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GRAFFITI -- February 07, 2005 thru February 13, 2005

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Welcome to Orb Graffiti, a place for me to write daily about life and computers. Contrary to popular belief, the two are not interchangeable.     About eMail - I publish email sometimes. If you send me an email and you want privacy or anonymity, please say so clearly at the beginning of your message.

Ron Paul in 2008

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Read LinuxGazette, get a clue.

MONDAY    Tues    Wed    Thu    Fri    Sat    Sun   
February 7, 2005

0659 - Good morning. A good game last night, although it was strange the way the Eagles seemed to just not care for the time between five minutes to go and two minutes to go. No rushing about, no hurry-up, pretty odd if you ask me. Tom played well, and the MVP Dion Branch had a stellar game. The best commercial, the one that really stood out for me, was the one set in an airport terminal, where everyone stood to applaud the soldiers walking through. Right on! Oh, the GoDaddy ad wasn't too bad, either. Grin. No, I didn't get everything done I wanted to this weekend, and me and the girls miss Marcia something fierce, already. Both dogs sitting in my lap during the game ... staring at the garage door, perking up everytime the TV made a noise that might be interpreted as SWMBO arriving. Well, she'll be home on Friday, though Lucy especially just gets morose over the whole thing. Anyway, it's off to work with me, a full day and back here to out and walk the dogs without making them wait too long. Have a great day!

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Mon    TUESDAY    Wed    Thu    Fri    Sat    Sun   
February 8, 2005

0806 - Good morning. I hear on the radio this morning that we only saw the GoDaddy ad once during the Stupid Bowl because someone from the NFL called Fox and told them to pull the commercial, thus explaining the two Ford commercials in a row there towards the end. What a bunch of fucking wastes of skin! These jerks have no morals themselves, so they can't tell that the GoDaddy ad was poking fun (that's right, FUN) at last year's wardrobe malfunction. So they have the second running of the GoDaddy ad pulled. Meanwhile we continue to get the various erectile disfunction (malfunction?) ads running, leading to (as one DJ put it) this persistent image of grandfather in the bathtub playing "Up Periscope". Eeesh! I hope they gave GoDaddy back their second 2.4 million dollars. Oh, what? That girl wasn't wholesome? She sure looked wholesome to me! Corn-fed even. Grin. Now I'm probably in trouble. Grin.

The dogs and I are surviving, morosely, without our Marcia in town. We sat around eating chips and drinking cokes, probably to create some form of obesity disorder. That's right, we want to join America's newest ADA group - the chronically medical faddish. Today it's obesity, tomorrow it'll probably be an irrational fear of Oprah. Wait, is that *really* irrational? Hmmm. So in reality, I've moved Lucy onto the sensitive tummy dog food, because she was having some trouble with her tummy for the few days leading up to Marcia's departure. While those events might be related, it's prudent on my part to treat the symptoms for a while, then we'll try moving her back to regular dogfood next week, when Marcia's back home.

Oh, the February 2005 issue on Linux Gazette is now online for your "...making Linux just a little more fun!" fix. So go get you some. I've got to get to work, have a great day!

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Mon    Tues    WEDNESDAY    Thu    Fri    Sat    Sun   
February 9, 2005

2000 - Ooops. No post today, I guess. Been a bit busy. I'll try to get in trouble tomorrow, though. Have a good evening.

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Mon    Tues    Wed    THURSDAY    Fri    Sat    Sun   
February 10, 2005

0644 - Good morning. Well, not really. I get to spend the next few hours in a sales kickoff meeting. These sorts of things are not my favorite form of activity (Pass the bamboo splinters and matches, will you? There's a good chap.) Yeah, I can do okay in them, put on the rah-rah face, and help beat the sales drum to get our sales folks excited so that they get our exciting message out to our excited customers who will correspondingly tilt their excitingly full coffers in our excitable direction. Or something to that effect. So, if I have to suffer, so does everyone else:

Subject: a few good men

The time has finally come... 

Men strike back! ! ! ! ! !

