Showing posts with label Random Musing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Random Musing. Show all posts

Friday, September 23, 2016

Safe Spaces For All

It's been a while since I've posted anything.  Part of the problem is whenever I post I am so disturbed by something that I sound suicidal or deranged.  I am not.

I am, however, very frustrated.  The world is busy with trying to not insult anyone and if anyone is insulted it is the end of the world.  Unless that person happens to be a Christian.  If that person is a white Christian, then double points because we've caused all the pain and suffering in the world.

The way I see things, the world is trying to flip the scales so white people are on the bottom rung of society and minorities are in control.  Please don't take this as I'm saying white people should be in charge and I'm just waiting on Klan hoods to come back from the cleaners, my point is you cannot fix injustice with more injustice.

Charlotte is the latest example.  A black man was killed by police.  That is all we know.  The police say he had a gun, we know there was a gun at the scene.  The family says he was reading a book, the police say there was not a book at the scene.  That's really all we know.  From that we have three nights of protests and the first two nights the protests turned into riots and looting.  After the national guard was pulled in and a midnight to 6AM curfew was put in place the third night was apparently peaceful.

Do the people who are looting and rioting think that will "Avenge" the fallen?  Will it tip the scales in their favor?  Will it force those in authority to suddenly respect them?

It's hard to keep a sarcastic, humorous point of view while you watch society eat itself.

As for the upcoming election, this is the first one where I don't want to vote.  I know each candidate is terrible.  Do I vote to put an orange Cheeto into the White House, or a known liar with possible brain damage?  Do I not vote and let the cards fall where they may?

I'm still mulling that one over.

Anyway, I may have some new ideas on cartoons coming up.  Perhaps I can laugh my way through the Apocalypse.  We're all in this together.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Where Am I

That whole work thing has been in the way of blogging and drawing.  I had to destroy my art desk setup to create a work station and I allowed myself to be sucked into work, work, work.

That's going to change.

Right now it's mid-day which is the time when my mood is at its best.  I've got a crappy Metallica concert running on my Surface tablet to provide some background music and I'm going back through my caselog trying to get things under control and keep my sanity.

I took a training trip to Rochester, NY so Darth Tater had a chance to threaten the masses.  Perhaps I will share.  After all, this place is supposed to be for giggles and random crap.  The political system is a mess, so I'm staying clear for now.

Everyone hold on to your butts.  It's going to be a bumpy ride!

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

On Blogging... And Itching

So, let me recap the last bit and why I don't really exist anymore.

I took a job with a giant software company and stopped blogging and writing for the most part.  I just didn't have time any longer.  I found myself working 12 and 14 hour days just to keep up.  Things were busy.

I've left that job, a large part so I could have a life outside of work.  I wanted to spend time with my kids without feeling that I would be punished for not producing.  It was a LOT of work harder, not smarter.

Think of it like this, I had my boss who reviewed what I did and I was assigned cases daily.  Once I got my cases, they were added to my backlog.  Also daily we had a "Crit Watch" for cases the customer deemed "Critical".  Every day we would get a "Critical" case escalated and those of us in the watch during that time period would do a version of Rock, Paper Scissors to decide who would work it.

None of us had the bandwidth to ever take it.

So, that's fairly stressful, but the kicker was the group of "Technical Account Managers".  Their job was to be advocates for the customer.  That's a good thing, except, they had the power to hit us up directly and demand we work on their customer's case now.  90% of the guys were good, but the 10% who were unreasonable drove me insane.  If we didn't work according to their satisfaction, they would raise the severity, ping my boss etc...  So the reality was a user who had a problem in the big picture was cosmetic or an annoyance, would get more attention than a customer with problems making actual calls.

I was pretty depressed.

Some of the guys stood up to them and my boss backed them.  It didn't seem to work that way for me.  It seemed like when I took a stand I got bit.

I moved to another job with a smaller phone manufacturer.  The hours are fewer, the stress is much lower and the work is filtered through my boss, so I don't have 500 bosses all telling me how their customer wants things fixed NOW!

