Swimming in Conspiracy Theories

I subscribe to Alex Jones on Facebook, not that I'm such a big fan of conspiracy theories, but because I used to listen to his radio shows on late at night and found them both amusing and entertaining. (Along with Art Bell's Coast to Coast AM) It was also a good way for me to fall asleep, much better than listening to music. It wasn't the show or subject manner that amused me the most, but rather the callers.

The Alex Jones Facebook page is no different; just the other day there was a post about the recent Clintonville "booms" and it brought the crazies out of the woodwork.  Some posters claimed the govt. was responsible (which makes up the highest percentage of blame in most conspiracy theories) while others said it was aliens and a few blamed fracking (the hydraulic fracturing of formations to release the oil or gas.  Fracking is one of the latest controversial subjects that serves as the blame for people's water catching on fire, pollution of water aquifers and gingivitis. OK, just kidding on that last.  Fracking will be the subject of a future rant, so stay tuned!)

As is nearly always the case, there were posters who disregarded the subject at hand and wanted to bring up their own pet conspiracy theory.  One guy said we all should Google "New Navy Maps".  Usually these things don't interest me (as a Ron Paul supporter who frequents several forums devoted to him, I've grown extremely weary of this stuff), but I never had heard of that, so I did some quick research.

In a nutshell, this is supposed to be one of the new maps the U.S. Navy will use in the near-future.  As you can see by the graphic below, large sections of America will be flooded.

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NOTE:  Image was removed, prob. by Google/Blogger because I used it without permission.  To be honest. I didn't think it was such a big deal;  it was a crudely drawn map with areas of America underwater.  I tell ya, these conspiracy nutjobs don't have a sense of humor.   If whoever turned me in is reading this:  sorry you got upset, sorry you can't make a better graphic and sorry that you're such an anal retentive asshat.

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Many theories were put forth as to why so much of the U.S. will be submerged; Fracking (again ), global warming, intentional diverting of the Mississippi river (which doesn't account for the east and west coasts being under water) as well as many others.

I'd have to look at a topographical map, but it looks to me like the water just blows right through part of the Rocky Mountains.

If this comes to pass, it might be a good idea to buy stock in a boat building company or maybe get some of that good-for-nothing-else desert land in Arizona and New Mexico...which will be ocean front property then.

Maybe it would be better to invest in a company that makes tin foil?

The Story In Your Eyes - Moody Blues

One of my most favorite songs from one of my most favorite groups

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Your Inner Sloth Name

Find The Name Of Your Inner Sloth

My inner sloth name? "Bilbo The Loitering Dummy"

That's about right.

Multi-Tasking

I recently subscribed to List25 and this post hit my reader earlier this morning:

25 Things Psychology Tells You About Yourself

#20 validated something I've always believed, namely that people really can't multi-task. From the article:

We know, you are a professional multi-tasker. Unfortunately, if you really believe that, you are also overly self confident, because the truth of the matter is that humans cannot multi-task. At least not in the sense of the term that we often use. While you can certainly walk around while talking to your friend, your brain can only focus on one higher level function at a time, which means you cannot be thinking about two things at once.

While it doesn't qualify as a "pet peeve" of mine, it's always slightly annoyed me to hear people say that. I think I'm fairly capable of performing multiple tasks, but I've always known I can do only one thing at a time. For example, I can build something out of wood, but there's no way I...or anyone else...could cut out the pieces, sand them and nail them together all at the same time.


I've never heard a man saying he can multi-task - it's always been women who have said it. (and I'm not picking on the fairer sex here, just stating something from my own experience)  I think these women who say this confuse their ability to juggle tasks - go from one to another with ease- with the true definition of multi-tasking. I think women have superior organizational skills and can accomplish more in a shorter time than can men, but that's not multi-tasking.

The first time I ever heard the term used was by an old classmate who lived nearby me a few years ago.  We were both going back to school at the time and I used to go over and visit her and her family.  She would be "studying" with the TV on all the while yelling at her kids for being kids.  I mentioned to her that she really needed a quiet place to study and she replied that she was an excellent multi-tasker and could handle it.

She failed several courses that semester and had to take them over.

I forget what show I saw it on, but they did a hidden camera study of people sitting down to eat in a restaurant.  They filled the nearby tables with other people talking about all sorts of things:  behind the test subjects was a couple where the guy was breaking up with the girl, at another table were two women talking about the affairs they were having and at another table were some people talking about a crime they were going to commit.  They all had been instructed to talk in low voices but loud enough to be overheard by the test subjects. 

One of the tests featured a couple, a man and his wife.  The woman was trying her best to hear all the controversial talk and was getting frantic and her food was untouched.  She whispered to her husband "Did you hear that?"  The man looked up from shoveling food in his mouth and grunted "Huh?"  He said he had heard the couple talking about breaking up and decided it was none of his business so he tuned them out and went back to eating.

The gist of the study was that people can TRY to do several things at once but it won't work.  In fact, when they do try, they can't do even one thing very well. Cases in point: I wonder how many automobile accidents have been caused by the driver talking on a cell phone, changing the radio station or lighting a cigarette?  I was reading an article about the Autobahn in Germany, the no speed limit super highway and that most German cars (for sale in Germany) don't have cup holders because they know that driving should be the sole focus of the driver. (I don't know if that's true...just because I read it on the 'net doesn't make it so, but it makes a lot of sense)

Multi-tasking - ain't no such thing.

The rest of the article is interesting and I urge you to read it.  Something else I've always known is #6:

You can sustain a high level of attention for approximately 10 minutes

The operative word is "approximately". I think that 10 minute time is generous for most men. I know it is for me.

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UPDATE:

This was a featured article on my Yahoo start page this morning:

The High Cost of Multitasking

There is a poll embedded in the side column and 76% of the respondents claimed to be good at multi-tasking.

Word Verification Nixed

Sorry to all who have posted and had to go through that silly word verification thing in order to comment.  I didn't have it enabled, but with the latest upgrades to Blogger, I guess it defaulted to that setting.  I never noticed because as the "owner" of this blog, I wouldn't have to do it.

I HATE the word verification.  Sometimes I can't make out a "1" from an lower case "L" and others. 

Strange Blob on Radar

Some storms have been popping up in the region and I read on a Pampa woman's Facebook wall that she had seen storm chasing vehicles in town today, so I've been keeping an eye on the NWS Amarillo radar. We've been under a tornado watch since about three this afternoon.  Most of the storms are quite a ways away, down near Childress and moving on into Oklahoma. There are a few storms firing up near Perryton but they too are rapidly moving out of the area. I hope it stays calm; I'm not ready for a tornado. (now or any time)

The last few times I checked the radar, I saw an odd anomaly between here and Amarillo, close to White Deer. It looks like a small thunderstorm - most t-storms are ten miles or less in area - but it stayed in the same spot. The funny thing was it increased and then decreased in size when I set the radar in motion.

At first I thought it might be a grain elevator complex just to the north of Highway 60 - the distance looked about right, but I couldn't be certain, so I used the distance tool on the radar website and saw that it was around 17 miles from Pampa.

I then opened up Google Earth and measured 17 miles and realized the blob on the radar had to be caused by the Llano Estacado Wind Ranch™ near White Deer. I switched to street view in the application and couldn't see anything, but while the turbines can easily be seen from the highway, the closest one is around two miles away. The overhead view was better, however, and while a good side view of the turbines isn't available, they showed up, casting a long, detailed shadow.

