I’ve never considered myself a democrat, republican, independent, libertarian or any other ‘label’ you could put on one who sides with a particular political party. But whenever I’ve submitted to any sort of litmus test, most times I’ve found myself siding with the republicans and their ideas. Not that I haven’t heard good ideas/policies from the other parties, but I’ve found more that *I* agree with coming from the G.O.P.

I’m going to have a tough time deciding this year who should be the leader of my country. Do I go with Obama with his charisma and inexperience, or McCain, who just doesn’t strike me as a political powerhouse? One of my tenets has always been, he who throws the most mud usually has the most to hide. I suppose that’s what I’ll have to watch for in these next few weeks…who can withstand the storm the best. But even that may not be enough to sway me in any one direction. I imagine the decision will be made in the last week or two prior to election day, when the two sides will whip out the heavy artillery, the bombshell that transforms the other candidate into a shrinking violet and guarantees a landslide victory.

No. I don’t think I’ll wait for anything. I believe the best solution would be a write-in vote for ‘None of the above’.

I’m totally jazzed, not only at having my own PC back, but also at the fact that I did the repair myself. One year ago this month, the backlight in my laptop’s LCD screen burned out. After some troubleshooting and researching, I discovered that I could fix the panel myself by replacing the flourescent tube; BTW, this light is about 13″ long and roughly the diameter of a strand of dried spaghetti pasta…VERY delicate. I found about 3 (two for just-in-case backups) for about $20. I thought I was making out like a bandit; $20 repair versus $1500 for a new laptop…outstanding!

Well, my joy was short lived. About the time the new lamp arrived, I got a nasty cold/flu. I couldn’t go more than about 20 seconds without trying to cough up a lung, so there was no way I could work on delicate electronics in that state. So about a week later I sit down to try to make this repair. Getting the lamp out, although a delicate process, was simple enough; the next step was to cut the wires at either end and solder them to the new lamp…and trim the lamp leads to the correct length. No problem, got that done. Here’s where the trouble happened: trying to get the lamp back in its reflective holder and re-mounting it to the LCD panel. I couldn’t do it. I swear it seems like you need five hands to accomplish this task, or maybe it’s something simple I haven’t figured out yet.

So, having admitted defeat with this, I go online again to find an entire LCD panel. I received this several months ago, and for whatever reason(s), I’d been putting off installing the panel until a few days ago. I installed the panel and replaced all the screws and the screen bezel, plugged the laptop into the AC, crossed my fingers (it had been off for a year…no telling what might happen, or if anything would happen), and turned on the power. It started up (HOORAY!), and went to some error message about CMOS something or other (maybe the little battery was low or something) I told it to proceed with the boot and it went into Windows. Well, it turns out the battery had indeed lost power or gone too low, because the date had reset to December of 1999. Because of that, several of my programs were screaming bloody murder at me about the date being wrong and operating outside of valid dates, etc.

It’s almost sorted out now. All the majors are back in place, just re-tuning some of the things I worked with regularly. As for the original panel, it still works (or rather it did last year), and someday I’ll sit down with it again to try and restore it to its former glory. For now, I’m just going to bask in the glow of my now working laptop’s new(ish) monitor. There IS a lesson to be learned here. If you’re the least bit mechanically/electronically inclined and you have broken hardware, give the option of repair some serious consideration before you replace your hardware outright. You might get the satisfaction of a job well done, and possibly develop a talent you could farm out for various favors and what not…and let’s not forget the $aving$, eh?!!

…two words that bring fear to millions, words that many fear more than ‘tax audit’, or ’some assembly required’, or ‘mother-in-law’. So, why would I bring up these words that make so many cringe? Because I just experienced that very form of dental torture, almost 24 hours ago now. I’d known about it for two weeks, and had been contemplating and losing sleep over it. I’m sure everyone has heard at least one horror story and has a pre-conceived notion regarding the procedure, as I had. I can honestly admit that I was VERY nervous, almost scared of going in. I almost backed out in favor of letting nature take her course with my busted grille.

I arrive about half an hour early; I do this because sometimes the dental tech will administer some sort of pain medication prior to the appointment, depending on the nature of the procedure. Appointment time arrives…no tech. I’m called in to the dreaded chair and seated…still no meds. I begin to get more nervous now. What kind of ass-backward place is this that offers no pain killers beforehand? What’s next…are they going to whip out a hammer and chisel to do the work??

The dentist (endodontist, actually) comes in with his greeting, “Ready to get started?”, which is doctor-speak for, “If you want to back out, now’s the time to say so.” If I back out now, I’ll have worked myself up over the last fortnight for nothing, so I manage to push forth from my lips, “Yep!” in an attempt to put on a brave front. Truth be told, I was seconds from panic-onset unconsciousness; if I wasn’t already in the chair with my legs elevated, I probably would have passed out on them.

Doc puts a swab coated with a very strong topical anesthetic under my lip in preparation for…the dreaded needle. It should be noted here that I have a pretty strong (but not outright) needle phobia. Immunizations I can handle. It’s other injections, like cortisone shots and dental injections that make me panic. I knew the shot would be required, so I was able to mentally prepare for it; that didn’t make any more desirable. The swab has had about four minutes to do its voodoo, and Doc returns for the shot…shots, I should say. Three separate injections.

SQUEAMISH INDIVIDUALS SHOULD STOP READING NOW!! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!!

