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Friday, February 27
Don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows
Good morning. This morning in upstate New York, it's currently 20º. Today will be  with a high of 36º. This weekend promises to be a warm one, with temperatures all the way up into the 40's. Temperatures are expected to stay in the 40's all next week. Expect that snow to melt, especially with  expected by Tuesday.
Yes, friends, spring is almost here, and I'm going to enjoy the comparatively warm weather we're having.
No, it's ok. You can go find your own rant to kick and scream about...
Here, try looking here, here, over there, or here. Just don't talk about it in Kofi Annan's office.
Enjoy the weekend, and remember, our president is a miserable failure
posted by: Zung @ 9:30 AM
Wednesday, February 25
Wanna walk like you, talk like you, too...
I had a big long rant all typed out, and realized that it probably isn't too appropriate for the TKOP front page. Not racy or anything like that... just a little too personal, too raw.
So instead, I'm just going to wish everyone a happy Wednesday - and encourage you to go call your parents or grandparents or whoever you consider your family elders, and let them know you love them.
posted by: Bliss @ 1:19 AM
Monday, February 23
The Atomic Weight of Mondays
Good Mondays aren't the easiet things to come by, but o far, so good. It was an odd morning. I was able to get out of bed in a timely way, get showered and shaved and gone in more than enough time and was ontime. I got to work, looked for my classroom and there was no sign for the class I was supposed to teach today! So now I'll have time to go over all of the paper work from being out of town from Thursday till today.
I want to thank everyone for the awesome turn out yesterday! If you missed it, I at least hope you're enjoying all the nifty newness in the Kingdom. More changes are going to be coming, so keep your eyes peeled!
posted by: Skeeve @ 9:27 AM
Sunday, February 22
Super Sunday!
It's been a turbulent couple of days for us here in the Kingdom. We have so many plans for the next few months and many of the seeds are getting planted today. Check out all of the wonderful updates and come see us in the Chat Room this evening between 9 and 10pm EST! We're also trying to top the online at once, so please come and hang out!
-Skeeve
posted by: Skeeve @ 4:44 PM
Friday, February 20
Apathetic Patriots
These colors don’t run, but if your bumper sticker is made with cheap ink, they’ll certainly fade.
This morning, on my drive to work, I was reminded of how apathetic some are about their patriotism. A hot little red IROC speeding down the highway had what was left of an American flag attached to the top of their back antenna. The poor little flag was torn and shredded, and covered in soot from the road. That’s not the sort of damage that happens instantly. Unless you’ve got a gremlin on your car doing nasty things, then ok, it’s excusable. Those little buggers hate everything American-made. Haven’t you seen the cartoons?
But sadly, no, this was damage from time and neglect. And while I’m not super patriotic, and keep a folded flag in the back of my trunk, I’m bothered that someone would use our flag as a symbol of how patriotic they are, but not patriotic enough to take care of how it looks. I’ve seen many faded printouts of flags taped to the back of car windows and dirty and torn bumper stickers ready to fall off. And I’m sure many of them are exactly 2 years and 5 months old. I’ve even seen a few actual flags hung in front yards, on actual flag poles, that are either torn or filthy. I’m thinking of taking pictures of them all for a website. If you’d like to help me, please send any pics to jayking @ nycap.rr.com.
The only thing Americans do better than Patriotism, is Apathy. For years the Taliban were torturing and raping women in Afghanistan, but we did nothing about it. Until of course, they threatened our Patriotism. Then instead of diplomacy, working for change, or planting the seeds of democracy, we bombed them. And now we can pave their country with capitalism and democracy, so nothing else can grow there.
Don’t get me wrong. There has never been a better governmental system than Democracy. And there has never been a better economic system than Capitalism. It’s just that, when you ram something down someone’s throat, they usually spit it back up. Perhaps our leaders could learn something from reading Dr. Seuss’s “Green Eggs and Ham.”
Until then, the oppressed of Burma, Tibet, Cyprus, East Timor, Eastern Turkestan, Chechnya, Liberia, Haiti, & Iran will have to wait until their leaders really piss us off, so they can die free. From our cluster bombs.
Uncle Sam I am.
posted by: Zung @ 9:30 AM
Wednesday, February 18
I've traded in my mule for a stallion.
I've pretty much always been a truck-driving kind of girl. When I first learned to drive, it was on my mom's car, which was automatic, but as soon as I learned how to drive stick shift, that's what I was all about. In my family, that meant I was driving a truck. For a long time, it was a '90 Mazda pickup, very low to the ground, and painted on the sides and back with information about my dad's fishing tackle shop. I called it the rolling billboard. Just before I went away to college, he traded it in for a '97 Nissan pickup. Black, 4X4.
