Navigating the High Seas of the Technology Age

Enraged in Shoreline

2009-06-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

Please forgive any typos and grammar in the following post, I am frenetically trying to relay a story that spans a whole year and is fraught with feelings of frustration, disappointment and outrage... it could get a little messy. Here goes.

Despite being gainfully employed by Microsoft, I find myself enamored by a product offering from one of our biggest competitors... the Apple iPhone. I love my iPhone. I got the iPhone 3G last summer before heading to Las Vegas for the New Media Expo and instantly fell head-over-heels for my cell phone.

Once I weighed the risk against the benefits of jailbreaking my iPhone 3G I took the plunge and used QuickPWN to set my phone free of from the shackles and limitations that AT&T imposes on iPhone users in an almost sadistic manner. The result? Unbridled, unmitigated, unrestrained electronic awesome.

JAilbreaking my iPhone 3G opened up the door for a whole world of apps and mods that AT&T decided were too much for me to handle or Apple was too lazy (see greedy) to include in the 2.x software. You want some examples you say? Well, the flashlight app is pretty friggin rad. I know, there is already a flashlight app that doesn't require you to jailbreak your phone, but it also doesn't crank the phone's brightness level up so high it's almost like carrying an LED flashlight around. I am dead serious, this thing is BRIGHT! You can adjust the brightness and even the color to suit your personal preference. I am not sure if this is Apple's fault of AT&T's, but that's just pathetic that they don't think we should have control of the brightness level of our flashlight app. Still not impressed? Cool customizations galore, an assortment of free ringtones and even video recording. Yes, I have been able to record video for months before the 3.0 software showed up. All these are paltry parlor tricks compared to the app at the heart of my decision to jailbreak my iPhone.

When you sign up for the iPhone lifestyle with AT&T, you not only join a group of people who share an unlikely devotion for an electronic device that is usually reserved for televisions, but you willingly submit to mandatory data plan rates. Now don't get me wrong, there would be no point in having all the amazing capabilities of the iPhone if you couldn't use them unless tuned into a Wi-Fi connection. However, I do balk at a base monthly rate of $30 not including those fun hidden charges, fees and taxes that phone companies LOVE to nickel and dime us with. Now if you decide you want to up your productivity and access your work e-mail with the Exchange server software, well that means your data plan just jumped up to $45 a month. Now while we're balking, let's just remind ourselves that we now have internet ANYWHERE as long as we have cell service, that is bad-ass. Wait, what do you mean I can't use my phone like a wireless modem for my computer? You mean in any given month I am paying the exact same amount for a data plan on my phone as I am for a 30Mbps high speed broadband connection to my home but it is limited to use on only this device? Are my recurring rhetorical questions adequately relaying my incredulity? I hope so because it's getting tiring wording these sentences correctly. Anyway, my point is, with a jailbroken iPhone I could now tether my phone to my laptop and be on the interwebs wherever I wanted to... within my cellular service area of course.

Now AT&T being the type of company that doesn't play fair, monitors data usage for signs that you are skirting their regulations and using such an app to exploit their network. What happens then? Something along the lines of fines and account closures etcetera, the usual phone company Jack Boot tactics. So I only use this feature sparingly because if I get into all this mess than it would have just been easier to buy the dongle... heh, dongle, and sign up for the $60/mo. mobile internet plan. Ridiculous!

What is the point of this rambling? Well it seems that even though AT&T is doing most of the dirty work when it comes to violating iPhone users, Apple is still far from blameless. My latest beef with Apple is the result of something that happend this very morning, no more than an hour ago. I ordered my new 16GB iPhone 3GS online so I wouldn't have to do the phone calls and run-around to find one at the store, AND it was delivered to me in three days. Pretty sweet. So I am getting my new phone ready to take the place of it's slightly less sophisticated twin, you know, putting an anti-glare screen on (what a huge pain in the ass that is, especially when you have dogs, dust free work area my ass) and doing one last sync on the old phone to make sure everything is as current as possible and I don't lose any downloads or contacts. That's where I got dead-ended. For some reason iTunes was not able to sync with my phone. At first there was some nondescript "can't find the drive" error. So I restarted the phone and iTunes and it narrowed down to a more specific error. Now being a little paranoid I thought that maybe Apple wised up and found a way to turn a jailbroken phone into a useless paperweight, I didn't want to call tech support and read off the error code that throws up the red flag that tells them; "Please notify AT&T that my account should be closed, my warranty should be voided and I should be sterilized to prevent me from breeding more idiots to fall for such an obvious ploy." So in a panicked frenzy to avoid this I kept repeatedly restarting the device and iTunes until I realized how pointless and silly that was. Well, then I did it one more time just to be sure... yup still not working even after the eighth-ish time. Hmmm, I wonder why each time I restart iTunes it asks if I want to upgrade my device to the 3.0 firmware? Ok, so I click "Download Only" and saints be praised all of a sudden my phone syncs just fine. Now I know I didn't end up being forced to install the 3.0 firmware, but still I am shocked... shame on you Apple.

The Next Go 'Round

2009-01-21T13:41:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I said I would see you tomorrow and it is two weeks later, so sue me. The day I left the last post marked the day I inadvertently steered head on into a maelstrom of problems with my brand new laptop. This laptop that I spared no expense on, this laptop that I have on had since about a week before Christmas... became the center of my unhappy universe until recently. Be forewarned, this is a lengthy post, but hopefully it is worth the read.

When I first got the machine I began the usual clean and stock; getting rid of bloatware and installing all the software I can't live without. Somewhere in that process I muffed a step setting up some of the manufacturer software for a couple of devices. I didn't know where to fix it, and if I didn't I would go insane from disappointment thinking I was not getting the most from my machine that I spent so much hard earned money on. So I concluded that there is only one way to resolve this, a full factory restore. I had already spent about 10 hours configuring this system, so this decision was not made lightly. Now in the spirit of saving mother earth, Lenovo no longer sends all those software CDs and DVDs and instead puts a partition on your hard drive with all the system software backed up. At first I was miffed that they would slice off a 20GB chunk of my hard drive space for this, but then I realized how easy it made restoring the system and I rejoiced with great jubilation.

So for those of you keeping count, that is one full restore within only two days of having received the machine. Now this is where dread, disappointment and drudgery began to take their tolls on my memory because the details begin to get a little sketchy.

Now if I recall correctly, I think the next event was another voluntary restore due to something similar to the first go 'round. Again, at this point I had a couple of late nights into this and if you count the first time, restoring it again would effectively negate the fruits of almost a week of late nights spent configuring the system. Now I am not just talking about downloading Firefox and Google Earth, I am talking about installing and configuring the MS Office Suite, MS Expression Studio, SharePoint Designer, Photoshop, Sony Vegas, Camtasia, Snag-It, a handful of other favorite apps and most importantly the software and configurations that enable me to connect to the Microsoft network. If you think Vista has too many pain-in-the-ass security settings and protocols, then just imagine what you have to do to configure Vista to connect with an extremely secure and finicky network like Microsoft's. Now I know what you must be thinking, "But it is a Microsoft product and you are connecting to Microsoft's own network!" This fact affords me no greater ease in accomplishing this task, none whatsoever.