If it's Chocolate Guinness Cake

It must mean it's Saint Patrick's Day.

I didn't need to look at the calendar to know today was Saint Patrick's Day.  There have been close to a thousand Irish themed recipes hit my reader this last week.  There were Irish cake truffles, potato cakes, many variations on the ubiquitous Irish stew, something called a "Dublin Coddle", another something called a "Champ", shepard's pie, and at least a dozen recipes for soda bread.

There were shamrock crackers, deviled eggs made to look like leprechaun pots of gold, and a bunch of different green cookie recipes. Then there were the brownies, cakes, fudge, milkshakes, cookies, bacon cheeseburgers, braised lamb shanks, etc. all made w/ Guinness, plus instructions on how to make green beer. (add food coloring, duh) 

Paying homage to the stereotype, real or imagined, that the Irish are big drinkers were quite a large number of Irish Car Bomb drink recipes (which not only reinforces the stereotype that the Irish are a nation of sots, but love to blow each other up over religion.), but it didn't stop there with that - there were Irish Car Bomb cakes, fudge, cookies, brownies, peppermint creams and cupcakes, not to mention at least a hundred recipes, both food and drink, featuring Bailey's Irish Cream.  There were also a large number of deserts made with Irish coffee.  One drink caught my eye, the Blarney Stone...but it had bitters in it, and if there was ever a nastier drink ingredient, I've never tried it. Sláinte, my ass.

At least St. Pats won't be back for a year.  Next up:  Easter and a thousand and one recipes using Peeps.  Gag.

You Might be a Leprechaun

You Might be a Leprechaun if.......

You snicker uncontrollably all the way through "Darby O'Gill And The Little People."

Your record collection is stocked only with very short artists, Paula Abdul, Sheena Easton, Prince, Phil Collins.

When you see a rainbow, you get a greedy little look in your eye.
(Arrrr, there's me pot o' gold!)

In your cupboard there is nothing but Lucky Charms cereal.

Every time you get your paycheck, you convert it into gold coins and bury it somewhere.

You insist on dancing a jig on your way to work each morning to the embarrassment of all your friends.

You've been under a rock for the past few years.

You just despise fairies.
("Wing Envy" if you ask me!)

You try to pick up women by saying "Ah, lassie, you have dazzling kneecaps, you do."

When you eat good food, you say it is "magically delicious,".

And the number one way you can tell you might be a Leprechaun:

You're three feet tall, Irish, have red hair, cuss, drink and wear green a lot!

Chokemeal

Woke up early and hungry the other morning, so I sleepily made my way to the kitchen to fix my usual breakfast, some McCann’s Quick and Easy Steel Cut Irish oatmeal.  I've been buying the fast cooking kind because it has the same amount of fiber as the regular and it's much faster to prepare.

I flicked on the switch and the light bulb came on, made a "pop" then went out. (and that always startles me, even though it's not a loud noise...must be something to do with my innate fear of electricity) I had some light bulbs, but couldn't see them because it was dark.  (much the same way when I look for my glasses after laying them down somewhere.  It's hard for me to find them because I can't see without my glasses!)

That was OK, though, because I've made the same thing hundreds of times before and the light from the lamp in the next room was just enough to let me barely make out what I was doing.  By feel, I flicked on the hot water kettle, got a bowl and put in exactly 1/4 cup of the oatmeal, sprinkled a little Splenda and a dash of cinnamon on top.  The kettle boiled, then clicked off and I poured enough water to cover the oatmeal.   I didn't need to measure because, as I said, I've done the same thing plenty of times before.

I gave it a stir, covered the bowl with a saucer to keep in the heat, then grabbed a handful of blueberries from the fridge and a banana from the bunch I had just purchased.  I put the blueberries in a coffee mug, then poured some hot water on them to rinse, poured out the water, then covered them again with hot water so they would be warm when I added them to the oatmeal. 

Coming back into my bedroom, I got on my computer, checked my email and such, giving my oatmeal about five minutes to absorb the water and get soft enough to eat.  After the required time, I went and retrieved my breakfast and the cup of blueberries and banana and brought them back to my computer desk.  I dumped in the berries, then cut up the banana into tiny slices and added them to the bowl. (I like to have a bite of banana with every spoonful)

Giving a quick stir to my breakfast, I filled up the spoon for my first food of the day.   My nose gave me a second's warning, but my reflexes aren't so great in the a.m. and I shoveled a heaping teaspoon of the oatmeal into my mouth.

Did you know chili powder and cinnamon look an awful lot alike in near darkness?

Hot Mel

Here's another mail that hit my spam folder.  At first, it looked real;  it had the official WindowsLive logo and since my Hotmail acct. had been hacked several months ago, it alarmed me.  After looking at the body of the message, I knew it was a phishing attempt.

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 Dear ,

We have recently detected an unusual activity on your account .

WindowsLive has placed a hold on your e-mail account untill this issue will be resolved.

To ensure that your e-mail service is not interupted, please confirm your information with us, by following the link below :

(URL deleted)

We are sorry for any inconvenience that this might have caused.

© WindowsLive 2012

WindowsLive is working 24/7 to ensure the protection of your account.
This e-mail may contain confidential and/or priviliged information. In case you are not the intented recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby notified not to read , distribute , disclose or otherwise use this transmision. If you have received this e-mail in error , please notify the sender immediately and then delete this e-mail/transmission from your system

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I deleted the URL, but it wasn't a valid one, anyway - it was masked.  Hovering over it with the cursor, I saw a different URL, one that went to a PHP page on imenasa.com.

Not sure why anyone would want to get into my Hotmail account;  I never use it for online financial transactions.  In fact, it's the address I give when I have to give an email addy for free samples or when I don't believe the site when they say they will keep my information private.  I checked the account the other day after not signing in for a couple of months and there were a half dozen newsletters I had never bothered to cancel when I pretty much quit using Hotmail and went to Gmail and there were over a thousand mails in the spam folder.

I should have noticed it was a phishing attempt from the get-go, as the reply to address was Hotmail Team services@hotmel.co.uk

Hotmel?

That reminded me of someone I used to know, a guy named Mel who was a derrick hand on a drilling rig I worked on a long time ago.  Mel was anti-social and didn't like the other hands visiting with him in the mud house .(where the derrick hand mixed the drilling mud/fluid)  That was OK; it was during the summer and the nights were hot, so there was no need to get in out of the cold like there was during the winter.  I can't remember the details, but I didn't work too long on that rig.

It was several months later and I was behind a rather large and hairy woman in line at a neighborhood convenience store. She was dressed fairly nice - a white blouse with blue trim and a short white skirt and was wearing nylons. As "she" turned around, I saw that it was Mel!   Trying my best to remain nonchalant, I spoke with him a little bit, reminded him that we had worked together on the rig.  He was a lot more cordial than he had been on that job. He asked what I was doing now, I asked the same and that was about it. He said goodbye and walked out the door, a little rocky on his high heels.

I turned to pay for my items and the clerk was staring at me, her mouth wide open.  "You know that guy?" she asked with an incredulous look on her face.  "Yeah." I told her.  "We roughnecked together on a drilling rig.".

She shook her head in disbelief.  "Can you believe the way he was dressed?"

"Disgraceful." I told her and she nodded in agreement, still looking astonished.  I went on:

"Wearing white after Labor Day.  Disgraceful."

