A Few Good Utilities

Need to keep track of these somewhere outside of my computer, so here they are:

Defraggler
www.defraggler.com

DriverMax
www.innovative-sol.com/drivermax | Free
Use DriverMax to back up your hardware drivers. Then, after a fresh Windows install, DriverMax puts all the drivers back in less than 10 minutes. That's much better than reinstalling each printer, scanner, network adapter, and camera individually.

DisplayFusion
www.binaryfortress.com | Free
Multiple monitors of different sizes on your computer may not always provide the best visual setup. DisplayFusion assists by placing different wallpapers on each screen, even a contiguous background across displays with different resolutions. It helps control windows, too, dragging them from screen to screen. I'm using it now.

FireTorrent
www.wyzo.com/firetorrent | Free
Your BitTorrent downloader can be part and parcel of your browser. Though FireTorrent was originally developed for the Wyzo media browser, it took just a simple port to make it available to the larger Firefox user base.

Characteristics/Properties of a Nice Ass!!!

 A well designed ass is a beautiful thing.

The Art of Teabagging

YouTube - GamesRadar - The Art of Teabagging:

False Alarms

 

This is kinda funny.

 

I went to the gas station to get some Pepsi Max. The utility company is doing a bunch of work, laying pipes, etc beside the road.  I'm driving by all the construction on the way back home, go by this big machine in the middle of a sharp curve and *BAM*!

 

It was so loud/hard that it shook my seat. I'm like "WTF was THAT?!? It felt like a g'damn bowling ball hitting me in the back!"

 

I get home, and  you know what? it was a bowling ball hitting me in the back. Mine.. In the back seat.

Vocal Ranges for Singers

· Basses should be able to sing low E to G above middle C.
· Baritones should be able to sing low G to B natural just below the Tenor high C.
· Tenors should be able to sing C (below middle C) to E above high C.
· Altos should be able to sing low C (below middle C) to high C.
· Mezzo-Sopranos should be able to sing G (below middle C) to Eb above high C.
· Sopranos should be able to sing G (below middle C) to F above high C.

Controlling the weather

Sci-fi is finally becoming reality. The chinese are attempting to control the weather for the olympics. Check this out.

Sex

Listening to the "This and That" podcast. so much interesting stuff on there. regarding sex. ... and the numbers may not be right since I'm buzzed.

1) people are having something like 38% less sex than 30 years ago . The reason? obesity. more fat = less blood flow. needless to say, less attraction as well.

2) One in four *teenage* girls have at least one STD.

Capricious Acumen:

He says he's a cop, but he isn't wearing a badge!

He says he's a cop, but he isn't wearing a badge! | Oddly Enough | Reuters:

iGoogle:

Skydiving

it's taken like a year for me to get this posted, but here it is.

A quick note

I don't have much time to post these days, but would like to keep this log alive. I've signed-up with twitter.com. It's a site that allows you to post SMS length messages just telling the world what you do in 1-2 sentences. These are displayed at the left of this blog.

My new horse

Ain't he purty?!?!?!?!?




He's a clown too. Check out the video.

Amber - "Duchess of Amber Moon" 02/17/94 - 07/06/07

Rest In Peace.

*cry*

Amber - It's really bad, but getting a little better

I've been through a lot with Amber these past few months. Her arthritis and other skeletal problems have been getting really bad. She has had non-stop diarrhea for nearly 6 months and no medicine would take care of it. She had dropped from a very healthy 65lbs down to 51lbs and was nothing more than a bag of bones.

Over the past two weeks I have been taking her to a different vet as Lake Norman was doing nothing to help and costing a fortune.

In 3 days time (doing the same tests that LKN did repeatedly) they found that she has very bad liver cirrhosis and told me that she had a week or two, but now wouldn't be too soon to put her down.

I had a long heart-to-heart sit with her, trying to figure out what she was feeling. After sitting with her and watching her behavior for a day, I came to this conclusion : She's sick, she's in pain, but she's not ready to go.

I'll be the first to admit that I have a really hard time with the idea of letting her go. I was so shaken-up when the vet said "now would not be too soon to send her to heaven" that I couldn't even speak. I spent the rest of the day swinging between sobbing uncontrollably and feeling absolutely nothing. Even given my feelings, I can say this: If I thought it was really her time, I wouldn't hesitate.