Still keeping count? Two system restores (still voluntary) and only one week of ownership. Yes I made the decision to restore so I should just suck it up, but I believe had I not restored then, I would have had to at some later date, so to me it made more sense to do it on my own terms. Here comes number three, or as I like to call it "Involuntary."

So at this point I thought I was out of the woods and everything was configured to a spectacularly efficient and pleasing degree. Life was good. Then one day, when I connected to the MS network, I got the reminder to change my network password. We are prompted to change this password at 70 day intervals for the obvious reason of maintaining tight security on all of Microsoft's valuable information. My friend Anthony just went through his own personal hell with changing his password and having it cause a myriad of problems that interrupted his work to no end and demanded hours of phone time with IT. Having seen this and in fact gone through the same thing myself quite some time ago, I avoided changing my password hoping that through some miracle I would be given exception to this rule and could continue to use my ancient password unmolested. The days began to count down and when I tried to figure it out, I couldn't recall why changing the password would cause such spectacular fail. So with only 36 hours until password reset deadline, I took the plunge. No BSOD, no crash, nothing, so I think to myself, "This ain't so bad, Anthony must have had his configured improperly, he didn't spend as much time being meticulous and thorough like I did, he he sucker." Now cut to when I start my machine the next morning and FAIL. Guess what genius, you locked yourself out of your user account and it was the ONLY admin user account on the system! After one solid day of denial fueled frantic tweaking, I finally huddled in a corner shakily licking my wounds and conceded defeat.

Next step? Anyone? Anyone? That's right, system restore... again. Tally is now at three full system restores to factory default and only about one-and-a-half to two weeks since first hitting the power button on this gem of modern technology. At this point, voluntary or not, my tolerance, patience and good humor were all wearing thin. Through a cloud of exasperation came a thought that quickly tempered my mood and saved me from what I can only guess would be disastrous results. I did my homework and found out why my computer could be so presumptuous as to lock me out, and how to circumvent it next go 'round. Armed with this new found knowledge that even the seasoned professionals at MS IT overlooked, I began the undertaking of my third restore with the desperate hope that it will be the last time.

This time fate had a curve ball I could never have anticipated. After beginning the restore process that I had become intimately familiar with, something wasn't right. There was some deterioration in performance and then the restore just failed and the computer restarted… Weird. I was assuming I would be taken back to the beginning the restore process, no biggy. I was wrong, dead wrong. After POST, I was told that it could not find an OS. WTF!? Now at this point I had flashes of watching myself channel the Greeks of old and turn this expensive piece of equipment into a discus and hurl it through whatever window was closest (at the time that would have been the living room window, just in case you were wondering). Now I must apologize for the length of this narrative, but I trust your tiring of reading can give you some small glimpse into my state of mind at this point, “How much longer can this really go on?”

I called Lenovo Tech Support and they were very helpful at telling me that once their suggestions had been exhausted, there was nothing I could do but restore the system. That little piece of irony was certainly not wasted on me. I explained that the system is not recognizing the OS much less the partition that the restore information is nestled away on. They asked me if I had made a copy of the restore information on disk, and of course I hadn’t; there was a partition on my hard drive with all of that info, why would I need a disk? And of course the answer to that question is: In case anything like this happens. Next move? Wait for a set of restore disks to be shipped out to me, so much for saving mother earth. After the performance of the postal service and various other parcel delivery services over the holidays, I was resigned to the fact that I would be left with a $2000 paper weight for a few weeks. The disks showed up after only the better part of one week, I installed them and after some tweaking and downloading of what was missing from those disks but previously on my partition, I now had my system right here I wanted it, and still do. I have been knocking on wood and throwing salt over my shoulder every day since in hopes that I am finally past the crossroads of that debacle and will not be turning back any time soon.

What is the moral of the story? None really, I got so efficient at restoring my system, I am thinking of doing a reformat on my home PC while it is all fresh in my mind.

Re-Genesis

2009-01-06T12:35:00.000-08:00

This is a new beginning of sorts. While I am still the same author, and I will still be putting forth the same self centered drivel, I will be doing it with new fervor. Since blogging is part of this New Media evolution, and since I now have a business license for a hot new company called Atlas New Media Consulting, I can now devote more time to this pursuit and chalk it up to business research and development. I want to explore every facet of social media and all the other Web 2.0 buzzwords out there; podcasting, blogging, tweeting, etc. and you may ask yourself, "Who isn't?" And I answer: a lot of people, and a lot of companies, and there is a lot of growth to be explored beyond what is hip and new right now.

Some things I recommend for keeping up with the latest trends are, Attack of the Show and StumbleUpon. Short list huh? Yeah, well they are both very good sources because they encompass so much. While we are at it, here are some of my favorite sites/web apps and why they are my favorites.

Giveaway of the Day - a site that offers a different free application every day. From media encoders to scheduling assistants, there are many useful free apps to be had, but also a miasma of "who-the-hell-would-use-that" apps.

Woot - Every day, one item (or two-fer), one stunning price.

Logic Buy - A user driven price watching site. If you want a new monitor, camera, game console or similar product, this site will show you where to find a great deal buying online. It helps when users scan through and vote "hot" or "not" to highlight the really good deals. This is how I found a coupon to get my Lenovo ThinkPad W500 laptop for about $900 off.

Live Maps - This is one of the most accurate online maps I have ever seen. You can plan a route with multiple stops, select routes based on shortest distance or shortest time AND filter based on current traffic consitions. It also allows you to keep a collection of "pushpins" on the map. You can also use the path tool and area tool to mark out a path wherever you like or mark out an area. These will give you the distance and area you marked out, respectively. I used the path tool to measure how many miles I traveled while canoeing up Ross Lake last summer.

New Egg - This is my idea of what a candy store is. It is an online retailer or everything electonic. Computers, game consoles, coffee makers, cell phones, software, hardware, TVs and so much more. They almost always have the best prices, they always have great service, and a huge selection. That isn't even the best part. Their site has one of the most user friendly UIs (User Interface) I have ever seen, which makes finding your needle in the world's biggest haystack really painless. I love this site.

Wishlist - If you are like me, you like to exhaustively research your desired purchases and keep track of them. A lot of online retailers now have an "add to wishlist" feature, but then you have to sign up for an account and hope you remember your login next time you go to the site. With Wishlist, you can maintain a centralized wishlist for yourself, but it is can also be made public so when you are asked: "What do you want for your Birthday/Christmas/Kwanza/Hannukkah/Bris etc..?", you can reply: "You can find my wishlist onlince at wishlist.com, you'll find it by simply searching my name first and last name and the city I live in. If you are even remotely close, you should see a few options for which wishlist it might be."

Craig's List - Does anyone not use this all the time?

Hulu - Movies and TV shows streaming online for free. Sure you have to watch the same commercial 4 or 5 times each one hour episode, but it sure beats the hell out of the same 4 or 5 commercials 10 times for every one hour show. They are gathering speed, accumulating sources and basically kicking entertainment ass.

Wikimapia - It's a global map that you can mark your own points of interest for all to see.

