Aren't They Afraid the Hinge Will Break?

I'm a PC! I'll always be a PC because I like big box computers. I have so much equipment in my case I had to add additional cooling and power to it. I have over 9 Terabytes of storage and I'm looking to buy more. There is one thing that I don't have that I'd actually like to have(I know, kid in a candy shoppe), a touch screen! I know if I wait long enough one will eventually become available BUT! That's right, but! What will happen is that my hardware configuration won't be compatible and I'll either go without or rebuild, at great expense, and get one then. There is another alternative that would actually be cheaper than either a rebuild which would be to buy a second computer, a laptop to be precise. A laptop would be much cheaper than new hardware and I can get touch screen laptops at a reasonable price, I just have to justify spending money that could be used for bills into buying that. It would make a great backup computer in case I had a catastrophe with my main unit. If I keep talking this way I just may convince myself it's a great idea!

What? No Breakfast in Bed?

Maybe it's me, being a guy and all, but it seems that fathers don't get the same level of gratitude that mothers get on their respective days. Don't get me wrong, mothers do tons more for the kids, for most families, than fathers do but there are different responsibilities that are placed on the fathers in a classic family situation. The mothers stay home and care for the children while the father goes out and works at least one job to support and maintain the family and household. Sometimes the roles are reversed but that is in the minority of situations. The gifts that are available for fathers doesn't always vary much as it seems the big box stores keep rolling out the same things they had last year but with a brand new sign. The top fathers day gifts 2010 seems to look a lot like top fathers day gifts 2011, and so forth. We don't always want a screwdriver set because it's like you're saying to 'go fix something' or 'go make yourself useful now'. Sometimes we want a gadget that we'd like to play with that has nothing to do with home repair or something to either put on our feet or tie around our collars. Underwear is a regular shopping item and is not considered a gift by any self respecting male. The Internet is a great place to shop for dads! Keep the breakfast, an MP3 player would be nice.

Intrigue at the Firehouse

Not too long ago we had an issue with certain members of the fire department in my city, which shall remain nameless and so shall they. What was interesting about it was that they went to the party with an ambulance and a fire engine. The even more interesting thing was that they took pictures of their party and put them on the Internet for ALL to see, even the county commissioners. What they saw were three firefighters and many nurses in various levels of intoxication, one even dressed in a sexy nurse costume. They all received appropriate punishments, except the nurses who were off duty but were most likely the prime instigators getting the firemen to the house in the first place. Oh what a tangled web ......

Another Friend Moves Away

I hope this doesn't become a trend or it's going to get very expensive to go 'hang out' with my friends soon. The latest friend to take to the road is Gerry. I guess Gerry had a good reason to leave, he's been unemployed and got a great opportunity from one of his in-laws, so long as he relocated west, r north, or whatever direction Missouri is in from Florida, that-a-way works for now. I now call Gerry 'Hillbilly Gerry' because he's going to be living in the shadow of the Ozark Mountains in Kimberling City, which I never heard of. His parents are going to be giving him some start-up money for a house because he's most likely going to be a long term resident there since his wife's family lives there, how convenient for her. Hmmmm. She started looking in Kimberling City at city homes, some Branson Lake homes, some Silver Dollar City suburban homes(is this the old west still alive?), and a late entry on Pinnacle Shores that just turned up from her fathers friend. I hope they have a detailed map because I don't want my GPS to overheat trying to find them. Moonshine anyone?

Another Piece for the Pile.

Hard disk drives. They take up room when they're externals but they don't make cases big enough for personal use to buy only internals. Did I mention they take up room, AND throw some additional heat into the room as well? Now here's the rub. When you expand your computer system you tend to fill it up and don't sweep it out often enough because you always seem to find a need to 'keep' stuff that you 'really need' even though you haven't accessed it in a long while. It's called Pack Rat Syndrome and I'm a victim of it. This brings to the forefront a new set of issues and requirements if one is to be a successful pack rat. You need to have dedicated space to do the always important, seldom remembered, data backup. I've sat through long sessions with the Microsoft built-in backup manager only to be told at the end of the lengthy process that the backup failed for an undetermined reason with a code to nowhere. Aftermarket solutions appear to be the user friendly way to go so I can retain some usable space on my new 2 TB external drive, I hope.

