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Wednesday, October 27
Views from here. (WuShu style)
So here we all are again, with the convergence of 3 events happening
within 3 days of each other. The 31st brings us an extra hour of
sleep, which we'll need for event number 2, which of course is
Halloween. 2 days later, on November 2nd, we have election day.
First, let's look at the end of Daylight Savings Time as we know it
(at least until April that is). I look forward to this day starting
the first sunday in April, when an hour is stolen violently from me,
without my permission I might add. I can't sleep on either change day
until the change has been made, or I'm not right sleepwise for the
rest of the year/cycle. I'll tell you, there's nothing more satisfying
than watching the clock on my cable box jump from 2:59 to 2:00.
Nothing. I always wondered what it'd be like if I didn't have to deal
with this sudden destruction of my internal clock twice a year, but
the world without the scourge of Daylight Savings Time was much too
heavenly for a wretch like me to gaze upon it without losing my sight
permantly.
Moving on brings us to Halloween. As many of you have seen from
Evelynne_Darkstar's post, Halloween is a divisive holiday (and I'm
putting it mildly). Every year, the Christians get up in arms about
it, and when it's on a Sunday (like this year), watch out. Nevermind
the fact that the whole point of Halloween is to embrace what we fear
so that we don't fear it anymore. Nevermind the fact that the origin
of the word Halloween refers to the day before All Saints' Day, one of
the most holy days in the Christian faith. No, Samhain is evil! God
forbid people actually read or *gasp* researched the history of the
holiday before jerking their knees so hard they break their own noses.
And if I hear one more person yell about how it's a pagan holiday, I
don't think I could stop myself from beating the hell out of them to
ask them, "What about Yule(Christmas)? or Imbolc(Candlemas)?
Ostara(Easter)? Beltane(May Day)? Why aren't you rebelling against
those pagan holidays, instead of embracing them as your own?"
Last but not least, we have election day. Every year, we're asked to
head to a place to talk to some friendly people, push a couple
switches, and pull a lever. Yes, I said every year, even though it
seems that most people don't realize there's an election day when it's
not Presidential. This year, it just so happens to be one of those
Presidential times, when our vote really counts (offer not valid in
non-battleground states). I'm not saying to stay home on November 2nd,
because that would be a lie. Even if your vote doesn't count toward
electing the President, it does count in all of the other races that
get decided every year, which get swept under the rug even by local
news. Chuck Schumer's Senate seat is up for grabs this year. Every
congressperson's seat is up for grabs (gotta love 2 year terms). A
number of offices in the state and local government need you to decide
who fills them, and even though they aren't as noble positions as the
President of the United States, they need capable individuals to fill
them. They might not get the news coverage that the President does,
but they can have a more profound effect on your life than
Presidential policy, too. So get out and vote.
That's my take on it at least. I may be back, I may not, but hopefully
I made you think. And if my rant got you down, just keep repeating
"It'll all be over in 6 days."
-t
posted by: The Peanut Gallery @ 9:10 AM
Monday, October 25
Monday... Can't stand that day...
Back to work and exhausted.
I had a difficult time sleeping last night. The second I would nod off I'd wake up to a coughing fit. No matter what I couldn't get full sleep until about an hour before I was supposed to get up.
I hate that.
I overslept... Got up... Shaved, and showered. And the amazing thing is that I still made it to work on time. I hate going in to work a little later, tho. Because the traffic in Colonie is MUCH worse 15 minutes after I usually leave work. And then add into it the buses on my road. Woof.
So, much like Zung I'm going to leave a shortish rant today, and remind you to look forward to the guest rant this week, where we will have a surprise for y'all.
Time to kick it in for Monday.
posted by: Skeeve @ 1:15 PM
Sunday, October 24
Is this what I have to look forward to?
Being all grown up sure does suck. When do I get to do the fun stuff? I've spent the last three days not only putting off seeing a movie, but this blog entry as well. Why? Because this new home beckons me to do dirty work. I've been cleaning and fixing. Fixing and cleaning. And some strange new part of me compels me to put off seeing that movie and other stuff until the important things are settled.
