Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Regrets & Reflections of 2004

I was reading a weekly column from Dan Savage when he devoted the entire piece to regrets he had for 2004. Thinking about it, I had to write some of my own.
  • I regret not revealing my emotions sooner than I have been doing
  • I regret not shopping smarter for consumer electronics
  • I regret not taking more personal time for myself
  • I regret not going to the beach more times than I did this year
  • I regret not waiting a few more months for Cingular to come to town
  • I regret not keeping the Cavalier and buying a motorcycle
  • I regret hitting that retaining wall after paying an insurance bill
  • I regret spending my Income Tax return way too fast on so few things
  • I regret getting mad when I shouldn't
  • I regret not buying better things for myself to enjoy
  • I regret trying to fix things that weren't broken
After I did this list, I had to do a list of things I am happy about.

  • IM happy I finally got some emotions off my chest
  • IM happy I was so involved in my friends lives
  • IM happy about everything I admitted to friends
  • IM happy I have a job I love
  • IM happy my mom has a job she loves and is appreciated
  • IM happy I own the car of my dreams
  • IM happy my friends see me as a positive influence on their lives
The happy list is short, but the way I see it, the regrets are something to learn from.

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

I hate post snow festivities

Ok, so I am a freak for driving home with the top down yesterday afternoon. I couldn't help it. Everything was good, but one mile on the freeway told me otherwise. I wasn't cold, that wasn't the problem. The problem was the sand/salt mix they dumped on the road to keep the roads free from icing over. IM all for ice-free roadways. I just hate that its on the road and kicked up while IM driving. Yes, yes, I know I should have had the top up and drove home, but what about guys on motorcycles? They had to suffer getting tiny pebbles pound them on their way home.

Maybe IM just complaining to hear myself complain.

I've been playing with Linux lately. IM trying to get this one program to run but its being stubborn. Maybe I will get some help in a few minutes.

Ciao.

Monday, December 27, 2004

Coming closer to the New Years...

So, are you stuck thinking about your impending doom -- er, I mean New Years resolutions? IM not. I gave up on those a year ago. Once I started treating myself better, I have been living better. Resolutions are nothing more than predicted failures, and that's something IM not wanting to publish.

So far, everything I have set my mind to doing, I have done. I have bought cars I have always wanted, computers I wanted, done things I've always wanted, so I never have New Year resolutions for me to keep. If I want it bad enough, it will come to me. IM not saying its gonna happen overnight, but with time, good things come to those who wait.

Vacation? Soon...

So I get the shock of my life when I get a phone call from Ralph the other day. Yeah, first off, him calling is a shock in itself, but the recent phone call came with him asking if I wanted to go on vacation to Corpus Christi! I was floored. I had told him about how nice the city is, what the waters look like and he is interested in going. So, I am gonna settle on the times with him, and set up vacation time here, then I will get things ready and it will be another road trip out to one of my favorite cities!

His motive for the vacation would be to get a job out there. Mine is just to go to the beach. Its addicting, the beach. Growing up in a desert environment makes you yearn for rain or wetter settings. Seeing the beach for the first time in 2003 was something. It changed me, and I love seeing, hearing and smelling the beach.

Let the fun ensue!

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Friday, December 24, 2004

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

*as seen Chirstmas 2003

Twas the day before Christmas and all through the house,
my dog Xena was prowling, protecting the house
The stockings had runs, thanks to Nikki's fun without care
and I ran thru the house, nude, naked, bare

until at the door, the garage one, it did open
I grabbed for my boxers, right side in I was hope'n
I threw on a shirt and some shorts I thought matched
I put on two shoes, one brown and one black

I went to the door and unlocked the latch
I threw open the storm door and checked my shirt tag
And what did I see in my garage space?
Some fat man with unusual speed, dexterity & grace

His face was round, wind-blown and red
his clothes were the same, covered in bugs, all dead
His boots were worn down and missing their soles
His pants were no better, the crotch had a hole

He made his way in, heading straight for the tree
He met first the coffee table, with his left knee
He cursed and cussed and made such a tinkle
I thought to myself "This is Kris Kringle?"

He grabbed for the gift in his graying sack
not caring too much he tossed it to the back
it landed with a thud next to the one wrapped in black,
the one with holes that hissed, Grandma wrapped up her cat...

