based upon thier sexual preference, I just dont see the long term being anything other then cliche'.

Batwoman is a Lesbian... So what? What else is she?

Apple Parody Ad (apologies to Joe)

Without Further Ado! TENACIOUS D!!!

The Greatest SONG in the WORLD!!

Tenacious D. and their tribute to the Best Song in the World. Jack Black and Kyle Glass put this together and its awesome!

"Be you Angels?"

"Nay! We are but men, ROCK!"

CoH video (Mr. Abyss) Love the Truck....

Ultimate FF

The Ultimate Line from Marvel re-looks at thier staples in new and interesting ways. Take the Fantastic Four, Back in 1962 Reed Richards, and Ben Grimm take Sue Storm and her brother Johnny on a rocket ride that ends badly. Cosmic Rays changed them into super powered adventurers! When Jack Kirby and Stan Lee put this quartet together that origin took about two pages worth.

Back in the early days the origin was something that wasnt dwelled upon, yet it fascinated the readers and as such it was visited and re-visited and twisted and changed etc.

The Ultimate Fantastic Four is the retelling set in the here and now and the Origin takes the first six issues. Forget what you though you knew about these characters. Reed Richards is still a genius of the Nth degree, but now we see him from birth being a misfit and dismissed by his Alpha Male father with his mother trying to understand. He has a friend and protector, Ben Grimm. Reed has already came across other dimensions and how to access them way before the governments cutting edge scientific community. His Science Fair project gets him into a think tank for gifted kids at the Baxter Building. This is run by Professor Storm, Susan Storm and her Brother Johnny's father. Susan is a prodigy herself and well Johnny is there cuz his dad and sister are...

Reed teams up with Victor Van Dame to build a working teleportation device. The big test takes place in the desert and Ben Grimm shows up by invite to see where his pal has been doing.

The test goes Awry and the five of them are transported to various parts of the Globe with 'changes' to them. Reed is pliable, Sue is invisible, Johnny can burst into flames and Ben is now a huge rock creature.

The real beauty of this book is the characters and thier relationships. You know why Ben and Reed are friends, you 'get' the relationship between Reed and Sue and between Ben and Johnny. This book really breathes life into them and builds a great relationship that makes you want to read more about these people.

I have gotten the trade paper backs 1 and 2. I hope to get caught up as time moves on. This, to me, is much better then buying the books. For all the great stuff about the Ultimates, I find the story evolves a bit slowly. The Trades help two ways. One you get the whole story arc then and there. Second, you save cash. Comics cost $2.99 each so, almost $18.00 bought separatly. The Ultimate trade books list for $ 12.99 and amazon.com has them for $10.00.

Ultimate FF. Great Read!

CoH Music Video (Show the Family, its funny)

Iraq or Baltimore which is safer?

Little bit of information that you have to dig to find.

http://www.nysun.com/article/32787

Civil War

Marvel Comics has been undergoing a change in the last two years. Which is a good thing, the status quo makes for boring comics. Brian Michael Bendis (or BENDIS! to his fans) Has been leading the charge. I have no idea what deal this Orgonian made but following his lead Marvel has taken apart and put back together, The Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America, The mutant population and Thor (who hasnt come back yet).

He pulled The Sentry out of mothballs and breathed some new life into Spider Woman. Not to say he did it alone. Mark Millars contribution is Civil war!

With Mutants no longer a big threat (persons of mass destruction) the government is going after Heroes with a registration act. This is turning hero against hero. Iron Man is the front runner for registration. Captain America is against it. Heroes are going to be taking sides and its going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

The first issue deals with the proverbial straw that broke the camels back. Some young heroes working on some reality TV show cause the deaths of a good city blocks worth of innocent folks including a school (to really jerk the hart strings). The Government feels that if these Heroes had been registered and trained this would have been avoided and as such they are moving forward. S.H.I.E.L.D. confronts Cap asking him to round up the 'bad-guy' heroes who wont register after the bill passes. Cap declines and has to fight he way off the Heli-carrier (if you dont know what that is, no point in explaining, the comic gives you a good view of it).