So I give to you a short rushed blog, because we have to go out shopping for hardware, decorations and groceries. Which honestly, beats being a college drop out bachelor, scraping money together for some mac & cheese, and weed.
posted by: Zung @ 1:00 PM
Wednesday, October 20
ZERO's TOP FIVE #1
Greetings and salutations! For the glory of The Kingdom of Possiltum, your Crescent Fresh Game Master, Zero has travelled near and far across this great blue marble to bring you the first installment of ZERO's TOP FIVE, a guest blog of wit and fancy for the court's approval. This week: THE TOP FIVE REASONS LIVING IN FLORIDA SUCKS.
5. HUGE DEMONFEY INSECTS. I don't know from which of the nine hells these things came from, and I'm not sure I care. I do know that Ishiro Honda visited Florida in 1953, and a year later directed the very first Godzilla film. You figure that one out for yourself. Point is... Floridians have no blood. They are hollow shells of people, living under the control of their vampire insect masters. That's why everyone down there appears to be in their 70's. Life sucking conquerer bugs. It may also be why everyone is so brain dead that they can't even count votes. Which leads me to...
4. ELECTION YEAR 2004. Florida botched the 2000 election so badly that now, 4 years later, when we're faced with another presidential election, the entire country is looking at Florida like its streets are overrun with retards who can't add. Listen, even God doesn't want you people f***ing up the vote this year. He's sent hurricane after hurricane to wipe you out, but as in all tragedy films, the retard always lives at the end. I think it has something to do with letting the ones who are too dumb to be anything but innocent survive. Bottom line: mess up again and you're out. Seriously. We're selling you to Cuba. Then you'll never have to vote again. Lucky you.
3. THE DOLPHINS ARE THE ONLY WINLESS TEAM IN THE NFL. As of this week, the 0-6 Dolphins are the only team in the entire NFL to have absolutely nothing to show for themselves in the W column. Somewhere, Dan Marino is crying with his hands pressed against his obscenely large head. There's a lot to be said for a sunbelt state that has a craptastic football team at the same time that they have the World Champion HOCKEY team. And none of it is good. What the hell is that about?
2. OFFICIAL STATE SONG IS "OLD FOLKS AT HOME". I didn't make that up. Also, it pretty much speaks for itself. Moving right along...
1. DISNEY. Look, I don't have anything against the so-called "Happiest Place on Earth" (except that people die on their rides more often than they probably should), but when there are actual approach procedures at the Orlando International Airport named "Goofy Two" and "Minnie Two" (not making this up), you can imagine why I might be concerned that Darth Mickey might have too much hold on certain portions of the state. The last thing I want is the captain of the plane I'm about to die in trying to figure out what a "Lion King Eight" is.
So, there you have it. I'll be back again (or maybe not) with another top 5. Until then, please remember that, if you visit Florida, it's illegal for single women to sky dive on a Sunday, and that you can be fined for singing while wearing a bathing suit. Seriously.
You are now free to move about the TKoP.
- Zero
posted by: The Peanut Gallery @ 11:12 AM
Monday, October 18
Kids today?
Maybe I'm getting too old.
I am close to 40 now...
Perhaps it's just time to give it up, stop trying to be young and go stand out on the lawn and yell whenever a kid even thinks about driving by.
Of course... They'll just flip me off and drive thier SUV's away.
I don't get youth culture. And to be honest I'm not sure I ever did, even as a kid. The way they try to express themselves... Their clothing (Although, thank the gods, we do seem to be going away from the big falling off pants and showing underwear look...) and... Dare I say it? Will it date me overmuch? The music. Most of it I can't stand... I don't think I would have liked it when I was 17 either, tho. That sort of thing was never what I was into.
The kids next door are kids. Simply loud, and rude and thoughtless. They leave thier toys in my driveway... They yell and shout all summer long. one kid rides his bike up and down my driveway. And all I can think about... (I swear) is that he's going to hit one of our cars.
I used to avoid the toys.
I'm a rocker and a cane away from being that cranky old neighborhood man.
