back to reality...
Posted by bert at 06:54 AM on December 1, 2004 in ME.
oops there goes rabbity....yeah yeah.. back to work.. I'm in before 6 a.m. today. and.. well.. i'll be leaving late too. Need to make up some of these hours ya know?
bert's musings
Entries for December, 2004
December 1st, 2004
yeah yeah.. back to work.. I'm in before 6 a.m. today. and.. well.. i'll be leaving late too. Need to make up some of these hours ya know?
Travel Notes
Posted by bert at 10:54 PM on December 1, 2004 in ME.
I was booked on Delta flight 640 out of John Wayne Airport (Orange County, CA). My flight was at 6:45 a.m. and I was at the airport in the check-in line by 5:45 a.m. I managed to “miss” my flight even though I was in front of a check in counter by 6:15. the reason. Well apparently, you need to have your bags checked in 30 minutes prior to the flight. Wait.. I’m going to do the math here.. 6:45 – 6:15 = 30 minutes “sorry, it looks like you missed check in by a minute. I’m going to have to reschedule you for a later flight.”My later flight is for 11:45 a.m. and now I’m writing this journal entry to be posted as soon as I get a connection.
Now… if that was the sole reason I missed my flight.. Fine so be it…
But.. my God.. Delta… have you people EVER heard of electronic check in? I guess not… I was scanning around the checkin counters at John Wayne, and every OTHER airline had smooth procedures, and relatively no backup. Except Delta. I had to get in a line that was forming OUTSIDE of the sliding doors. There was no quick checkin for those boarding with only carryon baggage. You are carrying? Tough crap.. doesn’t mean shit.. you are waiting in line for your ticket as well. So I waited through this ridiculous line to miss my BAGGAGE CHECK IN by 1 minute. I asked if we could just check my luggage into a later flight and take my original flight out. No dice… “that is against our company policy sir.”
My reply, “Is it your company policy to suck ass?”
I don’t think it was much appreciated by the hardworking people at the airport, but it got plenty of laughs from peanut gallery.
Anyway.. I now have 5 hours to kill.
On the bright side.. they have a Starbucks and since it’s near holiday season.. The eggnog latte is back in full effect. More on that later.
Update:
It is against Delta company policy to allow for standby passengers… UNLESS you missed an earlier flight.
Which I did.
Now here’s the funny thing
My original flight was from SNA to Dallas Fort Worth then to Atlanta, THEN Raleigh.
I am now f
People to thank… Peggy Osier. T Bernstein. And the other lady with her.. who was by far the most helpful.
4:35 right now..
can’t get anything helpful out of the DELTA folk here in Atlanta.
Here’s my most recent conversation.
Agent: Sorry.. the flight is booked.
B: YES.. I am booked ON that flight. Can I get my boarding pass please?
A: No.. they removed you because you couldn’t make the flight.
B: well… here I am.. Can I have my seat now?
A: No you have been removed.
B: why?
A: you missed your outgoing flight from Raleigh.
B: But I am here now.
A: I’m sorry, you aren’t booked on this flight, you are booked on the 6:30 flight.
B: That happens to be delayed until 9 p.m.
A: I’ll see what I can do fo your.
As it turns out.. bitching about what flights you should be on. And dressed like you are actually worth something is extremely helpful. Yes.. I was dressed up in a dress shirt, dress pants and wore nice shoes.
Its one of my little travel tricks that I have learned through the years. I had my expensive looking laptop (700m!!!) and my stylish leather jacket, and it must have done some good in the “we want to keep this customer” department because I was moved to 1st in line for standby. She proceeded to waive me over to her counter and inform me of this. She also apologized profusely for their service and told me had first class not been booked solid, that she would put me there. I appreciated the effort, thanked her for her time, apologized for my short temper, and acknowledged that her job was indeed difficult, on this busiest travel day of the year.
And I arrived into Raleigh on my originally scheduled flight. See it all works out in the end. But, for future note, if you are traveling, make sure you look the business flier part, otherwise your casual ass won’t get any respect (unless of course you have mad frequent flier miles) =P.
a note on coffee:
Posted by bert at 10:57 PM on December 1, 2004 in ME.
For some reason I love eggnog lattes. I’ve started drinking these concoctions roughly 3 years ago when I read about it in Peter King’s Monday Morning QB column. He always has some coffeenerdness comment, and around the holiday season, he drinks eggnog lattes. So I tried it once at a Starbucks and absolutely loved it. And boy does it change based on where you get it. The best is the eggnog latte I had last year in Raleigh at this place called “Global Village Coffee House” on Hillsborough Street at NCSU. This place is so good that it forced that Starbucks next to it to close down. Quite an accomplishment these days, neh? Anyway. I had a cup of this eggnog latte in the Atlanta airport, the Cincinnati airport, and at Crabtree Mall in Raleigh. All three tasted different. And it’s not just the eggnog taste. It’s like.. one place threw in cinnamon.. one threw in extra steamed milk, and the other threw in some other random crap. I have no idea… but the one in Cincinnati was great. The foam was just right, where it wasn’t imposing its taste on me. Hehe. Go figure… Cincinnati was the best cup of joe on this trip. Amazing.
December 2nd, 2004
Dilbert in Reality
Posted by bert at 11:12 AM on December 2, 2004 in ME.
I have the daily dilbert calendar, and whenever there is a really good one (read: Applicable) it makes my cabinet wall.The one from August 8th, really expresses the way i feel today after a meeting with one of my bosses.
Dilbert (to boss): You need to give me a decision.
Boss: You need to give me more information
D: You need to give me funding to do a study to get the information
B: You need to give mea business case to justify the funding
D: You need to give me relief from my other deadlines so i can work on the funding request.
B: You need to give me everything to infinity
B: I WIN! YES!
Dilbert to Wally: we might be losing our laser-like focus on the customer
Wally: on the who?
what makes this even funnier is that laser-like focus doesn't mean much. Those of you who have studied lasers know that it's impossible to focus the lasers down to a single point. When examined, the laser is just a bunch of randomly scattered beams that combine to for a slightly larger beam. The tube emitting the beams is designed so the "focus" only allows certain beams (based on its initial direction) to escape. the rest just continue resonating before eventual emittance. But.. technically... laser-like focus isn't exactly good. =P
ok.. now that i've revealed my nerdiness on two completely seperate levels....
Scott Adams is a genius.. Peace..
December 3rd, 2004
just 3 more hours..
Posted by bert at 02:30 PM on December 3, 2004 in ME.
And work for the week will be done. Can NOT wait...and then next week is mammoth trip. Booyahs.. And we just found out Rob's group will be goig there the same weekend. It'll be a blast.