Its the start of some big doings at Marvel just as DC finished off its current Crisis.

Good reading, fun and well thought out. Good stuff!

News about Iraq

May 15, 2006, 6:06 a.m.
How About Some Good News?
Progress in Iraq.

By Bill Crawford


I had hoped this Iraq-progress round-up would include news about the formation of a new government today, but infighting has stalled the process. Still there is lots of other good news to report from Iraq, and even signs that some in the media are taking notice: The article linked to says “Statistics cited come from a report in National Review.”
In a move to help quell sectarian violence, seven Sunnis were rescued from Shia militiamen by U.S. and Iraqi forces Thursday. U.S. and Iraqi forces arrived in a village where the kidnappings were under way after receiving a tip from village leaders. After a brief gunfight with the militia, the hostages were rescued. Five of the kidnappers were wounded and 36 taken into custody.

A newspaper affiliated with a Kurdish political party claimed that 1,577 Iranians had been captured in the last month crossing the border into Iraq. Also this week, a top Sunni political leader accused Iran of sending intelligence agents into Iraq and of setting up operations centers in Iraqi towns.

Iraq is planning on reorganizing its security forces in Baghdad. The plan includes consolidating police and army forces under one command, and one uniform. In addition, the plan calls for a significant reduction in the number of American troops in the capital city.

ONE FINE (ARTS) DAY

In Baghdad, a private art gallery drew a small crowd to an art exhibit. One artist commented that artists have more freedom now than under Saddam:

The young artists at the Cultural Attitudes Society art gallery in central Baghdad say they are more free to express themselves now that Saddam is gone.

FOR THE CHILDREN

Students of Watertown High School in Wisconsin recently collected backpacks filled with school supplies to send to Iraq. The success of “Operation Backpack” surprised even its organizers:

We picked up 80 backpacks from the Educational Service Center that were donated to the school district by the Watertown Kiwanis Club,” Mark McFarland, student council president, said. “

Eight large boxes were filled with the items from the backpacks. Those boxes will be shipped over to Iraq along with the backpacks.

The children of Sadr City are now going to school in new classrooms thanks to the Army Corps of Engineers:

Among the schools getting makeovers was the Mustafa School, which serves 930 high school students in the morning and 430 elementary students in the afternoon.

The $290,000 project included 300 new interior lights, 55 ceiling fans, 11 window air conditioners, 300 square meters of new concrete playground surface, remodeling of restrooms, roof repair, raising the perimeter security wall one meter, repairing all broken glass and installing a steel mesh to protect all exterior windows, painting all interior and exterior walls, and supplying a new 80kva generator.

“It’s one of 13 public-school renovations in East Baghdad that we oversaw in the last year,” said Jeremy Way, project engineer with Gulf Region Central District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

THE MONEYMEN

The head of Iraq’s central bank said this week the country was making progress in reforming the banking system:

He also said Iraq was on track in its financial reforms, including transformation of the banking system "from one depending on cash to a system depending on credit."

"By the end of the year God willing, our banks will have a developed payment system to carry out their settlements fast through accounts at the central banks," he said.

"Other reforms we are working on include improving the banks' managements and developing the technology they use to carry out transactions," he said. "We cannot say everything is perfect, but we are moving forward."

He also said Iraq’s foreign reserves now stand at $10 billion.

The Iraqi-American chamber of commerce will be holding its second trade show in Iraq in September.

Iraq’s oil minister announced that the country will be building three new oil refineries at a cost of $6 billion. When completed, the three facilities will be capable of pumping up to 900,000 barrels a day.

The American chamber of commerce third “Rebuild Iraq” conference ended this week on a high note for residents of Fallujah:

"Fallujah is a secure city and returning to a normal life and its soil is ready for investment". Delegates also heard from speakers of the huge resources available for utilization including 40,000 skilled and currently unemployed people in Fallujah and highlighted the many products that could be sold across Iraq and internationally including ceramics, stone and even a budding tourism sector.

