Send Free SMS messages

I came across this really cool item at another blog I read. I have to say that I was so impressed, I plagiarized his entry. The service is called TeleFlip. It allows anyone to send free SMS messages to any capable mobile number in North America via email, without knowing the carrier of the mobile.

the usage is very and even railroaders can use it. You just simply send an email it the format (xxx) xxx-xxxx@teleflip.com. You can have the number in any format actually, with spaces or no spaces, or just the 10 digits. The service receives the message and sends it to the appropriate carrier. Charges may apply from the carrier for the recipient and may be subject carrier restrictions.

You can use this service in many different ways. Send group messages, send timed messages, forward important emails, etc...

Check it out at www.teleflip.com and let me know how it works!

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Scams and Hoaxes

I am continuously bombarded by people who send me forwarded e-mails ranging from the practical and bizarre. About 99.6% of these messages are hoaxes or scams. Some of the people who send me this items are Doctors, Executives, Military Officers, business owners, and for the most part, are the smartest people I have met in my life. The only thing, they are way too trusting.

The malicious miscreants that will send you an e-mail proposing that you sign and forward a petition to help a child with cancer are in my book, as low as a pedophile. These types of animals get their kicks by preying on a normal persons good nature and feeling that they can do something to help someone they have no connection with. They should be prosecuted and put in jail with a sign that they are predators of the innocent.

Well, to stop this from happening to you or to help you from forwarding on this type of abuse, I have put in a link to one of the better sites for finding out the scams from the truth.

Instead of rambling on about how this works or that functions, just click on the link and go there. Either now, or the next time you get an e-mail telling you that if you reply, Bill Gates will give you a thousand dollars.

Just be careful. That, and if you send me one of these hoaxes or Scams, I will promptly scold you for being gullible.

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Put the parts together, NOW!

OK, I try and put parts away together. Yes, I am not always able to do so or can do it but I try.

Well, since the parts were not put away together, the rice cooker no longer can work. Everything is there (after I searched for 50 minutes), but the cord. So, now we have a nice chunk of plastic and metal on the counter which does nothing but get in the way.

I leave it right in the way of everything. I even move things to put it right up front because I want everyone to remember that the cord is still missing. I have even brought it off the shelf where it used to be stored, just for spite. I really would like some steamed rice now, but not without a cord.

One thing that should be noted. This stupid cord is like no other we have in the house. It is one of those "One of a kind" cords that only work in this stupid machine. I mean, come on people. Can't you make a cord that works universally? We have the normal amount of devices everyone else has. And most or not all have one of two types of cords. This is the only one which doesn't match. I found a picture online while googling it so you can see what I mean. I feel like I should break into a Sesame Street song about, "which one, is not like the others!" or something like that.

OK, the rant is over. I guess I will break out a pot and put it on the stove.

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Out goes the dish drainer

I had to trash the dish drainer. This is an ongoing problem which had to go.

You know what I am talking about. The drainer gets filled up and never gets emptied. Now, this might be a problem for many people. But for this family, it is a problem that will just not go away.

I have to put the thing away, then it stays clear for about 3 weeks (until someone realizes that it is not there and they need to use it).

Now, the clean dishes will not pile up like the "Tower of Babel". The dishwasher(s) will have to dry and put away those pesky clean dishes.

My recommendation to everyone, it to throw out the dish drainer and buy more dish towels!

I will get some more once they go on sale after Christmas. Until then, I will have to listen to the complaints of the wife that I threw away her dish (clutter) drainer.

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Removing links for job searches.

I have removed the links for all the job searches which I had listed. I am making a new blog for my calling at church which is the "Ward Employment Specialist".

This will make it easier to post quick links for new positions I have either discovered while searching, or for links which people have sent me or told me about.

I am going to try to use obfuscation for my links so there will be no direct stealing or the like.

We will have to see how it goes.

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There I said it!

I hate being away from my family for this stupid job.

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Teen Sticks Gun In Woman's Face During Sledding Trip

I read this on the Cincinnati site and immediately about two things:

• I really want to move away from Cincinnati. The problems in this city are escalating and getting more intense. I can only see these type of "Made for TV" events growing more and more common. Soon, it will not be safe anywhere in the area.
• I truly believe I would have no problem in either crushing him with my truck by running back and forth over his dead and broken body or by what destroying him by whatever means I had for killing him. I nearly did just that about 10 years ago when a drunk with a steel bar stumbed up to my pickup when my then 7 year old son Jon was in the back. I tried to run him over when he swung at me, he fell over and passed over. That takes the need out of running their dumbass over. I just waited for the cops on that one.

I imagine that there are way too many people who would read this and think I am a terrible person. I am not. I just think that evil people deserve what they get and they should die a terrible and painful death. Think kind of thinking comes from having myself and friends terrorized by evil people just like the one who did this.

Anyway, here is the report from Channel 5 in Cincinnati.

A woman who took her kids sledding got the scare of her life, and it wasn't from the slick roads, News 5's Courtis Fuller reported.

The mother, who preferred not to be identified, said a teen stuck a gun in her face as she stopped her car in Rapid Run Park on Friday.

"He said, 'Give me your wallet. I'm not kidding, or I'm going to shoot you,'" she said of the encounter. "He said, 'I'm going to kill you and them too.'"She said she looked down the barrel of the gun at the would-be mugger and decided she'd try to get away. When she revved the engine and blew her horn, she said the teen took off running.

The mother said she usually takes her children sledding in a different park, and probably won't return to Rapid Run any time soon. But she said she gave police a detail description of the teen, so she hopes that helps them find the culprit.

Police told News 5 that the same teen was likely responsible for another robbery in the park, and they're trying to track down clues as to his identity.

I am not concerned about this. If the kid did that to me, I can not say what I would do. I have a good idea. Like I said above, I have been in the situation before and automatically proceeded on a course of action without thinking about it.

Obviously he deserves what he gets, if he can stick a gun in a woman's face while she is in a park with her kids.

And just to complete the thought.... For all the people who either second guess my opinion or think this is inappropriate, screw you. Let it happen to you. I would put good money down that you would either be with me, or dead of a gunshot wound to the head or maybe even have a couple of dead kids.

Honesty is never pretty.

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College grade sharing

I had to post this, just because I can see this happening to my neighbors kid.

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and was very much in favor of the redistribution of wealth.

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the addition of more government welfare programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father.

He responded by asking how she was doing in school. Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which l! Left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, "How is you friend Audrey doing?" She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus, college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties, and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over."

Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."

The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I have worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree! . She played while I worked my tail off!"

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

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Friends

This entry is currently being revised. Please check back in a little while. This thought is not yet complete!

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Layoffs expected for the railroad (Not just GM)

With the disclosure of the plant closings and layoffs at General Motors, layoffs could be on the horizion for CSX. This sentiment was being spoken throughout the crew room today as new came of GM's downsizing and plant closures.

If your still not getting why? Let me put it this way.....