I find myself muttering more. But, I had a wakeup call today at Walmart... I saw the destination that this road is going to lead me to. He was sitting there in his adult assist cart... (Not a real wheelchair mind you) muttering to the lightbulbs. He had this wide cone of... annoyance? about everything around him. Like the world left something to his satisfaction. The lightbulbs clearly were not pleasing him.
I tiptoed away... Looking to stay as far away as possible, as not to get anymore infected...
It's a curse, you see. Our parents did it to us... Our siblings too. The neighborhood.
I've decided... I want to be that other neighborhood guy. The wacky one. Who puts out the strobelight and crepe streamers... Plays the loud sound effects tape... And if I can get my hands on it... A cows heart.
Muhahahahah!
posted by: Skeeve @ 8:02 PM
Friday, October 15
Stop posting!
Argh! I have become trapped in a perpetual new post cycle. This morning, Zero took it upon himself to make a new post in EVERY forum. So in the spirit of keeping things going, I followed and responded to some of his posting. By the time I finished, Skeeve had logged in and there were new posts in almost every forum AGAIN. I've been actively trying to keep up since about 9am. It is now noon, and I'm hoping people go to lunch so I can log out without missing anything. However, there are about 6 people online, and things don't look like slowing down anytime soon.
Wait, what am I talking about? Posting is a good thing!
But I would like to address an issue that some of you have mentioned to me. Keeping posts new until you actually read them. Unfortunately, new posts are based on when you last logged off. So if there are unread posts sitting when you have to log off and say, leave work, go to lunch, pick up the kids at school, go to the store to refill on Mountain Dew and Ho-Hos, etc, you lose the unread posts when you log in next time. We understand that this is a serious issue for some of our users, and might keep people from coming back so regularly.
PHPBB, the wonderful forum software we use, has a number of user written modifications that are tested and available to download from their website. There is one to fix this issue. In our spare time, Skeeve and I have done our best to implement neccesary changes to the website when our jobs and lives allow us to. There are a number of mods that we have discussed adding to TKOP to make life more enjoyable. At this time, there is no official time frame to implement this fix or any other mods, but we do intend on doing them as soon as we possibly can. At this time there are current server issues that Skeeve has to address, and perhaps after that we can look at correcting the new posts issue, and add in any other changes. So until then, hang on and bear with us.
Love, Zung
posted by: Zung @ 1:02 PM
Wednesday, October 13
Wonderful Wednesday!
It's not Skeeve, it's not Zung it's ME! Ace (not Diamonds) with your blog today.
Since I'm not exactly sure what to rant about, I'm just gonna go with it.
First off Politics.
All of you who know me, know my stance on politics. This is for those of you who don't. I don't have a stance. I don't vote, so I don't get to bitch about who's in charge. I'm sure that there are those out there that say "You don't vote?!? How very un-American of you". You know what I say to them? F#$k You. The whole point of being able to CHOOSE to vote or not vote is every American's right. You who debate the politics in the debate sub have the luxury of being able to bash whomever you want and not get shot, beheaded, or something equally nasty or death involving. So, go ahead. Yell loud and proud that you don't like that I don't vote, or that I choose not to vote, but when you do either, remember to thank you're lucky stars that you can.
Next up, Work.
I LOVE MY JOB. I get to go to a place and guard against people who want to break into networks. It's a 24/7 gig and sometimes I have to work when others are asleep, on vacation or off normally. I work shift rotation, and my shift changes every 2 weeks. One week I'm working days, two weeks later I'm working nights... you get the idea. I work for a wonderful company that takes care of me, and asks me if I need anything. Most of my co-workers are as smart, or smarter than I am, with my boss who's forgotten more about network security than I will possibly ever know. My boss is a straight shooter, with a no-nonsense attitude, and loves to go to Jillian's. Whose networks do I secure? Can't tell you. Who do I work for? PM me and I'll tell you, but don't be surprised if I show up and have to "Flashy-Thing" you. If you wanna know how my week is going, look and see if there's any new viruses, Trojans, worms, and just nasty stuff floating around, and you'll know.
Topic three, my personal life.