I could see Doc going in for the injection, but I never saw the needle itself. I’ve taken to looking upward, away from the dentist while the shots are being given…I just don’t want to see it coming. He gives the first two, and leaves for a few minutes. Those first two are preps for the third he will give. That must have been some bang-up topical stuff, because I never felt the first two. When Doc returns, he warns me that I may feel the third one and how I might feel it, and I did. The third felt like it going through my nostril into the eye socket (I did try to warn you), but there was no pain involved, I just felt it. (No, it didn’t really go into my eye socket, it only felt like it did) Doc gives me five more minutes to let the last shot go to work, and now the left side of my upper lip, the area around my left cheekbone and my left nostril are all numb. Doc explains what’s going to be done, says it takes about 45 minutes, and begins. I hear the unmistakable squeal as he fires up his “404 circular buzz saw*” and moves in. I hear the drilling and feel the drill-generated vibrations in my head…no pain. He pulls out some other tool; this one rotates slower and is a rougher instrument for cleaning/prepping…still no pain. I’m thinking to myself that I may get through this alive, but I don’t want to get myself too excited; I’d spent considerable time and effort getting myself into a ‘zone’ and I wasn’t ready to come out of it yet.

About 45 minutes later, as estimated, Doc was done. He advised me about not biting or chewing with that tooth for about three days while the repair work set and the healing took place. He also said there might be some aching…that was the understatement of the year. There’s LOTS of aching. I was hoping my old standby, Ibuprofen, would see me through; no such luck. Looks like I’ll be making a trip to the druggist in the morning to fill that Loritab prescription after all. I just need to hold out for a few more hours and I’ll be feeling the power of Codeine.

So what can I conclude from this experience? Dental procedures are enjoyable? Certainly not. Dental procedures are painless? Well, this one was…the procedure part anyway. Can’t say so for the recovery portion. Was my worrying pointless? I don’t think so. In my opinion, worry is your subconscious’ way of saying that you should proceed with caution, and I think that’s a healthy thing.

I will advise that you should have your practitioner make time to answer any questions you have and discuss any concerns about whatever procedure you may be having. A good practitioner will be happy to do this for you, for they know that an informed patient will be set at ease and is much easier to work with than one who is uninformed and panic-stricken. If your practitioner is more concerned with getting to the next patient, or brushes your questions off as not important (or worse, refuses to answer questions), FIND ANOTHER PRACTITIONER. Remember, THEY are working for YOU, not the other way around.

*-For those who didn’t get the obscure reference, this is from a classic W. C. Fields short entitled, appropriately enough, The Dentist. You can find it on YouTube. Look it up, it’s good for a laugh.

Slated for release in July ‘08, this is the film version of the current Broadway ‘hot ticket’ show with Merryl Streep getting top billing on this one. I knew this would happen; noting the wild success of the film adaptation of ‘Hairspray’, I predicted there would soon be a glut of theatre titles reworked for the big screen, the latest of which being ‘Sweeney Todd’ with Johnny Depp in the title role. Brace yourselves for some really bad movies in the near future.

I love the fact that ABBA’s music is used in the show, but for now that’s the ONLY redeeming quality of this show. I suppose I’m sick to death of being beaten over the head with the hype. “Hottest seller on Broadway!”, “Best show in years!” are some examples I see when the national touring company reaches my area and the commercials start running non-stop. It’s not enough to persuade me; as I said, I like ABBA, but I’m not shelling out hard-earned cash to hear music I can hear in my car for free.

Keep trying, Hollywood! Maybe one day you’ll come up with something I actually want to see. Having said that, I *do* plan to see the upcoming live-action adaptation of ‘Speed Racer’ with Emile Hirsch in the title role, simply for nostalgia’s sake to see if they do it up right.

For that matter, am I ready? I was inspired by my good friend Philip to participate last year, having read about how much he enjoyed it. I’ve never been much of a writer (of course, if you visit here regularly you already know that), but I figured I’d give it a shot. So last November, I started writing out the details (as much as I could remember) of this dream I had that I thought might one day make a great novel, possibly even a movie. I wrote exactly what I could recall of the dream…with maybe an embellishment or two to up my word count a little…hoping that I could ‘fill in the blanks’, i.e. the details of the middle part of the dream; I knew the start and the outcome, but connecting the two would not happen that month. As of this post, it STILL hasn’t happened, no matter what I do to try to recall the details that elude me. I did manage to break 10,000 words, though you’d never know it to look at my NaNoWriMo counter; it seems some idiot %#*@~^$ has reset it. {scowls}

So, what about this year? I think I may participate, but how? Revisiting the dream would be pointless, and I have no other story to tell. I’ve considered the electronic form of ‘free writing’, where I simply type whatever pops into my head, literally a stream of consciousness. Sure, I might get to 50,000 words that way, but would I be able to do anything with it afterwards?

I guess I’ll give it a try again this year, if for no other reason than to make a better showing than last year’s count; maybe even get close to the numbers posted by Philip’s sis, who beat Philip and I both pretty good.

I found the Simpsonizer, a little web-gadget included as part of Burger King’s promotional tie-in with the release of The Simpsons Movie, and wanted to give it a try. Since I don’t have a current image of myself (that I don’t mind using at least), I chose my bestest online friend Philip as a candidate for an Extreme Makeover: Springfield Edition.

I started with an image I borrowed from his site (clicky on his link under the blogroll), Phil with Heroes actor Sendhil Ramamurthy:

Then, I used Photoshop to cut Sendhil out (sorry Phil! The first attempt picked Sendhil’s face instead of yours):

I then submitted the photo, the Simpsonizer chewed on it, and then after a few alterations…VOILA!! Springfield’s newest resident:

I hope to have my own online soon. In the meantime, I cordially invite my other readers (both of you) to submit yourself after undergoing simpsonization. The application is at www.simpsonizeme.com

Well, there goes Phil, off to another star-studded event. BCNU Phil! HUGZ!!