ON FIRE

Renovations to the Al-Musharra fire station are complete. The $110,000 project will benefit 750,000 Iraqis:

Located near the Tigris River, the structure was weakened by the high ground water table. Crumbling walls and floors, a polluted water storage tank and decayed roof tiles were just a few of the reconstruction problems. New joists and wall supports, roof tiles and floor tiles were installed to bring vitality back to the building. New electrical, water, sewage and air conditioning systems were installed and a sleeping quarters, kitchen area and general use room were built to accommodate the nine fireman stationed there.

Thanks to Iraqi production, OPEC’s oil output topped 30 million barrels per day for the first time since November:

The biggest single increase came from Iraq, which saw volumes rise from 1.82 million b/d in March to 2.01 million b/d in April, thanks to a big boost in exports from the south, which had been constrained by a combination of weather problems, power outages and sabotage.

LOOKEE HERE

U.S. and Iraqi troops uncovered a massive weapons cache near Baghdad on Wednesday. The cache was largely made up of materials used to make IEDs:

…searched a house in New Baghdad and discovered 142 land mines, 58 blocks of C4 explosives, approximately 8,000 feet of detonation cord, 107 fuses, 22 rocket-propelled grenades, a launcher, 59 mortars, 40 pounds of mortar propellant, four shape charges, 43 blasting caps, explosive-formed projectile materials, two gas masks, six two-way radios, multiple mortar launching tubes, maps of Baghdad and Iraq, and anti-Iraqi force literature.

The story continues:

The discovery of weapons caches, often a result of a local's tip to Iraqi or American forces, occur nearly every day in Iraq, but the May 10 discovery was particularly large.

In a press conference this week, Major General Lynch noted that tips from Iraqis have increased significantly this year. During the first eleven days of May, Iraqis had phoned in more than 1,500 phone calls. Lynch said that 98 percent of the tips contain usable intelligence. The tips have been especially useful in the fight against al Qaeda and IEDs:

Improved intelligence and increasingly capable Iraqi security forces also led to the capture or killing of more than 161 senior leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq, as well as a marked decrease in effective improvised bombs. More than 50 percent of the bombs now are found and defused before they can kill, he said.

Major Lynch also made a rather interesting statement, and I couldn’t agree more:

"People want to talk about what the enemy did. But they don't talk about what the enemy couldn't do," Lynch said. "And there is a lot he couldn't do because of that increased presence."

ON THEIR OWN

The Iraqi army is now conducting independent operations in Diyala Province:

Iraqi army Soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division are independently conducting operations in their area of Diyala Province. They are performing tasks such as gathering their own intelligence, to patrolling their streets and hunting suspected anti-Iraqi forces.

Independent operations are also being conducted by the Iraqi army in Mosul. Three terrorists on the Iraqi army’s most-wanted list were captured during the operation planned and executed solely by Iraqis:

The Iraqi brigade demonstrated their military planning skills by formulating the mission, issuing appropriate orders to its subordinate units, and overwatching the conduct of the operation.

SAME BAD TRICKS

Terrorists are still using mosques to plan attacks against Coalition forces. In Baghdad, an IED exploded in the basement of a mosque, killing one terrorist, and wounding two others.

A tip from an Iraqi led U.S. troops to a weapons cache, and to the capture of two members of an IED-making terrorist cell.

U.S. and Iraqi forces captured an al Qaeda-cell leader in Adhamiyah. The captured terrorist immediately sang like a canary and seven more terrorists were promptly rounded up.

U.S. soldiers uncovered IED making equipment thanks to a tip from an Iraqi citizen. The cached included an IED ready to go:

The cache included an IED ready for placement, nine anti-tank mines, eight hand grenades, various other weapons and IED making equipment, as well as an improvised rocket launcher.