Steve Francis on Women
Posted by bert at 09:51 PM on December 3, 2004 in ME.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" [Steve Francis] asked [Yao Ming].Yao, "Yes, I have."
"Watch out," Francis said. "They all want your money."
taken from the Yao Ming book =)
December 5th, 2004
Bachelors Parties
Posted by bert at 09:54 PM on December 5, 2004 in ME.
These things are so much fun. Its pretty much the only time you can really hang out with just a big group of your guy friends, and talk about women.so we went to Las Vegas, because of course... it is America's Playgroud, and there were 12 of us.
We left saturday morning and eventually arrived at Caesar's around 2 in hte afternoon, so.. of course we got our drink on, went out and got in a solid 2 hour so gambling.
alright.. and then the food and um.. entertainment, then the limo to the other entertainment followed by clubbing at "the Beach." and a followup at some las vegas dive restraunt around 4 a.m.
ok..some quick stories..
The In House entertainment.
it's not surprise that we got ahem.. female escorts for Leo. It's a right of passage afterall. but man.. they are dirty. and illegal =P Basically they charged us 200 a piece to arrive, and then they wanted us to throw them "a few bones" to get them to do anything. $100 dollars later.. they take some clothes off and eventually put it all back on... TEN minutes later. so.. 500 for 10 minutes. We're bewildered. WTF? we proceed to argue with them. about howwhat they should do, the service they should provide.. how they arrived 1 hour late!!!. we wanted an hour they took 500 for 10 minutes.. it was bullshit. It also didn't help that we had more than a few drunkards.... Mark was being a dick and threatening the girls.. and then stewart starting throwing beer on them.
and lucas..
side note on lucas. He's probably the stupidest drunk person that i know. He apologizes excessiviely, and shells out money with no expected or anticipated service.
ok.. back to the hooke.... i mean.. show girls. They were still complaining about how they didn't seee a cent of the original 200.. and that what they made was based on what we gave them.. and lucas thinking he's the only semblance of sense in that room pushes everyone else away and tries to talk to them. Dumbass...
he hands them another 60 and they STILL aren't budging. and.. lets just say.. Leo wasn't bulging either... all and all, it was very dissapointing.
and costly.
but they forgot one of their fur coats... and stewart found it.. and claimed it as his. he was wearing it out as they walked back in... and it wasn't pretty.
they got their jacket back... in pieces.. and then it was off to....
stories to write about later.
the spearmint rhino...
Lucas and his girl Velvet.
Lucas leaving the club and meeting us up at the beach.
afterwards.. the beach and the quintet from australia...
along with the 21st b-day for cynthia from covina...
and... the fight at the dive restraunt.
December 6th, 2004
All hands meetings...
Posted by bert at 02:46 PM on December 6, 2004 in ME.
are just an overglorified waste of time. At least the ice cream is good....the theme this years... "Keep going guys and make me money"
ugh.. the level of contempt.... ugh.
December 7th, 2004
The Spearmint Rhino
Posted by bert at 01:18 AM on December 7, 2004 in ME.
ok.. if you don't know what this is.. then you're not going to find out too much more here..it's a club. lets put it that way.. and between the party, the conservative estimate is we dropped roughly 5 grand here between 12 people.
Lucas met a girl named velvet and proceeded to disappear for awhile.. We figured he was with her and promptly forgot about him... when we got a call abou 1.5 hours afte arriving at the club.
it was lucas.. and he was walking... back to Caesars..
Lucas: Where are you guys?
Me: We're still at the club.. where are you?
L: I'm walking back to caesars.. why did you leave without me?
Me: uh.. we didn't leave yet.
L: Why did you leave man? I was having so much fun with Velvet!
(obviously this guy is a little drunk)
M: ok.. sorry for ditching you but there were some really hot skirts we had to chase down for leo. Just go back to the room and we'll come by and pick you up when we head to the beach ok?
L: ok..
so.. the rhino is roughly.. 3.5 miles from caesars and its not exactly in the nice part of town. But we proceed to drink to oblivion (aka Leo's wedding) and then keep having fun. We stay for roughly 5 hours before heading off to the beach... We have our limo come pick us up and we meet carly in the line. Carly is this really cute, really hot 21 year old.. it was her 21st b-day and she wanted to party withher friends..
and we were VIP so we got her in, on condition that she try to hit on leo =) man.. is she a woman of her words.. she was all over the poor boy. and for her bday we bought her a nice body shot with the the guy she thought was the cutest working at the bar.
we have some great pictures of her that we are not allowed to show... but man did she enjoy that banana =P
will edit in more later...
Why we gain weight in College
Posted by bert at 10:14 AM on December 7, 2004 in ME.
well.. here it is...ok.. will be writing the rest of the weekend recap at work and posting when i get home =)
The Un-Credibles
Posted by bert at 12:15 PM on December 7, 2004 in politics.
taken completely from Andrew. Just agreed completely with him, and why I would have voted for Bush over Kerry if those were my only options. (remember i wrote in Joe Lieberman)http://www.andrewsullivan.com/main_article.php?artnum=20041119
The Un-credibles
The new conventional wisdom is that the election results were not so much a triumph for right-wing Christians as a more general endorsement for George W. Bush's clear, reassuring cultural presence in a troubled time. How else to explain the nine million extra votes he racked up this time, when only a third of them came from evangelicals? How else to explain the one in five gay voters who went for Bush despite his determination to rob them of civil rights? Or the big gain in Bush votes in, say, New York City?
Well: here's another cultural explanation. A large part of the pro-Bush vote - especially among blue state residents - was a vote against the left elite and the cultural attitudes it represents in the public imagination. It was a vote not so much for Bush or his often religious policies (or even the war on terror), but against the post 9/11 left, against Michael Moore and political correctness and Susan Sontag and CBS News, among a host of others. I have to say that this was the most appealing thing about George W. Bush for me. If he hadn't so obviously screwed up the Iraq war and endorsed a constitutional amendment against gay rights, I would have succumbed myself.
Two recent movies brought this home to me. "The Incredibles" is anything but a left-liberal movie. Although brilliantly animated, funny in patches, and engrossing, it's not a patch on Pixar's previous masterpieces. Its characters are less inventive, its plot more contrived, its jokes less wry. But its moral is a very canny one, and may account for its popularity. The Incredibles are a family of super-heroes who are forced into early retirement because their feats had incurred too much collateral damage. The lawsuits filed by aggrieved and pesky crimps on super-heriocs had made the Incredibles a liability. So they were required to go into hiding, to restrain their unique powers, to conceal their genetically-given talents. The fundamental moral of the movie is that this restraint is wrong, and needs to be overcome. Letting the talented earn the proud rewards of their labor, and the fruits of their destiny, harms no one and actually helps those in the greatest need.