Yup, Mel looked pretty hot from the back until you noticed the matted hair under his stockings.  When he turned around, it was another story.

Edit to add: I am Facebook friends with a local woman.  Looking through her friends list, I noticed Mel was her friend.  I messaged her and asked if he still liked to "dress up".  She wrote back, saying she had heard he had done that, but she never had seen him cross-dressing.  She said he was a devout Christian now.

Cheating Women

Just got this email in my spam folder:

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lonelyhousewife996@aol.com
lonelywife655@set.irisjuniper.com

Local Profiles of Cheating Women for (my email addy)

Browse Local Profiles of Cheating Women
You've Been Approved for a FREE PASS:
(URL deleted)

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Why would I want someone that everyone else has already had?

Free pass? No thanks, believe I'll pass.

Amazed by Stupidity

There was a post on the Amarillo Globe-News Facebook page about a woman who had been bitten by a brown recluse spider while in the Amarillo Rick Husband airport. The article didn't so much question that the bite occurred, only wondering why it took five months for the UK Mail Online story to report it.

Personally, I believe it happened and don't know/don't care why it took so long to be reported. What bothered me was a couple of comments on the Facebook page by some doofus who took offense at the story.

I'm a friend of a person who knows the victim of the spider bite personally. It happened. Quit being a crappy news source.

First of all, I don't think the guy read the story: My spidey sense is all messed up. He seems a little too defensive about the way it was reported. The author of the article did some investigating and neither the city manager nor the manager of the airport knew anything about the incident.

Be that as it may, the guy who was overly defensive didn't construct a sentence very well. In the above quote, it sounds like he personally knew the spider bite. Now, I'm often guilty of fracturing grammar usage, so it would be hypocritical of me to criticize him for making a simple error in his sentence construction. No, what annoyed me about the guy was him commenting after several other comments and saying this:

You people amaze me with stupidity.

Dictionary.com defines amaze as:
1. to overwhelm with surprise or sudden wonder; astonish greatly.
2. Obsolete. to bewilder; perplex.

Why would stupidity "amaze" you? I can understand using "dismays", "surprises" or any other number of adjectives or verbs, but "amaze"? There's a LOT of stupidity in the world - why would you be amazed at it? Wouldn't that make you a little bit stupid yourself?

I'll admit I'm sometimes amazed at the sheer volume of stupidity...amazed that such stupid people somehow manage to get on the internet. What really amazes me is that there are 10,200,000 results on Google for "amaze me with stupidity". Hope that Google link works.

I'll feel really stupid if it doesn't.

Soylent Tofu

Earlier, I opened up my reader to find several hundred recipes from my foodgawker feed. Along with the other recipe sites I subscribe to, it's often overwhelming to sort through them all. I might not open every post, but I do like to scan the titles for interesting recipes and sometimes go to the website and save them. Far too often the most intriguing recipes are in another language and there's no translator widget on the page. Also, the ingredients are in metric measurements and it's just too much trouble to convert. It's much easier to just Google the recipe and find an English version.

Quickly looking over the titles, I stopped on one - I couldn't believe what I saw! I've always been slightly dyslexic and sometimes it makes for a confusing moment...and a few seconds later, a laugh out loud one.

I thought it said "Human Tofu"

(if you don't get the post title reference or haven't seen the movie: Soylent Green)

Even though I had heard of Hunan, a province of South-Central China, known for its three styles of cuisine, I didn't read it that way.

Here's the recipe that I misread.

Splitter

A fun but frustrating game.  Use the knife (click and drag) to create a chain reaction and get your smiley face (on the tether/joint) to the exit and collect stars along the way. You can split joints and wood objects only. You're not limited to just one knife cut, but each level has a different limit.

The first one is fairly easy, but they get harder as you get to the next levels. Thank goodness for restarts!

Splitter

Anything Goes - AC/DC

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As much as I like AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top", I think this song has overtaken it as my favorite AC/DC song.

Ever Clicked the Button?

The time button at the top of the page? If you click it, it will tell you how many milliseconds you've spent on the page as well as how many there have been since 1970. I don't know why the script's creator picked that particular date - maybe it was the day he/she was born, dunno. I tried to alter it once, but screwed it all up, so I just left it as it was.

According to both Blogger and Google site analytics, most visitors to this pathetic excuse for a blog stay less than a minute.

I can't say as I blame 'em.

Top 10 Unbreakable Sports Records

Last week, several sports talk shows were talking about the anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game and saying it was a record that could never be broken. The subject then turned to other sports records that would forever remain. Several were brought up and some added to the mix while others were discarded as unlikely to be broken, but possibly could be.
This list hit my reader earlier this a.m. and I think it's probably the definitive list.

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Number 10 - Rocky Marciano's 49-0

Number 9 - Michael Schumacher's 7 championships

Number 8 - Ty Cobb's .366 career batting average

Number 7 - Nolan Ryan's 7 no-hitters

Number 6 - Wayne Gretzky's 215-point season

Number 5 - Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point night

Number 4 - John Wooden's 88 straight wins

Number 3 - Cy Young's 511 wins

Number 2 - Jerry Rice's 22,895 receiving yards

Number 1 - Cal Ripken's 2,632 consecutive games

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I'm not a racing fan, so I couldn't pontificate on Schumacher's record, but it does sound like it's the "weakest" of the ten. If I had to pick another that could possibly be broken, then perhaps Nolan Ryan's no hitter total might be. Jerry Rice's receiving total would be next in line, but I wouldn't bet on any of those three ever being broken. The rest will probably stand for all-time.

I did a little research and found other, similar lists and some lists that took the total even higher:

15 Unbreakable Sports Records

The 25 Most Unbreakable Records in Sports History

The 50 Most Unbreakable Records in American Sports

College Letters

From the archives:

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College Letters

Dear Dad,

$chool i$ really great. I am making lot$ of friend$ and $tudying very hard.  With all my $tuff, I $imply can't think of anything I need. $o if you would like, you can ju$t $end me a card, a$ I would love to hear from you.

Love,
Your $on

Dear Son,

I kNOw that astroNOmy, ecoNOmics and oceaNOgraphy are eNOugh to keep even an hoNOr student busy.  Do NOt forget that the pursuit of kNOwledge is a NOble task and you can never study eNOugh.

Love,
Dad

Dart the Sheep

How fast are your reactions? Click the tranquilizer button whenever you see a sheep leaving the flock and running for freedom. There are five sheep to stop, but be warned! There's a 3 second penalty if you shoot a dart when no sheep are running.

Dart the Sheep

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I've always had pretty good reactions, but according to this game, I'm only a "Bobbing bobcat" and it said I need to improve and should get a cup of coffee. (my avg. time per sheep was .23 seconds)

Thunderstruck - AC/DC

This tune makes my heart beat faster.

Power of Observation

Test your power of observation about things you see every day.

As you can see by the screenshot, I did "pretty good", but after answering wrong on a few, I thought "I should have known that!".

Test your power of observation

Having a Ball

Professional Wrestler Sues Opponent After Losing Testicle From Match

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Ouch. At least he still has one. OTOH, he'll never be able to again say "Y'know, I'd give my right testicle to...."

Suing for the loss of a testicle - can't say as I blame him. I'd just hope the lost testicle wouldn't be introduced as evidence in court.