From Yahoo News: Plants marked for closure include those in Doraville, Georgia, Ontario, Canada, Portland, Oregon and Pittsburgh, an Oklahoma City plant that makes mid-size sport utility vehicles and GM's Lansing, Michigan Craft Center, which makes a poor-selling sport pickup truck.

• If there are less cars to transport, there will be less need for moving auto-racks.
• Fewer auto-racks, means fewer trains needed.
• Fewer trains means fewer need for the current amount of yard jobs to shuffle cars around the yard to build said trains,
• Fewer trains and yard jobs mean fewer open positions for Engineers and Conductors,
• Fewer Conductors and Engineers needed mean layoffs,
• Layoffs mean we find other jobs,

This is more impactful than anyone can imagine. I could go on and on with how this will effect the country.

Personally, I have been "down sized" twice before. One was with the Navy when they "disestablished" my rating (or job classification). The second was when Compaq and HP merged and I was part of a forced downsizing. Those jobs impacted about 10,000 people in Cincinnati alone. Now this. I have got to get a government job if I am going to retire in one piece.

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Podcasting?

I have finally succumed to the world of podcasting. Not that I wanted to, but because of necessity. After reading this, you will understand that this is the way to go for railroaders away from home. Or even for those long drives to and from work.

You see, the workings of the railroad require you to be gone for extended periods of time. These trips I take normally take more than 36 hours and sometime upwards of 60 hours depending on the traffic, number of trains called (needed) and other uninspiring things which keep me away from home. So, how can I listen to the things I want which are scheduled at a certain time and on a certain day? Podcasting!

I also do not have the money to go out and blow on a $400.00 iPod. Not many people I know can spend money like that for something that will probably break in a few months (which things like this typically do break in a short time). So, I did the smart thing, I went to the open source community and picked up iPodder. This is an open source project where many generous people have combined forces and created a very nice program for everyone to use.

I am not going to go into the details. If you want those, just click here and read everything yourself. If you want to skip all the details, get the application and start enjoying podcasting, click on one of these links and download the application for yourself. No, there is no spyware, adware or other things to buy. As a matter of fact, there are many ways to use your existing hardware, PocketPCs, and various toys to take the programs you want with you. Check it out, what can you lose?

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Google Earth

If you don't like the idea that your railroad maps are a few black lines on a white piece of paper, you now have an altrnate map. Google has bought a company named Keyhole and created Google Earth.

With a free download for interfacing software, you can get areial maps of most of the planet. The software is free but the hardware to run it really needs to be current. If you want to see if your computer will run the software, go here and check the requirements and the information for video cards.My laptop is a 1.8Ghz system but it can barely run this software. I will try it out on my desktop system and see if it runs better.

One of the more interesting things you can do with the software is making up location points. The map can have points located on it where you can indicate the various points and what ever realating data you want to add. You can use little icons which are definable too.

Currently, I am adding alot of indicators which I am also including other date for the locations like: Phone Numbers, Printer designations, track lenghts, and anything else I can think of that might be relivent. Even better, once I am done, I can export "My Locations" to a CSV file and I can post it here. Sharing data should be easy this way.

Once I get my locations input, I will speak more on this.

One big But!

One of the main things here is, It's free, It's Interesting, and It's Useful. I recommend you look over the site and install it. The only caveat is that Google wants to also install it's browser tool bar. This is a fairly intrusive piece or software which reports back to google every time you go to a website. I recommend you do not install the Google Toolbar. I really don't like anyone knowing where I go on the Internet. Maybe you don't care, but I do. All I want to say is to think before installing the toolbar.

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Bound

I watched it again while doing the dishes.

Jennifer Tilly

Gina Gershon

Need I say more???

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One very upset dog

For the sake of sanity, I wanted to tell you the names of the animals who shared our home first. The names are simple and rather odd, but from now on, I will call them by name.

Cat: Named "Dawg" - Dog: Named "Jack"

When the cat (Dawg) died Friday, we were not sure how the kids would take it. They did really well at knowing what the situation was and that he was in a lot of pain.

What we didn't expect was that the dog (Jack) would be so depressed, upset, dismayed, or whatever you want to call it. We always expected the problem would be there, but we never expected it to be so bad. He really has been searching for 'Dawg'. One things we noticed right awas was that he was sitting on the couch and not moving but looking around like he was going to show up in the normal cat way. In other words, Dawg would jump up on on the couch, look at the dog, jump up, walk around Jack a bit, sit down and wait to be pummeled.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the cat would sleep in the dogbox with jack. When the cat knew the dog was felling bad, the cat seemed to know this and would stay in there with him and comfort him. It was rather strange but it was good to see.

Now that Jack has no one, he has resorted to playing with a stuffed animal Maryann gave him. At the moment, he is doing OK but you can tell that this will get worse for the foreseeable future. I hope that with some added attention, Jack will be OK. I guess it will have to be since we are not getting another cat for him.

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Quote of the day

If you can't say anything nice about someone,..... You must be speaking about Hillary Clinton.

Jeff Foxworthy

Ya gotta love it.

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The "Dawg" is gone.

Our cat (named "Dawg") is now gone. I buried him just east of the old house in a sunny spot. It is a nice place and I remember him running through that area so I thought is was very appropirate. He will be greatly missed. I really intended to write more but I can't do it now. Maybe later.

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Transcript of the "Nicolay Draft" of the Gettysburg Address

I read through this ever month or so. I feel that it clears my head from all the garbage that pours into my head on a daily basis.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that "all men are created equal"

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow, this ground -- The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it can never forget what they did here.

It is rather for us, the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that, from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here, gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people by the people for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Not many people share my enthusiasm with this piece of literature and history. It does make me reflect about what really is important (at the least) in my life.

There is a really good site within the library of Congress which specifically details the address. To see it, just ClickHere

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Thanks Blogger!

The publishing problem I was having was fixed yesterday by Graham at Blogger. Now I can get back to blogging.

Thanks Graham!

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Competing with apathy

It is very hard to continue the day to day struggle with the apathy I have to compete with. More than what I have to deal with at my job, I have to deal with it at home. Things like the adult in the home never being able to put anything away. Never putting the deris on the floor in the trash or away in the cabinet. It must be a typical stereotype thing. You know, the part where you leave what every breaks down or stops, right there. I am not hateful, mean or anything. It is kist the truth. She just leaves it where it lays.

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Resume request.

I had a call this afternoon about a job prospect. This one is back in IT with a national company working Lotus Notes. I didn't even know that companies still used Notes. I guess I better get hot.

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Texting is very private

While calling Cincinnati Bell Wireless, I found out that there is nothing you can do if your receiving harassing or problem text messages. The only thing that can be done is to take the phone to the police and have them read them. There is nothing that anyone can do to track SMS messages.

The reason I contacted them is two fold.

• One, I have received rather strange text messages from a friend. Apparently she is being stalked and does not know who it is. These are messages from her that I need to keep. Mainly to show that there is a problem and that it is not me.
• Two, I need to show that what I have innocently sent to her was not related to what is happening to her. There is nothing worse than having someone think your bothering them when your not. The police are not friendly in matters like this and proof is required to nip this in the butt fast. That, and to remove myself from the list of possible people stalking her.