OK, time to knock the dust off the keys and write something I suppose, since I’ve finally been inspired to share.

I just visited the site of Paul Goldin, and tried this free Colorgenics profile after reading the “Simply Amazing!” one created by my good buddy Philip ( ^_^ V ) on his journal. Philip is correct in his evaluation; it’s like this program opened a window into my psyche and laid the details out for me to see, whether I wanted to see it or not. Here’s what it produced for me:

The idea of togetherness, love, warmth, tenderness and mutual understanding fascinates you but you seem to be embarrassed by the thought of allowing this to appear openly. It would appear that you employ a cautious exploratory tactic in the pursuit of this objective, making sure that you are neither irrevocably committed nor found out.

Most people are conditioned by their environment and you are no exception. You are an extremely emotional person – so much so that ‘the wrong word’ can lead you to tears. You feel other people’s pain. You feel the need of sympathetic relationships and a pleasant work environment in order to develop and grow. You are an impulsive, loving individual with a great deal of inherent feeling.

You are not an argumentative sort of person and ‘rather than fight – you’d switch’ (an old cigarette ad cliche). But when you try to assert yourself – as sometimes you may try to do – you meet with so much resistance and effrontery that manifests itself so obviously that you become hurt, indignant and resentful. So in order to have peace and quiet you tend to become inhibited. You keep it all to yourself but deep down, you ‘feel’ and ‘hurt’ a lot.

Presently, you are experiencing stress because of restriction on your independence. You need and seek respect from other people and it is essential that they appreciate you for yourself and not for what they would like you to be. You have your own beliefs and convictions and you would like to be respected for them. You are anxious to avail yourself of every opportunity that may come your way but nevertheless, come what may, you have the need to control your own destiny without imposed limitations or restrictions.

You are fed up with other people trying to influence you and you also feel that it is necessary to protect yourself from the threat that your independence and freedom may be restricted. You would just like to be left alone.

Without laying out the gory details, I’ll say this is pretty much dead-on. How did it do this? What are the details behind this Colorgenics?? I haven’t a clue, but I am now inclined to look into it further with an objective mindset. Give it a try, I’d love to see how it works for you. Just keep an open mind and don’t rush through it, put some real thought into your choices.

Go to: http://www.paulgoldin.com and click on the Colorgenics banner.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! I am pleased that you stopped in to have a look at my puny little journal, and humbled that there’s been enough interest (or at least curiosity) to put me over 2500 views. Alright, enough gushing, on to the latest (albeit short) post.

OK, I decided a few years ago that I’d like to visit Malaysia. Why there? Well, why not?? For one I wouldn’t need to learn a new language (even though I *am* trying to pick up a little Cantonese), and I just happen to know of a very friendly tour guide. Another reason would be the exotic cuisine, however, I’m now more confused than ever about a particular epicurean delicacy..that being the durian.

Sora’s Addendum: What you should be seeing here is a durian, the “king of fruits”, but Photobucket has banned my account, citing TOS violation, hence the absence of the image.  I can’t begin to describe how pissed off I am with them now.  BOYCOTT PHOTOBUCKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve not done any research (yet) regarding this so-called ‘King of Fruit’; if I searched on it, the results would likely be too numerous to work with. What I do know I learned from TV and from The Eternal Wanderer (see link over on the left). On one show I watched, the host described it as having the taste and texture of rotting onion. Another I viewed only days ago described the taste as an almond custard-like flavor.

So I wish to pose this question to those in the know: What am I in for? I do enjoy trying new foods, and I like to know what to expect before I take that first bite. And since I’m asking about foods, what others should I try while visiting Malaysia? Of course I’m talking about tastes indiginous to the country (I can get McDonald’s anywhere!).

Well, that’s it. I’ve damn near had enough. The Gub’ment forced my hand. They saw my $2.55 and raised me a quarter. With gas in my area hovering around $2.80, I have no choice…I must invest in a decent road cycle and start pedaling to and from work and other places around town. I figure the money I would have spent on about 4 tank fills will buy me a good quality touring/road cycle. Add a few rear-end modifications to accomodate cargo and I’ll be all set.

Do I want to give up my car? Of course not, in fact I can’t; I will still need it for longer trips and major shopping runs. But for getting to and from work and light grocery runs, it’ll be all human power. And why have I been forced into this drastic measure? Simple. Acording to the Gub’ment, demand outweighs supply. And why the lesser supply? Because the oil companies claim they don’t have the money to repair the coastal/off-shore rigs and refineries damaged by hurricane Katrina. Don’t have the money??…

WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN DOING WITH THE MONEY YOU’VE BEEN GOUGING FROM US FOR THE LAST EIGHTEEN MONTHS?!?!??

Buying the CEO’s and chairpersons of the boards luxury autos and houses no doubt. I’d like to meet one of those executives at my local gasoline station so I can put one of those pump nozzles right where it belongs…straight up their ass, and I won’t stop until I hit the back of their teeth.

That’s all I can stand to do right now. I’m Sora, I’m pissed, and I believe it’s time for us all to seek transportation options that aggressively diminish the need for petroleum-based fuels.

No opinions on tip jars, hard times, etc? OK. Well, you know mine at least, and you can take them for what they’re worth. Onward!!!

It’s tax time here in the US, and I think I fared well, owing only $113 in federal tax. IMHO, a perfect year is the one where income tax is repealed; short of that, I try to get as close to owing $0 as I can without getting a refund. As I see it, if you withhold enough to get a refund on your income tax, you’re pretty much loaning the Gub’ment your money interest free. When was the last time THEY did that for YOU?!? I aim to owe $100 or less each year, so I did OK this time.