Three men on the Iraqi army’s most-wanted list were captured during an operation in Mosul. The operation was planned and led by Iraqis.

Two terrorists were killed when they fired on Iraqi police in Tikrit. A search of the building they were in led to the discovery of a tunnel and weapons cache:

The Soldiers uncovered a false wall that led to a tunnel system and another hidden door that opened into a room used as clandestine sleeping quarters.

The “Ready First” Soldiers discovered a variety of weapons and munitions scattered about the tunnel and underground room. A Katusha rocket, 10 rifle grenades, four mortar rounds, three IEDs and two mortar tubes were seized.

Helicopters from the 101st Airbrone Division fired on two terrorist placing an IED during a nighttime patrol, killing one and wounding the other.

In Julaybah, a terrorist compound was destroyed by Coalition forces:

After killing three terrorists and detaining four others, the troops conducted a thorough search of the area. They found six affiliated vehicles, three of which were loaded with various weapons and explosives to include rifles, mortars and improvised explosive device material. The troops also uncovered numerous weapons caches with AK-47's, rocket propelled grenades, mortar rounds and IED material.

Five safe houses, six cars, and all lethal material were destroyed on target. No civilians were injured or harmed during the assault or resulting firefight.

Centcom released captured al Qaeda documents this week in which it is clear the terrorist group is having a tough time in Iraq. An excerpt particularly relevant here:

The actions of the Iraqi Security Forces are having a significant negative impact on the Mujahideen’s ability to operate in Baghdad. Al Qaida in Iraq attacks Mosques and other public places to draw media attention and is having difficulty recruiting members because the people of Iraq do not support its cause.

Great news, but here is how the Reuters’ story on the documents began:

A purported al Qaeda document published by the U.S. military may or may not be authentic but its message that the Sunni Islamist guerrillas face problems in Iraq could reflect reality, security experts said on Tuesday.

Fake but accurate, now where have I heard that before?

In Al Furat, a mostly Sunni area of Anbar, men said they were volunteering for the Iraqi army because they are tired of the insurgency:

One 30-year-old Iraqi man accepted for enlistment said his younger brother had his left leg amputated after infection set in from a gunshot wound from insurgents. He’s hoping his enlistment in the Army is the beginning of the end of the insurgency in Al Anbar Province, he said.


“He told me, my brother – ‘save our country,’” said the man through an interpreter. “’Don’t let another guy end up like me.’ I just do this for him.”

JUST THE FACTS

And in case you missed it, here are some highlights from the latest Brookings’s Iraq Index:

Per Capita GDP (USD) for 2005 is forecast to increase from the previous year to $1,051. In 2002 it was $802.
Increases in GDP for the next five years: 16.8, 13.6, 12.5, 7.8, and 7.2.
Actionable tips from Iraqis have increased every month this year. In January, 4,025 tips were received; February, 4,235; and March, 4,578.
On an index of political freedom for countries in the Middle East, Iraq now ranks fourth, just below Israel, Lebanon, and Morocco.
Crude oil production reached 2.14 million barrels a day (MBD) in April of this year. It had dropped to 0.3 MBD in May of 2003.
Revenues from oil export have only slightly increased from prewar levels of $0.2 billion, to $0.62 billion in April.
Electrical output is almost at the pre-war level of 3,958 megawatts. April's production was 3,600 megawatts. In May of 2003, production was only 500 megawatts. The goal is to reach 6,000 megawatts, and was originally expected to be met in 2004.
The unemployment rate in June of 2003 was 50-60 percent, and in April of this year it had dropped to 25-40 percent.
The number of U.S. military wounded has declined significantly from a high of 1,397 in November 2004 to 430 in April of this year.
Iraqi military casualties were 201 in April of 2006, after peaking at 304 in July of 2005.
As of December 2005, countries other than the U.S., plus the World Bank and IMF, have pledged almost $14 billion in reconstruction aid to Iraq.
Significant progress has also been made towards the rule of law. In May 2003 there were no trained judges, but as of October 2005 there were 351.
As of January 2006, 64 percent of Iraqis polled said that the country was headed in the right direction.
Also as of January 2006, 77 percent said that removing Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do.
In May of 2003, Iraqi security forces were estimated at between 7,000-9,000. They numbered 250,500 in March of this year.
The breakdown of foreign terrorists by country of origin is interesting. The largest number come from Algeria, at 20 percent. The next two countries are Syria and Yemen, at 18 percent and 17 percetn, respectively.
The number of foreign terrorists fighting in Iraq was estimated at between 300 and 500 in January 2004. That number increased in April of this year, to between 700 and 2,000.
From May 2003 and April 2006, between 1,000 and 3,000 anti-Iraqi forces have been killed each month.