Is this a moral for the religious right? Hardly. "The Incredibles" in some ways portrays normal American bourgeois life as stultifying. Its brutal parody of family squabbles is by no means an encomium to traditionalism. It's not anti-family, of course. But it is pro-talent and pro-opportunity. It is in favor of the urge to get out there and achieve things without apology. Within the right-left rubric of American cultural discourse, the movie is therefore rightward-tilting. And that's why many critics on the left have decried it.
Or take the latest product from South Park creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker: "Team America: World Police." You might think of South Park as a quintessentially blue-state product. Its humor is profane and scatological; the show is at ease with sexual candor, racial jokes, and regularly lampoons organized religion. But, once you look beneath the surface, you find that this blue-state comedy has little truck with liberal political correctness, Hollywood piety, trial lawyer insanity, hate crime hooey, and all the other shibboleths of the good government left.
The same is true of "Team America." No good liberal would have as much fun with bad ethnic stereotypes. A recurring gag is the fact that Kim Jong Il pronounces his "r"s and "l"s the wrong way round. Heh. No right-thinking listener to Air America would be comfortable with an activist group called the Film Actors Guild or F.A.G. for short. The quintessential voice of liberal activism on the web, Daily Kos, had this to say about the movie:
"What do we get? Peacenik liberal Hollywood actors coddling up to terrorist regimes (ha ha). If you hate Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin and Janeane Garofalo, then you'll love seeing them get killed in a bloody battle with Team America. One dead Rush Limbaugh would've attoned for using Michael Moore as a suicide bomber. Perhaps massacring Fox's whole afternoon lineup and Tom DeLay would've balanced out the dead actors. But oh well. Me, I didn't care for it."
What Kos doesn't get is that Parker and Stone don't think that Fox is as pompous or as self-important or as cringe-inducing as Tim Robbins passing himself off as an intellectual. And neither do most Americans. Yes, Stone and Parker often lampoon silly morality crusades. Their South Park episode on Mel Gibson, "The Passion of the Jew," was a devastatingly hilarious take-down of Gibson's psycho-sexual extremism. But there is also a love of ordinary American culture and of American power that animates and centers the Parker-Stone sensibility.
Yes, "Team America" shows the gung-ho Brookheimer version of American patriotism as absurd, clumsy and crude. But Stone and Parker never lose sight of the fact that Kim Jong Il is worse; or that real enemies are out there; or that America is better than many other whiny world powers, paralyzed by fear and inertia and hypocrisy. That's why you both lament and celebrate the U.S. missile crashing into the Louvre, and why cheers went up in the blue-state movie theater I was in when Susan Sarandon plunged to a gruesome death. And for all the home-grown idiocies of South Park, you grow to love the dysfunctional redneck Colorado town where the cartoon sitcom is based. The humor is at America's expense; but it's also born out of a real and intimate love of American culture itself. Colorado is, after all, a red state.
This is what the left has lost sight of. Americans tend to believe that talent needs no apology; that action is often better than complaint; that their own country, despite its many faults, is still a force for great good in the world. The left tends to view things a little differently. The most shocking manifestation was the way in which the far left saw 9/11 as an indictment of America, rather than of Jihadist nihilism. A more anodyne version was the way in which the Kerry campaign tried to reassure Americans of Kerry's commitment to national defense by playing up his Vietnam record, rather than unleashing him to rage against the evil of terror. The legitimate criticisms of the Iraq war seemed at times to emanate from a welter of whining, rather than from a determined attempt to win in Iraq, and from righteous, well-deserved anger that Bush had botched it. Facing a world of unprecedented danger, the Democrats still offered little in the way of a constructive message about what they would do proactively to defeat the enemy. For all his faults, Bush did.
At home, the Democrats spoke too easily of people injured by fate or economic transition or social injustice, while scanting the positive things that people can and will do to change their own circumstances, to beat the odds, to rise above their own limitations. They had a trial lawyer as vice-presidential nomninee and a candidate who had spent a lifetime in politics achieving very little, even by the standards of the U.S. Senate. They may have made legitimate points; but they seemed too like the critics of the super-heroes "The Incredibles" rather than their fans.
The truth is: there is a conservative majority in this country not because the religious right is a majority but because the Republicans have also been able to corner the market on the themes of achievement, individualism, energy, action. And they have also won over those who disdain the politics of resentment, whining and permanent criticism. If James Dobson represents one wing of contemporary Republicanism, Arnold Schwarzenegger represents the other. Democrats will never win over the Dobsonites. But they can win over the blueish voters who voted red last time because the pious, do-good, elite whining of Gore and Teresa and Hillary seemd so alien to many Americans' entrepreneurial, anti-p.c. and irreverent popular culture.
There's a reason Schwarzenegger couldn't be a Democrat. And a reason why he's a red-tinted governor of one of the bluest states in the country. If you want to understand why, go to the movies and watch cartoons and puppets. They'll beat focus groups every time.
December 8th, 2004
No honor amongst thieves (Adware)
Posted by bert at 10:38 AM on December 8, 2004 in Tech.
So... this one adware company is sueing another.hahahhaa man.. i love slashdot....
ok.. so.. they're sueing them because.. ok... just read it and laugh.
"According to the Nov. 24 complaint, DirectResponse's software detects Internet Optimizer and then sends a command to "kill" the program, a process that deletes its files from the PC registry and from the computer altogether. Avenue Media said DirectRevenue's tactics have caused it to lose about 1 million customers--about half its installed base--and as much as $10,000 a day in revenue."
but i guess the other company is covered by this end user license agreement.
DirectRevenue acknowledges that it may uninstall competing applications in its user license agreement: "You further understand and agree, by installing the software, that the software may, without any further prior notice to you, remove, disable or render inoperative other adware programs resident on your computer."
oh man...
I hope they have litigation that destroys each other.
My Daily Grind
Posted by bert at 03:22 PM on December 8, 2004 in ME.
Sorry for those that really care.. but I will try to get around to blogging about what happened (that i can talk about) in Vegas. Too many stories.. and not enough blogging time.. Esp with all that rampant poker that needs to be played =Pok. a few quick thought hits from today.