He's really lucky to have lost just the one. If he'd lost both, he would have to change his name to "Sue".

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I published this post, then remembered a joke. (What else is new?)

Two cannibals had ambushed a missionary and had sat down to eat him. One cannibal told the other that when they ate someone, he always got less because the other ate faster and always got to eat more. They agreed to start on opposite ends and finish off in the middle.

Munching along, the cannibal who started at the head said to the one who started at the feet: "Hey, how's it goin'?"

"I'm having a ball!" replied the other cannibal.

 "Slow down!" admonished the one cannibal. "You're still eating too fast!"

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Update: saw this article earlier: Crocodile bites off man's testes
Ouch.

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Wow, my internet has been going nuts here lately. Just saw this recommendation when I was shopping Amazon earlier.

3B Scientific W43014 Testicle Self Exam Form

Wonder if they know something I don't?

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Wow, too strange. Got this email earlier:

INTERESTING OBSERVATION

1. The sport of choice for the urban poor is BASKETBALL.

2. The sport of choice for maintenance level employees is BOWLING.

3. The sport of choice for front-line workers is FOOTBALL.

4. The sport of choice for supervisors is BASEBALL.

5. The sport of choice for middle management is TENNIS.

 And....

6. The sport of choice for corporate executives and officers is GOLF.

THE AMAZING CONCLUSION:

The higher you go in the corporate structure, the smaller your balls become.

It Sucks When It Blows

Got out to pay some bills earlier and driving back home, saw this stop sign; it looked like the scene from "Close Encounters" where the alien ship is making the mailboxes and signs shake. It's a little blurry because I took it looking through the windshield. (I didn't want to step outside!) The weatherman just said Amarillo had had gusts of 62mph.

Just up the street, heading into town, is a reduced speed zone down to 35 mph. I got off the gas, but had to use the brake to get under the speed limit!

Too bad I wasn't making a trip heading that direction...would've got the best gas mileage ever! The only people who love these sort of days are those who own wind turbines.

How Long - Ace

Was going through my mp3 jukebox and listened to this song I hadn't thought of in a long time. Always loved the melody and the lyrics which surely came from a heartbreak of the songwriter. I read a little about it while searching for the video; I was surprised to see it wasn't as big a hit in the UK as it was in the US.

Mystery Ingredient

One of my favorite recipe sites is Recipe Lion. It offers a newsletter, a recipe box to save your favorites in, specialty and holiday recipe collections in downloadable pdf format and many other features.

In today's newsletter, one recipe caught my eye: (because I'm a poor man) Poor Man's Steak. I clicked on the link in the email and went to the site, hoping that it would be a recipe worthy of saving. It seemed easy enough and sounded like it would be a tasty and inexpensive dish to prepare.  I saved the recipe, then had a closer look at the ingredients. Here's what I saw:


One of what? A can of some other soup? A diced onion? The finger you lopped off slicing up the loaf? A mystery ingredient, indeed.

I worry about "mystery ingredients" when I get fast food at places where it looks like just teenagers are working

Holidays for the Lonely

Laura Kightlinger: Holidays for the Lonely:

It goes: Christmas, New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day. Is that fair to anyone who's alone? Those are all days when you gotta be with someone. And if you didn't get around to killing yourself at Christmas or New Year's -- boom! there's Valentine's Day for you. I think there should be just one more holiday after Valentine's Day, just for the stragglers -- and it should be called, Who Could Love You?

auscultation

From the Word of the Day:

auscultation - aus·cul·ta·tion [aw-skuhl-tey-shuhn];noun

Medicine/Medical .

1. the act of listening, either directly or through a stethoscope or other instrument, to sounds within the body as a method of diagnosis.

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I'm sure this would be a great technique for diagnosing heart or lung problems, perhaps even something to do with the circulatory system,  but since I'm no medical expert, I can't think of any other problems that could be figured out by sound. When my bones creak and pop, I know that's just a sign of old age.

I guess having a chronic gas problem could be diagnosed by sound, but I figure smelling it would be the first clue.

Vaguebooking

Since I'm ranting about Facebook.... (see post just below this one)

I ran across a great new word the other day: Vaguebooking

From Urban Dictionary: An intentionally vague Facebook status update, that prompts friends to ask what's going on, or is possibly a cry for help.

Mary is: "wondering if it is all worth it"


Mark is: "thinking that was a bad idea"

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I used to get those from a couple of my younger family members who are Facebook friends. Even though I didn't know what they were talking about, I chalked it up to teenaged angst. I'd message them "What's wrong?" and usually get a vague reply. "Oh, just life isn't fair." or something similar.

Yep, teenaged angst.

I've got a Facebook friend, a grown woman only a couple years younger than me, who does it too, though. That's when it's annoying. Her vague Facebook posts almost always are something like: "Don't judge me! You don't know what I'm going through!" or variations on the same theme. At first, I and other of her Facebook friends would ask her what was wrong, tell her we were there for her, etc. I've quit responding and most others have, too.

Frankly, it pisses me off. If you're angry enough with someone to post something like that, name them! Hell, I'd enjoy some drama and dissension far more than I do these vague threats.

It's my humble opinion that she craves the attention.  Maybe she thinks a majority of her Facebook friends should reply to each and every one of her posts and this is the way to see who reads her wall.  She's one of those people, however, who shares a dozen or more things each and every day.  I share stuff, too, but try to keep it at a minimum - to share things I find really odd or funny. 

(I belong to a group whose owner posts at least two dozen times/day. It's almost overwhelming.  The worst thing is she constantly re-posts things.  She does change them up some, though.  Some weeks it's bluebonnets, others it's George Strait photos.  Enough! I enjoy the group otherwise. I just wish she'd focus more on quality than quantity)

Since finding the new word "vaguebooking", I've been trying to think of one for the posts people do far too often; the "if you're my friend" type, the ones that implore you to re-post and share that post.  I'm thinking something along the lines of "disgracebooking" because of the way they try to shame you into re-posting.

Stop It!

If you use Facebook - as do many of my friends and family who follow me in this blog - you've probably received a request to play a game. Now, I spend far too much time online as it is and already have too many addictions websites I visit every day and don't need to spend even more time playing games. I recently had a games request from a long-time online friend's son and hated to turn it down, but felt I had to. I probably should have messaged him to say why I didn't want to play the game.

It's not just that, though; if you use Facebook, you've probably noticed strange messages on friend's walls, saying they've entered a contest and you should too, or you need to view some video or visit some link where you'll see something "Shocking!". Sometimes it's even posted on your own wall. Those are the "rogue" applications that can take over your account. What's worse, if you click on the link and your computer isn't completely protected, you stand a good chance of having some nasty malware installed.

For example, I just got a request from a Facebook "friend" to install an application - it was a game called "Messages From God". Now, if I want a message from God, I'll pray for one. He's seen fit to send me messages before, some I didn't want to hear.

Anyway, here's a screenshot of the request. I cut out the application name while I was deleting my personal information.(I wasn't going to name it, but since they don't care about MY privacy, why should I theirs?)

Click graphic for larger view

As you can see, the application wants permission to access your basic information, even when you're not using the app.  If you accept the app., you also grant it permission to send you email...IOW, to spam you.  Since it can access your Facebook friend's information, that means it can also spam them. Since using Facebook, my email has had a ten-fold increase in spam.  I'm certain that some of the applications my "friends" have installed are responsible.