Busybody or Neighbor Protector

I have a neighbor who happens to live out of the country. I never really dealt with him or his wife until about 3-4 years ago when we first met them. Let me clarify what I mean by first meeting them. They rent their house to people from their country who wish to enjoy the Florida lifestyle and go home with a tan(or burn). We never knew who the owner was because of all the different faces coming and going until they introduced themselves one day. Since then we've become good friends and converse via email on a fairly regular basis. Getting back to the topic regarding busybody or protector. When I accept someone as a friend I also look out for their interests when I can, for them. I've let him know about his pool heater going bad, broken sprinklers, lawn not being mowed as contracted. He has someone here that does cleaning and emergency maintenance, as well as contractors that will come by and send him the bill. He was talking to me during his last visit about getting home security pima or something like that. I asked him if he had concerns and he mentioned his insurance would give him a break if he had monitoring for early response to issues that they'd be liable to him for.
I was asking him if he had anything of great value that I hadn't seen. He said the only extras he had besides the heated pool were the flat screen TV set, the Direct TV, the stereo that was a few years old, some DVD's, and the appliances. I told him I couldn't give him my opinion what to do and that he'd have to decide for himself because I wouldn't want to hurt our friendship by possibly advising him incorrectly. My wife told me I may as well have given him my opinion because he probably thinks I'm a busybody. I told my wife that if a busybody is someone looking out for problems on their neighbors property and lets them know if something doesn't look right then I'm a busybody. If my neighbor didn't appreciate me letting him know about issues I've seen he could tell me so and I'd stop. Taking it a step further I actually asked him and he did say not to stop and they appreciated the information as it saved them a lot of money by my letting him know of potentially costly repairs. That's me, Mr. Busybody! I hope someone would do the same for me.

There Has to be Work Somewhere.

I know several people in the Northeast that have lost jobs and have had a tumultuous time finding new employment. It's not that they're not qualified, oh no not by any means, they're probably overqualified for the compensation company's are willing to spend for help. Right now they can hire school grads for a fraction of the salary they were once paying to veteran employees, people with many years of experience and loyalty in many cases. The types of jobs left to fill are varied. There are Xray tech jobs, sales jobs, entry level computer jobs, graphic arts jobs(CGI), and various marketing jobs. These jobs have waiting lines to get what's available. When it comes down to ego or feeding your family and paying the rent you do what's necessary. Having a strong back and a strong constitution has never gone out of style in this country, even during financial diversity.

The Retired Life

Guest post written by Jon Holman

At my age, I've really learned to take pleasure in simple things and simple moments. When I was younger I barely had and patience and I had a hard time sitting still. Nowadays, things are a lot different. I've come to appreciate a lot in life, even the small things that people take for granted. Now that I am a little older, my life has definitely simplified. However, that really hasn't discouraged me. I've appreciated my retired life, and I've got a chance to spend a lot of quality time with my wife. It's been really nice. I've realized that life doesn't have to go a mile a minute for everything to be just fine.

If my wife is willing, I think I want to continue the quiet life in Florida. I really just want to settle in a quiet fishing town and spend my days by the water. The other day I was browsing http://hearingaids.miracle-ear.com/hearing-locations/california/c/camarillo/ when I decided to open up another browser and search for places in Florida. I am going to discuss some options with my wife, and continue living a simple yet satisfying life.

What Else Can Be Out There?

Seriously, what else can be out there for web sites? Even the names of the sites are getting to be common phrases for things you want, want to do, want for others, or even spy on others. You've got all the dot coms out there vying for position to earn your hard earned dollars, Euros, Marks, Yen, etc. To name but a few, you've got buyvitamins.com, buyjunk.com, takeacruise.com, makemymothersring.com, and even bozoforpresident.com. I understand there is even a new extension for the adult products and film industry with three of the same letters to cover all the new domains. One of the few things you cannot get on the Internet is a hot bowl of soup and a piece of good French bread in under 10 mins.

An Amazing Shot

I recently saw a video on the History Channel about snipers in the military. I was especially interested in one particular sniper from Canada who was assigned to an American unit in Afghanistan patrolling for Taliban insurrectionists. The rifleman was 1.5 miles from the selected target individuals walking along a mountainous area with RPK's and automatic weapons. The sniper selected the one with the most damaging weapon as his target. He needed to calculate, with the help of his spotter, and adjust the scopes of his rifle for range, windage, and drop over the arrived at distance. The first shot pinged off the ground which caused the three to stop to see where it came from. How stupid can you be? A bullet ricocheted a foot away and you just stand there in the open staring around? I'd be looking for cover. The second shot missed but was higher and they seemed to hear it. You need to start moving boys. Third shot was one the mark and then the rest finally moved, or rather two of them moved!