How many men does it take to open a beer? 
None. It should be opened when she brings it. 
------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Why is a Laundromat a really bad place to pick up a woman? 
Because a woman who can't even afford a washing machine will 
probably never be able to support you. 
-------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Why do women have smaller feet than men? 
It's one of those "evolutionary things" that allows 
them to stand closer to the kitchen sink. 
------------------------------------------------------------------- 
How do you know when a woman is about to say something smart? 
When she starts a sentence with "A man once told me.." 
------------------------------------------------------------------- 
How do you fix a woman's watch? 
You don't. There is a clock on the oven. 
------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Why do men fart more than women? 
Because women can't shut up long enough to 
build up the required pressure. 
------------------------------------------------------------------- 
If your dog is barking at the back door and your wife is yelling at the 
front door, who do you let in first? 
The dog, of course. He'll shut up once you let him in. 
------------------------------------------------------------------- 
What's worse than a Male Chauvinist Pig? 
A woman who won't do what she's told. 
------------------------------------------------------------------- 
I married a Miss Right. 
I just didn't know her first name was Always. 
------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Scientists have discovered a food that diminishes 
a woman's sex drive by 90%. 
It's called a Wedding Cake. 
------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Why do men die before their wives? 
They want to. 
------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Women will never be equal to men until they can 
walk down the street with a bald head and a beer 
gut, and still think they are sexy. 
------------------------------------------------------------------- 
In the beginning, God created the earth and rested. 
Then God created Man and rested. 
Then God created Woman. 
Since then, neither God nor Man has rested. 
------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Send this to a few good men who need a laugh and 
to the select few women who can handle the truth 

from: [REDACTED]

I'll be accepting PayPal payments from people wanting the sender's name and email address, and from the sender, as counter offers. Bidding closes when I have enough loot to buy something really outstanding for Marcia. No refunds, may the deepest pockets win. Grin, just kidding. Probably.

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Mon    Tues    Wed    Thu    FRIDAY    Sat    Sun   
February 11, 2005

0658 - Good morning, And I use the term loosely. I'm still tired from night before last. You'll have noted that I didn't even really finish my morning post up properly: I just ... ended it. I had been doing some remedial tax preparation for our annual pilgrimage to the accountant early next month, and I got so focussed that all I could do was lie awake and think about arrangements of numbers. Now that'd be fine if my profession were that of, say, Mathematician. But I'm not, so this was both inappropriate and annoying. But the morning meeting was not so bad, we got a chance to hear the pitch, and get to put some feedback into the process, so that's all to the good.

The Dub'ya road show in support of Social Security "reform" was much in the news yesterday. A comentator noted that one of the President's goals for this tour was to show legislators that there was not only popular support for his agenda out among the peepul, but that it was a safe topic for legislation. That is, Social Security is known in folklore as the electric third rail of American politics. Touch it and die. But George claims that if he could run on that plank and win, that Congressional and Senatorial types could safely work with the President to gut the program so that I won't see a thin red dime of the money that I have plugged into that particular jukebox. Yeah, I'm not particularly happy about that, but then, Social Security has always been a sort of Ponzi scheme, which works as long as there are more new people paying in at the bottom than there are pulling from the top. But Americans live longer, and there are fewer young folk, and less of them turning into productive taxpayers. Oh, yeah, hasn't outsourcing just been a boon for the country! It is clear that Social Security can't go on indefinitely, it's pretty clear that the math doesn't work.

But then, Our Beloved Leader can plunk 200 Billion (and rising) down on the table for his agenda in Iraq, then say with a straight face that we need to tighten belts and balance the budget. You'd think he might have benefitted from the No Child Left Behind program, eh? Oh, did you know there was actually one program that had a budget increase in the document sent down to the Hill? Yep, for sex education programs that only teach abstinence. Fucking right-wing religious loonies! Let's be clear here - if you don't teach birth control, then you'll have more babies making babies. Get the picture? A 14 year old girl with a baby isn't a blessing, it's two lives (or more) ruined for the price of one condom.

Drivers licences for illegal aliens? What the hell is that all about? As long as I'm in rant mode, ten states issue drivers licenses to illegal aliens. Why do that? When they come in to try to collect, march them out to the nearest port and send them by slow boat back from whence they came. Illegal aliens account for huge outflows of taxpayer dollars in emergency rooms around the country (especially southern border states), straining state and county health budgets to the breaking point. We send money to those countries, let them keep their people, too. Please note, I'm perfectly alright with legal immigration, green cards, citizenship and naturalization. But if you sneak over a border and use up my resources, I want you thrown out. No, not in jail on this side of the line, that takes up tax dollars, too. Electric fences? Sure. Mine fields? Why not. Sew the badlands with radioactive dust? I'd be willing to entertain that argument, too. But I'm in favor of House Bill HR-418, which passed by roll call vote yesterday. There should be a corresponding Senate action shortly.