With a scratch of his ass and a gulp of warm milk
he perused through the kitchen to see what he could bilk
Grabbing the pudding some 3 weeks old
and the plate of brisket already covered in mold

He went back to his sleigh, and hooked to the right
the reindeer must be blind, or senile at night
they hit the street light, taking it out
along with Dasher, Dancer and Donner's left snout

They recovered altitude almost hitting my car
but hit the neighbor's tree, they didn't get far
As they fell to the street, Santa's words I heard him say:
"Goddamn you flying assholes, you ruined my sleigh!"

Merry Christmas Voyeurs!

Snow? YUP!

So yesterday was an interesting day. They forecasted snow for a week, and wouldn't you know it, it actually snowed!


Paisano & Santa Fe streets

I took the picture (seen above) while driving home from work. The freeway literally FROZE in west El Paso, causing all sorts of havoc for people trying to go home. It was a beautiful thing.

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

The Mall -- revisited

Good morning all, I am writing this post while using Linux. I've also been handed another OS by the main tech engineer from the radio station to play with when I get home. Its pretty damn cool.

Well, I braved the malls again yesterday. Don't ask me why, but I had been on a kick lately to find high-thread count bed sheets and comforters. Maybe I've been watching the Style channel, maybe its cause I want better bedding, I don't know. It was rather strange how yesterday worked out.

I got to the mall, and found a spot literally at the edge of the parkinglot. I wasn't going to attempt to look for anything closer to the mall, I figured it was a futile effort. I lock up, walk half the distance of the mall's length and spend 20 minutes comparing and color-matching fabrics that I wanted. I paid and left the mall. In total, 25 minutes. I got on the freeway and realized that was the fastest pre-holiday crunch purchase I had ever done at the mall.

Monday, December 20, 2004

WiFi Hotspots Part 1

In an ongoing (and fun) effort to see what places in El Paso offer the best in internet and ambience, I have started to devote some time looking for these places so I can rate them. I am going to go on a rating of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best place to go. So far, I can say I have been to two places so far. I have only been happy with one of them.

High on my list (and its been my favorite hangout long before wireless was offered) is Kristoph's coffee house located at 1500 E-1 Lee Trevino. The absolutely best coffee in town, either hot or chilled, they have snacks and games to play while you relax and intake coffee. Newspapers and now wireless internet keeps you connected and wired. Definitely worth the trip down to east El Paso.
  • Friendly staff who talk to you out of conversation's sake, not cause they are paid to...
  • Great prices on drinks & snacks
  • Array of entertainment to keep you staying longer (newspaper, internet, games, magazines)
  • Warm, welcoming atmosphere
In all, a perfect 5 on my scale.

I have also visited a new place today that I wasn't too thrilled with. It was my first encounter with the place, and I will always give it a second chance to improve. More information needs to be gathered on that place to satisfy a review, so I will hold off on commenting about it.

I was amazed

Yesterday I did the last leg of holiday shopping for Christmas, and I did brave the mall. Yes, I am fucking insane. The malls weren't too bad when I got there. I parked pretty far away from the mall, but it really didn't seem like a hell of a walk. People inside the malls were slower than usual, I guess they were too busy window shopping and looking to see what was on sale in each store.

Now the only thing to do is wrap them all. Fun will ensue.

Am I the only one?

I must be. I get chastized all the time to update my website on a daily basis, but as far as others who I have on my list, they seem not to take their own requests to heart. Im bored here at work, and at home. Updates would be nice. You know who you are...

Saturday, December 18, 2004

MOBILITY FUCKING ROCKS!

So here I sit at Kristophs coffee house, sipping on a FrostiCap Mocha, just typing away listening to Celtic bagpipe minstrels play a chantey slightly out of tune. With bagpipes how can one tell?

I've been playing with some Linux programs recently, using Knoppix and XandrOS and starting to realize I like Linux based operating systems. Its hard to control some "normal" features, but in all, its a stable platform to run basic programs. A normally slow computer like the one I gave my dad a few months ago is running Linux pretty smoothly, save for a glitch here and there when saving.

Well, I am off to cruise the inernet. I might do this on a daily basis!