— Bill Crawford lives in San Antonio, Tex.

Mothers day.

In the United States, Mother's Day was originally conceived by social activist Julia Ward Howe during the American Civil War with a call to unite women against war. She wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation. In the United States, the day now simply celebrates motherhood and thanking mothers.

Julia Ward Howe'a idea was influenced by Anna Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors.

Jarvis' daughter, also named Anna Jarvis, would, of course, have known of her mother's work, and the work of Howe. Much later, when her mother died, this second Anna Jarvis started her own crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first such Mother's Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908, in the church where the elder Anna Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Grafton is the home to the International Mother's Day Shrine. From there, the custom caught on — spreading eventually to 45 states. The holiday was declared officially by somes states beginning in 1912. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day. Nine years after the first official Mother's Day holiday, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become. Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. holidays.

To us Mothers day is about Mom having a nice relaxing day after we pound the concept through our kids skulls.

Tom Hanks SNL Skit

Pretty funny stuff. Right up there with the Davinci Code!

Home Wireless Networking

I'm a DSL user and I got a modem that was a wireless router combined. This was fine for the last couple of years. However I found the wireless modem has a range of about 30 feet and it will not reach the far end of the house. Further my daughter has a computer now and I was hoping on putting her on the net in a controlable fashion (USB adapter). Same for my son who has had one of my old hand me down computers for quite a while. We also have a TiVo that I am lead to understand is great to have wireless, not to mention the X-box.... Anyway....

The current situation just wouldnt work. So I staked out a router and adapter that would fill the bill. Netgear has the RangeMax series that is awesome in range and power. I waited until the right combination of Free shipping, discounts+coupons and my employee discount at Dell and made the purchase. I bought a PCI USB card for my daughters puter as well and the Matching rangemax USB adapter. This ended up costing me around $150.00.

The next step was to disable the wireless network that was there. So I logged into the modem and shut off the wireless and went through the endless stream of settings turning off the items I thought were not needed. Unfortunatly the DHCP in the router as well (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). My thought was the hub would handle this duty. I was 1/2 right.

Suddenly I could no longer access the web nor the router page as it dumped my IP address like so much refuse. Okay, now how to turn that back on without being able to access the router? There are no DHCP on switches so I was forced to call my ISP. As more frequently, when it comes to support, I was greeted by a rather heavy Indian accent which required a little adaptation before I could clearly understand him. In this respect the mind is amazingly adaptive. I found out two things right away. One, they are not used to anyone who has a clue calling in (I happen to have multiple clues). Two they cannot remote access a modem and turn on the DHCP.

To his creadit he recognized my 733+ (Leet or Elite) skills about 1/2 through our discussion. I do admit to getting frustraited at him NOT beliving that I already know my way around IP address and pings and whatnot. We did a modem reset and that solved the problem. Next I follow the amazingly simple instructions for setting up the wirless router (which technically is a wireless Routing Switch, but I digress). This was a far cry from the mess the old Cisco managed hubs I used to set up.

I followed the steps and got everything set up on my computer (Tina and mine will be hardwired into the hub) I log into the router and I am greeted with a request to update the firmware. So I select yes (It really did'nt seem like a BAD choice). Firmware is the software that lives inside of a device and allows it to function. Sometime that firmware has not taken into account some item or process and needs to be updated. Such was the case for Tina's DVD burner. It would not recognize DVD blank media until I updated the firmware.

