For the first time. Ever.

The Seattle Sounders FC have gone past the first round of the MLS playoffs… Sorry, Real Salt Lake, but the LA Galaxy seriously need a Tom Brady Well-Deserved Beating (at least somebody needs to beat the sock out of David Beckham’s shorts…), and it’s going to come in Rave Green….

Hail to the chief, 2012 edition….

If you haven’t noticed it yet, Barack Obama won another term. And unlike 2000 he did it without having to carry Florida (as of right now, Florida is still counting). Some people are rejoicing, some are in mourning, but the most have accepted it and are moving on. I’m encouraged by the fact that there are now calls from both sides of the aisle to compromise. This election was very close, and that indicates that America doesn’t need just one party’s idealogy, or the other party’s. America needs unity. We need to cooperate. When Obama leaves office in 2017, both democrats and republicans will have had equal time in the White House since 1961. If your party/candidate doesn’t have the White House/Capitol Hill today, don’t be discouraged. It will average out in the long run.

And Donald Trump is a right-wing birther nutjob. And it wouldn’t surprise me if he got some extra attention from law enforcement (namely, the Secret Service) for some of his tweets….

So I bought some music…..

Many years ago, I saw this video (I can’t even remember where. Could’ve been MTV, VH1, or PBS…). And very recently, I remembered it, and searched youtube for it. I like it so much I bought it from Spamazon. I don’t have an iPod (I like my Man-Card), and digital music from Soamazon isn’t drm’ed, so I can back it up locally, and copy it to my phone. BTW, this isn’t the first time I’ve bought music:

Ok, so I’m not getting rid of my tower

Apparently, only Flight Simulator 2004 and Flight Simulator X will play well in WIndows 7 64-bit (what my laptop runs). My tower normally runs Windows XP 32-bit, and everything runs fine in it, so I had to put it back together today. Which means I need to buy another SATA hard drive for my usb hard drive enclosure (which is really good for sneaker-netting backups)….'

In a moment of wrath late last night, I also wiped my laptop, so today, I was ‘moving in” into two different systems today (this post is being written from the laptop). This is a serious pain in the arse right now, but in the end printing will be easier, since I keep the printer on the tower, and I can network it (it’s a lot easier for me to turn the tower on and print through the lan than to fight the printer cable and plug it in…).

On a more political note, I noticed the address was off on my absentee ballot (to be precise, my apartment number was one letter off). Since last Monday was the last to register to vote in person at the county auditor’s office, I called to make sure, and I was told not to worry, my vote would still count. She even made a specific note about the address, and confirmed my correct address (which surprisingly was correctly listed on my voter registration card). So, I dropped my ballot off (there’s a drop box at the library), and they picked up my ballot last Wednesday. So you can stop campaigning now….

Goodbye, tower....

I was in Worst Buy today. I ended up buying a hard drive enclosure. So, I've pulled my terabyte hard drive from my tower, and I'm going to use it as a USB drive for my laptop. I spent the past couple of weeks trying thing out with the tower, but in the end, my laptop is faster and it's capable of doing anything my tower did (except for the two monitors & and the Tv tuner). I really don't need to crt monitors, and they now have USB Tv tuners (to be purchased later).

So, as I've already mentioned, my p4 tower has been retired. I'll give it one last wipe and reinstall WinXP. I've already found a home for it, and maybe I'll get paid for it…

That time of the year (or my positions on the issues)

Absentee ballot came in the mail today. Some of the issues involve a lot of controversy. Here’s my positions:

• Initiative 1185: Voted against it on principal for being a Tim Eyman initiative. He’s put similar measures on the ballot before, and they’ve all been defeated by the court. Tim Eyman is a dumbass. You can’t change the state constitution via the initiative process….
• Referendum 74: Voted for it. Mainly the opposition to this comes from the religious right. Religious doctrine ought not to have the force of law. And besides, from what I’ve seen same-sex couples are more faithful to their spouses than their foes are (think Newt Gingrich, anyone?)
• Initiative 502: Voted against  it. Marijuana reform should first take place on the federal level, where it’s still a crime. Once that takes place, then we can revisit it….
• Joint resolution 8223: Rejected. Public funds don’t belong in the stock market. I pay my taxes to fund them, and I don’t really feel like paying them again to recoup somebody’s losses on the the market. Aren’t we in the middle of a recession now because of somebodys’ irresponsibility in the market?
• Advisory votes 1 and 2: Voted for them. Neither of these would change the law either way. We voted the legislators in to office, with the implication of trust that they would know how to pass laws for the state. I prefer to let the do their job, and if I’m not satisfied with them, then that’s why we vote for their opponents in the next election….
• Pierce Transit Proposition 1: I voted against it. People would think that I would vote for it, beings as how I take the bus everywhere, but I’ve had my issues with Pierce Transit. And Pierce Transit has explicitly told me to go pound salt. If you’re going to cop an attitude with me then you don’t need a tax increase….

And now some of the candidates:

• President: I voted for Barack Obama. He is the best qualified to lead the nation. Most of the economic problems he’s had to deal with he inherited from Dubya…. Mitt Romney just isn’t qualified to be president (and I’m concerned because he isn’t releasing his tax returns….).
• Senator: Maria Cantwell. She’s been senator since 2000, and she’s pretty good. No major scandals. Let’s keep it that way.
• Congress: Denny Heck. As a result of the last census, the state gained another congressman, and I’m in the new district that was created.
• Governor: Jay Inslee. I’m not thrilled with Rob McKenna as AG, and I don’t want him as governor…
• State Attorney General: Abstain. All I’ve seen from the candidates is them smearing each other, and negative advertising. I will not condone a negative campaign with my vote.
• Superintendent of Public Instruction: It’s Randy Dorn Time! Yes, he did a DUI, but he also admitted his responsibility.
• Insurance Commissioner: Mike Kreidler. An elected official who had deomstrated that he has a pair.

These aren’t all the issues I voted on this year, and they may not even be the most important. But my voice will be heard…..

This time of year, it doesn’t really matter how you lean pollitcally. What matters is that you vote….

Hello world, for yet another time.

My brother had a kindle. Then he upgraded to a kindle fire. And so he gave me his kindle. Which I used to download and read Aesop's Fables. And then it went into my drawer. He decided he wanted his kindle back (he said it was lighter). And so we traded. I tried to root it, but there were some issues with the adb drivers (namely I thought I downloaded them, when I didn't). But after unbricking it, I now have a kindle fire. And I'm impressed.

This won't be an ipad killer by any shot, but I have kindle on it (obviously), and have the overdrive media console. So I can read all my books on it (even from the library). Ive also got netflix on it, so I can catch a flick if I can get wi-fi. It's not going to replace my phone but it'll come in handy when I don't want to pull the laptop out.

They’ve choked it!

Ok, you get a fortuitous first and goal thanks to a near goal line apss interference call. Then you get a referee’s blunder in your favor, and you get a fourth time-out. And what do you do? You throw four incomplete passes in a row! But, it’s only the first game of the season, and a rookie quarterback. Just don’t fail me again, or I shall have to be complelled to call for you to be telekinetically strangled…

But on the bright side, Seattle’s other football team is doing pretty well, beating Chivas USA 2-1…

They're at4-0 now...

And now it counts. They shit-canned TO (imo they should've never signed him to begin with. They got rid of T-Jack, reading him to another team where he can warm the benches with pride.

And now it starts for real. The 'Hawks first opponent will be the Cardinals. They may be a good opponent, provided they wear their helmets and not their mitres...

To the Moon! And Beyond!

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE87O0B020120825?irpc=932

Neil Armstrong has passed away. He was an inspiration, even though his ground breaking trip happened before I was born. I may not have grown up to be an astronaut, but I could still dream...