One thing I do have is a voicemail from her indicating that she stopped taking her previously prescribed medication. That is one thing I need to keep. Honestly, I really thought that she was not in her right mind. Saying things like "take care of my cat when I am gone" and "I told God the same thing". Just things that a non-suicidal person wouldn't say.

I guess that knowing someone for 25+ years time, and actually liking to speak to them is against the law.

On the other hand, it appears that trying to be a friend is grounds for a police investigation. I admittedly cared what happened to her (upto today).

Once again, it should be noted that, "No good deed ever goes unpunished."

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testing

This entry is currently being revised. Please check back in a little while. This thought is not yet complete!

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New warnings from the east.

Pakistan test-fired its first cruise missile Thursday in a blatant attempt to intimidate India. The new missile flies beneath Indian radar and is supposedly undetectable.

United States Government Officials explained that this was a serious situation for US security. Not only would an undetected warhead kill millions, if they attacked India with a nuclear cruise missile, it could wipe out the entire United States customer service industry.

Washington Democrat and Republican leaders alike have shown immense concern that this might cause a huge jump in employing Americans in the United States.

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Looking again!

While things are going good here, I hate to be stagnant. I have created several system wide resumes in various government databases. These are interesting because they keep your resume on file and if you see a job, you just click it to apply. I am not sure that I like the fact that they keep it on file for a long time, but it is the government and I figure they have all kinds of data on me and there is nothing I can do about it, so why not a little more on me?!?

I have listed three here and I will repost and put any more I can find as I go on a job search frenzy again. I spent the entire time from the beginning of 2002 through to the end of 2004 doing the same thing, so it is easy to get back into the rythem. Since I am working full time, the fact of being turned down so many times is not as depressing. The repeated "I'm sorry, but your overqualified" still drones through my head. But now, I can go to work and forget about it.

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Do you have too many kids?

While reading the news, I came across an interesting fact. You have to have a license if you are watching over a specific amount of children. I wonder it this type of thing counts if (your Mormon or Catholic and) you have a plethora of kids???

Check this out. In Kentucky, the law requires those watching four or more children to have a license. In Ohio, the limit is seven children, and in Indiana, a license is required for six or more.

So, if you live in Kentucky & have three kids at home of your own, then you are nice enough to watch a friends three little toddlers, you can be cited for not having a daycare license.

The Bottom line: Never babysit for someone if you have kids of your own. Heaven forbid you have something go wrong while watching said friends kids if they need to go to the doctor or run out for a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk. You could end up in prison or lose your own kids to HRS for being a friend.

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Why I like ketchup on my eggs.

I like ketchup on my eggs because I hate eggs alone. They have no flavor! Ketchup gives the eggs a taste. The show called 'Fear Factor' had an episode on an ostritch eggs! The contestants had to eat one it could feed 30 people!

My Dad fixes me eggs, so a ton of ketchup gets used most of the time.

My favorite way to eat eggs without any ketchup is a Hawaiian eye! Our version of a Hawaiian eye is a fried egg on some toasted bread or better yet, an English Muffin! I like them a lot but I do not get to eat them a lot.

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Bridget's Bio

This is the first time I've posted a blog. Usually I write with pen and ink in my journals. I like the tactile sensation of holding the ink pen while I am writing. This typing stuff will take some getting used too. Todd and I figured that since the kids have to write in the family blog, Mom (Me) should have to also.

Lets start with brief history of me. I was born in North Hollywood, California in the late 60's to left over hippies. We moved all the time. East L.A. Ca.; Seattle WA.; Tujunga, CA.; Nampa, ID; Medford, OR; back to Nampa, ID. There I graduated from High school.

I went to college at Boise State University, ran out of money. Then I joined the Navy. Went all over the world. Saw great things and miserable things. The best thing that military service did for me, was to show me how wonderful America really is. I don't think anyone can truly appreciate this country until they have traveled and seen how much worse the rest of the world is.

Now today I am living in Cincinnati, Ohio with my husband and three children. I would prefer to move out West to Western Montana, or Idaho. But we are here. In Ohio. There are no Mountains and I always joke to the kids that the reason I get lost while driving is because without the Mountains to show what direction I am in, I get lost. They are getting old enough to realize that I just get lost a lot.

We recently moved from a big old farm back to the city. This is some adjustment. We sold the Farm because Todd knows I want to move. Now we are looking for property closer to where he is working, but not near people. Since I have such an abrasive personality, we decided it would be better to not live near other people.

We both want to build a monolithic dome home. I looked at some sites in New Richmond, Ohio. Pretty little river town, good school district for the kids. Gotta go get the cat, he is on top of the TV.

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There is no piano but I have a keyboard

Our friends (currently in China) bribe their children to practice the piano, time share the computer. I believe that they use the minute to minute ploy. In other words, for every minute the kids practice, they get the equal amount on the computer playing games and such.

I am using the same thing to get my kids (and wife) to blog. For every 15 minutes, they must create one approved paragraph in this blog. I had a little resistance (for about 5 minutes) until each of the boys played Mechwarrior 4 and were very compliant in my demands.

I am hoping that bridget keeps doing this since there is so much she can put and remember. I can only hope.

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Motherhood: the unrespected profession

This entry is currently being revised. Please check back in a little while. This thought is not yet complete!

Apparently, there was a study out that put motherhood as a unrespected profession or career.

Yes, being a parent is a career. think about this before you scoff and dismiss this as drivel. If you have kids, I have a 80% chance (plus or minus 10% either way) of you agreeing with me. Mainly because that 80% care for this kids and can identify with what I am about to say. I is not easy being a parent who cares about their children in today's disjointed, disfunctional, and out of touch society.

I can understand that one from what we are bombarded with every day. All your exposed to in the media is about bad parents. The ones who do despicable things to their kids. You see it every day.

One thing you will never see on TV, or in the newspaper, is the amount of good parents in the world. The parents I am talking about are that middle 80%. The ones who care about their kids. The ones who try and do everything for their kids. I am not talking about the polar extremes. What I am talking about is the 20% out there on the extremes, where 10% do not care about their kids, and the opposite 10% who try and do everything for their kids.

The "I could care less" group: This 20% not only have no worries about their kids, they usually think they are an annoyance. I live around the corner from a "family" like this. Their 8 year old son is a menace to the neighborhood. He terrorizes the other kids, takes everyone's stuff, and is a foul-mouthed little turd.

A good example of this one, This child's mother was all upset about him running around unsupervised when Bridget was out front. When she was asked, Bridget's response to the woman's query about "Weren't you watching him?" was as I expected. Bridget immediatly replied with "Did you ever ask me? He is not my responsibility, he is yours. Besides, I have no idea who you are." That so called parent is part of the bottom 20% of the spectrum.