Well the firmware update went wierd and then I couldnt connect to anything at all. My thought was that the Firmware download had glitched and my router was now a box of plastic. So now back to phone support and Bangalore! Either this tech spoke clearer english or my mind had retained the adaptative enzyme. We went through a series of tests to determine if I was an idiot or not. Thankfully, the tech was stumped. He put me on hold, went home had a shower, made love to the wife, ate a nice meal and came back... We reset the router and hooked it up to my laptop and went through the settings.

This made me wonder about the status of my computer and exactly what was going on with it. The tech kept assuring me that once I plugged the cable in I would be fine. I made him stay on the phone with me and low and behold, he was right. Tina and my machines were working fine.

Next up, sharing printer and documents. This was made difficult by Peter Norton. Good Ole Pete has been around since computers first lost data. He figured out that instead of erasing files the OS (operating system) only made it so the file was renamed something that the OS would be unable to view and could overwrite if space was needed. His Norton Utility package was usually purchased by a desperate business man who had deleted something that would cost him his Job should the Boss find out. Time passes and Pete sells his ideas to Symantec who needed his code and they went into the, BUY US OR YOU'LL BE SORRY, software business. Saving the world from Viruses, erasures, worms, spyware, and internet attacks.

Well, I have Symantec Security products (purchased for a sizable discount through work) and while I am not 100% happy with the amount of invasiveness into my computer I am well pleased at its ability to stop nastys from getting inside my computer.

Well somehow Pete thought that anyone on my network was out to get me and wouldnt allow anyone to share my printer or shared folders. This took a bit of looking around to find but finally I overcame that hurdle. Diana's computer hookup was easy once I figured out the difference between a Key and passphrase (this was my stupid moment of the day).

Now her windows will not register as the PID doesnt match something else. I'm going to call into Microsoft to see if I can sort this out without re-installing everything. Fun fun fun!

Oh, the laptop hooks up with easy alarming speed!

one of those days.

Every have one of those days where Homicide seems to be a viable option. Or Genocide depending upon your mood?

What I believe

http://www.compleatsteve.com/bits/ibelieve.htm

[ heavy music starts to play ]

"What I Believe."

I believe in rainbows and puppy dogs and fairy tales.And I believe in the family - Mom and Dad and Grandma.. and Uncle Tom, who waves his penis.

And I believe 8 of the 10 Commandments.

And I believe in going to church every Sunday, unless there's a game on.

And I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, wholesome and natural things.. that money can buy.

And I believe it's derogatory to refer to a woman's breasts as "boobs", "jugs", "winnebagos" or "golden bozos".. and that you should only refer to them as "hooters".

And I believe you should put a woman on a pedestal.. high enough so you can look up her dress.

And I believe in equality, equality for everyone.. no matter how stupid they are, or how much better I am than they are.

And, people say I'm crazy for believing this, but I believe that robots are stealing my luggage.

And I believe I made a mistake when I bought a 30-story 1-bedroom apartment.

And I believe the Battle of the Network Stars should be fought with guns.

And I believe that Ronald Reagan can make this country what it once was - an arctic region covered with ice.

And, lastly, I believe that of all the evils on this earth, there is nothing worse than the music you're listening to right now. That's what I believe.

CoH Sunday nights!

Every Sunday and Tuesday nite we have been meeting in Paragon City (Pinnacle Server) and playing a team of characters.

This continues to be a blast. Because of the company. We continually go into situations that would be nigh impossible versus the levels and number of bad guys and we kick some booty.

The nice thing about thinking in the group dynamic is you can build your character for the group. For instance, taking a travel power at lvl 14 isnt needed as someone with Travel power and recall friend can take on that duty.

I'm glad Joe has joined in, just need everyone else :) (need a controller)