Pandora - This is my favorite site bar none. I get all the music I want for free, no need to download. I can use it on my computers or on my beloved iPhone, so it goes everywhere with me. You can create a host of stations that play music based on whatever song, artist or genre you want. It is ad supported, but it is very tastefully done so it is not too obtrusive or obnoxious. All the nay-sayers who think it will get shut down need to start putting out positive vibes - clap your hands if youbelieve in fairies!

Handy Resource Sites :
Thesaurus.com - duh
Dictionary.com - duh again
Online Translator - translates text from most languages into most other languages. type hello and get bonjour in French, or hola in Spanish, or привет in Russian. And it has text-to-speech links so you can hear how it is supposed to be pronounces.
Online Conversion - convert any unit of measurement into any other unit of measurement; inches to millimeters, ounces to kilograms, miles to cubits... it's got it ALL.

I hope this has been enlightening, and I hope someone out there has some sites that they want to share, I will be happy to add them if they are up to snuff.

See you tomorrow.

I'm Back!

2008-10-28T14:19:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged for almost four years! I am honestly surprised that my account is even still active after such a long absence. First I want to apologize to all of my fans, it has been a long time and I am very sorry. Aw who am I kidding, I have no fans....oh, and I'm not really sorry. :P I just happened to stumble across my own blog in Live Search while I was looking up my old boss. It would seem I had quite a crush on him, and for good reason, everything good I know about being a leader I learned from Dave Ruedlinger.

So much has changed in my life since the last time I wrote in this blog, I mean four years! I now have two dogs, two cars, live about 9 miles further north in a house, and have a good career starting. Kiki and I are 4 years closer to getting married, but that tells us nothing about when exactly we will even get engaged. I got a really great text message from her today that said "...I keep thinking about how excited I am to start our new life together. I want to help pay the bills every month and start saving." This is on the heels of going to Open Houses and falling head-over-heels in love with a house we weren't able to buy. I think it also has something to do with thinking of having kids and blowing up the whole nuclear family scene.

Speaking of procreating, we have long considered names we might like to give our children. Boys names have been easy enough, but girls names are not so easy. I think we have a few we really like and there is no way I am sharing them so they don't end up the flavor dujour and ultra common...but believe you me, they are good names, strong names, names you can go places with.

I recently built a bookshelf as a seven year anniversary gift for Kiki. I drew a plan of what I wanted, made a new friend who owns a cabinet shop and he helped me make the drawing a reality in return for being his on call computer guy. I would have done that for him anyway, it just so happens I got something out of it, so we both win. It needs some sanding in spots and I need to pick up more stain to finish covering it, oh, and some wood putty to fill a couple of mis-measured drill holes. It is AWESOME. I am excited to start blogging again. especially now that I have learned some handy HTML code.

Born Under a Bad Sign

2004-12-22T22:57:00.000-08:00

I swear I have the worst luck sometimes, especially when it comes to computers. I guess that comes with the territory of building your own system, but it is such a royal pain in the donkey. An automotive problem can be narrowed down by a symptom or two that will almost always lead to the source of the problem. The same can be true of computers, but it seems more often the problem is extremely elusive and almost impossible to diagnose, like a "ghost in the machine." The ones that burn me the most are the ones I go to someone (software company etc.) for help and get the big brush off for one reason or another. That is what is happening right now with my DVD cloning software. Ok, so I guess that is what I get for pirating copies of almost every movie Netflix sends my way, but damn it, I payed good money for the software and it had better work. I had some problems with the software before, but can't remember how I resolved them, so now I am fighting an uphill batle where I am forced to learn as I go. The pros; I am learning as I go, finally solving the problem is rewarding, I am once again able to do what I want to do. The cons; it takes untold hours of fiddling and tweaking, the fiddling and tweaking can sometimes lead to other problems, the frustration associated with hours of fruitless fiddling and tweaking will probably send me to an early grave... ...ok, crucial time here folks, I am about to see if this latest barrage of tweaks has done the trick.... ...and sadly it has not and I am back where I started. You can't really call it square one, because that would mean I knew where I stood and where the next square is, but I gotta tell you from here I feel I am on a one foot by one foot square hovering over an black bottomless abyss, anyone care to take the first step? I know, a little melodramatic and slightly fatalistic, but come on, I am really frickin harrowed here.

Oh and to add to my frustration it is almost Christmas. How I long for the days when my biggest problem was not being able to sleep the night before Christmas. Now I have to worry about getting gifts (not a bad thing unless you are strapped for time and money because you work in retail hell) and making ends meet, and taking care of SO much stuff. I feel like I am being drawn and quartered by the devil's own steeds who have mastered the ability to snicker and taunt as they oh so slowly drag my body into their respective directions. Again, a little fatalistic, but now I trust you are beginning to observe the mood I am in. Where is my Christmas spirit anyway? I think I lost it, not like something that has washed away slowly (which I am sure to a certain degree it has) but more like a lost $20 bill or a set of car keys. I was sure I had it a minute ago, and all of a sudden I have no clue where it went. I just hope it turns up, sooner than later. I don't know if I could handle being a scrooge.

How do you shop for someone you care about and not spend all of your money? These days I feel I am paying less attention to what I think would be the perfect gift for someone, a gift that would show I pay attention and I care, instead I replace thought with amount of money spent. What does this result in? A completely unfulfilling gift giving experience. When I am done, I am usually overdrawn, and what's worse, I still don't feel like I have shown the person how much I care. So now I undertake a quest that will probably not outlive this holiday season (because I think big, but act small too often), but a valiant quest nonetheless, next year, I will take time to think of what would mean something to somebody, and make sure I am prepared for it so I am not contributing to the other stresses that the holidays bring. Of course I will try to focus on the actual holiday and it's meaning, instead of it's bastardization and malignancies.

Workin' Man's Blues

2004-12-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

I have been a meat cutter for just shy of four years, and all of those years have been spent in one shop. There are good and bad things about that. First, it used to be a GREAT shop, we were top in the company, and favored by all of the big wigs. Our great leader Dave Ruedlinger left us in the Spring of this year, and it has been a steady decline since. There are other contributing factors to our decay, but I have to say that is the biggest. I talked before about the woes of our department, about not having any gainsharing anymore, etc. It may sound lame that I am unsatisfied with the pay I get and always want something more, but I feel I work hard enough to deserve something more. Besides, that extra treat is always what pushed us harder and farther to reach new levels of excellence. But we started taking on water some time last year, and while our sales were still climbing until late this spring, our gainsharing already started taking a hit. Now our team is way down to a lean 22 team members, so much better than almost 30. It's a start in a new direction, I just hope it gets a whole lot better real quick, because I am thinking of pulling up anchor and sailing elsewhere.
My good friend Neal and I may be going Entrepreneurial with another friend in the near future. What will our business be? Who knows? There are so many things we are capable of doing, we may have more than one focus, but rest assured when we find that thing or those things that are "it" then we are off to the races. Wish us luck, we are shootin for the stars.