And speaking of things taxing, I’m recovering from a nasty cold/flu thing that’s been going around. At one point I couldn’t swallow without great pain, in fact I was living on meal replacement drinks for a few days because solid food hurt too much going down. Take this advice: if you feel it coming on (the little sniffle, the throat that aches for no apparent reason), load up on the vitamin C and Zinc right away, and keep them at a high level throughout the cold. I did so, and even with all I went through, the cold lasted several days fewer than the previous one.

Well, that’s it for now at Sora’s Scrolls…where two’s company and three’s an audience. I have an ICQ# now, for anyone who feels like a chat (HINT HINT!! ). It’s:494-246-533. I can’t promise to be the most artful conversationalist, but I will at least listen, and sometimes that’s all anyone wants.

It’s becoming an all too familiar sight: the cleaned-out tin can with the top removed, the clear plastic jug with a hole cut into the lid, one restaurant chain has gone so far as to purchase an actual plastic gas can, cut a hole out of the side, and place it on the counter with the attached sign, ‘Gas Money For The Crew’. I speak of the tip jar, and the hopes of those businesses that one will feel obligated to drop their spare change..or more..into said receptacle, simply because it’s there. But before I get into that, let’s understand what we’re discussing here.

Miriam-Webster (m-w.com) defines ‘tip’ as:

Main Entry: (10)tip
Function: noun
: a gift or a sum of money tendered for a service performed or anticipated : GRATUITY

It’s my belief that those tip jars on the counters of places like Starbucks, Moe’s et al don’t belong. In fact, I think it shows some real gall to put one out. These businesses hire staff and should pay them well for rendering their services; that jar tells me that these businesses don’t pay their staff a decent wage to begin with, and they must rely on whatever they can divvy up from the can at the end of the day to bolster their income. Gas money for the crew, indeed; the paltry sum you collect from that can will buy barely enough gasoline to START your car, much less get you from A to B. The wages in your check should be plenty, and if it’s not, then perhaps it’s time to seek employment elsewhere or speak with the boss about promotion and raises. Sorry kids, but my spare change is going into a can marked ‘Gas Money For ME’. And since I’ve brought up gasoline, consider perusing:

www.boycottgasoline.com

Sora’s Addendum: What you should be seeing here is an aerial image of Cineleisure, but Photobucket has banned my account, citing TOS violation, hence the absence of the image.  I can’t begin to describe how pissed off I am with them now.  BOYCOTT PHOTOBUCKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looks like a fun place. Movies, bowling, cafe; a little something for everyone. Too bad they don’t have a waterpark too.

I really hate when bad stuff just piles up on you. It seems to suck the life and desire right out of you. Recent turns of events have kept me from being able (or wanting) to go online for at least ten days. Sucks huh? Especially when surfing the net is one of your favorite pastimes. Here’s what’s going on:

First, technical difficulties. My PC is a laptop..the type they refer to as a ‘desktop replacement’, for all intents and purposes everything you’d find in a desktop PC stuffed into a laptop case. Well, about ten days ago I walk in to find my screen very dark, with a very deep pink hue. I’d left the PC on overnight; no big deal, I’d done so many times before. I thought maybe it was just a little over heated…I’ll shut it down for an hour to cool and reboot, problem solved. Uhh, problem NOT solved. I reboot and the screen doesn’t light up at all. The glare from the room light hits the screen in such a way that I can see everything on the LCD, so I know it’s still alive, but one wouldn’t be able to work with this for long without difficulty. Some research (on a PC with a working monitor) tells me that the fluorescent tube that is the LCD backlight is dead, or the power supply for said lamp is fried. Great, I think to myself sarcastically. Further reading leads me to info that replacements are reasonably cheap. I can live with cheap. So now I’m toying with the idea of doing what is sure to be some VERY delicate surgery: cracking open the laptop’s LCD assembly. It doesn’t unnerve me too much. I was a tinkerer long before I went to school to be professionally trained at it. The scary part is having never torn into something like this. In order to get the replacement parts I might need, I have to open the LCD assembly to get part numbers from the parts themselves. Yes, I *have* searched online, no luck. Toshiba is notoriously tight-lipped with their information…I’ve been trying for four years to figure out how to access their BIOS, they will not divulge that info. In the mean time, I’ve found a CRT to hook up and use which is the only way I could have made this entry without a very bright flashlight and three days of typing.

Second (oh yes, there’s more), I get hit with the flu, or something very flu-like. I dare say this is the worst sickness I’ve had since childhood. This bug does not want to let go. Several times, I’ve cleared up and thought it was over, only to be ransacked by another set of symptoms or recurring ones a few hours later. Right now, it’s in my ears. I can barely hear, my balance is affected, and the tinnitus is driving me crazy. All I know to do is keep popping vitamin C and zinc tabs, drinking chicken soup, and wait it out.

So, how’s THAT for screwed up? Yes, it could be worse…but it sure could be a whole lot better.

It’s been some time since I posted, primarily because I’ve not found anything of note on which to comment. Actually I should clarify that; there’s been no topic or event that has “spoken” to me, making me want to opine. Then again, I’ve always felt that quality is better than quantity any day, and I hope the content in each of my posts makes up for their lack of frequency. And yet, as I sit here writing this one, I have no real topic. I’d like to be as politically conscious as Phillip, or as creative as Naoko, but it’s just not in me at the moment. I’d like to have something to which my loyal readers (all three of them) can reply and lend a point of view that sparks deep thought or leads to an epiphany. The last thing I want to do is resort to a (gasp!) poll, like the question with four choices type. I want something that requires something more than “drive-by” responses, click-and-go, etc. So I’ve decided to post this question to you: what is the best piece of advice you’ve heard? By that I mean something so powerful and enriching that it guides you daily.