Two words, Bite Me. By the nature of the title, it's MY life and it's PERSONAL. But since Skeeve's asked me so nicely to do this blog (You are going to let her go now, right?!?) I'll fill you in on the highlights. 1) Got Divorced. Was it amicable? No pun intended, but the jury's still out on that. I get my son for 4 weeks in the summer and one week around Christmas. Am I better off now? Are you freakin' kidding me? Hell Yes. I've done more positive things in my life since we separated, than I did the ENTIRE millennium that we were married. 2) Found someone wonderful. I never thought that I'd find someone this devoted to me. I never thought that someone would love me with every essence of their being. I never had a clue that someone would see past my a-hole exterior into me, endure all my faults, be the butt of more than a thousand jokes, and come back for more. It's an incredible feeling to be loved so deeply, and now I'm just trying to be worthy of that love and trying very hard to give it in return. 3) I'm moving to a new place (ironically enough, above another member of this board) and the view of the water is absolutely incredible. My front porch is going to become my refuge when life get's too rough.
Issue four, driving in the Capitol District.
What in the F#$k is the matter with people in this area? Have you NEVER heard of turn signals? Shall I spell out the concept of MERGING? Put the GD cell phone down and F@#KING drive the F@#KING vehicle! Is my truck not big and black enough for you? Put your F@#KING makeup on at HOME!, not going down 787 at 6 o'F@#KING clock in the morning doing 75 miles a F@#KING hour! Just because the bridge is a little narrow, does NOT mean that you F@#KING stop to gauge whether or not that you'll fit. The F@#KING engineers down at DO-F@#KING-T did that for you. I understand that the flashing lights are really pretty, but do you HAVE to stop the F@#KING car to look at them more closely? The State Trooper sitting on the side of the road doesn't F@#KING care that you're doing 60 in a 55, so don't JAM on your F@#KING brakes in rush hour traffic. Yes, the speed limit does say 65, and yes you can do 65 in the left lane, but that does NOT give you the God Given right to block traffic for over 2 F@#KING miles, just so you can be right. There are also signs that say "Slower traffic, right lane". Are you F@#KING ignoring those a-hole? Do you only obey the ones you agree with? <pant> <wheeze> <sputter> Okay.... WHEW, that's better.
Something witty five, Skeeve and Bliss's wedding.
It didn't start well for me and my sigoth, but after we arrived and got settled it improved. The church was impressive and had interesting architecture, not to mention the history behind it. The Rev. was funny and personable, both Skeeve and I recommended that he rent The Princess Bride. Skeeve wasn't nervous or anything at all, hell to be truthful I was more nervous than he was. Bliss looked absolutely gorgeous walking down the aisle (If you're reading this, don't embarrass me about this later, okay? I'm still sorry about slamming your hand in my truck door), and it was hard not to smile like an idiot. The Apache wedding blessing was a wonderful touch, and I don't think that there was a dry feminine eye in the place. The reception was incredibly fun, and the band was spectacular. I conversed with the lead guitarist for quite awhile during one of their breaks, and he said that this was their first wedding gig, believe me I didn't know, they were that good. The photographer was the most unobtrusive and funny guy I've ever met, I highly recommend him. I've never danced so much in my entire life. My sigoth and I finally sat down after we discovered that we and the bride's parents were the only ones on the dance floor. The bridesmaids looked radiant and exceptionally happy for Bliss. The Groomsmen, were okay, and you could've gotten more excitement out of a wet noodle (just kidding guys, you know I love you in that whole non-sexual way right? Except for Seamus, you and I need to talk if things don't work out?!?). The best man absolutely sucked and the speech he gave was so rehearsed and boring snores were actually heard. And last, but not least, Skeeve looked the most happiest and handsome than I've seen him in my 11 years of being his friend. I'm truly happy for you my friend, and yes in 20 years I'll be there.
I hope that this meets the approval of what's required for a rant, and if you see something that's been blacked out, just ask me and I'll send the unedited version for $2.99. If you PM me within the same day that it's posted I'll throw in a well used cheese shredder, which can be used for shredding cheese, as well as several other uses that can't be listed in a PG board. All for the low low price of $5.99.