Gamer Fever

2004-10-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it is the time of year when everybody settles into their own kind of winter hibernation. I know some people stay compulsively active, but for the most part, people turn to sednetary activities that allow them to stay indoors. One of those things being video games. I have played video games since I was a kid, and on the PC since the first time I played Dark Forces (a Star Wars game) in my early teens. I found myself in a challenging environment where everyone I knew was far more skilled than I was, but that didn't detract from the fun enough to discourage me from playing. Without noticing I began to excel in all forms of gaming. I know, a dream come true right? Well, I found that I could out-race my friends in Gran Tourismo 3, out fight my friends in Tekken 4, and outshoot everyone in Battlefield 1942 and all of it's expasion packs and mods. This is a good feeling for me, I am proud of my abilities in this area, and what's more, I built the PC that I play on. It's not as hard as it sounds, but it certainly is intimidating fitting very fragile parts together that cost a couple hundred dollars each. But I did it, and I think I did a damn good job for my first PC built from the ground up. Now it is time for my first big upgrades. I am running a nice ASUS A7N8X motherboard with an AMD 1.8GHz processor. As it always does, the technology market moves ahead, leaving everyone in it's dust, scrambling to catch up. Well I am going to make some upgrades soon I think, we'll see what Kristen says. Kristen is Punkin by the way. I was tired of typing the word Punkin, it's one of those words you would have to hear to understand how it can be endearing. Anyway, I would like to upgrade to a 3.4GHz Pentium 4 processor, and put it on an ASUS P5P800 motherboard. This time I think I want to get an upgraded sound card as well, like a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS. And going from a 7400 RPM hard drive to a 10,000 RPM hard drive will also help a lot. Another 512MB stick of RAM (DDR2-400 PC2-3200) which will bring this to a total cost of around $700, but I might be able to swing it without the extra RAM at around $550. When will this happen? According to our new budget... ...never, but we'll see where we can squeeze a little at a time and build it piece by piece. Wish me luck.

Man Space - Man Hobby

2004-10-15T01:06:00.000-07:00

Now I am sure everyone is aware that hobbies can be expensive, particularly for the male gender. We tend to choose hobbies like car restoration, or woodworking, or even glass blowing. All of these things require quite a bit of equipment, space and thus money. Womens hobbies can be the same, but they tend to be knitting, sewing or something along those lines. They can become expensive, but not like dropping $7000 on a crate engine for the old beater in the garage, or $1500 for a lathe. I think this is necessary though. If I am a wood worker, then I am probably going to create a purposeful item, ie. bookshelf, chair, armoire... ..you get the point. This end result justifies the expense. Not to say, sewing, knitting and the like do not produce results, but it follows that the more you spend, the more you get from it. All hobbies serve some purpose, whether it be producing something for the home, or for a side business, or just to fill that hole in a persons day. I am saying all of this because I need a hobby. TV watching isn't a hobby, and it is starting to drive me crazy. I love some TV and movies, but come on, let's get serious, how much TV can one person watch? I find that just tinkering around in the garage doing this or that makes me feel great and a lot more fulfilled. Money is a little tight though, so I must start small. I want to get my hands on a welder and learn how to weld, that would be awesome, there would be nothing I couldn't build if I knew how to weld. Well, I am going to wgo watch TV, I'll figure this out later.

Growing Pains

2004-10-12T01:32:00.000-07:00

Since I began my job as a meat cutter I have seen my store weather time and changes one after another, but I still felt like I had a place I was proud to work. Having pride in your work is huge, and I think that may be one big factor that kept me in it for almost four years. Now I feel like people with self-important titles are trying to fix what isn't broken. The meat shop skyrocketed steadily from the low to mid $40k/weekly mark to over $100k/weekly in a few short years. Now it seems like we are being shackled with red tape and formalities that are hindering continuity.

Sales have begun to drop, and I think there are many different reasons for that to happen, but mainly because of a second store opened on the east side. But above that I think there is a palpable change in morale and demeanor at my shop that is not desirable. We used to stand apart from everyone else because you could feel the pride everyone had working in that shop. What has changed? A lot. We have new management all around the store, but the ones that directly effect us have taken the hardest hits. We lost an amazing team leader who drove the team to such heights, and now that he is gone things are falling apart, and the store leadership is not in any position to positively contribute to our situation. We are dropping in sales to where we are barely pulling out a $95k week where we were pulling down close to $110k. What does that mean to me? Well, our store has a profit-sharing program where we are given a labor budget that is determined by a percentage of our sales. For example, if we sell $100k in product and we have a 14% labor budget, then we have $14k to spend on paying our team members, and whatever is left at the end of the month is split up amongst the team members evenly based on how many hours were worked in that period, not including overtime. We were succeeding with approximately 25 team members, but when the new store opening approached we lost skilled members and took on too many unskilled (worthless) new team members. We are at around 28-30 team members and like I said they are unskilled (worthless) so they can't produce well so hat takes myself or another silled member an hour can easily take a group of them just as long or longer. Again, what does this mean? Well, our budget gets eaten up by unskilled labor, our sales drop, so does morale, and the decline continues. On top of that, our labor budget % is getting cut as well, and we have no way to drop dead weight without more tangible reasons than they are unskilled (worthless). The money is getting pulled from every angle, and the hard working TMs get left to shovel shit with no hope for an added bonus. I am tired of cleaning up after people who don't care more about their job than just to collect a paycheck, and I am tired of carrying around DEAD weight.

The old Team Leader led with somewhat of an iron fist, but he was just and it worked. Our new TL is a soft touch who does not deal with any sort of hard issue. The Asst. TL is not much better. They are swaying one of the supervisors to the same "management" style, and the remaining one, my friend Mesford, is on the same page as me and ready to pop from the level of frustration he is facing. It's an uphill battle and I am ready to put everything on the line to make those in charge take notice and deal with the REAL issues.

Upon coming to this juncture in my "career," I think I am finally ready to re-enter the world of academia. I need to grab my future by the short and curlies instead of living with the hand a younger and stupider me dealt myself. I want to become an architect. Not just an average architect or a boring office building designer or suburban housing development designer. I want to design homes like no one has ever seen before. Homes that work, homes that make sense and make people thing, why hasn't that been done before. Modern convenience, proven tried and true, genious innovation and ultimate comfort. I need to find the school to provide this, and need to squeeze some of my tax dollars out of Uncle Sam to pay for it all.

Midnight

2004-10-11T00:03:00.000-07:00

What do I have to say that is so important that I would be sitting in front of my computer at 3 minutes past midnight? Nothin. But that is the point I believe, an acutely stimulating glance at anothers world. You get a chance to see what things are like through another perspective. And it's straight from the source; uncut, uncensored, and as real as it gets. Wow, I think I used all of the "reality TV" buzz-words. Ooh, I forgot eXtreme, but that is just a turn of the century buzz-word, not quite isolated to the 90's and still uncomfortably prevalent in the double-0s (you know, 200x, can't wait 'til 2007. Think there will be a Bond marathon or two?) I am sure I am not the first to detect a pattern with most societal constructs. That pattern being somewhat like a pendulum in nature. For example, the advent of political correctness. It began innocently enough to try to prevent hard feelings between people or groups of people, and it snowballed into a juggernaut of -isms that gagged anyone planted firmly in reality. Now, the pendulum sways the other direction again, losing momentum until finally the swinging is merely a gentle sway that no one notices but those with nothing better to do than monitor it's movement.