1.) People here at work are still retards.. but if you're going to claim that you are too senile to be able to properly aim your own piss stream, maybe you should be counted on to properly work on defense contracts. Seriously.. For those of us who need to go #2 in a day... we would appreciate if the toilet seat isn't laced with smelly yellow liquid... It's really not a difficult concept folks, and you would think I worked in an environment of highly educated professionals... wait.. i do.. *sigh*
2.) Charlise Theron has too much money. She has SO MUCH money that she actually has hired someone to be a FULL TIME Dog Pooper Scooper. Yes.. someone follows her dog around.. scoops up the dog's crap on behalf of Ms. Theron. I bet that person makes more than me, and prolly gets some nice benefits.. like.. living in Charlise's house.... not to mention the eye candy?... jealousy ensueing.
3.) the 99 Ranch market parking lot continues to be the most dangerous place on the planet to drive. For those of you unfamiliar with California. 99 Ranch market is the chain of Asian food supermarkets. The parking lots are streamed with middleaged Chinese females driving insanely big cars, but mostly Honda Odessies (SP). hehe. When i was leaving there was a string of 10 straight hondas in the parking lane on my right hand side. I counted 6 odessy's, 3 accords and a tricked out civic.
4.) Funniest thing i read all day. If you've seen Austin Powers you will know what I am talking about.. but if not.. what the hell are you doing reading my blog? You have MUCH BETTER things to be doing. But Dr. Evil only wants "Sharks with Fricken Laser Beams."
hhaha. well apparently so does the DoD.
5.) I'm working on another concept patent. this one is a lot easier and I don't mind sharing since it'll be submitted by the end of the week. Simple idea. Get a really small LED that isn't too bulky. these are dirt cheap and come in a variety of flavors. attach a small capacitor to them that is connected with a small circuit that draws power from body heat. put it all together and throw some sort of film/cover/sticker cover on it..
basically a self-lighting sticker that draws power from natural body heat emmissions.
Two great reasons for it.. but I was thinking about it while i was getting my Teeth cleaned at the dentist. Instead of having that gigantic bulky light they use, they can take the cheap light circuit and attach it to the roof of your mouth.. wallah, fully illuminated mouth. Your dentist will be happier and you won't have to wear shades for your next visit. They have lights on the end of mirrors and the other tools, but man.. you add a little adhesive and put it on the roof of the mouth.. just cake walk i tell you.
Reason 2. uh.. clubbing.. people like to wear crazy crap. There is no reason why a little extra light emitting off a body won't add to this. At a target price of like $2 a "sticker" well.. it's too easy.
3.. other reasons.. Halloween? For Kids when they go camping. Safety street walking? Bicycling? Military?
i dunno.. but the idea is simple enough..
now i need to work on the technology to make it small and efficient enough to convert body heat into enough wattage to drive a LED. All i need is about 40 microwatts? I think this is doable. We shall see. =)
hehe.. and for you genius's out there.. if you see anythign that can do this.. please let me know, i'm more than willing to split fortunes on it =)
December 9th, 2004
Now there's a good reason to why....
Posted by bert at 10:07 AM on December 9, 2004 in ME.
us Geeks don't get the girls.we have an reproduction disadvantage
Work Sucks
Posted by bert at 10:46 AM on December 9, 2004 in ME.
except today. because today is our x-mas party and we're going to Lucky Strike.yeah... they're taking us bowling for our x-mas party.
and lucky strike is the current fashionable hangout in hollywood (demi moore closes off 2 lanes for her and aston and the kids...). I can't beleive bowling is cool again....
anyway.. Lets see if i clear 150 today =)
and i get to follow this up with....
my final exam.
didn't study.. don't care =)
this weekend.
Posted by bert at 11:06 PM on December 9, 2004 in ME.
guess i may forever skip out on posting about the bachelors party
but.. this weekend is Big Bear Weekend. Snowboarding, friends, cute girls.. hrm.. who could ask for more?
oh yeah.. season 1 OC as well.. man... so great. =)
December 10th, 2004
not sure if this is a bad thing or not...
Posted by bert at 08:55 AM on December 10, 2004 in Good Eats.
but this week i'm 5 for 5 on the eggnog latte before work theme..and today i expanded to the gingerbread loaf. ugh.. $5.35 for "breakfast" maybe its time to go back to the breakfast burritos...
poker beats
Posted by bert at 09:03 AM on December 10, 2004 in Poker.
background filler.playing a 20+2 3 table sit an go.
around the 4th hand..
I get dealt pocket 6's. someone quads the blinds, but since they were 10/15, i easily call a raise to 60 with a pocket pair. The flop is dealt 4-handed, with me in 4th position.
Flop lands 6 8 A.
I'm golden at this point. first three check, i raise to 75, small and big blind fold, and the last guy (preflop raiser) makes it 300 to go. I sit and think.. only thing he beats me with is AA or 88. I immediately ignored the fact that he could have 88, and put him in having AK or A with a high kicker, and maybe A8.
to find out.. i reraise him back by making it 800 to go. he goes all in, and I'm feeling light headed.
I think, and think.. and basically know that I'm pot committed and tell him that his pocket aces are good, but still have to call due to pot commitment.
he flips over A 8.
What a ballsy ass play, (and dumb)..
but... since this is a BAD BEAT.....
turn A
river 8
4 outs...
he hits TWO of them.
MOTHER HUMPER!.
afterwards.. he tells me that i'm such an idiot, and tells me what a horrible poker play I am. So i sit at the table watching for a bit. He was the next person bounced despite being the first to double up.
The sun may shine on a dog's ass once in awhile. But it won't shine there forever.
Lasers to blind pilots
Posted by bert at 10:53 AM on December 10, 2004 in politics, ME.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/09/terrorist.laser.ap/index.html
okay. so heres some big (front web page) news from CNN.
"U.S. warns of terrorist lasers", headlines scream.
uh... not lasers to shoot down the planes...
but lasers to shine into the cockpit to BLIND the pilots..
Rarely do i have the technical knowledge base to laugh off rediculous news reports (but i do it anyway)... but man.. this time.. i do =)
The fellow writing this is falling into the classical leftist trap trying to scare the piss out of Americans. Please don't let it work.
here's why you shouldn't be scared.