For me it’s this: never belittle anyone’s goal, no matter how silly or ridiculous it may seem to you. Think about it…let’s say, for example, a good friend of yours wants nothing more in life (at the moment) than to open a flower shop/nursery. The idea may seem totally bonkers to you, but they love botany, and would love to make their living at it. So, in a moment of extreme insensitivity, you say to them, “Why would you want to do something goofball like that?” Let’s breakdown the question to find the underlying message: they think to themselves, this person thinks I’m a goofball for wanting to sell plants and flowers. All of a sudden, a huge bit of wind has been knocked from their sails, and your ranking on the friendship scale takes a nosedive. Everyone loses a little something. Wouldn’t friendship be better served by just saying, “Good luck with that”? After all, everyone wants the same thing in life: personal success.

I actually made the above mistake with a good friend before hearing that piece of advice. It took a very long time to heal the wound created by a statement I made with little forethought. We’re still good friends now, but it would have been much easier to strengthen a solid friendship than to try to repair a damaged one.

OK, your turn. Enlighten us with your own words of wisdom.

OK, this may be a refreshing change for some of you (or maybe ALL of you, who knows?) since this journal entry is not a rant, or me breaking bad on someone or something. I just wanted to wish all of you a merry Christmas. While I’m not particularly religious I do maintain Christian beliefs, therefore I wish folks ‘Merry Christmas’ because that’s the holiday I celebrate. If I know I’m engaging someone of the Jewish faith, I will wish them a happy Chanukkah. But, I’ll admit, I’m not aware of everyone’s religious affiliation; I can’t hear a particular surname and determine, “Oh yeah, they are Jewish”, and truthfully I believe it’s wrong to make such assumptions. That being the case, I most likely have have wished ‘merry Christmas’ to many Jewish friends or even total strangers. But here’s the thing: not one of them jumped down my throat for it. None blessed me out for giving them a Christmas greeting, they simply accepted it in the spirit in which it was intended, and I do the same. I have on occasion been wished ‘happy Chanukkah’ by Jewish friends (they knowing full well I am a Gentile), and I return their blessing cordially. If someone thinks highly enough of me to bestow such a blessing on me, I consider it an honor…I’d even go as far as to say it’s an expression of love, and couldn’t we all use much more of that?

I thought I had written about this before, I seem to remember doing so at that other journal which I no longer use, but I just can’t find it, so here it is redone, or done for the first time, I don’t know. So, even though the greeting is somewhat belated, merry Christmas to all of you! Yes, I’m still celebrating Christmas, days after the fact, even though the stores are having their post-Christmas clearance sales, and the radio stations have put away their holiday selections until next year. For me, it’s Christmas until the ball drops on Times Square…I guess I’m odd that way.

Nationwide two-way radio is a fine tool to have at one’s disposal. I think it’s rather intelligent of whomever figured it out to use the same call phone carrier signal to send a quick voice message to another subscriber. But I ask you, fellow subscriber, must you be so damned annoying when you do? First, there’s the “chirp”, that rapid succession of tones the phone sounds when a transmission is begun; it seems like all the phones equipped with the two-way feature are set to sound them at the highest volume possible. That would be fine if one wasn’t standing right next to someone using their two-way. Another thing: it appears that these devices are intended to be used by those who are hard of hearing, as they sound more like megaphones than cell phones.

And then there’s the general usage. As I understand, the two-way feature was intended to be for a quick blurb to another subscriber, e.g., “Hey Philip, call me on my cell, please” or, “Honey, pick up a loaf of bread on the way home.” Instead I see people yakking back and forth for half an hour or better. If you’re going to converse as though you were using the cell phone, wouldn’t it be better to use the cell phone rather than the two-way??

I ask you, as one who does not understand the reason for such an annoyance but wants to, are the features of these devices not adjustable? Can you not reduce the speaker volume? Can you not lower the volume of the chirping or, for that matter, not change the chirp to something a bit less distracting like a chime or a short whistle? I have considered purchasing a phone with the two-way communicator feature (‘radio’ seems to be a bit of a misnomer once you understand the technology involved), but if using it makes me an inconsiderate, obnoxious wretch, then I want no part of it.

On a side note, since I’m on the subject of cell phones, why are there no versions of the phone we’d like to have that DON’T have a built in/on camera/video recorder? For those who don’t have such devices already I’m sure it’s quite convenient to have them bundled with the phone. I love my LG vx-8000, but I already have a camera and camcorder, so the camera part of the phone is unnecessary to me. When I asked the Verizon rep if there was a version available without the camera, I was told that there wasn’t. “I don’t know” was the reply I got when I queried further. Sure I could have gotten a model without a camera, but I didn’t want another model, I wanted this one. I’d send a suggestion to the manufacturer if I thought it would do any good, but I most likely would get a ‘…thank you for your suggestion, now go away.’ form letter back. Oh well, no biggie anyway. I figure cell phones will be obsolete in a few years, and then we’ll be using these for communication:

Sora’s Addendum: What you should be seeing here is a comm badge as seen in Star Trek:TNG, but Photobucket has banned my account, citing TOS violation, hence the absence of the image.  I can’t begin to describe how pissed off I am with them now.  BOYCOTT PHOTOBUCKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When you see this post, I know you’ll probably ask yourself, “Where does he come up with these posts? What’s the logic/inspiration/purpose?” Truthfully, I’m amazed at how, for no apparent reason, I’m inspired to opine on what some may consider useless fluff, but here goes.

At my job the other day, I overheard a co-worker (a high-schooler) speaking to another about being on the school’s wrestling team. I’m unsure how it came up, but he mentioned a requirement that the wrestlers pass a hydration test. I asked him about it, and he stated that a wrestler who is deemed dehydrated is disqualified from competing. I thought to myself, finally someone has chosen tho stop ignoring the risks these athletes are taking.