Why are we at war? Ask anyone and you will get a different answer, unless they are anti-Bush for God knows what reason. The Bush-haters think that it is purely a personal matter for Bush, concerning his fathers unfinished business overseas and also the small matter of a financial interest in Texas Tea, oil that is. I am willing to bet that no matter how stupid our president may be, he has got to be more well informed than the rest of us. Surely he doesn't rely on advisors who just watch the news, when instead if he had only paid attention to the liberal press, then he would know what everyone else knows and would never have set foot in Iraq. Come on people, have a little faith in your country and a little respect for your president. If I was living in a country under the rule of a murderous dictator, then I would hope that a world super power would step in to even up the fight a little. Who is to say who is right? The guy holding the bigger stick. But seriously, Saddam's regime has murdered thousands upon thousands, and no one was doing anything, and to step out because it is politically unfashionable to be at war? I think not, FRANCE! I heard this said once, but I don't remember by who: "Pray for peace, but prepare for war." We live in a relatively enlightened society, which has unfortunately been blinded by it's own enlightenment, but the whole world is not so. We still have to deal with the uncultured philistines of the world. Face it, there are times where it is necessary to roll up our sleeves and push some launch buttons to get our message across and help out our fellow man.

Now about 9-11, that is another example of this society's disregard for logic. When the whole thing was over and the smoke had cleared -literally- people were pointing fingers saying it could have been prevented, and people had knowledge of the attack before-hand, and there was a great public outcry. But imagine if you will if we, America, had taken this info and struck first, then what do you think whould have been the reaction? Why did we mount an unprovoked attack? Why did we just go pick a fight? Why can't the US Gov't just leave well enough alone? Get the picture? It's damned if you do, damned if you don't. And that is becoming the case with alarming frequency around here. Mabe not everywhere, but certainly in Seattle, where everyone is so "enlightened and informed." What a joke, these people profess to be open-minded, but that is only if you have the same opinion they do. Not one has ever listened to what I had to say and once conceded that I may have a valid point (there's always the chance that I have just never had a valid point) because they put what they "know" above what anyone else might know. It's the theory of relativity in effect. One guy stands on one side of a sculpture and another man on the other. They are both trying to tell the other what they know the statue looks like, never taking a moment to stop describing their point-of-view long enough to try to see the others point-of-view. Make sense? You may see a horses ass, but someone else may see a great figure riding atop the horse. If you don't try to see his point-of-view, then you have missed the point of the sculpture all together.

Worst Blogger Ever

2004-10-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

I know, forget my delusions of grandeur, nobody will belive it if I can't even maintain a simple blog. I mean really, who goes almost two weeks without making an entry. You can't make those kinds of rookie mistakes and expect to form a loyal following of readers. So, I am going to try my best, come hell or high water, to keep up with my blog. Starting tomorrow. Because why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? HA ha ha ha that cracks me up, but I am a pretty bad procrastinator. Why is life such a pain in the ass, you have to be so perfect for things not to go wrong. Pay your bills in a timely manner, go to work every day, don't get a credit card and buy a bunch of stuff you can't pay for, I mean really, who can do all that anyway? Well, I guess if I could just grow up and stop trying to act like I have no responsibilities, then life would be more enjoyable. I could take care of business and then enjoy myself because I am not worrying about everything. Sounds good don't it. Well, I better wrap this up and get off to work, see you all later.

Happy Birthday II Me

2004-10-01T18:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I would really like to know what everybody is doing about nine months prior the late September to mid October time period, because it is everybody's birthday. I always like to think that I am special, (refer to previous posts) and having my birthday drown in a sea of normalcy is not cool. What am I going to do about this you ask? Simple, a half birthday. But oh so much more, it will be a celebration of me, and I will call it, International Doon Day!!! So, subtract 6 months from October 2nd (my birthday in case you didn't guess that already) and from this day forth let it be known throughout the universe that April 2nd will now be know as International Doon Day!!! <International Doon Day is Licensed and Registered Trademark of The Doon, His Almighty Doonness > Gifts are welcome, money is accepted, and stupid cards without either of the previous are frowned upon. So, come one, come all, rejoice in the splendor and magnificence of Lord Doon!!!

Entrepreneur

2004-09-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

Since I first started becoming a meat cutter I was intent on learning every facet of my job, and even a little more. In this shop we don't have many shop knives, that's because everyone is expected to purchase an maintain their own knives. So, I decided I was going to learn how to sharpen my own knives instead of paying someone else to do it. I got pretty good at it and soon people were paying me to sharpen their knives instead of having the usual person do it on a grinder, which only does an ok job, and eats away at the blade a lot faster than sharpening them by hand on a wet stone. The person who contracts with the store to sharpen our knives also sells us our knives, so there is definitely the possibility that they are trying to make more money by wearing out the knives quickly. I don't stand to make a profit there, in fact I don't make much profit otherwise, the stones cost $12 each and I go through those pretty quickly, but I do it for the pride more than anything I think. Yeah, I sharpen knives better than a contracted professional, and that is something to be proud of in my book.

I feel like now that I am where I am in my "career" there isn't much I don't know about the job. All that means to me is that it is starting to get really repetitive and a little boring sometimes. I am considering going back to school, and I should start looking into classes for the winter quarter and decide what I want to do. Anyway, I need to go sharpen a couple people's knives before work.

Insert Topic Here

2004-09-28T01:10:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been hesitant to write in this here blog for fear that I had nothing to say, then it hit me, I never have anything to say. So, here I go again. Well, I have had some ideas for a few country songs floating around my head the past few days. The first is nothing more than a song title, "From the Bottom of my Ten Gallon Heart." Pretty catchy huh. I think it could just be one of those slightly humorous country songs, I just need to make more words to build around the title. And I think if I could write a good enough song I could pitch it to an up and coming country band whose lead singer I know. The other song is little more than just a couple lines of a chorus, and they go...

"Whatever you did to do to me,
What no one else could do to me,
Just do it again
All over again"

....or something like that, I have the tune kind of worked out in my head, but there are a couple variations of the lyrics. The song would definitely be along the lines of a Tim McGraw song, maybe a little too much like one, but I will keep mulling it over and see what comes out. I love to sing and have a favorite watering hole where I go to get down with some Karaoke on Wednesday nights. In fact the lead singer I was talking about runs the Karaoke show there. Any way enough about that pipe dream, but I'll make sure that I keep this blog up to date with any new bits and pieces of either song.

I watched the movie Badder Santa with Billy Bob Thornton and though the movie had it's thoroughly depressing moments, it also had some hillarious moments and a terrifically redeeming ending. I recommend it, but be prepared for some hard to swallow moments. But seriously folks, make sure you go to www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/superduty/index.asp so you know what to get me for my birthday. I know it could be a little much for one person, but come on, let's rally the troops and pull it together, I mean after all it is for a good cause.