1.) If they shot a laser that would PHYSICALLY affect the plane, that is a completely seperate story. But those lasers can only be built with the following in mind. A. Military built lasers. B. University Research C. BIG private defense funded companies or research groups. ok.. another thing.. to get a laser that could build enough charge to put a dent into the shielding of a plane, it would have to be huge (roughly the size of a 2 or 3 story building, and that assuming maximum efficiency and then proper angling). Additionally, the building would have to be faced in exactly 1 direction with a laser aperature (think beam width) pinpointed in exactly one angle. So basically a plane would have to fly in the path of.. WHy not build a pedastal? sure they could..., but the city ordinances office would know about it, thus rendering it ineffective. Point is, there is no way you can get a permit that would allow you to build a laser of that magnitue to shoot down planes. =)
2.) Distance between plane and ground. Go get a low (or high) quality laser pointer from office depot or wherever.. No focus that laser on a close wall. then try focusing it on a wall MUCH further away. have your friend watch teh laser on the far wall... what does he see? If you have a powerful laser.. you MIGHT see some random red spots... ok.. this might be what? 200 feet tops? A plane (from ground) is MUCH further away. Now you have to assume that the pilot is sittin just right so the cockpit faces towards teh earth... and that there is a land side person angling the beam into the cockpit at JUST the right angle to get the beam in the eye. Ok.. assume all that. the scattering on that beam would be rediculous, unless... it was a higher powered laser. Ok.. i'm not going to get in too many specifics, but lets just assume all lasers are 100% efficient. and have just you basic 2 level laser.
You need a cavity (with a gain medium) of some sort, and 2 mirrors to bounce the initial beam back and forth through the gain medium, enough times. Anyways.. the longer the gain medium, or the more times passed through the gain medium, but stronger the output of the laser.
Basically... it comes out to this..
output is the product of your current and transmission medium (gain coefficient), with other limiting factors such as cavity length, dispersal effects).
so.. you need either a big long tube, or a super conducive gain medium or both. and it will be heavy. So perhaps its shoulder mounted or put on top of rooftops.. and they still have to be agile enought to focus into a cockpit?? or mobile enough to continuously flash the cockpit as it flies over a the singular point? ok.. good luck with that.
3.) scientists that work in labs were safety goggles. they wear them to protect their eyes just in case the beam is focused in on the cornea. If you get a direct hit from an intensive enough beam.. your cornea will effectively be scrambled (yes.. like an egg). you will be blinded. They wear these goggles that use a generic concept of refraction to effectively disperse the direction of the beams so that it won't shine in someones eyes. so.. to control the threat of inbound cockpit laser beams... when pilots go into landing sequence, they can wear... safety goggles. Threat solved =).
ok.. so if you don't see the FBI caring too much about this... well.. thats why.
December 13th, 2004
Big Bear
Posted by bert at 12:18 AM on December 13, 2004 in ME.
Me and 14 buddies went out to Big Bear Mountain to get our carving on. We made it out friday night where we had team easy chill night of just chatting and story telling.Followed by a wake up call at 6:30 for breakfast. Jamie and Larry got up early as heck and made up scrambled egg, ham , and cheese crossaints... Jeez.. Larry.. you really made a homemaker out of Jamie.. Props to you.
At 7:40, we ran off to Bear mountain to get our snowboard on. It has been near a year since i last went, and it was just as fun, despite all the falling.
My wrists hurt, my calves hurt, my back hurt. And i think i hurt my knees =P. but.. man.. it was fun and I can't wait to go again.
Followed it up with team flippy cup. Ironically our team filled out with nothing but our dodgeball team. And we drank them under teh table. We were up 12-8 when they gave up or the clock struck 4 a.m. oh well.. either or, we all passed out. same difference =).
anyway.. i would post more but.. hehe. well maybe I'll wait for the friends only pictures =P
hope you all had a great weekend too.
ROY: i would add some photos but... somebody's addimage script aint working right.. or your rejecting the jpg... =P oh well.. i didn't want to make this friends only anyway =P
Some Help Please? (want a MP3)
Posted by bert at 09:28 AM on December 13, 2004 in ME.
okay.. i wanted to download Runaway by The Real McCoy, but for some stupid freaking reason I am getting crap downloads of every one i find. Yes.. i want it because of that stupid lexus commercial.. but that's besides the point?Anyone have a good copy of it that isn't the "club remix", the "techno version", etc? please linkify me? or send to my gmail? bktong@gmail.com
help a brother out (literally linda!!!)
thanks!
If I didn't know better, I would think that you were a ....
Posted by bert at 09:36 AM on December 13, 2004 in ME.
So i'm chatting (as i do everyday) with some buddies at work.One of my friends, David is an enginerd for our St. Louis branch. Supposedly doing system test and intergration or something bs like that.
I'm jsut going to post the convo.
Capino, David A says:
be right back
Capino, David A says:
i have to apply these stickers to the bench
Capino, David A says:
i have about 100 labels
Capino, David A says:
=(
Capino, David A says:
this job is a test of pride LOL wootif
Tong, Bert K says:
HAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAH
Tong, Bert K says:
HHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAH
Tong, Bert K says:
i'm sorry
Capino, David A says:
when your freinds say hey david
Tong, Bert K says:
but...
Capino, David A says:
if i didnt know you
Tong, Bert K says:
HAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAH
Capino, David A says:
i'd think you were the janitor
poor guy.
so... what about you... if your friends didn't know better... what would they think you were [doing]?
I'm not sure what you guys think i do.. just that i post too much while i'm at work.
hrm.. wiser words....
Posted by bert at 10:55 AM on December 13, 2004 in ME.
courtesy of my yahoo daily extended horoscope:Pushing your weight around may get you some cooperation in the short term, but won't do much to inspire long-term loyalty, much less admiration. You're a natural leader, but be on guard so that you don't allow any arrogance to gain the upper hand. When people sense that they're being treated in a condescending way, they either get angry or withdraw. Work harder on being a cheerleader instead of a taskmaster.
i am noticing that I do get a little condescending... please help keep me in check if my ego runs away from me. =)
December 14th, 2004
How old until people stop peeing on seats?
Posted by bert at 02:18 PM on December 14, 2004 in ME.
I'd really like to know the answer to this one..jeez... is there like.. NO common courtesy extended anymore? I mean to the point if you pee at a toilet... you can't even pick up the seat?!?! is it that difficult? makes me sick.
Maybe this guy faces left...
Posted by bert at 02:35 PM on December 14, 2004 in politics.
please dean.. tell us how you really feel about this administration?http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cityBeat/columnists/guest.html.
By Dean Opperman
Give me a break — or a big glass of vodka. We've gone from shock and awe to shuck and jive, and Captain Quagmire ran the table anyway. Now he's got the White House, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the military and a chip on his shoulder he's calling a mandate. I don't know about you, but I'm getting a Republican haircut just to blend in.
For four years it's been one big all-you-can-eat buffet for the corporations, and now they're coming back for more. Go ahead, you marvelous bastards! Rip out all the trees, pave the beaches, build 12-lane freeways, plunder the treasury, destroy our future. Cook the books, rig elections, pack the courts, hand the regulatory agencies over to fascist maniacs. Invade more countries, declare code red, invoke martial law, and keep going until your oil-sucking exploits kick off a nuclear exchange.