I wrestled when I was in high school; my record was not one which would qualify me as an all-star, but I wrestled nonetheless. I spent my first 4 high school years in England, in a U.S. Air Force base school. Going to wrestling meets was not a quick trip; the “crosstown rivals” were at least 1½-3 hours away by motor coach at another U.S. base or American-run facility (the American School of London for instance). For those of you not familiar with wrestling, the sport is divided into several weight divisions, ensuring that competitors will be equal, in physical stature at least if not ability. The general consensus among wrestlers and coaches is that lighter is better, so the wrestlers will take whatever means necessary to shed those last few ounces (yes, OUNCES) to qualify at a weight below what their normal weight is. On these “cross town” trips, I saw on a regular basis teammates who would ride to the meet in what used to be called “sauna suits” and wrapped in blankets. Yes, it was October/November in England at the time, but they weren’t trying to stay warm, they were trying to stay HOT. I saw a few times some of them fall victim to this self-imposed regimen and pass out from the resulting dehydration, and then a few hours later, don a singlet and try to go six minutes on the mat (it may not seem like that long to you, but trust me, six minutes can seem like hours if you’re matched up with someone of equal ability). In most cases, they were beaten, but their defeat took place on the bus instead of on the mat. Actually, it probably happened sooner than that; for a week or so prior to a meet they would typically eat as little as possible and drink not more than a few swallows of liquid a day, leading up to the day of the meet.

I rejected this method of preparation for a meet. I always held the philosophy that weight training should be used for preparation, and when I explained this to teammates and coaches, they scoffed. “You put on all that muscle, you’ll go up in the weight classes” was the typical reply, to which I would respond, “Yes, I might, but I’d rather move up a class and be stronger than move down one and be weak from thirsting and starving myself.” None of the other wrestlers ever accepted that reasoning; the “lighter is better” idea was constantly being hammered into us by the coaches, which was ultimately the reason I stopped after two years. Winning a medal was not worth risking my health, and I’m happy to see that today’s coaches and intramural sports program administrators are realizing that as well. If it’s due to a fear of a wrongful death lawsuit, then maybe the change is for the wrong reason, but at least the change is in place. But how far does the policy extend? What questionable practices are taking place in other high school sports, such as football and basketball, and what is being done to prevent the students from taking extreme measures to enhance their performance?

    I’m so happy, nay, honored that you took the time to pay my little journal a visit.  I must admit, I’m not as active with my journal or as politically conscious as Eternal Wanderer is, but I do hope you will find something that will prompt you to exercise your mental “muscle”.  I can’t promise that you’ll agree with all of my opinions, or to be non-controversial, but then, what fun would that be if everyone agreed with absolutely everything?

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to exercise my own mental “muscle”, as I have a LOT of catching up to do with the NaNoWriMo event.

OK, I like having fun as much as the next person, and I’m all for other people having fun, but when your chosen activity/fad puts others at risk of injury or property at risk of damage, then it’s not fun anymore. The fad that has me so full of piss and vinegar is skateshoes. For those of you who have not yet experienced this fad, they’re basically sneakers except that the last two or three inches of the heels are angled upwards slightly to accommodate a urethane roller, recessed in the sole. Because of this design, the wearer can walk on them like they were plain sneaks; the skate part happens when the wearer angles the foot(feet) back so that they are riding on the roller part of the sole.

    Now they don’t work like traditional skates, to take full advantage of the design, the wearer gets a running start across some hard surface and comes down on the roller on the last step and then the other roller, gliding on the heels (picture yourself sliding across the tile floor in your socks as a child, same general idea). The hard urethane rollers and the bearings encased within ensure a fairly long glide, depending on the speed of the buildup run.

    I recall the first commercials for these shoes a few years ago. The kids were shown having a grand time on these skateshoes rolling along the sidewalk. That’s right, every shot was an OUTSIDE shot: a sidewalk, basketball court, driveway, etc., and that’s just fine. Now imagine if you will these kids doing the same thing, say….in a mall, or an airport concourse, the lobby of a movie theater, a grocery store, where there are lots of people walking around, not expecting Junior to whiz past them missing them by inches, or worse, actually running into them, knocking them (and whatever they may be carrying…their groceries, food and drinks, their newborn child perhaps) to the floor. I’ve witnessed people almost being clobbered by these little punks, hell, I myself have come close to being knocked down; I’ve yet to see an actual collision, but I’m sure it will be ugly when it happens. The incident itself for sure will be, but I imagine the words exchanged between the victim and the child and/or their parents will be far uglier. “What the hell are you doing?! You’re not supposed to be doing that in here!!” “How DARE you tell my child what they can’t do!” “Well *someone* needs to; obviously YOU’RE not doing the job!!” And then it just mushrooms from there.

    I’m siding with the victim/potential victim in this one. More often than not, I see the kids tear-assing through a crowded public area, on and off these skateshoes, and the parents don’t say word one to them admonishing them for their improper behavior, but let some third party say something to them, even in the most polite manner one can muster, and it’s ‘Katie, bar the door’.

    Now kids being kids are going to want to romp and play and have fun, and again, I’m OK with that. Parents (and kids), an important part of having fun is making sure you’ll be safe while having that fun, but please sure that others around you will be safe as well.