Happy Birthday

2004-09-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday was Punkin's birthday and mine will be on Saturday the 2nd. For information on what you can get me go to: http://www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/superduty/index.asp and check out the F-250 Super Duty, black is fine, and make sure it's a diesel, I really don't want to have to take it back and exchange it. Extended cab, either size bed, 4x4, and load it up with options. And don't forget to fill the tank, but I will be switching it over to biodiesel anyway.

Friend or Foe

2004-09-20T21:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel like my closest friends are not always in my best interest. Not to say I have bad friends, I just think that everyone has their own best interest in mind and putting your friends before yourself is becoming a rare commodity. I understand the desire to take care of #1, but where do people draw the line between doing what is best for them and doing what is best for them in spite of how it may effect their friends. I am sure I am not exempt from this folly of friendship, but I think this is something I will pay more attention to, to ensure that I don't alienate a friend for the sake of self-promotion. I think having a close friend or friends is very important, and to jeopardize that would be nothing short of reckless. For this entry may I recommend starting off with a selection from the Beatles? Say " A little Help From My Friends," and them we'll move to some Cake, the Comfort Eagle album should do the trick.

Speaking of Cake, I have heard they have a new album on the horizon and I must say I am thrilled. Most people think I am strictly a country music listener, but that is just not true. When it comes to the radio, then that is the case a majority of the time, but again, not exclusively. I love the sound of classical music, and along those lines I like some Opera to get my mind soaring, or some Gregorian Chant to make me feel spiritual. Irish folk music has always been a favorite of mine, and might I recommend picking up the CD Emerald Castles by Richard Searles, it is fantastic. He has a number of other Traditional Irish music compilations, but I have yet to find one to beat Emerald Castles. I like a good kick ass rock album, but have not found one other than Californication from the Red Hot Chili Peppers that didn't leave me wishing there was more than just a small handful of good songs on the album. If you know of some albums that you just know are awesome turn it up and rock out type CDs, then please let me know.

That is just the tip of the iceburg, I don't tend to dislike music based solely on a genre (like a LOT of people do with country music by the way), but one thing I can't stand is violent, explicit rap and the kind of rap where the rappers sing about the lifestyle only they know about, the so-called "bling-bling" lifestyle. Oh, and don't forget to thank God for the success of your album when you accept the award for your song "Die Nigga and Fuck Yo Bitch!" or something along those lines. I think there truly is a Hip Hop culture, and it is all about positive messages and anything else that music as an ideal is about, and not the money, bitches and "respect" that rap has come to glamourize. And another thing that people say about country music that bugs me is "It doesn't even sound like country any more." Well, neither does R&B, neither does Rock and Roll, neither does Rap, nothing sounds the same any more, it keeps changing like most everything else in the world. Also, it has somehow become popular to claim to like the "old country stuff" and if you say that to people you can appear very hip and cool. Oh and also they can appear to be on both sides of the fence, which is a hard trick for even David Copperfield to pull off.

When are people going to see that music means something different to everyone, it is a universal language with thousands of different dialects. You may not understand them all, but that doesn't mean they are any less valid than those you can identitify with. And on a grander scale, a persons point of view, no matter how skewed you may think it is, is still their point of view which they are entitled to. A little understanding goes a long way. How often is someone going to be able to relate the experiences and influences that dictate their tendencies and beliefs? Zero, none, nobody can, not in a life time. What does that mean to you and me? It means we should try to realize that we know nothing about them, I mean I hardly know even most of what there is to know about me. In realizing that, It think we can develop a healthy respect for the fact that; to the person you are talking to, their belief is their reality. It is undoubtedly a different reality then your own, and you will get nowhere trying to change their reality by changing their beliefs. Why would you want to? To be right? To feel superior? To make th whole world think one way? Share your reality as it pertains to the situation, try to see their reality, and maybe come to an understanding where you both might share a little enlightenment. What can that hurt? Yeah, you won't get to feel bigger than them when you can come up with more reasons whyyou are right, but you will get to feel like more of a human with emotions that lean toward compassion and understanding.

Life is like a box of chocolates, which chocolates you like is up to you, same goes for the rest of us.

Almost Gave Up

2004-09-20T01:20:00.000-07:00

This week, I felt like giving up on a lot of things, not the least of which was this blog. You know the feeling when life decides to creep into your backyard at night and fill it with manure while you sleep. Then you wake up to a shitstorm that you don't wanna face and it just gets worse and worse. My advice to anyone will be not to let that happen, but let's face it, $hit happens. I felt like giving up on friends, family, work and just trying to succeed. I don't mean that in a nihilistic, life-is-meaningless way, but so many things felt bigger than me and I just couldn't whup 'em. I don't know what point it was that changed all that, but I am pretty sure it had something to do with an experience that radiated surreal and downright miraculous. I held a child that was no more than 7 hours old and it was just amazing. I know it sounds trite, and everyone says how amazing it is, but now that I have felt it, amazing doesn't capture the essence of what it is. I was unwilling to hold the child at first out of the sheer terror that I might be responsible for hurting such a tiny, fragile, utterly defenseless little life. The child's father all but forced the baby into my arms and all I could do was recite "Support the head, support the head!" over and over in my head because that was all I knew of holding newborns. But when I got the child situated in my arms I felt a sense of amazement and joy that I know just couldn't hold a candle to what the parents feel. And the parents are such great people that I just can't say enough good things about. They employ Punkin as a nanny for their first born daughter, Bug, who is closing in on three years old. They have always been so kind and generous to Punkin and myself and just good people. And they shared that amazing event in their lives with us which I will not soon forget.

Ok, so I filled my quota for sappy, sentimental entries for the next dozen or so entries, but it's all true. Now, on to the task at hand: talking in circles about nothing in particular until my raging tempest of creativity mold this here blog into something to behold. I have had a few suggestions on things I should do, and directions I should take, and they are all good, but this is a piece of me, and only I can truly feel what is right for my reflection of me. One idea I was given may become a regular installment on this blog, kind of like Charlie Murphy on the Chapelle Show. This idea is to tell stories about the customers I deal with on a daily basis at my place of employ. Now, I must preface any following anecdotes or rants by explainging a few things about what exactly I have to deal with. Like I said, I work in an upscale natural foods grocery store. We offer nothing but products that are 100% natural, by the company's standards, and not the USDA standards of "natural" which are a joke. You can find anything from a $100 bottle of true aged balsamic vinegar of modena, to honey roasted peanut butter ground fresh from honey roasted peanuts (absolutely delicious by the way), to my favorite: natural, vegetarian fed dry aged rib eye steak. Want to find a good wine to pair with your new favorite cheese, or cheese for your favorite wine? Just ask. Want to get enough meat cut, vacuum sealed and frozen, to take on your yacht for your summer voyage down the coast? Just ask. The staff is all knowledgeable and well rounded, and if they aren't then there is most certainly someone standing nearby who will deftly aid you in your purchase or inquiry. I said all that to help you see what it is we deal with every day when we have customers come in and challenge our knowledge of products we have spent hours and hours a week around and most of us, years and years involved in the field. Those who don't have the experience learn quickly from the rest, but instead the customers take great pleasure in asking you what they should do if they want to make something, only to use something entirely different in it's place and thewn come back and complain about the outcome. Anyone else feel like pounding their head against a wall? That's what it feels like.
Customer: I want to make beef kabobs, what should I use?
Team Member: I would recommend the Top Sirloin or better.
Customer: I'll just use some beef stew meat.
Team Member: That is going to turn out tough and dry.
Customer: I have a lot of guests coming and top sirloin is just too expensive, and we will be serving a lot of other dishes.
Team Member: Ok, how much? (*under breath*: Don't like your guests very much do you)
Customer: Well, we are having 20 people, so how about 3 pounds.
Team Member: That isn't much for 20 people, I would recommmend between 6 to 8 pounds.
Customer: I told you we are going to be having other foods, can you wrap that up and I also need some other things can I leave my list with you and just come back for it all when I am done with my other shopping?
Team Member: Sure, I will have it ready when you return. (*under breath* ASSHOLE!)

