Saturday, September 16, 2006

Betty Butterfield - The Horror of Walmart

I’m old enough to remember the encyclopedia, about Russia...

Monday, July 31, 2006

Expiration

Everything in life has an expiration date, it seems. That's when it's time to toss it out and start over.
 Posted by Picasa

Trust

It seems to me that if there were any logic to our language, trust would be a four letter word.
-Joel (Tom Cruise) from "Risky Business"

I'm back!
-Jaydog

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Yes, I'm Still Alive

It really HAS been awhile, hasn't it?

Just wanted to let everyone know I was still around.

Spent the Christmas Holiday in Estes Park, Colorado, and on Christmas Eve, I took a long hike into Rocky Mountain National Park. I shot more than 150 images with my new Canon A610 camera, and this is one of my favorites.

Best wishes to everyone for a very Happy New Year!


-Jaydog Posted by Picasa

Friday, October 21, 2005

Okay, I promise!

This weekend... I will post something ... ANYTHING ... just to get a few people off my back about NOT posting anything.

I promise!

Now leave me alone!
-Jaydog

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Outsourcing? YAY!

Congress today announced that the office of President of the United States of America will be outsourced to overseas interests as of August 31st. The move is being made to save not only a significant portion of the President's $400,000.00 yearly salary, but also a record $521 billion in deficit expenditures and related overhead.

"We believe this is a wise move financially. The cost savings should be significant," stated Congressman Thomas Reynolds (R-Wash.). Reynolds, with the aid of the Government Accountability Office, has studied outsourcing of American jobs extensively.

"We cannot expect to remain competitive on the world stage with the current level of cash outlay," Reynolds noted.

Mr. Bush was informed by email this morning of his termination. Preparations for the job move have been underway for some time. Gurvinder Singh of Indus Teleservices, Mumbai, India will be assuming the office of President as of September 1st. Mr. Singh was born in the United States while his Indian parents were vacationing at Niagara Falls, thus making him eligible for the position. He will receive a salary of $320 (USD) a month. but with no health coverage or other benefits.

It is believed that Mr. Singh will be able to handle his job responsibilities without support staff. Due to the time difference between the US and India, he will be working primarily at night, when few offices of the US Government will be open.

"Working nights will allow me to keep my day job at the American Express call center," stated Mr. Singh in an exclusive interview. "I am excited about this position. I always hoped I would be President someday."

A Congressional spokesperson noted that while Mr. Singh may not be fully aware of all the issues involved in the office of President, this should not be a problem. Mr. Singh will rely upon a script tree that will enable him to respond effectively to most topics of concern. Using this tree, he can address common concerns without having to understand the underlying issues at all.

"We know these scripting tools work," stated the spokesperson. "Mr. Bush has used them successfully for years."

Mr. Bush will receive health coverage, expenses, and salary until his final day of employment. Following a two week waiting period, he will be eligible for $240 dollars a week unemployment for 13 weeks. Unfortunately he will not be eligible for Medicaid as his unemployment benefits will exceed the allowed limit.

Mr. Bush has been provided the outplacement services of Manpower, Inc. to help him write a resume and prepare for his upcoming job transition. According to Manpower, Mr. Bush may have difficulties in securing a new position due to limited practical work experience. One possibility is re-enlistment in the Air National Guard. Should he choose this option, he would likely be stationed in Iraq, a country he has visited.

"I've been there, I know all about Iraq," stated Mr. Bush, who gained invaluable knowledge of the country in a visit to the Baghdad Airport's terminal and gift shop.

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Something to think about...

I fault this president (George W. Bush) for not knowing what death is. He does not suffer the death of our twenty-one year olds who wanted to be what they could be.

On the eve of D-day in 1944 General Eisenhower prayed to God for the lives of the young soldiers he knew were going to die. He knew what death was. Even in a justifiable war, a war not of choice but of necessity, a war of survival, the cost was almost more than Eisenhower could bear.

But this president does not know what death is. He hasn't the mind for it. You see him joking with the press, peering under the table for the WMDs he can't seem to find, you see him at rallies strutting up to the stage in shirt sleeves to the roar of the carefully screened crowd, smiling and waving, triumphant, a he-man. He does not mourn. He doesn't understand why he should mourn. He is satisfied during the course of a speech written for him to look solemn for a moment and speak of the brave young Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

But you study him, you look into his eyes and know he dissembles an emotion which he does not feel in the depths of his being because he has no capacity for it. He does not feel a personal responsibility for the thousand dead young men and women who wanted to be what they could be.