From experience, this is more wide spread than anyone will admit. Military families are highly susceptible to this kind of problem. Mainly because young and inexperienced parents are taken away from all the support they had in their life and placed in the middle of being responsible for children without guidance.

The "Mommy and Daddy will make it all better" group: The extremes on this end of this panorama of human parents are the ones you see on TV. These freaky people are noteworthy because they are the ones who would put out a hit on the head cheerleader because they think their daughter should have made the squad. Or the ones you see (in the states) who are screaming at the baseball umpire or their son's coach because he just struck out at bat. We had a couple of these too this year. The other team nearly had to forfeit a game because the other coach was just screaming at the players because his team was losing. Or the parents who push their kids everyday into being what the parent(s) want to be and not what the child wants to be.

I know there is such a think as wanting the best thing for your child, but these people have a bad case of not knowing when to stop. They push their kids 24/7 and 365 days of the year for 'what is best for the child' and 'they have to do this to get ahead of the others'.

I have seen half a dozen kids when I was in high school and even while in the military who were in this type of situation. They were wither able to fall inline with the parents plan and were the most aggressive and cut-throat people I have met, or they were on the verge of a nervious breakdown.

This entry is currently being revised. Please check back in a little while. This thought is not yet complete!

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Days so far?

I am not sure if my calculations are correct,but I believe as of today this is 4993 days sober.

This is more of a milestone for my feelings for Bridget since we both stopped on Halloween 1991. This should be correct but even if it is not, it has been so long that I no longer remember the last alcoholic drink I had.

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Going fishing in Florida

I was at my Grandparents house and were getting ready to go fishing. It took us about half an hour to get ready. When we were ready to go, I got in the front of the golf cart, my brother got in the back, and Grandpa drove. We went to a really big lake off the golf course and we all caught a few bass there.

We used fake worms that were black. When I caught my fish, it was the hardest fish to pull in because it was swimming backwards! When I finally pulled it out of the water it was all bloody on the side. The blood was coming from the gills. I thought it was gross! After we got a few pictures, we set it free in the lake.

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Flying to Florida

This entry is currently being revised. Please check back in a little while. This thought is not yet complete!

Today was a good day. I flew down to Florida to see my parents and meet Bridget and the kids.

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Cincinnati Marshals Win!!!

We went to see the Cincinnati Marshals play football tonight at U.S.Bank Arena and they WON!!! The Marshals played the Tri-Cities "Fever" team from Washington state. The Marshals now go the playoffs and if tonight's performance is any indicator, they are going all the way to the top!

The score was always in the Marshals favor from the beginning. The Marshals picked up a touchdown early in the first quarter and never gave up their lead. This team proved tonight that they can perform very well together as a single, well organized unit.

I am very impressed with this team. I have never witnessed a game in the NIFL or National Indoor Football League. I have to say, after only one game, I am hooked. This was the best team of professionals I have ever seen. They worked so well together & I can not explain it.

I spoke to some of the family of the players while waiting for the players to return to the field after their win. Apparently the previous management did nothing to forward the team. This was unfortunate. But tonight things have changed. The new head coach is Tony Wells and he really was out there with and for the team. From what I gathered from the team families, Mr. Wells has really turned the team around in a very short period of time.

One other thing. If you have not heard of the Marshals, I understand. I was only introduced to the team two weeks ago. My family had gone and seen a game while I was working. They purchased tickets and we went today. This is the first time I can think of when I truly enjoyed attending a football game. The players were friendly to the fans and were trying very hard to be inspirational to everyone. This was a absolutely a great time.

I am going to write a letter to the Marshals tomorrow to tell them how much I enjoyed the game. I will try and post it after I get it sent out.

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Dog at the vet for the duration

Bridget dropped off Jack (the dog) at the kennel for the duration of her visit to Florida. I will be picking him back up once I get back on the 30th of June.

Hopefully, he does not bite anyone. The new people there are afraid of him and he has to show complete dominance over everyone he meets.

This ought to be interesting to hear about once I go to pick him back up.

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But I don't play bridge!?!

"Sex is like a bridge game; if you dont have a good partner, you better have a good hand."

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Bitten, but not eaten

It looks like the cat was bitten by something bigger than him.

So far, the prognosis is that "he should live" but that is not guaranteed. The doctor apparently fixed whatever was wrong with surgery, including removing a large amount of pus from his abdomen. From what I have learned, he basically opened him up, rinsed out his abdomen (stomach cavity) and fixed all the tears and holes in his flesh.

To be honest, I never knew he was feeling bad. He was outside as usual, and came home the next day. I thought that is what cats do. Anyway, I guess either Bridget or Maryann were messing with him and noticed something amiss. Next thing I know, I am getting text'd at work saying they were immediately taking him to the vet.

Now, we currently have a cat. He is fine, rather punctured and shaved, but he is alive. As a general rule, I rather dislike cats as a whole. This one is different. He is more like a thing, than a cat. While at our last house, he caught and disposed of all the mice in the area. This included all intruding mice into the basement. So, I really do think that he 'earned' his keep then. There was no reason to not bring him along. He earned it there and he can do whatever he wants until we need him again.

I do think that him being a cat, he probably would have been good for the new owners too. But I like him and he has some strange attachment to me. I just hope he survives this problem. Like I said, the prognosis is good.

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Found him

Upon a further search of the local apartments, we found the neighbor had a few dead animals at the doorstep. They must have noticed Bridget frantically looking for the cat and told her where he was.

He is back again. I gave him a three time bath with flea shampoo just to make sure and combed his coat to remove the excess hair.

Problem solved.

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Oops, there goes the cat!

Bridget didn't close the screen door in the back. Thus, the smarter than she is cat pushed it open and decided to go exploring.

I am not worried in the least. This cat can take care of itself. He kills and usually eats everything he comes across.

examples include are but not limited to: rabbits, moles, mice, birds, crawdads, other various rodents, and snakes

I doubt that he will ever go hungry. Even in the dead of winter when the snow was a foot deep, he always was bringing something home to eat.

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A pain in the side

Bridget went for a CT today. She was supposed to go up to Wright Patterson Airforce Base on Friday. The problem was that her Doctor said to do it now. Now!

The only thing everyone has said is that they are pointing to the fact that she has a problem which could be connected with her gallbladder, which by the way was removed while I was still on active duty.

We do not know anything so we are not worrying about it. Once we get the results back, then we will deal with it.

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Rehashing for the second time around

I have to admit that this is the same thing I stressed over when I left Jacksonville. I had to leave Jon behind with my ex-wife and the problems they were having. It is not like I had any choice in the matter. I was still active duty and the place they transfered me to was over a thousand miles from him.

Even though my ex-wife had called me no less than three times to say "I can't take this anymore" or that she could not handle him anymore, I never was able to get custody. Every time I said, "No problem. We can take him as soon as possible". Then (inevitably), she would start to realize that not only would her troubles be over, but she would lose $1,200 to $1,500 a month. I know in my heart, that is the reason she always seemed to overcome any problems with Jon. Not because she tried harder, he tried harder, or things got better overnight. She just got it in her head that she would lose money.