That's not all;  as I mentioned earlier, you're also giving the application permission to post "on your behalf".  That's not only annoying to me, it infuriates me. (I post enough stupid stuff as it is - I don't need an application doing it for me.)

I've blocked the application and blocked any more application requests from my Facebook "friend".  (to paraphrase an old adage: "With friends like that, you might as well have an enema")  I've posted on my wall several times that I don't play games, don't want to be sent requests.  *Some* people don't care - or read - what you post, seems like.  If I get one more request from her, I'll just unfriend and block HER.

Facebook - other than that - is a great social media, but they sure need to do something about the security issues. It would also be nice to be able to just go into your settings and block ALL application requests.

Prop Bets on the Super Bowl

I'm not a gambler, not unless you count buying lottery tickets when the jackpot is huge or the occasional scratch ticket if I have a spare dollar or two, but I've always been fascinated by proposition bets (AKA "prop bets") They're specific bets on certain things happening in the game, such as heads/tails on the coin flip and who wins the toss, who scores first and whether it be by pass or run.

The first score was on a safety and that paid 50-1. Would've been nice to have a thousand dollars on that prop bet...but who in their right mind would have risked that much money? I guess someone who wasn't in their right mind and/or had a lot of money to risk. Not me. (I don't have that kind of money, but many say I'm not in my right mind. The odds on that are pretty much even)

Other bets were more esoteric, such as would Kelly Clarkson's bare belly be showing when she sings the national anthem? Will she forget any words to the song? How long will it last? (on the last - Odds: Over 1 Minute 35 Seconds (-115), Under 1 Minute 35 Seconds (-115) )

You could even place a bet on who the MVP will thank first. (Odds: God (+125), Teammates (+200), Does not thank anyone (+250), Coaches/Owner (+400), Family (+500)  I think it was a pretty safe wager that he'd say "I'm going to Disney World!"

There were over/under bets on who many times Tom Brady's wife appeared on TV and if they'd show his son AND if he would be wearing a Brady jersey. (I didn't look those or a few others up, sorry. If you're really interested, I'm sure you could find that information. I'm just hittin' the highlights.)

What color will the Gatorade be that is dumped in the winning head coach? Odds: Clear (Even), Yellow (+200), Orange (+250), Lime Green (+550), Red (+800), Blue (+1000). I haven't had any Gatorade in years and years, not since my own football days. I once drank too much of it after a practice and promptly threw it all back up. It was orange colored, btw.

The prop bets don't end with the game's end, either; you could also place a bet on where the Dow Jones Average will be on the day after the game. Speaking of the Dow Jones: I've always thought the stock market was the most extreme form of gambling....well, that, and cheating on your spouse. Wonder what the odds would be on who would shoot you first? Your spouse or the spouse of the person you cheated with?

More prop bets at: Super Bowl 2012 Prop Bets: The Weirdest Ways to Make Money

Bogus Barclays Bank Bilking

This was in my spam folder earlier; it's not the first similar one I've seen, but it got me to wondering just how many people fall for this scam

---

Important Security Message !!

Barclays Bank Plc.
security@barclays.co.uk

Dear Customer, Your account is suspended due to the number of incorrect login attempts. For your protection, we've suspended your account .

To reactivate your account please download the document attached to this e-mail to review your account activity.

If not completed until February 07, we will be forced to close your account .

Note: If you received these e-mail in your BULK/SPAM section please add to your address book member@barclays.co.uk

Thank you,
Customer Support Service.

Copyright © Barclays IBank Plc. Limited.
All rights reserved.

---

Of course, I don't live in the UK nor do I have a bank account there. I guess they just use a "shotgun" mailing, sending to harvested email addresses in hopes they'll find a few who DO have an acct. with Barclays. Note the official copyright notice - added there to put someone at ease and convince them it was an "official" mailing.

I wouldn't open up that attachment for a hundred bucks...or pounds, even. They can just go ahead and "close" my account.  I'm probably overdrawn, anyway.

50-50 Weather

This was today's question at StartSampling, one of the websites I visit every day. I've posted about it before, but for anyone who isn't familiar with the site, it features recipes, contests, trivia and a daily poll. (which is great for me, because those are among my favorite things) Today's poll question is about the weather and as you can see, the responses were equally divided.

I reluctantly voted for the hotter temperature; I'd rather it be somewhere in the middle, even an avg. of the two - somewhere around 70 degrees. Even though 105 deg. is too warm, I'd rather suffer through the heat than sub-freezing temps.

OTOH, my grandpa worked out in all sorts of weather and he always said he'd rather work in the cold than the heat.  His reasoning was you could always put on more clothes, but there were only so many you could take off. 

I never cared for working in either extreme; during frigid weather I've worn so many clothes it was hard to move and during really hot weather I sweat like crazy, pouring down into my eyes where I can't see.  (I've heard people say they "sweat like a pig" or dog, but pigs and dogs don't sweat) I've never worked at a job where I could take off nearly all my clothes, but if I did, I think I'd like to work with a bunch of women.

Vive les femmes poilues!

Saw a photo of a beautiful fighter jet earlier today; it was identified as a French Dassault Rafale
 

I'm not so sure it's a French plane, though.

There's no hair under the wings.

Late Arrival for the Soul Train

I was saddened last night to hear of the suicide of Soul Train host Don Cornelius.

Soul Train was a favorite Saturday afternoon program of mine and I liked watching it more than I did the popular American Bandstand. The dancing was better and I preferred Motown over the mostly pop music featured on Bandstand.

Thinking of Cornelius made me think of Soul Train which in turn made me remember a black guy I used to know.  I had known him (lets call him "Freddy") since high school; he was an excellent basketball player and all-around athlete.  He lost a chance at a big school scholarship when his team was playing its biggest rival and one of the opposing players called him a racial slur.  Freddy knocked the guy on his butt and was immediately ejected from the game - the other team's intent.  Later, the player apologized to Freddy and told him his coach had told him to say what he did. 

After high school, Freddy got mixed up with drugs and lost two very well-paying jobs and it was after getting fired the second time that he approached me for a job.  At the time, I was drilling the daylight shift on a rig;  my immediate boss was a mutual friend of Freddy's and I figured he had told Freddy that I needed another hand.

With much misgiving, I told Freddy that I'd hire him, but he needed to know that the drilling superintendent was of another generation and had many of the prejudices of his era.  Oh, he wasn't what I'd call an extreme bigot, because he had hired a crew of Hispanics, but he did make some inappropriate jokes behind their backs.

Freddy said he didn't care, he really needed the job and that he'd work hard and would, when possible, stay away from the boss and try to prove himself. 

I nodded, but went on to warn him that I expected him to be on time when I picked him up in the morning.  I told him we left very early, leaving in plenty of time to allow for a sensible driving speed and time enough to stop at the store before leaving town.  He asked when we left and I told him the time - he winced, but still was steadfast that he needed the job.  Again I warned him that I wouldn't wait on him, that I'd leave town without him if he wasn't ready and that I'd fire him if I had to wait on him more than once.  He assured me that he wouldn't let me down.

I'd roughnecked with Freddy before and knew he had drank beer on the job.  I warned him that wasn't tolerated and neither would be drug use on the location.  He promised he wouldn't do either.

We stood there in silence for a minute, me wondering if he would hold up his end of the bargain and I think he was wondering the same thing.  He then asked what time we got back to town after work.