The flip side is, metrics.  It's always metrics.  How many calls do you take, how long are you on the phone, etc...?  I could play the metrics game, but the question is how good is that?  I have seen some of the work from folks who play the game (and have been rewarded for it) and it sucks.

It's the age old struggle when you work for someone else.

Now that I have changed, I have an itch again.  The writing itch, the drawing itch, the itch that has been gone for so long.

Will I scratch that itch?  Will it get infected if I do?  Wait, maybe it's not the writing itch, maybe I caught something from the toilet seat?

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Stats Are Terrifying

The number one search result which points people to my page?

"Poop"

Nice to know where I stand in life. :)

Sunday, November 25, 2012

What Will You Do?

Judges 6:13-14

“But Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said ‘Did the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”

The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

Things don’t work out the way we expect them to, but God is in control. Furthermore, he has placed us here to hold His word and His laws in place. If we fail, we have only ourselves to blame.

Monday, July 09, 2012

Why Does God Let Us Be Torn Down?

I listened to a speaker tonight who discussed his stuggle with addiction and he made an amazingly insightful statement.  OK, it was for me because I am often rather slow on the uptake and I normally attribute pain to just being a way to learn and prepare for the work we have to do for God.  He summed it up so much better by saying, (paraphrasing) God tore me down and then built me back up.  He knew he had to tear me down because he knew if I wasn't torn down, I would never change.

It really made me think.  How many times have we all been in a bind and said the Drunks Prayer, "God, if you just get me through this, just this one time, I swear I will never do this again."

Once we got out of the bind unscathed (mostly) we turned right around and did the same mistake later.  Being torn down, losing it all makes a much more memorable impact.  The words he spoke made it click for me.  I also connected with many of the same addictions and demons he fought with.  His life was very similar to mine, but for some reason God allowed me to recover myself (as much as I can be for now at least).  Maybe he knew I wasn't in as severe need.  I'm greatful either way.

The subject of why we are cruelest to the ones we love came up also.  The speaker said he didn't know why we were meanest to those who love us.  Unfortunately I knew the answer to that/  The ones we love the most will take what we throw at them, our darkest side and not fight back.  They stay by our side and love us regardless.

In short, because we are cowards.

There was one last quote that I want to share.  God will handle everything, but he expects us to be responsible.

Thank you to everyone who is and remains my friend.  Thank you for the prayers, the thoughts, the laughs, the tears.  God bless each and every one of you.

P.S.

This isn't a suicide note.  I hope to be around for a while longer. ;)

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Self Esteem

“Self esteem comes through effort and accomplishment.”

When my kids’ headmaster spoke those words at tonight’s meeting I wanted to stand and applaud.  With hindsight, I should have. 

Today it seems we are trying to build our kids’ self esteem by making sure they never fail, but we miss the point that failure is a part of learning to succeed.  By sheltering our kids from failure we don’t allow them to learn to cope with adversity.  Instead we lower the bar and make sure “Everyone gets a trophy” and “Everyone’s a winner.”

I love my kids and it breaks my heart to not be able to give them everything they could ever want, but I know if I did they really wouldn’t appreciate it.  I can go into their room and step over toys scattered haphazardly around the room and inside I know I overdo it sometimes.  I can go through and find the toys I know they really enjoy and play with, but I know they have bunches that could disappear to where left socks go and they would never miss them.

Things that stand out from my memories are when the Pee Wee team Lucie cheered for lost.  Those young men were inconsolable.  They had played their hearts out, but they lost to a stronger overall team.  I was crushed and wanted to do nothing more than cheer those young men onto a championship, but for that year I couldn’t.  Later those boys showed up to cheer my daughter’s squad to a second place finish in their competition. (Second place, just like those boys.)  I can’t help but think that the grace and poise those guys showed when they fought so hard for something they couldn’t achieve will serve them well down the road.

