I Love All of You

Have I told you all I love all of you very much.

No need to seek revenge or anything.

Oak Ridge

Wow, Glad I am in Dallas and not Oak Ridge today.

Growing up, Oak Ridge was always kind of a weird place and once you became an adult it gets downright spooky. The whole town was built by the government to make parts for the A Bomb during the Manhattan Project. As you drive into the town you see check points which were abandoned. You also get to see chained off fields with apparently nothing around warning you not to go there.

Freaky, very freaky.

Y-12 is one place you don't want to go charging into with your car, unless you need a few more openings in your body.

OUCH!

Glad I am not a helicopter pilot today.

Instead I have the pleasure of attending pointless meetings. HA!

Why I 'm Not a Liberal

I am listening to Michael Medvad who has a lady on who actually made the statement that the US should have fought the communist threat by diplomacy instead of the wars we fought.

Folks this is why I am not a liberal and why I am not a war protester.

Diplomacy and compromise only works if the party you are engaging in diplomacy with has a similar goal as you. A good example of this is when governments compromise in order to keep peace.

The IMPORTANT THING is BOTH SIDES HAVE TO WANT PEACE.

Liberals (and the war protesters) assume the other side only wants peace and to live in harmony. Their own little place to be happy in.

The truth I have learned in life, is despite what we like to think, there are people who DO NOT WANT PEACE!

Look at Hitler. Look at Oslo. Look at Saddam. (Do you think he wanted peace?)

Our Lot In Life

The latest NTAC Wars for you to enjoy!

The Innocence of a Child

So last night I am cleaning the litter box. Up walks my little two year old daughter Lucie.

"What are you doing Daddy?" she asks.

"I'm cleaning the poo poo out of the litter box, Honey," I reply.

Her eyes open wide with amazement. "You can poo poo in there!" she gasps.

After suppressing my laughter, I reply, "No, Honey, only kitty cats poo poo in the litter box."

No matter how bad of a day you have had, that would make everything better.

Frustration With Blogspot

OK, so for some reason I can't upload this animated GIF I made for some stupid post. IF I ever get it uploaded, I will let you all know.

Nothing exciting going on. I changed my profile picture to a moderately accurate picture of me.

I did have to add some weight, apparently the SIMPSONIZER is afraid of making fat people appear... well, fat.

Make yourself a Simpson character at www.simpsonizeme.com.

Too much fun.

I Am Now a Victim

Society today has become a society of victims. Until yesterday I couldn't claim to be one. You see I am a middle class white guy, a practicing Christian, I have kids, pet, a stable job, no criminal history. I was never abused, don't do drugs, not an alcoholic, I quit smoking 10 years ago.

All in all, I am quite boring.

BUT yesterday my wife started getting calls for loans "I" had applied for online. She called me to ask about this as she was understandable disturbed because she knows I wouldn't do something financial without at least letting her know. I confirmed I had DEFINITELY NOT applied for ANY loans.

So began the process of canceling all of the payouts to the person who was opening all this crap. I only got bent out of shape one time when one firm refused to give me the information for the loan when I asked for it because "It was opened fradulently." My reply was "So some A--hole has taken out a loan in my name with my SSN and information, and you won't give ME the data on the loan, even though it MY information."

She properly responded with "Sir, you don't have to use that kind of language."

She was right of course, and turned out to be very helpful as she blocked the loan and made sure there would be no more opened using my info. I thanked her profusely.

So immediately after work I took a trip down to the local police station and filed a statement and had a report opened. Since then we have been contacted by another site that I got a lot of information from. I'll be sure to pass that onto the assigned detective when I talk to him.

The cops should have enough to get them. I would like nothing better than to see the twerp(s) behind bars.

Dateline

Well, I watched Dateline last night on Eric and the whole mess. The way I see it we still stand where we were last time I talked to Eric. It all comes down to what happened in those seven minutes between the first 911 call and Erin's 911 call.

I don't believe her attorney for a second that she doesn't know what happened. She was there and I am willing to bet she had some choice things to say before he walked out the door.

It was interesting seeing Brian and his wife Tamara. Brian is the man who introduced me to Eric when I joined the first Band Eric and I were in. I haven't seen Brian in at least 10 years.

For everyone who starts feeling sorry for Erin, who was in a loveless marriage and Eric was never around. I challenge her to explain why Eric was never around. Maybe because he was trying to get his degree, finally, after putting her through school and raising the kids.

Yes he played in bands. He always has and always will. She knew that when she met him. She knew that when she married him.

NATC WARS!

OK, so occasionally we have to do something to relieve the insanity.

I Don't Like Mondays

Ugh.

Early shift (7 to 4), which is OK with me, but, There was a call in queue before I was even supposed to be at work (that is so wrong). The next zinger is I get called on my cell phone by a guy who I worked with over the weekend.

EEEEK!

Take the Harry Potter Profile

Here you go. I got sucked in. I am such a geek.

You scored as Ron Weasley, You often feel like second best and as a result don't have an awful lot of self confidence, but a truer more capable friend would be hard to find. Ron Weasley 80% Sirius Black 80% Hermione Granger 65% Harry Potter 50% Albus Dumbledore 50% Remus Lupin 35% Lord Voldemort 30% Severus Snape 30% Ginny Weasley 30% Draco Malfoy 25% Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...? created with QuizFarm.com

Terrorist Frustration

THIS really makes me upset.