Now don't get me wrong, this isn't even the majority of the customers, but they sure do tend to stick out from the crowd. And even a lot of those things I noted aren't even that bad if the customer isn't being condescending. Now, here are some of the stand-out questions I have heard that reinforce the phrase, "There are no stupid questions, just stupid people."

Customer: How many shrimp are in a dozen?
Now I don't work with fish at all, but that was the stupid question heard 'round the store.

Customer: Can I have a pound of ground beef?
TM: The Extra-Lean or the Leanest?
Customer: Which one is the leanest?
TM: What was that?
Customer: Which one has less fat? Which one is leanest?
TM: *under breath* THE LEANEST BROUND BEEF IS THE LEANEST!!!!!! DID YOU MISS GRAMMAR LESSONS IN SCHOOL!!???? I mean, it's laid out for you, Leanest Ground Beef, so, I would assume, it is the leanest ground beef, wouldn't you?
TM: *to customer* The 9% ground beef is the leanest.

Where is the New Zealand Lamb from?

Now I don't mean this to sound like you should never ask anyone anything, but take a second and see if you can figure it out for yourself, to save yourself some embarassment and someone else a little frustration. We love running back and forth up and down the case for everything you need while you stand in one place talking on your cell phone the whole time acting bothered every time we interrupt your important conversation to ask what's next. And we couldn't get through our day without making sure there are plenty of free samples for you to stuff your face with and get annoyed when we stop making product you aren't even interested in buying so we can ask if you need help. And if you could just give us a blank stare when we ask if you need help that would be great. Or if you could ask EVERYONE else on the counter if they need help when we just asked YOU if YOU need help. Mind your own business and let us do our job. If you ask us about our product, don't ask because you don't know and would like to learn, just ask because you think you know better and want to waste ourt time with a pointless discussion that leaves us wanting to empty our scabbard into your rib cage. *deep breath* I am getting heart burn and a tense back just thinking all of this out. I think I need an intermission from this, so until tomorrow, I must bid you all adieu. And if you can, listen to Sarah McLachlan - Last Dance at the end of this entry it will help you be put at ease, I promise, it may have just helped me dodge a heart attack. Ok, half an hour of this is too much, and it is nearly 2 am, again, I bid you adieu.

Arrr Matey!

2004-09-14T14:24:00.000-07:00

Wow, when you write that phrase out, it just doesn't evoke images of swash-bucklers and scallywags, in fact it just looks lame. Ah well, enough jibba-jabba....there's another thing that just looks odd typed out. Is anyone else just not getting the Mr. T vibe from that? I didn't think so. This is fun, I get to sit here and just spew my random thought on an infinite tablet and pretend I have an audience, and that they always get what I am saying. I feel very powerful in this setting, I think I will call myself Lord Doon, ah or His Royal Doonness, or Duke of Doon. That last one just doesn;t have the ring to it the others did, so for now, I will refer to myself as Lord Doon and so will all my loyal subjects. Who are my loyal subjects you ask? Well, right now you for one, and anyone who has read or ever will read these words. I am not going on some, I am better than you, egomaniacal power trip, but that is what makes me feel empowered here. You, the reader, are making this act worth something to more than just me, it's so interactive!

I know, I know, I tend to ramble about nothing, but Lord Doon makes no apoligies for his actions, and no quarter for those who oppose him. Let it be known throughout the land that Lord Doon will show no mercy for anyone who writes a comment about a post. Yea he will strike down with keyboard and mouse and great fury and post a scathingly witty retort in the form of, uh, a comment! Whew, this third person thing is tiresome, and I am sure if anyone is reading this right now, they are getting the wrong idea about me, but that's a risk Lord Doon must run in order to effectively govern his truly loyal subjects.

Ok, that is all for now, it's time to get to gaming. Fare thee well!

Cell Phones

2004-09-13T18:13:00.000-07:00

This week I have found yet another example of how silly we as humans can be. We will actually pay hundreds of dollars just to be able to talk to someone wherever we are, even if it means ignoring someone sitting right next to us. That's right, I am talking about the loved/hated contraption known as the cellular telephone. Don't get me wrong, technology is great and it has a myriad of positive uses, yes even the cell phone, but it can sometimes prove to be a little ridiculous.

For example, Punkin and I decided to leave our former cell phone carrier, T-Mobile, to go to what we thought was a better plan/company, Sprint. We both got neato camera phones with loads of bells and whistles, and realized exactly how useless they were when we got home and didn't get such great service in our own living room. Ok, so what!? The problem is, we never got a land line hooked up at our new apartment so we could save money and just use our cell phones. So, here we are with questionable service in our own house, frequently having to make or receive calls while doing what the cell phone companies call "roaming." What the hell does that mean? I am sitting on my ass in my living room trying to send a picture of a funny looking tomato I found in the garden to some of my friends! The thing is, when I called Sprint to find out why I was "roaming" they said I had to piggy-back on another phone companies tower to get service, which costs in the neighborhood of $1 and up PER CALL! Wondering what Sprint proposed as a solution? Well, I have to pay another $5 a month for "unlimited roaming" because their coverage sucks so bad.

As you can tell, I am getting a little worked up over the whole thing, and I am not even done yet. Today I came home from work to our last bill from T-Mobile, and decided to look at it while I was sitting upon the throne. Had I not already been in the process, I would have shit myself! The bill was for over $500. Our plan was for 1200 minutes shared between two phones, and one phone alone was in excess of 3000 minutes used all by itself. This by the way is unprecedented in this household and will NEVER happen again. And the funny thing in all of this, is that in order to solve our lack of service plan with Sprint, we are going to cancel our service within the 14 day trial period to avoid the ungodly cancellation fees. Then we will move our service to guess who... ...that's right folks, T-Mobile. Why change in the first place? Dunno. Why go back? Best plan I can find, and found a company online that I can get super cool phones for cheap. Don't worry, I did my buyer beware homework on this company, and reviews are mixed, but I have a good feeling about this one, I will keep you posted.

Ooh, ooh, ooh, and another thing that pisses me off, is the fact that the plan we were on with T-Mobile was for 1200 minutes like I said before, and I find now that anyone else on that plan would have 1600 minutes for the same price. Can you say rip-off? And the good thing about just going back to T-Mobile is the fact that we didn't incur any cancellation charges from either company, and will be able to get all of the first time subscriber deals on new phones.