I never thought about putting a price on somes life. I didn't have to make this terrible idea up. It was in front of my face all along. I didn't ever realize it until last night. I would say that the feeling of "falling off the turnip truck" would not cover that sinking feeling I had at the moment of realization, but it is close.

I used to worry that if I wrote something here, My family, son or inlaws would read it. I am pretty sure that does not happen. I have been keeping track of who views my blog via my sitemeter. Nothing In Jacksonville or California appears to ever register. Thus, I am writing for me. At least I have things off my chest.

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Fears of trying to take a deep breath

I have to admit, I think a lot about the kids when I have an asthmatic reaction to something. With all the asbestos, silica dust, heavy metals, and plain old crapola' I have breathed in over the years, I really get very upset everytime I find it difficult to breath. That, and 3 of my friends from high school have died from cancer. One even died from lung cancer.

Now take into consideration, I wrote this at 0330 in the morning, while sitting in my pickup truck. It does not change the ideas behind the story, but it does change the perspective if that makes sense.

Ok, now your asking why does he think about the kids? Well, mainly because I am concerned what would happen to them if something took me out of the picture. Bridget is not the healthest person in the world. What I am concerned with is who would take care of them? I mean, there are not a lot of options here.

The Choices?

• My Parents: My parents are not in the position to take care of them. They would do if it was necessary, but I don't know. Those three kids are a lot to handle 24/7/365.
• Close family, my side: The only family I know is my cousin Meg. I am not sure what would be the situation there. She is just getting her son out of the house. My Aunt will be her main focus in the near future. We were never 'close' and my Uncle was the man who raised her son as his own. Even then, he said he did it "because there was no one else there".
• Bridget's Sister: She is kinda at the bottom of the potentials list. This is for no other reason than we don't want to ask. Even though I am going to say what I mean, no one will understand it. First, She has never had kids & she has a second husband who treats her well. They are building a new home somewhere in California. From what I gather from Bridget and her Mother, it is not going to be a place to raise kids. I really don't see being able to ask her for this kind of assistance. She has never really had to be hardened to doing something this intense and important. I know bridget and I have talked about making them guardians, but we have never done the paperwork. This was for fear of being turned down when and/or if the time comes where we would need them. This goes back to why she is at the bottom of the list. We can't be worried that they will not come through in the end so we have talked about other measures we would exhaust first. They are not a bad choice. Matter of fact, they are the best choice we have. The age is right, the ideals he has are the best, and I think they would make great parents. Yeah, I told you it wouldn't make sense.
• Bridget's Parents: Teenie and Dave would be the best bet for the well-being of the kids. They love the kids and the kids love them too! They are not too old to get them through high school either. The only problem I see is that they are not in the best of health. One of the reasons we are concerned about them in their own right is that fact there. Teenie has apparently had some kind of a stroke and she is what Dave is taking care of. This also puts them further down the list of potentials.
• Friends: I have several friends who would be great parents. Only thing is that I really doubt anyone of them would take the job.
• My Ex-wife: This is kind of a moot point. She had become so hateful to me that I could never even consider her If she did get custody, I don't know if she would treat them like little kids, or abuse them because they are my children. I used to think I knew her. All of the stuff she pulled when we were married, I knew. She didn't get away with anything. I knew about it all and just let it pass because I said "for better or for worse" and had meant it. These items, and what ever husband number she is up to, would make her the worst choice.
• Bridget's Aunt Mickey and Uncle Mike: I think they would be great guardians / parents for the kids. From what I have learned, they are wonderful, caring people who would do what is right for the kids. The problem as I understand it, is that Uncle Mike is not feeling the best and I doubt it would be good for him to have three kids around. This is just my opinion. I could be wrong.
• The last choice: This is the most radical, the best, and worst all together, my son Jon. I would have to say, that of all the people, he is the one I would have to ask. I have found it difficult to ask anyone else in my mind. I place a very high emotional value on him. When you love someone like I love my kids, I would have to say that the only one to place the trust with something so precious, would be with someone who is also so precious to me. He is a good kid and I believe that he has the ideas, spirit, and fortitude to get through this if necessary. He lived through being with My Ex-wife all these years. That has to say something. I really don't know if he could be man enough to handle this. I would like to think he could do this because of the sheer importance of the kids. I hope I never have to find out.

If you understood what I am thinking, I applaude your reasoning skills. If you didn't get it, that is OK. Life is too short to take everything at face value.

Now you can see the delima I have been thinking about for the last year. Nothing I could do would allow me to fathom the outcome of the 'what if' scenerio. Maybe it is just me. I have always tried to depend on no one and that means at all times of my life. The time I depended on my parents for support when I was laid off was the most tramatic times I have ever had. I rate it above getting divorced on the "most stressful things that could happen to a person in their life."

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Defining the color code

Before modern times, (OK, back in the time of the cavemen) men would just club a woman, drag her back to their cave, and then have their hairy way with her. It seems that today's youth have an even more inventive game to play, "Snap".

Girls wear different colored jelly bracelets, and the guys attempt to "snap" the bracelets off. Depending on the color bracelet the guy snaps, he gets a sexual reward. So, does this mean if you grab a slap bracelet, you get to slap her? Well, that is not what is happening. Things are a little more intense than just an innocent slap or snap.

The internet is a wonderful thing. There is actually a whole website devoted to this specific idea. Yes, there is a detailed FAQ and Yes, you can buy them there too if I am not mistaken. Be sure to read the FAQ if you are worried that little 4th graders are playing games on the playground not authorized by their parents. This seems to be more of a hoax than a fact for kids. But just the same, I am still watching what the kids bring home and talk about when they were at school. They are not that slick that they can get away with things (yet).

Sex Bracelet Color Code

• Black - Sexual Intercourse
• Blue - Blow Job
• Red - Lap Dance
• Green - Cunnilingus
• Clear - Your Choice
• Orange - Kiss
• Yellow - Hug
• Purple - Anal Sex
• Silver - Fisting
• White - Titty Flash
• Pink - Flashing
• Gold Glitter - Make Out
• Brown - Tossed Salad
• Glow in the dark - Sex Toy Fun 

How many moms and dads, do you think, are confiscating their daughters jelly jewelry after hearing reports of this on the news? "Amanda, I don't care that it matches your purple shoes. You are NOT leaving this house, wearing that purple jelly bracelet and that's FINAL!"

I have found numerous instances of this on the net.  When I asked a friend who just graduated from high school if this was really happening, she responded with a resounding "Yes".  So hide the bracelets there kids unless you have half a brain and don't listen to crap like this.

The new "twist" on keeping parents oblivious

One of the new parts of this, is that you can go to most stores and find these colored bracelets embossed with a hundred different sayings (on only one side) Many of the bracelets are wide and you see phrases like "W.W.J.D." and "In God We Trust", and things like that. The point is that I have seen many girls with these bracelets with the phase turned inside by their arm. This takes the innocent bracelet and makes it available to be used as a means to an end. Not that everyone buying these items are doing this.