Friday, December 17, 2004

Breakfast fiasco

I woke up with enough time today to actually make some breakfast. It was strange to be ready to go at 3:30, so I went to crackin' some eggs. My mom made me a pb&j sandwich to take with me to work incase I got hungry, but I guess at some point in her making it she put blackberry jelly on the countertop at the exact point I cracked the first egg open. I freaked out when I saw purple color on the egg and my hand and put two and two together and started to laugh.

Well, on my way to work today with Mike, he told me about the lacklustre party thrown yesterday for the company. This year was a departure from last year as there were no slide shows complimenting Power 102. There seemed to be no cock-sucking corporate ladder climbers latching onto any manager with the iota to succeed making themselves to be human door mats, so things seemed to have gone good. All that means is it was an even more lame party than it was last year.

Well, yesterday was also my annual checkup and physical. I am happy to say that I will be around for a long, long time (something my enemies would hate to hear) and things are good.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

It never fails...

Whenever you own something that you know you will need, you never have it with you when the moment comes. Today, I was driving to PetsMart to pick up some dog food when the bumper stickers on the car in front of me just drove me to laugh! One sticker read "Rats have feelings too" speaking out on laboratory rats. The second sticker was a Greenpeace sticker talking about air quality. I was laughing to myself (in between coughing) because the car was horribly out of tune and not running right. It was just slightly too extreme for me to handle and I wanted to take a picture of it. I am gonna start taking the camera around every day. The laptop case has a pocket for that kinda stuff.

STRANGE FINDINGS FROM THE INTERNET LVI

I've got a couple of piercings here and there. I love them. I also have astigmatism. I hate it. What's that you say? Combine them both into something fucking awesome? SIGN ME UP!!!

Did you play with LEGO's as a kid? I did. I love them, and I have a LEGO set that predicted the Mustang. I will get into that later. LEGO's have always been touted as an educational toy, building and constructing, using ones imagination. I was floored at the school of higher learning these bricks are used at. However, I was equally impressed by this guy's inventive use of LEGO's to form weaponry. However, none of them could hold a candle to the artistry demonstrated here. Fully detailed and some in working order. He is my hero.

How do you write off a dog as a business expense? Well, if you have surplus bandwidth, some digital cameras, a young Labrador retriever, and tons of the newest toys, your dog can be a product tester!

With the latest iPods on the market bearing the name and special design for U2, there has been talk of other bands doing the same. Are they that in demand?

You ever been so drunk off of wine you do some crazy shit? No? Well, this group of friends wanted to see what happens when you light a Roman Candle that's moored to one of their butt cheeks. Need I say more? Trust me, there are plenty of pictures -- funny pictures.

Late at night, when I used to do overnight shifts at the radio station, I used to roll around the entire office complex on our selection of rolling chairs and furniture. Apparently, there are Olympic events for my kind of sports. Time to practice! *website requires a high speed connection to see films*

Finally, its almost a holiday tradition to gather around the TV as a family and watch It's A Wonderful Life and reflect about eachother's place in the universe. What's that you say? You have little time to watch? Well, AngryAlien.com has just what you need. It's a Wonderful Life in :30 seconds with bunny actors!

Ah, the holidays...

Clear Channel Christmas

I was gonna write about my adventures trying to watch a DVD on the laptop, but I thought that would be too boring.

Tomorrow is the annual Clear Channel Christmas party at the El Paso Hilton. I am not going. I don't have someone to take to the shin-dig, so I will not be going solo. I also don't want to go because there had been some rather interesting developments of the past few years that culminated in drunken stupors and embarrassing situations.

One such moment occurred in 2000, it was the first time that all 6 radio stations were housed in the same building. We all gathered at the Hilton and the bar opened pretty early. Usually I remember the bar opened sometime after 8pm, but this time it opened around 6. Anyone see where this is going? Yep. Follow along.

One of the office managers hit the bar pretty hard early on. Being the resident hoochie-mama of the station, she dressed appropriately- ultra-tight fitting pleather textured mini-skirt and above the knee black boots. Along with some help from the always-ready-for-a-drink sales staff, she was flying high and not feeling anything by around 7:45. At that time, some hard feelings were felt by some members of the on air staff with each other, and 3 fights almost broke out.