3-0

So the Seahawks are 3-0 in the preseason. It looks good. But then again, 5 years ago, the Detroit Lions went 4-0 in the preseason, and then they went 0-17... But I'm impressed with our second stringers. I think the best football in the preseason comes from these people. The starters have there employment lined up fur the season, but these are people looking for work, and they're leaving it all on the field. And the fact they're administering a Tom Brady Well-Deserved Beating to other teams' starters says something.

TO is a washed-up man-diva. During the Broncos game, all we saw were drops. During tonights game, there was one good catch, but there were also too many drops. If he wants to stay, there better be the performance. I may be a little too hard on him for your tastes, but in previous years, his antics of the field have over shadowed his on the field performance. How many bridges has he burned in other teams?

T Jack is gone. The writing is in the wall. I've heard that if he's trade they'll get no more than a fifth round pick for him. I say cut him. Shit-can his ass. Send the message to the team that your job has to be earned, not handed to you....

And would somebody please sacrifice Tim Tebow fit crying out loud? The Ram's blood is going to spoil....

It was a sunny day today….

Rule of thumb, when you have to get up at the butt-crack of dawn (at 5:30, to be precise), perhaps a little bit earlier than 2:00 would be a good time to go to bed….

So I get up at bright and early in the morning. Because I had an eye appointment. So I get there, and find out I still have 20/20 vision (the eye doctor said that about my age is when bifocals start getting prescribed (I have a brother who already has them). In fact, I’m the last of my siblings who doesn’t need corrective lenses (I needed them growing up, as I was near-sighted in one eye, and far-sighted in the other eye)…

But that’s all a side track. This was mainly a diabetic eye exam. Which means I had to have my eyes dialated. On a very sunny day. Even with sun-glasses, it was an adventure at the very least trying to get back home….

Hello World, Again….

OK, it’s been over a month. But I’m back for now…

Yesterday was my birthday. My brother celebrated with pizza. And then the Mariners, the Seahawks, and the Sounders FC won there respective games. All in all, a good day despite the fact that I had to work.

Felix Hernandez threw a perfect game. Those who follow The New World Order (Mind-Control Division) would know that the Mariners had a perfect game thrown against them earlier this year. And if you can take it, then by all means dish it out. Felix Hernandez is awesome. He told Chuck Norris, Red Foreman, and Sergeant Hartley to go fuck themselves, and thus homosexuality was invented….

I voted in the primary this year (usually I just abstain the primary election, and concern myself with the general election). To be honest, I don’t know who I’ll vote for this year for President. JP Patches passed away, and that was my usual write in candidate… I’m looking for a candiate who will promise to have the Tea Party deported to France, and (most importantly) have Arnold Schwarzenegger tarred and feathered… Although I am going to declare my endorsement for the state Superintendent of Public Instruction: Randy Dorn. Yes, I make fun of him on Facebook. A lot. Mainly because of his DUI. But he was responsible enough to own up to his actions. But as an elected official, he makes the bed, he has to sleep in it, and the ridicule is my right, my privilege, and my duty… Besides whenever I crack open an ice cold ‘Adult Beverage’, part of the experience is posting that it’s Randy Dorn time on Facebook.

Speaking of JP Patches, here’s what he did to Harry Wappler:

Newscasts are always better with a clown.

Kathi Goertzen also passed away. With her anchoring, Wayne Cody on sports, and Harry Wappler on weather, the afterlife now has a full news team.

So my cable bill just went up....

Went to the local Comcast kiosk today and asked about Xfinity Streampix. Basically, I was told that it was über-on-demand. Whereas normal on-demand on Comcast usually only has a few episodes from a given series, Streampix will allegedly carry the entire series (basically a cheap imitation of Netflix...)...

It was only about $5 a month. We'll see how it goes....

Ok, it happened a week ago, but...

This happened about a week ago, but I was busy (boss was out of town, and co-worker called out on me. Twice), and I still wanted to comment on it.

Jerry Sandusky was found guilty of 45 out of 48 counts against him. And while the jury was deliberating, his son came forward with further allegations. Penn State is probably going to get taken to the cleaners over this since civil lawsuits are much easier to win when there's a criminal conviction. But you can expect that when you try to cover it up.