Better to ask than not.

I have done some asking around. I have asked girls in pairs & in public places, where lots of people were around for my safety. I have asked why they turn their bracelets inside-out? Most just answer and coily smile, turn, and walk away. I have been telling them that my daughter told me about this and that I was trying to find out what she said was true. Half of the time I had my daughter with me, so I didn't look like a nutcase for asking. That, and I currently have a big scruffy beard, burr haircut, a fedora, and usually have work clothes on. That in itself is enough to scare the crap out of most people. Anyway, the breakdown of whom I asked and what their responses were are as follows:

• All of them were wearing jelly or rubber bracelet,
• I asked 14 girls,
• All of which I would age from 14 to 17,
• None of the girls had an adult around and it appeared that all had one in the group/pair that was driving the rest around
• All of them knew what I was asking about and why,
• 6 of them said that it was "a bunch of crap"
• I believe 8 had the bracelets inside out
• Of those 8, when asked if they turned it inside-out themselves (on purpose), all said "yes"

So, there you go. It isn't pretty, but I wanted to know the specifics. Sure, I am not worried about my kids (yet). But I always feel that I would rather know the stuff that goes on with kids in school, than putting my head in the sand and ignoring the problem until it bites me in the ass.

By the way, I have language filtering turned on in my blog. If your offended by what I have said, either turn on your filtering software, don't come back here, or put your head in the sand. Sometime reality sucks.

Personally, I hope watches don't enter into this. One of the girls said "Well, your wearing a silver watch and you know what that means!!!" I didn't know what she was talking about until I came home and looked at my list. She knew what it meant, as well as the 14 or so year old that was with her because they were laughing about it. If it does translate over, I think I am in big trouble.

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Late night talk radio

This entry is currently being revised. Please check back in a little while. This thought is not yet complete!

Why is it, that the people who call into Latenight talk radio never have any problem saying things like:

• "I have seen bigfoot (Right outside Miami),"
• "I can see the things in your room",
• "There are government people watching my house",
• "Just because I am Wiccan, does not mean I can't be good",
• "I run my car on used cooking oil and the exhaust smells like french fries",
• "The terrorists are planning to destroy Wall Street next month",
• (And my fav) "I would rather stay up all night to listen to Art Bell, than be awake during the day to listen to Limbaugh",

With the string of late (third) shifts I have pulled, I have really gotten hooked on Coast to Coast AM. The things that I always like to hear discussed, are discussed at that time of the morning. I am not sure if it is because only intense people are up at that time and the marshmallow type people are sleeping, or what?!?

.

.

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Utilityman positions & Yagoohoogle

Just as a random thought, I did a yagoohoogle search for "utilityman". I found that there are bunches of jobs out there for that position & many of them I had never seen in the job search sites.

In the event you didn't know, there is a site called "Yagoohoogle!" where the two search engines are pitted side-by-side in the same browser window. If you do lots of searches, you should check it out.

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I have been saying it all along, your screwed

I am finally seeing the fraud in the media for call centers overseas. This is just the one you can read about. Just remember, that if you use Cincinnati Bell Wireless, you have to give your social security number to a person in a call center in Canada. Prepare to be screwed.

Indian call centre staff in $350,000 Citibank theft

If the text of this article is unavailable, click here. I saved a copy for you.

Don't forget to always double check your phone bill. Mine is consistently wrong and they don't seem to give a damn about it.

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Work Blog Linking

Well, that was relatively easy. I made an icon of a CSX Engine. The detail is terrible, but I had to figure out the way to get an entire engine into 34 by 34 pixels. Not an easy task. Took me about 90 minutes to get it to where it is now. I am rather happy about that one. It is not that great but at least I can see what it is. Hopefully, you can see what it is too! I will tweak it a little more if someone wants it or something. That would give me a reason to go a little more indepth. For just me, this is fine.

I use it as a desktop icon for a shortcut to CSX Webconnect. You can't miss this icon as long as you don't have a super-busy desktop. If you would like a copy of it, please click here and take it. I am going to try and rework it later on and make it look a little neater. That, and I am going to work on a wide-body too. If someone wants it, I can probably do any type of car or 'shoving platform' as long as the detail is low.

If you want to make the shortcut, click the link & copy the file off to your hard drive somewhere safe, like 'c:\windows\' or something like that. Then make your shortcut as usual. After you create your shortcut, just right click on it, choose 'properties' and then the 'change icon' button and browse to where ever you saved it. Couldn't be easier.

I use Firefox as my main browser so I will not have the problem of saving the file and thrashing it into the correct format as someone with Internet Explorer will. With Firefox, you click on the link, the new window pops up and you do a 'file, save as' and it is already named and you can put it where you like without any hassles. If your using IE, your going to have to save it, and then rename it and then save it to where you want it. Don't forget where you got it.

Just as a sidebar.... I have used Firefox for accessing Webconnect for over 6 months and I have had a much easier time wrangling that mainframe connection this way. You will have to install the java plugin, but that is easy enough. Just click on the Java button once you have Firefox installed and it is self configuring. But this is all just my opinion, you might do better with IE.

I also created a linking button to my work blog. That was very easy too. All I did was go into the editor and pick the colors that went with the standards of this style sheet. Then I just punched in the right colors and there ya are! Piece of cake.

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Getting blood from a turnip

This entry is currently being revised. Please check back in a little while. This thought is not yet complete!

Yesterday we received a credit card in the mail we didn't order or apply for. Thus, I am in 'credit-fraud panic' for the next 15 days.

So far, I have done the only things I know to do. I have requested a credit report from the three credit bureaus to do a credit check. I am holding off on putting a fraud alert on my accounts until I do a little checking first. I figure that the only accounts we have are protected and not able to be defrauded very easily.

Upon closer investigation, the three credit bureaus which are supposed to provide you with a copy of 'your personal information', will not do so unless you either pay for 'your personal information', or have had something bad happen to you.

This does not even have anything to do with the two recient credit information disasters that have happened in the last months time. I will not get into that but you can find more by doing a google search.

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Spring Break

This entry is currently being revised. Please check back in a little while. This thought is not yet complete!

Meet the Grandparents

During spring break, Bridget took the kids to see my parents. The kids all had a great time and played in the sun.

ffrom what I saw in the pictures they brought back and their accounts, they swam, hunted Easter Eggs, and generally played a bunch.

Kennedy Space Center

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Spyware recheck time

Yes, it is time to update your pattern files and check for malicious software and do a complete virus scan.

No, this is not a April Fools joke.

Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.3, There are new updates and the immunize feature now blocks 2545 malicious pieces of software. If you do not run tea-timer' (which runs in the system tray on startup) you should immunize and run a full scan. Don't have it, download it here. Questions? Just email me.

