Yay, Me...

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Wow! I just received my first piece of Comment Spam! Does this make me a Real Blogger© now?

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And Now For Something Different...

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How many people out there have experienced the joy that is the Dell Tech Support Experience?

Don't get me wrong, there are a few severely under-employed people who work for Dell's helpdesk, and I pray that those people find jobs that actually utilize their skillset more than just reading scripts. However, I would say that the majority of people that Dell hires, while friendly, only know what they could memorize to pass the Dell Technician test or what is on the screen in front of them in a script written to coax a basic level user through the most simple troubleshooting techniques (ie. Have you plugged the power cord into the computer?).

For those of us that are a little more technically inclined, a strict adherence to these scripts delivers a unique experience of banging our heads against the wall while simultaneously getting kicked squarely in the nether-regions repeatedly, until they run through their scripts (ignoring your attempts to communicate that you know what the problem is and have done all of the basics and most of the more advanced techniques that you know), at which point they put you on hold to talk to their supervisor, who usually gives them one of the advanced tips that you have already tried.

*sigh*

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Um... Where'd Everyone Go...

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So it has been pretty crazy around here. I have not had a chance to post in several days (ok, I've had more than one chance, just not motivated to do so).

I am slammin' at work. Tons to do, and tons more lined up behind it. Why do they have to be so friggin' successful? Makes me work harder. *sigh*

My education is cruisin' along. I am studying for my next test, and it is a big one. It would be better if I had time to play with this stuff at work. However, I am in Desktop, so I am limited to administrating our single Desktop File Server (managed to scrape together a Dell Precision 530 Dual Xeon 1.5 Ghz, slapped some SATA drives in for data storage... sweet!). No touchie anything cool that one normally finds in a server room.

Throw in Family Time, and my day is packed full.

Oh, and The Wife ™ is preggers with kiddo #3. Apparently there is somethin' around here that keeps makin' that happen. Haven't quite figured that out yet. I hope we do soon.

We booked a babysitter (my mom) for this Friday so that The Wife ™ and I can have a Date Night and go watch the new Firefly movie! Yay, Date Night! For those of you who are thinking of getting married, ALWAYS remember to set up at least one night a week to have a Date Night. Way super important! It lets you relive the fun from when you were single and had fewer responsibilities; at least for a few hours.

Anyone watch the new episode of Monster House tonight? Is it just me, or is that homeowner somewhat familiar?

As for news happening, well, there is all of the hurricane happenings. (To donate goods / services / etc. click here or here)

And in television, it has been a sad year:

July 20th: James Doohan dies from Alzheimer's



September 7th: Bob Denver dies while receiving treatments for cancer


September 25th: Don Adams dies from a lung infection


Then we have the unbelievable happen. A grieving mother gets hoodwinked by anti-war factions as their poster-child (mother), contradicts herself, and then (imnsho) becomes a ghoul who is actually happy about her circumstances (read - her son's death), as now she is "somebody" when she was "just a regular person" before. Truly tragic.

Like I said, things have been busy this week.

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An Ambush It Be...

S'cure Talk Be A-Comin'
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'E Be a-Listenin' - Switchin t' Secret Seafarin' Hearty Speak
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Speakin' Me Piece...

AAAARRRRGGGHHH!! Caught ye by surprise, dinna I? Ye be expectin' me t' talk like a shipmate last high tide', th' 19th o' September, which be International Talk Like a Sea Dog Day?

HA!

Th' Cap`n Unit76 be too wiley a creature fer such obvious tactics! Me ambush be timed perfectly, an' me prize be secured! Nay e'en th' Dread Sea dog J nor Blackbeard Five be as devious as I be! As ye can be seein' below, I be nay any run-o'-th'-mill shipmate:

You are The Cap'n!