Normally when a person is accused of something like this, I hold my tongue. They're only accused, and they have a right to a day in court (to this day, I'll hold the line that Michael Jackson was innocent because that's what the jury said). But in this case, they came back with a guilty verdict. He did it. Even with a minimum sentence, he'll probably spend the rest of his life locked up. In solitary. Some have said they hope his cellmate Bubba has certain issues that he can work out on him, but u call that cruel and unusual punishment. Why should Bubba, who's trying to turn his life around, have to spend any time at all with him. I'd say, out him in the general population, and let the other inmates handle the matter. Some people are probably calling for a (New Testament) Christian approach, and that is completely appropriate, too. Though I have no idea where one would find a millstone...

For the fourth time...

I'm now on Twitter again. My handle is @ogre1500. My three previous attempts all lasted about two hours. Together...

So for so good...

Everybody get a book!

And I think even LeVar Burton liked this version, too.

But the message is clear: get a book and read it…

So I went to the doctor last week….

I know I haven’t been posting as often as I used to. I mainly Facebook now, though I’ll still use this as my original soapbox in the Internet. With Facebook’s IPO royally tanking, and talk of Facebook’s eventual decline (a la MySpace), I may come back to this blog. I’m not abandoning it. I just may not be as active on it…

Having said that, I went to my doctor’s office last week. As a type I diabetic, every check-up comes with an A1C blood test. 10 years ago, when I was initially diagnosed, this test was done with a full blown blood draw (they did a finger-stick in the office to check my sugar at the time, too). Ususally, they also did a full work-up (ie cholesterol, liver, thryoid, etc), which is also how I was diagnosed 4 years ago with hypothyroidism (which runs in my mother’s family). Nowadays, they can do the A1C on a fingerstick, too. This was the first doctor’s visit in a while where I could get away with not getting bled. But I was told to lose weight….

Ice Cream Sandwich, Anyone?

This is where all the trouble I went through to get s-off on my phone paid off (you may read that tale here. Hmmm, I think it’s been awhile since I posted here…). Anyway, Sprint pulled the HTC EVO 3D from its online line-up a while back. And there’s a reason for that. It’s going to Virgin Mobile (don't believe me? You can pre-order it from Radio Shack here). But on Virgin Mobile, it’s going to have Ice Cream Sandwich. With Sense 3.6. And somebody leaked the ROM update. Which a bunch of idiots when and promptly flashed, and they’re idiots because it included a firmware upgrade specific for Virgin Mobile and it’s network (while it does use essentially the Sprint network, there are enough differences that you can be seriously fückered up and not have a way of getting out). So I waited. And the developers at XDA Developers did their magic, and Sprint specific ICS sandwich ROMs have now appeared. And I’m running one now. Right now, I’m running MikVirgin. And I’m sufficiently impressed with this phone that I’m using it as my daily driver. I’m sure that it’ll only get better when a Sprint specific version is leaked/released. Maybe the Energy treatment could be possible?

Hello World, Once Again!

Ok, so Sunday was Mother’s Day. My boss bought his wife a shiny new MacBook Pro (actually I work at 2 locations, and at 1 I work for the husband, and I work for the wife at the other location). Anyway the husband bought a brand new MacBook Pro for his wife, which meant their ca. 1 year old laptop was on the market. I was at Worst Buy when the husband bought the laptop, and I was impressed with it (it's spec’ed to be a desktop replacement). A few months later, my WinXP tower started having issues, and I bought my own laptop as a hedge against it dying. It never did (just some dust that I took care of). SO I put my laptop on the market, and I found a buyer, and my boss offered me terms that I could afford for his ‘old’ laptop. And now it’s mine. With the really big display and hard drive, it will become my new default computer. My windows XP tower, with it’s 1 Tb drive, will become my storage & and backup server. And there will probably be some games on it that won’t get installed on the laptop (there are just some games that Windows 7 won’t take…).