"Depends." I replied. "If the relief gets there on time and everybody doesn't dally around and no one has to stop to use the bathroom or get beer or a coke on the way home, we roll into town around four or so." (It was a long drive) I went on:

"Since you live closest to me, I would pick you up first and drop you off last, just makes the most sense and saves me time and distance picking up/dropping off the crew. You'd probably get home around 4:30."

Freddy didn't hesitate. "I can't work for you." he said with an abrupt turnaround. "Why not?" I asked, incredulous with his change-of-heart.

"Soul Train starts at 4." he said. "I can't miss Soul Train."

---

Edit to add: I bumped into Freddy's cousin the other day while getting water. We exchanged the usual pleasantries, asking about one another's families and all that and I was pleased to hear that Freddy was living in another state and was clean and drug-free and had a family. The guy told me he (him, not Freddy) had been working in a local grocery store and had thought he had seen me there, but wasn't for sure if it was me. I told him "Well, you know all us white boys look alike." He laughed and said "You still crazy, for sure!"

Happy Groundhog & Garazon Day!

A"bump" since I'm too busy celebrating Groundhog Day to actually put up a new post about it.

 

(have to use a graphic because Blogger won't let me put in those special characters) means "grin" in IM chat or forum posts, but it in this case it also stands for "Garazon", one of my best and long-time online pals. The G for grin was first used by our mutual friend, Brad and I guess Garazon and I picked it up around the same time. It became a "nickname for the nickname" for me with Garazon and that's how I started abbreviating his screen name.

Garazon and I "met" in MSN Groups, but started to become good friends when he made a flashy Halloween page for his group, complete with embedded midi sound file and some other special effects. Making a page was one of my goals when I first got online and I was determined to learn how to do it, so I started asking Garazon all sorts of questions. I'm sure he grew weary of me bothering him, but he should have been flattered if he had only known how hard it was...and still is...for me to ask for assistance. 

I hope we don't ever lose touch, but even if we do, I'll always remember Garazon because of our time in Groups and that he once said Groundhog Day was one of his favorite holidays. I don't remember exactly WHY he said it was, but I thought that was very funny and every year since we met a dozen years ago in Groups, I always think of him on this day.

The 1993 Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day is also one of my favorite flicks and I try to watch it whenever it's on. I link to IMDb often when I post about movies, but sometimes I get so annoyed when reading posts about my favorite movies; the site is full of argumentative and insulting posts.  I can understand contention when discussing politics and religion, but movies?  Good Grief.  It gets extremely nasty when a movie contains plot elements of either of those two subjects and sometimes people try to interject one or the other into the discussion when there's no reason to do so.

Anyway...just heard on the news that the groundhog saw his shadow and there will be six more weeks of bad weather.  That doesn't mean much here in the Texas Panhandle; it was a beautiful, fairly warm day yesterday but this evening is supposed to bring freezing temps and rain and possibly snow. 

What It's Like

To Be Me

Problems With Quiz

Well, more problems than I usually have. Most of the other can be chalked up to stupidity and ignorance, but this one is beyond my control. (come to think of it, so are the others) I tried to play earlier and got an error message that said the site was too busy. I waited an hour, then tried again and got this one:

Internal Server Error

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, root@localhost and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

---

I hope that the clock isn't still running after one of my first attempts; it looked as though the site was going to load, but after about a minute or so, I gave up. I will try again later.

---

Update: I just tried again and got this error msg.:

FunTrivia.com We are temporarily experiencing some technical issues. Please try back later. We apologize for any inconvenience!

---

I had gone to Down or Not just to make sure it wasn't something on my end. When it said FunTrivia was up, I went to the site (not ToTG Trivia Tournament) and got the above msg. Oh well.

OMG

I'm gonna be rich!

---

Note: I have never used "OMG" in mails, posts or anywhere else on the internet before now. It's not a phrase - abbreviated or not - that I use in "real life" so I don't use it online. I don't invoke God's name when I curse nor when I'm exclaiming...not that I don't use other offensive words. (WTF you say?) I used it here because of the subject of this scam-spam email. As I always do when I post these emails, I've included their email address(es) so the web spiders will pick up on it and other spammer/scammers will spam the spammer/scammer.

---

Mrs. Julian Martinez Reply-To: julianmartinezmrs@kimo.com 

Dear Beloved in Christ, 

I am Mrs. Julian Martinez an aging widow suffering from long time illness. I have some funds I inherited from my late husband, the sum of 7.5 Million Pounds and I needed a very honest and God fearing Christian that will use the fund for God's work, I found your email address from the internet and decided to contact you. Please if you would be able to use the funds for the Lord's work, kindly reply me at (julianmartinezmrs@kimo.com) to explain more for your full understanding 

Yours in the Lord, 

Mrs. Julian Martinez.

---

I've said this before, but I think there's an extra-warm corner of Hell for people who bilk others in God's name.

Rumspringa

That's a new word I learned today. I saw it in a reply to a post in Big Hollywood - the topic was Katy Perry, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson and how they were raised in a church, but weren't being Christian in their careers. I like to read Big Hollywood but don't really like it when they interject religion or politics into their articles. (because 99% of Hollywood is liberal and the posts and replies mostly bitch and moan about it... and criticisms of religion almost always wind up sounding "holier than thou".)

One of the replies said the girls might be on their Rumspringa "and they'll get over it." From the context, I had an inkling as to what the word meant, but I wasn't familiar with it. Wiki says Rumspringa is a time when Amish youth "sow their wild oats". It was an interesting and informative read, so I did a little more research. I've read about Amish kids being busted for selling/using drugs and I seem to recall a recent murder that shocked the Amish community, but the funniest thing I have read about Amish crime has been beard cutting assaults. (Well, funny to me, but I wasn't the one getting my beard cut off.)

Maybe I'm insensitive about that, but I've never been able to grow a beard, just a mustache and Amish men don't wear mustaches. (I'm not sure about the Amish women) I could never be Amish, I guess, because I like my 'stache and my TV and microwave.

I also found out there's a band named Rumspringa and this is where I'd normally add the video, but I'm not in the mood for alternative music.

I do know an Amish joke, though:

What goes "clip clop clip clop - BANG BANG BANG - clip clop clip clop"?

An Amish drive-by shooting.

So Far, a Lucky Week

This just hit my email inbox:

I forget why I entered the contest; I'm sure the Grand Prize was something I really wanted or I wouldn't have made the effort. A magazine subscription isn't too bad of a consolation prize - I love to get magazines and after reading, they're good to line my trashcan with or to tear pages out of and put under the Beej's water and feed bowls. I used to take my old magazines to the laundromat but they would get stolen within the day.

It's been a fairly lucky week for me; I won this magazine subscription, fifty extra points for correctly answering the movie trivia question at StartSampling and last night I won $12 on the Powerball lottery.

It was also a very lucky week for some young punk in a red car.  I was out earlier and about to turn onto a busy street.  The light was red and there was a car ahead of me.  I started slowing as I normally do, easing to a stop. (saves gas, saves brake wear) There wasn't but a few car lengths between me and the other vehicle when the red car zoomed around me and cut in front.  I had to slam on my brakes to avoid slamming into the car.  I saw him glancing in his rear-view mirror and I gave him the bird.  He didn't look back again.  I was itching for a fight- he had scared me and that just about makes me angrier than anything else.