Knowing that she's not ready to go... still seeing life in her eyes, I'm determined to do all I can.

I've taken her off all traditional medicines (including flea, heartworm, and vaccinations). I've started making batches of home-made food (mainly ground turkey, brown rice, oatmeal, and vegetables as described in "Sunny's Miracle Diet". To that I have added Teeter's Creek Liver Tone (10 drops twice a day), Super Milk Thistle (this is one of the most researched natural treatments), and 1/2 of a human multivitamin once a day.

I have also bought the book "Hope for Healing Liver Disease in Your Dog" and am slowly adding a multitude of other vitamins and supplements to her diet.

There is no cure for liver disease once it reaches this stage, but the change has been nearly a miracle. There are no more "accidents" two or three times a day. No more getting up in the middle of the night at every little sound to rush her outside... the diarrhea is nearly gone. Her appetite is back - sometimes she can't seem to get enough food. She has probably already put on 3-5 lbs in one week on the diet.

Cutting out all of the sodium has cut down her abdominal fluid retention (ascitis) to about 10% of what it used to be. Feeding her smaller meals 3-4 times a day instead of 2 large ones has helped to keep from overloading her liver.

She is still a sick doggy, but she is feeling so much better. She's back to rubbing against the bed, wanting attention, being curious and interested in walks (even if some days her arthritis keeps her from going) and otherwise just being a dog again.

I realize that she doesn't have much time left. God has granted me a gift by letting me find things that help her. He has given us time to bond again. We have petting time in the morning and afternoon, and sometimes play time in the evenings. The time she has left won't be put to waste (thank you, God).

Time

Man, time really flies. We are almost halfway through March already. Amber (and the other kids) got a LOT of stuff for christmas. She's doing pretty bad. Her back is all screwed up.. lumpy, curved, etc and most days she doesn't want to eat. She's down to 53lbs. Dunno how much longer my favorite doggie is going to hang in there.

Not a whole lot of news here. Just the same-ole same-ole. Felt like I should write something... so that was it... doggie news.

Oh Santa, Where Art Thou?

I've been *SUCH* a good girl, Santa. Please hurry!!!!!

Timber!

Got the tree up yesterday. It's a big sucker. Going to have to find bigger boxes to put under it. lol

Offshoring - The Real Reason

Lots of politics on my mind today.. I don't average a single political posting each month, but here is my second one for the day.



Without disclosing where I work for, let me just say that I've seen a lot of offshoring, and see more of it every day. I've stood in hallways and watched mgmt take teams of people from India through the offices and let them pick out sections they want to take over.



We (as a society) have been doing this long enough to know that there's really no profit in it:

• There is still a need for people here as processes, procedures, mgmt of the offshore teams, etc. must be done.
• Facility build-out and connectivity must be paid for by the client.. that's us back in the U.S.
• There is frequently a need to hire stateside consultants to fix the errors of the offshore teams.

There are dozens of other reasons that I could list, but let me get to the point and solve a great mystery:



If we are only saving 1-10% and causing a great impact on our own society that results in lost profits (americans with no jobs = consumers not buying your products) that more than eat up that 1-10% offshore profit.... Why, why are we doing this?



The answer, my friends, is accountability. If I may generalize for a moment...It should come as no surprise that the guys upstairs, those that are truly wealthy - executives of companies medium and large, really don't care about anything but themselves.



It wasn't until post-Enron when the government starting holding executives accountable and putting them in prison. Do you think it's any coincidence that about that time is when offshoring became the norm? I don't.



It's all about finger pointing. Having the power to destroy 1000's of people's lives so you can have a shiny new yacht, exotic supercar and sexy supermodel... all the while placing blame on the other guy... that's what it's all about, always has been, always will be. The other guy being outside of U.S. jurisdiction just makes it all the more appealing.



In the end, who pays for this? Well, us, the common people, of course. In lost jobs, lost opportunities, losing all that goes with that well paying job. Society (as a whole) pays dearly when society (as individuals) slowly descends into poverty. Of course, the white collar criminals will continue to go free.



It seems damn near everything these days is made in China or Japan, and all of these services (even surgery, yikes!) is going to India. All of this to save money, but where are the savings? You'd think with companies saving *SO* much money, at some point, they might pass on a penny or two of that savings to the customer.