It got interesting close to the end of the party. Most everyone was past the legal limit of intoxication, and the rest of the yahoo's were content bullshitting each other up and down. I remember I needed the restroom pretty bad. I had a couple of people who followed me down, and found that several people were saying prayers to porcelain gods. Evelyn and Yolie reported to me that there were several females in the restroom talking loud & drunken at everyone.

We left the party shortly afterwards. I remember Yolie did drink a few drinks that night, and I remember she wasn't stumbling drunk. Yes, by me saying that I was contributing to the delinquency of a minor, but she was well taken care of and was in the holiday mood. We all said our goodbyes to everyone and left the main room, only to pass by several people in the hallway. The resident hoochie-mama was on all fours near a potted plant, and several people had surrounded her. My party and myself just kept on walking and found out later that she had threw up in that potted plant.

That wouldn't have been too bad, until you realized that the plant was one of those fake plants. Damn, I would have hated to be the one to clean off that plant. Needless to say, that's the party everyone seems to remember. I cannot imagine why...

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Mortality

Yesterday after I got off work, I met up with Joe after running into him on the freeway for some lunch. We went to Bassett Place (formerly Bassett Center) and had lunch at the food court (which, I don't know about anyone else, but I make a better chicken parmesan than Sibarro...) which I have to say was my first time. I was kinda starving and just wolfed down my food like there was no tomorrow. Afterwards, Joe and I go walk the mall a moment to let the food go down or what not.

I found a fucking hilarious book at Walden Books from none other than Jon Stewart. It was The Daily Show & Jon Stewart present America.. I just thumbed thru a few pages and couldn't stop laughing. I had to put the book down at one point before I made a fool out of myself- as usual.

Well, it was after we left the book store, Joe was talking to me. I could tell he was talking, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. I heard mumbles, muffled sounds and tons of background noise. Joe was standing two feet from me as we walked, so its not like he wasn't close. It took several tries to get me to understand him and found it a little concerning. IM taking it in stride, most people in my industry are hard of hearing. IM not worried.

Monday, December 13, 2004

Deja-Vu

I seem to remember a posting from sometime last year about my misadventures in WallyMart land. You would think I would learn a thing or two about going to these stores the weeks leading up to Christmas. This time, it was out of necessity, rather than vanity. I get there, and grab 2 items, and head to the check out. Of course, the express lane is 20 items or less- or so you'd think...

So I get to the line and of course, in front of me, several people are woefully over the 20 items rule. So I stand there, and stand there, and stand there. They just keep piling things on. Then, when it comes to pay, they pull out a WIC card, finds that she is over her spending limit by about $10 and decides to look over the receipt (not yet finished totaled) and removes things. She is sharing a cart at this point with someone who looked to be her mother. They are tag-teaming the checkout clerk! This time, they are going slower than molasses running in January, what with battling 2 kids and each other.

I remember from last time that it wasn't the cashier's fault. I didn't take it out on her, so I just held it in and calmly called the store manager and told him to police the checkouts for people taking advantage of the lack of store help. I didn't want anything out of the call, and I wasn't my nasty self, I just let him know that there was a problem that needed to be looked after. I left the store better with myself knowing I did the right thing, and not explode like last time.

This weekend... Well... This weekend I wont get into until another time. Ask Ivette. She knows the story.

Can't wait for January

It's the time of false promises of weight loss, turning over a new leaf and believing that for some small moment, we are that much closer to better living thru technology. I look forward to January cause my friends will be heading back to El Paso to visit family. I had thought about what some of my new years resolutions would be. Honestly, I can't think of any that would do me any good.

I vowed a few years ago to join a gym and get into better health, all it did was drain my wallet a few bucks a month and a lot of needless travel and gas. I did make a promise to myself that once March hits, I am more than likely gonna get my first tattoo. I am still stymied as to which one I want first, but I do know it will be this next year. I don't wanna post the picture of what I want just yet, I fear copycats out there will do it before I do and claim the bragging rights.

At least with my friends coming to El Paso, I can give them their gifts while theyre here and not have to pay for shipping to get it over to them.

Cheap? You betcha!

Sunday, December 12, 2004

You miss a day or two, you leave so many out of the loop...