I would love to smack the snot out of the jerk who called off Gary Berntsen.

Back to Busy Busy Busy!

Well it is true again. My job is either boredom or sheer frustration due to an overload of work which is maddening.

I am transitioning from boredom to the latter now. Haven't reached insanity yet, but I see it on the horizon for next week.

BTW. I am going to have to answer some of my fan mail. Lots of questions from people who want to know what the unglamorous life of a tech support geek is like.

Hang tight.

Busy Day

Well, we're staffed very lightly today (we were yesterday too). So far I have pulled 10 calls.

Nice huh. ADVENTURE!

------------------

Update!

Finished the day with 14 calls. Things calmed down in the afternoon.

Ticket System Frustration

Here in the great land of Tech Support we have a ticket system to track all incoming issues. This is so when the next engineer gets a call I worked on he knows what I have already done and what the problem is. My bosses can also look at it to see what is going on if someone calls in to complain about service.

It's also handy if someone gets hit by a bus and you can't go ask them what they were doing.

My frustration stems from the fact that my last call literally too 5 seconds to answer (I gave the guy the answer before he finished asking the question), but then I had to spend the next 15 minutes opening a ticket because of a glitch in the system. Because of the glitch I had to build a new site in the database, then try to open the ticket three times because it mistakenly wants to charge the guy. Then I over-ride the charges and it still wants to charge him.

Oh well, go get a Slushie (Squishy) at 7-11 today. They have FREE 7oz Slushies (Squishies) all day!

P.S.

For my buddies who have noticed I am not on IM anymore. My company now monitors all IM traffic. While I have nothing to hide (as my boss will tell you while he massages his aching ears), I am very sick of getting pop ups telling me my IM traffic is being monitored.

So, in short, until we get some IT guys who can snoop inconspicuously, I am off line.

You might catch me online at home though. Otherwise email me.

I Live In Interesting Times

WOW!

I just found out the guy who instructed a Cisco class I attended is wanted for theft over $100,000.

I guess he didn't take getting laid off too well.

Trapped At Work!

I had made it to five minutes before quitting time and KABLOOIE! Call comes in.

Guy is installing a QSIG link, so he waits until almost 8PM Eastern Time to call in. Oh well, that's life.

Pizza will be late guys.

Divorce Party

Well tonight was the divorce party for COLLEGEGIRL. All I can say is we had a blast celebrating her newfound freedom.

Some people just don't know a good thing when they have it. Fortuantely I do.

TRANSFORMERS Review

OK, so no spoilers in this one.

In short the first hour of this movie is the best action movie I have seen since "Raiders of the Lost Ark". This is no small feat. The CGI effects were unbelieveable, the tension built very well. There was humor placed to break things up.

Excellent, excellent, excellent.

And then...

The robots started talking.

Everything you ever hated about the cheesy dialog from the cartoon growing up comes back. Optimus Prime is just a bleeding heart do gooder as his cartoon self. The dialog could have been pulled straight from the cartoon (was in some cases).

The second half of the movie seemed long. Lots and lots of action and AMAZING special effects.

Don't get me wrong, it's good, your kids will love it (my 8 year old was in ecstasy), but you will not be blown away.

Good movie, worth a watch. Not one I HAVE to add to my DVD collection.

2007 All Star Game

OK, so I can't argue withj the logic that Dayn Perry gives in this article for the most part. I do hate that he had to pick on the Rangers, but they do deserve it (truth hurts).

The part that stuck out was this;

"In critiquing these choices, let's be mindful of the fact that every team must have at least one representative on these rosters. Trying to dig up, say, a worthwhile Texas Ranger can be a challenging task. With that said, Michael Young doesn't belong on the roster. On the Rangers, Mark Teixeira or even Eric Gagne would've been a better option."

Unfortunately, Mark Teixeira has been sidelined with an injury, so I guess that would leave Gagne as the some (somewhat) deserving player.

I do have to add that out of the player I expected to be nothing but audience drain Sammy Sosa and Kenny Lofton have been productive. As much as Michael Young brings to the team, overall, I don't think I would have put him on the team either.

Second Try

OK, I am making a second go at "Getting My Sexy Back" (insert Justin Timberlake music here). I am going much more relaxed method at the moment. Jen and I are both eating properly and generally avoiding the mass quantities of crap it is so easy to eat. We are also very carefully monitoring portions.

While I am reluctant to step on a scale (316 last week when I had to go to the doc for my fainting spell), I can definitely tell my clothes fit better and I have a TON of energy today.

I see the same results in Jen. She has obviously began thinning down and says she feels better already.

Another good thing is her brother and his wife have moved to Texas and are staying with us until they find a place. They are both great to have around and happen to be vegetarians (as well as Chris is a phenomenal chef (no offense Kelly)) so we are getting ideas from them of things to eat besides non-stop chicken.

I'll keep you posted. Maybe in a week or two I will be brave enough to step on a scale.

It's Not Easy Being Green

Well, my wife has always had a thing about being green (it's her favorite color) so I made the song her ring tone when she calls me. Apparently, COLLEGEGIRL has been accused of being "Green" also.

COLLEGEGIRL, hang in there. Being green isn't so bad.

(BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!)

Sorry, lost control for a second (wiping tears from my eyes).

So anyway, it's not a bad thing to be green, just ask Jen.

...and be careful what you google... ewwwwww!