I remember playing sports and winning as well as losing.  When I became an adult and moved from slinging groceries to a career, I took a lot of pride in my abilities.  Eventually I went to work for NEC (aka PHONECO).  I now work for Microsoft and while I am still proud of my abilities, the last year has humbled me.  I went from being a go to guy at NEC to a new fish at MS.  I’ve spent the last year trying to shift from my telephony with some server background, to a server with some telephony background. 

It’s been a challenge.

Lately I have finally begun to understand I have to swallow my pride and ask for help rather than flounder forever thinking , “I can fix this.  I’m the only one who can fix this.”  In short, I’ve been expending a lot of effort without much accomplishment.

THE WIFE and I talked about this last night and she reminded me that I need to put God first in my life again.  I admit, I have let Him fall by the wayside while I stroked my ego.  It took some failure and the smartest, most beautiful woman in the world to remind me.  Without the struggle and failure, I would continue to pursue the wrong things with the wrong motivation.

I guess I could have just written this post to say, “If I didn’t work for it I wouldn’t really appreciate it when I got it.”  Then I could be part of the 99%. Smile

Friday, July 08, 2011

Musings On The Space Shutte

I remember watching the start of the shuttle program. A quick review of Wikipedia confirms what I remember, laying in the floor of my Grandfather's home with him beside me as we watched the launch on TV. I recalled it being just he and I and it being pretty early morning (it was April 12, 1981 at 7AM) and being a kid I was obviously facinated (I would have been 8 at the time).

For some reason on January 28, 1986 I was home from school. I remember it was around lunchtime when my mom called up to me and said something was wrong with the shuttle. I remember her saying, "I think it blew up." I watched the news covereage in disbelief for the rest of the day.

Flash forward to February 1, 2003. I was trying to motivate myself to get back into my workout routine. I had lost around 70 pounds and fallen off the wagon (still haven't made it back on) so I was riding my bike around our apartment complex. I rounded the northwest corner of the complex and off to the south I saw a HUGE flaming object which for some reason I took to be an asteroid. I had seen another shuttle re-entry and should have IMMEDIATELY made the connection, but for some reason I didn't.

I remember thinking wherever that thing finally hit it was going to be pretty horrendous. I watched it for a few seconds and noticed smaller pieces breaking away and was relieved that it was breaking up. I watched it break up and the pieces falling to Earth, then hopped on my bike and rolled into the garage. I went up to tell THE WIFE what I had seen when I noticed on the TV a shot of mission control and heard the voiceover announce they had lost contact with Columbia.

Let that sink it... I knew before Mission Control did that Columbia broke up and fell to earth losing all aboard.

Today, I watched the shuttle Atlantis launch on the final mission of the shuttle fleet. Instead of lying on my belly in front of a TV, I watched standing at my desk at work streaming from NASA.gov. I have no idea what we plan to do for our next phase of space exploration (and apparently neither does our government but as fouled up as things are tha tis probably for the best) but I pondered on being there for the begining and end of a piece of American history.

Were were you, when these events happened and have you talked to your kids about how they are watching history unfold every day?

Friday, December 10, 2010

I Often Wonder About The Power Of Toilet Paper

Picture is not of me, I shamelessly stole it.
Click on the mummy to visit the site.
Am I the only one who is skeptical about the benefits of using a toilet bib to protect your from the various diseases you can catch from the toilet seat?

I mean if taking a few bits of toilet paper and laying them on the toilet seat provides you with an impenetrable barrier barrier between your butt and the seat, wouldn't the Army be outfitting soldiers with that instead of chemical warfare suits?

Seriously???

So with that said, you should defininitely perform a pre poop test flush to avoid any embarrassing traps.

And toilet paper, those bibs don't work too well for anything except covering the seat.

Yeah, you're welcome.  Learn from my failures.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Incest?

Back in 1985 the movie "Back to the Future" burst onto the scene and we LOVED IT!  The idea was Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) went back in time and met his parents before they fell in love.  The problem is him mom got the hots for him, which caused problems for his very existence.