It happens every once in a while where I will be tapped for things to say, or links to post. It doesn't happen every day, but when it does, I get a bad case of writer's block. The past two weeks I have had a good run of things to say and I've updated the site at least once or twice a day. So it stands to say that once you stop updating for a while, people notice. I was chastised a few times this last week and decided to muffle the backlash and update.

So here I am.

Last night, Joe, Ivette and myself gathered around Joes TV to watch a really intriguing movie. Battle Royale is a modern-apocalyptic view of the degradation of today's youth and the measures (drastic as they are, but OK in a sort-of strange sense) taken to regain the minds and spirits of troubled youths. The premise of the movie revolves around teenagers of all sorts, who no longer show respect towards authority figures. A law enacted allows for one classroom full of students (40+ at times) to kill eachother off before an allotted amount of time. Senselessly violent and strangely acceptable methods of elimination aside, the movie was an excellent choice.

I had been missing my favorite hat for about 2 months. Its my favorite hat cause its a black hat, with blue flames that match my black shirt with blue flames. Its a little dingy from over a years worth of use, and it just fits my head oh so nicely. I don't remember taking it off and leaving it anywhere, so when I found it was missing, I tore apart everything trying to look for it. I figured that once I stop looking for it, I will find it. Things in life usually happen that way. So last night, as I was leaving Joes house, he said "Oh by the way, take this home with you" and handed me my hat. I don't remember leaving it there, but I found it without even trying.

however I do remember him saying something about me leaving something behind...

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

So guess where I am Blogging from...

Well, its comfortable, electric, and isn't in front of a desk. I am blogging from the bed on my brand new Dell. Its working great, and I plan to take it to work tomorrow to download all the little things that the eMachine had in it. Right now, the eMachine is still in my room, but It will soon go under de-commissioning and relocating to my dad. He needs a faster computer, and what better way than to give him mine. My mom will get my large 19 inch monitor and my dad will get her 12 inch screen. Things will work out for the better.

The interesting thing about the laptop is the keyboard configuration is almost identical to the Panasonic Toughbook I have. The only difference is the placement of some of the special function keys, and the keyboard is a lot easier to type. I have already watched a DVD, so its working like gangbusters. I have already found that there is an unsecured WiFi near me, I might do some war-walking and see if I can find it or find a way of grabbing a slightly better signal.

More tomorrow.

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

STRANGE FINDINGS FROM THE INTERNET - PICTURE OF THE WEEK

I was sitting in the doctor's office waiting for my turn to get blood drawn, reading People magazine on how celebrities spend the holidays and celebrations when I came across this picture of Minnie Driver and read the caption that came with it. I tore out the piece from the magazine...



Now, I don't know about you, but doesn't this seem sorta... strange? She's there to protest labor, yet the same laborers appear to have made her this cake and are presenting it to her in their media relations room/ sleeping quarters. I wonder if they were all on break...

STRANGE FINDINGS FROM THE INTERNET LV

I will admit, I have been stopped by cops. A lot of cops. Only once in the Mustang, but not for speeding. I've been ticketed, but I have also been let off with a warning a few times. Those traffic cameras at intersections that catch red-light runners never give you a warning, and always give you a ticket. It stands to reason, if you are a habitual red-light runner, you either need to break your habit or get a high paying job to pay off those fines. Well, I found a third option. I just stop and think to myself if the car was stolen, wouldn't you want the plates to be identified or photographed so you'd know where it was, and who was in it?

Don't ask me why I was looking at these. All I figure is it was a woman, or a group of women who conspired to do this. They're funny, don't get me wrong, but some women have issues...

I really don't know why pictures, images and websites devoted to abandoned public dwellings fascinate and intrigue me so much. I guess its as close to humanly possible to travel back in time. When I found a site devoted to the abandoned subway tunnels of the UK, I had to stop a moment and take it all in. Go ahead, there's no lead paint chips to ingest here- that I know of anyways...

IM sorry in advance for this, but this is fucking funny. Lets just say I know someone who has one, and found it to be eerily similar and disturbingly accurate. I am gonna be disowned, I just know it.

ANYONE WANT ME? Free to a good home?

