HERE - Is what happens when you do not remove the waypoints you create in Google Earth or Google Maps.

HERE - Is where you need to go if you are considering buying one of those “gas saving” devices on TV.

Escalator Spin - Guys… you want to get your wife out of the shopping mood fast… try this…

Condom Plant - A great gag for the person who has everything.

Mentos Booby Trap - From the same site as above.  The perfect trick if you have a workplace lunch thief.

Greetings all…

At the suggestion of a co-worker, I have decided to once again look into creating a Forum.  My past experience with doing this has been precarious at best.  The last one I used was hacked so many times I just gave up.

Well… recently the same people that created WordPress, the software company I am using now for this Blog, released their own Forum package that I am in the process of installing.  I should be ready for testing, yes… that means you folks…  on Friday.  Yes, I chose Friday the 13th, because there is something poetic about that.

Stay Tuned…  This Friday, same Bat-Channel same Bat-Time!!!

In July 2008, California will roll out VC 23123. This is a law that will make it illegal to use a cell phone without a hands free kit, while driving.

Now… First off I would like to say GREAT!!! I am happy that they did this.

Personally I have no problem with this law, I think it is fine. If there is one thing that gets my ire up the most, it is driving behind, or anywhere near, someone who has mistaken their car or truck as a mobile phone booth. Trust me, I always seem to find the ones that feel that talking on the phone means that they need to drive stupid, slow or both.

I cannot tell you how many times I have almost been hit by some idiot with a cell phone planted in the side of their heads. To top it off, they get mad at you, when they almost hit you or if you honk at them.

My thoughts on this, though, is do we really think that this is going to change anything? I mean, there have been “Distracted Driver” laws on the books for some time now, and even local ordinances against cell phone use without a hands free device, for some time as well. But how often to you really ever hear of a person getting pulled over or ticketed for using their phone? I am not saying that it does not happen, I am just saying that I think it is the exception more than the rule.

Then the other question that I think of is directed towards the police themselves. Granted, no one, including cops, are busy all the time. I am sure that there are down times in their days. But how likely are police to really, seriously go after a person using a cell phone? Maybe if they are driving, and see a person that is going the same direction as they are, and they notice that they are on the phone, then maybe. But as far as going out of their way to go after people, or respond to calls reporting a person violating the law… I am not so sure.

The only way that I see that this law will have a bing impact, is in the fact that if there IS an accident that is as the direct result of a person using a cell phone without a headset or speakerphone, then the insurance companies and the authorities will then have more ammo to use against the driver of the vehicle.

I am not really that concerned with how the law will affect me or my wife directly. I will only answer my cell phone, if it rings while driving, if I have my headset on or my speakerphone kit turned on. Otherwise, if the call is important, they will leave a message. If they do not, then I guess it was not that important to begin with.

One item in this law that I do like, a lot, is the rule banning people under the age of 18 from using a phone AT ALL while driving a vehicle. Not even with a headset or a speakerphone. But once again, the idea that cops are really going to go out of their way to pursue these people, unless there is some other infraction being committed, is a little hard to ponder.

I am working on the Gallery and making a few other cosmetic changes.  Nothing too radical.

So if you are bumming around, and something stops working…  it may be me, in the background, lurking in the shadows, pulling the strings and flipping the switches.

I would like to start by thanking the great Samuel Clemens for the above comment. I figured that since it has been a while since my last post, that I would borrow some of his work for my explanation.

Nope… Cannot think of anything else to add to that.

I do apologize for the lack of anything smart in the way of posts recently. The company I work for has been in the process of a migration from Novell to Active Directory, and it has been a little taxing.

The is a lot for me to talk to you all about, and I have a few things I am working on, but they will have to wait a little longer.

Thanks to you all for hanging in there.

Hello all…

For those reading this in the Fire Zones, I hope all is well.

Please stay safe and if the call comes to evacuate, please consider your life and safety and that of your family. Life and Limb are more important than all those things you buy and collect… even the XBOX 360’s.

Everyone stay safe and you have the best wishes from Samurai and Naughty.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

I recently signed up with the Blogger’s Choice awards. If you ready through this site, and decide that you enjoy what you are reading, then please take the time and follow the above link to the site and vote for my site. It would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Ok… I admit it.

I have been remiss in my responsibilities as your humble host.

I have not written anything new in quite some time, and for that, for those few of you who keep track of these things, I am sorry.

This has been a rather exciting time in my life. I went to Boston and then took a seven day cruise of New England and things are going rather nicely at work.

I have a lot I need to write about, and add to that the always interesting stories that can come out of the elections. I could write the better part of a year on that alone.

Anyway… things you can expect from me in the near future?

Writings on:

* The California Legal system (or “Send in the Clowns”)
* Politician, Elections and Voting… Oh My.
* Boston and the north east coast.
* Things I like about Reno.
* 10 Sexual positions that require a wrench and a blender.

Stay tuned…

I have become a news junkie.

Yes… I have found myself doing what I could never understand in my Father and Mother. I will sit through the day and Listen, Read or Watch news in some fashion or another.

Most of the time this is restricted to listening to the news, as it is easier to do when I am working, though I am willing to bet that several people at my work are plotting to have me committed soon. This is due to the fact that I have been caught arguing with the radio (or online stream) from time to time, and that never looks good to others.

I try and read as much of my local rag as I can, though I am continually saddened by the moderate to extreme liberal slant of the news they publish. I will not even go into the numerous typographical and grammatical errors that I find in this glorified toilet paper each day.

No… Somewhere down the line I have become addicted to knowing what is going on every day. Not that I can do much about it, as I am sure that no one of great political where-with-all reads this blog… but this IS my space, and as long as it is, I will do my part.

What I find the most troubling about the news these days is its dependence on bad news. I know that this has been said countless times, and many people see it as just another catchphrase in the arena, but it is true.

How often do you see “good news” stories on page one, above the fold in your local paper? Not often… and do you know whose fault this is? Ours.

How interesting is a paper whose head line is: “Local man save three and puts out fire himself!” No… do not go looking for that one… I made it up. Now, put that article in one paper dispenser and this one in another: “Local man kills 10 Nuns, has sex with a pig and burns down a school.” Yeah… you guessed it… people are more interested in a Murderous, Heretic, arsonist who practices bestiality than in a Hero.

Personally, I will take the Hero… we need as many heroes as we can get these days, and there are very few people that are qualified. Let’s face it; if there were a real Superman today, he would get sued out of existence for violating various civil rights all over the US and maybe other countries. If you have ever seen the animated movie “The Incredibles”, they might not be too far off the mark.

News is the lifeblood of our world these days. There are so many news and information channels and websites, that we are literally suffering from information overload. What ever happened to the good old days when the news you watched on TV was already three or four days old? When you read the paper and the people that were writing could actually spell and practiced good grammar? When columnists actually had either a degree or experience?

I can remember when I was a kid, watching the news reports from Vietnam come on TV, and they were, by the time they were being shown, several days old. Likewise most other news, once you saw it on TV or read it in the paper, it was long-since over.

Nowadays it is almost like the people know something is going to happen before it does. News teams are standing by, waiting to catch the action as it occurs. God forbid they try and prevent it, just go out there and get the story.

It is amazing how sensationalism and the Macabre have won out over sense and sensibility.