My senior year of college, he gave it to me, and I've had a great year and a half cruising around in my own transportation. It surprised some of my school compatriots that I drove a truck; some merely because I was a girl, others because they had me pegged as a specific vehicle kind of girl. "I always thought you drove a Jetta," one classmate told me. But no, a pickup truck it was, and I was Johnny-on-the-spot for any friends needing stuff to be hauled around. I could get over or through just about anything in my Lilith, including the blizzard that we had on Christmas day in 2002.
In December, though, she failed me. I spun out in another snowstorm on the way to work, and hit the cement barrier in the middle of the highway. In the month and a half that I was carpooling with Skeeve, I made the decision - new vehicle, ASAP. I still loved Lilith, but didn't feel safe in her anymore.
Thursday last week, I found my new vehicle. A car, bizarrely enough. To be exactly, a 2001 VW Cabrio convertible, with heated seats, CD changer, and power everything. I figure if I'm trading in, I'm going to get all the bells and whistles - the works, to keep me occupied during the 5 years it's going to take me to pay it off. Her name is Valkyrie.
In the several days that I've been driving Valkyrie (the dealer let me drive her off the lot on Friday), I've been noticing something. I'd never realized consciously the way I was treated when I drove the truck, but I got really used to getting the Guy Nod - you know what I mean. That quick, short outward jerk of the chin toward someone as you make eye contact that conveys a "Hey man, I see you, you see me. We're cool." sort of sentiment. I got used to that appreciative camaraderie. I also got used to cars and smaller vehicles giving me plenty of driving room - rarely did people get right up behind me.
I don't have that in Valkyrie. Sure, I'll get looks - but it's not the "Hey, check out the colass chick in the pickup kind of look. It's a "scope the hottie in the convertible" kind of look, or the "Man, look at the spoiled college brat" look. Not only that, but I'm getting a lot less driving respect. Several times now I've found myself getting more and more frustrated, because people are driving dangerously close to my rear bumper. It's getting to the point where I want to hop out of the car at a stoplight, walk back, knock on their window, and ask them what they HELL they think they would do if I had to stop short while they were riding my near enough that I can't even see their headlights.
Don't get me wrong, now; I'm loving my new car. It's hot and sassy, comfy and dependable, and makes me ridiculously happy. I just feel like.... I've lost something I never realized I had.
posted by: Bliss @ 1:10 AM
Monday, February 16
The Happy Mondays
Remember, when dealing with a virus, to take off your shoes first.
Contrary to all my training, on my main machine for many months now I was running Anti-Virus free. Part of the issue here was that I was running Win 2000 professional, and I guess I was a bit too secure in my own little domain.
Well, this morning I tried a comercial version of Corpoate Anti-Virus software (The only thing that would work since I was trying to install it on a server...) only to find that the virus just didn't want me to be able to do this. It locked my Win2k box down hard, and now I can't boot sucessfully. (I get to a login, it starts to try and load all the crap after and bluescreen memory dumps.)
So, I'm happily posting this from the Linux box right next to the Win2k box which is happily formatting along. (I've been meaning to switch it to Win2K Pro anyway... It was just my machine, and no longer the server.)
Well, back on topic. Monday.
Gotta hate the Monday.
Mondays are the spawn of Stan. Lord of Insufficent Illumination. He puts them here so that we have to end the "doing whatever we want" part of life (The weekend) and start going back to the "doing whatever THEY want" portion.
I have a couple big scary classes to get ready for. This is part of my day today. Also, (hopefully...) I'll hear about a possible new job... (Cross your fingers on that, eh.) Looks like the economy is rebounding somewhat. So I'll take that. ; )
So, as Elvis Costello says,
"Welcome to the working week. I know it don't thrill you, I hope it doesn't kill you."
posted by: Skeeve @ 12:59 AM
Friday, February 13
OMG TGIF
So it’s Friday, everyone’s favorite day. Except for the Bangles, who wish it was Sunday. It’s also, I should mention, Friday the 13th. And if anything bad happens to you today, just remember, it’s the universe’s way of saying coincidence.
Now, I’m sitting at my desk at the office (I don’t call it work, because I don’t do any. How else do you think I have time to find all those fabulous links?), and I’m contemplating what to write about. I usually enjoy running at the mouth about politics (I caught that bug from living in DC for two years). But sometimes my mouth (or fingers) keeps going while my mind wanders off. And this week there’s no shortage of political driven stories to yak about (so many soap boxes, so little time). For instance, there’s Bush’s troubles, like his insistence on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage (all this fuss and tax payers dollars to protect the word “marriage”? Because that’s what they’re doing if they ban gay marriage but give gay partners the rights of married couples, which is the intent of many on capitol hill. Hey, just give Merriam Webster a call, and ask him not to change the definition in their dictionary. Problem solved.), or his failed attempts to prove that either WMD’s were in Iraq, or that he was in Alabama for his National Guard duty. (a whopping 48% of Americans polled now believe Bush is NOT “honest & trustworthy”). Attorney General John Ashcroft is demanding medical records of patients who might have received “partial-birth” abortions from doctors who are currently suing the government over the controversial new bill banning such abortions. (Just try and breathe, and remember, Ashcroft lost to a DEAD MAN in the senate race of 2000)Then there’s the Administration’s complete lack of effort in the developing chaos in Haiti (If it gets any worse, expect to see a flood of refugees heading towards Florida. Jeb will thank you later George). The Senate passed a new $318 billion transportation bill to repair our roads and bridges, but the president wants to veto it for a lesser amount. (Probably because we’re already spending too much money rebuilding roads in Iraq).