Monday, December 06, 2004

Police Blotters

Every once in a while, I love to post blotter info from my favorite vacation spot in Texas, Corpus Christi. Some of it is serious, but a lot of the things that are reported to police just make you wonder. Thanks to Corpus Christi Caller Times.

4600 Schwerin Lake Drive: A 32-year-old woman said she arrived home to find her front door and the door's handle purposely stained. She said it looked as if someone also had tried to steal her reindeer display without success. The reindeer had been chained down.
When asked by police, Mrs. Claus denied any involvement but offered a spot on the S&M Naughty list...

1700 Karen Drive: An 81-year-old woman said she noticed some personal bathroom items, such as shampoo and perfume, were missing. She said she then noticed bed sheets and 11 pairs of shoes missing.
Upon further investigation, the woman realized most of her house was missing, then realized it wasn't her home...

3900 Panama Drive: A 42-year-old man told police someone took his boat. He said the boat was later returned with half a tank of gas.
You know, I'd be fucking lucky if something stolen was brought back, not bitching about the crook not filling it back up...

2700 South Staples Street: A man said his 6-year-old nephew got splashed in the face with gasoline while standing at a gas pump. The man said his nephew wanted to watch him pump gas. He said nothing came out of the nozzle at first, then gas suddenly gushed out and struck the child's face. The man flushed his nephew's eyes with water until medics arrived.
OK, Timmy. Tell me when you see it coming down the little tube...

Sheffield Lane: A 24-year-old man informed police the passenger side window of his Chevy Cavalier was smashed out and $1,400 in stereo equipment stolen. He said suspects also stole the car's battery valued at $40.
You know, that's just adding insult to injury. Not that the battery was stolen, but that it was worth $40.

4900 South Padre Island Drive: A 15-year-old boy was issued a trespass warning and turned over to his mother after he was accused of shoplifting a pair of Converse tennis shoes, valued at $30. Store employees said the boy took the shoes from a display and put them in the waistband of his shorts, under his T-shirt.
Hey kid, is that a Converse in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

SERVICE ENGINE SOON

Those three words aren't the three you wanna see in the morning light up the dashboard. I had thought in the back of my mind that the light would turn on when work would be done to the body of the car. I just was really hoping it wouldn't. So I now have to reset the computer.

Speaking of the computer, it is on its way in to El Paso, and should be arriving tomorrow. It is gonna ROCK!

Since including a WiFi card with the purchase of the laptop, I have been seriously eyeing "hotspots" in town, looking for some free internet access points. PC World has a great little WiFi finder tool on its website, and I was slightly surprised that Cappetto's Italian restaurant has WiFi setup for their customers. Enjoying some great Italian food and surfing online is gonna rock! Still, there's Kristophs for coffee...

Sunday, December 05, 2004

Lost treasures

You know, I often times think to myself before washing clothing is to take out the items from my pockets. Money, eye drops, chapstick, mints all get left in my pants or shirt pockets when it comes time to wash and most of it gets sent thru the rinse cycle. Luckily, I didn't wash the liner to my leather jacket and because of that, I found a bevy of goodies, including these...




I also found two pens, a moldy and kinda disintegrating candycane and $.33 cents. I will also be sending Joe & Ivette some pictures to post on their sites.

You never know who you see out on the road

So I take off today checking things out, still trying to see what I should get both Joe & Ivette for Xmas. El Paso finally got a World Market store, and it was great to browse thru the store like I used to in Corpus Christi. But on my way back home from west El Paso, I saw none other than the elusive Torn Shorts driving around. I pulled up next to his tricked out ride and tried to goad him into a race. The wuss didn't wanna. He had a strange afterglow in his eyes, so I wonder if he was coming back from a fun nooner with someone...

Who knows.

Saturday, December 04, 2004

Laptop update

Since buying the Dell, I have been eye-ing their website seeing how far along they are with the building and shipping of the computer. Well, for not looking all day, they sure are fast! I come to find out that they finished building and testing it, its now packaged and shipped out, so I should be getting it very soon.

I have to say, I can't wait. I wanna go to a coffee house and use the laptop to get online and surf the web while enjoying a cup of coffee. I also wanna go out and about, cruise around town, get bored, open up the laptop, take the camera with me and take pictures on the fly, upload them to the laptop and edit, then go somewhere and post them. This is going to seriously change my web browsing experiences.