By God (or Diebold), you've earned it. You've hoodwinked the evangelicals. You've threatened the journalists. You've built a propaganda machine and disguised it as a legitimate cable news network. You've used it to force-feed every right wing loon from Ashcroft to Zell down our throats until they began to sound normal. You've used phony government alerts to manipulate the trailer park patriots, and you've dismantled the separation of church and state to the point where the Stars and Stripes represents the anti-choice, fuel-guzzling, homophobic God of the blow-dried televangelists.
Yes, Mr. President, it's your great and lasting legacy. You've brought brazen deceit into the political mainstream. In fact, it wouldn't be too much to say you are the single most credible Republican since Dan Quayle sprayed that grey stuff on his sideburns. And now you say you want my support. To assume you are being sincere is in itself a faith-based initiative, but in the spirit of fleeting bipartisanship, I'll play along.
I pledge allegiance to the united corporations of America. For the next four years I will continue wearing my Nike shirt, my Adidas shoes, and my Old Navy logo pullover. While eating my corn flakes, if I find that I'm chewing on a coupon, I'll suppress the thought that the corporations aren't content to have turned me into a human billboard, they want me eating their advertising, too.
I'll do my best to suppress my inner environmentalist. When my conscience says things like, "Hey! Isn't that bioengineered food you are eating?" I will assure myself that the radioactive waste in my dental work will kill off any cooties.
I will overlook the fact that you've done more damage to feminism than 20 years of gangster rap, and I will ignore the fear that we will soon need Sherpa guides to reach the ruins of anything resembling such relics as an eight-hour work day. I will do my best to ignore the feeling that I've fallen into a Fellini movie by ignoring the eyes of the old TV news anchors who, caught up in TV's sudden shift to the right, seem to be trying to tell us something they aren't allowed to say on the air. I will suppress my suspicion that you are part of the same gang of psychopaths who brought us Enron, Vietnam and Dallas '63, and I will shelve my theory that the best way to make a dent in terrorism is to invade the state of Texas. And I promise not to move to Mexico, which seems pointless anyway since it appears to be moving to me.
Those are my concessions, Mr. President. Now I need a few from you. I've found it hard to feel proud of America since you first took office. I was among the millions who were appalled when you morphed the home of democracy into a rogue nation endorsing the kind of preemptive war that characterized the Nazis. I don't want a Cowboy-in-Chief roaming the world in search of convenient villains on which to impose gunslinger justice. There's a place for that in an episode of "Gunsmoke," but in today's world we have the United Nations to resolve international disputes. It took World War II and the deaths of 53 million people to create that institution; it seems a waste to disregard that so you can play Judge Roy Bean.
Your West of the Pecos diplomacy has created a trickle-down paranoia that is ruining the neighborhood. We are becoming a dog-eat-dog, everyman-for-himself nation of fair-weather friends. That's what happens when the PATRIOT Act makes enemies of librarians and when the Pentagon begins probing our emails. There are other ways to track Al Qaeda without having to know everything about me going back to those X-ray specs I ordered from the back of Boys' Life.
I know we don't agree. After all, I am a liberal — by your definition, a godless feminist heathen running an abortion clinic in my kitchen and a gay wedding chapel in my garage. Hey, in today's economy, a guy's gotta make a buck. But rest assured that I am no atheist. I know there must be a God. With you in the White House, if there wasn't, we'd surely be dead by now.
So, on behalf of liberals everywhere, and with all the Viagra of progressive thought I can muster, I extend this salute. I offer it with my best wishes and the sincere hope that all who made your victory possible will someday share your deep convictions, both federal and state.
December 15th, 2004
Back home (again)
Posted by bert at 05:54 PM on December 15, 2004 in ME.
it's good to be home.. and it's nice that during december.. it could be actually COLD =Pw00 h00
it's under 40... unlike the rediculous 72 degrees at big bear last weekend. =P
December 22nd, 2004
Road Trip!
Posted by bert at 10:41 AM on December 22, 2004 in ME.
ok.. first i'd like to apologize. I was really going to flesh this out some more.. but just the outline was 3 pages so i gave up. Enjoy if you care.. if not, just skip it =POu like… Wow… what a trip
Day 1: Thursday
Leave Raleigh later than expect..
Forget bojangles
Get into Rockville around 3 in the afternoon. Enjoy some shopping at barnes and nobles… and go eat some good sushi at a good Japanese restaurant.
Go back to joyce’s (20 minutes each way) so she can get changed. Go back to 5 minutes from restruant to play video games at Dave and Busters.
Come up 150 tickets short of getting enough tix for the cute stuffed dog.
Day 2: Friday
Sleep till 10!!! (7 a.m. cali time0
Chill do whatever.
Go to mall and eat at CPK. Gotta love their tequila lime pasta. Such a classic meal.
See where Lauren worked (nordstroms at Tyson’s Corner). And took care of some x-mas shopping.
Met up with joyce for some more shopping and watched her pick up crazy pastel shirts for the two men in her life.. lil bro and tom (funny story ensues on day 4)
After chilling a little more at the mall.. we took off to pick up my cousin Kenny from Georgetown.
We pick him up.. and promptly tell him we want to go to Maryland, (Rockville) so we can meet up with tom for dinner. So he directs left or right and whatever.. completely missing our exit, and we somehow end up going over some expressway on a bridge to weird winding spot in downtown DC.. obviously the wrong direction so we turn around and head back over this bridge. When we get to the turn where we should have gone, we are prevented from making the proper left hand turn and are forced to go back towards the congested traffic that is known as Georgetown. So… instead.. I wait for a slow down in cars and bust the craziest u-turn in a 2 lane street that you will ever see. And we zip towards the Rockville pike for dinner. We ate at some thai place that was amazingly good, dropped joyce off at home and then made our way north towards Connecticut. Or so I thought.
Day 3… kinda.
So from Maryland… we head up I-95 north to the new jersey turnpike, which *should* lead us to i-95 north to New Haven, Connecticut.
Well we do manage to make it through the turnpike
And we DO see a sign for Newhaven
And then Kenny (who is driving) says he knows the way, and it was the shortcut they took last time instead of following the 295 like the directions said.
We end up taking the 87 (???) northbound towards Albany.
While heading up, we pass a couple more turnpike signs for new jersey, with me asking if we’re sure we’re going the right way. (we aren’t of course).
Before we know it. We are only 47 miles away from Albany, NY.