As we sat there waiting for the light, I got more angry.  He wasn't saving any time, he had to wait anyway.  When the light changed, he sped off, zipping from lane-to-lane w/out signalling. He also ran a yellow light when he got to the next intersection and turned. 

I wasn't in a very good mood, anyway.  I had tried to drop off my vehicle insurance payment last week, but there was a sign on the office door "Be Back Soon". I went back by several times, but there was no one there.  I put the check and invoice on the passenger seat and forgot about it.  When I got in my truck earlier, I noticed it and remembered that it was due tomorrow.  I got to the insurance office and saw the same sign on the door.  I went to the Dollar Store, did a little shopping and dropped back by only to see the business was still closed.  I killed a little more time and went back - the sign was still up, the door still locked.

Fuming, I went home and called the after hours number listed on the door.  Nothing.  I then called the regular number and a woman answered.  I told her I had been trying to bring my payment by and wanted to make sure someone was there to take it.  "Oh, I stepped out for a little while." she told me.  Yeah, a week is a "little while" I thought, but didn't say it.  She then informed me that the boss was gone, had been for a week.  That made sense then - she was enjoying her four hour lunch breaks.   She's lucky I didn't lose my temper with her.  She's even luckier I didn't have to file a claim for rear-ending that red car.

I'm lucky to win the few things I have this week.  To be honest - I'm even more lucky I haven't stroked out.   I seem to be getting more and more angry at things here lately.  I got a little angry earlier at a reply to my license plate post on Facebook.  An old friend and schoolmate wrote "Why would I want a license plate with 'Mike' on it?"  It shouldn't have, but it hit me wrong.  I started to reply "Well, it would be just as well....'smartass' wouldn't fit."  I've been a little snarky on Facebook myself lately, though, and didn't want to be a hypocrite.

To top all that off, the stray cat I've been feeding has been in heat. (I thought she was pregnant, but she is just fat.  I've cut back on her food- all she gets is B's leftovers now) I love cats, but the only thing more disgusting than the smell of cat urine is a female cat in heat.  Thanks to her "condition", there has been a dozen tomcats hanging around.  I've been woken up a dozen times  this week by the caterwauling;  it's either her and a male cat or two males dueling for her affections.  I've discovered one thing about cats;  you can't tell whether they're fightin' or foolin' around by the sounds they're making. 

It would probably help a great deal if I quit frequenting political forums.  If the Republicans nominate Gingrich, then they will have to give up the "party of family values" label they brag about.  If they nominate Santorum, then they'll lose any chance of getting a gay person to vote for them ever again. Both of them are a little...let's say "ethically challenged".  The Republicans definitely need to stop touting that they're for limited govt. and need to quit pretending they're conservative. (and the TEA Party has allowed itself to be hijacked by the neocons) I'm lucky I'm too old for the draft, because we'll need one for the war machine if we take on Iran.

I know I lowered my blood pressure at least fifty points by not reading posts in Dallas Cowboy forums.  The "Tony Homo" posts infuriated me.  Probably Santorum supporters.

Job Offer

Checking my spam folder, I saw a mail with my full name as the subject line.  I get those now 'n then, but they usually just say "Mike" ("check out these hot women!" or "Mike, want a bigger...? Well, you know.) I opened it up to see this job offer:

Tricia Casey
geCaseyTisricruia@hotmail.com

Greetings.

Available opening: Payment Manager
Location : any place within the United States
Terms of compensation: percentage + bonuses
Work-at-home job only (no office positions are offered)

Basic information about company:

Our financial company is one of long-time leaders on the investment, online payments and finance management markets for the last few years. Top quality standard and level of services we provide have gained us the highest ratings both from individuals, and from large businesses and corporations that operate in various fields. We work in different business industries, that is why we look for initiative and goal-centered people who may not possess specific necessary skills to join our staff. The majority of our customers until this point were situated in Europe and Asia Our headquarters is located in London. In the coming years we will enlarge our branch network to America and Canada as well.

General description of the opening:

Your duties will include providing support to our financial department. This is a remote free schedule job, which will demand not more than 15 hours weekly. We offer very competitive salary. You will get your compensation in your account; it will be available immediately on the payment day. We cover all extra expenses that may appear during the transactions processing.

Our requirements:

- Computer and access to the Internet, MS Office or compatible office software;
- No criminal record;
- Confidentiality and discretion;
- Attention to detail;

We would like you to become a member of our staff. We are confident that the terms of employment and the salary that we offer to our employees are very competitive and will persuade you to make the best decision.

To apply for this position: Please reply to this message and we will get back to you within the next 48 hours.
-------------
I did a search for Tricia Casey and found several listings.  Of course, that's not an unusual name and I found several different people with that name. Checking a LinkedIn profile, I discovered that this Tricia was indeed a personnel mgr. for a company that seemed similar to the one described in the text of the spam mail I received.  I also went to her Facebook page and thought about messaging her, but decided I wouldn't because I'm convinced it's a scam.

What makes me think that?  Well, for starters I would think that a company which had its own website would also give its employees email accounts with their domain or company name.  I have known of companies that used Hotmail for their commercial business, but that's been ten years ago.

I've also never applied for a job online, never given my current employment status to any site. (When filling out surveys, I always check "prefer not to answer" on most of the personal details.)

I'd also think they would have named the company. Wouldn't a legitimate offer include who wants to hire you?

The job offer sounds good though...almost too good to be true. (and you know if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't good or true)  Who wouldn't want to have an easy job working only fifteen hours/wk?

The clincher that it's a scam is in the sketchy financial details. I'm sure if I had replied to the email that I would have been asked to fill out a form w/ my SS# and then I would have been immediately "hired" and in the next email, asked for my banking details so they could "deposit" my earnings.  Yeah, sure...more like drain my account, ya reckon?

I'd bet a hundred bucks someone has "appropriated" this woman's name and did enough research to make this unnamed company sound similar enough to the company that employs her just to make it sound legit. 

I hope no one falls for this scam, but I'm sure there will be some gullible folks who will.  What with how the economy is, there will probably be thousands of applicants.  I have a little sympathy for those thick enough to take the bait, but get furious at those low-lifes who take advantage of the desperate.

It's a good thing I'm not King - if I found someone doing this, I would have - or do it myself - their fingers crushed with a hammer so they couldn't get on a computer until they healed up.  Next offense - if they had the audacity to do it again -  they'd be gutted with a dull knife and thrown in a shark tank.

Three strikes are for baseball;  two strikes are more than enough for scam artists.

National Pie Day

Today - what's left of it - is National Pie Day. (I always thought a better day would have been on March 14th - 3.14, get it?) My reader has been filled up with pie recipes from all my food sites, which is good for my food porn addiction, especially as I love pie as much as I do any other dessert.

One interesting recipe for lemon pie hit my reader earlier;  it was made without gelatin because the author didn't like using animal by-products. (I've not been a fan of Jello since I learned what gelatin was made of...plus having to eat it the few times I've been in the hospital.  It always astounded me how they could make something simple taste so nasty)  She - the creator of the recipe - mentioned that the pie was not only vegetarian, but kosher.  That made me wonder just how many vegetarian Jews there are, but decided I'd save that search for a rainy day.

She had a novel idea for the crust; instead of making one out of a regular pastry dough or one made from graham crackers, she made a crust from animal crackers.

Novel...and ironic, considering it was a vegetarian dessert.