Sitting here, I just realized that I dont have any pictures of myself at the beach in Corpus Christi. I am gonna have to solve that one soon.

Strange Saturday

So I am thinking to myself how strange things are. I go to CompUSA to see what sorts of laptop accessories there are to get, and I see that they have Spiderman 2 playing on their plasma screen TV's at the back of the store. I get to the area with laptop accessories and see some good things, but I got distracted with the movie. So after standing there, watching for a while, I left and bought Spiderman 2. Its a pretty good movie, I never saw it before so it was a great movie to watch.

I guess you had to be there.

Friday, December 03, 2004

Canada Considers Sealing Border for Four Years

The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration. The re-election of President Bush is prompting the exodus among left leaning citizens who fear they'll soon be required to hunt, pray and agree with Bill O'Reilly.

Canadian border farmers say it's not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, animal rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields at night.

"I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn," said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota. "The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry. He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn't have any, he left. Didn't even get a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?"

In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences, but the liberals scaled them. So he tried installing speakers that blare Rush Limbaugh across the fields.

"Not real effective," he said. "The liberals still got through, and Rush annoyed the cows so much they wouldn't give milk."

Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into Volvo station wagons, drive them across the border and leave them to fend for themselves.

"A lot of these people are not prepared for rugged conditions," an Ontario border patrolman said. "I found one carload without a drop of drinking water. They did have a nice little Napa Valley Cabernet, though."

When liberals are caught, they're sent back across the border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about the Bush administration establishing re-education camps in which liberals will be forced to drink domestic beer, learn how to shoot a handgun and watch NASCAR.

In the days since the election, liberals have turned to sometimes ingenious ways of crossing the border. Some have taken to posing as senior citizens on bus trips to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half-dozen young vegans disguised in powdered wigs, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed senior-citizen passengers. Many others were caught wearing Birkenstock sandals with young appearing feet in them - a dead giveaway.

"If they can't identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we get suspicious about their age," an official said.

Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal immigrants are creating an organic-broccoli shortage and renting all the good Susan Sarandon movies.

"I feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian economy just can't support them," an Ottawa resident said. "How many art-history majors does one country need?"

In an effort to ease tensions between the United States and Canada, Vice President Dick Cheney met with the Canadian ambassador and pledged that the administration would take steps to reassure liberals, a source close to Cheney said.

"We're going to have some Peter, Paul & Mary concerts. And we might put some endangered species on postage stamps. The president is determined to reach out."

*source unknown*

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Thanks, however go to Lopsided Poopdeck.

KHRO is dead

Hero Rocks. Well, its rolling over in a grave now. KHRO entered the El Paso market sometime in 2001 to try and unseat KLAQ as El Paso's modern rock leader. At that time, KLAQ (or "The Q" as its known) was known for its classic and "new" rock. New rock just meant new music from the same tired artists. KHRO was the new upstart in the market and was trying to take away as much of the Q's audience as they could.

At first, it was innocent. KHRO would mimic many of the song lists played on the Q to prove to people that both stations played the music, but KHRO started to wean out the older rock and kept the modern rock. KHRO started playing artists that the Q would never play, and played them with a high rotation so you could hear and enjoy the song as many times as people loved. The Q was under pressure from KHRO and also from XHEPR, 99.1 The Bandit for classic rock. The Bandit already started playing classic rock and was good at it. Owned by Clearchannel, The Bandit was in no danger of going under. It was time to choose their enemy.

The Q slowly realized that their ratings were starting to lag because of KHRO. They knew of only one way to get out of their slump, and that was to change their format to better serve their music audience. They already lost their classic rock listeners to the Bandit, now they had to salvage their other demographic to stay in the game. The Q changed their format, changed their line-up during the day and started to make a dent in the ratings war between them and KHRO. Hero was trying badly to steal all of the Q's advertisers, but couldn't. Ratings went up for the Q, and dropped for KHRO.

It was told to me sometime last week that KHRO would change to a Spanish format. I didn't tell anyone, cause it really didn't affect me. I have a satellite radio on the Mustang and haven't had to listen to the shitty music this city has to offer.