Ad-Aware® SE Personal Edition - This software in a new version so if your version is not as the title displayed here, go to add-remove programs, uninstall it and install the new version before proceeding. When you run it, don't forget to run the pattern updates too. Questions? Just email me.

There are others out there, but why buy something that comes free. Yes, I send spybot a stipen once in a while. They help me, I help them. That is the way it should be.

Now, Just do it!

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Saying what I want

Why can I say these things here? Because my Mother told me she was not going to read my blog anymore because it upset her. So, now I can say what I want. Now, if she does read it and gets upset, I am off the hook (heh heh heh)

Mom, if you want to start reading my blog again, tell me so I can say something different!

I'm joking

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Going to KSC (Not KFC)

Bridget just called. She and the kids are going to Kennedy Space Center tomorrow. They are going to have "Lunch with an Astronaut" and do the meet and greet. I wish I could have been there.

Im too old to make a difference with anything beyond what I have done. No high bar anymore for me. I have to look for my children to carry on with the high bar thinking.

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Doing what you want with your life?

I have tried to help Jon with getting a meaningfuljob, but he 'will not' even get me a resume to work with. I know I could get him on in the car shop. He had been around Cathy too much.

Since I met her, I was always the one who wanted (and still wants) to do everything possible. She never really had that drive. I would trade everything but Bridget and the kids to get into something exciting.

My one wish for this year is that Jon does something bold and exciting. Since I can remember, he has lowered his sights and I can blame myself about 20% for that. I could not be around him since Cathy was the cause of the breakup of the family I had. I could not be there to drive him. She drove him, right down from 'wanting' to be a pilot in the Air Force when he was 7 or 8, down to 'hoping' to be a gas station attendant when he was a freshmen in high school. I am worried that he will just sit and let the world go by.

Whe told me (for the third time) that Cathy said (Jon't words) she was waiting for him to graduate so she could get him out of the house, I couldn't see why. I would have done anything to have him live with me. But that was not meant to be.

Jon, if you read this, please send me a resume & call me. I want to help, but I can't do it for you. It's your life.

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Migrating all the work posts

I am in the process of removing all my work related posts. I am placing them in my work blog. If you have an inkling of interest, try it out.

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My cell phone is lost and something prompted me.

When I was initially asked if I wanted "insurance" for my cell phone, I snidely scoffed at the kid behind the counter. Then, something popped into my head saying,

"You should get this, it is an expensive phone. You know you will probably loose it off the train."

So for $5 a month, I have (had) insurance on our cell phones.

Last week, I lost the phone. There is no one who had found it. I am kinda distraught. The thing had lots of phone numbers which will take me months to retrieve.

When ever you get a number to put into your phone, always write it down somewhere else so you are not screwed when you get a replacement.

Anyway, I had lots of stuff in there. I even had pictures which I feel are not replaceable. Sure, life will go on and in 100 years, no one will care what pictures I lost, But they mattered to me.

Today, I called Cincinnati Bell Wireless and told them what happened. The person on the phone gave me a number and 5 minutes and a $35 deductible later, I have a new preprogrammed phone on the way. It should be here by Friday. I am so glad that I got the insurance. The thought of going through the paces of buying a new cell was very bad. I just didn't want to spend the money for another one.

So, I guess that little voice in my head was right. I needed to get the insurance. I guess I need to keep it too. I feel another loss is in the future. I can surmise that at some time, I will be riding on the side of a boxcar across a river, look down and it will fall out of what ever pocket I have it tucked into.

Remember, "Murphy's Law is in effect"

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The Democrat Party and the Ku Klux Klan

Aside from the multiple Klan members who have served in elected capacity within the high ranks of the Democrat Party, the political party itself has a lengthy but often overlooked history of involvement with the Ku Klux Klan. Though it has been all but forgotten by the media, the Democrat National Convention of 1924 was host to one of the largest Klan gatherings in American history. Dubbed the "Klanbake convention" at the time, the 1924 Democrat National Convention in New York was dominated by a platform dispute surrounding the Ku Klux Klan. A minority of the delegates to the convention attempted to condemn the hate group in the party's platform, but found their proposal shot down by Klan supporters within the party. As delegates inside the convention voted in the Klan's favor, the Klan itself mobilized a celebratory rally outside. On July 4, 1924 one of the largest Klan gatherings ever occurred outside the convention on a field in nearby New Jersey. The event was marked by speakers spewing racial hatred, celebrations of their platform victory in the Democrat Convention, and ended in a cross burning. Source

Don't ask me where this came from, I am not sure. But click on the link right below this and find more facts.

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Rather difficult to describe if you ask me

Working for CSX. I have been asked many time over, "What it is like working for CSX Railroad?" This is the one hardest jobs to describe ever. Mainly because you never quite get the whole picture.

I think I will have to think about this one for a while to even come close. It is one of those jobs I really like to do, but hate to go to. The two hour call thing is one of the most debilitating things I have ever experienced. When to sleep, when to do something with the family, when to eat. All those things come into play every day. It is one constant battle to determine, "Will I go to work today-tonight-this evening-tomorrow morning?"

As of last month, I started to put down what I am doing on the railroad specfically. I will keep a blog of that here. Maybe it will make more sense than trying to describe it.

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Marked off sick

I didn't feel very good last night. The kidney stones are a real pain. They say that the stones are not only diet related, but "stress" creates them.

It's not like I have had a lot of stress with selling the house, packing everything we have up, moving it to either a small 3 bedroom apartment and/or to a storage room up the road, then having to unpack and at least live within the space we have.

Honestly, it is not the stress of all that, it is trying to determine what to get rid of and all. What should I (we) keep and what should we give away or just toss?!?

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Grotesque gluttony

To celebrate the sale of our home on Thursday, we stopped at Golden Corral for dinner. Actually, I think it was more that we have so many boxes in the kitchen, it is nearly impossible to get a meal done without moving 10 boxes. That, and after the news of the van repair bill, we just could not take going home to the storage area (kitchen) and taking 2 hours to cook, eat, and cleanup.

We arrived at the restaurant and it was 90% full. I had the impression that we were very out of place there. Normally, the people in This restaurant are older. I would even venture to say that 30% were usually 80 years old or older. But not this time. I would venture to say that the average age of the adults there today were 34 to 36. Most everyone there had two kids. This still is not a remarkable fact, considering the restaurant and it's location. I would say that is where the normalcy stops.

This crowd was scary. I would estimate that 80 to 90 percent of the people were overweight. And we are not talking about some people who are 20 pounds overweight. I am talking about people who if measured around the waist, would be larger than their height. We are talking people who would make Richard Simmons cringe. These folks were huge. There was this feeding frenzy in progress which made me realize why many third world countries hate us and think we are the great Satan. The whole scene was revolting. It was big fat husbands, with their enormously fat wives, and they brought along their screaming, undisciplined, moronic, plump kids.