So.. we call Linda around 2:30 a.m. and start asking her about ways we can get to New Haven. We give up because she’s doing SOMETHING other than picking up the cell phone. We end pulling into a rest stop (exit 8 or so) in New York to figure out where the hell we are. We see that you can take EXIT 17!!!! To 84 east, which brings us to Connecticut. Only this thing is impossible to find and right before it is, ROUTE 17. ugh. It’s like 3 a.m. and I’m just happy to see the numbers 17. the music is lousy and I’m sick of the CD’s in the car already..
Well.. we end up getting off at route 17.. pay toll. Turn around. Pay toll. And then there is now 84 east exit on 87 southbound, so I take an illegal u-turn to go back on 87 north, just to PAY TOLL, and get on 84 East. Lots of fun.
We call Linda who informs us that we can take 84 east for about 40 miles (actually 59) and then take 34 east to New Haven. After getting off of 84, it is “not too far” according to Linda.
So.. new revelation: Linda’s “not too far” is equivalent to roughly 24 miles.
“about 40” is in fact.. around 60.
We get there.. its around 5 a.m. and I’m not amused at all.. and Linda is pissed off at us because apparently we (I????) promised to take her and her friend to the airport so he could make his 7 a.m. flight. Meaning.. we leave at 5 a.m. uh.. here you go.. you can have the keys.. F this.. I’m going to sleep.
We wake up, and eat.. and apparently we’ve been promised off AGAIN to give rides to the airport (did I mention that Hartford International is like 50 miles away from YALE?)
We eat.. bring some food, drive some kids to the airport, and Me and Kenny miss out completely on the Mohegan Sun. It just wasn’t mean to be. =P
Note: Cracker Barrel in Connecticut is not soul food!. It’s awful imitation of country cooking and they should be ashamed of themselves.
And Linda NOW starts to do her laundry. Lemme get this straight. You’re bored silly because you finished finals on WED.. and you wait till right before you leave on Saturday to do your laundry? That’s F’ed up. I try to play some online poker, and whatever.. the wireless connection at their school sucks too. Man.. I didn’t really think I would dislike Connecticut so much.. but I do.
So to top off our night, we’re meeting up with one of my best friends, Walter, at his girlfriends place for Chinese hotpot. If you have no idea what this is.. you should find out and try it. It’s phenomenal. So Gail lives in Queens, and frankly I’m hating east coast driving in general. Queens is the epitome of it. Just awful.. We get off at the queen blvd exit on the Long Island Expressway, and check this.. wait.. 40 MINUTES on the exit ramp to get off. This exit ramp isn’t controlled by anything but a single red stop sign. It’s a one lane ramp and people because their selfish cowards decided to make it 3 lanes. The traffic was just awful, and ridiculous and I was fed up. So upset. I think I was love tapped a good 3 or 4 times. We get to Wally’s and meet up with some of my old friends like Luke who’s been have an excellent time in Japan, and Norm who isn’t having such a great time in NYC. Just a good time had, catching up with old friends, telling new stories.
Around 12:30 or so.. we decide to take off and head back to New Jersey. Uneventful and we stroll into the door around 2:30 in the morning.
Wake up at 10… peace out for awhile.. just chill at home and wait for my uncle and aunt to get back from work/church. Have a short lunch and take off for Maryland trying to beat the snowfall. Which we do, kinda. Leaving at 2:30, we made an hour pitstop at Rutgers to visit my cousin Jenny. When we leave Rutgers (about 4), there isn’t snow in sight. Well.. at least not until we hit Baltimore around 6p.m. and then traffic slows to a halt with the little bit of powder on the road. I mean… We went roughly 15 mph through the Holland tunnel (it is COVERED AND HAS NO SNOW FOLKS!!!)
Get into MD around 8 p.m. to get dinner with Lauren, Joyce and Friends. Yet another enjoyable dinner and me and Linda end up taking off around 10:30. Its now snowing and I REALLY should have known better, but we kinda wanted to be home before 3 a.m. HAHHA fat chance. I made it as far as 60 miles north of Richmond (read about 70 miles south of Rockville) in 3 hours driving.
I-95 turned into a vehicle graveyard. We saw nearly 80 cars/trucks/etc on the side of the road in odd contortions. Overturned big wheelers. Random lanes blocked by un-moving bigrigs. You name it.. we saw it. I shall rename it… “the Black Death.” Catchy huh?
The black ice up and down the virgina hills are insane. I finally gave up when we were caught in a gust of wind that nearly carried us into another car. (across 2 lanes of traffic no less). We got off at the next exit and proceeded to try and check into the local comfort inn without avail. They were booked. The hotels on the other side of the hw were booked. Except the red roof in.
We check in and pretty much pass out right away. But I wake up around 5 or 6 a.m. and I’m fricken FREEZING!.. I had jacked up the heater to max, and it was maybe… 45-50 degrees in the room. Yeah.. turns out the heater is FREAKING BROKEN!. We wake up and keep freezing.. I’m shivering as I Pee. Well serves them right if a miss a little!!!.
We check out around 9 p.m. and head on home. The roads are still treacherous, but not as bad… we make decent time driving about 45 in a 65. and manage to make it home around 2 p.m.
So.. overall.. about 2k miles driven in about 96 hours. It’s was great to see everyone again, and I can’t wait to do this again. Maybe I’ll try turning this into an annual road trip?
focking sushi
Posted by bert at 06:20 PM on December 22, 2004 in ME.
So got to hang out with some of the boys.. and we went to sushi blues. Damn they really renovated teh place. the sushi isn't as good as i remember it, but hey.. i'm in cali now, how is sushi in NC supposed to compete?today.. got to watch Meet the Fockers. it's was great... how great would the world be if it were Fockerized? LOL. i loved dustin hoffman in it.. it's amazing that he's the same actor in kramer vs kramer, or tootsie, or rainman. ahh.. whatever.. just a great freaking movie. if you want a laugh.. this is where to pick one up.
and... what the heck is up with ticket prices here.. $6 matinee! sweet!... maybe i hit up another 1 or 2 movies before i leave.
December 23rd, 2004
Tour of Italy
Posted by bert at 05:33 PM on December 23, 2004 in ME.
*sigh*.. well.. not really italy..but the course at the Olive Garden. I don't remember it being so good.. but now i'm fat as a loon and crazy to boot. It was mad good (i know.. it's only olive garden, but....) *shrug* yeah.. i don't understand it myself.
but.. dinner with the rents... it's pretty nice to have parents again =)
December 25th, 2004
Merry X-mas
Posted by bert at 07:52 AM on December 25, 2004 in ME.
topic says it all. Hope everyone has a very enjoyable holiday season. ANd a very safe one at that too!. ESP those of you in the Midwest. or the middle east =)
December 26th, 2004
A White Christmas (almost)
Posted by bert at 07:21 AM on December 26, 2004 in ME.
well... Like Bing, I always dream of a white christmas. And.. i kind of got one. RIght now it's snowing like crazy.. well.. not crazy.. but we do have a small white layer on the ground so... yes.. I got my yearly dosage of snow. LUCKY ME!hehe... many pictures will be forthcoming.