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Microwave Madness

I need to laugh right now or else I will go insane from the abnormal levels of anger I am harboring. Clauds' recent posting of her misadventures in popcornland made me laugh. I too, also remember when the typical timed setting for popping popcorn was 3:33. Matter of fact, the microwave at the radio station also will self-time to 3:33 to pop a bag of popcorn.

Well, Ivette's story reminds me of the dinosaur of a microwave my family used to have in the 1980's. Im sure you all remember, the old microwaves of the early to mid 80's weighed about 50-60 lbs. and featured faux wood grain finish and the latest in state-of-the-art black pannel touch screen buttons? I certainly remember our families GE microwave. We had it resting on a rickety fiberboard microwave stand for the longest time and it never moved. I remember that microwave would boil a cup of water in almost a minute. That bastard had only one setting: Chernobyl.

I opine about this old relec because my sister, who could pinch a dime so tight it screams, bought a used microwave. I swear this is the same microwave that we used to have growing up! Of course, she needed it transported, and of course I only had the Mustang. The bastard couldn't fit in the trunk, and it barely fit in the back seat with both kids crushed, we got that thing plugged in and radiating a hole in the formica in no time. Seeing it was so retro.

Speaking of which, I actually dusted off my old ORIGINAL Nintendo Gameboy and played a rousing game of Tetris. Kids today don't know how good they have it, with the Gameboy Advance and SP editions, they only require 2 batteries and have a light attatched to them. Our old Gameboys required 4 batteries and never played colors. I say this cause I couldn't find my Gameboy Advance...

Im not lazy, I am retro lazy.

I've created a monster

Since starting my blog a year and a half ago, I really didn't realize it would set off a chain reaction on behalf of my friends and give them the voice of a BLOG. Evelyn was first, then Yolie, then Ivette and now finally Joe is up and blogging! I must warn you, however. His site is highly entertaining, save for the atrocious spelling of words. It's his thoughts that count, not his spelling, so keep that in mind.

Some of the regulars to my site have seen my Xmas list for 2004 and have noticed some rather pricey items just itching to be bought and sent to me. Well, I took off the most expensive one off the list because, well, I bought it for myself. That's right, I bought myself a brand new Dell laptop. It's an Inspiron 1000 that's been fully tricked out, and strangely enough, was $1 less than the entry level Inspiron 1150, with fewer amenities (If you compare the prices this month, they are higher. I got the Dell at a discounted price before the end of November!). It came with a host of freebies, including a printer, wireless internet card, 512MB memory, 40gig HDD and 3 year warranty. Free shipping was also included. I should be periodically checking in on Dell to see the process of my order goes, and hopefully in 10 days (maybe sooner) I will get my brand spanking (I love a good spanking) new laptop!

Who's got the paddle!

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

What is with this stupid cold snap?

It's fucking cold! It's not your run of the mill cold, its BITTERLY cold. We are fucking 4 degrees colder than Chicago! As I type this, its 24 degrees outside! AACK!

Well, I got the Mustang back yesterday, and I am 100% satisfied with how it turned out. It was ready to take home without delay, and with the added Mustang logo's I added to the doors, it looks like a completely different car. I am definitely happy with how it came out. I now have all my attention back to the little things I can do to it to keep making it distinguishable from other Stangs on the road. Tires and that GT exhaust are still at the top of my list.

I got almost all of my Xmas shopping done, and I have to say, braving the malls isn't as bad as I remember it to be from last year. I look back at my archives and read some of the parkinglot stories and realize that's only at Wal-Mart those incidents happened. Tee-hee. I still don't know what the hell to get Joe & Ivette, and my parents have hinted what they want, so its a matter of getting what everyone wants now. IM glad the three people I already bought gifts for are out of the way.

I fell asleep yesterday around 4pm and really didn't wake up until around midnight when I had heartburn. I woke up, looked for antacid tablets and gave up on those, took a glass of milk and went back to sleep for 3 more hours before I had to get ready for work. I think I heard the phone ring last night, but I wasn't too sure about it. I saw no new calls on the phone screen, so I take it there wasn't anyone.

Well, I need to get back to work. IM hungry, I might go out and get something from Car's Jr or someplace like that.