I followed around one woman who had her grotesquely fat daughter trailing behind. The woman had two heaping plates in her left hand, and one more in her right. All the time, she was telling her daughter, "Just follow me and will go back for some steak". OK, at this point I was really getting sick to my stomach at what has happening around me. I had my one plate with a big spoonful of green beans, a small piece of ham, half a spoon of mashed potatoes with a tablespoon of gravy, and a little bit of Cole slaw. I looked over at one woman's table as I was going back to my table. She had wasted more on her plate she left on the table than I took for my main trip.

The one piece I have to relate was the family of 5 who had to have a combined weight of 1100 pounds. Each of them waddled back and forth to the various steam tables over and over. I had to quit counting the males plates because after 5, the "helper" or what ever they are called there kept walking by ever few minutes and picking up the scraps and such. I couldn't really tell if he was the husband. His hand was so fat, I doubt he could have put on a wedding band if he tried. Anyway, the big point of this was before we were leaving, the 10 year old son had another desert plate. It consisted of three pieces of cake, a bowl of ice cream with sprinkles, two big sugar cookies and what looked like about a cup and a half of gummy bears. That is when we had to leave.

The last one, with the 10 year old that probably weighed 160 was the last straw. IMHO, that is child abuse. Anyone that lets their child get to be something that would show up on the front of the National Enquirer, should have their children taken away because they have no business being a parent.

Sure, this was not an episode of Jerry Springer, but all it would have taken was a stage and a couple of flying chairs.

I can't even continue. The thought of it makes me ill. I will leave it at that. Just remember, if someone asks you if you want to go to the "All you can eat buffet", remember that it is not a challenge, just the name.

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Better now.

Last night, I was 2nd out and felt terrible. Might have been all the stress of the last 48 hours. So, I marked off.

This morning, I feel better after a good night sleep. I just marked back up and I am feeling better but not great.

Right now, I am 11th out for call so I imagine I will get out this afternoon since there is an RCO spot vacant.

There are people who wonder why I don't get the other jobs around the yard. It is because I am RCO qualified and since there are only a handful of people qualified for that position and a lot of open positions, I seem to only get called for RCO. It could be worse.

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Next time, please ask your doctor!

Once again, a friend asked my opinion on what laptop to buy. I can't figure it out. Why do they ask me? What makes it so important that they ask? Why do I say that?

Because they never listen!

When I worked for Compaq, there were so many problems with the local service center. They would take days to repair equipment. And when they did get the work done, it was not always up to the standards I would expect from a company of that size and influence. On top of that, most of the hardware we used had problems. Yes, I know they had high satifaction rates, but there were extenuating circumstances to that. Also, their hardware was completely propritary so if you wanted to buy parts, you had to buy theirs. For a corporation, that is not a big deal. It commits you to buying parts that are guaranteed to work. For home users, it means that unless you get what you want on the initial build, your going to pay a very high price for add-ons and replacements.

IRT to what I said about the Doctor in the title. That refers to someone asking their Doctor about a bad pain or if you need stiches from that cut you received when sharpening the mower blades. Then after he/she gives you their educated answer, you ask your best friends uncle (who cleans grease traps) what to do for your medical problem. That is not a very smart thing to do.

But, that is what has happened the last 8 times someone asks me what would be best in the way of a laptop. I keep asking myself, why do they ask, when they are going to do what ever they want to anyway? Or at least that is the way it is going.

Sure, I try and help out when I can. But there are only so many times you can be asked and then when you get there to help them setup as you said you would you find they bought exactly what you recommended against. I truely give up on helping anyone anymore. It is just not worth the agrivation.

And people always want to know why I wear a shirt that says "No, I will not fix your computer!"

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Dish network and taking it in the shorts

Check this one out. When we sold our house, the buyers wanted the satellite dishes and receivers. No problem is what I am thinking. They wanted it and we can easily do without friggin' satellite TV (for the rest of our lives).

Now for the interesting part. I called Dish Network to terminate my service. Not a problem. We were even going to have a zero balance as of the end of the day tomorrow.

A mental flag shot up at this point. This is way to convenient to have a zero balance when I am canceling my service.

I asked her a question that brought up keeping the dish on for a day. She said that was not a problem. We could keep it on for another two days without paying anything.

There is something fishy going on here. No business like this will give you something for nothing.

"Well, how long can I keep the dish on without paying any additional payments?" She responded, "You can keep your service active until about the 20th of February."

Now I am in total disbelief that this company would automatically screw me over.

"So", (me again) you were not going to automatically refund what I over paid?" She carefully responded, "I can refund your account and that check will be to you in 7 to 10 business days." No, she wouldn't tell me about a refund of overpayment. I know that once this happened (automatically refunding my account when I closed it out) that they have forever lost a customer. I can't believe that this company would stoop so low as to keep my overpayment.

I guess it goes to show that you always have to watch your back, because you can never assume that a business in the US will do the right thing.

Beware consumers! Let the screwing from corporate America (especially Dish Network) begin!!!

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Bang........

Actually, I should say,

Bang,

Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,

Rat - tat,tat,tat,tat......,

Errrrrrrrrrrrrrr,

CLICK, and that was the end of the transmission in the van.

We had it towed to the dealership because we were not sure of the problem. Once there, we got the call that the differential had shot through the transaxle and destroyed the whole system.

BTW, never use Gray's Garage for your towing. We called at 10:23 and they said it would be an hour to get there. At 11:23, I called again and they said it would be another half an hour. At 11:55, "Oh he is on the way and will be there in a half an hour". At 12:23 it was just another half an hour. At 12:50, "he is on the way now". And when he finally arrived two hours late, the guy put the van on the tow truck bed and drove off. I call that pathetic and will never ever use them again. I will do my best to recommend anyone else to someone in need. What a crock of shit when a business bullshits their way through the day and wastes your time and money.

Now for the transmission. It is wasted. The dealership said they called around for a used part, but they said they could not procure one. I can understand that one. Most salvage yards will not pull a transaxle because of the work involved. So that summarily puts us back several thousand dollars for a new transmission/transaxle.

The worst part of it all, is that the 100,000 mile warranty ran out three weeks ago. I personally think that the auto manufactures engineer their vehicles to breakdown just past the 100,000 mile mark. Remember, these are the same engineers who "do" design vehicles that mainly run on unleaded gasoline. The same executives who "could" manufacture engines that run on renewable fuel sources. The same dealers/salesmen who "would" probably sell their mothers soul for 100K a year salary with stock options and a pension. And we are the "Stupid" ones who continuously buy these flashy pieces of crap because we have no alternative choices and no other way to get back and forth.

Oops, I forgot..... These are the same companies that engineered the removal of mass transit in most cities. Cincinnati is one of those cities where GM (not exclusively) paid for track removal of inexpensive transportation from the downtown area, and where the greed and sloth of city officials allowed the citizens in the general tax paying population to be shoved further down into a lower class, "unless" you bought a car for each worker in the household. But that is another story for later on.

Well, the van is currently on a rack at the dealership, waiting on a part that is supposed to be delivered in the morning. If things go as planned, we should have the van back tomorrow evening, and be out $3,000 dollars by the weekend.

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