They come to his desk not as youngsters with mothers and fathers or wives and children who will suffer to the end of their days a terribly torn fabric of familial relationships and the inconsolable remembrance of aborted life.... They come to his desk as a political liability which is why the press is not permitted to photograph the arrival of their coffins from Iraq.

How then can he mourn? To mourn is to express regret and he regrets nothing. He does not regret that his reason for going to war was, as he knew, unsubstantiated by the facts. He does not regret that his bungled plan for the war's aftermath has made of his mission-accomplished a disaster. He does not regret that rather than controlling terrorism his war in Iraq has licensed it.

So he never mourns for the dead and crippled youngsters who have fought this war of his choice. He wanted to go to war and he did. He had not the mind to perceive the costs of war, or to listen to those who knew those costs. He did not understand that you do not go to war when it is one of the options, but when it is the only option; you go not because you want to but because you have to.


This president knew it would be difficult for Americans not to cheer the overthrow of a foreign dictator. He knew that much. This president and his supporters would seem to have a mind for only one thing --- to take power, to remain in power, and to use that power for the sake of themselves and their friends. A war will do that as well as anything. You become a wartime leader. The country gets behind you. Dissent becomes inappropriate. And so he does not drop to his knees, he is not contrite, he does not sit in the church with the grieving parents and wives and children.

He is the President who does not feel. He does not feel for the families of the dead; he does not feel for the thirty five million of us who live in poverty; he does not feel for the forty percent who cannot afford health insurance; he does not feel for the miners whose lungs are turning black or for the working people he has deprived of the chance to work overtime at time-and-a-half to pay their bills --- it is amazing for how many people in this country this President does not feel.

But he will dissemble feeling. He will say in all sincerity he is relievingt he wealthiest one percent of the population of their tax burden for the sake of the rest of us, and that he is polluting the air we breathe for the sake of our economy, and that he is decreasing the safety regulations for coal mines to save the coal miners' jobs, and that he is depriving workers of their time-and-a- half benefits for overtime because this is actually a way to honor them by raising them into the professional class.

And this litany of lies he will versify with reverences for God and the flag and democracy, when just what he and his party are doing to our democracy is choking the life out of it.

But there is one more terribly sad thing about all of this. I remember the millions of people here and around the world who marched against the war. It was extraordinary, that spontaneously aroused over soul of alarm and protestt hat transcended national borders. Why did it happen? After all, this was not the only war anyone had ever seen coming. There are little wars all over the world most of the time.


But the cry of protest was the appalled understanding of millions of people that America was ceding its role as the last best hope of mankind. It was their perception that the classic archetype of democracy was morphing into a rogue nation. The greatest democratic republic in history was turning its back on the future, using its extraordinary power and standing not to advance the ideal of a concordance of civilizations but to endorse the kind of tribal combat that originated with the Neanderthals, a people, now extinct, who could imagine ensuring their survival by no other means than pre-emptive war.

The president we get is the country we get. With each president the nation is conformed spiritually. He is the artificer of our malleable national soul. He proposes not only the laws but the kinds of lawlessness that govern our lives and invoke our responses. The people he appoints are cast in hisi mage. The trouble they get into and get us into, is his characteristic trouble.

Finally the media amplify his character into our moral weather report. He becomes the face of our sky, the conditions that prevail: How can we sustain ourselves as the United States of America given the stupid and ineffective warmaking, the constitutionally insensitive lawgiving, and the monarchal economics of this president? He cannot mourn but is a figure of such moral vacancy as to make us mourn for ourselves.


E.L. Doctorow

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Thoughts For a Wednesday Morning

How low is lonely, how deep is down?
How far is away, when you're in a strange town?
When your own breathing is the night's only sound,
How low is lonely, how deep is down?

How much is many, how little is few?
How much of me has become part of you?
Now that I've lost what I thought I had found,
How low is lonely, how deep is down?


I think I need to pull back into myself for awhile. It's safe there....most of the time, at least.

-Jaydog

Monday, July 18, 2005

Monday again?

The weekend is over, and once again it's Monday. My favorite day of the week. Yah, right! My feelings about today are a little mixed, so it may be too early to tell just how this one will go down in the records books.

If you read my ranting from yesterday's post about my Soundbridge, you know that it was destined for a joyride back to Best Buy. Well, I didn't get a chance to pack it up over the weekend, so this morning it was still connected. On a whim, I grabbed the remote and turned it on. Wouldn't you know? The (expletive deleted) thing connects almost instantly to my wireless network and begins scrolling a list of the music libraries on my PC! Of course this happens about 10 minutes before I had to leave for work, so I didn't get a chance to sit back and enjoy it. So now what do I do? Let's see what happens tonight when I get home.