Yes, I could talk about those things, and many other political problems plaguing our patriotic-fevered nation. But instead, I ask you to reflect on tomorrow. Valentines Day.
VD, as it’s commonly referred to lately, sharing an acronym with something that you usually get while participating in activities popular on days like tomorrow, is evolving into something greater. The heart shaped empires of Hallmark, Whitmans, Hersheys, FTD, and others, have shaped this day into an over commercialized holiday, not unlike any other American holiday. Meanwhile, grassroots organizations are now using this day to create “awareness” about violence against women and girls, namely rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM), and sexual slavery. Why? Because no one listens any other day out of the year. People aren’t happy about this hijack of February 14th, but lets face it, if you really need this one day so desperately to prove to your spouse/partner/significant other that you love him or her, then you must be doing something wrong the other 364 days. So declare your love, but don’t wait another year to do it again. Do it Sunday too. Because after the weekend, It's just another manic Monday.
(Side note: Yes, Washingtonpost.com JUST changed their website, so you must "create" a user ID to read most stories. Trust me, it's not very invasive, and it is worth it. As opposed to other newspapers who insist on you paying a small fee)
And... Zippy the Panda says: Our miserable failure will never find Weapons of Mass Destruction
posted by: Zung @ 1:27 PM
Wednesday, February 11
*stretch*
Ah, hello new space! I will now fill you with clutter.
No, I'm serious. Have any of you people ever seen my desk? Ask poor Skeeve, he knows what impending doom I shall bring upon you all. The surface of my desk is currently hidden under a monitor, surge protector, speakers, fishtank, CD rack, stack of cardboard and wooden cigar boxes, several notebooks and sketchbooks in various stated of use, an old wonton soup container of writing utensils, a pair of old wallets, 1.5 empty beer bottles, a brisk can, a Frappucino bottle, a sobe bottle, and a cream soda bottle, a pait of scissors, a bottle of white nail polish, two coffee club cards, a phone, Volume 2 of the 4th edition of the Heath anthology of American Literature, a practice bridesmaid's bouquet, a package oif foil hair curlers, an empty wine bottle, a quarter of a stack of CR-RWs, a mostly-used FYE gift card, a hand mirror (Hey, that's where it's been hiding!) two palmtop cradles, a CD player in a plastic bag, some scrap yarn, my Rio Karma (dubbed "Chameleon) in its cradle (It glows blue! It matches my CPU fan!), A toffee peanut tin with a layer of jelly beans in the bottom , numerous paid bills and random bits of mail, a lilac scented candle, scrap yarn, a tiger-print AOL CD (Back of, mang, it's just there for it's inherent coaster-y purposes), a couple spools of thread, an empty foil bag that once was filled with goldfish crackers, and several pieces of my art in various stages of completion leaning against the front of a piece of cardboard to which are tacked numerous postcards.
All this I can do on one physical desktop. Imagine my apartment.
Imagine what kinds of crap I'm going to post on the Board.
>:D That's right. And lots of it.
posted by: Bliss @ 5:10 PM
Sunday, February 8
Welcome to TKOP!
New begginings for old projects.
Or is it more coming full circle?
It's been a long time since TKOP made an appearance as a single line BBS in Upstate NY. We opened our virtual doors on Jan 1st, 1991 and my life was never quite the same after that! I met alot of incredible people online... I made many near and dear friends because of it. I kept is going for over 7 years, making it one of the longest lasting single line boards in this area. It's been gone since 1998 when I shut the computer off for the last time.
But now we're back! Many of the old folks have returned and I expect to see many new faces! Please join into the fray! Have fun, and if you have any questions you can leave me a personal message in the forums, or toss me an email!
Enjoy!
posted by: Skeeve @ 1:09 PM
Saturday, February 7
Go TEAM TKOP! Form of a website!
It's almost time for the unveiling. Still alot of work to do.
posted by: Zung @ 11:52 AM
Test, but just a way to say "Hi!"
So, the best things in life are free. But love can't buy you a spiffy pair of cargo pants.
posted by: Skeeve @ 11:46 AM
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