December 27th, 2004
Free Ipods
Posted by bert at 09:05 AM on December 27, 2004 in ME.
courtesy of the NY Times via Slashdot.....
Behind the offers are marketing companies whose goal is to generate customers for a wide range of businesses. They offer incentives - money or products - to people who sign up for items like credit cards, CD clubs or newspaper subscriptions. In return, the marketing company receives a fee, or bounty, for every customer it signs up.
Although the marketing companies will not divulge what they are paid per person, those familiar with the business say it averages $40 to $60.
....
Gratis Internet, a Web marketer based in Washington, has developed a system in which it buys pricey products like iPods - www.freeipods.com - and gives them away. To receive the iPod, participants are asked to sign up for one of about 10 different offers and to persuade five others to do the same. They have developed similar programs giving out $700 desktop computers (freedesktoppc.com), $800 flat-screen televisions (freeflatscreens.com) and high-end designer handbags (freehandbags.com). The main difference between the offers is how many others must be signed up for the main participant to receive the "free" merchandise. Its customers include Time Warner's AOL; BMG Music Service, a CD club owned by Bertelsmann; and USA Today, which is owned by the Gannett Company.
Rob Jewell, co-founder of Gratis, says the company gives away 500 iPods a week. It posted revenue of nearly $5 million in 2003 and expects that to hit $15 million for 2004, he said.
"It's a very cost-effective way for advertisers to attract new customers," said Mr. Jewell, who is 27, "and it's good for consumers as well because they're getting a piece of that."
Mr. Jewell and his friend and business partner, Peter Martin, 28, started their operation with freecondoms.com, on which participants get points for purchases or signing up for programs, and the points can be redeemed for condoms.
Then they realized if they incorporated more people into the process they could offer a bigger prize, which led to the iPod giveaway.
They say they do not sell information about their users, and to receive promotional information participants must check a box.
The company provided the names and e-mail addresses of about two dozen people who had received free iPods.
One of those people was Jacob Snyder, a 27-year-old Manhattan resident who works for an architectural development firm in Newark. He said, "I did a lot of research because I didn't trust it."
But after finding what he deemed to be legitimate success stories, he decided to make a run at a free iPod. He signed up for a 45-day free offer for AOL 9.0, which he discontinued after a short trial, and he also convinced five of his friends to participate in one of the offers. Within a month, he received his iPod.
"I think it's pretty cool," he said, adding that he is now participating in two other Gratis programs. "The hardest part was getting other people to sign up."
December 29th, 2004
Travel notes.
Posted by bert at 10:13 AM on December 29, 2004 in ME.
Airport issuesI have many issues with how the airports (at least RDU) is run
1. Baggage check vs. Carry on only.
2. Boarding pass + ID check (x3).
3. out of the near 300-400 people I r was around this morning, there were only MAYBE 3 women I would designate in the mildly attractive (2) to extremely attractive (0) categories. There was one that I considered “pretty”
4. lack of compassion by other passengers.
5. security screening and the dumb ass people that walk through them with
a. their watches on
b. their belts on
c. PDAs in pockets
d. Cell phones in pockets
e. 20 dollars of loose change
f. And still wonder why they can’t get through
Ok.. so can you just feel the rant coming? Yeah.. here we go.
Number 1. Ok.. some of us purposely don’t bring our entire life possessions with us when we travel. Some are on business, some don’t like waiting at baggage claim, while others, just don’t have the need for some much shit. There is really NO reason why this group of people has to wait in line at the baggage check counters just to get their boarding pass. We are talking about people who can just simply ID themselves, pick up their pass and then get in line for #2.
Item 2 is a bitch and a half at these half rent airports. You get in line, and your boarding pass has been checked once already. Ok.. so when you get into line, I can understand them needing to make sure your pass hasn’t been given to someone else so they would have to verify your identity at some sort of choke point. But really.. there is no reason whatsoever for them to check your ID and Boarding pass another 3 times past that checkpoint. But I guess to keep these TSA members gainfully employed… Well.. I won’t keep harping this issue every time I travel.. But seriously.. its like saying the first guy is not competent at all. Nor the 2nd, or 3rd guy.
Side note: we had people who were in the boarding pass line who did not have a boarding pass. They just saw a line to the gates and got in line.
Item 3 is applicable to the airport in Raleigh Durham (RDU). There just has never been any cute girls in that area, and I guess there never will.. but the airport in Phoenix, Arizona.. well.. lets just say my foot is in my mouth right now.
Side note: I’m flying America West airlines. I’ve never really had a problem with them, and pretty much the only beef I have is that they fly airbus. But it’s not that big a deal for me (unlike other fellow Boeing employees). But every time I fly AW, it seems that they overbook their flights. By like 8-10 passengers… if I weren’t on a tight flight schedule this time.. hehe.. I would have easily collected about $4-500 bucks in vouchers.
So this being the time of cheer and merriment, people are still extremely unfriendly. There was this one fellow, who had the “audacity” to step out of the boarding pass check line to buy a drink at the vending machine. Fyi this line is about a 1 hour wait. He asked the people behind him to watch his stuff really quick just so he could run out and buy his drink, when he was shocked that the people said.. “no, who do you think you are?” In fact… I was very surprised to hear that out of the elderly couple behind him. And what baffled me more was the other grumblings I heard in line. And a snickering comment “oh.. too good to wait in line with the rest of us…” I asked the guy what he wanted.. went to the machine bought it for him and told him he owed me 2 bucks (man… drinks at airports are expensive.). and when I got back into line.. people were grumbling at me. Now just a question.. what does me getting out of line to get a soft drink have to do with you getting on your plane any later had I stayed in line. Yeah.. thought so.. so fuck off already with your “I wanna bitch about anything attitude.”
And lastly.. when you are walking through metal detectors.. you should really have as little metal on you as possible. And when you’re going through waiting in line.. they have signs that ask you to put your watch/belt/pda/cell phone/ SPARE CHANGE into your carry on luggage so you don’t have the problem at the detector… but does that help? No.. people STILL wear watches, jewelry, belts, cell phones through the detectors and then are all pissed off that the alarm sounds.... *sigh*… come on people.. common sense please. Alright. Enough bitching for now.. it’s time to enjoy my buddy’s wedding in Lake havasu.
Which reminds me.. next post is about… the London Bridge (at lake havasu) yeah…. “huh?”