Some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some slit the throats of any man that stands between them and the mantle of power. You never met a man you couldn't eviscerate. Not that mindless violence is the only avenue open to you - but why take an avenue when you have complete freeway access? You are the definitive Man of Action. You are James Bond in a blousy shirt and drawstring-fly pants. Your swash was buckled long ago and you have never been so sure of anything in your life as in your ability to bend everyone to your will. You will call anyone out and cut off their head if they show any sign of taking you on or backing down. You cannot be saddled with tedious underlings, but if one of your lieutenants shows an overly developed sense of ambition he may find more suitable accommodations in Davy Jones' locker. That is, of course, IF you notice him. You tend to be self absorbed - a weakness that may keep you from seeing enemies where they are and imagining them where they are not.

What's Yer Inner Pirate?
brought to you by The Official Talk Like A Pirate Web Site. Arrrrr!

So let this be yer final warnin'! I dasn't take prisoners, an' me crew be loyal as only a swashbuckler`s crew can be!

AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!

Endin' Me Piece...

Weekend Fun...

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Woo-Hoo! Company picnic time!

SWEET!

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The Things Guys Do...

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So, you leave a guy (unsupervised) to do something food / clothing-wise, and the results are usually comical.

Ever wonder why young single guys are usually lean, hyperactive, and do not feed themselves well? The answer is really simple. They do not have wives / girlfriends that cook for them on a daily basis. Dinner becomes a sliced hotdog with cheese on a tortilla heated in the microwave for 45 seconds. And that's the night's that we feel like "cooking" versus just popping open a can of whatever we bought last month.

Take me, for instance. It took my wife a year to get me to stop wearing Browns and Blues together. And when I make dinner, I better MAKE dinner (got away with takeout the other day, w00t!). When I pick my own clothes in the morning, The Wife starts humming Johnny Cash songs.

So I'm sick right now. Little Man, aka The Plague Bearer, brought somethin' home from the play area at the local mall. The Wife caught it first. And now I have it.

Yay kids.

So, I am tossin', turnin', and have a runny nose. I'm not getting to sleep any time soon, so The Wife sez, "Go make yourself some Thera-Flu." (I have the regular cold and cough, not that maxed out stuff - lemon flavored, even)

OK.

Well, I looked where she said it was. Not there. Hmmm... what else makes me feel good. Hot Chocolate! We have some of that! Look there's the Hot Chocolate packets. Heat a cup of water... wait, I shoulda used milk, 'cause we have NesQuick! Oh well. I'll use the packet stuff.

Oh, hey, wouldja look at that... there's the Thera-Flu. We'll just add that, too.

So now I am drinking Hot Chocolate Lemon Nestle TheraFlu. Mmmm-mmm.

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I Remember...

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My eyes hurt. Stinging, actually. So I decide to leave my contact lenses out. My fiance is waiting impatiently for me to finish getting dressed so we could go to the gym.

Ugh. 0500h is WAYYYYY too early. (45 minutes left in our world as we knew it)

Do the usual stretching, some bag work, leg work, upper body...

Treadmill time.

BORRRRRING. Can not wait for sparring tonight. 'Tis a bit more exciting. Only thing to do is either zone or watch the TV mounted up ion front of me. However, as my earlier choice indicated, I am unable to see anything clearly beyond 5 feet. Looks like some kind of smokestack. Must be some piece on industry pollution or something.


Time to zone out fer a bit.

All done with the workout. Why are all those people staring at the tv in the snack area?

Well, we're home. Looks like the shower is taken and no double occupancy this morning. Oh well, can't win 'em all. What's on the news today?





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Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!?!? What's going on?!?!

That was what I remember of my morning on September 11, 2001. Back then, we ALL knew, every single American, that we had just been attacked.


And that our retribution and vengance would be swift, terrible, and unstoppable.

The company that I work for lost three people that day. We will not forget. A plaque dedicated to their memory is located inside our front entrance. That day, we united as a Nation. Politics were dropped, grievences momentarily forgotten.

Where were you? What were you doing when we were attacked and we finally recognized the war we were in?

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Promises, Promises...