The lurking Co-Sysop,
Ace (not Diamonds)
posted by: The Peanut Gallery @ 9:40 AM
Tuesday, October 12
A day late and a (somethingsomething) short...
Well, back on the regular scedual wound up getting cracked hard after yesterday's long day. Work gobbled up alot of my free time as I tried (in vain) to get a newer alumni community web product installed. After I spent all day with that going one step forward and two steps back I finished out the day thinking I hadn't really accomplished anything for all the time it took,sent out an email to all the parties waiting for the install, detailing the process and the lack of progress and the troubleticket we have with the vendor and went home. My Mom came over and we went out and she got us a wedding present of a new queen sized mattress and boxspring and then I simply came home and crashed.
This morning my director knocked on my door early... (As soon as he got in, I think. I get here at about 8:10 and most people get in around 8:30) and said "Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you."
(Innervoice "Oh crap.")
"Whenever you hire someone you're taking an enormous risk that they might not be a good fit. But from everything I've seen and heard from everyone, we made the right descision. You're a good fit here."
(Melt)
He then thanked me and went on his way.
I love my job...
posted by: Skeeve @ 8:55 AM
Friday, October 8
WBSH - Bush Radio
It's been a while since I've posted something political. Mostly because I set up my own blog to do that sort of thing on (even though I hardly update it anymore). But this came across my radar this morning, and I couldn't resist sharing it.
See the picture below? Notice anything odd about Bush's back?
Some say that bulge is a radio transceiver.
My first impression was a good chuckle and an internal "yeah right, whatever". I may be an occasional crazy liberal, but I'm not desperate. But I followed the links, and as I read, the story got interesting. While this started as an internet rumor, it is now picking up steam, and more and more facts are emerging to make you wonder...
Perhaps Bush can do sports fans (who are tuning in to the debates instead) a favor, and keep them updated on the Yankees game tonight inbetween crunching numbers and calling his opponent a cheap rubber beach shoe.
If your interest is peaked, you can follow these links...
This Modern World Post. Lefty website I heard it from first.
isbushwired.com - The site that seems to have started it all.
The Salon article. (You'll need a login to read the whole thing. Or get pieces from it at the This Modern World link above)
posted by: Zung @ 1:19 PM
Wednesday, October 6
The whippings will now commence!
So, yeah...
Blogs are things that log your b.
Autumn has invaded the greater Notrh East and as such we find ourselves in the middle of a bunch of morons who stop thier cars for te color orange.
Don't get me wrong. I love the fall.
But stay in your own G*%(#@! state!
The wedding, the honeymoon and the new car were/are all fantastic. Thanks so much those of you who made it and those of you who sent cards and other things. The outpouring of love from our friends has been the best part of it all... (Well, that and my AWESOME new wife.)
even coming back to work has been pretty fantastic.
Ok, short and sweet is the theme to this weeks front pages. Next week... Look for a guest blog!
-Skeeve
posted by: Skeeve @ 3:19 PM
'cuse me while I whip this out
Oh, I seemed to have forgotten that I help run a forum based website which offers a small variety of amusements to pass the day for old school BBS'ers and other folks. It seems I find myself neglectfull without a interesting excuse. Now I wish I had taken the risk and done something awful with a midget in a non-sexual way. Then I'd have an amusing anecdote to go with my prolonged absence. Damn, another missed opportunity.
Now wouldn't you know it, but I have nothing to say. Although that's all well and good because my good friend Skeeve is also overdue in making an appearance here on the front page, and I don't want to steal the spotlight.
But suddenly I do remember that I wanted to mentioned that we're totally serious about having some other TKOP members (not The Kings of Play, although I have nothing against the French) join in here on the front page rant with their various opinions on various things. I think some of you have shown an interest, and those said folks will soon be shown how to log an entry.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog. (That mean you Skeeve)
Epilogue: Did you know that Blogger's spell check finds the work "blog" as an incorrect word and wants to change it to blog? Weird.
posted by: Zung @ 1:57 PM
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