Offshoring has been big for about 5 years now. Let's say it takes 2 years to work out processes and for the savings to trickle down... 3 years, right?



Think about every bill you pay, every product you buy. Raise your hand and say "Yea" if you've seen prices go down or remain the same on even one bill for the past3 years.











It sure is quiet in here.

A Few Words About Illegal Immigrants

I've been giving this a lot of thought, and can no longer bite my tongue. I'm sick and damn tired of hearing about the "rights" of illegal immigrants. You are illegal, you have no rights.





Argument: Illegal immigrants ("II") are an integral part of American society.

* IIs only help to support something this country has been trying to rid itself of for centuries - slavery. By taking jobs for next to no money, they are essentially slaves... granted, by their own choosing, but it's slavery nonetheless. There is a reason minimum wage laws exist. You are hurting even those at the bottom rungs of the financial ladder; allowing employers to bypass those laws by paying you even less. Seeing African Americans support IIs baffles the living hell out of me.



Argument: IIs do jobs Americans don't want to do.

* Americans ARE willing to do these jobs, for the right price. Who has started most of the lawn maintenance, construction, cleaning, and other businesses usually associated with IIs? Americans. So obviously we are willing to do the job, we just want to be paid for it. When is the last time you say a sign that said "Paco's Roofing"

* Additionally, if given immunity or "guest worker" status, do you REALLY think they are going to continue to work for those wages? Hell no. They've organized so much that you can't go into a restaurant or turn on the tv without seeing something in Spanish. Do you really think organized labor (a union of sorts) is that far behind? Keep up this "oh, those poor people!" attitude and you are going to see these IIs making more money than you.. doing the same job.

* I was raised sort of old fashioned.. My parents believed in teaching me responsibility - if I wanted something, I worked for it. Have you taken a good look around at the jobs that used to be performed by teenagers? It's almost all IIs. What do you suppose those teenagers are doing now that they can't get jobs that are rightfully theirs? Important life lessons that impact their ethics, attitude, and drive are being missed. What impact do you think that has on this country 30 years from now?



Argument: IIs deserve to be treated equally.

* Bullshit! What part of *ILLEGAL* Immigrant don't you get? You broke the law, you are here illegally, you are a drain on our medical, educational, tax structures, and legal systems. How do you think the Mexican government would treat YOU if the roles were reversed? I bet it wouldn't be to grant amnesty! Hint: It's a felony with a 2 year prison sentence, then you are deported - your gov't has to come get you and take you across the border so that you get your punishment in your own country as well. Yes, it is strictly enforced.

Here's a solution to the USCIS/INS backlog problem: Grant a small

number (5,000?) of the most appropriately educated IIs amnesty in

exchange for working with the USCIS to clear the backlog. That's right.

A few working to put the rest away. Like it or not, it's an integral

part of how our legal system works. Informants on the streets, snitches in jail. It's how things get done. We'll have that backlog cleared in no time.



After getting all of the IIs out of this country, start

locking their asses up when they come back across the border... which is what their governments do to us, and what our laws say should be done to them. Nobody is going to take us seriously until our bark has some bite.



In closing...



First, a big Thank You to those of you who took the time, effort and expense to come here legally. *YOU* are an integral part of the fabric that makes up American society and are what America is all about.



Second..

Did you know felons have all citizenship rights revoked when they are incarcerated and those rights are not restored until parole is completed? That's right, some poor soul who was unlucky enough to be caught with a couple ounces of pot to share with his friends at a party has less rights than an II that illegally entered our country and became a felon here (making them a felon in both countries). How fucked up is that!?!?



In the name of full disclosure, let me say that I am currently being sued by an II for what could amount to $10,000, or it could be a $1,000,000. From the day he heard my name, the plan has been to sue me, get the cash and head back home to live like a king... and you know what? He's going to win.

Blah. Rainy, dreary day

Breathing

Still alive, still on the lake. Down one eye (it's a long story, one worthy of it's own blog post). Doing a lot of poor man's traveling.. camping and such. If you read this, let me know. I'm mainly posting just to keep the account active. I'm contemplating starting my posting again, but have reservations about it until after some legal proceedings have been completed.

Hope y'all are doing well.