    Maybe this little rant wasn’t about skateshoes as much as it was about the piss-poor parenting that has become evident, at least here in the U.S. The sad part is that these kids, because their own parents didn’t have the backbone to discipline their kids (and I’m not talking about spanking, “whoopin’s”, etc.), won’t have the first clue how to discipline their own kids when the time comes, because no one set the example for them. And as far as the skateshoes are concerned, know this, kids: I’m watching for you, and when I see you coming, I’ll brace up…and we’ll test that whole irresistible force/immovable object theory. And on top of that, I learned a few things from watching the roller derby back in the day that I bet you don’t know.

These are the entries mentioned in my first posting here. Click on the link below to view them, in descending chronological order. If you feel like commenting, that’s fine, but understand that you won’t be able to respond to a specific entry.

Friday, November 03, 2006

I told you the posts would be sporadic, remember??

So, what prompted me to get off my butt and post? NaNoWriMo, short for National Novel Writing Month. The rules are simple: put down 50,000 words into a story in 30 days, i.e., the month of November. www.nanowrimo.org has better details if you’re interested. Anyway, I’ve always had a dislike for writing…well, pen-to-paper writing at least. Since early high school days I’ve been forced by every English teacher I’ve had to write on some BS topic at the start of every class. I suppose there is some purpose for this exercise, like fostering improvisational thought, but all I got from it was BORED. Add to that the fact that I didn’t care much for my penmanship and…well you get the idea, a vicious circle. So now that I have the word processor at my disposal, I thought I’d give this a shot. There are no rewards to be garnered from NaNoWriMo, other than the satisfaction of having achieved the goal of 50,000 words, or at least having tried. I’m hoping it will help me recall a dream in which unfolded a fantastic story that I, IMHO, think would make a great movie, making me incredibly wealthy in the process. Hope springs eternal, right?

OK, enough thought used up here. I need all I can spare for the NaNoWriMo event. Depending on how it turns out, I may post the finished product here for perusal.

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Wednesday, March 08, 2006

So, what is the cure for apathy?

I wish I knew…really, I do. If I did, I’m sure there would be lots more entries in my journal. It’s plagued me for years. I know there are things I should be doing, but I just can’t find the motivation much of the time. Actually, maybe I’m going about this the wrong way. Perhaps in order to fix the problem, you must first discover the cause of the problem. So what is the cause of the apathy? A lack of feedback perhaps? Try as you might to complete a task and do well with it, you get a lackluster response, if you get one at all. Perhaps it’s that now deep-seeded knowledge of the probable outcome that curbs enthusiasm and causes one to procrastinate and eventually stop trying.

Perhaps it’s worry that there is always someone that can perform the task better, possibly much better, that brings on a sense of indifference. “I could try, but Joe will do it better, so just let *him* do it.” Perhaps one has received scorn for even attempting; someone prejudged and ridiculed, and you accepted their words as truth.

So, here we are back at the original question: what’s the cure? Me dropping a couple of hundred bucks on Tony Robbins tapes ain’t a viable option. The journey of one thousand miles may begin with a single step, but sometimes that first single step seems like the hardest to make.

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Wednesday, January 04, 2006

New Year’s Resolutions and Why I Am Against Them.

It’s usually the second or third question asked when one returns to the office on the 2nd or 3rd, depending on which day the 1st of January fell on: “So what resolutions did you make for the new year?” And typically, you get a reply such as “Well, I want to lose weight” or, “I want to quit (take your pick: smoking, drinking, some other vice, etc)” etc. All fine resolutions, but it just sets you up for disappointment; here’s what I mean.

You start off fine..balls to the wall, gung-ho, never quit. Then a few weeks go by, and the routine becomes, well, routine. Then you start viewing the resolution as a chore, but still you manage to stick to it. Before long, it’s a hassle and you want nothing to do with it. And then next New Year’s Eve rolls around and you become upset with yourself for having failed to carry out yet another resolution. There’s a better way, and you don’t have to wait until December 31st to implement it.

Make a list of goals. That’s it in a nutshell; here’s the details. On a clean sheet of paper, number from 1 to 5. Don’t use a ballpoint for this..something with a broad stroke is best; a Sharpie-type marker works well..you’ll understand why in a moment. Now, write down five simple goals you wish to achieve in the short term; something you can do in a few weeks, 3 months tops. Once you’ve written them down, post the sheet in a prominent location where you will see it as soon as you rise from the bed in the morning (this is why ballpoint is not advised for the list..it should be easily readable for someone who may still be in a partially somnambulistic state).

Upon rising for the day, read aloud your goals to yourself; you don’t have to shout, but you should speak as if you were conversing with someone standing about 3 feet in front of you. Then proceed as you would for the day, but pick one of your goals and try to do some small thing to achieve that goal..not knock it out in one day, but make a step towards achieving it. Do this for at least one of your goals, but if you wanna work on more than one, feel free. The point is to be able to work towards achievement and still have time to carry out your routine tasks without having to push something aside. Continue this on a daily basis until you reach your goal, congratulate yourself, and replace the goal you just achieved from your list with another goal and proceed as you have been doing.

So what’s the point of the list? Focus. Those who have their goals written down achieve sooner and greater than those who simply ponder and move on. The list provides you with a constant reminder of why you’re doing what you do in a day. I do this myself and it does work. The reason for reading your goals aloud every morning is to make a positive affirmation to yourself and get the day started right. By keeping the list short term, again not more than three months, you give yourself a closer deadline to work with, instead of having the mentality of ‘Oh, I have all year to do this”, which tends to make one prioritize their goals lower. If you want to take this a step or two further, make two more lists, these containing medium-term goals, and lifetime goals.

I wish for all of you a Happy New Year. Take the advice above, and it may very well be. I personally am resolving to never again make a New Year’s resolution..and i’m sure I’ll be able to see THAT resolution through.