Meanwhile, jumped out of the shower, running late as usual. I towel-dried my hair and just let it air-dry while I finished doing a few other things around the house. Right before getting dressed, I went back into my bathroom to slap some Crew into it. For some reason, that set off a chain reaction that left me looking like a cross between Don King and a Chia Pet! ARRRGGGHHHHH! No time to jump back in the shower and re-wash my hair, so just put a little water on it, towel-dried again, and wrangled it into something that wouldn't scare people. So yeah, having a bad hair day.

THEN, I get to work and realize I left my employee I.D. and card key at home. Since I work in a secured building, AND a secured area inside the building, that means I had to face security to get a temporary badge to wear around my neck. Hand me the felt-tipped marker. I'll just draw the big "L" on my forehead myself!

Wish me luck, light a candle....whatever you think might work. Thanks!

-Jaydog

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Thanks, Joe!

TRUE FRIEND

I'm not sure when it happened
But I'm very glad it did...

You came into my life when
I really needed a friend.

The more I get to know you
The more I know myself.

You and I are different...
And in many ways the same.

Your good ear, compassionate heart,
will always find you fame...

I promise to always be here,
Forever and to the end.

You are the true definition of a True Friend.
Did you miss me, possums?




Ah, my apologies. It has been a long time since I've stopped in here to share what's going on in the Dog House. Blame work, summer, friends.....anything you want. But let's put that behind us, and start fresh, shall we? Good!

Work is work. When it's good, it's fantastic! When it's anything but good, watch out. While things haven't changed significantly in my little corner of the work world, the impending merger has turned things upside down elsewhere as people begin to jockey for position, trying to prove their value to the organization by stomping on everyone around them, above them and below them. And as the merger process advances, suddently the "merger of equals" has begun to dissolve into something quite different. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Stay tuned.

During the deep dark days of winter, one longs for the warmth of summer. But when summer finally arrives, with the long, hot, dry days one expects here along the front range of the Colorado Rockies, suddenly the energy is simply drained from you. All you want to do is find a spot in the shade and stay there. Or just insure your comfort by seeking the refuge of an air-conditioned building, and stay there. A recent discussion on my moblog pitted those who liked cool weather against those who preferred hot. My final word on the subject was that when you're cold, you can always add more clothing to attain your own personal comfort level. However, if you're too hot, there's only so much you can do with your attire in order to cool down. Once you've shed every stitch of clothing, there's nothing more that can be done. Enough said.

Friendship can be a double-edged sword. It can bring indescribable happiness, or unbearable pain. That's the lesson I've learned once again in the past couple of weeks. I've learned that you can't force friendship. You can do everything possible to nurture it, but if the other person doesn't want your friendship, there's nothing you can do about it. So, while the pain of being rejected runs deep, you pick yourself up off the ground and move on. I am.

Now time for the ranting and raving you've come to expect from me. Today's topic is the Roku Soundbridge M500 Wireless Music Router.




With high hopes, I plunked down my $200 at Best Buy last Tuesday for this torture device. If you don't know what it is, it's a wireless router that is connected to your home entertainment center, and through your existing wireless network streams music from your home computer. I'd read up on it online, read the specs and user reviews, and finally decided to take the plunge. I brought it home, unpacked it, and hooked it up according to the user manual. Although easy set-up was promised, it certainly wasn't delivered. Three hours later, I finally had it working and streaming music from Rhapsody to my home theater in the living room. I was delighted! I turned everything off and went to bed around 1 a.m.. The next morning I turned everything back on again, and attempted to play some music. Nothing! I tried numerous things, referring back to the troubleshooting section of the user guide. Still nothing. That evening, I tried again with the same result. Finally, I went to Roku's website looking for help. I figured they MUST have a tech support line that I could call for assistance. WRONG! Their idea of technical support is a chat forum, moderated by a tech support person. I figured I'd give it a try, so registered, and sent my plea for help. And waited. And waited. Finally I got a response about 30 minutes later. This went back and forth all evening long as different things were tried and failed. The longest wait for a response was three hours. What am I supposed to do in the meantime, huh? The bottom line: In the battle of man against (electronic) machine, man has lost this one. The thing is going back into its box and back to the store next week for a refund.