Oh, oh, oh. Another thing that turned my crank. Oh. As in O. As in Oprah. Yesterday I got a "Courtesy Discount Offer" from O, The Oprah Magazine. Apparently as a preferred subscriber, I can get all the information I need about people that aren't quite damaged enough to get onto Jerry Springer's show, or funny enough for the Tonight Show. Oh, and there's Dr. Phil, Suze Orman, and ... um, real clothes for real women. Have I confused anyone about my gender identification? Because last I checked, all the tackle was in place, pleasantly so. I model myself more after Rob Becker than Calvin Klein, too. Yes, that means that jeans can be worn until they stand on their own. I haven't quite descended to the Dave Lister sub-basement levels, however - I do not use my teeth for self-pedicures. So, Oprah, I guess that advertisement went in the trash, too.


Okay, I'll unwind a bit. The good news? It's Friday, Marcia's coming home tonight ... and it's Friday. Woo. Have a great day!

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Mon    Tues    Wed    Thu    Fri    SATURDAY    Sun   
February 12, 2005

1038 - Good morning. Marcia's home, but delays at the starting gate and in Dallas got her back here just around midnight, and we got home around one this morning. Whew, I'm whacked. But all is happiness. Now, here's a part of the recent exchange Scott Kitterman and I have been having, from yesterday's post (Scott's are the > marked lines):

Subject: Re: Really?


Scott Kitterman wrote:
> Right, but since the driver's license is the only government ID that most 
> people have, the effect is the same.

Well, ID *is* required, that requirement *is* federal, and so they do get to 
set those rules, yeah? At least they're not trying to squeeze in a true national 
ID (that is, require passports for internal travel), this time. Grin. Slippery 
slope and all that.

> 
> Today, identity (other than SSN, but that's a whole 'nother rant) is a 
> state matter.  Once the Feds start setting requirements, there's no going 
> back.

Ah, but in large part they do a lot of that by other means already, from  
re-contribution of federal funds to state highway programs, etc. At least 
this is out in the open instead of a "well, your road-building program funds 
reappear when you ..." rulemaking.

> 
> I sympathize with the goal, but the method strikes me as dangerous.

Probably true, and from an administration that clearly has had risk-assessment 
sent to the back of the line. 

I still think that *arming* all passengers will have a salutary effect on all sorts 
of bad behaviour on airplanes. A few bad experiences, and everyone will 
behave very nicely, unless or until some muslim nutcase decides it's a good 
day to go up against a planeload of glasers. Or hell, just give ALL of the 
passengers a sealed box, to be opened in case of emergency. An opened 
box without emergency is billed to the passenger, but if hijacking occurs, 
then most passengers get knives, but at least 5 get guns. Yes, mandatory 
gun training, that'd be fun! Instead of a security search, you have to show 
recent time on the range, and randomly have to don ear protection and 
goggles and put 3 of 5 inside the kill zone from 5 meters. Woo.

> 
> Scott K

-- 
Brian Bilbrey : http://www.orbdesigns.com/ 
"A mouse is a device used to point at the xterm you want to type in"
    - A.S.R.

I'm not sure what's on for today. Tonight we're going out to supper with Larry and Cheryl. Tomorrow. Shopping. Then back to work. Our cumulative average commute is 30 minutes one way, now that Marcia's is down to effectively zero. Lucky her! Have a great day!

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Mon    Tues    Wed    Thu    Fri    Sat    SUNDAY  
February 13, 2005

1258 - Good afternoon. Well, other than a very nice supper out with Larry and Cheryl, yesterday was a writeoff. We napped and lounged and watched a bit of TV, and the day was gone. Not entirely bad, but I need to start getting energized about something here one of these days or the to-do list is going to spiral out of control. We did get the shopping done already this morning. I have a couple of yard chores to approach, then some inside projects. But first, the continuing cost of war:


Now to chores for me. Oh, yay Terps for taking down Duke, third time in a row. Happy Sunday!

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Visit the rest of the DAYNOTES GANG, a collection of bright minds and sharp wits. Really, I don't know why they tolerate me <grin>. My personal inspiration for these pages is Dr. Jerry Pournelle. I am also indebted to Bob Thompson and Tom Syroid for their patience, guidance and feedback. Of course, I am sustained by and beholden to my lovely wife, Marcia. You can find her online too, at http://www.dutchgirl.net/. Thanks for dropping by.

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