If your mom got the hots for you and never met your dad, you would cease to exist.  But if that was the case how could you go back and steal your mom from you dad.

Time travel paradoxes kind of where the basis of the films and wrap up nerds for hours arguing points.  (Not to mention how confused THE WIFE gets trying to follow Back to the Future II and it's interweaving with the first movie).

But forget that, lets think about if your mom looked like Lea Thompson from the movie and was squeezing your leg under the dinner table.

Va va va VOOM!
Anyway, I digress.  Seriously, she was so hot back in the day that I am sure I am not the only young man who was tormented with the temptation to take a shot at... uh.... MOM? EWWWWWWWWWWW.

Oh jeeze, this is the kind of stuff reserved for Alabama jokes, but IT'S LEA THOMPSON DOGGONE IT!

Cute, innocent with those big brown eyes and the "I've never seen anyone with purple underwear before..."

She's lucky I met THE WIFE otherwise I might still be stalking her.  Of course I shaved my goatee off this week so THE WIFE is annoyed with me because I look like I am 12.

I'll be able to have a conversation with her again in two weeks when I have some semblance of scruff back on my chin.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Fortune Cookie Type Thought

Question:

When you search in your heart, is what you are doing with your life right, or is it what you want to be right?

It is very easy to decieve ourselves.

OK, back to potty humor, pensive moment is over.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Danica Patrick


Would anyone really care what Danica Patrick has to say about racing if she wasn't a hot chick?

Does being a hot chick make up for being a so-so racer?

Discuss.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

A Blog About Nothing

You know, Seinfeld is a genius. Perhaps if I made my blog a blog about nothing, it would flourish.

NAH...

OK, so what is my blog about? Technical rants, the joys of raising children (and the rewards that come with being puked on), how my wife is a total genius, me trying to be funny.

I don't really see what my roll is in the blogosphere. Should I quit?

HA! Where is the fun in that. This is an opportunity for total strangers to listen to me rip on totally ridiculous subjects. I would go all political, but politics is all opinion anyway and one man's leader is another man's fascist.

Can you tell I am in a humor slump.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Blue Tooth Headsets

So, do people who talk on the phone while they take care of business during their time using the potty think they are fooling anyone? Do they believe no one hears the echo chamber, splashes, streams, flushes and grunts as they preform their business transactions?

Guys, are you REALLY that pressed for time?

Friday, December 28, 2007

Plot Hole In "The Cat From Outer Space"


OK, so Lucie is enamored with the Disney movie "The Cat From Outer Space" where the cat "Jake" tells Frank (played by Ken Berry) that he comes from a planet where they developed their mind where humans instead developed their physical abilities (paraphrasing).

He is able to focus his mind powers because of his collar he wears, BUT he later tells Frank without his collar is just a regular cat!

So how the heck did they make the collar if they don't have thumbs and they are regular cats without them?

Walt, why do you tease me so????

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

What Was She Thinking?

What do cats think as you are stepping over them as you come down the stairs?

"Oh my goodness! He is going to step on me! Let me escape by RUNNING UNDER HIS FEET!!!"

Fortunately Nancy survived, although PETA may be after me because I saved her life by booting her out of the "Danger Zone."

Sometimes I wonder why I didn't grow up to be a recluse.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Potty Time!

If you go to the potty and the person in the stall next to you is making enough noise to make you think there is a Greco-Roman wrestling match going on over there, perhaps you should introduce your stall-neighbor to the miracle of fiber.

Just a thought.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Ear Hair

Like eyebrow hair, as men grow older ear hair grows longer, thicker and more prevalent. Since ear hair is used to help keep bugs out of our ears, does this mean we should fear larger bugs as we grow older?

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Eyebrow Hair

Why is it as we men grow older, our eyebrow hair increases in density, length and decides to grow in wild random directions?

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Toilet Seat Covers

Does anyone really think the little paper covers you put over a toilet seat protect you from germs?

If not, why do we still use them?