A quick word of advice to Roku... Hey, bozo's! Your customers are plunking down between $200-500 for your product. Do you think that maybe that warrants a live tech suport line? DUH!

Enough. I've said what I needed to for now. My best to everyone. Stay safe and stay cool!


How about a smile?

-Jaydog




HAHAHAHA!

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Just thinking....

I was surfing Rhapsody earlier tonight, and ran across this Dan Fogelberg song. Really made me think. That's a spooky thought, isn't it possums?


Only The Heart May Know

Silent sea
Tell this to me:
Where are the children that we used to be?
At picture shows
Where nobody goes
And only the heart can see.

Starry skies
Soft lullabies
Where do they go when their melodies die?
To a day
Far, far away
That only the heart may know.

Friends we knew
Follow us through
All of the days of our lives.
Love we shared
Waits for us there
Where our wishes forever reside.

Falling tears
Memories' mirrors
Where are summers
where are the years?
Carried far
To a wandering star
That only the heart may know.

Friday, July 01, 2005

Thank God It's Friday!



Have a fun and safe holiday weekend everyone!

Monday, June 27, 2005

Sad

Sad: "1. Losin' End - Michael McDonald"

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

This is so kewl!

What guy doesn't love watching building implosions (I have a two-DVD set filled with 'em), demolition derbys, or anything where something is demolished? That's why I almost wet myself when I found this: Watch It Shred! Enjoy!

- Jaydog

Monday, June 20, 2005

Tomorrow never comes...

A special thanks to my boss (aka "Choker") for the memorable quote used to begin this posting.

The quote was inspired by my e-mailed response to his query regarding when the forecast for this month's numbers would be ready. Since they've always been published on Tuesday for the past 4 or 5 years, I politely responded "Tomorrow". He wistfully e-mailed me back, tears in his eyes as he typed it, no doubt, "Tomorrow never comes...". Oh, my! I'm gonna need a second to compose myself....

Okay, that didn't take long.

As I gleefully announced earlier, my home PC is back among the living, albeit minus everything that was stored on it prior to May 8th. I'd like to thank the following for their support, or lack thereof:
  • HP Tech Suport - particularly "Eric" whose command of the English language made what should have been a 15-minute call turn into 2+ hours of living hell.
  • And to the SECOND HP Tech Support person, name unintelligible, who drove me to pop two Vicodin after ending our call.
  • HP Customer Service - for their reassurance by telling me it's normal for the hard drive to crash within the first year. "We expect it...", she chirpped.
  • HP Customer Service (again) - for sending me to CompUsa where I was told that "we don't honor HP warranties".
  • HP Customer Service - (yet again) for relieving my bank account of $75 for an extended warranty, without telling me it wouldn't cover any repairs for the first 30 days after purchasing it.
  • CompUsa - for trying to make my shopping experience so pleasant by encouraging me to order online for in-store pickup, and then putting a moron in charge of handling the transaction when I went in to pick up my purchases. Twenty minutes to ring up a two-item sale? Come on!
  • CompUsa (Again) - to Bill, the customer service moron, who not only wasted 20 minutes of my lunch hour to ring up the sale, but also rang it up incorrectly.
  • CompUsa (yet again) - to Mike, Bill's equally brain-dead manager, who assured me it would be okay to just go ahead and leave. He would take care of issuing a credit to my credit card to compensate for Bill's stupidity. It's now five days later and there's still no credit to my account. That means another trip back to CompUsa. Maybe I should call in sick so I can spend the WHOLE day there.

In SPITE of all of you, my PC is repaired....by ME! Nya, Nya, Nya!

Tomorrow never comes.....MY ASS!

What we need right now is a kitten war!

-Jaydog

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

YUMMMMM!

What a way to start the day! A cinnamon roll from Johnson's Corner! Thanks, Di! Will you marry me?

-Jaydog

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

David Letterman’s Top Ten Things Overheard During The Michael Jackson Verdict

10. “We the jury find the defendant not guilty—oh God, did I say the wrong one?
9. “Of course he’s nervous—look how pale he is!”
8. “Will Mr. Blake and Mr. Simpson please keep the laughter down?”
7. “No, I think he’ll do fine in prison!”
6. “I’m a celebrity in an L.A. courtroom—I like my chances.”
5. “Do you think this will be on the news tonight?”
4. “We the jury find the defendant creepy.”
3. “Michael, good news—I just saved 15 percent on my car insurance by switching to Geico.”
2. “Wait, have Tito, Latoya and Jermaine always been on the jury?”
1. “Another case of a white guy getting preferential treatment.”