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Well, it only took me for-friggin'-ever, however, I'm finally posting Tiny's B-day and other kiddo related stuff. The Timeline:

The day before the party, we went to Disneyland and took a ride on the Mad hatter Teacups:



Next, Tiny liberated a cup of pudding from Little Man (who was stuck crying in the high chair):


After cleaning up, the boys decided to take the party outside and flirt with the ladies passing by:


We, being responsible parents, decided to bring them inside. Tiny had some more "party energy" left, so we let him burn it off before bedtime (sidenote, HE grabbed the lampshade and put it on his head. Played a few games of "Where's the baby"):


The B-day arrives. Lunch was fish tacos (with homemade sauce!):



The water table is always a big hit. Grandma and Grandpa's best investment, toy-wise:


Then the wonderful life of splashing was discovered:



So I, being The Mighty Dad, had to refill the table:



However, certain interlopers had to be driven off:



Then, there was CAKE! (again, homemade, and The Wife's first attempt at fondant. She got the idea from watching this person during a Food Network Challenge)



Wow. That right there be a whole lotta pictures. Way fun time to be had. It was more than a tad bit warm that day; however, we still managed to get in about half of a day of birthday fun. So, now that I have killed everyone's bandwidth with pictures, I should be caught up on owing pictures.

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Sums And Changes...

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Well, the ever effable Ben Stein sums up my thoughts on this whole Katrina / New Orleans disaster.

And, Michael Yon apparently gave his site a facelift. After reading his latest, I admit that I am on the edge of my seat waiting for his next dispatch.

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ATTENTION LIBERALS AND THE DNC!!!

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This just in...

YOU LOST THE DAMN ELECTION BECAUSE YOU DO NOT PROVIDE SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS.

Why is it September of '05, and I have been seeing PRESIDENTIAL RACE OF '08 PROGRAMMING ON MY TELEVISION???!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!

Again, people who want power for the sake of being in power turn out to be Saddam / Hitler / Stalin. John Kerry was one of those people. He admitted it to the guy writing his Biography. Dreamed of it from a young age.

If you Mensa Candidates (trust me, I think you are the exact opposite) friggin' focused on taking care of the job at hand, we would be much further along as a society. Hell, you could have even made some positive influences, and possibly been able to win over a few people to your side of the aisle.

But, no.

You ignore everything else, and start running candidates for Prez again, thinking of all the great stuff yer gonna do once you have the White House... THREE AND A HALF YEARS FROM NOW.

If this is your example of providing solutions to problems:


then please just give up now, since nobody will EVER trust you with power again.

I think that those last two links are especially telling. The true voice of the Left versus the Right. Not stopping to help a woman in need who had a baby in her arms, JUST BECAUSE OF A STICKER?!?!??!?!?!?! And then all of the Lefty Blogs just spewing more Bushate while the ones on the Right offer ways to help? Which reminds me:

I have always respected this organization.

And these guys, though I do not share their beliefs, are usually first on hand with help in a situation like this.

Also, if you live in the San Diego area, try to make this event if possible. Info as follows:

Date: Tuesday, September 6th
Time: 5 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Location: Sports Arena parking lot
Donations: Checks or cash only

DNC now stands for Does Not Care. I think all of the non-looney lib peeps should wipe the slate clean (again) and start a new party; one that offers SOLUTIONS to problems, and wants to build America up, not tear her down to wallow in pity and guilt. Persoanlly, I hope I have offended those of you who are on the left, yet not the crazy element. I hope you take a good long look at what depths this formerly proud political party has fallen.

Gah, you bastards got me to rant again.

Curses.

Well, I promised a few posts ago that I would have pics up of happy kids, and that's what I'm gonna do next post.

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Ugh

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Well, it's 0345 h, and I am WIDE AWAKE. There was an earthquake earlier; however, I do not believe that is what is keeping me up.

Hmmmm....

Well, I haven't posted in a few days, mostly because I have been feeling like ranting and raving. I decided to leave that to the professionals, and take a few days off to calm myself.

Then Katrina hit, and after reading about the anarchy, the imbecile pundits, and the "how'd they pull THAT one outta their collective arses" Bush-caused-the-hurricane-cause-he-hates-black-people theories of the Left, I found new fuel for my rage.

I think they are deliberately being this asinine just to assassinate me via a stress-induced heart-attack.

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