Now, do you see what I am saying? All of that for a stupid piece of metal and plastic that's only purpose that doesn't piss me off at one time or another is the alarm clock feature, and who likes an alarm anyway? Nobody likes to be woken up! Ok, but I love having a phone. Why? I dunno. No need to fight the bums, crack whores, crack heads, drug dealers, prostitutes and lawyers for the pay phones. No need to talk to anyone, just put your cell phone force field up, and people just don't try to talk to you. And if they do, just look at them, make a slight wince and point to the phone and let them know, "This is more important than you, so could you kindly click your heels together and fuck off."

I must apologize for my use of crude language on this blog, but sometimes, I just have to so I can get all the mileage out of my words. I try to avoid over-using swear words in my daily vernacular so the words don't lose their potency, and so I don't appear to be an uncultured Philistine. Hopefully my eloquence on this blog is enough to dissuade anyone from thinking poorly of me for using them occasionally and thus appearing to be said Philistine. I mean really, I am listening to Gregorian Chant music right now, how much more cultured can you get? Ooh, I know, a little Toby Kieth would do the trick.

Until tomorrow compadres..... .....via con dios.

Oh, and another thing, I found this bible verse on someone elses blog, and I HATE it when people throw bible verses around to suit to feel Holy, and that is not my intention, it just struck me a so profound.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1 Corinthians 1:25

Season Premiere

2004-09-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

That's right devoted TV watchers, a whole new season of television shows has begun. Time to revise those TiVo Seasons Passes, sample some new shows, and fondly return to some old favorites. Now I know some people detest TV and those who watch a lot of it, and to tell you the truth, I am not fond of the idea of wasting so much time on something so fruitless either. And here is the but: I still find myself doing it. Why? Well, a little enrichment from a good laugh or two, or something to talk about the next day at work, or perhaps just a little zoning out and forgetting the real world. That last one can be dangerous though. All of this is why I think TiVo is such a great service. You don't have to make your life revolve around TV, it waits for you. Oh, and you don't have to watch commercials either! Ha ha ha stickin it to the man!

Blah-Blah Witty Title

2004-09-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

Well, it sure does suck that it is only day two of my blogs existence, and I already hate the title. If I change the title, then that nullifies the whole first post, and this one as well for that matter. So, like it or not, that's the title. Shit! I really don't like it anymore! What should I do? Should I just leave it alone and get over it... ....eventually. Or should I change it and let the two people who actually might see my blog wade through the first few entries and look compassionately on a poor fool who is so wrapped up in such a little thing as his blog's moniker. By the way, I think the last two sentences should have ended with question marks, but they seemed like run-ons anyway, so what's the point?

Today was another day that will get tossed into my memory's "Another Day Like the One Before it That Didn't Stick Out Either" bin. Don't get me wrong, I do have memorable days, good and bad, but sometimes, the sameness starts to pile up. Let's just say the aforementioned bin has a lot more in it than the other bins. And the funny thing is, if I look in the aforementioned bin, it would look empty. Whew! That was a little too existential for such a simple man as myself. Deep though huh. By the way, in case you didn't figure this one out on your own, it is a fine line we walk when we try to use words like "aformentioned" more than once in a paragraph. Yes, that's right, I just did it THREE times in one paragraph!

Anyway, enough of that nonsense, I am sure you all want to know more about me, at least more than my stature and girth. I like short walks to my truck, and TV lit dinners from a sack. Sorry to disappoint you folks, but this hopeless romantic's heart belongs to a mighty pretty lady I will refer to as Punkin' (Pumpkin, not some Ashton Kutcheresque variation of something... ...don't know where to go with that, but you get the point.)

Some, like my elder sister, would argue that it ain't right for a girl like Punkin' to be with a big fella like me. Punkin' stands less than halfway between 5' and 6' tall, and I am a good bit over 6'. My sister, Roxy, (her blog name),who is almost 6' tall herself, thinks that people should only be amourously involved with other people of similar height. Why you ask? Well, so that other tall gals like herself don't get stuck with the odd man out who needs to wear heels when she does. She means no offense, but doesn't realize that when she says things sometimes, it may sound perfectly harmless to her, but sound a hell of a lot different to someone else. Roxy, if you are reading this, then listen up. I am not one who tries to walk on eggshells around everyone, you know that, but you should make sure you guage your statements by your company, especially around those you care about.

Well, a few paragraphs ago I said I would tell you more about me, if you would like to know more about my sister, then here is her blog address, http://narcissisticflight.blogspot.com/ if not, then let's proceed. So Punkin and I have been together nearly three years, and have lived together about two of those years. Neither of us had been in this situation before, so a lot of learning is involved. It hasn't always been easy, but it has always been worth it. When we sit down to eat dinner and watch TV and we can laugh with each other. Or try to both lay down on the couch next to each other so we can snuggle a while. Or go a little crazy with our new found buying power and try to figure out how we can justify the money we just wasted. I wouldn't change any of it, but I will try to get a handle on that impulse buy thing before it does become a problem. But seriously, the life we have made together, is so much richer and fuller than any life I could have made on my own, and I am happy. Oooooh and hungry, my belly button is gonna rub a blister on my backbone if I don't get something to eat. Well, not really, I would have to miss a whole hell of a lot more meals for that to happen. Anyway, the fact remains, I am hungry. Time to go scavenge in my empty kitchen.

Genesis

2004-09-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I hate to say my older sister did anything before me, especially in this case, but I have to admit her Blog is the reason I am starting mine. Now, let's set the parameters of my blog. It will encompass EVERYTHING about my life, the good and the bad. Now, I may rue this very day, the day that I created it, but at least I will have documented every major event from this day 'til that.

The title may sound a little creepy, but let me explain. I am, as I have been told a number of times, a "big man." I stand a full 6'4" tall and tip the ol' scales at around 300 lbs. I know, I know, I need to lose some weight, but I am in better shape then I sound. Ok, so that is the "big guy" part, now for the knives.

Now that I am an adult, I have finally forged my own identity, one that was not shaped and forced upon me by my father (more on him some other time). A big part of that identity is what I do for a living. No, I am not some killer for hire whose weapon of choice happens to be a blade, and I am not a goth who is obsessed with implements of death. I am a meat cutter, and a damn fine one at that. I have worked at an up-scale natural foods market in Seattle for nearly four years, by far the longest job I have ever had, and that whole time I have been learning the trade of Meat Cutting. I began the job like any other, only interested in a paycheck, but soon began to take a lot of pride in what I was doing. Thus here I am with a profession I take pride in, and it has become a part of who I am. Hence the title "The Big Guy with the Knives."

You will probably get a big noxious wif of the fumes from my horsepower obsession. Let me break it down for you: I love trucks, specifically Ford trucks, Big Ford Trucks, my F-250 is the apple of my eye. This is not where the obsession stops, I love all things that can be ridden in, on, or around that are measured in horsepower or foot/pounds of torque. *Deep Breath* I am getting a little wound up, and I thik I have done more than enough confuse and delight at least one person who should come across my humble blog.

Please feel free to comment as you see fit, I like criticism, constructive or not, it gives me a reason to go on a tear and get all worked up.