Blogger Bookmarklet

I have a "Share This" bookmarklet for Facebook, but since I've decided to do less there and return to my blog, I wanted a way to share articles in here without having to come to the blog and starting a post, then adding the link. There are add-ons for Firefox that will do that, but I wanted an easier way. I did a search and found a bookmarklet that allows me to do that.

What is BlogThis! ? - Blogger Help

Just go to the above page and drag the link to your browser's bookmark menu. It should open up the menu and just drop it in, easy!

The only thing that the Blogger post window lacks that the regular one has is the add photo feature, but that's not really a problem unless I was wanting to upload a screenshot. (which I was going to do for this post to show the way to add the bookmarklet) There's also no preview feature, but that's just a minor inconvenience. It's still a nifty way to share, though, and if you have multiple blogs, there's a drop-down menu to choose to which blog you wish to publish the link.

No, Thanks

I already have a set.

Couldn't sleep, so I got up to check my reader and noticed a new posting from WikiHow, my subscription to their "How to of the Day" feed. I had to laugh because it looked like they were talking about either obtaining some incredible intestinal fortitude or making something that could only be made on an expensive and advanced lathe or milling machine.

There was another similar post from WikiHow that hit my reader while I was clearing out the rest of the posts - this one was about making Brass Ball cocktails.  The article was blank, as was the original one and I noticed that it had already been edited a dozen times.  That's the trouble with the Wiki sites, namely that anybody can edit them.  "I know that's true, I just read it on Wiki!" "Oh yeah, that's not a good source."  "Well, I know it's true because I just wrote it!"

Back when I was active in MSN Groups, the help group "Community Feedback" had a Wiki listing.  They had a description that went like this: "Community Feedback is dedicated to giving help to MSN Group managers." along with a bunch of other self-congratulatory crapola.  I used to go in and put "dubious" in front of "help" in the sentence. Petty of me, I know (some might say infantile or even passive-aggressive), but I loved to annoy them.  It was cheap entertainment.

Speaking of brass balls, I watched one of my favorite History Channel programs Saturday morning: "Heavy Metal".  The show is about all things military, but my favorites are when they highlight ships, tanks and airplanes. This program was about the B-17, one of the best U.S.bombers of WWII. One segment detailed the heavy losses incurred during the raids on the Schweinfurt ball bearing plants.

After the program was over, it made me think of ball bearings and different situations in my life involving them. One time when I was a driller on a rig I had a bearing out of the drawworks and was about to replace a couple of the small ball bearings when one of the guys who worked for me accidentally kicked it and sent them rolling everywhere.  We were down for quite a while until I could scavenge enough to replace the ones that we couldn't find.  Wasn't my fault, but guess who got the butt-chewing?  I passed it along, of course.

Thinking of the rigs - and ball bearings -  reminded me of a joke about a govt. man sent out to test the intelligence of rig workers.  He started the tests out with a roughneck, giving him three steel balls and told him to do something with them. The govt. man turned his back, but when he turned around again, the roughneck was gone.  He looked around, but couldn't find him.

Getting another three balls from his briefcase, the govt. man went to the roughneck's immediate boss, the driller, gave him the three balls and told him to do something with them.  The driller looked at the balls for a while, scratched his head and then put two balls side-by-side, then balanced one atop the bottom two.  It was a fairly difficult and ingenious feat, so the driller got a good score.

The govt. man looked around for the roughneck, but still couldn't find him so he then gave the three balls to the driller's boss, the tool pusher.  The pusher looked at the balls for just a little while, then stacked one on top of each other, nearly impossible to do...but that was why he was the tool pusher.  He got a great score from the govt. man.

About that time, the roughneck came ambling up.  "Where are those balls?" asked the govt. man. "What balls?" replied the roughneck. "Those three balls I gave you an hour ago!" exclaimed the exasperated govt. man.

"Oh, THOSE three balls." the roughneck sheepishly said. "Well," he went on "I lost one...broke another..."

"But the other one's here in my lunch box!"

My!

How spam has changed! Cleaned out the folder an hour or so ago, then decided to check my mail again to see if I had got a reply to one I had left in a forum. The spam folder had quite a few entries already. (click pic for larger view)

I used to get dozens of spam mailings wanting me to check out the naked women or informing me how to enlarge a certain body part, but now they're much more diverse. Only one of the above has anything remotely to do with sex. ( I have more than enough testosterone, thanks all the same. I've been wondering if I have TOO much, considering my premature baldness and that my libido is only slightly less than it was when I was 16). I keep getting those Scooter adverts - guess someplace I signed up for their newsletter also sold my email addy along w/ my personal information, like my age. -sigh-


The ones that annoy me the most are those from political candidates. I got a phone call earlier from the campaign of a person I'd never vote for in a million years - they got a little upset with me after I told them to perform a sexual act upon themselves and told them their candidate's mother most likely wore a flea collar. (not in those words, but I had to clean it up for this blog).

Wow

It's been two weeks since I last posted anything. I don't think I've ever gone that long since I created this blog. There's been several reasons:

One, I haven't been enthused about it all that much. I've not been "bored" with it, but I run hot and cold on my interests.  I've always been that way - my dad was the same way and it might be that I'm a Gemini, who knows?

Two, my connection plays up all the time, but that should be fixed (again) this next week. I'm so impatient, I don't like waiting a minute or more to upload a photo.  I can't easily view YouTube vids, either, so that's why I haven't posted any of them. 

Three, Facebook has cut into my blogging time and that's probably the main reason I've not been posting here. I'm beginning to dislike Facebook - there's the security concerns, plus I don't like the new timeline layout that's about to be put in place. I like to keep up with friends and old school mates, but sometimes the sheer amt. of posts overwhelms me...and to be honest, I'm not that interested in reading about their grandkids or where they ate lunch. I'm also subscribed to far too many groups and it takes too much time to read through them all. I've got my reader subscriptions and they take long enough to sort through as it is.

Fourth, and last, I've been too engaged in politics, both in my reader and on Facebook.  I know who I'm voting for (Ron Paul) and there's no need to do any more reading about any other candidates.  I'm tired of trying to convince others why he's my candidate or to disabuse them of their misconceptions about him. 

So, it may take me a while to get rolling again, but I plan on doing a lot more to this pathetic excuse for a blog. (It's always been pathetic, but more so over the last few months.) To my regular readers- all three of you - I'm sorry I've been slacking off. I promise to make more of an effort...but not too much, because that just wouldn't be me. I'm a slacker, after all.

I'm a Pizza-Loving Redneck Intellectual?

As I've said before, I don't put a lot of stock in the results from these quizzes - I take and post them just for fun, but I don't remember a quiz with such a schizophrenic analysis. Personally, I prefer a "supreme" style pizza with everything on it. I also don't complain in restaurants, not that I wouldn't if the appropriate situation arose, but I'm more likely to never return to that establishment.

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Your Pizza Says You Are a Food Snob

You have a hearty appetite. You are likely to complain if a restaurant has small portions. You are a very picky pizza eater. Not any pizza will do. You fit in best in the Northeast part of the US. You like food that's traditional and well crafted. You aren't impressed with "gourmet" foods. You are generous, outgoing, and considerate with your choices. You are cultured and intellectual. You should consider traveling to Vienna. The stereotype that best fits you is redneck. Your friends secretly agree.

What Does Your Pizza Say About You?

Blogthings: Learn Something Surprising About Yourself