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Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Thanksgiving. A holiday that is, to the best of my knowledge, uniquely American, which is to say celebrated by residents of the United States of America. There *is* a Canadian Thanksgiving, but theirs is centered around celebration of a successful harvest and, therefore, beyond the scope of this journal entry. The American Thanksgiving, a time intended for counting one’s blessings if you will, is the one I wish to address. The holiday whose purpose was concieved by Sarah Hale around the time of Abraham Lincoln. It’s the concept I follow around this time of year; I take the proverbial step back, examine what I have, friends and family I have, and realize how blessed I am and am truly thankful for all these things.

The rant part of it (and yes, this IS intended to be a rant), is how disappointed I am in what the holiday has become to most Americans in recent years: rush over to Grandma’s house (or that of your oldest living relative) bearing a glass dish full of green beans (or whatever pantry fodder you could lay your hands on), stuff yourself full of food, then dash off to another relative’s soiree, and then go home to bed so you can be awake at O-dark-thirty to be at some retail establishment for their post-Thanksgiving early-bird sale event. None of us asked for this sort of express-lane holiday celebration; it was forced upon us by big business. I can recall a time when not even a convenience store was open on Thanksgiving; if you forgot it the day before, you did without it on the day. Then gradually they started sneaking in the hour here and there after all the festivities had concluded…then a few more hours…and now very few businesses actually close up for Thanksgiving. That’s one of the reasons I long to have a business of my own; primarly to be my own boss, but also to take back some of the benefits done away with by the corporate entity, like closing for a solid week for Thanksgiving and other holidays so there’s plenty of time for celebrating.

But staying open on the holiday wasn’t enough, no. Now that they’re open, they need business, otherwise they’re paying people (who I’m very sure do NOT want to be there to begin with) to stand around, wish they were home, and listen to the same elevator music playing over and over again. So they hit us with the “After Thanksgiving Extravaganza”, touted by a booming voice in a commercial during your favorite TV show. “Special savings throughout the store…AND save and extra 10% between 5:00 and 5:15 am!!” What’s worse is that many Americans respond to this like Pavlovian dogs, and will be there waiting for the store to open its doors, no doubt fighting snarling traffic and other shoppers (also snarling) and running their stress levels through the roof just for an extra 12 cents off for a pair of shoes.

I happen to be one of those disgruntled employees who is caught up in the rush. I’d like nothing more than to return to the practice of spending several days among family and friends. Until I do run my own business, that won’t happen. So until then, yes, I’d love to join you for Thanksgiving dinner; but can you put it on a paper plate and wrap it up for me? I have to be at work in an hour. And after work is over, I reflect. I realize I’m thankful to have this job (that on *this* day I loathe) because it provides for me and my family. I realize I’m thankful for my family and friends, who offer support and love for no other reason than doing so. And I realize I’m thankful that I spent another day on THIS side of the dirt.

I hope all of you enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, and I urge you to not lose sight of the purpose of the holiday for which Sarah Hale fought for many years.

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Sunday, September 11, 2005

Victim relocation is NOT a media event!

Have any of you out there received any of Katrina’s victims into your town to offer them shelter while they wait to be able to return to their homes? My hometown has done so, and I think it’s a wonderful gesture to offer comfort and some semblance of order to those whose lives have been disrupted; here I have no qualms. What I *do* have trouble with is the local TV media handling it the way they’ve done. You’d think the president had come to town.

First, the stations break into the regular programming to inform everyone that the evacuees are about to board their aircraft for their surrogate homes. OK, fine. Then a break-in an hour later to tell us the flight’s been delayed, as if THAT’s going to surprise anyone who flies on a regular basis. Two more hours–another news flash: they’ve taken off….WHOOO-PEEEE. Another hour goes by and…you guessed it…they’ve landed, covered by a live feed from the airport, of course. And what’s the first thing the talking head at the airport does? They bombard the evacuees with the typical, stupid, no-thought-beforehand questions like, “How’s it feel to be here?”, “What was the hurricane like?”, and, “How does it feel to have your home blown away?” (I wish I could say that was a joke; I actually heard some idiot ask that question).

I understand the news media people are just people like us, who are trying to put food on the table. But, come on, there are better ways to do it than this horrible example. Bad enough that you disrupt our lives to report this, but the kicker is that you harrassed already broken and weary people to do it. You should be ashamed of yourselves, but I already know that you won’t be. These people have been through trying times, and will have more ahead of them; can you media people at least allow them a little dignity while they do? True, some victims will treat the survival of a hurricane like a badge of honor, something to tell the grandkids. But most that I’ve seen are truly embarrassed to have their hardships made public by a jerk with a camera and a microphone, whose money would have been better spent at charm school rather than pursuing a degree in journalism.

That’s all from me for now. Be well.

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(NOTICE: My first post on Blogger {below} closely mirrors my first one here at WordPress, so you may get the feeling that you’ve read this before.)

Monday, August 15, 2005

First post!

OK, let’s get one thing straight right off: THIS IS NOT A ” ‘BLOG”, IT’S A JOURNAL. I’ve never liked the “B” word, which evolved simply because some geek kids didn’t want to put the effort into speaking an extra syllable and say ‘web log’. Second, i have no idea how often I’ll post any thoughts here; I’m incredibly lazy at writing journals, diaries, call them what you will, I always have been. For me to keep up regular written communication would involve something or someone very special.

Alright, when I do post, what will I write about? Who knows? I’m not much into politics, so I won’t cover that. I’m really into fitness/bodybuilding at the moment, particularly my own, so I may post when I have significant results to share. Beyond that is anyone’s guess. But the posts will be sparse, on that you can be sure.

Finally, I’d like to say a special hello to Philip. I’m happy for you! Keep the faith! ^_^ V